The Birthday Bash

I was whisked away to very plush Crowne Plaza Hotel. Staying in very noise suite on the executive floor. I could have easily spent my morning parading up and down the grand staircase, but no time for that now! So after a couple of quick laps I rushed off to the nearby NLS4 planning meeting.

Spent the next hour and a bit at a planning meeting for next New Librarians Symposium (NLS4) with Librarian Idol, Ballarat Library Chick, Tania, et.al. (Just to clarify for Daysofourlibraries, I'm using Latin and not misspelling 'petal'). I thought I had kept my birthday secret, but throught the wonders of Facebook, the secret was out. Celebratory green lolipops were consumed ... not necesarily a good idea when you're teleconferencing ... all those slurpy noises!!!

Back across the river and up to The Rialto Observation deck for pre lunch drinks. Regualr readers will realise my penchant for observation decks...

Zooming back down 54 floors to the ground, it was off to lunch in the tres chic Cervos on Southbank.

Off on a river cruise accross to Williamstown to have late afternoon drinks with the 'rents. I would be regretting the decision to stay on the upper deck for the two hour round trip on a 30+ summer afternoon. Man, my face, neck, arms, amd chest are so sore!!! Tying up my tie for work on Monday had my wincing in agony! the trip back was interesting too - our party was sharing the boat with a hens night whio had obviosuly made a head start on the festivites. Those straws for the mixed drinks were just a little too much (I won't share the details in this G rated blog, except to say the bride-to-be was getting some practice for the honeymoon)

Back on dry land and it was back up to the hotel suite to get changed for the actual birthday party.

Exercise 25

This week's exercise is investigating Newsletter Pop. I have to say I was so impressed with how intuitive this site is. It took me under five minutes to have a very basic newsletter in place... the hardest part was choosing a template (note how I've coordinated my newsetter template with my blog!!)! Three simple steps:

(1) Select a template

(2) Enter text and graphics where prompted

(3) Publish

How easy is that???

Whilst I did find this exercies to be a bit of fun, it's not really a pracitcial tool for most workplaces where there are strict style and formatting guidelines. Nevermind, check out my little news announcement

Exercise 24

Days Of Our Libraries and I both received email notification this morning that we're a week behind in our 2.1 learning!! So a mad learning scramble ensued (well by me, anyway)...

I mentioned in a previous post that I was intrigued with Zamzar, and it is the focus of Exercise 24. I'm sure that is happens in every library... a PC user comes to the Reference desk with a problem -- the PC won't read their file. Normally, this involves summoning the IT Man In Library Land (aka Freeloading Phill)... but with Zamzar the front desk staff and PC users may be more empowered to help themselves!

I've tried converting a couple of files (a word docuemnt, and a PDF file) and was very impressed at how smooth the whole process was. I selected the file I wanted to convert (pdf), chose the format I wanted it converted to (html) and entered my email address. Seconds later I had a link in my email to the converted file.

Maybe we could investiagte creating a link to Zamzar on our public access PCs?? Have other libraries done this? Thoughts??

Phew... am back on track again.

The Playboy Librarian .... or a slow news year!!

I think Library 2.1 is going to be more fun for staff than Web 2.0. Just at a quick glance I can see a lot of useful resources for helping borrowers with those pesky PC problems ... Zamzar looks great for converting those PDfs that just won't print!!



Those who know me will realise that ever the narcisstist I just had to jump straight to this exercise...

What the heck is a 'ning'?

I've just joined the City of Boroondara Library Services 'ning'. I had to then go and research excatly what 'ning' is?? Who names these Web 2 applications? I chose to ignore my "inner librarian" and promptly went to Wikipedia to find this definition "Ning is an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks".

Am satisfied I know now (vaguely) what a ning is.... where is Freeloading Phill when you nee him to explain?

New Year...New Exercises

Web 2.1 has made it to Bayside Library Service! So stay tuned as I work my way through the next lot of 23 things...

Happy New Year!

I cannot believe 2007 is over already ... hmmm I think the years get faster the older I get!

This year we decided to escape the city and spend New Years away for a long weekend in Ballarat ... and whoever said that Ballarat is cooler than the rest of the state was fibbing! New Years Eve was a scorching 44C, but luckily the resort we were staying at was very well air conditioned and so I spent the afternoon bar hopping between the three icy cold bars, before finally braving the heat to go and see the celebrations in town - which was basically some bell ringing at the town hall ... fireworks, anyone??

