Cataloging Department Workshop: New Tools for Cataloging and Communication
Room 754, Ackerman Tech Center
January 28 Thursday 10 AM to 12 PM
In this workshop, we are going to introduce some new tools for cataloging and task management. We have tried these tools in our Non-Roman Cataloging Section, and found that they are very helpful and easy to use. Therefore, we would like to share our experiences, and hope all of you can explore and try them out, and see if they can help your works.
The new tools we tried include some Web 2.0 applications such as blog, online realtime documentation and wiki, and e-learning tutorials. Today’s focus is on using a blog.
The Cataloging Department Blog
The word blog is a short term coined for Web log. A Web log is a journal kept on the Web, but it can do much more than a log book. A blog is a strong online social networking tool.
A blog can be for personal or for the use of a group or a corporate body. It can have a single or multiple authors (or contributors).
Probably the most beneficial features of using a blog for management is the ease of updating! In Web 2.0 language, we call the old websites static. For examples, if we want to update our Cataloging’s homepage, we have to first create html files, and then hand to and wait for the Webmasters to put the files onto the website. By the time the documents being put on the web, days have passed… But to update a blog? It’s on our fingertips — log in, write, and post. It’s there. Also, we can easily change the nevigation or layout of the blog; integrate online tools, documents, and all useful resources on the blog.
We have opened a blog for the department on the library’s blogs site. The department blog will be enaged to enhance communication between sections and co-workers within the department and with other units in the library. Everyone can use it and is encouraged to contribute. Now, let us use the real cataloging department blog to explore some blog features.
- Access to the blog
The blog is listed on the Library blogs page:
- Go to the library homepage
- Click on Library Blogs
- and select Cataloging Department
- The layout (or, “presentation” as it is called by the blog product we’re using)
The Cataloging blog still looks very imature now, because it’s waiting for us to build it up together. Probably the first thing we want to do is to decide which layout form we like. Well, rightnow, we don’t have much choice. There are only two forms we can use. One is this, somewhate (I think) plain looking one; the other is what I’m using for the Non-Roman Cataloging Section and it looks like this. It is, however, relatively easy to make changes, and the result is instant! [demonstrate how to change the layout]
- Features and creativities
- Posts
- Pages (documentation)
- Categories
- The Search box
- chronology vs. categories vs. priorities
- Publicity and control: locked posts and pages for internal use
- Making contribution to and managing the blog: the Admin Panel
The blog is like OSCAR or OPAC, and the Admin Panel is like Connexion or Millennium…
- Log in
- write a post
- apply category or categories
- write a documentation or “page”
- edit a post or document
- Other features
- Understanding “blogroll”
How to become an author or contributor?
As said, everyone at Cataloging can use and is encouraged to contribute to the blog. There are basically 4 types of role assigned to users of a blog:
- Subscriber: someone who subscribs to read the blog, but can’t edit it.
- Contributor: someone who can write and manage their posts but not publish posts.
- Author: someone who can publish and manage their own posts.
- Administrator
To become an author or contributor, you need to first register. To do so, go to the blog and scroll down to the Admin Panel area
- Click on Register.
- Follow the steps to register.
- You will receive a email, and you need to follow up the instruction provided in the email message to complete your registration.
- Once you are registered, the administrator of the blog can then add you as an author or contributor
* Probably at the beginning, each section can select one or two author/contributor-in-chief, so not everyone has to be registered.
Limitation of blog
This ends the first workshop of New Tools for Cataloging and Communication.