tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-622493927810110822024-02-20T01:41:39.066+11:00Geocaching LibrarianThe thoughts of a librarian who geocachesAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-65890379623062815102013-06-17T20:11:00.000+10:002013-06-17T20:11:09.407+10:00My new blogI've changed my blog to Wordpress, and it's now available at <a href="http://geocachinglibrarian.com/">geocachinglibrarian.com</a>. This blog is no longer updated.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-61566259033102469132013-01-26T15:53:00.003+11:002013-01-26T15:55:50.862+11:00Puzzling geocachesI attended the <a href="http://coord.info/GC440WJ">Coffee and Puzzles</a> event hosted by <a href="http://www.geocachingnsw.asn.au/">Geocaching NSW</a> this morning, and had a good time. As is usual at geocaching events, it was nice to put faces to names that you read in logs. The name of the event says it all really - it was designed as a forum for discussing solutions to puzzle caches in a relaxed atmosphere. The discussion covered a range of topics, and luckily I was able to solve one <a href="http://coord.info/GC19JEQ">puzzle cache</a> which had been bugging me for a while. Don't know how I missed the solution before - it's obvious once you know it! Hopefully there'll be some more of these events soon, and I'll certainly be attending.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-73212020478593394102013-01-26T15:17:00.000+11:002013-01-26T15:17:13.229+11:00Up, up and away ...This morning we went to Parramatta Park to watch the hot air balloon launch, which is part of the park's Australia Day celebration. It was an early start, with our alarms set for 5am. We were out of the house not long after that, and got to the park before the 6am start time.<br />
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There were 16 balloons all together - eight of them remained tethered for balloon rides, and the other eight took off, and headed in a south-westerly direction. I wonder where they ended up landing? Once we'd seen the balloons, we had some breakfast (sausage sandwiches, courtesy of the Lions Club BBQ), and then had a look at some of the entertainment that was there. Thomas went into the Circus Playground, and had a go at some of the activities there, such as walking the tightrope, and spinning a plate.<br />
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We left at about 8am, and the boys both fell asleep on the way home. I think they'll go to bed tonight without any difficulty.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-37407510346184539502013-01-22T21:54:00.001+11:002013-01-22T21:54:23.471+11:00Celebrations and commiserationsIt was a big day for us today. Our eldest son, who's four, started pre-school today. He's been really looking forward to it for the past few weeks. Today he headed off with his back-pack and lunchbox, looking very grown-up. The drop-off was totally uneventful - he'd finished the first of the day's three paintings before we'd even left! When we picked him up, the teacher said he'd been fine all day, which is what we'd expected. He answered all our questions about his day, and is looking forward to going back tomorrow.<br />
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That was the celebration for today. The commiseration is that I have to go back to work tomorrow for the first time since Christmas. At least it's only for three days a week, but it has been very nice spending time with my family over the last few weeks. After dropping my son off at pre-school, my wife and I went for a walk in <a href="http://www.ppt.nsw.gov.au/">Parramatta Park</a> with our youngest son. We ended up walking along the Parramatta River as far as the Rivercat wharf, where we stopped for morning tea. During the walk back we collected the information needed to complete a <a href="http://coord.info/GC23GBZ">puzzle cache</a>, and we'll be back another day to find it. On the bright side, I do have a new bag to take to work. I call it my "man bag", and it's a satchel - a nice change from the back-pack that I've used as my work bag for years. I'll also be able to catch up on the podcasts that I listen to during my bus ride to walk. I've got a backlog of a few week's worth, so it will be nice to relax with those. Hi, ho, hi, ho, it's off to work I go ...Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-3225371494534134512013-01-22T15:35:00.001+11:002013-01-22T15:35:51.063+11:00Geocaching goals for 2013There are a few geocaching-related goals that I'd like to achieve this year. The first of these is to reach a total of 300 finds. We're currently at 267, so we've got a little way to go. If we can plan a few "cache-a-thons" throughout the year, then we should be able to get there. Our current record for most caches found in a day is 12, which we achieved back in August 2010. I think we'll need to break this record in order to get to our goal of 300.<br />
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The other goals don't relate to numbers, but are more about the caching experience. One of them is to complete our Difficulty/Terrain grid up to 3/3. What this means is finding at least cache in each of the 25 combinations of Difficulty and Terrain from 1/1 up to 3/3 i.e. 1/1, 1/1.5, 1/2, 1/2.5, etc. If this sounds confusing, click on the Geocaching Stats box on the top right-hand side of the blog page, which will take you to our profile on geocaching.com. Click on the Statistics tab and you'll be taken to our our Statistics page, where you can see the grid. Currently we're only missing the combination of Difficulty 1/Terrain 2.5 and there are a few caches around with that combination, so hopefully this goal will be met this year.<br />