Went for dinner at a very lovely restaurant, but managed to get completely lost in the car park and after doing three circuits of the parking lot trying to find the exit, I eventually pulled out onto the road to promptly be pulled over for a breath test after my "erratic driving" was noticed by a passing cop! Thankfully I was too out of breath after the test to be indignant about that comment!

Spent a very hot New Years Day exploring Ballarat and it's stunning Victorian era buildings. Truly a very beautiful city.

I was laughed at mercilessly after spotting the tourist tram around Lake Wendouree and declaring that we should do that .... yes this is the same person who loathes Melbourne's trams and resolutely refuseses to drive down any road that has them ... hello hook turns? Does any other city in the world have such a needless complicated system???

Rant over.... Happy New Year to you all and best wishes for 2008

Basecamp

I've just heard about Basecamp today which is an online collaborative tool to manage projects, including communication, to do lists, milestones, etc.

The application is freely available, however to use it for more than one project at a time does cost money, but not a huge amount. According to the website "Basecamp takes a fresh, novel approach to project collaboration. Projects don't fail from a lack of charts, graphs, stats, or reports, they fail from a lack of clear communication. Basecamp solves this problem by providing tools tailored to improve the communication between people working together on a project."

I'm planning on having a play, but would be curious to hear if anyone else has heard or used this?

Vacationing In Vancouver

Man, I cannot believe how fast this trip is going!! The weather in Edmonton has been all over the shop, my last day there saw the mercury hit the low twenties (not that I'm complaining). I was really expecting the weather to be much cooler, with snowfall in Alberta - but it has just been gorgeous across the entire country.

Photo on the left is Jasper Avenue, Edmonton's main street.

So after spending a few awesome days in Edmonton, yesterday I flew out bound for Vancouver. Weather in Vancouver is gorgeous - which is great, especially as it tends to rain for about 300 days a year here!! Made the most of the sunshine by lazing around in Stanley Park with an ice cold beer. Very nice! Photo on the left is at the Seawall in Stanley Park looking toward the Lions Gate Bridge and north shore.

Got this photo taken for me by this really sweet girl while we were waiting for the ferry back downtown. It was taken at dusk and I think it's neat how the clouds are low over the skyline.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention the library scandal here in Vancouver. It seems the library staff have been on strike for the past twelve weeks. That's right - not public library service at all in the city for the past THREE MONTHS!! Not sure of the exact details, except that it appears to have been resolved and the libraries will be opening again at the end of this week. That is one after hours chute that I would NOT want to have to clear!!!

Photo on the left is the central branch of Vancouver Public Library
This will probably be my last Canadian adventures post for this trip as I fly back into Melbourne this Friday.

Enjoying Edmonton

Well, I've bid a fond farewell to Calgary and have zoomed north to the provincial capital, Edmonton. And, even though I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone back in Melbourne, and getting back into the thick of things at work, it still breaks my heart leaving Calgary.

The hotel that I'm staying at there in Edmonton is stunning, with the most amazing views over the North Saskatchewan River Valley. The weather is lovely and sunny, but much cooler than Calgary. Today's daytime high was minus five. Photo on the left is of the city skyline from Cloverdale (I was taking a well earned rest after hiking all through the valley)

After heeding Jennie's advice before I left about not missing any opportunities, I went for dinner last night at one of Edmonton's most elegant and exclusive restaurants, La Ronde. Even though I was on my own, I got all dressed up in a swanky new suit and metallic grey shirt and off I went. I may have been dining alone, but I refused to look like a loner - I was determined to be the best looking person there!! Had a great time, wonderful food and an amazing view over the city. This is the view from the restaurant

Photo on the left is Edmonton's very distinctive City Hall

I spent four hours at West Edmonton Mall yesterday, which was enough time to see about a third of it!! I may have been able to see more but I got completely confused and went around the same bit a couple of times! Not sure if it's still the largest mall in the world, but it was certainly big!! There are over fifty enternaces, so I was very careful to memorise exactly which one I came in - maybe some string like the minotaur would have been a good idea!

Calgary Capers!

