Saturday 28 November 2015

Screen casting take 2!

As promised here is a slightly longer screen cast than the one I made for Rudai 23 Things. One of the most common everyday queries I receive is from training grade doctors at the hospital who want to access Uptodate (a clinical resource) through their phones or tablets. One of the difficulties they often encounter is that they first have to register though the link on the Cardiff University library catalogue, so hopefully my screencast will be of some help resolving these queries in the future!

 

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Thing 23: Making it all work together

I like the idea of Hootsuite and being able to track several social media accounts at one time. I do often find myself wondering if I neglect to check Facebook or Twitter just how much I've missed out on! I think particularly for people who are managing organisational as well as personal social media account then a tool such as Hootsuite would be an absolute necessity. Being able to cross post between Twitter and Facebook would also be extremely convenient for someone looking to juggle several social media accounts at once.
Thing 22: Mobile Things

When I first started working in public libraries I remember we used to supply bookmarks and encourage users to write mini reviews of the book they were reading on them. This was a great way of creating a conversation among our users and it proved quite popular. In a library context the Gum App could work in a very similar way. The good thing about Gum is that it is so versatile it could be used in a library context for users to comment on the books, music or films available within a library. However, I do see the potential danger for age inappropriate comments to be made but I don't think we should let this put as off an app that clearly has so much potential.
Thing 21: Creating Infographics

I think infographics are an incredibly clever way of visualizing information. When cramming for exams whilst at school or university I would always try to include little drawings, tables or charts next to my notes as I found that this always helped to keep the information in my mind. Obviously the online tools available to us today means that some of the infographics out there are are extremely creative and impressive.

Whilst looking at various infographics available on the web I came across http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/ which has some stunning graphics. I think the really impressive thing about some of these infographics is the way they can sometimes present complicated issues whilst maintaining the simplicity that is required to make an effective infographic.       

Monday 12 October 2015

Thing 20: Presentations

I don't think anyone can be completely comfortable giving a presentation to a large number of people.   I was certainly nervous the first time I gave a student induction around 6 months ago. but knowing that I'd put a lot of effort into the presentation slides and the handouts did go some way toward allaying my fears on the day.

I'd decided that I wanted to use something other than Powerpoint for my presentation slides and I'd remembered a presentation I'd been given a few months earlier using Prezi, which I had been pretty impressed with. I'm aware that some people criticise Prezi for the fact that its too easy to get carried away with the zooming in and out of the slides. I'm someone who's particularly prone to motion sickness but I have to say that as long as the slides aren't moved around at a ridiculously fast pace I have no problems at all with Prezi. I find it extremely user friendly and the fact that it can be saved to your account online meant that I could easily share my presentation with my line manager as I was developing it.

My advice to anyone giving a presentation for the first time who maybe slightly nervous or anxious at the prospect would be to practice your presentation out loud to yourself- theres no substitute for actually knowing your presentation and this will give you confidence. I also try to keep the the presentation slides themselves as simple as possible with not too much text. If you can it may also help if you can access the classroom or lecture theatre beforehand just to practice setting up your equipment it will mean having one less thing to worry about on the day!

http://prezi.com/xyounmuv_bt0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Thing 19: The Legal Side of Things

Below are two images that I have sourced from Creative Commons images. Hopefully I have attributed these appropriately. 

Creative Commons Knowledge wins. Public library books are free. By Smith, Dan, 1865-1934 (artist); American Library Association (sponsor) https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/3551356097 is licensed by CC by 2.0. 

by The Literary Digest, from Wikimedia Commons

Thing 18: Communicating Through Photographs

As I already have Flickr and Instagram accounts I thought I'd explore a slightly different photo based app for this weeks task which I think may be of particular interest for librarians working within health care. 'Figure 1' https://figure1.com/  is a photo sharing app for members of the health community. Medical professionals can upload images of diseases or injuries (whilst of course ensuring the anonymity of their patients). The app was created with the idea that sharing images of what perplexes one doctor with other doctors or health professionals around the world can help to point them in the right direction- effectively crowd sourcing diagnosis.

The app very much has the look and feel of Instagram and has often been labelled as 'the Instagram for doctors'. However, the uploading of images isn't as straight forward as Instagram. The uploader is required to follow strict guidelines on what is and isn't permitted. The patients face or any identifiable marks cannot be in view. Once uploaded the photo is placed in a queue for it to be manually reviewed.

