Feedback

I found this a challenging course, with lots to take in. The homework and project forced us to use our new skills, which hopefully means they won't be simply forgotten. I also enjoyed meeting up with librarians from public libraries.

I continue to share what I have learned with colleagues throughout North Wales and we now have lots of ideas to put into two blogs in the New Year. I would love for us to also get permission to set up facebook and twitter accounts for our service (now I have an idea of what to put on them!). I believe I can learn a great deal more by going through the list of useful sites Sangeet provided.

Thanks Sangeet for all your help x

Feedback from Torfaen Libraries

I have enjoyed the Wisekids Web 2.0 training very much. It has been informative and interesting throughout the 3 days. In fact, it has been amongst the best training I have had since working for the library service.

I can see the relevance of social networking for libraries and believe that a new generation of library user will be easier to contact on the www than by another means. We offer many resources online now including ebooks and rather than this excluding traditional customers I believe the service has expanded to encompass people who might not otherwise be using our facilities.

I had already set up a Facebook and Twitter page for our library service before the course but had never used a blog. I learnt how to use social networking to its best advantage and the found tips and tricks, including Hootsuite, very helpful. I now use Hootsuite to manage my Twitter accounts from one page and I am able to instantly see when someone has messaged me so I can respond quickly.
I enjoyed contributing to this blog page and felt quite confident when setting up our blog for Torfaen Libraries. I have embedded a Twitter feed and Facebook link to the page and will continue to add features and links as I discover more about Blogger.

I found the internet safety session very useful. I have decided to investigate running some 'Cyber Savvy' courses for young people. I think that children and teens have been forgotten about to an extent. We assume they know how to do everything, but in fact their knowledge of maintaining a 'positive presence' on the internet and protecting their information, is shockingly limited.

It would be great to have a follow up session in the future and to be able to contact Sangeet with questions as and when they arise.

Thanks very much Sangeet.
Best wishes,
Rosie

Update from Torfaen Libraries

Hi,
I have worked on my project and have put together the following:
I have had permission to set up a blog for Torfaen Library Service. It will be a weekly blog and contain info, photos links etc about whatever we have been up to.
I have added the Twitter feed from @torfaenlibrary and the Facebook link to our Facebook page. We previously had 3 separate pages for our libraries on Fb but it seems to work better now I have merged them.
I have also set up a discussion page on Facebook for our IT drop-in customers.
Looking forward to our final day of Wisekids training on Monday.
Torfaen Libraries' Blog
Rosie

Hi I'm Carys Roberts and I work for CyMAL. I have thoroughly enjoyed the two days on the training course and I've learnt a lot of useful things. I've created a mind map concerning ideas for library development and how social media could be of use to them.

Lots of ideas but will we get the go ahead from the powers that be?!?!?

Lots to think about

The course gave me a lot of ideas as to how we could use Web 2.0 tools to help both our library members and colleagues. Like most people I'd heard of or used sites like twitter and facebook, but was unsure how they fitted into forwarding and promoting library services. Sangeet let me see how social media software can be put togather to give the library a unified corporate brand online, with a human voice. My mindmap shows how after liaising with IT and the corporate department I would like to complement our current static intranet site with a blog, screencasting, podcasts and a presence on twitter, facebook, YouTube(...the list goes on). Google software, delicious and bubbl.us could be used to help librarians collaborate on projects much more efficienctly than via email. Lots to do and think about before November. Sian

Web 2.0 Project for Swansea Libraries

Hello,

We are Nat and Emma and we are the Programme and Exhibitions Team for Swansea Libraries. We have an incredibly varied role, working with the team in HQ, Swansea Central Library and the community libraries as well as many external partners. We are also part of the team that looks after the Swansea Libraries Facebook and Twitter accounts, which were set up over a year ago.

Our project is to use Web 2.0 tools to create a wiki for staff, with access to shared documents, a google calendar with events listings and significant dates, useful links and access to our own digital resources. We think this should be particularly useful as it can be quickly and easily updated, accessed out of library hours if necessary and from non-networked PCs, presenting library staff with useful and relevant information all in one place.

We are also going to be taking over the unofficial blog by ‘Paige Turner’, making it official, renaming it ‘Swansea Libraries’ and rebranding it to tie in with our other accounts. The blog posts will feed into Facebook and Twitter as well as our new wiki. We will be using the tools we learnt about during the training to provide up to date and interesting content as well as useful information and links.

Torfaen Library Service - WISE KIDS Project

Hi, my name is Rosie Bradley. I work for Torfaen Library service. I have 2 jobs: Libraries and Learning Officer and Library Assistant - 18.5 hrs each.
I have learned lots of really useful new skills in social networking at the Wise Kids training sessions and have set out my rough plan of action below.
Plan
1. I am going to set up an interactive page on Facebook - probably in 'discussions' for the IT drop-in customers. It will mean we have to show most of them how to use Fb but it will give them a chance to ask us for help in between our classes. I would also like the reading groups to use Facebook discussions page to keep in touch with each other during the 3 weeks they are reading the chosen book.
2. The blog page I have set up will be continued as soon as I have the all-clear from senior management. I think it will be another point of contact and hopefully find a new group of customers. It could be linked to the launch of our ebook system next month and provide a guide to using ebooks, a few book suggestions and reviews. Ebooks may mean we have a new generation of customers who rarely set foot in the library but still borrow books. This sounds quite scary - but they will hopefully be brand new customers and many of our existing ones will carry on as before.
3. I have started using Hootsuite and am finding it very helpful. It is easy to spot when someone has mentioned or retweeted you so you can respond. I also like the facility to keep a list of particular #trends or @favouritepeople.
4. I will set up links between Fb, Twitter, Blogger and the website to make it easier to move around between them and update status on several at one time.
5. I hope to set up some tutorials for the IT drop-in customers to help them navigate around our online resources and to help them learn word processing tasks.

See you all in November!

Project

Helo everyone! As you know I'm Sian. I work in the marketing office at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. I enjoy what I do and I have learnt a great deal working in marketing over the past two years. I hope to one day complete a marketing degree. As part of my job i tweet, update Facebook and Blog on a daily basis. We also have Flikr and a You Tube channel. I found the training in Newport great, although I have a basic knowledge about the developing social media world! I have all ready written a short report emphasising what we can develop and begin to do.

After some thought i have decided to create a short presentation to my colleagues in the office on how we can develop our use of social media and also create a 'how to guide' for two of my colleagues who have never tweeted before! I will do this by using Google Documents, Slideshare, video clips and photos.

Wish me Luck!