The end... or is it?

This will be my last post on Virtual future.  I started as "Conette the assistant librarian".  I am now "Conette, the blogging, podcasting, not-tweeting wikipedian" who knows what the little black and white blocks are(QR codes), even though my phone is not advanced enough to read them.  It was nice to read what everyone in class had to say about the subject that I felt very down-hearted about at the beginning of the semester.  I learned so much but I still don't think I will ever use Twitter or a blog again.  It was fun though and I will definitely go on with the wiki so look out for our published version.

So now this blogging, podcasting, not-tweeting wikipedian is blogging off. Thumbs crossed that the next couple of subjects waiting for me are as interesting as ICT was.

Podcast completed!

Today I went to Sandy to make double sure that my recording of the interview that I had with my principal librarian is on the right track.  She said it sounded good.  I deleted almost 100 seconds from the original interview making use of Audasity.  There is hardly any background sound left as well.  This is one of the nicest programmes I have ever used and I will definitely try and use it in the future if I need to modify some audio files.

I would really like to link my podcast to my blog, but the only way I am able to add my podcast to the blog is by loading it as a video... I hoped it will work... but it didn't.  Mabe Sandy can give me a bit of help tomorrow before class.

My Podcast Project

Okay so I completed my interview for my Podcast Project.  I interviewed my Principal Librarian, Rosa Folscher, on social media in libraries.  It is amazing on how one can talk for hours on end and not note that the time is flying.  But when you need to record a conversation of five to ten minutes it is nearly impossible.  I thought it would be easy to get to ten minutes but I found that you talk very fast if you know you are being recorded.  Then again you know what the answer to a question is and what you want to ask next but you can only plan an interview to a certain point.  Now I need to remove all the ringing phones, people talking in the library and people knocking on the door even though a big bright sign on the door says "interview in progress, do not knock or enter". 

Part one completed, now for fixing and then posting.  Then project is complete!

Our Wiki Website

Yesterday I added some information to our wiki website.  Now I know that it must first be published and then only others will be able to see what is going on on our website.  Can't wait to see what it will look like finally.  As I said previously it is on the general library information for the City of Cape Town Public Libraries.  I added the Library Bylaw and the Dewey System.  Now some more books and their reviews.

Wiki

So we started with our wiki for the City of Cape Town libraries.  It was quite easy and interesting.  I didn't find our wiki on the web as yet, maybe we have to publish it or something? We finished our layout and decided on what our pages will be called so now we need to fill in the information. We chose a very nice looking background and the information will be very basic but I think it is a good start for a wiki.  Mabe I will change it after the project is completed and make one specifically for the Goodwood Libarary.  Just have to make sure that I don't need special permission.

A Wiki website

I will definitely love to become a wikipedian.  I have always loved to put information together in one space, even though I hardly get the time to do everything.  If only a day had 48 hours.

Last week we got to know a bit more of wiki's.  Wiki is actually a Hawaiian word meaning 'super-fast' and it refers to the website and the software that is used to keep the website going.  One of the privileges of a wiki (and in some cases a downfall) is that anyone can register to add to a wiki website and thus helping to improve the site.  In short, and according to Adele Aubrey from the University of Manchester, a wiki is ''hypertext bases, collaborative software enabling documents to be authored collectively using a web browser''.  A wiki helps team members to share, manage and navigate their knowledge on the internet.

Wiki's have advantages and disadvantages; they can be updated and the new information can be seen as soon as it is updated; links can be made to other websites to ensure that the information is easy to understand and it is probably more collaborative.  Quality control on the other hand is one of the major issues.

Various libraries over the world have a wiki website.  It is now our mission (and project) to work in a team of three and build a wiki website for public libraries.

We will have to start our own wiki so I got a little video to ensure that I am on the right track.  I know Sandy  will show us how but I need to make sure I am ready.

Podcast project

Today I am busy doing some research for my podcast project.  I will be doing the interviews next week and recording it will be a first for me.  I hate to hear my own voice on a recording or even on a home video but this is a must-do thing.  Luckily my head, Rosa Folscher, is up for the challenge and really willing to help me.

