Melbourne trip

A couple of weeks off, so I decided to travel down to Melbourne for a little while.

Visited some great local attractions, including the state library. Liked their beautiful reading room.

Also saw this interesting old poster about "Pharos", which was on one of the historic displays currently on show.

Watched some street performers juggling with fire & a chainsaw, down by the Yarra river, enjoyed the local coffee shops.

User group was great!

That was a wonderful user group experience. Learnt a lot about the new software, got advice from other customers & the vendor. It was good to see the performance of the software at Wagga, as well as their RFID system (a different brand). Enjoyed the company of the other delegates, made new friends & refreshed old friendships. The drive home was a bit quicker. (I didn't visit any libraries)

Driving to Wagga

On my way to Wagga for the Libero user group meeting. It's been a good day. Visited libraries at Goulburn, Yass & Gundagai. Yass & Gundagai have old buildings, tucked away from the main street, but their collections & facilities are great! All the libraries I've seen today have plenty of books, PCs, reading & study areas, plus specific collections & areas for various user groups, be they children, youth, or aged. And the staff are always friendly, visible & accessible.

It would be nice if the libraries were more visible from the main streets, but the good news is they are all well signposted, so it is easy to find them. Only one library I saw today was closed (it only opens limited hours). The rest were all open & serving customers.

I was particularly impressed with some of the collections I saw today, with one exception, none of the libraries appeared to have strong reference [not for loan] collections. Most appeared to have been absorbed by the non-fiction lending collections. Hmmn.. I wonder if we really need our reference collection to be quite so extensive (and spacious)? Especially as so many people are now depending on us for internet access.... and a place to do their homework? Things are changing. We have noticed a sharp increase this year in the number of people using our free Wifi access. ....free? Hey! Just remembered, as I write this, I'm using Gundagai McDonald's free WiFi access! Makes a lot of sense. I like the way you can login immediately, without any password. Maybe we should do that on our Wifi, certainly makes it easy & convenient for people.

User group

Hey! I had forgotten what a great bunch of people the Libero user group are! Checked into the motel & walked to the nearby library, where the 'delegates' were all starting to arrive. Evening refreshments were being served, as we all got re-aquainted. I had not seen most of these people for at least a year, and it was really nice to catch up. The software vendor was wonderful to talk to, as always, and there were a few new faces too. Sadly, our buddies from Canterbury couldn't make it, but we had a great meal at the pub together tonight. Tomorrow the conference starts in ernest. I am keen to see the latest enhancements & directions the system is taking.

Online slideshows etc

I'm real happy with the online versions of software I normally use on my own computer. The fact that there is no cost to use them is a plus. But more significant is the usefulness of being able to save your files on a shared server, without the responsibility of ownership of that server, is amazing. I saved about 50 photos in jpeg format on the Picasa site, while on holidays, as a backup to my own netbook. Those photos are still there, several weeks later. Being able to edit files & photos, and then save & email them, all without personal software or local email accounts, is a real bonus. The question in my mind: what's in it for these websites, if the users are not paying any money for the service?

Blogging 2.1

Since I finished the 2.0 course, I've been adding blog posts here as the mood takes me. A natural use for the blog was our trip to Cairns. I was able to upload photos & write commentary while we were away, which was great. The other thing I found useful was an online photo storage site "Picasa", where I made a backup of some of the photos we took while we were away. Have a look (attached).
I do like blogging. I guess it is a way of getting thoughts out of my head, & down onto the computer - a bit like keeping a diary (although I've never kept one before). There is something therapeutic about it. Plus of course, it gives me a record of what has been happening in my life, so I can go back over it later if necessary. So far, I haven't found other blogs that I read regularly. Just the odd one that pops up in a Google search on a specific topic of interest. Yes, I have commented on someone else's blog, but only once or twice. I think I find blogs a bit too personal, whereas message boards on specific topics I participate in quite regularly.

Creative

I think the various style options are great! They enable a lot more creativity, and I was very happy to find a "bookshelf" background for my blog. Suits me fine.

So many Blog styles!