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Finally, there have been a couple of "challenge caches" published recently which I like the sound of. A challenge cache is a cache with geocaching-related criteria that you need to meet before you are allowed to log the cache. The first is the <a href="http://coord.info/GC406HT">Old School Challenge - New South Wales</a>. In order to log this cache you need to find 10 of the 44 caches in NSW which were placed in either 2000 or 2001. Currently we've found two of these old caches, and we'll see if we can find another eight during the year. The other challenge cache that's on my to-do list is the <a href="http://coord.info/GC43NRM">Variety is the Spice of Life Challenge Cache</a>. For this cache you need to find five different <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx">cache types</a> within a 24 hour period. We've found six different cache types altogether, but not on the same day. For an extra challenge, I might see if we can do the challenge without finding a Traditional cache, as there are a lot of those around. There are two cache types that we haven't found which are in our local area (Letterbox Hybrid and Wherigo), so it would be nice to include these as part of the challenge.<br />
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It would be nice to achieve all of these goals this year, but I'd be happy to get any of them done.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-91493272998618935392013-01-20T23:00:00.000+11:002013-01-20T23:00:01.283+11:00First geocaches for 2013Today I went out and found our first caches for the year. My siste came too, as she is a cacher too. Because I didn't have the boys with me, we could tackle some of the harder terrain caches in the area. It was a successful day, with three out of three caches found.<br />
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Our first cache was <a href="http://coord.info/GC8070">One in a Hundred-EcoTeam #6</a>, which is considered a must-do cache in the Sydney area. It was placed in 2002, and illustrates what I think caching was all about in the early days. It was in a local area of bushland, and was a multi-cache, so there were a couple of waypoints that had to be found before we could find the final container. My sister had found this cache previously, and was willing to give me some hints when I asked for them. If she hadn't been there I think I'd still be looking for the first waypoint! There's a picture in the gallery for the cache which led me on a wild-goose chase, and it was only after consulting my resident expert on the cache that I was looking in the right spot. The second waypoint was easier to find than the first. From reading the logs of previous finders, there's an easy way and a hard way to the final location. My sister knew the hard way, but I wanted to see if we could find the easy way. After retracing our steps to the walking track we'd come down, we took a turn to the left and followed a track to the general area where the cache was hidden. After a bit of a search I found the container, and it was to find a nice large bucket, which was well-stocked with books.<br />
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After a stop for lunch, we headed off for <a href="http://coord.info/GC1V4QA">a cache</a> which neither of us had found. It's been rated with 5 stars for terrain (the highest rating possible, which usually means that you need special equipment to find the cache e.g. abseiling gear, boat). However this cache should really be rated at about 3.5 stars for terrain. It does involve a bit of a scramble down some rocks, but it can be done without any equipment. This was the first 5 star terrain cache for both of us - it's nice to have it listed in our statistics but I suppose it's not a real 5 star hide. On our way to the cache we heard movement in the bush down below us, which turned out to be wallabies or kangaroos - we didn't see them in any great detail but my sister did spot a tail to confirm that they weren't <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/about/glossary.aspx">muggles</a> (or fellow geocachers).<br />
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On our way back to the car we walked past <a href="http://coord.info/GC39N83">another cache</a> which we were able to find. This one was a bit more straighforward and was a fairly easy find (my sister found it).<br />
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Today seemed to be our day for encountering "interesting" people during our searches. At the first cache, a gentlemen came down the track and chatted to us about the graffiti that is on the very large structure that the first waypoint is located in. He was harmless enough, but we felt better when he moved on. Our second encounter was on our way back from the 5 star cache. While we were searching for it we could hear a noise nearby, but couldn't think of what it was. Turns out it was a group of three teenagers letting off their <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Original-Potato-Cannon/">potato cannon</a>. They left not long after we passed them.<br />
