Feedback on Wise Kids training

The Wise Kids training is truly excellent. It's fast and furious in the best possible way and very interactive.
It was good to get some of the background to the new technologies which did help my understanding and made me think about the different uses for the various social media.
I think we must all start using these tecnologies more, not just for promoting libraries and our role to the public but also for professional networking and sharing of ideas and online and didgital resources.
I know there are sometimes issues within our ICT departments about allowing access to some social media but it is up to us to demonstrate that this is essential for information providers and communicators if we are to communicate most effectively and with our customers and colleagues.
I think it would be useful for staff at all levels to have an introduction to what can be achieved and I think Wise Kids and maybe CyMAL could maybe consider something to help staff be less fearful of new technologies.
It would also be good to have a co-ordinated approach as to what libraries should be offering customers and also how libraries can encourage the public to become part of a digital community.
Than you Sangeet, it was a great course. Maybe an extra day would have spoilt us too much but it would have been well used.
I haven't had much time to get together with Anna to take the children's blog forward, but it's a must for the new year.

Feedback

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days of the training programme that I could attend.  Although I already used many of the technologies mentioned I did pick up a few new ones I hadn't heard of and learned many tips for improving the way I use them.  I use a lot of these technologies in my role, so discovering ways to manage them more effectively was a great bonus for me.  In addition my role is more of an advisory one, for FE LRCs, so it was good for me to find out what technologies can be used in libraries for both staff and learners and to pass this information on.

I feel I am given a lot of support from various organisations such as CyMAL, CILIP etc but as with many of these training sessions they are run and forgotten about, it would be good to see a follow session maybe a year or so later to find out what has/hasn't worked, how things have changed, and any support needed then.  The main issues I can see are getting access to these technologies and this is where I can see CyMAL playing a role in supporting requests.

Feedback - Swansea Libraries

I have really enjoyed the three day course and there was more information to cover than three days would really allow. It was useful to already have a basic knowledge of certain online tools and websites, including Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as there are so many others that I had previously not heard of or used but would be useful for creating resources for both Libraries staff and customers.

I think I have a better of idea of how to use our existing online presence to promote the Library Service more effectively, as well as develop other tools and resources. Some information that I learnt on the programme will also be useful to share with other staff within the service and I am looking forward to talking with others about it as well as developing our project further to become a useful resource for library staff.

The number of resources and use of Web 2.0 is increasing at great speed and I think it would be helpful to have some kind of support available. Maybe in 6 months and again in a year's time, I would like to have a chance to discuss our own use of Web 2.0 with someone experienced in the field, to find out whether we are using it in the most effective way or if there are better methods or tools to achieve our objectives, also to learn of new developments that we should consider when planning our future use of online resources for both customers and staff. It is great to know that we have a good starting point to develop our Service's online presence but I think it could easily become outdated if not assessed regularly. I would also like to learn more about collecting and interpreting data relating to customers' use and interaction with our Facebook page, Twitter account and blog.

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

Powys Libraries - One small step for a man....

The timing for the Wise Kids course could not have been better. The day after the fist two day block I gave a presentation on possible involvement in social media sites to the Powys Libraries management team. It really helped that I had actually used Twitter, Facebook and Blogger by that time. However the team gave me a fairly vague "Well you'd better make a start then" without addressing any of the issues. Over the next month I was quietly asked about how much of my time it would take and other related issues. The team as a whole saw the marketing value of the media without grasping the implications of what it takes to build an audience.
At the next management team meeting I talked about the nitty gritty of who and how and was given the go ahead for a Twitter account and a Facebook page. (Our senior librarian didn't "see any point in a blog"). We are still exploring what to do about a sit/blog for children. Our IT Dept has given me access and we now have a Twitter account, and a Facebook page. All I need now is content!

Wise Kids Feedback

I thoroughly enjoyed the three day course. I especially found the practical elements very useful, learning how to set up a blog and how to add things to improve the blog, twitter feeds and pages etc. I learnt many new things that I can hopefully implement in the near future.

The third day, concentrating on Information Security was an eye opener to me as I hadn’t previously thought about facebook issues such as if you “check-in” somewhere other than your home that you’re broadcasting the fact that you aren’t at home etc. As a suggestion I would say that I would have liked to have done a few more practical exercises on the third day, looking at further social media tools.

The break between the three days was good as after the second day I was suffering with information overload. It was good to take a breather from it and put what I had learnt into practice with the project and writing blog posts on this blog. I’m really grateful to Sangeet for offering her help and advice to us in the future as I’m sure I will need it!  

Feedback

Hi

Before entering my feedback I would just like to thank Sangeet for 3 very enjoyable and informative days.

1.       I enjoyed each of the days and learned a great deal about social websites etc. However the most important thing i will take from this course is that it has clarified my thinking with regard libraries and their use of social networking sites. Before this course if you had asked me if libraries should make use of such sites i would have said yes definitely but with very little idea of how this could be done successfully. This course has shown how the different sites can be brought together to form a cohesive and professional looking product that places your library in the virtual world.

2.       Not really sure about what support we need except to say that as the focus of the course has been very much on practical applications of the learning it should very much encourage this. I think yearly update courses would be beneficial to provide training on recent innovations in the field and provide an opportunity for different library services to highlight and discuss the work they have done.