I read through the 25 blog styles. I can see that they all have a place. I think my own style is pretty much narrative. Sometimes I link to things, sometimes promote things. Here at the library I think we are using blogs to promote our current & new activities & resources. Particularly by including a photo or two with each post, I think it becomes something like an online journal!

Social Networks

Well, social networks over the internet seem to be a pretty good idea. I like the way I've been able to catch up with old schoolfriends (through the old schoolfriends site, and via Facebook), and it's great to see faces that have matured over the last 25 years. I also like the corporate social sites, which seem to get us closer to the organisation, how it operates & the latest news. I can see how these sites would be a good way of promoting activities & events. I have only one reservation, and that is the potential for misuse that could possibly occur in this open environment. So I guess the main thing is to keep all information appropriate & correct. But overall, I've really enjoyed setting up & adding to my blog, photograph records from my holiday and Facebook site. The 2.0 course has been a real winner!

The old washing machine

Been a few weeks since the tropical adventure. Now back to reality. The Washing machine broke down (24 years old), main drive motor dead, giving off smoke. Spent all morning Saturday cleaning relay contacts, which were badly burned. Reassembled, and wow! It worked! Started washing a load of clothes, everything seemed fine.... until bang, it stopped again, more smoke etc etc. I guess that was it's last hurrah. The book tells me that when the relay fails, it causes the motor windings to overheat, shorting them out. So although I fixed the relay, the damage was already done. Fixing stuff...... oh well, I went down to the Good Guys & bought a new one, so far, so good. Sometimes you just have to junk it.

Cairns library

Had a bit of time to spare before our flight home, (and it was raining), so what better place to go than the local library...again.

I liked their drive-through book return chute.

But also the spacious foyer.

And the inlaid children's book excerpts in the pathway.

One of the library's best features is the building itself, with its high ceilings, large windows & spacious "rooms", all set in a garden of giant fig trees & other tropical plants. And the staff of course were very friendly, & happy for us to take the photos!

Catana Wetlands & Yorkey's Knob, 23 July

Today was a bit quieter for us. Drove a short distance to a lovely new wetlands area called "Catana", about 20km north of Cairns, and then on to the Beach & headland known as Yorkey's Knob.
The Catana area was previously a sand? mining area, and quite degraded, until the local council & other government bodies redeveloped the very large piece of land into a sizeable lake, with many tree & shrub plantings, lovely walkways, including a boardwalk through rainforest vegetation, and good signposting & information displays.

It took us about an hour to walk around the track, taking a few photos as we went. A nice feature are the bird "hides", where you can observe & photograph the wildlife on the lake without disturbing them. If I had a good camera, the pictures would appear here. I'll upload what I've got shortly.

Flying home tomorrow!

Cairns Library, & Kuranda - 22 years later

The Reference room (left) at Cairns Library - a beautiful old building in excellent condition gives this library a very spacious, light-filled feel, and seems to be well used, judging by the number of people browsing, borrowing & studying. Nice to visit.

(Above) Part of the interesting archeological display we also saw in Kuranda.

(Below) The old Kuranda markets

Kuranda Railway

The last time I was in Kuranda was at least 22 years ago, bwfore our first child was born. Now he's 21, and we've finally returned to this small highland town about 27km out of Cairns. Last time we were here, the town seemed to be overrun with alternative lifestyle people, many living in very simple accomodation in the forest. They were selling beads, necklaces & other trinkets to passers-by. I distinctly remember one man who had hair about two feet long, all bunched up in a big burr, that I guess was very cool.

Well, twenty two years later, the hippies seem to have become shop owners, tidied up their hair & taken on a more conventional lifestyle. There is a section of the town called the "Heritage Markets", with old-style shops, mostly vacant on the day we visited. I saw one lady hanging around the small library who looked a bit like a person from that previous era, but not much else.

The Butterfly Sanctuary was excellent, the largest in Australia.

The price of a coffee was about $4, so i guessed the town has become commercialised, and not a lot different to any other tourist site up here.

Kuranda was a great place to visit. Glad we went, the highlight being a wonderful museum of archeological artifacts & replicas, which cut against the general trend, by asking only for a donation....