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So my first day of caching for 2013 was a success. Hopefully there'll be many more to come, and this will be the year that we crack 300 finds (only 33 to go!)Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-77045538418141276972012-12-13T15:12:00.002+11:002012-12-13T15:15:40.507+11:00See you in BrisbaneI'll be heading to Brisbane in February to present at <a href="http://information-online.com.au/index.html">Information Online 2013</a>. My presentation is titled "Hide and seek in the library: Geocaching as an educational and outreach tool". At this stage it's on the program on Wednesday morning, so if you're free come along! You'll learn about what geocaching is, and how we used it as an outreach tool to encourage people to visit the library. There's some information that I'd like to include in my presentation that I don't think will fit within the time limit, so I'll probably post it here before the conference.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-16035035829972286732012-06-30T12:30:00.000+10:002012-07-01T22:51:09.378+10:00The final post for June<div><p>June 30th is here, which means it's time for the last #blogjune post. Some days it's been easier than others to come up with a post, but I guess that's to be expected. I plan to blog a bit more often, but probably not every day. I don't think I have enough to say to be able to do that.</p>
<p>If I get the chance I'll try and blog about my experience at the <a href="http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2012/">ALIA Biennial 2012 Conference</a>, which is coming up in just over a week. It won't be a live blog of the sessions that I attend, but will be more likely an end-of-day summary (or possibly end-of-conference, depending on how I feel each evening).</p>
<p>Thanks for reading over the past month, and I hope that you've found the blog entertaining.</p>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-61274026205096256712012-06-29T14:33:00.000+10:002012-06-29T14:33:12.251+10:00Lunchtime geocachingA new <a href="http://coord.info/GC3KDT9">cache</a> was recently placed on the campus, and I kept meaning to go and look for it. It's located near a carpark, so it's hard to search for the cache without being seen. Well, now that it's the mid-year break, there are a lot less students around, so today I took the opportunity to find it.<br />
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I'd done a bit of reconnaisance of the area, and had a pretty good idea of what I was looking for and where the cache was hidden. I had tried to find it this morning before work, but there were some workmen close to the cache location, so I had to give it a miss. At lunchtime, however, the coast was clear, and I was able to make the find. That takes us to 240 finds, which only leaves us 10 short of 250. Hopefully we can get to this milestone during our trip to Canberra this weekend.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-51419447124480362872012-06-28T14:10:00.000+10:002012-06-28T14:10:43.498+10:00Build the library of your dreamsGoogle and Lego have teamed up to create <a href="http://www.buildwithchrome.com/">Build With Chrome</a> - a site which combines Google Maps with Lego bricks. As the name suggests, it only works with Google's <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/">Chrome</a> browser. Currently the site only has a map of Australia and New Zealand, so we get to have a play before the rest of the world.<br />
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The idea behind the site is simple - find a vacant block of land using Google Maps, and build your Lego masterpiece, using up to 1,000 bricks. Once you're done, you can publish it for everyone to see. In order to publish a Lego creation, you need to either log in to your Google account, or provide an email address and/or date or birth.<br />
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Some very creative designs have already been produced - the <a href="http://buildwithchrome.com/build/BIxb">Parramatta Eels logo at Parramatta Stadium</a>, the<a href="http://buildwithchrome.com/build/-hH"> Captain Cook water jet in Canberra</a>, and <a href="http://buildwithchrome.com/build/BFWb">Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne</a>.<br />
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I had a bit of a play around and built a couple of things, and it is a bit of a novelty. It's not the same, though, as being able to handle and assemble the bricks as you create your own <a href="http://starwars.lego.com/en-us/holobrick/details/10143.aspx">Death Star</a> or <a href="http://starwars.lego.com/en-us/Holobrick/Details/10030.aspx">Star Destroyer</a>.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-66536085271688711062012-06-27T22:50:00.000+10:002012-06-27T22:50:54.578+10:00A reading program with a differenceReading programs or book clubs are a common service offered by libraries, especially public libraries. A recent news article discusses a book club with a very exclusive membership and offering rather unique benefits.<br />
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As reported on the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-26/brazil-prisoners-to-read-books/4093762">ABC website</a>, authorities in Brazil have come up with a scheme which rewards prison inmates who read books with a reduction in their sentence. For every book they read and submit an essay on, they will receive four days off their sentence. It's certainly an interesting approach which aims to help improve prisoners' lives and prospects once they're released.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-18081602692392527042012-06-26T21:07:00.000+10:002012-06-26T21:07:35.151+10:00First programming unit finishedI've just finished the first unit in the <a href="http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs101/CourseRev/apr2012">CS101 Computer Science</a> course run by <a href="http://www.udacity.com/">Udacity</a>. I enjoyed the fact that it's self-paced, and that you get immediate feedback on your answers to the quizzes. It's taken me longer than a week to finish it, but that doesn't really matter - I haven't set myself a deadline to finish the course by.<br />
