Calling all cars! Who would like to contribute to a shared web 2 + libraries blog?

[Sean Murgatroyd]

Hi all,

Judi Kercher and I have been discussing on another thread the barriers involved in professional blogging - the need for ongoing commitment, a steady stream of ideas to hold the audience and so on. I've personally been thinking of doing so for a while, as some may have seen, but have been hesitant for these reasons - I've just moved house and I'm coming out of four months where my emotional energy has increasingly been tied up in these processes, with little left over for other things - I definitely know I couldn't have continued to wax lyrical about our profession in that time.

From that discussion has sprung notion of a shared professional blog coming out of this community. What do people think?

In the first instance, please comment below to indicate your interest. We can move on to scope/procedures/platforms etc. ongoing.

[Sean Murgatroyd]

Okay team thanks for your bios!

Here's my first pass at the launch. It's a 2 parter - must be some limits in this form. Comments appreciated.

Do you go online?

Recently I was working in my library when I heard an interaction that struck me as curious. One of my colleagues was discussing request options with a borrower, and the borrower said that she would “go online” when she got home to follow through.

Now, that might not strike you as curious in the least. The fact that I found it particularly noteworthy left me puzzled also. It took me a while until I worked out why that had tweaked something in the back of my head – I realised I had abandoned the notion of going online or not; having lived the broadband life for a while I no longer think of the internet as somewhere I need to go.

In short, it’s not a destination – for me its here.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a palm pilot (and I don’t know what they’re called nowadays), my cellphone only has extremely limited net capability. It’s not that I want to sit on a beach in the middle of nowhere and browse, in fact I dearly love my time away from the peculiar demands of computers. I just don’t anymore see being online as a particular task I need to do to perform other tasks.

That notion is really all that sits behind this blog. I sense in our profession a great eagerness for Web 2.0 involvement alongside a great deal of mystification about what it exactly means, so what I’d like, with some help, is to show some of the interesting things that are going on and thereby create a path through the mystification.

Who are we and what, if anything qualifies us?

Back to our main point… nothing qualifies us any more than you. We’re probably a bit more in the “being online” rather than the “going online” mindset, that’s all. But… here are our potted biographies for those that like them.

Judi Kercher (posting as)

I work at International Pacific College as acquisitons librarian. Have just completed my MLIS and did my research project on the use of blogs in New Zealand and Australian libraries.

I've always been into Web 2.0 – I am an old hand at chatting, personal blogging, Myspace, and I’m even trying out wikis, so I was happy to start using previous leisure activities at work! Lack of time is the biggest obstacle to actually using Web 2.0 tools at work (since it's usually not regarded as a priority).

Kris Wehipeihana (posting as librarykris)

I'm currently the Service Development Co-ordinator for Rodney Libraries. I've been interested in the internet for almost as long as I was aware that it was around. I am not a Web 2.0 expert. If the internet was a car, I'd be an average driver. I don't know what goes on under the hood. I can do the basics - no tricks. Usually I can muddle my way through the rest.

I know about the jokes:

(explanation of joke here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickroll]) and I can speak some of the language (o hai! i can haz cheezeburger? [icanhascheezburger.com/]) I find the internet a great resource for all sorts of things work related - policy, information, participation and entertainment. I'm looking forward to sharing some of the things I've found on my clicks around the Web.

Sean Murgatroyd (posting as /fish)

I’m working as Children’s and Teenage Services Librarian for Albany Village Library, North Shore Libraries and I make a habit of poking my nose into technical matters where I can (and more importantly where I can be helpful!

[Sean Murgatroyd]

I’ve been involved in online communities since the long ago days when those New Zealanders who were on the net at all had to wait until an image of entire usenet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet newsgroup network had to be down-and up-loaded by a dedicated bulletin board owner living in Titirangi. The tools are very different now, but a lot of the behaviours are just the same.

Well wishes to you

So that’s us! We hope you’ll join us on our journey of discovery. In the meantime, enjoy a bit of music if you have the time.

[Penny]

Sean - is this blog up and running yet? I'm sorta interested.

[Michael Parry]

I run our library blog and find my biggist problem is not turning it into my own personal/professional blog.

When running a professional/organisational blog the content can be pretty easy, yet the boundaries blur.

I would be interested in joining, but would need to see some more on scope/procedures/platforms and cross posting between blogs...

[Michael Parry]

Just noticed the dates on this LOL gee I am behind the times... Did it go anyplace? I certainly haven't seen anything...

[Sean Murgatroyd]

Not so far... I changed jobs, Kris got involved in some stuff on an organisational level... Judi don't nudge...

Hmmmm I really think we just do it.

I'll start it this weekend. Let's not worry about a schedule - let's be an occasional blog. Bit of timeliness and a bit of promo onto NZLIBS etc etc etc to get some eyeballs.

Send me yer email address [e-mail] and I'll add permissions. Let me get a starter post up then it's FFA. I'm going to make it open to anyone else who wants to contribute so long as they're (a) from NZ (b) librarians and (c) geeky.