Challenge Me!

Hello readers! If there are any of you out there still for this blog. I hope so because I am intending to keep it alive.

But I feel the need for a challenge or three. I feel a little stale with my blogging at the moment and would like some energy injected by you, my readers.

I would like you to challenge me to blog about a subject. Now as this particular blog is now devoted to libraries, reading, literacy, technology and things along those lines, the only limit really is that the subject will need to tie into those subjects somehow. It doesn't have to be directly related, but needs to be tied in somewhere.

I will attempt every single subject suggestion that is appropriate!

Leave me a comment with your suggestion.

This is How To Library Blog

I found this beautiful library blog this morning, from Adelaide City Council:

Charlotte's Blog

It's gorgeous! It looks good, great colours and layouts, is chatty and informal yet informative, clearly tells you that it's part of Adelaide City Council without "badging" all over the place and going corporate, and draws you right to the library website all over the place, without leaving you feeling spammed or harrassed.

This is what I would love to do for us. Get rid of all the marketing rubbish that is imposed on us, keep it simple and attractive and yet draw your readers to the places that you want them to see.

I think a lot of Web2.0 technology has excellent applications for libraries. Twitter, Facebook, blogging, Flickr, you name it - we could be using all of these to create a presence in the online world, without being formal or contrived in any way. But I think one of the thing that holds us back is the fact that everything has to be "branded". It just makes it look false and boring. Marketing strategies are great for printed matter, formal information websites and the physical appearance of branches and venues, but when it comes to the online environment, formality just kills it.

I hope to see a lot more push to allow public organisations go in this direction, as ACC are showing it can be done and done really successfully.

Two Hundred and Fifty Four!!

I just looked at my blog subscriptions in Bloglines, and I've subscribed to 254 blogs, and that number climbs every day.

Of course, well over 75% of those are library staff blogs. If you're registered in 23 Things with your blog, I'll have subscribed to you, or will soon. Just so you know you've got one reader out there, someone holding your hand so to speak! When I can, I will leave comments on your posts too.

People kind of look horrified at me when I say I read everyone's blogs, like that's all I must do all day. But using Bloglines (or any other RSS tool), I find I can usually spend less than an hour per day catching up on everyone's blogs. That's because of course, not everyone posts every day, so there's only a certain percentage of new material to look at, and also, when people post pictures or videos, they're really quick to peruse. I've got it all down to a bit of a fine art now - I've had to or I'd go bonkers. But tools like Bloglines, or Google Reader using the RSS feed technology has enabled that. It all kind of intertwines eventually.

I've absolutely loved reading my colleagues blogs. So many people tell me their blog is boring, or that they don't know what to say, but I've discovered so much about people. I've discovered that we're full of artists and musicians, folks who've travelled, people with adorable pets, fascinating hobbies, great memories, interesting tastes and often just new perspectives on things. It's been a really steep learning curve on just how diverse and full of knowledge and skill and talent we all are.

Plus it all helps me do what I do... which is help you, my colleagues. That's what I'm passionate about in this whole 23 Things - not the technology itself (though some of it is lots of fun and really cool), but in helping you guys all learn what is happening in our library services and the big wide world, and helping you all find ways that you can streamline your work so that the day is just that little bit smoother. I figure if you save 10 minutes per day, that's time to have a cuppa that you might not have had before, isn't it?

And after the cruddy day I had yesterday, today I had two people who said the NICEST things to me. It really makes a difference when someone just says "Thanks", it makes the times you feel a bit run off your feet or tired or whatever really worth it. So to those people who have made a point of thanking me or complimenting me... I thank YOU. It's the positive, upbeat folks who really give me the warm fuzzies while I'm working on this project.

Just Start Typing...

Ok, I have no idea what I am going to blog about tonight. I'm too lazy to get up and get my little ideas book that I keep in my bag, for jotting things down that I want to write about. But I did read somewhere that with any kind of writing, if you just sit down and start, then something will flow and you'll find yourself writing something interesting. At least I hope that's what will happen!

Oh, I know what I wanted to talk about. RSS feeds. I keep getting people saying to me "I don't know why I would bother, it's just more stuff to read." Or "I can't see how I would use it, I just go to whatever I want to read." What I'm thinking is that many folks just don't "get" the usefulness of RSS feeds at all. So I'm gonna tell you how I use them and why they work really well for me.