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It's been fairly easy to understand the concepts. I haven't done any previous programming or computer science study, and the content is nicely packaged and presented so that you work through it at your own pace, and you can go back and review any of the previous topics at any time.<br />
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I'm certainly not planning to make a major career change and move into programming/software development. I guess I'm doing the course to try one of these new online learning systems, and also to increase my understanding of computer science. It's more for personal development rather than professional development.<br />
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One unit down, six to go!Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-66160661642957551352012-06-25T22:41:00.000+10:002012-06-25T22:41:01.322+10:00Day with the boysOur day started with Thomas' last session of <a href="http://www.readysteadygokids.com.au/">Ready, Steady, Go Kids</a>. He's done two terms, which means he's done all 10 sports that they offer. He seems to have enjoyed himself, and has done pretty well at them. We've enrolled him in <a href="http://soccajoeys.com.au/">Socca Joeys</a> next, which starts in a couple of weeks. He's seen a couple of classes and was interested in having a go. The only problem is that he doesn't understand the concept of "a couple of weeks", and keeps thinking we're starting it "tomorrow".<br />
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To celebrate the end of Ready, Steady, Go Kids we went out for a babycino (which Blake was asleep for). After that it was a short walk to a <a href="http://coord.info/GC2Y4VM">nearby geocache</a> which we hadn't found, and we found it after having a bit of a walk around the reserve that it's in. We're hoping to get to 250 geocache finds on our trip to Canberra this weekend. We seem to have reached our milestones when we've been on holidays - our 100th cache was in Port Macquarie and our 200th was in Port Stephens. We'd like to get close to 250 before we go so hopefully we can make it without too much trouble.<br />
<br />Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-80353775893902420612012-06-24T20:10:00.004+10:002012-06-24T20:10:37.312+10:00These boots are made for walkin'This morning we all went for a walk to the park and the shops, and Blake walked along for a lot further than we thought he would. It was first time wearing the "monkey backpack" - one of those harnesses that are attached to a backpack that the kid wears. He decided that the hill was too hard, and got a lift from there to the park. It's great to see him growing up and becoming a bit more independent. He had fun at the park, and enjoys going down the slippery-dip by himself or with his big brother.<br />
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On the homeward stretch with #blogjune, I think I'm going to make it to 30 posts.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-61880979149812156632012-06-23T21:30:00.001+10:002012-06-23T21:30:27.760+10:00How now, brown cowToday we went to the Family Farm Open Day at <a href="http://www.hurlstone.com.au/">Hurlstone Agricultural High School</a>. Dad went to school there, and he got an email about the day and let us know about it. The boys had a good time looking at all the animals, although I think Thomas' favourite was the fake cow which you could "milk". They were both a bit put off by the noise that one of the calves was making (Thomas decided to leave very quickly), and Blake wasn't too fond of the pigs. They were pretty big animals, so I guess to a 16-month old sitting in a pram down at their level they would have looked quite scary. We ended the day with a hay ride which they both enjoyed.<br />
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They boys do enjoy visiting farms and seeing the animals. My sister has done some house-sitting at a farm, and we've visited her while she's been there a couple of times. We've also been to the farm owned by a former work colleague of mine. We'll try and get to the <a href="http://www.castlehillshow.com.au/">Castle Hill Show</a> next year, and maybe even take Thomas to the <a href="http://www.eastershow.com.au/">Royal Easter Show</a>.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-39188196337809504792012-06-22T14:52:00.000+10:002012-06-22T14:52:36.998+10:00Are you an average Australian?<div>
The <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> has just released the <a href="http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0">2011 Census QuickStats</a>. These show the totals and statistics within the categories of People, Families, and Dwellings. I'd thought I'd compare myself to these results to see if I'm an "average" Australian.<br />
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The median age of Australians is 37, so in that respect I'm slightly below average (I know that medians and averages are different concepts, but average is what I'm using. It's only a fun blog post after all). The median age of married people is 50, so in that regard I'm well below average.<br />
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English is the most common ancestry (25.9% of Australians), and with one ancestor who came out on the <a href="http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/terra_australis/firstfleet.html">First Fleet</a> and another who arrived on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Fleet_%28Australia%29">Third Fleet</a>, I fit into that category. Both my parents were born in Australia, which is the case for 53.7% of Australians.<br />
