SGEM/ East Meets West: What our teens had to say

Discussion point posed to the teens; they were asked to continue the opening statement: "Why do people..."

Their responses:
"... Betray each other?"
"... Ask questions?"
"... Answer questions?"
"... Have narrow views of beauty?"
"... Idolise idols?"

Some of the answers to the last response:
"It keeps them alive."
"They want a purpose in life."
"I idolise my father. Why? He's a role model for me. He's resourceful. He's good, kind hearted. He helps me. That is why I love my father. That is why I idolise him."

9th Sept. TRL (in the east of Singapore) and JRL (in the west) hosted a total of about 80 students (15 to 16 year olds).

The students were participating in the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) event which involved a "Dramazing Race" in the morning (i.e. a race that has drama and information-seeking elements), and a "East Meets West" Digital Video-conferencing/ 'live' IM chat in the afternoon.

The discussion topics were based on what we posed for the Sept 11 'live' chat with Sugargrove Public Library (Chicago, Illinois), Jurong Regional and Tampines Regional in Singapore.


TRL Auditorium: IM chat session, with the discussion points on Language, Culture, and Lifestyle.

The teens were asked to express their thoughts. Which they did.

Students from one side expressed their views and participants from the other library responded (one segment was via IM chat, and the other part of the session was via Videoconferencing).

TRL: Students at TRL at the foreground, with a video-conference shot of students at JRL.

I couldn't mulit-task; keeping up with listening and noting down what the teens were discussing. It didn't help that the technician on standby (I was in the sound control room) was chuckling away from time to time from the humourous remarks that some of the teens made.

What's clear to me was that these teens have lots to say. My estimate was that each student spent up to one minute at least at the microphone, expressing their thoughts or providing a response to a comment from the other side. And it was their intelligent and earnest expressions that mattered.

Student at TRL exchanging views with counterpart at JRL via videoconferencing.

Part of the reason for trying out videoconferencing and IM for this event was to add that I.T. element to the discussion for teens. We wanted to experiment with different modes of communication with the teens, just to see what happened. Sure, we could've done a face-to-face discussion but I think it wouldn't have been as exciting (wish I could show you the video, with the teens cheering and luckily no jeering).

I observed that in general, the students were more expressive verbally than over IM. Interesting... perhaps IM was closer to writing, and that required more thought that just speaking their minds.

After the event, my colleagues and I did a quick round up of the day's event and we noted a few major points we had to tighten up regarding the IM session for Sunday.

It was apparent that the moderator's presence had to be established right at the beginning particularly for an IM chat. Otherwise, the teens were just trading comments with no real substance. Sort of like an aimless discussion that led to nowhere (isn't that applicable to lots of things in real life?).

[p.s. Check out this awesome IM event between two libraries, one in Singapore and the other in the US: Sept 11, 2005 IM chat: "Changing the World, One Friend at a Time"]

Tag: library event, the September project 2005

Join the IM chat between Singapore & US libraries -- Sunday, Sept, 11 2005

Here's an event that my colleagues from the Adult & Young People (AYP) services & Programmes (PEM) have been busy with for last few weeks:

In rememberance of Sept 11, log in for a 'live' chat based on the theme of "How much do we understand each other". Chat with people between 13 to 35 years of age from Sugar Grove Public Library (Chicago, Illinois USA) and Jurong Regional & Tampines Regional libraries in Singapore.

When? Join our 'live' chat via Instant Messaging, on:

• Sunday Sept 11, 2pm, Singapore time
• Sunday Sept 11, 1am, Chicago USA time
• [Check for your local time via this website: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html]
  

How? Login to one of the following (depending on whether you have MSN or Yahoo! IM):

• jrl_chat_msn (MSN IM name)
• trl_chat_msn (MSN IM name)
• SugarGroveInfo (MSN IM name)
• jrl_chat (Yahoo! IM name)
• tampines_chaty (Yahoo! IM name)
• SugarGroveInfo (Yahoo! IM name)

What if you can't make it for the chat session? You can still join the blog discussions at the Sugar Grove Youth blog - http://sugargroveyouth.blogspot.com

Some people might ask, "Why are libraries involved in Sept 11? Why talk about Sept 11 at all?

My short answer is: "It's about Community, not Geography"
For a longer answer... I'll post it separately.

Additional information on "Instant Messaging":

1. What is Instant Messaging?
(IM) - a text-based computer conference over the Internet between two or more people who must be online at the same time. When you send an IM the receiver is instantly notified that she/he has a message.

2. How do I Instant Message?
We are using Microsoft's MSN Messenger and Yahoo! for this event. Participants would have to download and install your own Instant Messaging (IM) program.