Happily, we arrived in Kuranda just as the special narrow-gauge tourist train was arriving, so we got a few snaps at the station. (But not a steamer unfortunately).

Great Barrier Reef

Hey, probably the best thing we've done on this trip, but the one with the least number of photos taken (no underwater camera!). The photo above left, was taken underwater by the guy on the boat, and this is a quick copy of the print, taken with my camera.

Got collected by the Quicksilver coach at 8:15 for a ride to Port Douglas, where we boarded a big ferry for the trip to Agincourt reef, on the outer edge of the Great Barrier reef. Enjoyed demonstrations, videos & talks by the marine biologist as we went. The weather was cloudy, but not too hot at about 26, as we swam off the huge floating pontoon into the tropical water. Immediately saw lots of fish, swimming at a fairly deep area with sparse coral (it has been largely trampled & destroyed by other visitors...). Swam around for while searching for better sights & finally discovered a large, shallower area a long way out from the pontoon & boat, where the coral was extensive, colourful & teeming with fish of all sizes, colours & shapes. Just about everything we have ever seen in books or on TV, only better! The fish came up to us when we were still, sometimes right up to our faces! Beautiful striped, spotted, colourful fish, some with elongated, some with flat bodies. I'll never forget it.

But one highlight of the day was before we even got to the reef - we spotted an albino (white) humpback whale! Flippers coming up out of the water, and finally, a huge breaching leap up & over, only a few hundred meters away!

Breathtaking stuff for everyone on board.

What a day!

Palm Cove, the Tropical Zoo & another rainforest!

Spent the morning swimming, walking & eating at Palm Cove, a northern Cairns beach. After lunch visited the Tropical Zoo for hours, looking at all sorts of interesting creatures, then back to a rainforest walk of about 4km before pizza down on the promenade. I'm starting to get tired, (Sam's already asleep)...

Atherton

More driving today, checking out the Atherton tablelands, a visit to an old work friend, and more photos!

Daintree rainforest

Had a great day yesterday walking around the Daintree rainforest. Wonderful natural forest, full of huge trees, vines, flowers, birds - beautiful.

Green Island

Andrew & Sam's Excellent Tropical Adventure

Google Docs

Google Docs is an interesting application for sharing document editing over the web. It seems to have most things you would want - only it appears to be dreadfully slow to do anything. Takes a long time to open & close documents, and I can't find a "save" button anywhere - I guess it just saves automatically. Great idea, just not sure if the technology is up to it yet. Strange, because it is just word processing, you wouldn't think it would take much grunt for this to work?
I enjoyed saving a fairly short diary of my holiday adventures on Google Docs. It was easy & simple to use in the end. So I guess now I have yet another handy option for word processing on the road!

Mashups!

Well, this topic looks really great. I really like what I see in mashups, they seem to "leverage" the technologies by being combined. I like the "London: A life in Google Maps" mashup, which allows you to graphically search (by clicking on a map of London) for interesting tourist attractions in London, which would be really great if you just wanted to explore the city thoroughly, chunk-by-chunk; I think it would help you plan your days travelling better, by giving you a really good visual idea of where everything is in the city, as well as little pictures of each attraction, linked back to it's specific website. And of course, the benefit of that is that you can then access everything about that place, like opening times, addresses, etc. The concept would lend itself to just about any topic, especially broad topics with lots of categories. I can almost imagine the library web catalogue being "mashed up" with a "virtual bookshelf" graphic that helps people "discover" books on related topics, authors, etc (just using the ordinary authority tags in the MARC record would allow this), and I guess that is what is already happening with some library catalogue software - searching by picture in a "kids opac", for example.
I wonder if we could "mash up" our pictures in the historic local photo database. Mash them up with a Google map, and maybe some relevant scanned documents/newspaper articles, etc? Perhaps create a virtual historic walking trail around Campbelltown, with links back to the old photos from each site?

Update:
I've happily been "mashing" pictures from our Local Studies database into a Google Map - creating a virtual historic walking trail! What fun! The boss says put it onto our website, so I am very pleased. We just need to add a few more points of interest first, and then will add it to the site.

