More zombie library games

Image from Matthew Stewart on flickr 

This is a paper that Ashley brought to my attention and I think it's totally awesome! ...

The Library is Undead: Information Seeking During the Zombie Apocalypse

Also, check out Zombie walks! (found this via the flickr image)

Short blog post cause I'm off to Sardinia tomorrow!

Online security and protecting our data

Should I be worried?

This morning I heard an interesting ABC Radio Program on Life Matters called Hacking: why we need to worry about online security. At first I thought it was a bit of a scare campaign on things like online banking, shopping and paying bills. But it got me thinking? How much do I really think before I go wacking my credit card details into an online form? Answer: probably not enough. I usually use PayPal where possible but so many times  if I'm buying tickets or accommodation or anything - I just put the details in without thinking about it too much! I guess I'm lucky so far? Has anyone been not so lucky? There was also alot of talk about how hackers are getting better at accessing data from your mobile phone when you use a wireless network for online banking, paying bills or online shopping. When I looked into it further it turns out the world of cloud computing puts our personal data at greater risk of being hacked than ever before! This is scary stuff! Do we really need to worry about this? Please share your opinions.

Here are some recent stories about online security:
Story from The Conversation on recent hacker attacks
Story from BBC news on cloud computing and protecting your data
A string of recent stories on hacking from ABC news
Stories on hacking from mashable.com

The importance of great leadership

While convalescing last week I was thinking about how important it is to have strong, supportive leadership in the workplace. As a newbie in any career, you rely on supervisors, managers and superiors to mentor, guide and lead. Under the right conditions you can flourish in your role and be rewarded. Under not so right conditions your self esteem and sense of purpose can plummet. In my worklife so far I've experienced both. I've worked in places where I didn't feel I could speak up and voice an opinion, where hard work is not acknowledged or rewarded, where new ideas are discouraged, where every move is scrutinised, or worse, where you are completely ignored and disregarded. Luckily those time are behind me because where I am now is the complete opposite. I am so grateful to be in an environment that is supportive, encouraging, innovative and engaging. I feel like I'm part of a team that includes all levels of staff with many different backgrounds, talents and interests. I've learned so much from all my supervisors and managers (and the whole team) about communicating, working together, planning, organising and teaching. I know I might not always be so lucky, but I hope I've learned enough from current and past experiences to realise when I'm not flourishing and to move on before my self esteem plummets. Of course there are good days and bad days in any workplace. But hopefully the good outweigh the bad. If they don't it could be an indication that it's time to spread your wings elsewhere.

Teaching and Learning Forum

Yesterday I attended and presented at a Teaching and Learning Forum which I really enjoyed. I gave a presentation on collaborative tools along with Ashley, Jane and Janet who presented on using treasure hunts for teaching information literacy to nursing students. In the afternoon, there was a talk and panel discussion on final year students and alumni experiences of the transition to employment. This led onto what employers want from graduates. It seems many students perceive their communication skills and other attributes as high when in fact employers often rate them lower. How can we improve this? Also needing improvement is the ability of students to market themselves in an interview. Alot of emphasis was also placed on extra curricular activities as a way of enhancing your experience and skillset to improve employability. The final session held three streams and the one I attended included:

• A presentation on U:PASS which is a fantastic program run by Student Services to assist students who are studying in subjects that are historically perceived as difficult, like physics and maths (there are many others). The service has seen most students attending go up a grade!
• Hunting for Treasure by Ashley, Jane and Janet. Talking about using game based learning to teach information literacy skills to first year nursing students. Students are having fun and learning by finding the answers for themselves, resulting in fewer visits to the Research Help Desk for assistance
• Collaborative tools by moi! I demonstrated Diigo and Google docs and talked about other tools in the prezi below. No need to zoom. It's meant to be like a poster. I shared a google doc with three people and demonstrated live editing! T'was fun!