Open a new message and type the library's IM name in the To: field OR add us to your buddy list, then double click on the library's IM name to open an IM window, and type your message.

3. Where can I download an Instant Messaging Program? Free downloads are available at http://messenger.msn.com/Download/ (MSN) and http://messenger.yahoo.com/ (Yahoo!)

Adapted from: http://www.lansing.lib.il.us/im.htm

Tag: library event, the September project 2005

See Jackie Chan in person at the National Library

From the NLB website:

Panel discussion: Jackie Chan & Stanley Tong on Asian Cinema
Join international action superstar Jackie Chan and acclaimed director Stanley Tong, in a discussion on Asian Cinema and more!

Date: Sunday, 11 September 2005
Time: 7.30-8.15pm
Venue: Drama Centre Level 3, National Library, 100 Victoria Street, Singapore 188064

Free admission but registration is needed. To register, please email us at asq@nlb.gov.sg.
Registration ends on 8 Sep 2005. Please bring along the confirmation email from NLB for admission.

Remember! Registration required, and ends 8 Sept 05.

I wasn't sure if I should post this at all, 'cos Singaporeans who visit this blog might already know of the event. OK if you're local and you don't know this newsflash, drop me a comment so I'll know to highlight such stuff in future. To non-Singaporeans who might be reading this, Jackie Chan is the action movie star from Hong Kong.

If you all notice the title of this post, I wrote "See" Jackie Chan, not "Meet" him. I bet it's going to be soooo packed that most people can only catch a glimpse of him.

No, I don't think I'll be there. If anyone's blogging about it, drop a comment here.


Tag:library event

"Simple Book Repair" that's not so simple

The Dartmouth College Libraries have put up a web-based manual on book repair (va ListNews.com).

They call it "A Simple Book Repair Manual". I took a look and woah, it's not so simple. If you think preservation work in libraries consist of only scotch tape and glue, well think again. :)

Aside:
In the context of libraries, people talk about Preservation and Conservation work as two separate functions.

Till today, I still have difficulties trying to differentiate between the two. Just when I think I get the difference between the two, I quickly get confused again because they seem so similar. I shan't even try to offer an explanation of how the two are different.

Maybe you can make some sense of it from this article on Careers on Preservation Librarianship didn't really help.

Think I'll stick to Public Librarianship.

Blogging course: Afterthoughts

Conducted two sessions (2 hours each) with Rajen today: one in the morning, and the other in the afternoon.

2 hours per session may not seem like much but phew -- it's tiring to be a trainer. I appreciate the work that Rajen does even more. Not to mention the many teachers in schools. Salute!

There seemed to be one grouse from the participants of both sessions -- too little time! They wanted to know more, but we couldn't, given the time constraints.

You know, most people tend to be polite when you ask them to complete the feedback forms after the course, or when you ask them how it went for them. I usually take the positive comments with a pinch of salt and pay more attention to the not-so-positive ones.

We were pleasantly surprised that quite a number of feedback forms had fairly detailed comments on what they found useful; what they had learnt.

It's clear that most participants started with the perception that blogs were "frivolous musings of teenagers with too much time on their hands". So we showed them what else blogs were good for.

I got a kicked out of the look on their faces when Rajen told them, "See, it's not just for teenagers. You people are now blogging. You're a blogger too."

Whether they actually want to blog after today isn't the point at all. There might be one or two who continue to be skeptics. But at least majority can now make an informed decision for themselves the next time they read or hear something about blogging.

Days like this, it feels good to be a librarian.


Tag: librarianship, innovation singapore, life long learning, blogging course

Blogging course: MICA Innovation Fiesta 2005

My colleague, Rajen, and I would be conducting a blogging-related course tomorrow, as part of the MICA Innovation Fiesta 2005. Two sessions actually. Participants will come from various MICA agencies.

The course title is "Blogging: New Tool of the E-Generation". I didn't come up with the course title. Maybe Rajen did. Guess he wanted the course to sound "sexy" :)

We've also started a training/ demonstration blog - blogcoursedemo.blogspot.com

Rajen's the expert in content packaging and courseware development. He's also an excellent trainer, so while I'm there to conduct the hands-on session, I also hope to learn the finer points of being a trainer from him.

There's a full registration of 45 people. At the end of the course, we would like the participants to:

1. Define, understand the types and uses of blogs
2. Know basic terminologies associated with blogs and blogging
   
3. Understand how blogs can be created
   
4. Make an informed choice on blogs and blogging

The last point is important. I would think it's the crux of the whole course.

From my point of view, the aim of the course is not to encourage or discourage people from blogging. We tell them what it is, its applications and use; the potentials and pitfalls; opportunities and risks. They make their own choice as to what happens after the course.

