In the famous words of the only arachnid I have ever looked upon with a smidgeon of respect (Spiderman not included… webcrawler he may be, but he’s only got 4 appendages!), I think now is the time for me to say ‘salutations!’ Hi, my name is Kyle, and I am not what you might call an avid blogger — shifty-eyed behind-the-scenes lurker might be a more appropriate title — but I felt the urge to introduce myself and take up the mic today to bring to your attention some of the information that is stored here on WebJunction.

I’ve noticed a fair bit of chatter between libraries of late regarding the topic of wireless networking, and I got to thinking, “Hey, a DQ Blizzard would really hit the spot.” OK, not so helpful. But then I thought, “Hey, people want to know how the wireless issue is being handled at other libraries. WebJunction has an entire section on the issue with info and reports from libraries all over North America. I should tell someone about this. Mmmmm, DQ Skor Blizzard goodness.” So after a refreshing break, I made up my mind to take hold of the conch and get the word out, to bring attention to both the resources available on WJ and our darling little BC blog.

Of course, the beauty of blogging is that anyone, yes anyone, can reach the far corners of the province/country/world, on a topic of their choosing, just by standing on their little soapbox and making their point. Our BC soapbox is still rather small and comely, but I like to imagine this will someday be a great resource and awareness-maker for BC library staff, with contributions coming from all over the province! For now, though, you’re stuck with me, and I do apologize. But I digress.

Back to my hot topic. Now, the beauty of WebJunction is that not only does it have a wealth of information on various hot library topics such as wireless networking, which you can peruse and digest at leisure, but you can take it one step further by building your own policy or training routine or what-have-you, based on what you find, and then share it with everyone. Need to know what kind of hardware you’ll need to consider in order to operate your wireless network? We’ve got that covered. Just getting started and looking for a glossary on common wireless terms? We’ve got that too! How about some happy stories from libraries that’ve made it work for them? Bingo. Take what you need and don’t be afraid to share. We’re the first Canadian community on WebJunction, and we want our voice to be heard!

And lastly, a shameless plug for our online self-paced courses, which include 15 courses that relate to the topic of wireless technology (just search for ‘wireless’ in the catalogue search). These courses are currently available at no charge (while our promotional supplies last) to WJBC affiliate members, so get signed up now! Not a WJBC member? No problem, even lurkers like me and this guy can view all the content on the site, but to take any courses you need to be registered. See if you belong, then sign yourself up! As Charlotte would probably say, this community is Terrific!