About

Hello everyone,

My name is Dana Ouellette (although in many parts of the world Dana is traditional a female name I am male). I have lived many places, but i’ve been in edmonton for about the last decade (minus 2 years I lived in Langley, BC). I just finished the second year of my MLIS at University of Alberta. I need to 2 more courses (after this one) until i graduate and will be done by December.

My academic background is mostly ancient literature. I have a B.A. in classics, and an M.A. in religious studies mostly using social science methods for interpreting the gospel of Mark. I was drawn to LIS because I wanted to be connected to the academic community but actually able to get a job. I love it so far. I work for Grant MacEwan library in Edmonton and do reference and I also do a lot with subject guides. My current academic interests are in library website usability, especially subject guides. I have recently finished a research project on student’s use and perception of subject guides in academic libraries. I enjoy usability testing, and helping to make library websites more user-centered.

I have very little experience with social media. I have a facebook account. That’s about it. Some of my friends think I am a bit of a ludite. Although this isn’t true at all because I have a computer and use it often. But I don’t have TV, I don’t own a cellphone and i’ve never sent a text message in my life, I don’t have a twitter account. In a lot of ways I am opposed to these things. I doubt i will ever own a cellphone as I am very against cellphones. and to be honest i am dreading having to use twitter because I dislike most uses of twitter that I’ve seen.

I’m interested in taking this class because I want to see if there are any useful applications of web 2.0 technologies for libraries. As a general rule, I think libraries who do use such tools, do so just to jump on the bandwagon and do it ineffectively. My research on library websites has suggested students just want to get the information and go home not interact via social media. So I am skeptical how effective these technologies can be in the context of academic libraries. But I am open to learning. I haven’t set up my blog or twitter yet but I will post those links when i do.

Other than that, I love cycling and beer (preferably Belgian abbey ale i.e.trappist ales).
Thanks,