Collaborate and connect on Prezi

Game based learning or how to make learning fun

Last Sunday I wrote a guest post for the ALIA Sydney blog on Game Based Learning. I got quite carried away and still felt I had more to write so I'll try to add more things here as I find them. Here's the post (below) for those who missed it...

Mobile games

Everyone knows the joy of playing a game whether you grew up with board games, marbles, soccer, arcade games, Atari, Gameboy, Playstation, Nintendo, Xbox or Wii. The fun and competitiveness of playing against yourself and others can be addictive! Regardless of whether these are real life or digital games, there are rules and expected outcomes that players must determine and achieve. While concentrating hard on the game, players don’t even realise they’re learning! Recently people of all ages have started gaming like crazy as mobile apps make it easier than ever to play cheaply, anywhere-anytime, alone or with people around the world (if you haven’t heard of Angry Birds you’ve been living under a rock). One of my favourites is Fruit Ninja where you chop fruit with a sword and at the end of every game you get a fruit fact! Games are usually considered a leisure activity but increasingly they’re being used in learning environments to encourage experiential, active learning. For some reason they’ve been more commonly used with younger learners but why should they have all the fun? Just because you’re at high school, Tafe, uni, work or the library doesn’t mean learning has to be boring! Right? In fact, the 2011 Horizon Reportpredicts Game Based Learning will impact education in the next 2 to 3 years.

According to Wikipedia, Game Based Learning is a branch of serious games, which are activities with defined learning outcomes. 10 years ago, people like Prensky started pushing the digital game based learning (DGBL) revolution because of the potential for learning to be fun and engaging for the students, the trainers, parents and administrators. In 2001 Prensky described a tipping point when he believes learners will demand game based learning. Considering the current ubiquity of games and the blurring of the lines between work and play, I think we might have finally reached that tipping point.

Game based learning is certainly not new. Just think about simulation activities and software used for many years with doctors (did anyone play Operation?), nurses, pilots, defence personnel and many, many more. These learning games prepare people for real life situations by allowing them to safely practice and complete expected outcomes. Second life has also been very popular as a learning environment for many years, particularly in tertiary education. It allows geographically dispersed groups to meet up, interact and complete tasks while in the game. It has been particularly useful for the areas of engineering, design and architecture because groups can design and build large scale projects, that in real life would only be scoped as models or prototypes. Check out the Horizon report for many more awesome examples.

So what are libraries doing? Quite a bit actually! With the rise of mobile apps there’s been a move away from entirely online games to a blend of online, mobile and real life. The State Library of Queensland is using a scavenger hunt app to create self guided library tours using geo-location technology. In fact it seems treasure hunts and scavenger hunts are all the rage in libraries at the moment. The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and Charles Darwin University (CDU) libraries are doing treasure hunts with QR code clues to enhance information literacy instruction. These three projects were recently presented about at the 2011 m-libraries conference in Brisbane. The University of Sydney Library ran a scavenger hunt around all campus libraries during orientation this year and the New York Public Library invited 500 people to an overnight library scavenger hunt (particularly awesome) which they describe as an alternate reality app based game.

So what is all this hunting and gaming doing for us? Well, according to the 2011 Horizon report we’re learning by reaching for and achieving goals, problem-solving, collaborating and communicating. We can interact with content in more complex ways and build digital literacies. They also acknowledge that students are more engaged with game based learning because it’s fun! There are some great examples in the report and I think it’s interesting to consider how this links with other trends they predict such as Augmented Reality and Gesture-based Computing. Something to ponder.

Besides ‘hunts’ there are many other library games being developed like augmented reality apps using data mashups by the Bavarian State Library (among others) and a location based checkin and reward game by some people at the University of Huddersfield library (definitely want to know more about this one). There are Fun Days and Flash mobs, flash cards and quizzes, chases and Amazing Races (check out my Game based learning Diigo group for more examples). There is already quite a bit of game based learning going on but if trend predictions are correct it will soon be the norm rather than the interesting exception. How will libraries, museums and organisations rise to the challenge of providing game based learning opportunities? Some of the things I've described require tech skills and money to make possible but others only require a few people and some enthusiasm! It's time to get in the game but just remember it's not about winning it's about having fun!

