INF506 - Social Networking for Information Professionals - First Entry, A & B

a)Social networking is the practice of using online software tools for social or professional interaction and sharing of contributions between participants. Participants’ join an online network of users, create their own personal profile and make contributions that will be published on the site. Social networking enables connectivity to an online local or global community and collaboration.

b)List of social networking technologies and sites I have already used:-

2009: Participation in CSU student forums, Oztlnet professional network

Creation of Online Learning Journal for study on www.blogger.com

Creation of group Powerpoint presentation and collaborative planning using Skype, Webcam and Google docs.

2010: Creation of Facebook profile for social purposes

Joined School Library Association of Victoria’s Bright ideas [Blog] and RSS feed

2011: Participant in Med TL CSU Facebook group created by past students

July 2011: Personal Learning / Work Experience

I am pleased to note that I have had more work experiences in Library settings. For five weeks, I replaced the Head of Library (the only TL in a team of four library staff) at a large secondary school in Melbourne, with 1400 students. This experience gave me insight into the level of commitment required from the TL as a leader and the manager of the library, which is a focal centre for the whole school community. I quickly realized the importance of establishing positive communication with all sectors of the community, including library staff, teachers, students and school leaders. As Head of Library, these alliances were essential for support when staffing and student management issues arose. The prompt dissemination of information about new resources and staff orders, was a time consuming aspect of the role. In addition to being present for circulation desk duties, general library organization, cataloging and ensuring timely processing of new resources were  priorities. I enjoyed teaching Literature to a small group of international students and creating a Winter reading brochure for publication on Moodle, in the school intranet.

Semester one study, 2011

EER500 - enabled me to develop a deeper understanding of the complexities of educational research and the significance of conducting it in real life settings, if it is to be relevant as evidence for professional practice of educators/ librarians. Despite my initial lack of interest in this subject, I found it to be more stimulating than I thought it would be and the regular, positive feedback from the lecturer, Bev Moriarty was motivational. Through the assessments tasks, I believe I have gained greater insight into research methods, processes and designs that will assist me to more critically assess the value of articles and research findings in future.

Summer Reading

The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky provides an interesting insight into life in N.S.W in the 1950's from a child's point of view. The story unfolds through the observations of a six year old girl, of her family life with her two older sisters, her mother and her father who is frequently away at sea. When the father returns home for weekends, his brother usually joins them and they enjoy some happy times together. However, there are serious undertones that evolve throughout the story to reveal an attempted suicide.
It incorporates newspaper articles that elude to some of the political events  surrounding the Petrov affair. The characters within this novel are well developed and it is an interesting example of historical fiction, as well as a good read.

Libby Gleeson's novel Mahtab's Story highlights the intense experience of a refugee girl (around ten years old) and her family's flight from Herat, their journey through the rocky mountains of Pakistan and their voyage on a refugee boat to Australia. This realistic and confronting story could be explored by students to develop their  understanding of current issues surrounding illegal boats coming to Australia and treatment of refugees in detention centres. It could also be used as a source to facilitate the development of the values of empathy and tolerance in our multicultural society. It is well written and very good to read from both an adult and a child's perspective.

Google images Source: www. fishpond.com.

Flash back ..semester 2..2010

Semester 2,was very busy but it opened up many new opportunities for me to gain greater experience in librarianship. After my work placement at Chisholm, I gained some casual work at Dandenong High School (DHS) library which had two campuses and services 2100 students. This library runs literature programs with year 7 and 8 students, Premiers’ Reading program and a Reader’s Cup Challenge. It was interesting to be involved with these programs and to use the Web 2.0 technologies such as ‘wordle’ and ‘wall’ with the students.Some other websites we used were "worldbookonline", "storiestogrowby.com." and International Childrens Digital library (http://en.childrenslibrary,org.au. I also participated in team teaching classes in humanities with year 7 & 9 students. I conducted year 11 an 12 student orientation sessions, using a wordpress wiki  and SLV and VCAA websites to support the development of their learning and time management skills, and to make them aware of plagiarism and correct citation practices. DHS is currently amalgamating two schools into one, where students are organized ‘in “SWIS’s or seven houses which cater for year 7 to 12 students. Each house has it’s own Coordinator, teaching and administration team. During term four, one campus library was closed and all the resources moved and processed ready to merge in to one library at the Dandenong campus. The process of checking all catalogue records and modifying them to comply with local preferences gave me practice applying DDC 14 Abridged classifications and National library records. This experience helped to reinforce what I had learned about bibliographic standards in education this semester. It was great to achieve one of my 2010 goals to gain more experience in a variety of library environments.

Take it with a grain of Salt!

I have since calmed down and had time to consider the subject coordinator's statement that he requested that the assessor should give formative feedback from which we can benefit in the future. I have reviewed my collection policy from this perspective.
However, I think it would have been less stressful for the students who received so many critical comments, if we had of been aware of the intended purpose of the formative comments prior to the return of our assignments. Nevertheless, I realize there is some valuable advise within the comments and I obviously still have much to learn about studying at this level. I can now move on to the next challenge with a fresh outlook.

Collection Management Policy - great effort for very little return!

My results for my second assignment - Collection management policy were very disappointing! I was very upset to receive the assignment back with so many critical and negative comments wrtiiten all over it by the assessor. Even now as I reflect back on this experience. I still feel that her comments should have included some real positive feedback. I am astounded that someone in the teaching profession cannot understand how deflating it is to receive so much negative feedback! It is difficult enough to remain motivated to keep going when you are studying distance education,without some genuine encouragement and feedback about what you have done well. I made a concerted effort to read widely and I also consulted with experienced teacher- librarians, before writing and editing for weeks to ensure that this assignment matched the requirements outlined in the subject guidelines. I was angry and very upset by her critical suggestions that did not match the specific guidelines we were given! I empathized with all my colleagues who had expressed similar disappointment on the forum.