My final LIB204 project focuses on something I had the least experience with before starting the Library Technician program, subscription online databases. The only ones I really knew about before I started were ProQuest, ERIC and JStor. I would not have thought about online dictionaries and map resources being online databases as well. This presentation is designed as a basic primer for someone who has never heard of subscription online databases before.
Showing posts with label lib204. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lib204. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Blog Reflection 3
I'm not at all sure, to be honest, how to get younger people to look to libraries as just as a (perceived?) valid a source of information as Wikipedia. The youth are all about viral and community - and not just the youth either to be real honest. One thing to look at is the number of older people not only joining sites like Facebook, but becoming addicted to games like Farmville and Cityville. Community shared knowledge develops the feel of "real" knowledge, and often it can be, whereas library catalogs with their MARC21 standards and Library of Congress records and Dewey Decimal numbers and the like are structured and moderated. This may seem cold and inaccessible to current times.
The reality is that all this information must be cataloged and standardized to make it easily located. What many of these users don't know is similar categorizing standards with keywords and metatags exist on all this information that seems so loose and free flowing on the surface. That's how a search engine or wiki can be optimized to quickly find the information wanted. I wonder if part of the issue is that with a library it's more transparent and thereby more threatening.
None of that solves the idea of how to make it more accessible, it's more trying to analyze "root cause" I suppose. However that's where my brain's at this moment.
The reality is that all this information must be cataloged and standardized to make it easily located. What many of these users don't know is similar categorizing standards with keywords and metatags exist on all this information that seems so loose and free flowing on the surface. That's how a search engine or wiki can be optimized to quickly find the information wanted. I wonder if part of the issue is that with a library it's more transparent and thereby more threatening.
None of that solves the idea of how to make it more accessible, it's more trying to analyze "root cause" I suppose. However that's where my brain's at this moment.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Blog Reflection #2
Blogs definitely can be a useful tool for information, provided it is properly cited. This doesn't necessarily mean MLA or APA (though that definitely helps). However, when information is provided, especially if it deals with the author bringing together several sources, readers should be told where to look at the original sources for information; links are especially useful with other internet sources.
Truthfully I read little blogs these days because I'm too busy writing mine. I would like to point out that's not necessarily a good thing, as understanding one's audience is important and to do that you need to get out and read as well as write. As a writer, I think this is true for any type of writing.
The specific types of blogs I do follow when time permits revolve around animation and entertainment. For example, the site Cartoon Brew with its blog by well-known animation historian Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi out of New York carries a high amount of credibility for its news and insights on animation. As a member of ASIFA-Hollywood that votes on the prestigious Annie Awards and actively supports their efforts at animation preservation, I stay tuned to the animation archive's blog for all the latest. This latter is also a great example of how a library (which is the animation archive is a specialized library) can use a blog. Through this, they can showcase samples of what their library houses to interested people to encourage them to utilize them or perhaps even volunteer their time (the latter being very important when you need to try and save monetary resources for acquisition and preservation). In this way, a blog can also give a library a "human face" when interacting with the public about upcoming events or perhaps even "did you know..." kind of bits to make people aware of all the services a library can offer, while leaving a channel open through comments for people to get even more information.
Truthfully I read little blogs these days because I'm too busy writing mine. I would like to point out that's not necessarily a good thing, as understanding one's audience is important and to do that you need to get out and read as well as write. As a writer, I think this is true for any type of writing.
The specific types of blogs I do follow when time permits revolve around animation and entertainment. For example, the site Cartoon Brew with its blog by well-known animation historian Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi out of New York carries a high amount of credibility for its news and insights on animation. As a member of ASIFA-Hollywood that votes on the prestigious Annie Awards and actively supports their efforts at animation preservation, I stay tuned to the animation archive's blog for all the latest. This latter is also a great example of how a library (which is the animation archive is a specialized library) can use a blog. Through this, they can showcase samples of what their library houses to interested people to encourage them to utilize them or perhaps even volunteer their time (the latter being very important when you need to try and save monetary resources for acquisition and preservation). In this way, a blog can also give a library a "human face" when interacting with the public about upcoming events or perhaps even "did you know..." kind of bits to make people aware of all the services a library can offer, while leaving a channel open through comments for people to get even more information.
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