e-learning librarian's toolbox

TAFE red tape gets bad rap in local rag

robyndennis — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:08 +0000

From the Townsville Bulletin on Tuesday:

Nogood form

WHAT is it with the impossibly difficult forms which have to be filled out by apprentices and/or their parents claiming reimbursement for TAFE study courses? Surely these forms can be made simpler. I don’t know how apprentices living in remote indigenous communities go about claiming their entitlements. It’s as though TAFE is deliberately trying to to intimidate people into not claiming what is their due.

Ouch!

Government librarians tap social media to keep clients up to date

robyndennis — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:53:49 +0000

Librarians with the Ontario public service are breaking stereotypes and embracing social media to deliver information within their departments and beyond. Librarians at the Legislative Assembly and the Fire Marshall’s Office are using RSS feeds and Twitter to stay relevant.

http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=54695

Web 2.0 and Library Services for Young Adults

robyndennis — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:49:33 +0000

This looks like a useful document. According to the blurb, it is “an introduction for librarians new to Web 2.0 and Social Media, and who are interested in using publicly accessible social media tools to serve Young Adults in any types of libraries: public, school, special or academic”.

http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/web-20-and-library-services-for-young-adults

Librarians to lead the Web 3.0 charge

robyndennis — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:41:07 +0000

I like what this article from Federal Computer Week says about how librarians will not only embrace Web 3.0, but we will be on the leading edge.

10 Ways Universities Share Information Using Social Media

robyndennis — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:20:40 +0000

Here is a mashable.com article which provides a list of what Universities are using Web 2.0 tools for.

I guess University students in the US are different to TAFE students in Australia. We’ve tried to get students to communicate with us using Facebook, MySpace, IM and SMS. So far they have only responded to SMS communication – although admittedly we weren’t able to promote the other services much.

I wonder if other academic libraries in Australia have had much success.

Why “Goofing Off” At Work Boosts Productivity

robyndennis — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:38:36 +0000

Reading an interesting article on using Facebook and Twitter at work to improve your productivity.

http://www.cio.com/article/print/488418

Librarian 2.0 research at QUT

robyndennis — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:08:29 +0000

I recently took part in this Library and Information Science Education 2.0 project which is being run by Queensland University of Technology, by providing feedback during a teleconference between librarians from all over Australia. The project is being funded to determine what skills and knowledge are required by a librarian 2.0 in order to effectively provide library 2.0.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

Spycam glasses for creating e-learning resources

robyndennis — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:23:26 +0000

Simon Brown, a TAFE QLD Stonemasonry teacher, is doing some interesting things with spycam glasses.

Check out
http://cafechat.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/recording-pov-video-in-the-training-workshop-3/

Interesting readings for March

robyndennis — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:09:48 +0000

Been a bit lax lately, but here are a couple of titbits worth looking at:

Don’t Worry, Be Scrappy: Good, Cheap Tech for Schools, Cloud Computing and More

It’s the perfect time to try cheap new technologies

Professional associations stand up for librarians: Tracey Caldwell looks at how the professional associations are embracing upskilling, specialisation, networking and Web 2.0 to help the beleaguered librarian

Students rate schools/universities for all to see

robyndennis — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:58:28 +0000

Anyone seen this site? Students can review courses and schools/universities.

http://www.hotcourses.com.au/australia/home.html

Here’s the Bremer’s page:

http://www.hotcourses.com.au/australia/university/bremer-institute-of-tafe-australia/115254/uni.html

Scary!