I can see the benefit of using del.icio.us for Libraries. It gives us the capacity to link to websites selected by library staff from the library website, but also accessible from, and organised by Delicious (see Sutherland Shire Libraries, Thunder Bay Public Library, Cleveland Public Library Recommended Bookmarks); the speed and ease with which sites can be tagged; the ability to see related sites tagged by others; and the universal web access. I like the fact that you can add a site and organise it soooo quickly.
Not so fussed about Technorati. I found the results pages busy and confusing to a beginner, with vastly different results on my 'bookmobile' search on different days. Doubtful there was a huge increase/decrease in blogs tagging bookmobiles to cause the difference. Results were almost identical for 'bookmobile' search and advanced search. I found some tagged nswpln2008 blogs.
LibraryThing really appeals to me. Is that because it's useful or just because I like looking at books? Not sure. It was quick and easy to use, and adding the bookcovers was a breeze. Would I bother to put my personal book collection on it? Probably not, but it's fun to see what's on LibraryThing. The reviews of Matthew Reilly's Ice Station are hilarious.
I can see that it make an easy-to-use tool for clubs and other small organisations to 'catalogue' their collections. As for libraries, it depends on the extent of local uptake. I read about LibraryThing for Libraries that allows for LibraryThing data, such as aggregate tag data and recommendations, to be imported into library catalogs. I'd like to see some of those funny reviews in our library catalogue!
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Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Video
Until now I've only used YouTube to look at funny videos, and then only because it was a 'must see' video that everyone was talking about. In the last week I have explored Learning 2.0's suggestions, spent way too much time going off on tangents, and used up my monthly download limit in one day. I confess I took malicious delight in the video ninja librarian, who took terrible revenge on the student using his mobile in the library!
Mostly what I saw were short films posted by people who clearly got a buzz out of making them and showing them off to a wider audience - video as entertainment. I saw that Mosman Library's author talks are on Google video but not on YouTube, because of Google's longer playing time. As for Library uses for this video sharing, Libraries could post their author talks, and as more people embrace video-sharing Local Studies Librarians could invite people to make video local histories/oral histories, and encourage a world-wide audience to contribute to the area's local history.
My Gen-Y colleague assures me that she would use the Internet to watch an author talk that she had missed out on seeing, whereas I probably wouldn't bother. Although maybe I would bother if it was Markus Zusak. Here's a glimpse of him speaking Portuguese.
Mostly what I saw were short films posted by people who clearly got a buzz out of making them and showing them off to a wider audience - video as entertainment. I saw that Mosman Library's author talks are on Google video but not on YouTube, because of Google's longer playing time. As for Library uses for this video sharing, Libraries could post their author talks, and as more people embrace video-sharing Local Studies Librarians could invite people to make video local histories/oral histories, and encourage a world-wide audience to contribute to the area's local history.
My Gen-Y colleague assures me that she would use the Internet to watch an author talk that she had missed out on seeing, whereas I probably wouldn't bother. Although maybe I would bother if it was Markus Zusak. Here's a glimpse of him speaking Portuguese.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Wikis
Until now, Wikipedia was the only wiki I had anything to do with. I have used it as a starting point for information, and notice that it seems to have more 'cred' nowadays than it did at first. I like the fact that it's quick, and the links to further pages are useful.
I looked at the suggested wikis and can see that some attract more contributors than others. In my wider search I found some that seem to be petering out. Then there's Wookieepedia, with lots of (fanatical?) activity. Clearly a wiki that invites open collaboration is more likely to have strong support if its content appeals to the techno generation. It might be a while before a wiki on gardening is as keenly followed as a Star Wars one.
I saw the wikis set up for short term use, such as for Conference attendees, and The State Library of New York even has a New Tech Wiki about wikis. Really it's so the SUNY Libraries can write about how they use wikis ( and blogs, RSS etc), but a wiki about wikis is catchier. I still hesitate about how much time at a computer all this collaborating, contributing and posting comments takes - if I was Gen Y, though, it wouldn't take me so long...