Now I apologise if any serious gamers are reading this because I'm not one, and I probably haven't used the right lingo to describe things. But that's the point. You don't have to be an expert. You just have to have a go. For those interested, there is a lot of theory behind serious games, gamification and game based learning - if you want to get into that kind of thing. And if you're already into it please share your resources in the Game based learning Diigo group.

Sick Day cookies

This is what to do when you're home sick, have a hankering for choc chip cookies and just happen to have more than 2.5 kg of finest quality dark Belgian chocolate in the cupboard.



Cream 150g unsalted butter with 1 cup of brown sugar. Add a tsp of vanilla, pinch of salt and an egg and then fold in 1 1/2 cups of sifted plain flour, 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 cup of cocoa. Finally stir through 200g of white or dark chocolate roughly chopped. Roll dough into a thick log, wrap in plastic and chill for 30 mins. Then cut into 1cm slices using a serrated knife and place 4cm apart on a tray with baking paper. Bake at 180 for 10-15 mins. Cool on try for 5 and transfer to a rack for 5. Eat warm and eat often! You won't regret it! Yum!

Recipe from Delicious magazine April 2011 p.96.

5 books meme

Palenque, Mexico

1. The book I’m currently reading:
Then we came to the end by Joshua Ferris

2. The last book I finished:
Perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

3. The next book I want to read:
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall. I just read his second book The Lonely Polygamist and loved it!

4. The last book I bought:
Paper Cutting by Laura Heyenga. Absolutely amazing book on this timeless and delicate craft.

5. The last book I was given:
The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman. An amazing illustrated book given to me by the lovely Gin. <3

Adventures with Chocolate

I've always loved chocolate. If anyone ever offers to make, bring or buy a cake my preference is always chocolate. But my recent adventures with chocolate are worth noting because they began in April when Dave and I were given a 5kg block of finest quality dark Belgian chocolate as a wedding gift. This sizable block is quite daunting to behold. I hope this image gives you some indication of the quantity of chocolate I'm having adventures with! First of all carrying this gift when it was still wrapped, I had no idea what was inside. Then when we opened it I was astonished to discover it was all chocolate. Then the amazing moment of opening the packaging and smelling the deliciousness. The next step is what you can see in the flickr slideshow below. Since April I've made a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache for Dave's birthday, chocolate truffles with my family for Easter, a flourless chocolate Chinese five spice cake (just because it required a large amount if chocolate!), a chocolate and coconut banana bread that I brought in to work and lastly black bottom cupcakes for a celebratory afternoon tea at work today. I've also experimented with hot chocolate and variations of chocolate and ice cream! So far this delicious adventure has resulted in using up less than half of the block. So I have about 2.5kg to go. It's only taken me 2 months to get through this much so we'll see how long it lasts!

Zombie Library Games

Because I'm into games, libraries and zombies (who isn't!), today I googled zombie library games and I discovered so many exciting things I thought I better share with you! Chandler library teens section has a link to many excellent zombie games that are however, not library related. There are in fact many libraries linking to non library related zombie games. There seems to be a lack of library related zombie games! There are also many libraries coming up with brilliant zombie related promotion campaigns.The University of Florida has come up with a clever library promotion disguised as a Zombie survival guide with videos and other support. As well as zombies, libraries and games I'm also into information literacy so I added that to my search. So next I looked for - zombie information literacy and you'd be amazed at what's out there! My favourite is this graphic novel by McPherson College's Miller Library that features students taking cover in the library while zombies run amok on campus, and they quickly learn how to use the library and outsmart the living dead! Please let me know of any other zombie-library related goodness out there! I'll leave you with this video about what makes libraries so great when the zombie apocalypse comes! 

