I think the Learning 2.0 program has been really beneficial for many people, including myself. I have always tried to keep abreast of new technologies (hardware and software) but this has forced me to look a little deeper into some of the less obvious features of particular web tools. I get the feeling that many of my colleagues are now a little more web savvy and more confident to try things out than they may have been previously.
I have to say that I found it quite difficult to find the time to sit down and do the tasks - I felt a bit guilty 'playing' on the web, when there are lots of collection management tasks and enquiries to be doing.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
#9 Web 2.0 and conclusions
I have mixed feelings about Web.2 and Library.2... Perhaps it is because I am fairly cynical by nature, or that when I sense desperation I am immediately 'put-off'.
I have been reading a lot of articles, blogs and reports on the subject throughout the year and am finding that the literature is full of enthusiasm, but it is also very airy and insubstantial. I feel as though there is a small community of writers who love patting each other on the back for expounding the virtues of Web.2 without providing any really valuable examples. I am disappointed by the number of times I have followed links from an article with the expectation of exploring an innovative way that a library has employed web 2.0 technologies. Instead I have found libraries on myspace whose only other 'friends' are the library employees themselves, other libraries, or authors advertising their books. I have found university library staff with Facebook pages who reach out and bond with students by sending them birthday greetings - innovative? valuable service? I browsed an extremely dull Flickr page documenting 'A day in the life of South Carolina libraries'(a National Library week venture) and the pictures of staff in the stacks, staff at the circulation desk, staff drinking coffee, were just phenomenally boring and an excellent example of a waste of virtual space.
I fully support libraries and organisations who satisfy an 'information need' in their community by utilising a technological solution. Plus I also respect any library that takes a risk, experiments with new services and then accepts graciously its successes and failures. But it seems there is something wrong in Library Land. There seems to be a plethora of desperate academics/writers/librarians who feel that libraries and those employed within them are about to become redundant and to stop this we have to be everything to everyone. We have to invade private spaces and spruik our wares. We have to add bells and whistles to everything 'library'.
Anyway, that's my rant about the literature surrounding Web2./Library2. My feelings about the ethos of Web2. (openness, transparency, sharing etc) and the actual technologies are mainly positive. But these technologies really should only be used where a need for them exists. I love the idea of including user contributions (tags, comments etc)to help patrons select the items of use to them. I love the idea of using blogs (with comments enabled) to communicate between, say, the State Librarian and the public. Imagine if we published online all our comments & suggestion forms, accompanied with a response from the Library.
I love what the National Archives have done by providing a wiki which runs in tandem to, and cross links with their own databases. Through this tool, the public are able to add further information and resources about a particular item into the wiki without destroying the integrity of the database that the record resides in.
I also think RSS feeds are an excellent and non-intrusive way for people to remain in contact with the Library, its news, events, latest purchases, etc.
Of the course the State Library performs a different function and operates differently from most libraries (i.e. public and other lending libraries)so many of the popular web2. features that are employed, such recommendations on search pages showing the most popular titles, or 'people who read that also read this' are not possible to do in our current environment. This shouldn't deter us from discovering other ways of harnessing people power to make our collections and services more accessible and relevant to our users.
I have been reading a lot of articles, blogs and reports on the subject throughout the year and am finding that the literature is full of enthusiasm, but it is also very airy and insubstantial. I feel as though there is a small community of writers who love patting each other on the back for expounding the virtues of Web.2 without providing any really valuable examples. I am disappointed by the number of times I have followed links from an article with the expectation of exploring an innovative way that a library has employed web 2.0 technologies. Instead I have found libraries on myspace whose only other 'friends' are the library employees themselves, other libraries, or authors advertising their books. I have found university library staff with Facebook pages who reach out and bond with students by sending them birthday greetings - innovative? valuable service? I browsed an extremely dull Flickr page documenting 'A day in the life of South Carolina libraries'(a National Library week venture) and the pictures of staff in the stacks, staff at the circulation desk, staff drinking coffee, were just phenomenally boring and an excellent example of a waste of virtual space.
I fully support libraries and organisations who satisfy an 'information need' in their community by utilising a technological solution. Plus I also respect any library that takes a risk, experiments with new services and then accepts graciously its successes and failures. But it seems there is something wrong in Library Land. There seems to be a plethora of desperate academics/writers/librarians who feel that libraries and those employed within them are about to become redundant and to stop this we have to be everything to everyone. We have to invade private spaces and spruik our wares. We have to add bells and whistles to everything 'library'.
Anyway, that's my rant about the literature surrounding Web2./Library2. My feelings about the ethos of Web2. (openness, transparency, sharing etc) and the actual technologies are mainly positive. But these technologies really should only be used where a need for them exists. I love the idea of including user contributions (tags, comments etc)to help patrons select the items of use to them. I love the idea of using blogs (with comments enabled) to communicate between, say, the State Librarian and the public. Imagine if we published online all our comments & suggestion forms, accompanied with a response from the Library.
