Review of Blog

What is your topic?

Jackson Pollock.

Why did you choose it?

I have a mature aged man who has come into the library who is interested in obtaining some information about Jackson Pollock’s life, style of painting as well as who his influences are.  This man has limited computer skills and has asked for assistance in finding that information.

How did you decide what to look for?

I thought that seeing as this man had limited computer skills I had to look at sites that were easy to use in content.  I thought that as Jackson Pollock is an artist, the best way was to locate some photographs, artwork and books as well as social media sites.

I also put a lot of the information I found onto the blog itself so that the client wouldn’t have to deviate from the blog too much.  He said that he has a tendency to press buttons by mistake and then lose his place on the screen.

What was your required outcome?

To provide this man with all the information he has requested and to keep the presentation at the same level as his computer skills.

What retrieval strategies did you apply?

I thought about the content of what I wanted to include in the blog and then broke it down into how I could present that information.  I wanted to have a number of different formats for my presentation and thought about what type of information I could get from different websites including social media.

I first looked on Wikipedia and then looked at their references and external links and went from there.  I then researched some of the websites referenced to see whether they were credible.

I then performed searches on Flickr, Slideshare, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter as well as looking for a RSS Feed.  I used the search term “Jackson Pollock” and received quite a few hits.

Which of the following tools were relevant and why?

Print

I used a couple of books available at LINC because some people don’t like to read everything on the screen.  I thought that if I made some books available and if that person wanted to look for those books, once they were at the library, the chances are that they would look for other books while they were there and/or seek assistance to find more information.

I selected a book that was directed at children because it used illustrations throughout the book as well as an easy to follow written text.  The other book I chose for the many illustrations of Jackson Pollock’s artwork as well as the quite detailed information in regards to his life and career.

The downside of using print was that if the book wasn’t available straight away, then the client had to wait for the book to come into the branch unlike being able to access information on websites straight away.

Non print – specify what social media tools you have used and why.  Give a definition of social media tools

I used a link to a Facebook page created for Jackson Pollock enthusiasts, a RSS Feed to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as I couldn’t locate a feed for Jackson Pollock, but this site has a lot of information and photos of his works and also a link to Twitter which has also been created for Jackson Pollock enthusiasts.

I also used a Youtube video, 5 blogs created in relation to Jackson Pollock and/or the art scene in the USA, Flickr and Slideshare.  I also created a Slideshare presentation of paintings of Jackson Pollock and uploaded those to Slideshare.

I think that social media is a gateway for people to use or share information on the internet for people who have similar or common interests.

Which information agencies or Internet sites did you use?

I used LINC Tasmania, Wikipedia, the National Gallery of Australia, The Art Story and the Museum of Modern Art websites.

Why?

Wikipedia was an obvious choice.  I usually start with this website and then scroll down to their references and external links to expand on the information provided on their website and to look at other websites for further sources of information.

After having researched the websites and the creators behind those websites, I found some to be of medium authority and others such as MoMA and the National Gallery of Australia to be of high authority.

The information provided was written/presented by people who had reputations and knowledge within the art industry.

How did you analyse/sort the information?

I first did the layout of the blog and then selected a background template.  I then broke the blog down into different posts of how I wanted to present the information.

I thought about what links I wanted to use, the RSS feed, social media tools as well as the actual content of the information being provided to the client.

Once I worked out what I wanted to include in the blog I then embedded photographs, pictures of paintings, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, shareslides and a video off Youtube to the blog.

As he was an artist I wanted to show as much visually about his artwork as I could through photographs and paintings, which I obtained through Flickr, Sideshare and the Museum of Modern Art.

I looked at a slideshare presentation which demonstrated his painting technique, as well as a Youtube video demonstrating that technique and then added a couple of other people’s blogs relating to Jackson Pollock and/or the art scene in the USA.

Did you need to reassess or follow up?

I found that I needed to keep checking my blog as I found Blogger to be most unhelpful.  Blogger assumed that the user knew what they doing, in how to add blogs, social media sources and links and so on.  Although there was a help function, I didn’t find it particularly helpful and looked for help on other forum websites to answer any questions.

For example, I couldn’t get Facebook to work through the Blogger Social Media button, so after asking the question on a forum and discussing this in class, it was suggested that I use the Java Script button instead.  I found that this worked.

I found that Slideshares didn’t always work as well as links and I had to keep trying until they did work.  There wasn’t anything within Blogger to say there was an error message to help you work out where you were going wrong.  I found Blogger initially to be very frustrating especially when I couldn’t find the answers I wanted.

I found as well that when I was in the Compose area sometimes Blogger wouldn't justify the paragraph, or it wouldn't change the colour of the writing, so I had to swap to the HTML area and actually put code in.  Do I look like a programmer?  No - so this was very challenging, but I did manage to achieve what I wanted most of the time.

I also found that as I was working on the presentation, other ideas would come along the way which would cause me to move things around and change how I wanted to present the information to my client.  I was conscious of not making the whole process too complicated for myself and for the client.

How have you recorded and managed your information?

Well it started by keeping a notebook beside my bed for those nights when I couldn’t sleep because of thoughts running around in my head.  I then created a Word document to include all that information.  It then progressed onto my tackling the digital/electronic media information that needed to be added.  I did this first because I thought this would take me the most time and I didn’t want to leave myself short on time.  Once I was happy with the layout I then added the written information to go with the digital/electronic media information and put it all together.

I found that it was best for me to have a draft up on Blogger and then constantly play with the format and information.  I work better when I can see the information in front of me than just trying to visualise what it is I want to achieve.