Bildungsroman or the coming of age genre

Last night at bookclub we discussed This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This debut novel was published in 1920 and follows the wealthy, charismatic and good looking Amory Blaine from his boarding school days, to Princeton and life in New York City post WW1. We all really enjoyed it and like the book nerds we are read passages aloud, talked about the themes and issues emerging and then found similarities in the story with recent TV teen dramas we've been watching! We've actually never in 2 years discussed a book in as much detail! We loved the lyrical, poetic style of writing and the rise and fall of the main character from youth to adulthood. We thought besides the style of writing, it could easily have been written today - the story is timeless! We started describing the book as a coming of age novel and decided we'd read another coming of age novel this month. So I googled coming of age novels (of course) and came across this word - Bildungsroman. I was fascinated to discover that this is the fancy word for the coming of age genre and has certain key characteristics like: psychological and moral growth on the journey from youth to adulthood ending in some sort of personal growth! Aha my inner me screamed! I *heart* bildungsroman! I always love coming of age stories be they books, movies or TV! We settled on our next book - A Hero Aint Nothin but a Sandwich and I set out to think about all the other bildungsroman I'd experienced and loved! Here is a list of some I've read and watched that I think represent the genre - of course there are many, many more!
 Books

• Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
• Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger
• Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
• Secret History - Donna Tartt
• Forever - Judy Blume
• Oranges are not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
• Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
• How I live now - Meg Rosoff
• Harry Potter - Series
• Hunger Games - Series

Movies

• Dead Poets Society
• Almost Famous
• Pump up the Volume
• Heathers
• Basketball Diaries
• Rushmore
• Donnie Darko
• Virgin Suicides
• Stand by Me
• My Girl
• Dirty Dancing

TV

• Friday Night Lights
• Vampire Diaries
• Skins
• Gossip Girl
• OC
• Dawsons Creek
• Degrassi
• Beverly Hills 90210
• Twin Peaks
• Buffy

Harry Potter fangirl outed

I'm sure I'm not the only one but I'm really excited about the final Harry Potter movie! I read all the books (many times) and it was torture waiting a whole year for the next one to come out! Then came the movies and again the painful 12 month wait for the next one. To ease these painful times I would reread the books and get together with friends to discuss the stories and characters and draw maps of Hogwarts. Yes, many a night over a cold beer we'd be caught drawing on napkins and coasters and arguing about where the Quidditch pitch was in relation to Hagrids house! And when I got home I'd dream about my adventures with Harry, Ron and Hermione! Yes, I reread all the books, many times and loved it. Before each new book came out I'd reread all the books. Before the next movie came out I'd reread all the books and rewatch the movies (yes, I am prone to extremes). Of course, as the books got longer and longer and the movies were coming out during the wait for the last 3 books - there was a lot of reading and watching to do so I slacked off a bit. Now I don't tend to reread every book before the new movie comes out but I always reread the book before and the book of the movie about to come out. And I watch the movie before the one about to come out. I did this last year before watching Harry Potter and the deathly hallows part 1 at Gold Class and I'll do it again for part 2 coming out in July.

What has this 12 year journey of books and movies added to my life? So many things really. I feel like they're part of me. I feel connected and close to them. I feel like they're my friends. They taught me to have courage, believe in yourself and your friends, love owls, take chances and so much more. I feel quite emotional that this movie is the final installment. If there were more books and movies coming out I would read and watch them all with just as much enthusiasm. Is this kind of extreme commitment to something a form of escapism or something more?