Research essay presentation

Why is it so hard to talk in front of a class of people that you talk to every time you are in class? It has been a while since I felt so nervous but I really appreciated all the complements, thank you my fellow classmates.  I really found the various topics interesting and I can't wait to hear what the others present.  All the animation in Ingrid's presentation reminded me about the time when I started playing on PowerPoint.  It was like a game to find out what else I can do or make the words and pictures do. I literally spent hours just playing around on the programme.  When I had 15 - 20 minute presentations as an Environmental Education Officer I used to make use of some of the animations to ensure that the class was kept interested for the entire talk.  Five minutes would have been a breeze... four years back! Well I feel good about my presentation, even though it felt like my heart was pounding outside my body.  Hope the rest of my classmates also enjoyed it.

Internet filtering

Internet filtering is a euphemism for censorship.  To control the information that is put on the Internet or to cut off certain sites is censorship of the Internet.  Filtering the information that is put on the Internet is needed in some ways, even though the filtering programmes are not fool proof.  The filters put itself between the sites that are blocked and your browser.  There are several types of censorship which includes moral, religious, military and political censorship. 

Censorship can occur by  censoring a specific word, phrases or images.  A filter system can also be implemented to block social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It can also be used to block the download of MP3's, videos and games.  Though censorship is implemented in many cases, such as public libraries, there are many ways to get around the censorship.  One such example is merely to change the spelling of the words (type pron instead of porn).

Some Internet filters that can be used includes: CleanFeed, Cyclope-Series, Instant K9 Web Protection, McAfee SmartFilter, Net Nanny, SafeSearch. Some of these filters are free but the others need to be bought online.  

Open Access (OA) and Institutional Repositories (IR)

Open access and Institutional Repositories was the words of the day.  Open access was not so new to me but the Institutional Repositories was a brand new word for me.

Open Access (OA)

Open Access is the free, immediate, permanent, full text online access to research and scholarly material for any user over the entire world at any time.  Two ways of publishing Open Access material exist today.  The green road and the gold road. It all depends on how the information is made available to be used in open access.  An Open Access rainbow also helps to organize the various articles - take a look at this URL for a detailed layout of how the Open Access rainbow works. There are several benefits of Open access but also several challenges.  

Institutional Repositories (IR)

Institutional Repository is an online locus for collecting, preserving, and spreading the intellectual output of an institution in a virtual form.  Institutional Repositories includes articles, lectures, conference papers, digitized special collections, technical reports, data sets and many more.  Images, Audio files and Audio-visual material is also included in Institutional Repositories.  IR can be used to store learning material, manage knowledge, assess research, house digitized collections etc. Several impacts of Institutional Repositories have been recorded and legal issues are also addressed regularly due to the copyright on research material.

It is so interesting learning these new words and all the online functions that I never knew existed. Don't know if I will ever use all of them but some I will definitely try out.

Uploading movies from YouTube

We have to try and upload a movie, so here is my movie.  It is not on podcasting or blogging but on something that I think is very important as well.  This movie is about building and stocking a school library in an underprivileged area in South Africa.

RSS, Podcasts and Tiny URL's

I am definitely not a podcaster! I heard about it for the first time today and as usual my mind started reading stories for little children on podcasts.  Only one problem: I don't have an MP3 recorder. It sounds interesting though and I will really try to go and listen to some on the Internet.

The RSS things was also interesting, getting the updates for various sites in one area will be great! Especially when our blogs for class is updated or the weather or news updates are uploaded.  For a list of RSS readers you can go to http://blogspace.com/rss/readers.

The Tiny URL's I will never forget.  It is not a word like blogger or wiki or podcasting.  It is so cute!  Well I tried it and I hope it works.  The long URL was http://email.about.com/od/rssreaderswin/tp/top_rss_windows.htm and now the Tiny URL is http://tinyurl.com/yo3on6! !

QR Code

Okay so I finally formed a QR code... Unfortunately I can't scan it because my phone is not clever enough.  See if you can scan it and find out where it leads...  

Research essay and Blogging

At last I finalized my research essay.  I started out slowly but when I finally grasped the idea I just could not stop reading about my topic.  Even though I think I laid it out in a good way I do hope I am on the right path.  The last time I wrote a research essay was about four years ago.

I never thought I would be able to do this blogging, now we learn about twitter and micro-blogging but I think I will take it one step at a time.  Twitter will just have to wait for me.  I will however try out this QR code's.

ICT Applications course

The ICT Applications in LIS course opened my eyes to see what I knew but didn't want to know.  In some ways it scared me a bit, but in others it is exiting!

Computer-books

I always wondered how it will be in the future but the thought of library books turning into computers never ever crossed my mind.