The recording of the Lunchtime Byte “A Beginners’ Guide to Screencasting″ is now available online at moodle.rsc-wales.ac.uk .  The Moodle area contains the live recording of the webinar as well links to resources.  This event, which took place on 17^th January, was one session in the popular series of RSC Wales online webinars called Lunchtime Bytes.

Zak Mensah and Gavin Brockis from JISC Digital Media gave a good introduction to what screencasting is, how to plan a screencast and some useful tools and techniques.  As well as an introduction to the software available Zak and Gavin gave an introduction to the hardware involved including a useful guide to various microphones.

I used Jing a few months back to create short screen casts on how to subscribe to RSS feeds for Paul Richardsons’ Lunchtime Byte “Its Out There Somewhere!”.   However “A Beginners’ Guide to Screencasting” gave me lots of practical tips and links to other screencasting software to try out.

During the session Zak and Gavin gave an overview of how screencasts could be used.  Being quite familiar for screencasts for instructional use I was quite surprised to find you could use them for student feedback too.

Have you created a screencast?  Any advice you would give to others?  If you are feeling brave post a link to your screencast in the comments section below.

From Creative Comons "adactio" photostream

No that isn’t a typo in the title this post is all about apps, specifically mobile apps for libraries and education.  In this post I’ll explore the work going on around mobile libraries and list some of my favourite educations apps.
Recently a discussion on #UKlibchat (a fortnightly discussion group held on Twitter, you can find out more here) asked what mobile apps would you like to see in libraries. Two replies to this really caught my eye, the first from @joeyanne:

“I’d like to see innovative use of mobile functionality to help users find materials whilst in and out of library so in the library it might be augmented reality and location based services, out of the library would be electronic resources”

@joeyanne is the Twitter username of Jo Alcock who is working on the m-libraries support project.   The aim of the m-library community support project as part of the JISC Mobile Infrastructure for Libraries programme is to “provide a mobile library community support project to help support and engage the emerging m-library community by reviewing and synthesising existing research and  evidence-based guidance.”  The project aims to build a collection of useful resources and case studies based on current developments using mobile technologies in libraries, and to foster a community for those working in the m-library area or interested in learning more.  There is a brilliant presentation on Slideshare which Jo Alcock gave at the CoFHE 2011 Conference, available here which gives numerous examples of mobile technologies being used in libraries.
The second reply was from @calire: “I want an app that can scan a book barcode and tells me if it’s in my local library…”
To me this seemed like the most obvious choice for an app, there are so many shopping based services that do just that but what struck me from both comments is the ability for learners to be able to access learning resources both inside and outside the learning resource centre in a way that is convenient and easy to access, blending there learning and access to resources with their daily lives.
#UKlibchat also asked what are the advantages and disadvantages of mobile apps over mobile versions of websites?
•    @librarydonna functionality better thought out, more user control and interactivity in general
•    @JohnGreenaway  unless after really fancy stuff like augmented reality – mobile web much more cost effective to reach lots of models
•    @librarydonna  disad of apps – have to download, mobile version of web quicker
•    @joeyanne Interesting article on mobile web vs. mobile app:http://t.co/Uf4NKa9F Useful graph on how people use them both
There have been some great discussions on #UKlibchat about apps for libraries/Learning Resource Centres.  I highly recommend joining in #UKlibchat if you get a chance or keep an eye on the blog for a summary of the conversations.
If you’re interested in that you might also be interested in Educational Technology Creative Collection.  It is a collaboration of educators investigating and experimenting with digital technologies to enhance education. It is open to anyone (especially educators). The first iteration of #edtechcc will run for 12 weeks and enrolment is now open.  You can register here.
I did also mention at the start that I would be looking at some useful apps for education.  I’ve compiled a short list below of some of my favourite apps, please feel free to share your ideas by commenting below, on Twitter @sharon_crossan or @rscwales or get in touch here.  Some other posts from the RSC Blogs which might be of use are Codes, symbols and nearest tubes: Augmented Reality and Mobile Phones – Blessing or Curse?