What I need to do vs What I have time to do

Drawing by MissSophieMac

Last week I taught a workshop on finding images for presentations and research, that also explores digital image copyright, including creative commons licenses. It's hands-on and I showed people how to refine their google image or flickr search to things that can be reused (among other things). Part of this process is explaining how the licenses work in relation to educational use and how things should be used and attributed according to the license. Last week one of the students wanted to know the definitive answer on copyright - "what do I have to do" and the answer "that depends", did not please her. If anyone knows anything about copyright it's that there are no definitive answers. This frustrated the student who just wanted to know what they have to do! I said you should only use images according to their license and attribute any you use by the way of a link etc. somewhere in the presentation and she said "but is that what I have to do? Or just what I should do?" I was perplexed by this question and she continued "because it's going to take me much longer to attribute all the images I use and I don't have time". This was the crux of the situation. The right answer vs the right now answer. While we might aspire to be ethical digital citizens in reality we've all used images off the web that we didn't attribute when we were in a hurry. There is no way to stop this and saying 'because you really should' isn't going to cut it! Anyway, I told her to do her best and things ran smoothly after that but it did challenge me to think about how I explain the importance of copyright when the educational use clause makes it seem so vague. Something I didn't share with the students: one way I get around this if I can't find an image that adequately depicts what I'm trying to convey - draw it yourself. Always an option! I've seen many great conference presentations recently featuring hand drawn graphics! Maybe the next top trend?

The future of education

Vivid Sydney Lights - Customs House

Last night I attended a Vivid Creative Sydney event with @malbooth @bella1609 and @jemimaeve at the Opera House on the future of education. I wasn't sure what to expect really but I found the panel to have some interesting perspectives and ideas to share. I'll try to relay some of them to you here.  Some of the buzzwords flying around were: co-creation, game-based, connected, collaborative, visual, interactive, fun, social, creative, open experiential, technology. All great words! The 4 speakers were all from different areas of supporting education and were all very passionate. Most of the discussion circled around how to engage students for better learning outcomes that take into consideration the 'whole self'. That is not just reading, writing and arithmetic but also creativity, social and cultural aspects and mental and physical health.

The first speaker Raju Varanasi, talked about how he's been involved with using game-based learning to achieve this with the game Murder Under the Microscope. He said kids are spending a lot more time on it than any other homework and can't wait to come to school to share what they found out. The next speaker Phillip Cronin, talked about connecting every classroom in Australia and how this will level the playing field for socially isolated students in remote areas and those in low SES areas making do with less. The next speaker Chris Nicholls, talked about a school music program that started in Venezuela by one man who wanted to try to get kids off the streets and out of a future in crime. He now has about 350,000 students attending his program for 4 hours a day after school in Venezuela. With strong evidence that the program led to better school attendance, lower rates of crime, higher self esteem and better learning outcomes. Chris is now starting a similar program at a disadvantaged school in Melbourne. The final speaker was Sharon Clarke from NAB Schools First and talked about the importance of throwing open the school gates and letting the community in. She says in this world of rapid change, schools can't know everything, but they can use the expertise around them in their community.

They made some recommendations for the future: First of all embrace change and understand our humanity and not just come up with technical solutions. Find different ways to measure learning. Quantitative literacy and numeracy tests do not measure someones self esteem, tolerance, interpersonal skills and cross cultural understanding. We need to stop dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator and allow kids to strive for something. The education system should question itself and all its assumptions. What is a school? What is a classroom? If every classroom is connected virtually imagine what could be possible! We need to open up schools to collaborating with the community and bring subject matter experts in. Businesses have a responsibility to give back and a great amount of expertise to share. Why not leverage their social and human capital for the greater good?

To finish Raju suggested a vision of the school of the future as a social learning space that looks more like a cafe. Where the teacher doesn't know all the answers but creates shared meaning through collaboration. If that all sounds a bit out there for you - they were saying that although the students want that now, the system and many of the teachers are slow to change. Baby steps I guess. It was an interesting panel and I was glad I attended.

Rough guide to building digital literacies

In my post yesterday I alluded to being interested in building digital literacies. So here is my vague 'how to' guide. I think the first step is to think about your clients/community. Who are they and what are they doing?