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The workforce data won't be available until 30th October, but there is some income data available now. My weekly income is higher than the median, so that's an above average for me.<br />
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My dwelling and household all appear to be average. We are a couple with children, which is the most common family type (44.6% of all families). Our dwelling is the most common dwelling type (occupied private dwelling), dwelling structure (separate house), number of bedrooms (3*), tenure (owned with a mortgage), and household composition (family household). When the Census was conducted we had one car (which was the second most common ownership), but we now have two (the most common ownership).<br />
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So it looks like I have the characteristics of an "average" Australian. How "average" are you?<br />
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* NB at the time of the Census we were using three bedrooms, but we've recently moved the boys into one bedroom, so we're technically down to two.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-1083460562339517092012-06-21T21:38:00.000+10:002012-06-21T21:38:09.666+10:00ALA Annual - ahhh, the memoriesThis year's American Library Association (ALA) <a href="http://alaannual.org/">Annual Conference</a> is on in Anaheim, starting tomorrow. Four years ago I was in Anaheim as a presenter as part of the New Members' Round Table (NMRT) President's Program. It was a great experience, and it was amazing at how massive everything was. There were over 20,000 delegates and there were sessions in several hotels within a radius of a couple of miles. There were shuttle buses to move people between venues. The exhibition was huge, and you could have spent a whole day just walking through it. I learnt the hard way that you needed to get to sessions early, as the very first session I went to was full by the time I got there. Often there were three or four sessions on at the same time that I wanted to attend, so it was hard to decide what to see.<br />
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There was time for fun too, because you can't go to Anaheim and not go to Disneyland (especially when the theme park is within walking distance). There was also the skill and elegance of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2QZqucDGEs">Book Cart Drill Teams</a>. If you get the chance to attend an ALA Annual I'd recommend it.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-85596498101866097272012-06-20T21:55:00.000+10:002012-06-20T21:55:16.372+10:00New roles for academic librariansThe recent focus on research output and quality within the Australian higher education sector has had an impact on librarians who work in university libraries. There are two areas that have seen some new roles emerge which librarians are well-suited to.<br />
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The first is the use of bibliometrics by academic staff who are seeking promotion. Whereas previously a librarian may have been asked to check an academic's list of publications to ensure that it was complete, the same request now is most likely to also ask for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index">h-index</a> and <a href="http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/free/essays/impact_factor/">journal impact factor</a> information. As a result, libraries have had to come up with a range of <a href="http://libguides.mq.edu.au/bibliometrics">guides</a> and <a href="http://library.unsw.edu.au/servicesfor/academic/rims.html">services</a> to assist academic staff who are looking for this information. Indeed, the position of a "<a href="http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/06/roy-tennant-digital-libraries/hi-im-your-tenure-librarian/">tenure librarian</a>" has been suggested as a way that academic libraries can ensure that they are seen as an integral part of academic life.<br />
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The other new area where librarians are finding they have a role to play is in research data management. The Australian government has set up the <a href="http://www.ands.org.au/">Australian National Data Service</a> to help make better use of Australian research output. Several university libraries have completed an <a href="http://www.ands.org.au/news/andsnapshot.html#newcastle">ANDS-funded project</a> to harvest research data produced by their academics, and add it to <a href="http://services.ands.org.au/home/orca/rda/">Research Data Australia</a>. With universities focussing more on research data management, there will be more and more opportunities for libraries to be involved. We can use our skills in describing resources to help academic staff get their research output recognised and discovered.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-72778185364566182462012-06-19T20:28:00.001+10:002012-06-19T20:28:50.478+10:00Bubbles and towersToday was the moment of truth for our washing machine. The technician was due between 7am and 12pm, and my wife and I had decided on the upper limit we were prepared to pay to have the machine fixed. If it was going to cost more than that, we'd replace it. So after getting up at 6:45am to be ready in case the repairman arrived at 7am, he arrived at 11:35am. The verdict wasn't good - the pump and the electronic control unit both needed to be replaced, and for the price of that we could buy a new washing machine. So I think I know <a href="http://www.homehubhills.com.au/castlehill/display.asp?entityid=4685">where</a> we'll be going shopping this weekend.<br />
