Best Actresses

And now for some fun...

Go for it Girls!!

Botany Bay could have been Sting Rays Harbour !!

Having looked at video.google.com and youtube.com i found a number of interesting videos relating to libraries. Using video.google.com i found a video by the National Library of Australia highlighting its "foundation document" - The Endeavour Journal. It was a thrill to actually see the Journal as the archivist carefully turned the well preserved pages and shared some of its contents. To discover that Botany Bay could have been named Sting Rays Harbour had it not been for Sir Joseph Banks returning to the Endeavour with a bounty of botanical specimens. I wasn't able to embed this video so I sent it to Blogger and you can view it by clicking on my Endeavour Journal link below.

Endeavour Journal (2004)

What about ..."New South Wales Stories" !!

Searching Youtube i was able to locate some videos posted by the State Library of Queensland as part of an innovative and inclusive Library project called "Queensland Stories". I was interested in this project as it allows ordinary Queenslanders to make mini movies on interesting subjects. There were stories from Vietnamese Queenslanders and also ones about the beautiful natural environment. I was taken with this video about Bribie Island because of the lovely photography.

The five RSS feeds i chose were:

1. Powerhouse Museum's picture of the day Blog.
   
2. ABC top stories
3. European-films.net
4. SBS movie show
5. British Library - Harold Pinter Archive Blog

I would have liked to add a feed from ABC's "At the movies" but there didn't appear to be one (only a feed for the TV guide instead). So I'm afraid i chose SBS's Movie show by default. David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz being my preferred review team.

My favourite feeds were from the British Library and European-films.net. I selected http://european-films.net for my RSS feed as it is of personal interest to me - offering news, interviews, reviews, and previews of European films post 2002. For anything earlier i will have to locate another site!

I particularly liked the http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/pinter_archive_blog/as it shows what a library can do using Web 2.0 technology. It's something we could also do!
The Blog if written by the curational team and plots the progress of cataloguing the Harold Pinter Archive. It also highlights interesting finds during the process and links the site to present day associations with the archival subject in question. In this case, a Harold Pinter play that recently showed in London.
It also involves the public in the "behind the scenes" work of the librarian or archivist. I think it is definitely something we could investigate doing with our wonderful manuscript collection.

Why Wiki?

I was interested to discover that many University, Special and Public libraries are using Wikis. Viewing the Blogging Libraries Wiki i linked to The National Library of Scotland and explored their digital collections highlighting iconic treasures e.g. manuscripts relating to Robert Louis Stevenson.

Wikis that promote library collections is an obvious use of Wikis.

Promoting whats NEW to the collection. Highlighting Original Material acquisitions such as paintings, ephemera, maps and manuscripts. This could also include information about the items provenance.

Many hidden treasures stowed away in the "AV Cage" could be promoted.

Wikis can also be devoted to specific client groups. Promoting services and resources available for the aspiring traveller or leisure seeker is a client group i am interested in.

Wikis on the staff Intranet could be used to engage staff in significant projects and for specific work groups.

The library best practice Wiki provides valuable information about initiatives undertaken by other libraries such as digitisation.

Some of our Lunch time guest speakers could be podcast to a wider audience.

We are probably only limited by our imaginations.....

...A Wiki for library volunteers

...A staff favourites Wiki

Libraries hold many fascinating things including films.......

The 1919 silent film "The Sentimental Bloke" is held by the State Library of NSW.

This fascinating image from the film is available courtesy of Australianscreen, where you can also find out more about the film (inspired by the poem of the same name by C. J. Dennis) and also watch short clips of this early Australian feature film.

The notion of Equity of Access to collections underpins the efforts of many libraries and archives in embracing new web technologies.

Fascinated or Obsessed?

Have you ever been fascinated by a film or suspect you are obsessed by a particular film genre or theme?

My fascination for a particular film led me to seek out further information about this film and its Director....

And...

You guessed it!

I discovered that the Director in question had a BLOG. In some ways it was like reading someones diary (but with their permission) and i found myself looking forward to the new posts.
Blogs can be powerful tools for learning about something you are interested in and are increasingly being used by organisations such as libraries to highlight their collections.