From most non-bloggers I've spoken to, the popular perception is that it's something that the young & frivilous engage in. Their views are shaped by the local media, no doubt. I used to think that way about blogs too, until someone took issue with me.

I decided the person's indignation was valid, as I was then making a statement based on mere perception without bothering to find out what exactly what blogging was (unthinkable for a librarian!)

So I started a blog as an experiment. What better way than to try it out yourself, right? It was soon apparent to me that blogging was no different from having a personal website (like Yahoo! geocities). A blog is merely a tool. It's how you use it.

The other day, someone asked me if "blogging was dangerous (i.e. subversive)". I replied that it was as dangerous as you think books/ language/ ideas/ expression are dangerous. I also wondered if Gutenberg was asked that question.

I've been thinking of what to say as an introductory statement tomorrow. Think I'll qualify that I'm no Blog Evangelist.

I'm just doing what I believe a librarian should be doing -- which is to present information factually and efficiently, so that the users can make up their own minds on how innovative they want to be.


Tag: librarianship, innovation singapore, life long learning, blogging course

Did you know you could Ask A (public library) Librarian?

Updated: 29 Aug 05 - Children Services email

A few weeks ago while reading my RSS feeds, I came across GadgetDude's post where he asked for recommendations on XML resources. I suggested he ask a librarian (btw, he wasn't in Singapore but that wasn't a problem).

He took up my suggestion and emailed to the advisory & enquiry service manned by my public librarian colleagues. Judging from this post, I guess he found it useful.

GadgetDude is right about us needing to publicise it more.

My PLS colleagues & I plan to launch a publicity campaign for our advisory & enquiry service within the next 3 months. Not only do we want to raise public awareness of the existence of such a service, but also what questions they can ask, and we want people to be comfortable posing questions to librarians.

"Ok, what's so difficult about asking questions?", some may ask.

There's more to it really (otherwise librarians wouldn't be trained in Reference Interview Skills). There are many published articles on this aspect, so I won't blog a long post here.

Meantime, feel free to try out the public library advisory & enquiry services via these email addresses (or walk-up to the librarian on duty at the regional libraries):

• AdultServices@nlb.gov.sg
• YoungPeopleServices@nlb.gov.sg
• ChildrenServices@nlb.gov.sg (updated 29 Aug05: Sorry for the omission!)
  
  
• FictionAdvisory@nlb.gov.sg
• ask@nlb.gov.sg

I'll explain more on what the different email addresses handle in future posts. For now if you're in doubt of which email to use, just send to any one. UPDATE, Nov 2006: The NLB has consolidated those email addresses, that have been struck out, to one single email address - ask@nlb.gov.sg (only FictionAdvisory@nlb.gov.sg remains at time of this update)

Emails sent to the addresses above would be answered by librarians from the public libraries. We promise to reply within 3 days.

Btw, if you wish to ask the reference librarians at the National Library, i.e. Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, you can use their online enquiry form.

Feel free to pass the word around.


Tag: advisory service, reference service, public libraries, promotion public library

IFLA 2005, Oslo: Day 8 (Goodbye, Norway)

Day 8: 19 Aug 05. Last day in Norway.

Final meeting of the Standing Committee (SC) - Libraries for Children & Young Adults. We went through the rest of the agenda items, more discussion on the proposed section programme for next year's IFLA, assignments for articles for the next issue of the newsletter, more administrative matters, discussion of the proposed project.

The IFLA closing ceremony was yesterday, which I missed. Which was a pity because our SC won the Best Newsletter award (I mentioned in a previous post that our SC received a nomination).

The Section of Libraries for Children and Young Adults issues a regular newsletter for members containing news of children's issues worldwide. There are also news of conferences and projects. Free to sections members.

Here's the PDF of the June 2005 issue (IFLA Best Newsletter 2005 Award). Our SC chairperson attributed the award largely to the efforts of my colleague (the outgoing member of the SC). What a grand way to end her term!

This increases the expectations on my part, now that I'm taking over the role of Editor for the newsletter. Some of the experienced SC members joked to me about it, but they were encouraging as well. I tell myself it's not the award that I should aim for, but for the newsletter to meet the needs of the section first.

There was another award for our SC. A german colleague won a "Best Poster" award. Congratulations, Ute! (name pronounced as "Oo - tay"). A write-up will certainly go into the next issue of the newsletter.

The meeting this day started at 8am, ended at 10.30am. And with that, it concluded my first IFLA conference, though the work has just begun.

This conference has been meaningful for me because of the involvement in the standing committee. Great bunch of colleagues. They made me feel welcome, even though total interaction time was about 10 hours or less.

Working in the SC has given me a greater sense of purpose and brings my understanding of what it means to be a librarian to a different level.