Day 3 feedback from Catherine

I felt I got a lot out of the course and it has open my eyes to how social media can be used as a tool to engage and communicate with our students and staff.  The course was well run and Sangeet was a good teacher, who clearly explained digital literacy and used interesting and relevant examples to illustrate this. 

I did feel that for academic librarians, the final day of the course was quite wordy and spent too long focussing on issues that are more important for children rather than students.  I would have like more practical experience exploring how to use other social media - like prezi, wiki and wordpress, maybe some examples illustrating how how teachers use it to engage with their students. However, I do understand that the issue is of huge importance for other types of libraries and it was right that so much time was devoted to it that day. 

As a suggestion, future courses could be run for different types of library, i.e. academic, public and commercial?  And then the content could be tailored to meet needs and interests of those particular institutions.

All in all, it was a great course and I hope that WISE KIDS and Cymal continue to provide more of them in the future.

Powys School Libraries - Cybersavvy Plans

Looking at ways of integrating elements of social media use and focussing on security, awareness and critical knowledge. Imbedding this as part of information literacy standards and education inclusion. Raising awareness for staff and end users - eg school pupils, public, targetted user groups. embedding and strengthening Information Literacy skills.

Mindmap: CyberSavvy

Front line library staff - often in part-time, single staffed libraries - are often expected to be IT experts by library users. Increasingly public access computers in Powys are used by young people for social networking. In this environment staff need to be more aware of cyber safety issues.

Cybersavvy plan Cardiff Libraries

This mindmap is a draft for presenting a workshop to highlight the highs and lows of using social media with young people.

Digital Inclusion

I've tried to incorporate everything i have learned on day 3 and so this mind map may be a bit ambitious but it tries to show a service wide plan for improving our interactions with new media. Basically it identifies key workers who will work with 3 groups to both create clearer guidelines for staff and training activities/sessions for  different user groups. The one thing i have not included is closer links with IT to discuss our needs and actually discover what is possible.

Digital Etiquette Mind Blog

This is my mind map surrounding general digital etiquette issues. In my role perhaps highlighting these issues in the induction to new staff would be beneficial as well as ensuring that links to Welsh Government policies surrounding acceptable use of the Internet and email are highlighted.

RCT Libraries - Link to project

Hi

Sorry this is late been really busy. Just adding the link to my project for tomorrows 3rd day session. This project is linked to some training material on answering customer inquiries i have been working on for the South East Wales (SET) training group. The group kindly agreed that i could produce a blog to deliver this training. The idea being that staff would be asked to work through the blog which incorporates a mixture of newly created material and material drawn from sources on the web.

http://setinformationtraining.blogspot.com/

Nick

Feedback

Where to start? 
Sangeet was a fantastic trainer who tried to pack as much information into the three day course as she possibly could. I have taken away so many ideas and suggestions that I hope to be able to introduce, not just in my place of work but also to my way of working.
It's essential that the library service keeps up with developments in technology and the changing needs and expectations of their users - this course has provided a great introduction to these and more importantly pointed us in the right direction, or 'what to do next?' I would suggest that this course and it's content be identified by libraries in Wales as a training need not just an optional training opportunity, it's too important to ignore!
The break between days two and three was a good thing, and it would be really useful if we could have regular 'catch up' sessions with Sangeet . Some form of ongoing online support would also be much appreciated.

Swansea Libraries Project

Our project was to create a wiki or mini-website for Swansea Libraries staff, to include communication tools as well as useful resources for staff, to help them plan events and displays in their libraries. Staff will need to login to view the pages so they will not be accessible to the public. We used Google Sites to create the pages, adapting an existing template to reflect the branding style and colours of our library service.


The pages include;


Bulletin



The Home page, a summary of the rest of the site, a like button for our Facebook page and a gadget displaying the Swansea Libraries Twitter Feed



A Google document for library staff to amend to include their library event listings, this will then be submitted to the local ‘What’s On’ magazine



A bulletin board to help keep staff informed about new Service information, they will be notified automatically by email when new information is posted, but can easily refer back to it here



Calendar

 A Google calendar showing events, festivals and national campaigns that may be useful for staff, each event includes basic information and a relevant weblink

The Swansea Libraries public blog, embedded as an RSS feed




And finally an ever increasing list of links to useful websites, subdivided by category

We discussed the pages we had created with some of the senior managers of our Library Service and they helped us to see other ways in which we could develop the site in the future and encourage staff to use it

We have started with these few pages but we would like to develop them further and create more, to provide a useful and extensive resource for all Swansea Libraries staff.

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

Feedback

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course. The content and the delivery were just right, we all had to work hard. I found some part of the practical content difficult because it is not something I  do on a regular basis, however it was well worth the effort, and has given me an understanding of the skills staff will need to develop the Web 2 content we are so keen to provide for and with users. The course was very timely, as the county council is looking at a new  website system and the Senior Leadership team are aware that we need to change our online provision to meet the needs of our customers. Previously control was the most important consideration when it came to web content but this will now need to change. The course has given me the knowledge needed to plan the Web2 provision and with the knowledge the confidence to be able to argue the case with corporate ICT  if I encounter problems regarding the route we want to take. Previously we knew we should have a Facebook page and a twitter feed but now I know why and how to persuade others of the benefits.
It was a pity that more North Wales library staff attended, no matter how busy we all are this would have been 3 days well spent. I would really like there to be a follow up course in 3 months time, as I am sure that I will need further advice and support as we roll the new services out.