I can see this app becoming particularly popular with medical students the adoption of social media and the new smartphone and tablet tools that are increasingly being used in hospitals for medical education.
Thing 17: Reflective Practice

Reflective writing is something that I have had to get increasingly used to over the last few months. This blog has been particularly helpful as it allowed me to consider reflective writing in more depth. As I am in the process of collecting evidence to add to my Chartership Portfolio reflective writing is obviously a hugely significant part of this. Also as a health librarian, the new nursing revalidation requirements to be introduced this year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council will likely mean that some of my users will want help with reflective writing in the near future.

Up until now I have found the 3 'What's' very useful. What? So What? and What now? This lends itself nicely to 3 paragraphs when writing a reflective piece. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle seems a little bit more in-depth at first glance. But the good thing about both these models is that it requires you to reflect in more depth. Probably the most difficult thing about reflective writing for me personally is trying to avoid the temptation to simply describe what I did. Awareness of these reflective models certainly helps me to focus on the deeper aspects of the reflective process when writing reflectively for my portfolio.
Thing 16: Collaboration Tools

For this task I used Google Doc's. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to use and just how user friendly it was for word processing. Like many people I've spent the vast majority of my computing life using Microsoft Word and through sheer habit I've often been reluctant to use anything else.

Since I started using a Mac this has opened the door and given me confidence in using other word processing applications such as Pages. My favourite feature in Google Docs (besides the fact that it is free to use) is that it allows for Word files to be converted to Google Docs and vice versa. This allows for collaboration with any user regardless of whether they have access to Word.

I think that collaborative tools such as Google Docs are fantastic. Whereas as in the past you would be reliant on the person you wanted to collaborate with having access to the same software as you and then having to email the document back and fore to each other. I love the editing features of google Docs and the idea that you could use Hangouts to collaborate with a large number of people simultaneously.  

Saturday 12 September 2015

Thing 15: Advocacy

Looking at the many advocacy campaigns that exist in the UK and Ireland today for libraries I'd say that as a profession we're getting very good at it- but then looking back over the last five or so years I guess we've had to be. For the vast majority of that time I've been working in public libraries and obviously its been during an extremely turbulent period for public services and libraries as regards funding cuts.

As someone who is relatively new to libraries, my impression was that public libraries (in Wales anyway!) had initially been caught off guard at suddenly being asked to justify our very existence. I remember a colleague once saying to me that we're not like a business we can't justify our 'usefulness' in terms of our profit margins! For example, how can you measure the impact a library has on the life of an elderly lady who lives alone and her only human interaction during the day comes from a library assistant when she visits her local library? That's why advocacy campaigns like Speak Up for Libraries are so important because they encourage regular library users to be vocal in expressing their support for libraries. Its very demoralising to read about various library around the country but there have been success stories too. The recent 'sit in' for Cardiff Libraries was successful in that it granted several community libraries a reprieve. We have to focus on these successes and continue to promote advocacy to fight for libraries.        
Thing 14: Augmented Reality

The first time I became aware of augmented reality was around 2 years ago at a course specifically designed for librarians and how to make use of multimedia tools. I remember it very clearly because I was just so impressed, it was almost like a magic trick! The course instructor asked me to open my wallet and take out a note and place it on the table. So I took out a ten pound note and placed it on the table with Charles Darwin facing up. the instructor then proceeded to hover a tablet over the note and to my complete amazement Charles Darwin sprung to life and the little bird next to him began to fly around. Prior to this I had not even heard of augmented reality so the look of amazement on my face must have been something very similar to a Victorian being given a demonstration of a telephone for the first time!

I was working in public libraries at the time and I was also given a demonstration of how augmented reality can and is being used to really bring children's books to life. The example I was shown was 'The fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore' the instructor would hover his tablet over the page and then you could move the tablet around as though you were inside the illustration. I think this will be such an incredible way to really get children engaged with reading from an early age.

But the possibilities for AR go even further. Much has been made by tech companies in recent months about the benefits that truly mobile applications can bring to health care and the training and development of medical professionals. Anatomy 4D is a great example of this. I am really excited about AR and how it is going to develop in the future.    

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Thing 13: Professional Organisations

I've recently began to put together some evidence to eventually submit toward Chartership. I've been a member of CILIP for just over a year now I initially joined as a student member. Its been pretty beneficial for me so far its provided me with opportunities to attend training events and conferences. The newsletter is also pretty informative and helps me to keep up to date with the latest events from across the library and information sector- I think it was this newsletter that first made me aware of the Rudai 23 Things Collaboration.