Guide to building digital literacies

The who and what will depend on the library and even within one library it can vary wildly. Just remember there is no one size fits all library client. Whatever you decide to do needs to be flexible and modifiable. In an academic library our clients need to find, evaluate and use information for assignments, teaching and research, collaborate and work in groups, create and manage content like images, posters, models, presentations, video, animation, blogs and podcasts. They also like to share content via social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Increasingly they like sharing where they are with Facebook and Foursquare checkins. When we figure out who they are and what they're doing we should try what they're doing so we can better understand how and why they're doing it. For example, having library Facebook, Twitter and Youtube sites to connect with your community, learn from them and share with them. The final step is helping them do things better and this is tricky. This might mean you have to try new things to come up with a solution. For example, developing new workshops on how to use collaborative tools to improve groupwork and dispersed communication. This is something many of our clients struggle with and there are many tools out there that can assist. One of our roles as librarians is to make connections (see awesome video by Kathryn Greenhill on librariansmatter) and this is an example where we can connect people with the right tools to help make groupwork more efficient and effective. Some of the tools are:

• Diigo for shared bookmarking
• Google docs for real-time shared editing of a wide range of document types
• Dropbox for file sharing
• Mendeley for sharing bibliographies
• Elluminate for online conferencing
• Skype for video calls and chatting
• there are many, many more...

This is just one example where we thought about who our clients are and what they're doing and by trying new things were able to come up with a way to support what they need to do and help them do it better. In this example we're building digital literacies in online collaboration, shared bookmarking and cloud based information management. There are many more things our clients need to do that we could support by building digital literacies. Most of all I believe you need to make it fun! How you try to do that is up to you. Some things are easier to make fun than others... but who wouldn't want to play reference list Bingo? Please feel free to share your ideas.

Winding up #blogeverydayofjune

When I read the tweet from @flexnib a month ago asking who wanted to #blogeverydayofjune I thought, "tell her she's dreaming"! I couldn't fathom writing a blog post every single day! Needless to say, by the end of the day I felt I had no option but to join in because I think I could sense the potential magnitude of this experience. At first it was hard to write everyday but now at the end I feel like I'm just getting started! Someone said early on, the key to a good blog is having something to say. Did we ever! Not only did we blog but we commented too. AT times it was hard to keep up. I definitely got addicted to checking how many people had viewed or commented on my posts. I'm still not over that actually.

This has been an amazing experience for me. Learning so much about all of you who have participated by blogging, commenting and tweeting. And learning so much about myself. I've found my 'voice' for blogging and it has evolved over this month in collaboration with all of you. By creating a dialogue with the wider library community I've found my authentic voice, one that is passionate and brave, curious and forward thinking (I hope). Best of all it's a mix of personal and professional because you shared with me and I felt I could share with you. We created a trusting community of collaborators. I think that's awesome.

I've been inspired to think more about where and how I work, and the impact I have on others. I've been encouraged to value enthusiasm, creativity and fun in the workplace. I've cemented my interest in the future of libraries, information literacy and Library 2.0. I've been constantly thinking about blogs, blogging, libraries, librarians to the point that all my (non-librarian) friends know about #blogeverydayofjune and now ask me "how's your blog?" with genuine interest! Best of all, I feel connected to a vibrant community of librarians who share ideas and learn from each other. That's a yay!

I don't think I'll be able to keep blogging everyday because it has been a bit intense but I know I'll blog more than I ever did before. I really look forward to meeting all of you at conferences etc. when we get the chance. And I hope this is something we can do every year? Thanks to all of you, the thrill of blogging will be with me forever.

p.s. image is a quick sketch I just did of owl waving goodbye!

Response to @zaana's post on designing workspaces conducive to work

Does an orderly desk = an orderly person?

Like many libraries at the moment we are gathering ideas for a new library building and part of that is thinking about work styles and how that translates as staff workspaces. The google offices have been thrown into the mix and of course we all go why can't we have that? @zaana's post Designing workspaces conducive to work got me thinking. Do we really want that? I certainly like to make my workspace feel like mine by putting up pictures and having tea paraphernalia strewn everywhere but that's it and I think my space is conducive to work. Could it be more conducive? Seeing those google offices I think, what if we had a 'break out area', gym, chef, wii games, espresso machine, ball pit and fairy floss machine? What next? I want a pony! Don't stake me but I think I'd get really distracted by all those things and be a bit less conducive. I guess my work style is 'block out distractions cause you're easily distracted by flashing lights and a ball pit'. What's yours?