Day three ideas

Here's the mind map I created during the final afternoon of the course. After I write up my notes, I hope to expand on these points to enable the library to inform members about effective and responsible use of Internet resources.

Vale of Glamorgan Libraries Project update - Links to my blog'n'tweets

I have added a few more bits to my Libraries Fortnight blog and still intend to carry on Tweeting when there's any news from the libraries - even started gathering followers now!

Blog: http://voglib.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @voglibraries

Ongoing Support

Following the course, I am not sure what further support might be helpful. A one-day follow-up could be good, but only once I have had chance to use and explore what we have learnt.

Alyn

Cybersavy Map for Denbighshire Library Service

First thoughts regarding the provision of informal training regarding Information Security for users of the library public access computers and mobile gadgets of all types including phones. Aiming to raise awareness of the imporatnce of protecting our Digital Identity

Feedback about 3 day course from Mair Jones

I had reservations about coming on this course, organised by Cymal as I am not very computer literate and have never received any formal training.

I am however a keen user of facebook and have become aware that the social media network is now key to any Organisation to make itself known to the wider world.  Although i did struggle through the tasks, I am even more convinced following the Course that the Museum needs to have the social media as a core part of its PR Strategy.

I have absorbed a great deal of information that Sangeet has in abundance. She is clearly up to date on all the developments in this fast moving field. I found there to be an overload of information at times particularly as it is such a new field to me. It would have been helpful to have received some written notes.

Thank you for convincing me Sangeet that a social media strategy is the way forward for the Museum.
I now need time to familiarise myself with the actual process of writing blogs etc and to read all the helpful links that are available on the WiseKids website.

As regards support in the immediate future. I will be co working with Alyn Ashworth on presenting ideas from the Course to the Museum Team. He will hopefully be able to support me on the more technical side of this. It might be helpful to be able to attend a refresher course or a further one day course in about 12 months time, to  further develop my skills/abilities in this field.

Thoughts on the 3-day programme

Overall, the course has been very interesting and useful. I have picked up a lot of information and background about recent developments on the Web, and some insights into possible applications for the Wireless in Wales Museum.

Sangeet clearly has an excellent grasp of her subjects, and her presentation has been clear and straight-forward, and the selection of topics has been relevant and interesting. She has been able to respond to questions and demonstrate relevant examples.

During the course I and my colleague Mair have been able to develop ideas and strategies for the ongoing progress of the Museum's web presence, and a report which we are currently producing for the Museum's managing committee will benefit widely from our experience here.

If I may make one word of criticism, it is the somewhat 20-century mode of presentation - writing on a flip chart. A better alternative would have been an on-going document on the intelligent whiteboard, which could than have been saved and emailed to attendees as a useful resource. Although I do appreciate the wide range of resources available on the Wise Kids site, I would also, personally, have appreciated some printed notes, if only outlining the steps to be taken for the various exercises, making it much more straight-forward to practice at home or at work later.

In summary - an excellent course which I have enjoyed and found challenging.

Alyn

Feedback from Jeff Harrison

The three days have been a real eye opener for me.  The ideas and the possibilities are much greater than I thought and the fact it is available free means we can bring a much better service to our uses as well as marketing the service more widely and effectively.  We have already started working on Facebook pages for the Youth Service and the Library Service, with Flickr being used for the Arts Service pages.  A demonstration is planned for lead officers showing the potential of Web2 and I will be suggesting the use of screencasts and linking in twitter with the facebook pages and the use of video virtual tours posted on Youtube.  I would not have been aware that most of this was possible but for this course.

I certainly think that refreshers would be useful and perhaps regular updates about new developments that we could utilise.  Perhaps Cymal could fund generic information videos and such like for publicity or assist by funding content design/production courses.

Are we CyberSavvy in Flintshire?

Just a brief outline of some of the ways I would like to apply the internet safety guidelines given to us on day three of the WiseKids Cymal 2011 course.

MairJones Project

Gwefr heb Wifrau / Wireless in Wales Museum is beginning to consider the best ways of publicising it's existence as a Learning Centre for the community of Denbigh and nationally in Wales. This mindmap begins to map out the process of advising the Museum Team/Commitee as to the benefits of adopting a social media strategy as well as or instead of the traditional website it currently has.

Alyn's Project Web Interface Functional Diagram

The Wireless in Wales Museum is planning to update its website to include a blog and, possibly, a private or members-only section. This diagram is an initial attempt to show the flow of information into, out of, and through the resulting web presence.

Mind Map - Cybersavvy

Here are a few thoughts on co-ordinating on-line safety between services and the websites.

Denbighshire Libraries - It's not what I planned but...

Well, here is my effort, I thought I'd cobble together something to show the powers that be what is possible with web 2, however time constraints have not allowed me to make the video of the almost legendary Rusty Bear joining the library... that and the fact that someone has borrowed the camera... and my wonderful screen cast has been broufght to a grinding halt thanks to the system playing silly beggars and the microphone not working, so when I had done it, it was silent anyway and now I can neither delete or publish it!

All of this notwithstanding, here is a link to my humble contribution. Hope it all makes sense.