Here is the Campbelltown map in progress:

http://bit.ly/b22nuc

And here is the London map mentioned above:

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/londoninmaps/exhibition.html

Podcasts

So far, in my web experience, I've only found podcasts to be useful when I have a specific interest in seeing a video or hearing a spoken audio file when other static web material (text/photos/diagrams etc) have not been so useful. this has not happened much for me.
However, I can see that a lot of people would often prefer a sound or video file. For example, library customers who have poor eyesight like listening to books on CD or tape. For them, the audio podcast would be good. Although - how do they find it & start it running if they have bad eyesight? The internet is largely searched via our eyes on a web-browser - which would make this difficult for partially-sighted people, I would have thought?
For video files and audio files, obviously, this is the best way to access them on the web. I can see that all my favourite sound & video tracks & snippets are so conveniently accessible, all through this little PC. Which is amazing.
Our library is planning a digital audio book service, in partnership with a commercial vendor, who will provide digital content for a very large number of audiobooks, plus the website interface to blend with ours, providing the necessary links to digital audio players, and the books themselves.
This is a wonderful service for all library customers, especially those that are tech-savvy enough to be able to download an item to their home PC & save it onto either a CD or MP3 player for use in their car, etc, which is already a very popular use serviced by our existing physical talkingbook collections.

"Slamming the Boards"

I like answer boards. I often use a forum for my car, which has helped me a lot over the last few years, both in asking questions & getting helpful replies, and also in using the "search" facility to find old posts that refer to what I'm looking for. This is a really great way to find very specific answers to often very technical questions. I guess the power of the answer board is the fact that so many people provide answers, and you can look through them all to get your information.
While somewhat tedious (having to log in & check through the boards periodically), answer boards sometimes have an alert feature that emails you when the answer comes in.
As far as the idea of librarians trying to answer all the questions out there - it is a very big ask! the boards are many and varied, and not really organised or linked systematically. But I do think we could focus on some of the more popular answer boards, perhaps the more general ones? and help build the knowledge up.
I guess the way I see answer boards now, is pretty much as databases which can be searched for good information. I think the best boards should have a search feature, be split into topical categories, and sortable by post date, poster, and topic.

Library Thing

Library Thing is a really cool tool! What a great way to catalogue your own private collection, plus make it available for others to share. (Look out, catalogue record providers!).

I really like the immediate cooperative sharing of data - something various library networks have been doing for years, but now looks so simple in this library "thing"....

Hmmn, I wonder if we could start using it for our library records? (Banish the thought! God forbid!) In reality, I guess it might just be a bit too messy to use as a normal library tool - we're programmed for neatness!
Click here to see my catalogue on Library Thing:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/andrewhgee

Technorati

I'm not so excited about Technorati.
First up, my blog hasn't appeared in it yet, even though I've registered. Found a note saying it crawls the web for new stuff & updates as it finds it. But if I've registered, surely it would appear immediately?
Tried the search and got the same results using the advanced search. Only after I changed the search settings to do a "low authority" search, did it bring back 14 results instead of the 2 I got with the standard search.
Hmmnn

Favourite song of the day

I just had to post the lyrics that are circling in my head today. From John Hiatt's "Angel Eyes":

Girl, you’re looking fine tonight
And every fella’s got you in his sights
What you’re doing with a clown like me
Is surely one of life’s little mysteries

Chorus:
So tonight I’ll ask the stars above
How did I ever win your love?
What did I do, what did I say
To turn your angel eyes my way?

Well I’m the guy who never learned to dance
I never even got one second glance
Across the crowded room, that was close enough
I could look, but I could never touch

Chorus

Don’t anybody wake me if this is a dream
’cause she is the best thing that’s ever happened to me
All you fellas you can but look all you like
But this girl you see, she’s leaving with me tonight

And there’s just one more thing I need to know
If this is love then why does it scare me so
Must be something only you can see
But girl, I feel it when you look at me

Chorus

What did I do, what did I say
To turn your angel eyes my way?

