Overseas holiday 2009

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

These are the countries that we wish to visit on our trip
United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, France, Austria, Italy

These are the books I am reading

podcasts

I had a look at some of the podcasts done by libraries and browsed through the lists of podcasts available. I could see quite a few areas where these could be used by a library.

I know that our library has a poetry slam and this would be something that could be podcast so that other users of the library could see what happened that night

The library's toddler time or rhyme time could be podcast so that mothers who found it hard to actually get out to the programme could watch it at home with their children Podcasts could be used for story telling sessions , for reviewing books, or for author visits

Podcasts could also be used for online learning obviously such as teaching computer skillss

I think they are a great thing and I am sure our library users would like to use them as well for radio or TV programmes that they have missed. For me one that I was interested in was Andrew Denton's Enough rope

answer boards

I can see that the young people in particular may really like this concept as they are happy to spend long periods on the computer and it may be a logical place for them to find answers to the questions they have. There were also two areas in particular that I thought of where answer boards may be good and they were to find answers to computer related problems, and maybe issues relating to ettiquette

Librarything

I am already a user of Librarything with 75 books recorded. My daughter introduced me to the idea and we started off with Shelfari but quickly converted to Librarything. I think it is great for many reasons. I like to keep a track of what I read and write a short review as it helps me to remember what I read. It is useful as I take a book group at work and write a newsletter so I have reviews that I can then put in the newsletter. It helps me in choosing books for the group to read. I like to see too what people with other similar libraries to me have been reading as I am always looking for new books and new authors to try out. So all in all a great find I am a fan!!!

You Tube

After looking at some of the library videos on You tube I can see lots of ways that they could be used in our hibrary. A video clip on a library web site would be a great way to advertise the library and its services. The clip could give a tour of the library. They would see where everything was in the library and how to do things, and where everything was.

A video clip could be used to promote an event like Book Week. The library would be all decorated so they could see that, and the events that were happening in that week could be described. The books could be shown, and if bookings were required they could be told how to do that. This could also be done with any activity the library was running.

The book group that I run could be promoted by use of a video clip.

Video clips could also be used for staff orientation purposes. Already our CEO uses video links to aquaint us with important new information.

I thought the Super Librarian was quite a fun clip and a good way to advertise the library especially for younger people.

Abba you tube clips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKx_14vJNZg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?

Looking at Wikis

I have spent a little time looking at the Wikis mentioned in the training programme. The one I liked best was the Princeton Library Booklover's Wiki. I take an adult book group at my library and I liked the books reviewed under different tags - the biographies, the chick lit and the five star books. It must have been a good programme they ran over the summer and it was a good Wiki for me to look at to see what people had been reading. I liked the link to the catalogue too so that prospective readers could see if the book they wanted was available.

The Library best Practice Wiki I found to be much bigger and more difficult to find what you were looking for. I did find one page with a helpful book selection list but I wonder if it may be the case that Wikis can at times just get too big!!

RSS feeds

For this exercise I chose to use Google Reader instead as that is the one that all my family already use. I created links to my children's blogs first, to news stories, to the Powerhouse picture site as asked, and lastly to Entertainment from the SMH. I think RSS feeds could be used in the library firstly for up to date book reviews and upcoming new titles etc especially as I take a book club at my library

my first high tea

It's nice to do different and new things! For my daughter's recent birthday I went with members of my family to have high tea at the Intercontinental in Sydney. Its not a hotel I would normal stay in. BUT at 3pm we arrived for high tea and were treated to beautiful sandwiches and mini savouries along with about a dozen varieties of beautiful little cakes. Each dirty plate was removed as soon as empty. We received a complimentary glass of champagne on our arrival and as much coffee as we could drink or our own individual pot of tea. AND as if all the previously mentioned food was not enough we were able to have crepes or waffles with our own choice of topping plus cream and icecream. What a delight it was to be so spoiled for the afternoon!!!

Mekong delta Vietnam

From Ho Chi Minh city we took a day trip with a guide and driver to the Mekong Delta where we sampled the local food - the various kinds of fruit - and went on a short ride on a boat such as these.

Hanoi Vietnam

Another of our stops on our trip to Vietnam was the North Vietnamese city of Hanoi.
We stayed in the heart of things in the old town where you took your life in your hands to avoid the scooters and cross the road. We found a neat little restaurant a couple of doors down the road where we had several good meals. We walked to the lake from our hotel and were able to visit Ho Chi Minh's house by the lake.

Halong Bay Vietnam

The highlight of our trip to Vietnam was an overnight cruise on Halong Bay. The cabin on the boat was really classy with our own marble bathroom with toilet and shower, and the food provided on the boat was just excellent.
The weather was beautiful, fine and sunny and cruising among the thousands of rocky outcrops was very peaceful. We felt far away from the rush and bustle of the towns but even so we still came across tiny boats with people trying to sell us snacks. The right picture shows the little fishing communities we saw on our trip.

Hoi An Vietnam

In May 2007 my husband and I made a two week trip to Vietnam and spent some time in the historic town of Hoi An. This is a typical Hoi An street scene. We enjoyed our time in Hoi An and had many nice meals in little cafes by the water.

Street scene Hoi An Vietnam

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rielworld/865901421/

scooters in Ho Chi Minh city

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjan99ca/2354024247/

Halong Bay Vietnam

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattladdin/526048874/

blogs for libraries

It was really interesting to look at the blogs that other libraries had created and I believe that it would be really great if our library could have its own blog. I especially liked the one that Sutherland library had here. I could see a lot of ways that we could use such a blog- to communicate with teens as they are particularly computer savy, to promote upcoming events and tell of successful events we have had. Pictures can always be uploaded to make the posts more attractive. We can have reviews of especially interesting new books. The book clubs could use the site to talk about the books they have been reading and post their thoughts on what they have read. I am sure there are many more ways that a blog could be used. I have only rattled off a few for starters