Pat's Feedback

My thoughts on the 3 day training programme, devised and delivered by Sangeet, are that it’s probably the most beneficial, practical course I’ve ever attended. One of the most enjoyable too!

I’ve learned new skills, but I’ve actually applied them during the programme itself. This has made all the difference. In my experience, what usually happens after attending training is that copious notes, taken on the day, never really get translated into practical work. The ‘day job’ and time constraints always take precedence. Not this time though.

After day 2 I left bursting with knowledge (on the background & development of Web 2.0) and ideas of how I would use the new tools we’d been let loose on (some of which I’d never even heard of before, let alone used) such as Bubbl.us, Muvee Reveal, Tweet Deck and various widgets (which bloggers call gadgets).

I now know about the importance of using labels to find your stuff and how to successfully embed. I’ve seen many (previously unknown to me) useful websites such as ted.com and videojug and feel the need to get my hands on a Flip video camera. I can’t wait for my mobile phone contract to end - so that I can get a Smartphone & download useful apps such as audio-boo. I could go on . . . (but I won’t).

 A key ingredient in the success of this programme, I think, was to split it up into two parts; with ‘homework’ to complete during the intervening weeks. We had space (with a deadline at the end of it) to show off our newly acquired skills and it was so inspiring to see what the rest of the participants had achieved. We are all using what we learned right now to enhance client support. Amazing.

 I would certainly welcome continued support from Sangeet. She took about 10 minutes, at the end of our last session, to show me how to expertly tweak my project into something much better. She takes a real interest and if left to my own devices, I would probably have taken hours to achieve the same result (or given up trying).

Following the end of the course, we have been given access to numerous, really helpful, resources related to Digital Security. This is a subject that should concern us all and is something I will be raising with students during future LRC inductions.

I would like to keep in touch with WISEKIDS to help me stay on top of Web 2.0 developments; if Cymal are able to provide follow up support sessions, perhaps on an annual basis, I would definitely sign up for them. Brillo!

Day 3 Feedback

I have learnt so much from this 3 day course, it has been a hands on course which has left me with some practical skills that I am already using in my working role and personal life. It was very helpful having people from different types of libraries and with varying levels of knowledge and skill in social media technology on the course. I felt inspired after day one of the course and that hasn't left me. There will be challenges taking web2.0 technologies forward in our service but I feel more able to advocate their value for the services we deliver.

It will be useful to continue to have access to this blog, we will have one place to come and share our experiences and the knowledge and skills which will hopefully continue to grow. Potentially this could become a place to record some best practice in the use of web2.o technology in Welsh libraries and to showcase any exemplar projects.

Many thanks to Sangeet and to everyone on the course for helping me take my first steps in using web2.0 technologies.

Melanie

Day 3 Feedback from Anna

I really enjoyed the 3 day programme. I feel I have picked up quite a lot of new and useful knowledge and hope to put this to good use. I am excited about using these skills to interact with our users and as a new form of communication with other staff.
Finding out what other libraries/librarians are doing has also been really interesting.

Whilst I don't think any further support is completely necessary it would be nice to have a follow up day in the future as technologies change and it's hard to keep up during the working week!
I think this blog is a great resource that I can share with my collegues to help them get a wider idea of what libraries get up to online.

It has been a great experience, thanks to everyone.

Feedback

Thoughts on the 3-day programme:

• Not long enough!
• So much to take in, but widened my mind to greater possibilities
• Given me the tools and the enthusiasm to take it back and find ways of using Social Networking to promote libraries to the public
• As above, to share with professional colleagues 
• Session on digital safety and awareness very useful - I hope we can start running tasters on this in the near future

What, if any, support would I like?

• I would VERY much like a refresher session in a few months (no more than a year!)
• Permanent access to the WiseKids web site and useful information lists
• Thank you Sangeet for saying we can contact you if necessary!
• Support from employers/council in order to maintain access to Web2.0 technology!

Day 3 Feedback

Thaught on three day feedback....

When we first got started on the course material, I really thaught that we at the National Library of Wales were too far ahead using web2.0. I found people asking questions and matters were arising that we had already developed for example, some of the librarians on the course did not have atwitter account until recently, were we have been tweeting for the past two years.... however, I learnt alot during the three days and deffinetly found it very useful back at the office. There were aspects that we had not developed fully, like linking our different social media accounts to our Facebook. On a personal level, i learnt how to set up a blog page, RSS feed embedding videos and a twitter feed to it. In work, the IT office did this on my behalf....

Support wise, I'm not sure.Again, as we are developed our web2.0 services and i have good IT support at work, different to other libraries i hear i don't think i will be requring much support. I will look forwad to following the blog to see everyone elses progress in the near future.

Sian

Haley's Feeback

I considered the three day WISE KIDS course to be very useful in the sense that it helped me build on my foundational knowledge covering information all areas of social media, internet savviness, etc.  I loved the hands-on approach! It was interactive and engaging. 

In terms of future support, I'd love to be able to contact Sangeet by email with any questions.  I'd like to be able to access the blog for future posts by other attendees of the workshop in order to keep abreast of any ideas that I might be able to apply in my own library. 

Great course!

Swansea Libraries Cyber Savvy?