Went out for supper at the Panorama Room at Calgary Tower the other night and that was amazing. We had this neat u-shaped booth that faced out to the window. Over the next couple of hours enjoyed some fantastic food, and stunning views over the city as we did two revolutions. does food taste better when your revolving?

On Sunday morning I headed out to Fort Calgary, which is an interpretive museum on the site where the fort once stood. It was such an awesome experience - it's amazing to think that just one hundred years ago all that was here was a small outpost with 8 mounties, and now there's a city of a million people. What a difference a century makes! I loved learning all the silly stuff from the city's history like the when the first telegraph lines arrived in Calgary there wasn't enough wire so it stopped in a field just outside town, so every time someone wanted to send a message they had to go racing off to the middle of this field! Or, in 1912 the city wanted to beautify itself so planted hundreds of palm trees, forgetting about Calgary's fierce Winters. Several years later only one was still alive and had achieved a dizzying height of three feet! This photo shows the old Fort and the downtown skyline... old & new

On Sunday afternoon, I headed off to the Stampede Grounds to watch the bronco riding and steer wrestling. That was such cool fun and the skills of the cowboys to stay on the wild, bucking horses was amazing! But watching from the bleachers was close enough for me. I love this photo!

Here's a photo of a sign hanging in Eaton Center, downtown. Thought you'd enjoy this advice, Karyn!

A rather creative shot, doncha think?? Calgary Tower reflected in the mirrored glass of the CPR Building. Still can't rotate photos...sorry!!

Howdy From Cowtown

Having THE BEST time here in Calgary. Weather is great as the city is having an Indian Summer at the moment. Mornings are quite chilly in the low negatives, but by early afternoon the temperature has soared into the high teens and low twenties.








I'm loving the fall colors - here is Mission Bridge and the Elbow River shrouded in gorgeous color





Earlier in the week I hit all the big malls here in Calgary, Chinook, Marlborough, North Hill, Sunridge and Eaton Center.


The photo on the right is Chinook Centre, the city's largest mall



I love driving around Calgary - it has the best network of trails (freeways), and it doesn't take longer than fifteen minutes to get anywhere in the city. Most of the trails are named after local first nation tribes (Sarcee, Blackfoot, etc...).

This photo shows my favourite, the Shaganappi Trail. Anywhere else in the world, this would be read as the "Screw-a-diaper Freeway"!! Had to exit off and take a photo


Halloween is coming up in a fortnight and it's no neat to see all the store windows decked out for Halloween (although the Christmas stuff is rapidly taking over), and see homes decorated as people prepare for block parties. I wish this kind of thing happened in Australia (which is why I think it's so neat the Janet is running a Halloween activity at Bayside).

Anyway, drove to a farm just outside the city limits to see the pumpkins (mmm...pumpkin pie!!). There was a "Halloween Hedge Maze" there so I figured I'd give it a go. About halfway through this guy in a hockey mask and brandishing a chainsaw jumps out at me. So while my body is trying to decide whether to have a heart attack or pee my pants (I was seriously regretting that pint of Labat's Pilsner at this point), this little boy who was behind me walks straight up to the guy and says "that's a cool chainsaw". Okay, so I'm officially a bigger wuss than a five-year-old, for sure!!!


Last night went to a bar downtown to watch the hockey match and finally the Calgary Flames won their first game of the season. Go Flames Go!!

It was an even sweeter win as it really showed it to Dallas who had put up huge billboards around their city saying that the 'F' in Flames is silent!


Must go - am off to the Panoram Room (revolving resturant) for supper.

Oh, I nearly forgot - check out Calgary Public Library's marketing campaign on billbords and TV throughtout the city - http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/rp/

Home

Thanks to those of you who have left a comment on my posts - it's been really great to read them all. Hang in there Pete!! Also a big thank you to Karyn for the 2.0 program, as without gaining those skills I would never have thought o, or even been able to blog my adventures.

I spent yesterday morning in Ottawa - even went to the National Library, but alas could not get past the lobby as you have to be a member to get access. How crazy is that? Could you imagine if we tried to do that at Bayside?? It's still a very cool building and nestled in the fall colors on the banks of the river.