Think of all the magazines in your local newsagent. Say there's about 500. Now you're not going to be interested in every single magazine there right? Out of that 500, maybe 20 of them are something you'd like to read. So you buy a copy of each.

Now some magazines are weekly, some are monthly, some bimonthly, some seasonal, some totally sporadic. We know that from trying to catalogue the damn things. If you want to read them regularly, you need to keep going back to the newsagent to see if there is a new issue out. OR, you can subscribe and get them delivered to your door, whenever there is a new issue. No more multiple trips to the newsagent, it just shows up ready for you to read when there is a new one.

Think of RSS feeds as being subscriptions. Of course there are millions of things out there on the internet available for you to read. But you choose the ones that interest you. Now you can either go back to those websites every day, to see if there are any new posts (or issues) and waste all that time visiting sites with no new content, OR, you can subscribe via RSS feed, and have the new posts come to you. You get notification that there is new content, and then you can go and read it.

In my case, I'm finding it a Godsend when it comes to keeping up with all the 23 Things blogs. When I tell people that I read ALL of the staff blogs, they look horrified at me. But then I explain that I do so in usually less than an hour each day. That's because a) not everyone posts every day, and b) I subscribe to them all, so that I just go to bloglines (my subscription reader of choice) and it collates all the new posts for me. Easy peasy. And trust me... there are over 240 of you who are blogging so far, so that's a lot of trips to the newsagent so to speak!

But when I'm not 23 Thing-ing, there are other blogs I subscribe to. Friends of mine are blogging, and I love to see their photos and stuff, so I subscribe to those so I don't miss anything. There are a few fun things I subscribe to, like Cake Wrecks, Cute Overload, Ugly Overload, Shorpy, PostSecret and Photoshop Disasters. Then there are the informative things that I like to keep up with. Mythbusters website, some writers blogs, some library industry stuff and some women's health things I'm involved with.

The point is, what you subscribe to is what YOU find interesting and useful. Just like the magazines you read. We're not all going to be reading New Scientist, or Women's Weekly, or Patchwork and Quilting. It's all about collating what you read and getting it to you in an easy, timely fashion.

Subscribing!

I Heart BrisVegas

Just thought I'd share the new project I am working on. I'm writing a blog about Brisbane! It's nothing lofty or precious, just the thoughts of a Brisbanite talking about my favourite bits of Brisbane. If you want a look, go to:

http://iheartbrisvegas.blogspot.com/

No Comment!

Well, just enough time for a quick Friday afternoon blog before I disappear for the weekend.

Does anybody read my blog? I read all of your blogs you know. Well, everyone who has either put theirs on the "Links to Library Staff Blogs" page or have sent me their blog address privately. I subscribe to every single one, that way I get updates when you make new posts.

One thing that is good blogging practice, is to leave a comment when you read someone's blog. Not every time, but as often as you can. Because it means your blogger keeps on blogging, when they have some feedback. They know they have an audience, they get to learn the bits their readers enjoy, and they can hone their skills.

So please, do leave comments if you are reading this blog. Tell me things you like, things you are not so fussed on (be constructive in your criticism though!), make suggestions. It helps me know what works in the blogosphere!

Memory Meme

Well as promised, I thought I'd share a "meme" this afternoon, which is a little exercise or game designed to give inspiration for blogging.

So today's meme is:

Tell us about your first memory, and share a picture that relates to it. You can call the blog "Memory Meme"

My first memory is of shoes. Many of you won't be surprised at that! And here's a corresponding picture:



It was when I was about two years old. I can remember laying on the back seat of my Grandparents car, with my feet up on the window. Their car was white. I had on red patent leather Mary-Jane shoes, very much like the ones above, only a deeper red and they had gold buckles on them. I also had on little white socks, with frills around the ankle. I remember the sound of my shoes tapping on the glass, and the smell of Minties which my Grandma always fed us when we were in the car (in the vain hope that we wouldn't puke - never worked for me!) The car is stopped and I can see trees moving outside the window in the wind. It's nice, not hot, but not cold either. The shade from the trees is falling across the car really prettily.

So what's your first memory? Go blog NOW! Oh but leave me a comment first... nobody leaves me comments!