Thing 23: Making It All Work Together

I set up a Hootsuite account and added my twitter account and Linkedin account as these are my two professional social media accounts. I like to keep Facebook and Instagram for family, and am still feeling my way with google+.
To download the app on my iPad was straightforward, I did this via my twitter account. To add Linkedin I went to settings, clicked on the Linkedin banner, and then typed in my e-mail and password. It was very simple.

I posted an update to both my accounts at the same time by simply ticking both account icons when prompted, and did a  scheduled post by clicking on the date icon after writing another message, and setting the date and time via a roll menu. I can see how scheduled posts could be really handy for campaigns, such as the Summer Reading Challenge or shortlists for book awards, or even if I was away and wanted to keep up the interest and momentum of a project.
I do not  use any other social media management tools but think that Buffer may be useful. I like that when I find interesting content on the web I could use the 'buffer button' to save and schedule  the content for later. This would stop me from swamping twitter at any one time just because I had found a lot of interesting stuff at one sitting!

I don't have many social media accounts so don't find it difficult to keep up with them all per se. I do, however, find twitter very fast paced and can feel overwhelmed by the amount of information. To help a little with this I have started to use group headings, so that I can peruse particular areas of interest rather than reading everything.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and have learnt so much from it. As well as new ideas and apps, such as Flipbook and GUM, I feel that I have also gained a deeper understanding of the social media accounts that I was already using. It has given me lots of ideas of things that I can do in the library and has also helped make me feel more competant in  new and emerging technologies.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting

 

Thing 18: Communicating through Photographs

I already have an Instagram account, and prefer to use this for family., so have decided to take on the Flickr challenge!
I opened a Flickr account, which was straightforward, and searched for libraries to follow. (I also folowed some travel accounts because the photos were so beautiful). I wasn't sure how to check for creative commons licence initially, but by clicking for more details the copywright was listed.

After doing Thing 19 on copyright I decided to delete the two photographs that were here as a record of my learning process! Not only were they not commons copyright, but by not referencing them fully I could not easily find them again. Another reason for full, accurate & attributable references.

 

 

Both Flickr & Instagram  applications could work very well in my library as another way to communicate with the wider community and attract new followers, but unfortunately our Media bods have directed us to only use Facebook & Twitter for fear of diluting our efforts and impact!

Thing 22: Mobile Things

As an owner of an iPad I downloaded the Gum app easily and scanned and reviewed the two books I had just finished, Raven Girl (ISBN 978-0-224-09787-1)by Audrey Niffenegger and The Rithmatist (ISBN 978-1-4440-0953-8) by Brandon Sanderson.

The copies  of  The Fault in our Stars by John Green (ISBN 978-0-141-34565-9) and Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin (ISBN 978-0-00-754823-1) are all out in my library so I have not been able to scan them. So far any other book I scan doesn't yet have Gum attached to it!

I had briefly thought that Gum would be fun for my Chatterbooks group of 7-11 year-olds  but it would be a potential  safeguarding issue with the possibility for age inappropriate comments. I am also aware that not all of the children would have access to iPhones/smart phones and so potentially a Gum activity would not be inclusive.

I only got my iGadgets last year and so am still really enjoying the apps and different things I can do with them. I do use my phone for work purposes,and to extend my own CPD, with photos of displays and apps such as Easel.ly. Our branch has just been given its own smart phone, so sending things to twitter or Facebook are quite straightforward. I think that mobiles are amazing with all that they can do, but am also aware that as I work with children they can be a safeguarding issue. We do have procedures, as I am sure everyone does, if we wish to use someone's photo for library media.
We do not have a beacon in our library. I do you think it is too much like marketing and an invasion of privacy. I even feel bad that we sell toys, particularly when I hear littlies asking for things and their parents having to say no!
I will have a look at the 23 Mobile Things course. I am already thinking that I will miss Rudai 23 when it finishes. I have learnt so much already, and I am sure that I could learn a lot more about mobiles :-)

A picture of Harry, our library bear, just to counteract all this technological learning stuff!

