Promoting the sustainable features built into new libraries - without the use of prominent explanatory signage.

Here are some good uses of logos, windows, floors and design that we may be able to use in the design of our next library.

Use a simple logo to tell a story i.e. Sydney Water water drop way finding and logo, see slides 23 to 28 http://brandculture.com.au/sites/our-clients/sydney-water/ the logo is used throughout the building and they even have a sculpture outside the building.

Using the same principle we could come up with a sustainability logo which we would use to highlight sustainability features throughout the building. On a wall by the shutters we could have a small "logo" which has a few words on it describing what the shutters achieve, for example. The waste paper baskets could have a logo with words describing how it is recycled. The battery and printer recycling should have a proper secure housing which also includes the "logo" and appropriate words. A brochure using the sustainability "logo" could then explain the features in greater detail. The sustainability theme should cover the whole building not just the library.
We should avoid large complicated explanatory signage. Signs are read maybe once then just become visual pollution. Repeat visitors to the library will soon find prominent signage boring.

If we have to have signage on walls slide 3 is nice http://brandculture.com.au/sites/portfolio/barclays/

Great use of windows to tell a story see slide 2,6-9 http://brandculture.com.au/sites/portfolio/potts-hill/

Use the flooring to tell a story http://brandculture.com.au/sites/portfolio/fabrication-workshop/


More windows and glass panels, look at all the slides http://brandculture.com.au/sites/portfolio/daff/

Slide 4 long thin sign, might say something like "Power for this building is supplied by solar panels" http://brandculture.com.au/sites/portfolio/human-technology/

Nice use of a corner http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bravenewthings.com/wp-content/uploads/Monash_11-480x374.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bravenewthings.com/%3Fm%3D201001&usg=__mklPO5KKwJdwdI28XNJ1MBulImM=&h=374&w=480&sz=15&hl=en&start=43&zoom=1&tbnid=Pw3UprShB6FZqM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=218&ei=oRxnTcX9IoyqvQOC8rjkAg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcreative%2Bwayfinding%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1061%26bih%3D837%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=281&oei=XhJnTa2gI4K4vwPgqbXkAg&page=3&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:43&tx=105&ty=96

Nice blog on wayfinding and signage as design. http://ccd-design.blogspot.com/2010/11/wayfinding-is-more-than-signage-using.html

Using paving http://www.guerrilla-innovation.com/archives/2010/08/000752.php

This is a sign from the treetop walk in the valley of the giants in Walpole. The designers have repeated the gum leaf theme for smaller signs in the paving, on walls in brochures. It works very well.

It's a wrap folks!

I have had a lot of fun with this course as well as learnt how to use some valuable tools. I wouldn't have known how to find and post a picture of clapper boards, to illustrate this wrap up blog, or indeed how to create and post on a blog without the training. The impressive thing about the training is that it is all very practical. I have actually used most of the things I have learned to spice up my postings on our staff and public blogs. The training has also made me think more about using Web 2.0 to add life to our marketing and promotional activities. A very nice by product of the training was the inadvertent team building that went on over morning and afternoon tea as each step of the course was discussed.

Thank you to all involved in making this training such a success and thanks to all of the Cockburn Libraries people who lent a helping hand to me and other less tech savvy members of staff.

You had me at Easter Egg Hunt... or Geocaching

Described by Wikipedia as "Hi Tech Hide and Seek", Geocaching does sound like fun. Though, again according to Wikipedia, you do need to be careful where you locate the cache lest you be mistaken for a drug dealer, bank robber, serial killer or paedophile. Best not to locate your cache underneath bridges, near banks, courts of law, schools, cemetaries...you get the drift. I was surprised that it had been around for so long, i.e 10 years.

I asked Ms. Google about public libraries and geocaching and she came up with a few interesting ideas.

The Shoshone Public Library in Idahoe use it this way, http://www.idaholibraries.org/idlibrarian/index.php/idaho-librarian/article/view/25/81

While Chicago Public Library does this http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/chicago-public-library-helps-teens-find-history

and Middletown Public Library ran a geocaching clinic, http://geocaching.coollibrarian.com/

Maybe we can use some of these ideas as a kick off point for a geocaching event for Library & Information Week??!!

Podcasts

I've opened the Podcast Box and now I can't stop. So many interesting, inspiring, entertaining, hilarious things to listen to as I slog down the the treadmill every other morning. I'm with Mally when she says they could be renamed Fitcasts. Once again I'm amazed by the uses technology can be made to serve. I've discovered that people give out awards for the best podcasts each year in a variety of categories and I intend to work my way through all of them. Of course not while at work, as the computer I am working on is preventing me from accessing any podcast at the moment. I will be checking out the Parsec Awards which reward excellence in various aspects of Speculative Fiction Podcasting. "Parsec Awards are made to SF and Fantasy original content, podiobooks and a variety of other categories dealing with the new frontiers of portable media" Podiobooks, that's a new one for me, but I like the sound of them! Apparently they are serialized audio books made available in a podcast format. A link to this site from our library website may be of interest to our clients who love SF and Fantasy fiction. Unfortunately you don't seem to be able to access the podiobooks from the Parsec site but you can then google the award winning titles you are interested in and go from there. On further exploration I have discovered Romance Podiobooks, ...cough...although these do seem to be serving a niche market!

In a library environment we can make our own podcasts of the events we run, for example the Estelle Blackburn talk we had a while ago would have made a terrific podcast. Alternatively we can provide access to podcasts that reflect our current marketing strategy or simply make available podcasts that we think may be of interest to our customer. As always, how we make use of this tech is bound by staffing/time constraints, alas.