Find Legal Answers update

New titles in the Tool Kit

Tenants rights manual: a practical guide to renting in NSW. 4th ed.
Plus online version coming soon

Share housing survival guide
Online version available with hard copies on order

The following titles have been withdrawn from the Tool Kit as they are now out of date.
The boarders and lodgers legal information kit
Sex and the law: a guide for health and community workers in NSW
Surviving rape: a handbook about rape for survivors, family, friends and workers.

New Hot Topic - No. 81 Child care and protection

Responsibility for decisions about a child’s health, schooling and cultural upbringing in Australia generally lies with parents; but when families cannot provide adequate care and protection for their children, the State may intervene in various ways. This issue discusses Australia’s obligations to implement and report under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as parental responsibility, children in out-of home care and initiatives to improve protection for children.

New Reference Books

What is the Value of the Library Website?

In the 2nd half of last year and the 1st half of this year I have been wondering about how much impact our website has on the use of our resources. I've been asking myself questions like:

• How do people find things on our site?
• How much impact does the design of the page content have on the use of those resources?
• Do offline promotions such as brochures have any impact on online resources?
• What about social media like Facebook and Twitter?
• And a key question for me, Can we increase the use of our online resources by targeting online promotion more strategically?

All these questions can only be answered if we are able to track the usage of our resources in sufficient detail to work out what is going on.  Fortunately, I was able to attend an advanced Google Analytics training course earlier this year.  Google Analytics is what we (and most of the world) use to track the usage of our website.  I learned a whole heap of valuable stuff about the different reports Analytics can provide and how to set up the site to track far more than simply how many people visited a page.

I've been using some of the things I've learned at the training to learn more about parts of our website over the last few months. Now with most of the Millennium stuff up and running I decided to put what I have learned to the test to see if I could improve the usage of one of our lower profile resources.  I chose the Online Computer Training database as my test subject as it has been a bit of a forgotten child.

I decided to work on the site to improve the visibility of the computer training programs and then track the usage of the page over the next month, comparing that usage to the previous month.


I started by working on the computer training page itself to make sure the content was concise and clear and supported the goal of getting users to click through to the resource.  I also ensured that I could track when people clicked through to the program from the page.

I also tried to increase the visibility of that page by providing extra links and promotions on other key pages throughout the site.  I set up these links so that I could track whether they were used. And I added a featured link on the site homepage to maximise the visibility of the computer training database.


With the setup in place I just had to wait for a month and then measure the changes in usage. I could now answer the following questions:
How did people get to the computer training page?

• Did the extra visibility of the resource result in an increase in visits to that page?
• If there was an increase in visits, did that translate to an increase in clicks through to the resource itself?

There was one piece of the puzzle missing, as we can not get any usage statistics for that resource from the vendor. So the question remains, if we get an increase in people clicking through to the program does that result in an increased number of people signing up and using the training programs?

Here's what I found.

1. The extra visibility did indeed result in a significant increase in visits to the page.
   Prior to the changes, between 17 Sep and 18 Oct there were 44 unique pageviews of the online computer training page. In the following month (19 Oct - 19 Nov) there were 108 unique pageviews, an increase of 145%.  The extra links to the page I put in the site did get their share of clicks and clearly this had an impact of the number of visits to the page.
2. The extra page visits DID NOT result in an increase in click-throughs to the actual resource.
   In Sep/Oct there were 17 clicks on the button that launched the online computer training site. That figure rose to 19 in Oct-Nov but this does not significant compared with the increase in page traffic.  The people who did visit the page did not respond to the call to action to go that next step and visit the computer training site.

I can see 2 possibilities to explain these results.

Firstly, the changes made to the online computer training page on our site prior to the extra promotion actually had a detrimental effect of converting visitors from our page to visiting the resource itself. This would suggest that it might be worth running the promotion for another month early next year but also testing a couple of different versions of the computer training page on our site to see if we can come up with content that increases conversions.

Secondly, and this is simply a hunch, perhaps this particular resource is fundamentally limited in its appeal to site visitors.  If you are a person who is struggling with basic computer skills (the target market for this resource) then maybe self directed online tutorials are not the most appropriate learning method.  I can see this resource being very useful in a classroom situation, with a trainer on hand to guide the beginning students through the online courses. Expecting people to work through online tutorials themselves when they lack confidence in using computers might be a big ask.


Regardless of the outcomes for this particular resource, one thing that is clear is that focused promotion via the website can indeed increase the number of people who will see the desired information.  And this is something that all staff who are involved in promoting events and resources for the library can benefit from.

NYR Newsletter, December, 2012

Whats Happening
Its the end of The National Year of Reading, 2012, and only five weeks until Christmas! The wrap up theme for December is  Love2read.