So here are a list of some of my favourite apps for learning and access to resources:
•    iProcrastinate (for Mac/iPhone): Task management app designed to help students plan their schedule.
•    inClass (forMac/iPhone): Task management app which also lets you take multimedia notes.
•    Quizlet: Make your own flashcards
•    Bluefire Reader: An e-book reader (also lets you read the free e-books from the public library e-book pilot project)
•    Evernote: Note taking app that can also synchronise across devices.
•    Mendeley:  For reading and organising papers.
•    Aurasma: An augmented reality creator.
•    Bambuser: For live video streaming
•    Qik Video: For video sharing

Image CC from Andrew Mason, Flickr

Last week I went along to the CyMAL E-books discussion day at the National Library of Wales Aberystwyth.  Their was a great mix of delegates from HE, FE and public libraries and masters students from the nearby Department of Information Studies at Aberystwyth University.

It was a very interesting day with presentations from Welsh libraries taking part in E-bok pilot project, as well as the RNIB and Libraries Northern Ireland. Alyson Tyler has written an excellent blog post on the day and links to presentations, documents and more!

If you want to know even more (and trust me Alysons’ post covers a lot) I was “Tweeting”  during the day using #ebooksdaywales or you can view the Tweets on my Twitter profile @sharon_crossan.  Or you can always get in touch with me via the usual channels.

At the beginning of November I attended the JISC Developing Digital Literacies workshop, a series of national workshops on developing learners and learning organisations for the 21st Century, in Aberystwyth.  This particular workshop was run across three sites via video conference including Swansea University, Aberystwyth University and Deeside College.  The Developing Digital Literacies workshop series runs from May to October 2011. Further details and registration are available on the JISC web site.

As with all good training days we started with defining digital literacy, I found this to be an interesting introductory activity as so often it is thought of as just IT skills but for the group it covered much more, including what the library world traditionally would term as information literacy.  We then looked at how personal, professional and academic practices are changing.

We then looked at defining graduate attributes and who are your learners and what do you know about them.  Interestingly, it was brought up in a presentation later in the day, we assume that all our learners have, and know how to use, various technologies like smart phones but without asking our learners we truly don’t know.  We had much discussion around what we know about our learners and how we know these i.e. are we guessing, have we conducted a survey? Then we discussed the attributes of a digitally literate graduate.  Following from this we practiced assessing learner needs and created a model for learner development.  Using that model we discussed what kinds of experiences move learners on.

After a delightful lunch at Aberystwyth University we then had three guest speakers across the three sites, including Aberystwyth University , Cardiff University and the PADDLE project  and what their institutions are doing to support the development of learners for a digital age.

I found this to be a really interesting workshop and especially liked the presentation from Aberystwyth University as it made me think about what technology learners use and how often the case is that we assume learners know how to use this technology, or we assume they know already how to take advantage of it to support their learning.

Visit the JISC developing digital literacies web page for more about JISC’s work in this area, and you can also follow the hash tag #jiscdiglit on Twitter/blogs.

Resources from the series can be found on the JISC Design Studio wiki here.

Some other interesting blog posts on Digital Literacy are Scott Hiberson (RSC Yorkshire and Humber) and Justin Spooners’ post on Social Networking and Education.

Presentation skills by o5com, via Flickr's Creative Commons License

At the CILIP Wales Conference in May I watched a presentation in a different style – it was a Prezi presentation.  I liked the style of the presentation, instead of following a series of slides the presenter instead had an image of the topic which they zoomed in and out of.  For me it meant that I could see what the presentation was about at a glance, but zooming into different areas meant the presenter could go into detail on certain subjects.  I found I wasn’t writing down notes from the screen I was actually following what the presenter had to say.

As I was searching for more information on Prezi I came across a link to the Prezi online webinar series.  So I signed up, and with a little help created my first Prezi presentation.  The webinars are held almost every Thursday and are completely free. You do need a phone or Skype to call in to the audio though.