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The boys were really well-behaved this morning while we were stuck at home waiting for the technician to arrive. At Thomas' suggestion, we got out the bubble mixture and spent some time blowing bubbles. Blake wasn't too sure about how to blow them, and put the stick in his mouth twice. Of course, the couple of times he did blow some, I couldn't get the camera ready in time.<br />
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The technician arrived as we were packing up the bubble-making equipment, and once I showed him to the laundry I put Blake down for his sleep. While he was asleep, Thomas and I took the opportunity to build a tower out of Thomas' building blocks. We decided to try and use all the blocks and see if we could build a tower which was taller than Thomas. After a couple of shaky moments, we got there, and our masterpiece was complete.<br />
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So today was a bit of an alliteration day - Blake blew beautiful bubbles, and we built Thomas' terrifically tall tower.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-52643928177821102972012-06-18T22:27:00.001+10:002012-06-18T22:27:04.195+10:00Puzzling geocachesThere are several <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx">types of geocaches</a>, including traditional, multi, virtual, and puzzle. As the name suggests, puzzle caches involve solving a puzzle of some sort in order to find them. Some of them give you a set of starting coordinates and then you need to gather clues in the area e.g. counting words on a sign, or getting numbers from a plaque, in order to calculate the final coordinates where the cache container is hidden.<br />
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Others require you to do some research beforehand to come up with the coordinates. These can range from brain-bendingly difficult (for me, anyway) to those which can be solved with a bit of brainpower. We're heading down to Canberra in a couple of weeks, and there are quite a lot of puzzle caches down there. I downloaded all the puzzle caches in NSW and the ACT a few weeks ago, and have slowly worked my way through them, starting with the easy ones.<br />
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I've managed to solve a few, and there's a wide variety of puzzle types. Some require <a href="http://coord.info/GC1W3AF">decoding QR codes</a> or <a href="http://coord.info/GCZE3J">nautical signal flags</a>, or <a href="http://coord.info/GCRVDX">solving a Sudoku puzzle</a>, or <a href="http://coord.info/GC10BNE">identifying Shakespeare's sonnets</a>. There's a puzzle for everyone's interests and abilities. Hopefully I'll have time to find some during our Canberra trip.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-11615187095030144492012-06-17T21:39:00.001+10:002012-06-17T21:39:37.536+10:00That'd be rightThe first fine and sunny weekend day we have for a couple of weeks, and I'm working. It wasn't too bad - there was enough going on to keep things interesting so I didn't get bored. The main excitement seemed to be at home, where our washing machine decided to give up the ghost halfway through a load of washing. Luckily it was the last load, so everyone has got enough clean clothes and sheets to last until Tuesday, when the technician is coming to check it out. Hopefully it will a quick and easy (and cheap) fix.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-55920985923926672752012-06-16T19:41:00.001+10:002012-06-16T19:41:29.120+10:00Toy storage solvedWe think we've solved our toy storage problem in the boys' playroom. Yesterday we bought a shelving unit from Kmart, and when the boys were in bed we assembled it. To be honest I preferred assembling Ikea furniture, because at least there's a bit of variety in the job. For these shelves it was just a lot of threading nuts onto screws and tightening them - quite repetitive. We got into a good rhythm by the end of it, though, and the shelves are now in the wardrobe with the boys' boxes of toys all stacked away neatly. It's nice to be able to give the boys a room of their own to play in, and they seem to enjoy using it.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-71080299974446524692012-06-15T20:21:00.001+10:002012-06-15T20:21:49.790+10:00Correcting newspapers in TroveI've come across another pastime which I've been working on over the last few months. I'm helping out with <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/general/participating-in-digitised-newspapers-faq">correcting the OCR'd text</a> from digitised Australian newspapers which are being loaded into <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/">Trove</a>. It's a very simple, but addictive, task which anyone can do. All you have do is search the newspapers on Trove, and see if there are any corrections which need to be made to the electronically translated text. If so, you can make the corrections straight away. The original text remains untouched (so that any vandalism can be reverted), it's only the OCR text which changes. The aim is to make it easier to search Trove by making sure that the machine-readable text is accurate.<br />
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The Manager of the <a href="http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/index.html">Australian Newspapers Digitisation Project</a> at the National Library of Australia, Rose Holley, has written several publications describing this crowdsourcing effort, including:<br />
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<li><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1045/march2010-holley%20">Crowdsourcing: How and Why Should Libraries Do It?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/project_details/documents/ANDP_ManyHands.pdf">Many Hands Make Light Work: Public Collaborative OCR Text Correction in Australian Historic Newspapers </a></li>