Goodbye, Norway.

I've experienced only a small part of you. I like what I've seen. You're expensive (really, really expensive!) But the weather has been wonderful, and the people equally so.

Tag: IFLA, oslo 2005

IFLA 2005, Oslo: Day 7 (part 2)

Day 7: 18 Aug 05. Last library visit on the last day of the IFLA conference.

Bærum Public Library (pronounced as "Bar-room") was a 15min ride by bus from the conference venue (this was the main library we visited, if I got my facts right). About 50 people were invited for a visit by their Library Director, Torny Kjekstad.


They have this big metal piece shaped like a book at the drive way. Cool or what? :)


We were told that the library has been concerned with cost reduction measures for the past year. Part of the cost-reduction measures included the promotion of self-help services like online reservations and using self-service kiosks. They have strong political support and an active community volunteer group. I was surprised to learn that library-volunteerism was a new concept in Norway.

This was the cafe area, which separated the library reading/ collection area and the auditorium. It was what you'd see when you step into the main entrance.


This was the entrance to the library proper.


A view of the Children section...


... where they have this really quirky "Pacifier Tree"! It's a "tree" made up of pacifiers -- the kind for babies. Parents could exchange the pacifiers for some library gifts (as an introduction to library membership, apparently) and the pacifiers -- washed of course -- would be hung on the tree.


I wonder if such an exchange scheme would work to wean smokers off cigarettes. Hmm...

They have one self-checkout machine.


We were also told that Bærum Public Library topped the statistics for book borrowing & also reading skills in Norway. Now that's a positive correlation between public lending services and reading skills!

They highlighted a Summer Reading programme, where completion of a reading book would entitle the participants to a library party (they had to hold four such parties recently because of its popularity).

Their library also organised reading groups for the mentally handicapped. They had to give up their book delivery service to the elderly because of cost-cuts though.

This library we visited was a single-floor building.



I found these quite interesting: Study cubicles.




Tag: IFLA, oslo 2005

IFLA 2005, Oslo: Day 7 (part 1)

Day 7: 18 Aug 05. Last day of the IFLA conference.

Morning started with a guided tour of the National Library of Norway (NL Norway).

The guide explained that the National Library opened only in 1999. Up until then, the national library functions were assigned to the Oslo University Library. So as a building, the National Library was relatively new. More facts here (in English).

The foyer:


Inside the library, a landing area (the lift lobby, actually) ...


... where you'd see this when you look down:


BTW...

For Singaporeans, this is where the terms "National Library" and "Public Library" get a bit confusing, as we use it interchangably.

Typically, a "national library" is distinct from a "public library" in terms of its function, collection and management. In Singapore, the management of the National Library and the public libraries are under the same body -- NLB (prior to NLB being formed in 1995 by an act of parliament, it was the then "National Library" that managed the national library and the public libraries). This arrangement is quite unique in the library world.

Hence, Singaporeans often refer to the public libraries as "national library" too. Strictly speaking, the "national library" is the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (non-lending to general public; materials for reference only). The lending libraries are the public libraries...
get it?

... Ok, back to the NL of Norway.

The NL of Norway's premises was renovated and reopened on Monday 15 August 05. It's open to all and provides lending copies for selected items. Like most (or should I say, all) National Libraries, they have a legal deposit function. Something like up to 7 copies to be deposited (Singapore's requirement is 2 copies).

The guide brought us to the Music Department, where they house their National Music Collection. Main type is western music, and the most important collection being Norwegian mat erials & Norwegian folk music. I was told this was the music score for the National Anthem of Norway:


This one's really interesting -- the score itself has these dials, which the conductor would rotate so that there are different variations to the entire piece.



We were brought to another section and shown some rare materials (the guide explained they had 410 items at that moment). The oldest printed book in their collection was printed in 1466. Norway got its first printing press in 1643.

This one blew me away -- a book with a "Fore-edge painting". The edge looks normal enough but when folded like so...

... you see a painting! And the amazing this is that you turn it horizontally and there's a different picture. The title of the book is "The Epicurean, a tale" by Thomas Moore (published in 1827).

This is their smallest printed book.


And there are bottles (of alcohol, presumably) hidden in this book:



This is a shot of the area leading to the Norwegian-American history collection (many Norwegians migrated to the US).


This is a close-up of a card catalogue of the Norwegian-American collection.

The catalogue was started by a librarian -- as a hobby it seems -- years ago, and subsequently it's been computerised. The card catalogues are still being used as reference.

Here are a few more selected pictures:

Reading area:



Wall mural at the foyer staircase up to the second level:


Exhibition hall:


Microfilm section:



Tag: IFLA, oslo 2005