There are excellent screencasts and videos here explaining how to create presentations and another useful part of the site is the help manual which is available here. However I felt the webinar was a great way to learn how to use Prezi, my fellow participants and I followed our hosts instructions to the letter and created a Prezi during the session.  If you would like to see what I created you can view it here.

As with many web 2.0 tools the sign up process is relatively straight forward and the interface is user friendly. To the top left of the screen is a bubble menu, as opposed to the usual drop down menu that goes across the screen, hover over the words with your cursor for the menu to appear.  Add text, images, videos and sound to the canvas (rotate/resize however you like) and then create your path, which is essentially the order in which you want your text/images/videos to appear.  A small feature that I liked was that you don’t have to embed a video into the Prezi, you can simply copy the URL from You Tube and add it from that.

Any content created using the basic Prezi service is fully discoverable on the web.  I’m not sure I like this feature and would prefer the option of making them either public or private but that option is only available in the paid services. Also with the free service you are limited in the amount of formatting you can do, however I don’t see it as a major issue and doesn’t sway me towards the premium service.

The biggest barrier I could find to using Prezi for all my presentations is access.  Getting access to web 2.0 tools can be tricky from local government buildings, Universities and colleges and as Prezi presentation are hosted on the web you may not be able to access your presentation on the day.  CyMAL (Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales) undertook a survey of access and views of web 2.0 in Welsh libraries, the report is available here.  You can download a copy of your Prezi but you are unable to edit it.  It downloads in a .zip folder and opens in Flash, but you are then reliant on using the most up to date version of Flash.

I think Prezi can be a useful alternative to Powerpoint and I’m looking forward to trying it out more.  If you have tried Prezi, or have any questions, please feel free to use the comments below or contact me in the usual way.

The rather spectacular Gregynog Hall

This week I attended three days of the Welsh Higher Education Libraries Forum (WHELF) Gregynog Colloquium.  Although the focus was on HE libraries there were several sessions that I thought would be useful for other sectors too.

Being innovative with information literacy training was apparent in several of the sessions, including a very high energy session from Samuel Nikoi, Joy Cadwallader and Karl Drinkwater (of RSC Wales fame) from Aberystwyth University in collaboration with Katrina Dalziel from Swansea University talking about how to make information skills interesting.   This included a variety of innovative ways to conduct inductions and information skills sessions including beanbags, congas (yes congas!) and a Love Your Library day.  The aim was to make these sessions relaxed and informal, all very well received by students and greatly enjoyed by staff too!   On the technology side of things I was most impressed by Peter Godwin (University of Bedforshire) who discussed their experience of using mobile devices for information literacy.  Including one minute videos and details of their Android App for mobile devices. This got me thinking about the use of QR codes and Augmented Reality for library use and although I’ve seen examples of the use of QR codes, the use of augmented reality seems to be more of an issue.

On the subject of being innovative I attended a presentation by Cath Wright-Jones (University of Glamorgan) on Graphic Design for everyday use: some simple principles.  Cath had a fantastic eye for design and shared some of her best tips.  This made me think about the diverse nature of library work, from information skills to design, librarians really do a variety of things and have a variety of skills.  But this also sparked a bit of a debate on Twitter (#gregynog11), are librarians trying to be Jack of all trades? Should we leave non library work to the specialists?  Or should we be getting involved and creating our own material? I think this a debate that could go on and on but the general consensus was that usually it’s not the librarian’s choice, or how often have other departments put your priorities to the bottom of theirs?

Another key theme was partnership working/collaborative working and shared services, both internally and externally.  Paul Jeorrett looked at this externally, working in partnership with a variety of institutions (and sectors) across North Wales.  Rebecca Davies took an internal view, giving a presentation on the shared services with IT at Aberystwyth University, and Paul Riley discussed WHEEL: a collaborative approach to electronic resource procurement.

The presentations from the event should be available on the website soon, however if you would like to discuss any of themes don’t hesitate to get in touch!