While the google example is a little bit overwhelming for me, I find the Macquarie scenario @zaana describes terrifying! Always competing for a space, not feeling like you belong anywhere. I understand the desire to be mobile but that's ridiculous! @zaana didn't seem too against it and I noticed in the comments that someone had tried it in their workplace and thought it really encouraged collaboration so I guess it suits some work styles?

Can we find a balance? I believe we need a flexible, creative workspace that is conducive to work without distracting us. Just like a library, our workspaces need to facilitate noisy group work and quiet individual work, encourage collaboration, innovation and lifelong learning. Just like a library it needs to feel like 'our' space where we feel comfortable and at home. It needs to inspire and motivate us to work and efficiency will follow. We need multi-media editing suites to be expert content creators and comfy places to contemplate new ideas. Recently the librarians here said they want space to 'play'... I guess the problem is finding a way to translate these things into physical space and not just by having colourful walls and funky furniture. I would really like to work in a tree house though...

Response to the future of libraries RN interview

Today I listened to the Radio National interview on the future of libraries with Dr. Ian McShane and Kathryn Greenhill. A few things stood out for me that I'd like to share with you (hope you don't mind me paraphrasing). Here's the link to the radio show.

Kathryn,
What the library opened up for me was boundless...

Ian,
The library did open a world for me that continues to fascinate and engage me...

Kathryn,
The real value of the library, just having a place to go and connect with your community is valuable

Ian,
The library model based on the concept of acquiring a collection has come to the end of it's life. At the same time the concept of the library is a very trusted one and not to be discarded lightly.

Kathryn,
The fundamental role of the library hasn't changed, "we connect people and information... You've got to love and know about people you've got to love and know about information and the cultural history and find new and different ways to put them together".

Ian,
Traditionally the measure of success for libraries has been gate counts and often directly linked to funding. The library of the future should have different measures of success: the extent to which they can demonstrate they're preserving the memory, the way they engage with informal education and literacy and changing literacies and finally the citizenship and community aspect.(great but how can these things be measured?)

Kathryn,
The new library aims to be the community lounge room, a space where you can be yourself.

Ian,
New technologies have led to a rise in the potential of peer-to-peer learning. Librarians can't be everywhere all the time and know everything about everything (although we try - sm).

Kathryn,
We need to understand transliteracy and the new way of understanding imagined worlds that have traditionally been available only through books. For example, the world of Harry Potter can be accessed through books, gaming, movies, online, Lego and more. Reading is only one part of this information/sense-making world.

Kathryn,
We need to position ourselves as an asset to our community when it comes to ebooks and related issues like copyright, formats, what to read, etc.

IMHO to conclude I think libraries are still boundless and continue to inspire and engage us. Libraries are now vibrant social spaces that are so important to the community they support. The interview  within the interview demonstrated some of the many social functions the library performs. A place to work alone while surrounded by others doing the same. A place to get away from distractions. A place to learn from others. A place for serious study. A place to have fun. Great interview!

p.s. the photo above is of a plane I jumped out of in April!

Are you a library genius?

My first attempt at glogging! I must admit it was a bit complicated. I hope they streamline the interface and tools a bit to make it easier to use. But overall, much fun!