Link to my Delicious tags

Forgot to put a link to my Delicious tags in. Here it is: http://delicious.com/andrewgeee

Delicious

Well, I am still getting through the 2.0 course. Spent a fair bit of time exploring "Delicious", setup my own account & started tagging some of my favourite websites. This is an improvement on using simple bookmarks or favourites. All my real favourites arranged in alphabetic or date order, with more detail, and very searchable. The tagging is a big plus, as it enables me to use my own language to link to the websites. A bit like a personal phone directory that links you straight to the relevant site when you click on it. Overall, I think it's a great idea! Another plus is that you can cross-ref to other users' chosen sites, thereby leveraging the effort of others. I guess the challenge, (as always) is to include only the really good stuff, so it doesn't get full of junk?

Model rocket video

Check out this great video of a model rocket in action. this is the sort of thing I dreamed of when I was about 12. Always wanted to build a working rocket. But the solid-fuel engines were only available at expensive model shops, or via mail order from the US. A school friend of mine (Nick) had a commercial one - his dad was an airline pilot who was able to get these sort of extreme toys, and I was often over at their place, dazzled by the cool stuff Nick was able to do. I had to satisfy myself with rubber-band powered models made of cardboard & balsa. But hey, at least I got the parachute to work on it, which I was very proud of.
I'll post an old photo if I can find it.

Resolution

Just watching a Google video of Richard Glover at Mosman library. Interestingly, this video has not stopped once, since I started watching it. A lot better than the YouTube video, that stopped about every 30 seconds or so to download a bit more.
However, the price paid for a non-stop video stream seems to be the video resolution.
So Richard's face is a bit blurry, his lips don't always keep up with the sound of his voice, and it looks a bit low-qual, compared to the rest of the site.
I guess we need to strike a balance between video continuity & quality over a typical internet connection.
A "typical connection"? I heard on the radio the other day that 80% of Australian internet users have broadband connections at home now, so I guess these data speed problems are gradually becoming less of an issue. But what about the battler who can't afford broadband?

YouTube

I've been watching YouTube videos as part of the Learning 2.0 course. What a great way of sharing video! I think what I like best is the fact that it can be watched anytime, from anywhere in the world, by whoever wants to.
I'm interested in it's use as a training resource, that can be used to introduce new concepts or products to staff. As it can be used at anytime, training can occur at the user's own pace & convenience. This could come in useful for training staff on features of the library management system, for example.
We could also store an "Introduction to the library" video there, aimed at new library users. This could run on library PCs & OPACs maybe, for when a customer just wants to learn more about our services. And having it linked off our website would be an obvious plus. We could even have a number of videos, like the old "Pathfinders" to help people use the different sections of the library - Family History, for example, or we could have an introduction video for each branch, hilighting the features available.

RSS & newsreaders

Well I'm still getting my head around RSS & newsreaders.
So far I like the odd bits of information they throw my way. But I think it can be a bit distracting from my day job, sometimes like junk mail. I guess what i like best is the large number of feeds out there, all on different topics, etc.
I think the key to success must be finding the very exact, specific ones you are interested in, and subscribe to those. For example, I like fixing cars, so I would look for a newsfeed specifically on my model of car, and any feeds related to that.

ABC news feed

So i've added the ABC news feed to my Blog. Hopefully it won't get in the way too much, but also be a handy news update.

RSS & newsreaders

Well I think I like these things that "feed" me information all the time.
I have always liked getting email alerts from my favourite car forum website, and to me, these news feeds are a similar kind of thing. Although they are more general in nature, and a bigger variety of news comes through.
But the end result is pretty much the same: I get alerted about things that I have chosen to be alerted about.
For example, the email SMH news alerts that I get in the AM & PM are convenient ways of keeping up to date with the big news stories each day.
But I also think having too many feeds can be a bit distracting while trying to work. So I guess the key is to be selective in what one chooses to subscribe too.

Photo from 2002

Here's a photo of me from way back in 2002, at the Christmas party....

Chrysler Voyager concept car

Well I found this picture on Flickr of the new Voyager concept car - looks pretty small, compared with my 1997 model!