I’ve been thinking a lot about this second blog post and can’t get the idea of Red Kites out of my head!  Until recently Red Kites were on the verge of extinction, but after some action from groups such as the RSPB the birds have survived and thrived.  As a tribute to its survival skills, in 1999 it was voted bird of the century.  This makes me reflect on the conference and, with some positive action from groups such as CILIP, campaigns such as UKPLiNG, and of course support from RSC Wales libraries and learning resources can do the same, and you never know an award could be just around the corner!

Survive and Thrive - Red Kites are the experts

A new CILIP
Annie Mauger

Annie Mauger was appointed Chief Executive at CILIP in October 2010.  Annie was strong on using the various networks and networking opportunities across CILIP to keep in touch with the profession.  The recurrent theme of difficult times across the country means that we should be pulling together for support and using CILIP as a high profile voice for advocacy for the profession.

CILIP as an organisation is facing big issues too; financial stability and relevance to members.  How can CILIP be affordable but also give members value for money?  Also what CILIP does has to be relevant to all sectors, cross national and tackle local issues too.  “We’re not a trade union we are a charity and professional body…it is a UK partnership…one body for 4 countries.”

Annie talked about CILIP responding to crisis and that their needs to be a move to it being a campaigning body.  Libraries underpin an organization and we need to be more vocal about what libraries do.  Several campaigns will be taking place shortly, including a campaign to work closely with the WI.

For more information on CILIP, including its vision, take at look at the CILIP website . You can also follow Annie Mauger on Twitter.

“If you want to get laid, go to college…”

Measuring the impact of the Library Service at Huddersfield
Dave Pattern

A copy of the presentation and related links are available at Dave’s blog.

This presentation looked at defining usage data, and talked about how libraries are not that good at doing interesting stuff with the usage data.  The main point was to get the data out there for people/students/staff to play with it. Although remember to anonomise the data!  Playing around with usage data means that you can create word clouds, graphs, charts and so on allowing you to visually see any emerging trends.
Can 2 become 1?  Lessons from the coal face of library mergers in Wales
Sally Wilkinson

Sally talked about the experience of the merger between Trinity St Davids and Lampeter University.  Historically Lampeter University is research based and  Trinity St Davids is learning and teaching based, which proved an interesting for the merger. Sally looked at five key areas when merging library services: staff, customer/learners focus, developing and maintaining service, efficiency, and time.

Staff

• Are you a team or a group?
• Regular two way communication is key
• Create opportunities for small groups to work together (task groups)
• Be prepared to make this an opportunity for change
• Learn from what you do to make it better for the future.
• It’s lonely at the top!

Customer/learner focus

• Parity of experience
• Branding the new service – using web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook and Twitter
• Personalisation
• Bringing the web pages and library management systems together

Developing and maintaining services

• Keeping the day job going as well as changing and developing.  E.g fines/loan periods, right through to cataloguing.
• Taking best practice from each site and ensuring each site feel equally valued.
• Change something e.g. bought new sofa for the library and used it as a physical representation of a different kind of service.

Efficiency

• Current economic climate
• Managing institutional expectation
• Overlap and duplication – What can be cut? What can change to save staff time

Time

• Takes a lot of time but also need to keep service going
• Challenges are mainly staff – keep staff onboard and communicate to keep them comfortable.
• Manage the customer expectation

Sally’s top tips for merging library services:

• Look for the gems and celebrate them e.g. The Roderic Bowen Library and Archives
• Make time for regular communication
• Promote benefits to staff and students
• Learn from what you’re doing

Shared Services and systems in Wales, where we are and where we go next
Mark Hughes

A copy of this presentation is available on Slideshare.

Mark defined shared services as two or organisations using a shared system or providing a single service.  But why shared services?  There is a need to because of economic climate.  Sharing is a method of survival and makes better use of resources and enables greater co-operation, which in turn can improve services.  There are lots of benefits to shared services:

Avoids duplication of effort e.g public libraries can learn from the FE/HE sector with regards to e-books

Greater use of distributed knowledge.