I love what the National Archives have done by providing a wiki which runs in tandem to, and cross links with their own databases. Through this tool, the public are able to add further information and resources about a particular item into the wiki without destroying the integrity of the database that the record resides in.
I also think RSS feeds are an excellent and non-intrusive way for people to remain in contact with the Library, its news, events, latest purchases, etc.
Of the course the State Library performs a different function and operates differently from most libraries (i.e. public and other lending libraries)so many of the popular web2. features that are employed, such recommendations on search pages showing the most popular titles, or 'people who read that also read this' are not possible to do in our current environment. This shouldn't deter us from discovering other ways of harnessing people power to make our collections and services more accessible and relevant to our users.
#8 Podcasts, Video & Downloadable audio (2)
I have just discovered ABC Now - which was discussed at the last VALA meeting - and am trying to work out exactly what it is... An application is downloaded and installed onto your PC which allows you to access current ABC content. This can be radio, television, news, sport or weather. You can stream the content or download it for later use in an ipod or other player. The application also allows you to mark your frequently used services as 'favourites' so you can access them 'with one click'.
What I don't have a grasp on is what is NOT included... I'm not familiar with the radio station's individual programs to know if every program of the day is downloadable - this will require further research. I guess only the ABC produced TV shows are able to be downloaded as a vodcast - for copyright reasons.
This application looks to only store fairly recent publications - you can't trawl back to search for programs you missed more than a month ago.
I guess if you regularly download content from the ABC this is a fairly handy tool. It's great that the ABC makes their content so available for use - at the present time, they seem to have a fairly progressive attitude towards content sharing and repurposing.
What I don't have a grasp on is what is NOT included... I'm not familiar with the radio station's individual programs to know if every program of the day is downloadable - this will require further research. I guess only the ABC produced TV shows are able to be downloaded as a vodcast - for copyright reasons.
This application looks to only store fairly recent publications - you can't trawl back to search for programs you missed more than a month ago.
I guess if you regularly download content from the ABC this is a fairly handy tool. It's great that the ABC makes their content so available for use - at the present time, they seem to have a fairly progressive attitude towards content sharing and repurposing.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
#8 Podcasts, Video & Downloadable audio
I adore YouTube, simply for the sheer size (depth and breadth) of the database of clips contained within it. I use it quite a lot. Primarily for entertainment's sake - reminding myself of weird documentaries I have seen in the distant past (like zombie snails) for watching animations, music videos, vintage footage, whatever...
As well as TeacherTube and Sciencehack, I have also seen other video sharing sites like VideoJug and Expert Village. Because they employ video, these sites are perfect for demonstrations - how to do things, how something works, etc so there is great potential for learning. Of course the effectiveness of the 'tutorial' is wholly dependent on the skills of the camera operator, the presenter/narrator and the knowledge of the instructional designer. In case you've ever wanted to know how to kiss someone passionately, or look good naked - you can now learn about this online. (Of course there are more useful skills to be learned, such as how to properly inject yourself with insulin courtesy of mayoclinic.com.
I have read of a few well-resourced libraries in the United States, such as the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, which regularly post videoblogs but they warn of the expense of the projects, saying that a typical 2-5 minute video takes about 7 hours to create. I'm not sure that that much time really would be required - I guess it depends on the content of the video - but I agree it would definitely chew the resources.
As well as TeacherTube and Sciencehack, I have also seen other video sharing sites like VideoJug and Expert Village. Because they employ video, these sites are perfect for demonstrations - how to do things, how something works, etc so there is great potential for learning. Of course the effectiveness of the 'tutorial' is wholly dependent on the skills of the camera operator, the presenter/narrator and the knowledge of the instructional designer. In case you've ever wanted to know how to kiss someone passionately, or look good naked - you can now learn about this online. (Of course there are more useful skills to be learned, such as how to properly inject yourself with insulin courtesy of mayoclinic.com.
I have read of a few well-resourced libraries in the United States, such as the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, which regularly post videoblogs but they warn of the expense of the projects, saying that a typical 2-5 minute video takes about 7 hours to create. I'm not sure that that much time really would be required - I guess it depends on the content of the video - but I agree it would definitely chew the resources.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
#7 Online tools & technologies
I have played around with Zoho Writer and Googledocs whilst helping people out on the TIC desk. I think they're fab - they certainly provide a great service for all the poor sods trying to write essays and edit CVs at the library. How frustrating for them not to be able to do this, but I guess understand why we don't provide word processing software.
They're very easy to utilise, due to the employment of a 'familiar' interface, so users are quickly able to do whatever writing tasks they have at hand.
I congratulate the various companies that are providing these services.
