Fiona's 23 things

Semantic Web

2009-03-02T15:09:00.002+11:00

Semantic web = Machines talking to other machines to make sense of the data and draw connections and information from multiple disparate sources.

Ok, I think I got that, but trying to understand 'how' that can be done and the work required to achieve it (semantic web stack) just fried my brain.

Voyage RSS feeds

2009-03-02T14:51:00.004+11:00

AFRGRGGGHHH.... I feel sea sick......all those feeds fading in and out and spinning away and a little bit fuzzy.....that's what Voyage RSS feed viewing does for you.

Very cool in that black space - especially when you delete all the rubbish that you don't want and add your own RSS urls (easy to add and delete content) but still made me feel a little squeamish...

Kartoo...

2009-03-02T14:16:00.003+11:00

I first met Kartoo when he was a young wizard.

He was just starting out in visualization and did a pretty good job given that he was only a young apprentice. The flash work is now, well, more flash - those little bubblies and the colour contours and nice but overall I think he's not as good as he was.

I did my favourite search eg Shakespeare and the inital visual mapping looks ok but then trying to work out to get to the content I wanted was not easy. I wanted to find text of Shakespeare's sonnets and when I followed that path I found a website claiming that some one else (Edward de Vere) was the real author of Shakespeare's sonnets. Well, Kartoo might be wacky but he might also get a whack if he mucks around too much! In the end I did find the site I wanted so Kartoo - all is forgiven.

VU find

2009-03-02T14:05:00.002+11:00

Well, the old OPAC couldn't get any worse!

I like VUfind. I like the clear layout and the facetting aspects (eg the language, genre, format) although I think that the NLA have done better work in making these indexes work than the catalogue I looked at from the VUfind site. eg search on Shakespeare

I also like the format icons in the records - picture, book, online really stands out and will help users find the material in the format they want.

LinkedIn - business social networking

2009-03-02T14:01:00.000+11:00

Back for more with LinkedIn. As a lot of work related information is based on networking it makes sense that there is a business orientated social networking site.

Librarianship is a small industry so if you have worked in libraries for some time you get to know people. But for those new to the industry it would be good to have a place to start the networking process.

23 things round up

2008-02-14T15:09:00.000+11:00

A round up of the 23 Things program and process:

I've loved how everyone has got into doing the tasks - alright the movie tickets were a stroke of inspiration but it worked - and then people found it was quite enjoyable!

I've loved how it has levelled everyone's knowledge about internet applications, social networking, second life, etc. It's improved skills and helped grow individual's confidence in learning and acquiring new skills.

It's been a great opportunity to play with things in a work context.

I love scanning the horizon but time pressure is frustrating. I admire the work and detail that some people have been able to inject into their blog posts. Whereas my meagre efforts look pretty lean...

I've loved finding out about people's interests, and am so impressed by my colleagues creativity.

Thanks, it's been great!

Second life and libraries

2008-02-14T15:00:00.000+11:00

Really can't see the point... what makes libraries in a virtual world better/more interesting/sexier that reality. And if it is better than reality is that because it is all an illusion? One's imagination always IS better/more interesting/sexier.

I think my personality is much more grounded in interactions with real people. I know it is a useful levelling space for people with disabilities or maybe those who find real life social interaction difficult for a variety of reasons. That's great for them but I'm not sure Second Life is a place I want to spend my professional, or personal, time.

You tube

2008-02-14T14:50:00.000+11:00

Saw a handycam video of someone's vacation in Amsterdam. They were obviously impressed with the new Amsterdam Public Library. Looks lovely and shiny and new! Even a performance space for musicians to play. Even though it is obviously pretty shaky camera work the application of You Tube allows us to look at new spaces and buildings that we would not be able to readily visit. (how's the staff development budget looking??)

Library 2.0

2008-02-14T11:28:00.000+11:00

So much written and spoken about this topic - and almost too complex to craft a sensible response in this venue. Aspects like making the "next generation" library catalogue iterations easier for users to discover library resources I see as really positive. Although, unfortunately, not quite "there" yet...

Placement of libraries into Facebook and MySpace I have reservations about - as in are we going to look too "try hard" - the nerdy kid playing at cool. Although after hearing Micheal Geitz's presentation at VALA who would think that 20,000 people would join to defend copyright in Canada - just from a Facebook presence.