Economies of scale – maximum benefit going in as a big group as you can drive down costs.
There are small groupings of shared LMSs but you don’t see the full benefit from that, and there are varied degree’s of co-operation.  Why be sector specific when libraries have so many commonalities with other sectors.  A big issue can be governance, something not really experienced in the UK.  There is also a rise of Open Source options, e.g. Koha and Evergreen, ExLibris Alma as an example of cloud solutions.

Worldwide context – Australia, we’re not too big to do this stuff as Australia consortia been doing it for years and on a much larger scale!

Consortia effect  = wider patron choice of what they can access, that leads to increase in use.  Open source and libraries are about accessibility and sharing expertise and knowledge, working together and building a community base.  Evergreen (Open Source)LMS, fastest growing LMS in the USA.

So what is the future? Libraries Inspire strategy with key phrases and a local, national and regional context.  WHELF have also submitted a funding bid to look at pilot for shared LMSs.  To keep up to date with WHELF have a look at the blog.

Mark told us to expect shared services to be high on agenda and pilot projects starting up, and that those projects will be cross sectoral.

Voices for the Library: Speaking beyond the library community
Bethan Ruddock

A copy of Bethans’ presentation is available on her blog.

Voices for the Library are a campaign group.  Their aim is to provide a balanced view of public library services in the UK and to discuss ideas for the way forward.
“We don’t want to lose our libraries, and we aim to ensure future generations continue to enjoy access to free unbiased public libraries and librarians.”

Starting out on Twitter under the discussion #pling! (Public Libraries in Need Group) Voices for the Library campaign for people to share their experiences about libraries. At conferences we only talk amongst ourselves about how great we are and how we can communicate that outside of that bubble.  The Newsnight report on public libraries got the figures on book loans wrong 314million not 314 thousand but no correction was made by Newsnight.  These types of misconceptions can do real damage to the profession.

Much of the content on the site comes from library users.  Celebrity stories are also on the site as well as from library staff, showing the range of ‘stuff’ library staff do.  How do we hear these voices? From social media (such as Twitter) for dissemination and collaboration.
The challenges have been staff geographical spread, no budget – ( not a small budget but NO budget)  which makes travel and attending events difficult so have to rely of free, often social media, solutions, and time – most working on the site work full time and there are only two public libraries on the team in a team of ten.

The tools used to communicate are: email, wiki, doodle, chat scene, website, facebook,  and twitter

Library and information workers are going through tough times, we need to advocate for all not just our bit of the profession.

For the last 7 months I have been editing the output of our RSC Wales’ Learning Resources Twitter stream into an email format – snippets from Twitter aka “Twippets” (you can see an example here).

Twippets

I’ve found Twitter to be an invaluable source of current awareness for library and technology topics so I wanted to do something more with the stream of library-related news and resources I’ve been happily tweeting away. This may seem a rather backward step – translating a new communication stream back into an old format – but, although it is great to embrace new web tools, I also needed to make sure I was reaching as wide an audience as possible and also adding some value hopefully by editing down the quantity of items.

It has been a pleasant surprise receiving a steady stream of feedback from people saying they found this service useful and the concept has spread within and beyond RSC Wales. I wish the Twippets could continue but regretfully we will no longer have the capacity within the team to maintain the “Learning Resources” Twippets.

By way of a substitute, I’ve set up a public Twitter list of 10 people I have found myself using the most as sources for the Twippets. These are experts/practitioners who have shared quality library and technology news, views and tools on a regular basis. The list reflects the purpose of the Twippets which was always library / technology news for the HE and FE librarians in Wales (although the list does not have any specifically Welsh tweeters on it – a subject for a further list?). There are the following ways to use the list:

1. Create your own Twitter account and follow the list. This option has the advantage of being a two-way communication: you can reply and ask questions!
2. Just visit the Twitter page for the list and have a read: http://twitter.com/#!/rscsam/twippets-list

If you feel you don’t “get Twitter”, there is a great article from @danslee that says most of the things I’d like to say. There is also a very short introductory video from explania.com. The library presence on Twitter is a fantastic, dynamic community (particularly with the recent #savelibraries campaign) – it’s a place to ask questions, join in a debate or simply lurk out of interest for professional development. Information overload is always a risk but there are many ways to manage or filter your Twitter account to get the most out of it, especially using tools like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite.