I think that its important to be part of organisation its always nice to feel a part of something bigger and the library profession can be so wide and diverse, its important to have something that pulls us all together.
Thing 12: Attending conferences

I attended a conference last year in Cardiff which I thought had a really interesting concept as it was billed specifically as a 'user generated un-conference for people interested in libraries'. Library Camp Wales was held in the Glamorgan Building on Cardiff University campus in on a sunny Saturday afternoon in April 2014.

The really interesting thing about Library Camp was that the participants set the agenda themselves. This was perhaps the part I was most apprehensive about before attending. There was no set agenda as such, we decided it amongst ourselves on the morning of the event. I recall being slightly worried about this, what if none of us had any pressing issues that we wanted to discuss? But I needn't have been concerned as plenty of interesting topics were put forward. Someone would volunteer to 'pitch' a session that they wanted to discuss and then we would vote on the most popular topics which would then set the agenda for the day.  

The event was open to anyone from any sector. It was a great opportunity to network and meet people from across a range of sectors within Wales. A few people I met there did not even work in libraries but were perhaps interested in moving into the field and wanted to know a little bit more about it. This was great and really added another dimension to the topics we discussed as we were getting outside perspectives as well. Library camp was an 'open space' event- we could come and go in and out of the different sessions as they pleased. We were also encouraged to tweet and blog photos of the day.

If you want to have a look at some of the issues we discussed throughout the day here's a link to the Storify page https://storify.com/Gemma_DS/libcampwales

Friday 21 August 2015

Thing 11: Reflective Practice

Now that we are coming up to the halfway point of the Rudai 23 Things Collaboration this seems  like a good point to stop and reflect on the course so far. The main reason I started the course was to gain a better understanding of online tools that librarians use and how they use them to promote their service. The course has helped with that so far, particularly screen casting. I can certainly see ways in which we could utilise screen casting to benefit our users. I enjoyed playing around with screen cast o magic and Jing and I will be using these tools again in the near future. I have also taken part in my first twitter chat as a result of Rudai 23.

I'm really looking forward to Things 20 & 21 presentations and creating info graphics as these will be quite useful tools for me to use in my daily working life. Another reason I set out on the 23 Things course was to help me build up some evidence to go in my Chartership portfolio. With the new 'Things' coming thick and fast every week it has certainly kept me on my toes. It's been mentioned before but one thing I've learned during the course so is not to get too overwhelmed with blogging. I probably spent the best part of 2 hours writing and continuously editing my blog posts at the beginning of the course. I now try not to over think things too much and it makes the writing an awful lot easier.    


Thing 10: Live Streaming

Live streaming services such as Periscope and Meerkat really seem so have broken through as the newest and most exciting applications of this year. I've used it myself whilst on holiday to send videos back to my friends and family at home. Its amazing that you can send a video of the sunset on a beach half way across the world. I can see uses that public libraries may have for utilising these tools to promote events on their Twitter accounts. I can't really think of a standout use for them in my health library at the moment but this may change in the future.

From a wider library perspective, I read a particularly interesting article concerning live streaming app's and copyright recently http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/11/periscope-meerkat-broadcast-copyright-premier-league.

Now that live streaming is near mainstream and mobile, what does this mean for the legality of content delivered on these platforms. In all honesty, I believe that many people will really want to use Periscope whilst attending a live gig or sporting event to show their friends. I wonder how large rights holders will react to this in the future? And then of course what about people who blatantly use their devices to stream high profile sporting events from their televisions.Will Periscope and other such services be forced to intervene in someway? It will be interesting to see what happens.


Thursday 20 August 2015

Thing 9: Video

I was shocked to hear on the news quite recently that Youtube is in its 10th year. In some ways it still seems like a brand new piece of technology but then again at the same time it also feels as though it has been around forever. Its still often viewed as simply a source of entertainment, like an enormous television channel which the whole world contributes to.

But I think theres alot more to it than that. It is also a tremendous source of information. If I want to try cooking a new dish or learn how to tie a Windsor knot my first port of call is usually Youtube. So its great that many libraries are now uploading screen casts, I think its a good way of showing our users how to access e resources and so on. I certainly plan on making some instructive videos for my libraries e resources in the near future.

But for now I've attached my first attempt. Its only a minute long and the content isn't particularly exciting- its just a quick search of Cardiff University's Voyager catalogue. But it was interesting to see some of the features of Screen-Cast-O-Matic. It automatically included a circle around the cursor and also cut out the top and bottom of the computer screen which I thought was pretty useful.

http://youtu.be/nF9ySmnmuQ4?hd=1
Thing 8: Curation Tools

I chose to focus on Storify for this particular topic. I've had a Pinterest account for quite sometime so I was already quite familiar with how it worked. I have to say its so easy to get lost on Pinterest just clicking from one image to another I could spend hours on it procrastinating (when I should be updating my blog instead!).