Stephen Abram video

Just watched a video of Stephen Abram from the Murdoch University Library, talking about the 23 things in the Library 2.0 course. Very positive & encouraging!

Working on the Technology Plan

Well I've done a bit of work on my library technology plan.
I am thinking we need to do a lot of things, including:

* Review the library's loan parameters
* Research how we can make the LMS interact with our subscription databases (via the catalogue records, web links & discovery services, for example)
* Research an OPAC that will "discover" all of these resources.
* Decide how we want the search results displayed (local holdings first? or mixed in with the other results?)
* Investigate these "discovery" solutions with the vendors (Insight, Ebsco, Gale etc)

* Match the design of the website to our users' needs. (If they can't FIND IT or USE IT, we are wasting our effort)

* Digitise more of our collection
* Maximise the use of the software - turn on all useful features & promote to customers.
* Develop website to include more interactive resources
* Seek partnerships with local schools/TAFE/University to maximise IT investment.
* Investigate Ebook options. Research alternative vendors, talk to other libraries
* Integrate Web 2.0 apps into our services
* Develop Mobile services via SMS & Twitter, etc
* Hardware upgrade plan - Microform readers & alternative technologies
* Hardware upgrade plan - Barcode scanners
* Hardware upgrade plan - slip printers
* Photo database development
* Research IT trends for collection of resources (CDs, DVDs or MP3 etc?)
* Research Wireless uptake & need for hardwired public PCs

Blogging

Well 4 posts later & I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of Blogger. So far I've only got one follower, but I'm continuing to write about topics that I hope will get people interested.
For me, the most interesting thing so far is how unfindable this blog is. I've tried via google, I've tried via my browsing history - but for some reason it does not seem to jump out at me - even though I am the author!

Oh well, I will just continue to write, & see what happens. Maybe some of my pals will look at it & lift the profile a bit in google searches?

Any ideas?

Dick Smith Bluetooth car kit

Well, I've been looking for ways of getting the family mobiles to work in the car - seems I can never contact them when I need to - so I finally gave in and bought a Dick Smith bluetooth kit when I saw they had reduced the price by $20.

Turns out it works well - IF you are prepared to spend a lot of time setting it up.
I was able to pair it to my phone - no problem - auto voice dialling worked, and I was very pleased. However, pairing it to my wife's phone proved somewhat more complex.
If you want it to be paired to more than one phone, you have to follow the instructions exactly - and don't do what I did & misplace those instructions!

So I ended up doing a global reset on the thing, and paired Chris's phone in first - it seemed to be better that way. (But I still can't get voice dialling to work on her phone (Samsung), whereas my Nokia has no problem). But at least she can answer calls - hey that's gotta be a win!

Autumnal activities

Looking forward to lighting a fire to keep the house warm this winter, although this is mostly unnecessary given our reverse cycle air cond. But we like to have a fire sometimes just for the cosy feel, and it really does heat up the house beautifully.
(and we still have a fair bit of old firewood down the back yard).

Leaves are still on the trees at our place, but starting to turn orange. It's weird, some of them are still fully green, yet others are already fully red. First year I can remember actually slowing down enough to notice.

Andrew's world

Been having some fun getting the Chrysler improved. A typical bloke with a tool kit in the garage, and always looking for ways to play with the car.
Good news is I finally changed the automatic transmission fluid last weekend. Came out a bit brown (should be red) but not smelly, and no sign of broken bits in the fluid or filter.
Put a new filter in, cleaned everything & resealed the pan back on with the original gasket (so I didn't need to use RTV). Filled up with 4 litres of new ATF4. The car is running very smoothly, no leaks, and I plan to do this little exercise again every 50,000km.
My main concern was that the transmission actually holds about 9 litres of fluid - mostly in the torque converter & some in the cooler, and I thought about pumping that out too, but the procedure seemed a bit risky & complex. (You have to disconnect a hose from the cooler & then run the engine - which pumps the old fluid out of the system - while at the same time pouring fresh fluid into the trans filler tube.) I decided to just drain the pan, and am pretty happy with this, as the trans was so clean, and I figure doing it again in another 50 will improve it even more.