What do you think about my blog?
Please post any comments regarding my blog and how you might see blogs working in libraries. Is there a place for them in our library? Is web2.0 technology useful for librarys and librarians to have? Have you a blog? Have you used a wiki? How can I encourage my work mates to give blogs and web2.0 stuff a go? Are you interested at all? If not why not? All answers are valid, and I make no judgements.
posted by Wendy @ 4:21 pm
8 Comments:
Poor Wendy, calling out but still waiting for people to come...
Keep doing what you're doing Wendy. Maybe slow down a bit. One post per week - on a particular theme. I have noticed a Librarian 2.0 theme in your recent posts. Maybe save them up in a draft until you have enough in there to be one solid post on Librarian 2.0 resources... a suggestion only.
But you really need to get out there still. as much as possible. Take on big stuff. Find a paper and review it in your blog. Do it in such a way so that if I read your review, I could get away with not reading the paper! Make sure the authors know that you have done it.
Run workshops. Make sure you show people how to use RSS and a news reader. Get them to subscribe to your blog.
Join email lists and contribute to the discussion through your blog.
You need to work hard to build your network. According to Bloglines, you only have 2 subscribers. According to Delicious, I am the only one that has bookmarked your blog. Which means you need to promote more, participate in other spaces more, comment regularly on the blogs that you want to be associated with always... etc.
Poor me (LOL)
I’m doing my best. I have commented on others blogs and invited folks to read mine. I think one post per week is a good idea. Running workshops is good too, however, I need permission and support from management to do that. After saying that when I come back from the Web2.0 workshop, and I give the feedback presentation to the various groups of library staff, I might be able to create that opportunity.
I have one nagging self confidence issue and that is I feel I know stuff all about the technology I’m using, I’m just doing it…I’m not an expert.
“Join email lists and contribute to the discussion through your blog.’ I’m not sure what you mean, about “contribute to the discussion through your blog” you might have to show me. I do try to participate, but my problem is time and fitting it in around other work stuff. I wish I could be just left to it (whilst I’m learning about it), without any interruption, but this isn’t possible. It’s time that is the problem. I’m just lucky you’re out there pushing/egging me on!! THANK YOU
Hi Wendy
I'm having a blogging afternoon and came to your blog again through Leighs. I too am struggling with how to get more readers and commenters coming my way. I see some blogs with amazing comments/discussion but they tend to belong to wellknown educators - eg George Siemens)... whereas we are in professions of whom most don't even know what a blog is let along go searching for them! And if they do... then there is very little material and so they leave the web again! So I'm working on going to others blogs, and then inviting like minded individuals back to mine... well thats what I've done today anyway - lets see what happens! So if you'd like to check out what we are doing - come to oteducation.wordpress.com, leave a posting or two, and if you're free on Monday around 5ish.. come join our project group and see what we are creating....
Hi Merrolee,
I’m certainly challenged by the future! I’ve read some of your postings and several things popped up that sort of mirror either what I have experienced or observed. I like the idea of working together, collaborating to bring a collective learning experience or body knowledge together. It’s wonderful idea. I think part of the bringing of ideas together in one place is sensible, however as you observed in some of your classes, Web.20 stuff is not always intuitive, so getting the ideas all in one place has it’s problems. To physically get the ideas ‘out there’ needs a certain amount of training to learn how the technology works, and then use it as a platform for learning. In your post “Reflections on a recent learning experience” you observed the frustations of some of your students trying to get to grips with the new technology. I too have found it frustrating as I don’t find Web2.0 always intuitive, you have to have some knowledge of how it works, the answers to the “what will happen if..and the how to’s” are often difficult to find. I’ve read several blogs about what web 2.0 is, but only through the efforts of Leigh Blackall have I got anywhere with it. He has sent me “how to” links etc. Web2.0 appears to be very fragmented and have little structure. It takes a different set of thinking skills to tackle it (or that’s what I’ve found). I’ve also observed this with fellow staff who have been turned off the technology as it’s not intuitive, difficult to use, and unless you have some IT knowlege they feel it’s just a bit tooooo hard to grasp. It appears to be up to the learner/me/you/student/user to organise it into a meaningful whole, which isn’t always easy if you’re not sure how to.
What some people find intuitive is not always so for others. As you say some [of us] need to “understand the ‘whole’ before engaging in each part” I can and do understand how some of your staff and students feel. However, after saying this, (and I know the last bit was all negative), I am determined to get a handle on how it works and hopefully pass it on to other librarians. The potential is huge. I’m off on a librarians hands-on web2.0 workshop in a couple of weeks, so hopefully a few of my questions will be answered. As regards your comment “working in wikieducator exposes our thinking and work immediately to the world, open to comment and review.” I can understand that uncertainty too. Heck look at me exposing my thoughts to the world! However, again there is soooo much potential for learning with wikieducator, a learning that can’t be experienced any other way. I’d encourage your staff to have a go, they are already experts in their field, Web 2.0 is just another way of sharing their expertise with everyone. Good luck to you all.
Hi Wendy
Yes, I do think there's a place for web2 technology in libraries. I think it would be great, for example, to see The BillRob have its own blog where students and staff can share ideas, reviews, and gripes. My problem as one of your 'reluctant to get involved' colleagues is that - as you say - it takes so much time to get to grips with the technology and I see it as being on a need-to-know basis. If library management would show some initiative, commit to web2, get the staff involved, offer training, then yes, I'd be keen to learn and get involved with any project going.
Hi Wendy
I can see I'm going to have to get with this Web2.0 lark...or be left behind. It's finding the quality time just to scratch the surface of this exponentially growing area!
Cheers
T
HI Wendy
Just left a response to your comment on my blog - probably should have left it here as well??? I see that is what you have done?
For your colleagues - its true that it takes time - but if you check out my blog (http://oteducation.wordpress.com) then look to the right under the heading web 2.0 you will see nine blogs. Each of these were created by an OT with no previous knowledge of blogs who have attended just four 1.5 hour classes and inbetwen played with their blogs for up to another hour each week. So not a huge time committment - just think about the time you might spend in getting to a workshop, the time on the workshop, and then did you continue to build your knowledge after the workshop with reading, research, reflection, changing of your practice? How much time did this take? Just a thought :-)
I think the difference here, is your students have been given the support, encouragement and opportunity to attend 4 x 1.5 hour classes(brilliant!)They have structured time, where with the help of a tutor, their questions can be answered. Library staff, as a whole, are not given the same encouragement or opportunity, as yet, to attend similar types of classes. They don't have the same support as you and your students do. Personally, if I had had this type of support, I'm sure learning about the technology would be much, much easier, and far less time would have been wasted with me trying to figure things out for myself. I have managed to get myself on a one day web2.0 librarians workshop in a couple of weeks time. ooohhhhHHH I'm excited! I live and dream! I hope that from this, management will be give me the opportunity to pass on what I've learned, by allowing me to hold workshops or at least get some discussion going around the subject. I want to encourage and support other librarians to find out about web2.0.
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