As with any "movement" there will be people polarised into simplistic for and against camps, and then there will be the great spectrum of those feeling in between. I'm one of the in-between-ers. It's about scanning the horizon to check what we might want to pick up, and what to leave. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. But it is about being aware of what is happening in the world and talking about the possibilities.

del.icio.us

2008-02-14T10:28:00.000+11:00

I always like to see what other people are interested in - often finding out things that I never knew existed! Liked the Lifehack.org tab. Liked the idea that it connected up a whole range of webpages, flikr photos, etc Good place to get info or to find out more about a particular topic - amazing range of content.

iGoogle personalised page

2008-02-14T10:02:00.000+11:00

This task was great fun because it put together elements of my "favourites" list and made it into one page so I won't have to do multiple clicks to get to the currency converter, for example. I think I'll make it my default webpage.

I've got ABC and BBC news stories, word of the day, weather, google maps, calendar, currency converter. I might change the BBC news to Science top stories - already get that on email but might be better to get through iGoogle and loose the email clutter.

It was nice to be able to add the themes to add colour. I chose the "tea house" theme. Very restful.

Google Book search

2008-02-14T09:25:00.000+11:00

Book Search really appeals to the historian in me. When I did work on early modern european history I was particularly interested in cultural practices. For example, what did it mean to be a "gentleman". And there were a lot of advice manuals telling men how to achieve this state - and we're talking 17th century - so self improvement books are not a new phenomena!

So, how does this relate to Book search? Well, by having access to primary textual material that may have only been available in limited numbers of library collections. I did a search on housekeeping and brought back works on American housekeeping from mid 1800's. Ease of access to this material saves an enormous amount of time and provides richer understandings because more material is available to be used. Really positive application of web resources.

Podcasts

2007-12-21T11:51:00.000+11:00

As this weeks Green Guide says - podcasting has taken off in 2007!

A really good series of podcasts combined with a walking tours is available from ABC Radio 774. The one about food and the history of Melbourne is fascinating. It would be brilliant for locals and tourist alike. I think I'll try to do the walking tour over the summer. See below

Eat, Drink Melbourne

Presented by Derek Guille with food writer Stephanie Alexander.

&lt;BR&gt;Sorry, your browser doesn't support iframes.&lt;BR&gt;Let Derek Guille take you on an exploration of Melbourne’s culinary hotspots as Eat, Drink Melbourne takes in the great eating and drinking sites of today and decades past, interspersed with cooking hints from Stephanie Alexander.

Highlights Include:

The story of Australian food icons, like Vegemite, the Freddo Frog, and the Dim Sim, which were all invented in Melbourne.
The site where the Prince Alfred caused Melbourne’s biggest food-fight involving 100,000 Melburnians.
Rollicking yarns about Melbourne's famous pubs and vineyards.
Stephanie Alexander’s advice on how to select a good cheese or cut of meat.

Route: Starting at Federation Square this podtour winds through the lanes and arcades of the inner city to Chinatown and the Greek precinct to finish up at that foodies haven, the Queen Victoria Market.

Download the walking tour audio Download (Right Click & Save As) 27.7MB MP3

Download the walking tour map Download (Right Click & Save As) ~1.6MB PDF

photos from the Flickr photostreams of gLiTTeRbOi, forbescreative, fazen, jrossmanjr, released under creative commons share alike licenses.

Pet photo on the wiki

2007-12-21T11:28:00.000+11:00

I put a photo of Mattie on the pet wiki page a little while ago.

She looked worried in the photo but yesterday she was really beside herself during a severe thunderstorm and chewed off half of the back door frame!

Google docs

2007-12-21T09:47:00.000+11:00

Had a play with the spreadsheet which seemed pretty much identical to MS excel - and as I'd just done an excel course I had some point of comparison/sameness between the two. Although I couldn't make charts using the F11 key like in excel.

The potential for being able to use the app through the web and not confined to the pc or other hardware is nice. And the ability to share too. Really useful to know about!

All things Google -ly

2007-12-21T09:24:00.000+11:00

Google Maps - I had seen my local street map in Melbourne before but this time I looked at the area I grew up in - Derrinallum.