Thing 21: Creating Infographics

Here is a fun infograph of my ideal day. I can't believe how easy it was. I used an Easel.ly template on offer with the free usage sign-on, changed the script and added a few extra pictures. I didn't want to add many objects as I could see that it could start to look cluttered quite quickly.

Using infographs for presenting data could be more useful than the usual combinations of Excel and Powerpoint for children or those with special educational needs. I think that it would also be appealing for certain topics that are seen as difficult. For example, in our library we often have people come in to use the public computers who have never used them before. As staffing levels are cut and we find we cannot always devote as much time as we would like to help new computer users, an infograph might be a good way of giving instructions for creating an e-mail account or adding attachments to e-mails or suchlike. They might particularly serve as reminders for people who do not use computers often but are not complete novices.

 The only infographs I have seen used in my library are for staff training and corporate policy & strategy. I think that there is a huge scope for creating interesting infographs for use by the public. I am thinking of creating one for a class visit I have next week, showing the children all the things that the library has to offer. They are a Reception Class, so it might be a nice reminder for them to take back to school.

Thing 20: Presentations

Well, at last I have done my presentation! I wanted to wait until I had done my training weekend on Global Education. This proved to be as inspiring and informative as I had hoped, and has led to me producing a short PowerPoint presentation that I want to present to the school where I am a Governor.
Having an ipad means that downloading apps like Google Slides is easy, and although there were no instructions as such I found that it was relatively easy to navigate. I think the limitations of using the ipad showed itself when I tried to manipulate text and then share my PowerPoint presentation on here. I had to use my laptop for the latter. I am quite pleased with the result, it was simple and quick to produce, but I think that next time I would rather use something with a few more bells and whistles. I liked the look of Prezi, but the fact that you need Internet access would put me off as reception can vary and is not always guaranteed. So it looks like I may go back to PowerPoint which I have used lots of times before, and which I know is compatible with the library and school.

A Global Learning Presentation

Thing 19: The Legal Side of Things

I really enjoyed reading this thing 19 on copyright et al. I had never looked at the history of it before and this context made what is a potential minefield much clearer.
I work in a Public library and we are quite hot on copyright with regards to photocopying, scanning, journals and inter-library loans. We can also advise on plagiarism and methods of referencing sources. The whole area of media use, images, publicity and posters is a little more fuzzy. I can see that sharing knowledge with colleagues will be a good idea as we are being asked to do 'more of everything' rather than use our specialisms.
I am the main contributor to our library facebook page and can see that I need to be stricter with images sourced to advertise our classes and events. Simply sharing other posts should not be an issue as they are attributable. Finding sites such as Flickr, Opsound & Pixabay is really helpful, and I found the following link worth investigating for more Creative Commons sources for images;   http://wptavern.com/13-sources-for-free-public-domain-and-cc0-licensed-images

Here are two pictures that I sourced from Flickr  which are creative commons, and also which I have hopefully attributed appropriately. ;

Creative Commons  20091204_Hermitage_library by Christopher John SSFB is licensed by CC BY 2.0
Christopher John SSFBy: Christopher John SSF

Library, Hermitage of st Bernardine, Stroud, NSW

Creative Commons  Matcha Cafe by Hoàng Lãng TửBy: Hoàng Lãng Tử is licensed by CC BY 2.0

 

Thing 17 Reflective Practice

Coming from a teaching background I have a strong sense of reflective practice and responsbility for my own CPD. It was actually part of my PGCE and teaching practices to reflect on lessons I had taken: what went well, what was learnt, what would I do differently etc etc, and I think that I have carried this over into my library work. I think it is good to be open to learning new things and considering new possibilities and new ways of doing things. I love the autonomy within my role that allows me to look at different ways of sharing what we do in the library within the community, and providing different ways to access our resources. Although I am only a very small cog in a huge machine, I have found the Rudai23 course has given me lots of ways of connecting with other professionals and expanding on the work of our library. Reflective practice, like learning itself, is a continual process and very relevant to the expanding needs of library users. I will continue with my blog as I use all the new tools (such as streaming, collaboration & professional organisations) to connect with the bigger questions whilst trying new ways of expanding what we do in the library.