30 things meme

30 things I've done this month in addition to #blogeverydayofjune

1. Wrote a paper
2. Wrote an abstract
3. Visited my family in the wilds of NSW
4. Visited my partners family in the wilds of Bayview
5. Pulled sweet potato from the ground and made soup with it
6. Helped a friend in dire need
7. Helped a sister in slightly less dire need
8. Documented my owl collection
9. Reinvigorated my interest in cameras and photography
10. Participated in 10,000 steps
11. Had my last swim in the ocean for a while
12. Brushed up on Kurzweil and Dragon software
13. Made Italian Biscotti
14. Read 4 books
15. Started knitting in remembrance of my nanna
16. Started wearing my scarf collection in earnest
17. Designed cover art for a friends album (that I also helped record earlier in the year)
18. Contemplated life, death, relationships and the meaning of it all
19. Attended a double 5th dress up birthday party
20. Saw two films in the SFF
21. Went to the Bienale of Sydney at MCA and AGNSW
22. Attended a talk by Frank Howarth from the Australian Museum
23. Attended a student hub workshop
24. Attended a talk on new learning commons
25. Attended a talk by Kevin O'Brien on the Aboriginal notion of Country in architecture
26. Attended a meeting with my pod/vodcasting community
27. Saw Animal Kingdom at the Academy Twin Cinema before it closed down
28. Saw Toy Story 3 in 3D with my nieces and nephews
29. Started to feel more a part of the Australian library community
30. Learned the value of blogging

Why am I a librarian?

This is a response to @gigglesigh's and @fionawb's question, 'why am I a librarian'? I've only been a librarian for two years and I guess the why part will keep changing over time but right now this is what I've come up with.

I started my academic life at art school which involved trying to force order onto chaos and disarray. It can be hard to organise creativity and I don't think I was very good at it back then. At some point I turned from Sculpture and installation to printmaking and I think this was a turning point that in part led to my becoming a librarian. Why, I hear you ask? Well, printmaking is a very precise skill involving etching with acids, resins, fine tools, inks, and papers. I learned to examine every detail of an etching and organise my sketches, ideas, tools, and supplies with care. I became a master at the craft and loved using my skill to create new effects, layers, images, ideas. It was the precise and detailed nature of the work that I loved and I think is one thing I love about being a librarian. I started teaching printmaking after a while and loved sharing my experience with students. This too is something I love about being a librarian.

After art school I worked in a new and 2nd hand bookstore for many years. It was a great part-time job with great people, flexible hours and an endless supply of books! I loved reading, looking at, touching and smelling books. Talking books with customers and colleagues was a real pleasure but above all I loved helping customers find what they were after (another thing I love about being a librarian). Being a second hand dealer, you have no idea how obscure some of the requests would be. But I'd wander through the shelves searching and sure enough find a book on a rare breed of poultry or a historical figure of Tibet. It was during this time that I decided I needed to do something more with my life. I felt I had more to offer (society? the world?) and needed a new way to express that. I thought to myself, what do I like? and the answer was: books and helping people. So I thought: I should be a librarian. So naive.

So it was that I started 'library school' and discovered that the idea I had of a librarian was long gone. Thank goodness because I soon embraced my new notion with gusto. I really loved studying so much more than I had the first time. I was learning new things everyday and consuming it all like I'd woken up after a long deep sleep. By halfway through I thought there are so many jobs I could do after finishing - one of my last choices would be librarian. However, after some work experience in a public library I wasn't so sure. I enjoyed helping people and felt a sense of purpose but there was still something niggling at me. I wanted more...

After finishing my studies I worked in a social research centre library for a while and really loved supporting researchers, building databases, websites, teaching them skills, and all the basics of librarianship. The only thing was, I was the only librarian and felt professionally lonely. Being a newbie, I felt I needed to be around other people so I could learn more and be supported and encouraged to find my feet as a librarian.

Now I'm at an academic library and loving it. I feel like I'm in the right place at the right time. What I currently love the most is: helping people learn new things that will help them (staff or clients), feeling supported and encouraged by a great bunch of colleagues, sharing ideas and making ideas a reality, constantly learning new things, meeting like-minded librarians through social media and conferences all over the world, pondering the future of the profession and libraries. That might seem a bit vague but it means a lot to me. I know I've been lucky in my short career. I can only hope my luck continues!