For those unsure about the location of this small town it is in south western Victoria on the Glenelg Highway. The most notable feature of Derrinallum is Mt Elephant which makes up part of the volcanic plains of the western district. On Google Maps you can see the perfect volcanic cone and also the breach, or saddle, of the volcano when it erupted. Also around the area are some white striations across the satellite image which I'm not sure what these are - could be the "stoney rises" which is also a feature of the volcanic activity of the area. Quite fascinating!

MySpace and Facebook

2007-10-19T12:42:00.000+10:00

I had a look at the Jasper Public Library entry on MySpace: pretty cute but doesn't seem to have been overwhelmed with "friends". As a device for marketing the library to a particular segment? -libraries still have a geeky image - but then I saw a "vote for pedro" T shirt this morning and thought about Napolean Dynamite and the charm of the film. Does "geeky" + " integrity" = "charm"?

Who knows, but you have to be in the sandpit if you want to play....

I joined Facebook with minimal personal info - (which may to may not be correct info, you decide!) but at least I'm Tony's friend. Thanks for asking Tony!

RSS feeds

2007-10-11T16:17:00.000+10:00

I've joined up to Google Reader which was easy peasy since I used Mozilla and because the Google account was already set up.

I've subscribed to the "Technology" folder that was available on Google Reader and that includes digg as well as wired top stories. Also added Librarian in Black and Lorcan Dempsey's blog too - but those already existed in my favourites folder in Mozilla.

Rather underwhelmed by digg at the moment but I might need to have a look further...

Flickr group

2007-10-03T14:43:00.000+10:00

Ok, nearly caught up with all my tasks.

Just joined the 1950's Interior design and residential architecture group. Fantastic photos and group discussions about all sorts of 1950's related design books, sources, homes, colours...

Library Thing

2007-10-03T14:11:00.000+10:00

Library thing - interesting in that I found I have some fairly obscure reading tastes (Like the Feng Shui dectective) but 1 person had 5 titles that are in my catalogue.

I followed up and got some more titles to check out from the good old public library down the road. See my list by searching seahorse23

Other people's blogs

2007-10-03T09:34:00.000+10:00

So many blogs to choose from: I've commented on Shibuya 109's image generator. Lovely retro Disneyland photo.

Sara J kindly offered another blog for me to look at - must do that in the next few days.

Sea of Memes has an artistically dead flower in her Flickr account, and then found there was a group for like minded dead flower enthusiasts - as she says in her blog "Who knew?" As I mentioned there is plenty of potential entrants for this group in my garden.

Lots of great blog names, showing individuals personal interests and the fascinating things that are being put up on their blogs - I'm learning about 2.0 AND a whole lot of other things at the same time. Great!

Image Generators

2007-10-02T15:05:00.000+10:00

Must say I'm not feeling very witty today (not that I'm making a claim for wit at any other time either!)

Flickr time...

2007-10-02T14:47:00.000+10:00

Well, I've been off the air for a few weeks...

Time to catch up with Flickr - the photo I've put up is Mattie-the-wonder-hound. She's wondering what I'm going to do next...she's trying to pretend she's asleep...

Pitti Palace - Florence

2007-09-12T16:47:00.000+10:00

This is an image from inside the courtyard of the Pitti Palace in Florence.

I like the image because of the different textures of the buildings surface are so intricate, and somehow tactile....

I wanted to add an image from a folder and see how I could add to my blog. Will also help when I join Flickr.

"At the beginning..." said Alice

2007-09-12T09:55:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone,

As part of the 23 things team we have just launched the program at Swinburne with a "roadshow" to all the campuses letting people know how to get started, and about some of the activities in the coming weeks...

Great fun with Clare, Tom, Andrea and Cleve as we raced from one campus to the other. And for Andrea it was a great opportunity to visit the other Swinburne libraries that she hadn't seen.

Lucky Cleve will be leaving soon on his overseas holiday (and a world breaking attempt at visiting the most number of countries in 12 weeks) and then Mary will be the 23 things champion at Prahran.

I'll have a look around the settings and the template and see what I can add but I think I'll put this up now, and make my blog prettier later.