Some ideas that we could use at Swansea Libraries to promote online safety and awareness of how to create a positive online presence to both staff and customers

Stay safe and be CyberSavvy at Cardiff Met

More than half our students are school leavers, and are officially adults.  That is not to say that they don't need being made aware of how their behaviour online may affect their reputation and safety.

Although the welfare of students is mainly the responsibility of Student Services, the library can enlighten students through information literacy sessions, covering cybersavvy topics closely connected to successful study, i.e. critical evaluation and thinking skills - or sorting out the cyber good, bad and ugly.

For example, using images - most students don't know that downloading images without copyright permission is illegal.  This can be tied in with some interesting examples, perhaps showing what happens when an image is copied without the owners consent, etc. 

As students are adults, the last thing they need is a lecture.  It has to be done subtly.... We need to find out what other departments are doing to educate students on u and work closely with them to enhance this.

Cyber Savvy MindMap - ideas around promoting digital safety skills

This is a 'quick and dirty' mindmap of ways in which I might promote digital safety skills with students - back at the ranch . . . .

CyberSavvy - family awareness session

Would really like to discuss with colleagues the idea of a family cyber savvy session in the libraries, maybe adult learners week?

CyberSavvy mindmap AndyG

Haley's Digital CyberSavvy Map

Hi everyone, here's my mindmap outlining potential problems with digital safety and solutions to create awareness.  -Haley Arnold

Internet Safety Reminder for NLW Staff.

Although the IT dept deal with all aspects of Internet safety at the National Library of Wales, controlling staff and users PC. I have created this bubbl.us document to remind staff in the marketing office about the basics in Internet safety when using social media....

It is important to use PPPAS to remind ourselves... profile information, privacy settings, passwords, auto logons, stranger danger PPPAS!

Torfaen's Cyber Savvy Mindmap

Anna's digital awareness mind map

Here is my second go at a mindmap (I've got more colours this time!).
These are some ideas as to how Cardiff Libraries could promote digital safety/skills/awareness.



Digital Safety/Skills/Awareness Mindmap



Cardiff Children's library update

Hi everyone.

Since the last training days I've used my new skills to produce a presentation for my colleagues showing how to add a blog post - we are in the process of setting up a blog for our children's and teen reading groups.
I was planning to create a screencast but our staff PCs lack sound so decided to create a powerpoint presentation as I was sure this could be viewed by everyone!

I've uploaded it to google documents so that I could embed it here (it is very simple but I hope it does the job).


I've also begun setting up a google site for some of our recommendations for books/websites. I found this really quick to use, it's getting the content up to date that is taking the longest time but I think it will make our recommendations more relevant than the paper forms they are currently in.

The skills and information from this Wise Kids training will continue to be put to use at work, improving the service for our users (hopefully!). Also personally I have really enjoyed learning about how to use these great web 2.0 technologies.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Care Sciences LRC Blog all set up and ready to go . . .

The start of term madness finally tailored off last week with the last of our inductions and workshops - and I had a chance to work on our new blog. Rob - my job share colleague - has been persuaded (!) that a joint blog would be a good idea and has given me his first post. . . . The blog is looking good, if rather short on content, but I'm sure this will change over the coming months. . . .

I'm looking forward to our catch-up Wise Kids workshop on Monday. Have a few questions to ask Sangeet & new skills to learn . . . http://caresciencelibs.blogspot.com/

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

Cardiff Met Uni Libraries - Creating a simple wiki for Textile Students

I've set up a Wiki for a specific module that's starting in January.  It is for year 1 Textiles and aims to provide inspiration, ideas and where to go for further resources and information.  They can also contribute and share ideas and practices as well.

It's very much a work in progress as I only got the go-ahead a few days ago, so the 'look' of it and overall content will certainly not be completed by Monday.  But if you want a sneaky peak, it's up there on Wikispaces.

Any other tips, or suggestions duly appreciated!

Look forward to seeing you all on Monday. :)

Vale of Glamorgan Libraries - Promoting events in the Vale

After the last course I spoke to my manager and we agreed that I would use Twitter to publicise events coming up in the Vale during Libraries Fortnight and maintain a blog as a record of what took place.
It took weeks before our IT people sorted out my access to social networking and I still don't have full access, so most of my tweets have had to be made using the old mobile phone from our now-defunct Mobile Library. Sigh. I am not sure I'm ready to add a link to my blog from the Vale's website yet.

It's been a steep learning curve, as has my other project to set a geocache at each of our libraries (which took far more time than I would have liked), but I think I'm winning.

Looking forward to Monday's WISE KIDS session. Hopefully things will sink in then!

Update from Newport Libraries

Hello from Newport. Just a quick update on what web 2.0 technologies we have managed to take forward since the wisekids training.

Reported back to my Manager and had a very positive response with a green light for our small web 2.0 technologies working group to create a blog for our Book Express service and a twitter account. [libraries and Information Online Newport] service.

Bolg address http://www.thebookexpressblog.blogspot.com/
Twitter account @readmoreLION we have added a link to this from our online library catalogue LION

Using Hootsuite to manage and schedule the tweets and have just started with a few practice tweets this week.

Will add a link to The Book Express blog from The Book Express web pages and LION shortly.

We are planning to have a service policy for web 2.0 technology before the end of December.

Really looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday.

Melanie

Cardiff University Library - Creating a tutorial for my library colleagues using Screenr

Hi everyone!