Sadly this is my last blog post at RSC Wales – I’m moving on to a new role at Swansea University library – so it’s farewell and thanks from me to a great team and a great community of practitioners. The last five years have been a lot of fun!

Last week the Welsh Libraries and Web 2.0 Report was released, offering an overview of the views of librarians in Wales to the use of Web 2.0 and inclusive of all library sectors. What were libraries doing? What did they want to do? The report is available from the CyMAL website or the Library Staff Toolkit.

I think this report is important for a number of reasons. It acts as an informal benchmark for Welsh libraries; it summarises reasons for expanding into Library 2.0; and it illustrates some of the concerns, especially in the appendix which includes all of the free text comments. Although it was a survey of librarians much of the content applies to any organisation that is grappling with Web 2.0. Finally, 50% of the FE colleges in Wales responded – along with HEIs, public and health libraries – so we get a cross-sector of opinion. The whole report is well worth reading but I will pull out my favourite sections and some of the FE comments below as a taster.

‘Social’ uses versus ‘learning’ uses of Web 2.0 sites in LRCs

This is a topic I have looked at in the past on this blog, and continues to recur. There is a tension between demand for PCs and the number of PCs available, so educational institutions obviously want to prioritise academic use. Universities generally have the resources to sidestep that issue and their users are seen as mature enough to manage their own time. However in many FEIs there is scarcity, combined with an onus to act in a safeguarding role. This leads to a variety of approaches, from outright blocking, to monitoring, to time restrictions. Those mentioned in the report ranged from:

“doing nothing, a softly-softly approach (posters, in acceptable-use policies, booking systems, time restrictions, specially allocated computers) to more direct intervention (using monitoring software, asking users to log-off). There was an interesting difference between the public libraries and those in the academic sector, with the former frequently being non-interventionist, and FE often being the ones most likely to need to impose some restrictions on usage.”

Some of the specific FE procedures given by survey respondents were:

“[Blocked] for all users at specific times, eg between 9.00 & 1.00 and from 2.00 – 4.00pm”

“Staff have limited access to Facebook during certain times (e.g. lunchtimes). Students have no access to social networking sites but often find a way in using proxy sites.”

“Facebook is blocked for staff and students 9am – 12pm and 12.45pm – 3pm”

“All staff and students are blocked from some network sites such as bebo but not facebook, all instant messaging sites and some collaboration sites are blocked.”

“Where sites are blocked it is for content only, not interactivity. Certain web 2.0 sites, e.g. Youtube and Facebook are available on a quota system: total of 1 hr per day.”

“If students are on facebook they are asked to either do some work or leave during heavy congestion periods – we have social areas with computers for students not working on coursework”

“We ask users to vacate machines in favour of the users who are producing college work”

“User agreements specify that PCs are only to be used for work purposes (these can be backed up by the college’s disciplinary procedures, if necessary). During busy periods staff will ask students to leave if they are not working. Remote monitoring systems are in use, students who ignore requests to leave can be logged off by staff. During quiet periods, students using PCs for leisure purposes will be allowed to continue but will be reminded by staff that they will need to give up the PC if it is needed by another user”

“I believe that blocking access to social networking sites is tantamount to blocking personal e-mail. I think it’s important for students to keep up with advancements in technology to avoid being at a disadvantage later in life… Web 2.0 in particular requires quite a broad skill set to fully understand. It’s all well and good having a Facebook page, for example, but do students fully understand the implications of having so much personal information online? Also, considerations should be made regarding cyber-bullying and its impact on students if colleges decide upon a more open policy with regard to social networking sites.”

In some cases blocks for Web 2.0 sites applied to staff too. Reasons given in the report for restrictions on Web 2.0 (apart from the aforementioned PC scarcity and safeguarding) included concerns about “bandwidth, misuse/abuse of work computers during work hours, concerns of inappropriate content (e.g. blogs written by staff) and distractions from academic work”.