Took an early flight from Ottawa to Calgary and this one was much longer than my last flight, at just on four hours. I'm so thrilled to be back in Calgary, I can't even describe how great it feels to be back "home"!! It's only been 18 months since I was last here, but Calgary has proved that it truly is a "Lego" city as so many buildings have been knocked down and even bigger skyscrapers built.

Weather is much cooler than the eastern provinces, but still pleasant. Mornings are quite chilly, hovering around -3C, but by late afternoon the Mercury has climbed to a sunny 17C.

It's so great to be back in the land of good country music (yes, there is such a thing!!), big jewellery, big belt buckles and even bigger hair (the higher the hair, the closer to God). Had lunch at the tres romantic Peters Drive In (a truck stop right on the TransCanada Highway). This place is the coolest and I love coming back to it. The best burgers and the thickest shakes in the world!

Spent the afternoon shopping downtown and I think I'm the next Le Chateau pin-up boy as I bought just about their entire range!! Will hit the malls over the next few days and make the most of the warm weather while it lasts. Hopefully I can make it out to Kanasaskis County and check out the first snowfalls of the season

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

T

Downtown Calgary and Centre Street Bridge

Peters' Drive-In on 16th Avenue @ 2nd St NE

"Holy Cow" part of the Udderley Art Exhibition downtown on 8th Avenue Mall (sorry again, but I still haven't figured out how to rotate, and I'm probably too far away for a "Hey Phill"!)

Olympic Plaza, and L-R Central Library, Old City Hall, New City Hall

Online in Ottawa

Yesterday I took what must be the world's shortest flight from Toronto to Ottawa (a total flying time of 29 minutes!) I left sunny Toronto behind for overcast Ottawa (luckily I bought a fab fall coat in Toronto) I've never been to the nation's capital before so I was very excited to explore. Naturally I managed to get lost in a very short space of time. But that's kinda cool as I came across sites that I didn't know about.

It was so great to see all the country's most notable buildings and take in the history. I was really quite surprised at how Francophone Ottawa is. I know Quebec is just across the river, but I wasn't expecting to hear so much French amongst the people on the streets.

Took a really long walk yesterday along the Rideau Canal, Parliament Hill, and the gorgeous Chateau Laurier. Also walked along Ottawa's stunning grand boulevard, riverside, maple tree lined Sussex Drive with some of the most notable buildings in the city. It was starting to drizzle by the time I reached number 24, the residence of the Prime Minister of Canada. Alas, I was not invited in to dry off and have a cuppa. Oh well....

The Byward Market is right next to my hotel, so I went in to try one of Ottawa's delicacies - the beavertail. It's a foot long pastry that's drizzled in maple butter. Holy smokes!! It's the most delicious thing I have ever eaten!

Temperature is set to soar again tomorrow into the high 20's.

Take care,

Trev

Taking a stroll along the Rideau Canal, taking in the fantastic fall colours.

At the Rideau Locks and the Chateau Laurier

At the National Art Gallery on Sussex Dv. (Yes Chris, that is a massive spider out the front)

mmmmm...beavertails!!

Parliament of Canada from Majors Hill Park, Sussex Dv.

Totally Toronto

Fall foliage at Grenadier Pond in High Park









Could there be any better district??

The very cool school of design building (sorry I couldn't figure out how to rotate this one .. apologies for the neck strain!)

More Tales From Toronto...

Very handy staying at a hotel right next to a library - means its very easy to blog!!

I'm having such an amazing time here in Toronto - I've been busily roaming around enjoying the war weather, cool buildings, and fantastic fashion. Who would have thought it would be possible to get sunburned in Canada in October, but I've managed to do it! A very pleasant 30C today so I spent my time exploring the lakefront area. It's Thanksgiving weekend this coming weekend, and normally this would mean roast turkey by a fire - I think this year it's gonna be turkey salad on the beach!

Yesterday I took the train out to Yorkdale Mall and fell in love instantly. I think I may like it even more than Chaddy! You should've seen me trying to squeeze back onto the subway with all my bags. Also managed to find time to shop the very trendy Bloor Street (Toronto's version of Chapel Street).

Still gorging myself on Maple Coffee (the maple syrup is used instead of sugar as a sweetener). Anyway, must go and find some dinner and then work out how to pack everything into my suitcase.