I'm Haley from Trevithick Library, Cardiff University. For my project, I created a screenr screencast tutorial for my colleagues encouraging them to engage in our social media tool, Connections, and how to get the most use out of the IT Manual that we have created there.  I presented the screencast at our annual staff refresher session.  Some said that it was a crafty way to avoid standing up in the front of the room, hah!  Here it is in case you'd like to have a look: http://screenr.com/3DKs

Looking forward to the last WISE KIDS day on Monday!

-Haley

John Spalding Library - Project Progress Timeline

Hello again. Here's how my project has gone, so far.

October

1. Wrote up notes from Part 1 of the course, adding links and extra details. Emailed notes to colleagues across NW NHS Library Service

2. Went over ideas from the course with my line manager and decided on creating a blog to help Welsh Health Librarians communicate developments and innovations. Agreed to set blog to be accessible to author only until finaly approved.

3. Contacted Corporate Communications regarding setting up blog. Asked if there were any specific guidelines to follow (including policy on bilingualism).

4. Received reply allowing blog to go ahead.

November

5. Started designing blog. Added static pages, useful links, adjusted time and permission settings.

6. Attended marketing meeting in Bangor. Went over progress so far. Showed everyone what the blog looked like. Got feedback and nore ideas. Recommended course to colleagues.

So although the blog is not available for everyone to see just yet, I feel that quite a lot has happened since the first part of the course and hope to see the blog go live very soon.

Best wishes,

Sian x

Project update for Flintshire Libraries

Here is a more detailed breakdown of my project plans:
I have met with my manager and discussed my initial idea of creating two separate blogs to demonstrate the potential for our service and users :
1. Libraries in Flintshire - to promote library service to the public
2. FLIS FALLS - a tool for staff to share and 'cascade ' any new service developments or training with colleagues.
These examples will be presented to colleagues and management before going live.
In addition to I am also going to be reviewing Flintshire County Council's policy for social networking (and creating business plans where necessary!) to see what other aspects of the WiseKids sessions we can introduce to the service.

Project: Business Case for blog for CyMAL Sector Training Programme

Hi All

Please find a link to my hypothetical business case for the CyMAL sector training programme. It's a starting point if I was to set up a blog for this purpose.

Business Case for Blog for Sector Training Programme

Before I wrote the blog I did a mind map to help me focus my thoughts on the advantages of having a CyMAL sector training blog.

I'm looking forward to seeing everybody from the mid Wales event again at the end of the month!

My screencast project - Sharon Crossan, RSC Wales

Hi all, unfortunately due to other commitments I won't be able to make the final days training session so this is my post on my project.

I wanted to create short screencasts on how to subscribe and search for RSS feeds.  I had never created any screencasts before but on recommendation I used a service called Jing to create them.  I found it very easy to use and pleasantly surprised by the results. All going well you should be able to view them here:





Using screencasts means that we can save time in the onlien session and also have a resource that people can watch over again until they are able to do it, rather than follow a set of instructions.  It can also be used outside of the session too.

On a visit to one of the colleges in Wales I was talking about this course and my screencast project which has inspired them to have a go as well!

So there we have it, I'm happy with the results hope you like them too and enjoy the final training day :-)

Getting there!

Emma and myself created a private staff wiki using google sites including information about events, links, calendar pages and our bulletin. We're still working on it so we'll tell you more on Monday!

A horse in the library

Libraries fortnight got under way at Llantwit Major library last Saturday when Hannah from Dimlands riding school visited the library and had her photograph taken with some of the thirty children that turned up. She was a beautiful, gentle pony who loved carrots and all the fuss she was getting, and even looks rightly proud of her new library card!

Dimlands also donated a riding lesson for the event, which was won by the aptly named Anna Groom (pictured).

Finally made it!!

Hi everyone,
My name is Kate Leonard and I work for Flintshire County Council as Community Librarian for Flint and the surrounding area. I left the two day course filled with ideas and enthusiasm which have only slightly faded with time and the reality of our corporate social networking policy.
My project will be a 'double demonstration' of the potential of blogs in both service promotion and staff training. I hope to share these examples with colleagues and management (as well as this group!)
See you in a week or so!

Training Blog for RCT Libraries

Hi

My name is Nick Kelland and I am an Area Librarian for Rhondda Cynon Taff Libraries. I manage 14 branches in the Taff/Lower Rhondda area. I enjoyed the course very much and it did open my eyes to the ways social media websites could be used by libraries.

I was particularly interested in the use of blogs as training tools. RCT Libraries has 28 branches and we have great difficulty in bring staff together for training events or in getting training to the branches.

For my project I am going to adapt a project I am already working on to produce a training resource for RCT libraries on answering information enquires. Initially this was going to be delivered in a traditional paper based format but I have now decided to create a blog to deliver this training.  Hopefully this will prove to be a success and we can use this method for future training.

Here it is!

National Libraries Fortnight has begun in the Vale with the first activities at Dinas Powys Library - looking at online Census Returns for family history researchers this morning and a Clap Tap Story Time session this afternoon for babies and toddlers - lots of fun and noise!