Use of Web 2.0 for marketing purposes: what are FEIs currently doing?

The ways in which FEIs are taking advantage of Web 2.0 (for marketing and information-to-customers uses) are varied:

“We have a blog and a Facebook page for marketing purposes and use social bookmarking to create subject or course specific collections of websites”

“We currently use twitter for updating on events, new resources and other goings on. We also run a pageflake which supports our HE students and acts as a repository for interesting articles, web links, videos and more. We’re working on creating a blog and creating a Facebook group for the student association”

“The library already has its own blog, we have started some reading groups on-line through Moodle and we also use Delicious for tagging on-line resources (such as e-books). The college also has a youtube channel and twitter accounts which the library can use.”

“Delicious; RSS feeds; flickr; YouTube; textwall”

“Twitter (for promotion), blogs (for promotion), wikis (sharing information), Facebook”

“We have a blog and a Facebook page for marketing purposes and use social bookmarking to create subject or course specific collections of websites”

Some LRCs in FEIs had autonomy to utilise Web 2.0: others didn’t. As the report says, it is:

“clear that staff have the enthusiasm and desire to get started, or to do more with what they already do. Blocking access is therefore a barrier to them achieving professional goals and could be hindering the library service. [...] Several respondents link being able to operate in a Web 2.0 environment to the overall image and reputation of a library service, with obvious negative connotations if there isn’t a presence. However, that presence must be relevant and up to date, or is may be worse than no presence at all.”

“Library staff [...] fear restrictions on access will undo years of positive image creation and promotion and will also leave library services behind as society and culture surges forward.”

The report gives some good tips on making a business case for access to Web 2.0 technologies for those institutions that do not have access to these tools.

“it is hoped that the report will be useful for library staff at all levels, including heads of service, and can be used to support cases for lifting restrictions to the interactive Internet so that librarians in Wales can engage with their users in different ways, and keep library services moving forward.”

Conclusions

I feel that when something is problematic then it needs to be tackled, debated and explained: that is part of education. Learners should be told about the skeleton (or zombie) in the closet, so they can understand the dangers it represents and then overcome them, rather than just locking the door. I was pleased to see that this report gives a positive way forward for dealing with the ‘safeguarding agenda’:

“Such knowledge includes the importance of teaching ‘safe use’ of the Internet to customers. For example, on social networking sites it’s very easy to tell the world a huge amount about yourself which can have a variety of dangers including identity theft, stalking and bullying. It is better in the long run to teach safe use rather than just blocking access – if users can’t access sites in the library they’ll just goes elsewhere, but won’t have that improved understanding of being information literate and Internet savvy.”

“With growing UK-wide momentum in reducing the digital divide (see Digital Britain report, Race Online manifesto) and a variety of campaigns targeted at getting more people online, it is essential that librarians and libraries are able to also be online and reaching out to such people. [...] It is therefore important that librarians in Wales are able to take advantage of the Web 2.0 applications, for their professional development, the enhancement of library services, and for the benefit of users.”

This is backed up by the report’s foreward by the RSC Wales Manager, Peter Scott. I delight in oxymoronic juxtapositions, so will go backwards and end with the foreward:

“RSC Wales supports learning providers’ use of technologies to enhance and expand learning. Aspects of Web 2.0 offer significant opportunities to engage library users in a way that increasingly reflects the growing expectations, and user demands, of the 21st Century. Interactivity, engagement, and most importantly, ownership, provide some of the key elements to successfully giving users the freedom to express themselves in the Web 2.0 world. Moving this agenda forward is not without risk, but so long as we understand the potential pitfalls we can leap over them. When we ban, rather than manage, access to Web 2.0 we lose a valuable opportunity to teach learners about the increasingly important topics of managing digital identities, cyber-bullying, and e-safety. These are lifeskills, and lifeskills cannot be taught in a vacuum.”

The report is available from the CyMAL website or the Library Staff Toolkit.