 Book Reviews
Don't forget to send book reviews, just 6-7 lines is great, of any books you have been reading, old or new, to be part of the Summer Reading Display and posted on Library News. Thanks to everyone who has sent book reviews through already.

National Year of Early Literacy
Following the overwhelming success of the National Year of Reading, 2012, Arts Minister Simon Crean has announced a new national campaign to promote early literacy and reading skills - the "Let's Read National Early Literacy Campaign".


Summer Reading Club
 The Summer reading Club starts again on 10th December. Please look out for your very summery, sunshiney yellow boxes for the Adult/Teen Summer Reading Club entry forms.  This year, the Adult Summer Reading Club entry forms are slightly different, with participants being referred to the Library website for T's & C's, meaning there is lots more room for paticipants to write their book reviews!! As per last year, there will be a weekly draw (please send the entry forms up each  Friday afternoon, ready for the draw on Monday), and a grand prize draw (including all entries) at the end of the program.



Looking for something to read?
Join a foray into the world of experimental fiction. From 28th November-2nd December, Twitter is hosting a five day fiction Festival— a virtual storytelling celebration held entirely on Twitter. The Twitter Fiction Festival (#twitterfiction) will feature creative experiments in storytelling from authors around the world.

Don't forget, you can also join the Twitter Reading Group, a live twitter discussion 18 December starting at 8.00pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (and lasting until about 10.00pm Western Standard Time).  Use the tag #NYR12 as you discuss what you have loved reading this year.
And don’t worry the twitter reading group will continue in 2013.  There’s plenty more reading to be done.

Do you believe in Santa Claus?
Written on 21st September1897, read history's most reprinted news editorial "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".

Reading themes for 2013.
At the June Readers Advisory Meeting, themes to celebrate the  joys of reading each month in 2013 have been developed by the attendees.  These themes will be used to create book lists each month of suggested reading, as well as being the themes for the Twitter reading group discussions.

January: Re-read
February: Heart read
 March: Eco read
April: Crime read
May: Indigi read
June: Faraway read
July: Art read
August: Fur read
September: History read
October: Ego read
November: Mo read
December: End reads


Display Ideas
All  December: Summer Reading Club display, featuring the colour Yellow! Use the Summer Reading Club Banner being sent out by Jess to create your display.
 Mid December:  Christmas Books for Christmas. Christmas recipe books, Christmas themed fiction, Christmas decorating books, Christmas books for kids ...etc.
 3rd-9th December: Coastcare Week
10th December: Human rights Day.
16th December: Jane Austen's Birthday

 Happy Birthday
Angus, Stephanie, Becky, Linda, Ruth, Karen and Amber! 
 Thanks to everyone for sharing "What are you reading?" throughout this year. The posts have certainly showcased the wide reading interests of the Library Staff.

“I love books. I like that the moment you open one and sink into it you can escape from the world, into a story that's way more interesting that yours will ever be.”

-Elizabeth Scott

Christmas Drinks - What Would You Like?

Comics in the Library

Dr Matt Finch and Kings Comics presented "Comics in the Library" offering some great suggestions of activities, events and why graphic novels/comics are valid, fun and indeed, an integral part of your Library collection.
This presentation was held at Penrith Library, 11th October, 2012.

Matt Finch, described in his own words, is an community outreach consultant with expertise in finding and shaping narratives for staff, stakeholders and the wider public. He is also a storyteller and leader of workshops to inspire readers and writers across the ages from four years old to forty. He teaches comic workshops to teens who would like to make their own manga.

His presentation covered a wide range of information pertaining to comics and graphic novels. He actively encouraged Libraries that don’t already keep a collection of graphic novels, to consider this format for inclusion. Here's why:

• Graphic novels, or comics, are a valid form of reading, attracting a different demographic of reader.
• It is a format that can encourage reluctant readers to read something.
• The medium of comics range from the very simple cartoons to sophisticated adult comics, covering a wide range of subjects and themes.
• Comics are often associated with the teenage boy market, but comics are for girls as well. Try Queen and Country by Greg Rucka with various illustrators.
• Comics are different from conventional literacy using both words and images. They have drawings and speech bubbles. You think differently when presented with this format.