Julian Merriman, Torfaen Libraries

A Luddite is dragged into the modern age...
Hi,
My name is Julian Merriman and I'm currently seconded to the post of Information Librarian at Cwmbran Library in Torfaen. I have never used social media websites before this training so found it quite demanding, but I soon came to realise that there are many opportunities for libaries. The world is changing rapidly and libraries are having to change also to stay relevant and interesting. We have to continue to serve our existing customers, but we also need to cater for our new customers, the tech savvy ones who will look for us on-line and make use of our electronic resources. 'Hits' will began to replace visitors through the doors. With the beginnings of an all-Wales consortium, 'cloud' computing and e-Books, it's become clear to me that Libraries would benefit from skilled and informed inclusion in this New Age.
However, for my small beginnings I thought that my project could be a simple Blog for Librarians to share their experiences of on-line resources, and share good practice for promoting use of all our existing on-line resources, like those that we currently subscribe to, and experiences of the new e-Books consortium which should have its' official launch any day soon.　

My Project - introduction by Jeff Harrison

Hi, I am Jeff Harrison from Denbighshire Library Service (no photo I'm afraid, didn't want to break the camera!). I have been asked to do a presentation for our Lead Officers about the potential of using Web2 not just in libraries, but in the Youth, Leisure and Arts Services as well, so I though, kill two birds with one stone, I shall make that my project... wish me luck!

My idea

Hi I'm Carys Roberts and I'm the Collections, Standards and Training Officer at CyMAL. My main areas of work are to do with the Welsh Public Library Standards, the Museum Accreditation Scheme and Sector Training.

I'm trying to think where Web 2.0 technologies could help me in my post and I thought it would be a good idea to set up a blog for the sector training courses. I could use the blog to advertise courses coming up and it could be more interactive than what we have currently. It could have links to slideshare where the presentations for the courses could be stored and course attendees can give their feedback from the courses, in a similar vein to this blog. Photos taken during the course could be also be included. I could also inlcude a twitter widget. That's my idea at present, it may change.....

Heather's children's biblioblog

Hallo. I'm Heather the children's librarian for Cardiff. I'm getting quite excited about how Cardiff libraries may be able to get our children's reading groups involved in biblioblogging (like making up words). I love the way children get so excited about the books they enjoy and if we could encourage them all to share just some of this on a blog, perhaps we could start small with children in libraries and then blog further with primary schools and families.

Anna from the children's library has plans too, so we'll probably mingle and merge in some way.

Looking forward to fun and games!

Sharon's Plan

Hi everyone, I'm Sharon Crossan and I am the E-Learning Advisor (Learning Resources) at JISC RSC Wales.  My role is to support staff across the Learning Resource Centres (LRCs) and other learning providers that provide Post 16 Education  (you can find more information about us and our events on our website).

I pass on information about learning resources to a variety of sectors and work across other JISC RSCs/JISC services/and other agencies to provide advice and guidance to JISC staff/learning providers.  Currently I am working with a variety of E-Learning Advisors across the UK on a Digital Literacy project.  I organise a variety of events for learning providers and most recently our lunch time byte series, a series of online sessions on a variety of subjects.

This is where my project comes in!  I am working with one of the other E-Learning Advisors in the team to hold a lunch time byte on discovering free online resources for learning and teaching.  As part of this I would like to create a screencast on setting up RSS Feeds.  From this course I have learned a lot about using the local/global community to find information and have discovered several screencast tools, all of which will help me build the screencast.

Unfortunately I won't be able to make the final date in November due to other commitments but shall blog about the event and pass on a link to the screencast...or you could always join in here!

Best of luck everyone :-)

Powys Virtual Library

How to manage Powys library presence across a variety of social media

Rob Davies - Powys School Libraries

This an idea I had for including Powys schools in the Carnegie/Greenaway book shadowing project.

Staff Blog

Mind map for a library staff blog which will be used to allow staff to add content, view training materials and discuss topics of interest to them. As well a being a useful staff tool this will provide the ideal pilot project for future projects involving public access.

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.

Project for Children's Library Services

I'm intending to co-ordinate Children's Reading Groups within Cardiff libraries to create a private Readers' Blog community.

Introduction to Mair Jones

My name is Mair and I attended this course as a recently appointed Learning Development Officer for the Gwefr heb Wifrau / Wireless in Wales Museum in Denbigh.

I am not very computer literate and struggled a bit to to the technical tasks during the three day course. I am however a complete convert to the value of publicising the Museum through the social media network.

My aim now is to co work with Alyn Ashworth, the IT Advisor/Volunteer within the Museum to make a presentation to the Museum Team about a social media strategy.

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

Sharons Mind Map

Hi everyone, my project is to look at using screencasting tutorials as a way of showing people how to find "stuff" on the web in preparation for an RSC Wales short webinar session.  Taking one element, i.e. RSS Feeds, my mind map has helped me plan the different elements of the screencast.

Alyn's Mindless Map

Hi - I'm Alyn Ashworth, a volunteer at the Wireless in Wales Museum, in Denbigh. I've been asked to make recommendations regarding the Museum's use of the Web, and IT usage in general.

This is my first attempt at using Bubbl.us, and as I'd sloped off from the course early, I wasn't sure of the exact requirements, hence the somewhat off-the-wall contents of the boxes. Sorry!