Part 2: Anything technology Related
I don't know if this theme is appropriate in this context, but I'd like to talk about the environment and technology. First I had better go and try to collect some facts and figures to support my argument... I'll be back.
Well, I wanted to write about a frequently forgotten, negative consequence of the glut of information on the internet - that being the amount of energy that is consumed and the heat produced by servers all over the world. These servers are storing billions of spam emails, abandoned and mind numbing blogs, myspace accounts, dreary pics on Flickr, useless 'so called' informational websites that amount to little other than platforms for advertising, even, I guess, porn websites could/should be included as well.
I remember reading an interesting article some time ago which had facts and figures concerning this, but of course I can't find it now so I'm afraid my rant has become a little pathetic... That aside - I realise that the problem is not one that can be easily fixed. It would be a grand thing indeed, if people could clean up after themselves in 'cyberspace' and exercise a bit of restraint before publishing content online. Just because there is limitless space provided to users of Yahoo etc., and most of the Web 2.0 websites are free to harness, this does not mean people have to take advantage of them.
They're very easy to utilise, due to the employment of a 'familiar' interface, so users are quickly able to do whatever writing tasks they have at hand.
I congratulate the various companies that are providing these services.
Part 2: Anything technology Related
I don't know if this theme is appropriate in this context, but I'd like to talk about the environment and technology. First I had better go and try to collect some facts and figures to support my argument... I'll be back.
Well, I wanted to write about a frequently forgotten, negative consequence of the glut of information on the internet - that being the amount of energy that is consumed and the heat produced by servers all over the world. These servers are storing billions of spam emails, abandoned and mind numbing blogs, myspace accounts, dreary pics on Flickr, useless 'so called' informational websites that amount to little other than platforms for advertising, even, I guess, porn websites could/should be included as well.
I remember reading an interesting article some time ago which had facts and figures concerning this, but of course I can't find it now so I'm afraid my rant has become a little pathetic... That aside - I realise that the problem is not one that can be easily fixed. It would be a grand thing indeed, if people could clean up after themselves in 'cyberspace' and exercise a bit of restraint before publishing content online. Just because there is limitless space provided to users of Yahoo etc., and most of the Web 2.0 websites are free to harness, this does not mean people have to take advantage of them.
#6 Flickr
This is a photograph that I took when I went to Alcatraz. I have it sitting up on flickr, so I link to the image from there, to here... using the url. I think it's a pretty cool library stamp - much better than ours.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
#5 fan.tas.tic
Well, I've often thought about using del.ici.us but frankly couldn't be bothered with yet another login and password - actually I've started 2 accounts in the past but found I didn't use them and finally I forgot what they were...
But how I wish I had been using del.icio.us to bookmark all my work related, frequently used websites because last week TSD paid me a visit - my PC was upgraded and of course I COMPLETELY OVERLOOKED THE FACT THAT MY BOOKMARKS ARE STORED ON THE C DRIVE!!!!! My entire collection is gone. Fantastic. I have to start all over again.
Anyway, I have since established an account, which I will endeavour to use for both work and personal bookmarks. I'm pleased with the widgety features that can be dropped onto the Firefox bookmarks bar - this makes the whole process a bit easier. The RSS feed of tags is useful too.
I think social tagging is interesting and has potential as it incorporates 'user speak' rather than a controlled vocabulary. This, and the fact that it is a nonhierarchical system is not something I am used to and it will take a bit more experimentation for me to come to grips with its strengths and weaknesses. I don't like the fact that a tags seem to have to be a single word - it throws precision right out the window. Similarly attempts to create a single word tag using a couple of words i.e. a name ronaldreagan or ronald_reagan becomes clumsy and potentially unwieldy. I guess like all searches - it can take a number of attempts at different terms and combinations to find the information that you are looking for.
But how I wish I had been using del.icio.us to bookmark all my work related, frequently used websites because last week TSD paid me a visit - my PC was upgraded and of course I COMPLETELY OVERLOOKED THE FACT THAT MY BOOKMARKS ARE STORED ON THE C DRIVE!!!!! My entire collection is gone. Fantastic. I have to start all over again.
Anyway, I have since established an account, which I will endeavour to use for both work and personal bookmarks. I'm pleased with the widgety features that can be dropped onto the Firefox bookmarks bar - this makes the whole process a bit easier. The RSS feed of tags is useful too.
I think social tagging is interesting and has potential as it incorporates 'user speak' rather than a controlled vocabulary. This, and the fact that it is a nonhierarchical system is not something I am used to and it will take a bit more experimentation for me to come to grips with its strengths and weaknesses. I don't like the fact that a tags seem to have to be a single word - it throws precision right out the window. Similarly attempts to create a single word tag using a couple of words i.e. a name ronaldreagan or ronald_reagan becomes clumsy and potentially unwieldy. I guess like all searches - it can take a number of attempts at different terms and combinations to find the information that you are looking for.
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