Storify describe themselves as 'building the story layer above social networks, to amplify the voices that matter and create a new media format that is interactive, dynamic and social'. I think this is interesting in itself, its such a simple idea, pulling in content from the wide variety of social networks that already exist and organising them in a aesthetically pleasing way. Whoever, designed this tool is most definitely a librarian at heart! I can immediately think of a few ways in which curation tools such as this could be put to good use by libraries.

Firstly, it could certainly be put to good use as a marketing tool. I'm sure Storify is used by many libraries to promote events such as author signings, film nights perhaps even book clubs by curating tweets, Facebook posts and Youtube videos and putting them in one accessible place neatly organised and easy to read. Storify could be used simply to compile a list of complements from satisfied library users who have taken to social media to support their local library.

I have found Storify very useful personally as a way of catching up with twitter chats that I have missed. The most recent example being the UKlibchat careers surgery which took place last week. I was unavailable to follow the chat on that particular day the chat was later Storified and this provided me with the opportunity to catch up on what I had missed.      

Monday 3 August 2015

Thing 7: Podcasts

I’ve been a keen user of Soundcloud for quite sometime now. Although I must confess it has been more of a feature in my personal life as oppose to my working day. I love music and particularly listening to new and upcoming bands. So I’m a huge fan of Soundcloud in terms of what it has done for grassroots musicians and bands over the years. I’m one of those annoying people that likes try and discover a new band or musician before they become famous and then brag to my friends that I’ve been listening to them for months by the time they get played on the radio! So over the years Soundcloud has served me well in that respect.
I have to confess I rarely listen to podcasts. The only podcasts that I’ve really got into in the past was the Melvyn Bragg ‘In Our Time’ series, which as a history buff I thought were absolutely fantastic. But even with these I would often find my concentration begins to break after 20 or so minutes and my mind begins to wander. I confess I wasn’t aware of library podcasts like ‘Circulating Ideas’ but I listened to a few episodes and I found it very interesting. I think it would be great if there was something similar in the UK.
In terms of my own day to day working perspective I can’t really think of a particular use for podcasts in the same way as I could for say Google Hangouts but having some experience of working in public libraries and museums I can see how they could be used effectively to record literary events and oral history projects.   

Monday 27 July 2015

Thing 6: Reflective Practice

I have recently started to think about building up a portfolio to eventually submit toward chartership. As I understand it an important aspect of this is reflective writing. So I guess reflective writing is something that I am increasingly going to have to get used to over the coming months.

So far, this blog and the Rudai 23 collaboration have provided me with a good opportunity to practice various tasks and explore various tools which are beneficial to my professional development and then write a summary based on my reflections. Being completely new to blogging I was extremely apprehensive at first, I felt that surely nobody other than myself would really be interested in my views or opinions. However, I felt that Thing 2 was a particularly good ice breaker and I really enjoyed reading the other blogs and seeing the common ground we all share. I have since continued to read the other library blogs with interest I just wish I had more time to read them all!

But looking at other peoples blogs has certainly given me some inspiration. I'll try and add some photographs to my blog just to break the text up a  little bit! I also managed to surprise myself by linking my newly created twitter account to my blog.



Tuesday 21 July 2015

Thing 5: Online Networks

I've opted to set up a twitter account as oppose to using my Facebook page as I'm not particularly comfortable with my personal and professional networks being combined. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with combining them, I just don't think that followers on my professional network would want to see pictures of me on my holidays!

I know from having attended various library conferences in recent years that librarians have a huge presence of Twitter. I remember thinking how rude people were looking at their phones and iPads! But of course they were participating by tweeting their views and opinions of whatever was being discussed. I like twitter because of its immediacy and it gives users the opportunity to participate in debates and discussions regardless of location. I'm also aware of UK Lib Chat and the discussions that take place on various library topics and I look forward to participating in the near future.

Monday 20 July 2015

Thing 4: Google

I was interested to find that the topic of Thing 4 was the G-word. We all know that Google enjoys something of a dubious reputation at best amongst librarians. Certainly, I agree as a communications tool Google is as good and in some respects better than the competition. I've used G Mail for a number of years and I think its great. Also, Google Maps has saved me from some tricky navigational situations in the past where I've been to proud to pull over and ask a passing stranger for directions!