Hope you are all well. More photo's below

The very funky Royal Ontario Museum

Ontario Provincial Legislature, Queens Park

Yorkdale Mall

Cherry Street Pier in the eastend

Totally Trev's Tales From Toronto

Inspired by Libby's great travel blog, I too have decided to blog my travels across Canada. I've been in Toronto for a couple of days now, and am having a FANTASTIC time!! I don't think I've stopped smiling since I stepped off the plane (which would explain why my jaw is so sore!)

Got of to a bit of a shaky start when my Cityflyer flight from Melbourne to Sydney was cancelled, and then my flight from Sydney was delayed by the tardy planes in the queue in front on the runway. Nevertheless, the mammoth flight (26 hours) was quite pleasant. I was fortunate to be seated next to a lovely lady, Nancy from Vancouver Island, who was returning after vacationing around Australia. We chatted for most of the trip and managed to solve most of the problems in the world.

Arrived in Honolulu at 1.00am for a brief layover and man was it hot and humid - even in the middle of the night! Alas, all the stores in the airport were closed, so I couldn't get the Hawaiian shirt that Freeloading Phill assured me would be an essential part of my wardrobe!

Arrived in Vancouver at 10.00am Tuesday morning. Sea Island has got to be the most amazing airport I've ever been in - everything is brand new, lost of glass and natural light and very pleasing to the eye. There's even a waterfall in the middle of the concourse! Had another delaying waiting for my flight from Vancouver to Toronto as the plane I was supposed to take had been cancelled as a flock of migrating birds had flown into it! How sad is that?

Flying out from Vancouver gives you some amazing views over the city, harbour, Lions Gate Bridge and the Fraser River delta. I wish I could have taken some photos but alas, no electronic equipment during take off.

Toronto is in the grip of a last-gasp heatwave at the moment. Even though it is the middle of fall, the leaves are still green and the temperature has been sitting on 25C, and is expected to hit 30C by the weekend - this is about 10C above the normal temp for this time of year. Had to go out and buy some tank tops as its so warm!

I'm staying in a lovely hotel, but it's so funny as the North York Library is right next door (I swear I didn't know this when I was booking!) So last night I decided to have a quick wane through and it was amazingly huge - bigger than any public library in Melbourne. Five floors of collections, masses of Internet terminals on each floor, and this really cool open plan workroom which can be seen by the public form any of the upper floors (photo below). Pete - you would be in heaven - they have an separate teen library - not just a floor, or an area, but an entirely separate building adjacent to the main library with it's own staff, PC's and collection. How amazing is that?

It feels so great to be back in Canada - and its all the little things that I'm loving, like being able to get proper hashed browns for breakfast and not the mucky gelatinous stuff that you get in Australia! Have also been overdosing on Timothy's maple coffee - to die for!! Hockey season started last night with the Toronto Maple Leafs playing (and losing in overtime) to the Ottawa Senators. Very cool game tho!! Have been having a great time wandering around and exploring this vibrant city. Naturally lots of shopping is being done also.... (Oh and Karyn, you'll have to book a ticket here soon - they have a shoe museum - miles and miles of shoes from each decade - made me think of you!!)

A few photos of my adventures so far (L-R... North York Teen Library, Me on the Bathurst Street Pier, and Me at New City Hall). Hope you are all well back in Melbourne.

Playing With My Doodle

Have just been shown a fantastic little free web 2.0 application called Doodle that allows you check people's availability for meetings. Great when you're working on a committee with members who are flung around the country and you're trying to coordinate a time for a meeting. Simply create a poll, forward the link to the committee and wait for the responses!! Brilliant

70th Birthday Celebrations

On August 20 2007, ALIA turned 70 - what a fantastic opportunity for a party!! The Victorian New Graduates Group organised a huge event in the Experimedia Centre of the State Library of Victoria. Thank you to the evening's sponsors, EBSCO and SLV. Lots of wine and catching up with colleagues across various sectors, and some fabulous MC-ing by yours truly, made for a terrific night!! Oh and a very yummy birthday cake too!!

The big highlight of the night was the official launch of the NLS4 website - check it out @ http://conferences.alia.org.au/newlibrarian2008/

Web 2.0 & The Virtual Librarian

Excellent article written by Kate Davis in the August edition of InCite. In the article, Kate explores the role of the virtual librarian as well as providing a comprehensive list of Web 2.0 tools