The diversity and influence of comics and graphic novels was illustrated by these examples:

• Snoopy. Everyone knows this icon character from the peanuts cartoon. He never speaks, yet manages to convey a wealth of information to readers- the point being that a character doesn’t need words to be literate.
• Preparedness 101 Zombie pandemic. Don’t panic, its not imminent! This was a promotion dreamed up by the US Centre for Disease Control, assist Americans to prepare for real life endemics. It certainly got their attention, with the CDC issuing a statement refuting the existence of zombies.
• Comixology. Digital comics online. Comics are still easier to read in comic book from , rather that online.
• Little Golden Books have Marvel Little Golden book Favourites, featuring The Mighty Avengers/The invincible Iron man/The Amazing Spiderman.
• Movies inspired by comics, including Judge Dredd, Batman and Tamara Drewe.
• Unusual comics: Bedroom Farce by Alison Bechdel.
• Nick Sousanis is currently undertaking his PhD. written in comic book form.
• Ubby’s Underdogs Australia's first Indigenous graphic novel, by Brenton E McKenna.
• Commando comics
• Guy Delise’s Pyongang, A journey in North Korea is described in this review as an “anticommunist manifesto”. Check out the book trailer.
• Blankets an autobiographical graphic novel / Coming of age memoir by Craig Thompson.
• Pop culture: Angry birds, which uses a comical style of stylized wingless birds, is an immensely popular and addictive game.
• Colleges are using Comics to assist in learning.
• Fresh Comics from Alfriston College
• Comic book month at Auckland Library Service
• Gotham Comics started by Gary Bishop (an ex-librarian), runs workshops, and publish comics.

To introduce or raise the profile of graphic novels in the library, Matt Finch presented some interesting and effective ideas he has used that could be implemented in the Library at low cost, including the suggestion of cartoon workshops, similar to Trevor's drawing workshops, that are held by Kids.

Kings Comics

Stephen, the Library Liason from Kings comics, discussed why graphic novels/comics are an integral part of the Library collection, and how this relates to other formats such as movies and gaming.
Comics, and popular culture are crossing over concepts, with comics being adapted to gaming, movies, and television. A lot of comics are aimed at the male reader, with a 60% male, 40% female audience. The audience age is primarily between 18-40 years. The rise in Sci-Fi, fantasy and horror have affected this, with the creation of comics such as “The walking dead”, ( A post apolyptic zombie series, also a television series). This is because more females watch horror movies.


Graphic Novels and crossover into other formats.

Reading of graphic novel versions of books can encourage crossover to the original text only version of these books. Stephen King’s Graphic Novel series, include The stand and Dark tower stories. Orson Scott Card ‘s Enders game has also been adapted into graphic novels. other formats that encourage crossover include movies, video games and gaming.

Movies:

Often movies have been made of comic books. Examples include: Comic: Batman, Knightfall- the movie: The dark Knight rises. Watching the movie may encourage the customer to want to read the graphic novel/comic, which may lead to other reading experiences.

Video games/Gaming:

Both graphic novels and games are primarily based on visual storytelling. Both have introduced colourful characters into mainstream. Both have also been accused of being pointless entertainment and harmful influences. They are both successful fixtures in pop culture, and a major influence to both film and television. A customer may be familiar with a video game, which may spark an interest in reading the graphic novel version.
Gaming graphic novels(tie- ins) add to the gaming content and are integral to building the game universe for players. They can be considered a storyboard for the game, an example being Halo.

Free Comic book day

This is held the first Saturday in May, with participating Comic book stores (including Kings Comics) giving away comics for free!! Mark this date in your calendar.

Useful Links
Diamond Comics Great place to find previews, and there is a section designed for Libraries to assist in the set up of a Graphic Novel collection.
Australian Cartoonists association keep up to date with the latest news.
Kings comics Contact Kings comics for help in setting up a graphic novel collection in your Library. Check out the latest news in the comic book world, and find new material for your collection.

Monique

Be prepared this Halloween: Zombie Apocalypse

Scary stuff!!



Be prepared for the rumoured Zombie Pandemic this Halloween by reading this comic. Prepared by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Happy Halloween!

NYR Newsletter November 2012

New Reference Books

NYR Newsletter, October 2012

Could the 3D Printer save the public library service?

An interesting article by Ian Anstice on Public Library News about the possibilities and probabilities of maker spaces and 3D printers in public libraries.  Here's  a bit.

"The theory goes that public libraries will provide great spaces for 3D printers.  Libraries have always provided material for the benefit of the community for those who cannot afford it and 3D printing, on the face of it, seems to fit right in...

...The other selling point for libraries in this is that we have friendly staff who will be able to help people in learning how to use them. That may be so in some branches of course.  However, I’m willing to bet that right now the majority of staff working in libraries have not even heard of 3D printers.  A lot of library staff frankly need to be more highly trained in Word, let alone the next disruptive technology. "

Read the whole article; there's a real twist in the tail!

Jasper Fforde and Thursday Next

NYR Newsletter September, 2012

NYR Newsletter, August, 2012