Although, I had no experience of using Hangouts or Hangouts-On-Air until today. I'm particularly impressed with Hangouts-On-Air and its record feature. I can already think of many ways in which my library could utilise this tool to help guide our users on how to access our e-resources. I've certainly benefited myself from online tutorial sessions in the past. A fairly recent example was just before a friends wedding when I was frantically searching Youtube for a tutorial video on how to tie a windsor knot! I think that is becoming increasingly common in our society. When we are looking for practical information on how to do something we increasingly look to online videos. As librarians then we need to respond to this. Accessing library e-resources and tips for literature searches can be effectively taught using free screen casting tools such as this.    

While I'm on the subject of Google. I recently attended a medical and nursing literature searching course and I was surprised when the course leader began by talking about the best ways to search Google Scholar. At first I thought this was treason but on reflection I think it is important that we acknowledge that if our users are going to use Google as a search tool then we should give them guidance and support whilst advising caution where appropriate as oppose to dictating which search tools they should and should not use.




Thursday 16 July 2015

Thing 3: Your Professional Brand

Having an awareness of your online presence was something that was emphasised to me by careers officers during university. But I had always put off setting up a LinkedIn account until now. I was a little bit wary when I initially set it up, it seemed very keen to access my email account and contact list.

But I can certainly see the the benefits the site brings in terms of networking and the relative ease in which it allows you to demonstrate and update your achievements and skills. My profile is still a work in progress. I'm not particularly happy with my personal summary as it stands, it seems a little too brief, so I will continue to update that. But for now here it is....

https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/rhys-whelan/101/559/b9

Sunday 12 July 2015


Rudai 23: Thing 2

Write about how or why you became a librarian.

There's a scene in the first (and still the best) Rocky movie where a heavily bruised and beaten Sly Stallone is asked why on earth he ever became a boxer? Rocky's joking reply to this has often been the same  response that I've given to my mates whenever they've asked me why I wanted to become a librarian. 'Because I can't sing or dance!'.

I think the symptoms had been there from an early age. I remember taking tremendous pleasure in ensuring that my Horrible History book collection was always kept in strict chronological order. I even went as far as to buy covers for them to keep them in mint condition! I'm sure that such behaviour would be viewed as slightly odd outside of the profession- but I'm willing to bet that it will be a common theme amongst us library bloggers! In addition to this it could also be said that librarianship is sort of the family business as my Aunt is also a librarian.

It was my Aunt who first brought to my attention to a vacancy at the new Swansea Central Library in 2007. At the time I was a poor history student in my second year at Swansea University and the chance to earn some extra money in the evenings to fund my student social life seemed like a good opportunity.

To my shame I hadn't had an awful lot of dealings with public libraries for quite some time. But until about the age of 12 I'd been a regular visitor to my local library with my grandparents and this had given me a passion for reading that had never gone away. Without sounding too philosophical, I believed (and still do) that people who read regularly and have a love of reading in many ways enjoy a better quality of life that people who don't. So when I stopped to think about it, those early visits to the public library had made a bigger impression on me than I'd first thought!

Anyway, I was fortunate enough to receive an interview for the position of library assistant at Swansea Libraries and I remember that despite being extremely nervous at my first ever interview I was some how offered the job. Looking back now I realise what a great introduction to libraries those first few years spent at Swansea Central library were.

It was certainly a baptism of fire. The visitor figures were incredibly high with people keen to see the new library and its fantastic new facilities. I remember this pressure forged something of 'blitz spirit' amongst our team of library assistants. There was a good mix of newbies like myself, still learning the ropes, and those who had transferred from the old Swansea Central Library. Certainly any illusions I might have had at that time of libraries being quiet places with shelves of dusty old books was well and truly altered. We held some fantastic events at the library ranging from film nights to book signings. One particular event that still stands out for me was a question and answer session with Cerys Matthews from the band Catatonia and the late Stuart Cable from the Stereophonics- I certainly never thought that a career in librarianship would give me the opportunity to hang out with rock stars!

Overall, my time spent at Swansea Central Library had a positive impact on me and really made me consider the possibility librarianship as a profession. I loved working with the public and the variety that ensured that two days were never the same. I went on to study for a Masters in library and information studies at Aberystwyth University which I have recently completed. I now continue to work in libraries within the NHS in Wales at a health library.

I completely agree with another Rudai23 blogger who commented that as librarians what makes us really lucky is that we can fit our interests around our jobs. This definitely helps to explain the diverse range of people I've been fortunate enough to meet in my short career and what really makes the profession quite unique.