<li><a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10760/14176">A success story - Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program, 2009</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about/awards/docs/Arnot_Memorial_Fellowship_Winner%202012.pdf">Harnessing the cognitive surplus of the nation: new opportunities for libraries in a time of change </a></li>
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I think helping out with this project is something that librarians are well-suited to. We generally have a good eye for detail, and we like to ensure that our clients have access to accurate information. So next time you're searching in Trove, do a quick search in the <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper">newspapers</a> on a topic that interests you, and see what comes up. Maybe you could see if there any articles that relate to your local area e.g. on historically important people or places, or even your own library. However, I should warn you thast it's quite addictive once you start.<br />
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There are similar crowdsourcing projects whhich have been set up by libraries around the world. Rose Holley lists three of them in her <a href="http://rose-holley.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/libraries-harnessing-cognitive-surplus.html">blog</a> - one in <a href="http://www.digitalkoot.fi/en/splash">Finland</a> (correcting newspapers), one in <a href="http://menus.nypl.org/">New York</a> (correcting digitised recipes in the New York Public Library's collection), and the <a href="http://whats-the-score.org/">Bodleian Library at Oxford University</a> (describing digitised music scores). There is also <a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">Distributed Proofreaders</a>, which carries out proofreading and formatting of public domain e-books for <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a> and other public domain e-book providers. There's something for everyone, so why not become part of the crowd?Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-44446952825838603112012-06-14T12:13:00.002+10:002012-06-15T11:45:01.062+10:00Thank goodness for duct tapeWhen I bought the luggage box for the roof of the car a couple of weeks ago, there was a sale on duct tape (half price), so I bought a roll. Since then it's been used to re-attach the handle to the boys' magnifying glass, fix the neck of the broken toy guitar, and tape together one of the struts in the boys' collapsible car-shaped tent. Very useful stuff - no wonder the Mythbusters could <a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/duct-tape-island.htm">survive on a desert island</a> with nothing but a pallet of duct tape.<br />
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Strictly speaking, I don't think the tape I bought is duct tape, as it's black rather than silver and is more vinyl than cloth. Still, it's handy to have some around the house.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62249392781011082.post-38376769825294759772012-06-13T21:48:00.003+10:002012-06-15T11:45:30.973+10:00MOOCs - a student's perspective<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course">MOOCs</a> (Massive Online Open Courses) are a relatively recent addition to the education sector. They're already <a href="http://www.su-spectator.com/news/anyone-can-go-to-harvard-ivys-offer-free-online-classes-1.2872497#.T9h2YrX4IzQ">having an impact</a> on the way that traditional universities think about and teach their courses. The faculty Learning and Teaching Committee that I'm on recently held a meeting where we had a look at some of the MOOCs that are out there, such as <a href="http://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a>, <a href="http://www.udacity.com/">Udacity</a>, and <a href="https://www.coursera.org/">Coursera</a>. Some of the common features include the ability to enrol at any time, the self-paced nature of the coursework, and the focused nature of the online content that they produce.<br />
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I thought I'd give it a go, so I enrolled in the Udacity course <a href="http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs101/CourseRev/apr2012">CS101 - Intro to Computer Science</a>. It was easy to enrol - all I needed to provide was a username and password. So far I've watched a couple of the videos and answered the first two multiple choice quizzes. It's nice to be able to study in my own time without the pressure of having a timeframe to meet. There is a final exam which is held every eight weeks, so you do get a final grade at the end of the course. However, you can take the course again if you're not happy with your mark and try to improve it.<br />
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What can librarians take away from the emergence of MOOCs? I think the main one is to keep our online content short and sweet and to the point. Most of the videos produced by MOOCs are fairly short, and they don't try to cram too much into them. Students can dip in and out of them and only watch the videos that deal with the specific content that is relevant to them. This is something that librarians should keep in mind when producing online tutorials.<br />
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I'll let you know how I go with my programming course. Apparently we'll learn how to build a search engine in seven weeks, so it should be interesting to see how they work.<br />
<br />Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11552926773601898708noreply@blogger.com0