Internet Searcher's Handbook

Internet Searcher's Handbook is the latest weblog I developed. Aim of this blog is to introduce the trends and techniques of online environment particularly to the Sri Lankan academic and library community with the aim of equipping them with necessary knowledge and skills to be successful in the online information environment. Special features of this blog are:

• Search Tip of the Month (to introduce an effective search tip)
• Website of the Month (to introduce a useful local website)
• Specific Online Resources (to introduce useful Online resources)

The idea of developing this blog came to my mind during a workshop conducted by me for the academic staff members of the University on 09th July, on "An Introduction to Online Information Resources & Effective Online Searching Techniques ". I wanted to keep them regularly updated by sharing what I find. URL: http://ishandbook.blogspot.com/

A week of Library Profession

June 25th - July 3rd was an important & busy week for librarians. Because the NACLIS Conference and AGM of SLLA (Sri Lanka Library Association) was held on 25th & 26th June where as the International Conference & the AGM of ULA (University Librarians' Association) was held on 2nd & 3rd July. Both events were held in Colombo. I attended the SLLA AGM, where I was offered the Associateship of the SLLA, which was followed by a nice musical session in the afternoon. And also I attended both events of the ULA.
Quite a busy week, but with lot of opportunity to meet library professionals around the country after some time.

Lecture for KOICA Volunteers

The new KOICA Volunteer (한국국제협력단 자원봉사) team members (20 volunteers) came to Sri Lanka at the end of May 2009. They will be volunteering in Sri Lanka in different organizations, for the benefit of Sri Lankans in next couple of years. I had the opportunity to conduct a lecture for them to introduce history, culture and etiquette in Sri Lanka. It was conducted on Thursday, 18th June at the KOICA Office in Colombo. The objective of the lecture was to aware the volunteers about the culture and etiquette of Sri Lanka, in order to make their life more comfortable and fruitful during their stay in this country. It was a great pleasure for me to meet this young and energetic volunteer team and have a nice time with them.

Korean National Digital Library - Dibrary

The National Digital Library (NDL) of Korea is functioning now. During my stay in Korea in last summer, the construction work of the digital library was in process, and it is my pleasure to announce now it is functioning. The digital library (dibrary) was opened in late May (25th) 2009.

The six principles of the basis for the NDL’s missions are as follows:

1. The Digital Library approachable from anywhere
2. The Digital Library with no barriers
3. The Digital Library encouraging participation
4. The Digital Library as the Global Knowledge Information Hub
5. The Digital Library providing Information Literacy Service
6. The Digital Library providing Information Reference Service

Pls. visit the dibrary and experience it! http://www.dibrary.net/intro/intro.html

ICT Workshop at Badulla

With the aim of furthering the aims of APNG & LKiNG by disseminating the ICT knowledge to remote people, we conducted an ICT workshop at Badulla/ Wepassawela Siriniwasa Maha Vidyala, Badulla on 30th April.

I my self, Mr. J. Amaraweera of the Buddhist & Pali University and Ms. Sagarika Wickramasekara of the Open University were the resource persons. We shared the knowledge on the basics of ICT, Internet, etc. with the participants. Over 350 students and 40 teachers from different schools in the area were participated the event.

NSF Workshop on Library 2.0

The National Science Foundation (NSF) of Sri Lanka organized a Workshop on Library 2.0 related applications for library professionals in Sri Lanka. It was held on 29th May 2009 from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm at the NSF Computer Center.

Dr. Ruwan Gamage of University of Moratuwa and I my self conducted the workshop.

For more info.: http://slbloggers.blogspot.com/

Gold Prize of the 2009 Korean Speech Contest

The 2009 Korean Speech Contest was held on Saturday 16th, May 2009 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was organized for the 3rd time by the KOICA and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea. I won the Gold Prize (금상) of the Contest.

9 contestants were participated the event. We were supposed to make a speech for five minutes on an unforgettable event or person in the life. I spoke about my "second marriage" with my Philippine friend Maricel. Actually, we participated a traditional wedding ceremony in Seoul in 2008 as the bride and bride groom. The crowed and the panel of judges were very interested about the speech.

Five prizes were given to the contestants including the Grand Prize, Gold Prize, Silver prize, Bronze Prize and KOICA Prize. The award encourages me to study Korean language and culture more and more.

Fore more information with photos, please visit: CPI Website

I love Korea!!!

Paper Presentation - NILIS Symposium

I presented a paper on 21st March at National Institute of Library and Information Sciences (NILIS), University of Colombo in its' annual research symposium.

Topic of my paper was "From user education to information literacy : changing role of university libraries in Sri Lanka".

You may view my presentation at: http://www.slideshare.net/tharangad/from-user-education-to-information-literacy-changing-role-of-university-libraries-in-sri-lanka

Presentation on the University Library System in South Korea

Since my return from South Korea after a successful six month training program, my first professional activity was to present a paper on my experiences.

Accordingly, I made a presentation on the "University Library System in South Korea” at the Achievers Colloquium organized by the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka on 5th December 2008 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI), Colombo.

There I discussed about various aspects of the university library system in Korea including Library Organization, Bibliographic Control, Library Cooperation, Using modern ICT, Library Space Planning.

The audience was the university librarians and they were really interested about the present status of the university library system in Korea. They identified the university library system in Korea as a well planned and a well developed library system and there were so many examples and practices to be noted and applied for the university library system in Sri Lanka.

Also, I plan to make several more presentation in near future including the “National Library of Korea and It’s Services”.

Using Weblogs for Reference Services in Library 2.0 era = Library 2.0시대에 블로그를 이용한 참고봉사

Today, (Monday 24th) I made a presentation at the National Library of Korea on "Using Weblogs for Reference Services in Library 2.0 era".

In my presentation I discussed following things:

*What is Library 2.0?

*Changes in Reference Services in Library 2.0 era

*How to use Weblogs for Reference Services in Library 2.0 era?

The event was attended by directors and librarians of the National Library and also my colleagues in the training program. You may access the presentation that I made in Korean Language, by following this link:

http://www.slideshare.net/tharangad/using-weblogs-for-reference-services-in-library-20-era-library-20-presentation-782718