Alyn

Llyfrgelloedd Gwynedd Libraries - Calon Cymuned

Helo bawb, Kelvin ydi fy enw i, ac rwyf yn gweithio i Cyngor Gwynedd fel Hyfforddai Proffesiynol Llythrennedd Gwybodaeth yn y Gwasanaeth Llyfrgell. Rwyf wedi canfod y cwrs yma o'm budd gan iddo gyflwyno syniadau newydd a ffres ar gyfer cynllunio gwasanaethau ar gyfer y dyfodol. Rwyf am ddefnyddio blog fel rhan o'm gwaith ar gyfer y cwrs i nodi ymgyrch newydd yr wyf wedi ddyfeisio sef Calon Cymuned.
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Hi everyone, my name's Kelvin and I work for Gwynedd Council as a Professional Trainee Information Literacy as part of the Library Service. I found this course to be beneficial by introducuing fresh new ideas in order to plan services for the future. I am going to create a blog as part of my work for this course to note the progress of a new campaign I have devised which is called At The Heart of the Community.

John Spalding Library - I have a plan

My name is Sian and I am a librarian at the Maelor Hospital in Wrexham. Part of my job is being a member of the web development team. Following recent marketing training, we have been re-designing our intranet pages to make them more attractive and useful to different customer segments.

Through attending this course, I have been shown how our library service could better exploit free Internet resources. For my project, I would like to first share the things I have learned with my colleagues and then set up a blog to help keep both staff and library members up to date with library news and innovations. The blog could have a Useful Links section, tag cloud, About Us section and static pages with Contact Information...

See you in November.

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

Mind Map for Denbighshire

Here is an example of how my mind is working at the moment. As with everything it is all down to time, imagination and what they will let us get away with! Youtube could be a great boon for livening things up a bit and the idea of adding the catalogue to Facebook should be great if we can find the coding to do it. Using Twitter to communicate with Book Club users could be fun, if the members can be persuaded to become twits... is that the right word??

Promoting events in the Vale

Hi there! My name's Andy and I'm Community Outreach Officer with the Vale of Glamorgan Libraries. I think it's the best job in the libraries as it involves line managing the part-time branches and the Mobile Library, going out and meeting the public at coffee mornings and other events to promote our services, finding out what they want from us, setting up Reading Groups in some of our libraries and overseeing the Home Library Service, which involves visiting our housebound readers in their homes and recruiting volunteers to deliver books to them.

My newest task - which coincides nicely with my project - is to maintain a blog of the libraries' activities during Libraries Fortnight in November (1-14), where I hope to include details of the many events we're planning, reports and pictures/video after they've taken place and invite feedback and contributions from those who attended.

My main hobby is bellydancing and I am a member of The Desert Divas Middle Eastern Dance Troupe, Diva name Basma, but I also like geocaching, caravan holidays, Flat Holm and playing with my new little dog, Archie.

New Skills: New Plan

After a brilliant two days with Sangeet, at the Cymal sponsored 'WiseKids' workshops, I am full of ideas!

I work as a part-time Information Librarian, at the University of Glamorgan (Glyntaff Campus) LRC. My role is to support 'Care Sciences' students and lecturers (nursing courses etc.) navigate their way around our range of resources and get the most from them to achieve great results.

I arrange and conduct student inductions, run workshops, source and buy books (increasingly e-books) answer numerous queries, man the Information and Service Desk (ISD), manage a budget, attend faculty meetings etc. -  all on 18.5hrs p.w.! I job-share with my colleague Robert and one of my ideas, following on from Sangeet's course, is to develop a really interesting collaborative Blog, with weekly contributions from myself and Robert (and possibly other LRC staff ). This will be an extra and fun way of supporting students and staff - because it will be interactive and dynamic and definitely not boring. A real human connection, rather than cold functional advice. It will, of course, be full of useful information literacy tools, pointers to really great resources, reminders about current service developments and so on - but it will, hopefully, be so much more . . . . 

Once up and running, I will create a link to my Uni Glam e-mail signature, so that every e-mail I send out will have the link. I also plan to advertise my work in our Newsletter etc., as things develop. I have already discussed the idea with my colleague Rob and he's definitely up for it. With two of us contributing, the task won't be onerous and should be full of excellent content. 

I will be using 'TweetDeck' to help me populate the blog with interesting and up-to-date developments. I do already use Twitter - but the WiseKids course has taught me all kinds of ways to exploit this Web 2.0 tool in more effective ways. 

I could say a lot more here, but, for now, I'm simply going to quote the Nike mantra and 'Just Do It'. Wish me luck and I'll catch up with you guys again in November and hopefully, have something worthwhile to show. . . .   

Better late than never?!?

Hi,

My name is Caryl, and I am a Project Officer for RCT Library Service.  My role is quite varied here, and I enjoy my job very much (which is always a bonus), a part of what I do is to keep a facebook page for our library, although I need to look into this as I believe I should  have a page not a profile...any ideas on how to swap from one to the other would be greatly welcomed lol. 

I enjoyed my 2 days with the Wisekids Project, and found some of the material very useful, but some things I know I will not use again, however it's always good to have even a basic knowledge of whats out there is cyber world!! 

To complete my 'homework' I am compiling an 'idiots guide' to blogging, which I will incorporate as part of a short training session with some of my colleagues, I would also like to do a short podcast which I will circulate around our branches, this video would be a how-to guide to our reservation system. 

See ya in November!

Caryl.