Then I saw the NSW Travelling Pants Project wiki . Now that wiki makes sense! A great way to keep up with arrangements and to share information, inspiration and ideas across a number of libraries. This would also work for Library Lovers Day and the Summer Reading Program. I can also see that Local Studies wikis would allow people in the community to tell their stories, but they would need support (e.g. allow contributions by email), to encourage people who are not techno-savvy to participate.
I looked at the suggested wikis and can see that some attract more contributors than others. In my wider search I found some that seem to be petering out. Then there's Wookieepedia, with lots of (fanatical?) activity. Clearly a wiki that invites open collaboration is more likely to have strong support if its content appeals to the techno generation. It might be a while before a wiki on gardening is as keenly followed as a Star Wars one.
I saw the wikis set up for short term use, such as for Conference attendees, and The State Library of New York even has a New Tech Wiki about wikis. Really it's so the SUNY Libraries can write about how they use wikis ( and blogs, RSS etc), but a wiki about wikis is catchier. I still hesitate about how much time at a computer all this collaborating, contributing and posting comments takes - if I was Gen Y, though, it wouldn't take me so long...
Then I saw the NSW Travelling Pants Project wiki . Now that wiki makes sense! A great way to keep up with arrangements and to share information, inspiration and ideas across a number of libraries. This would also work for Library Lovers Day and the Summer Reading Program. I can also see that Local Studies wikis would allow people in the community to tell their stories, but they would need support (e.g. allow contributions by email), to encourage people who are not techno-savvy to participate.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
RSS the big five
I built my list of 5 feeds, and then refined it, and refined it again.
I learned something from the Powerhouse Museum - Photo of the Day. I like change. I like to see something new when I look at my feeds. So I removed several that initially looked interesting, when after a few days I saw no point in checking, hoping, waiting for something to be posted. Although of course, that's still an advantage of RSS. If you are interested in something that has very few posts, at least RSS will make it easier to know when there is an update.
I decided to look for feeds from sites that were 'happening'.What could be better than the US Presidential nomination struggle between Clinton and Obama? So I chose BlogHillary and Obama HQ, both blogs produced by the candidates' enthusiastic campaign workers with lots of daily updates and comments posted.
I added ABC News; Breaking stories because news updates meet my personal criterion of a 'happening' site. I 'd like to say I've looked at it often, but probably less often than I watch TV news, which isn't that often. If I get a reference question about the news, would I go to my RSS feed, or would I go to Google, or a newspaper? The RSS feed would work well for news junkies for whom too much news is never enough.
My library service has RSS feeds from all the top news services on its website: ABC News, The Australian, BBC, CNN, etc. as well as some non-news feeds: On this day, Quote of the Day, Fashion, Movie Reviews. Have I used it in the course of my working day? The answer is no, but please don't quote me. Maybe I will make more use of it after this.
Lastly, and I left the best till last, I have joined the legion of Stephen Fry fans and I have added his blog StephenFry. I'll forgive him for not posting daily. It takes me ages to read one of his posts/essays/articles, so in his case less is more. And the RSS will let me know when there's something new.
I learned something from the Powerhouse Museum - Photo of the Day. I like change. I like to see something new when I look at my feeds. So I removed several that initially looked interesting, when after a few days I saw no point in checking, hoping, waiting for something to be posted. Although of course, that's still an advantage of RSS. If you are interested in something that has very few posts, at least RSS will make it easier to know when there is an update.
I decided to look for feeds from sites that were 'happening'.What could be better than the US Presidential nomination struggle between Clinton and Obama? So I chose BlogHillary and Obama HQ, both blogs produced by the candidates' enthusiastic campaign workers with lots of daily updates and comments posted.
I added ABC News; Breaking stories because news updates meet my personal criterion of a 'happening' site. I 'd like to say I've looked at it often, but probably less often than I watch TV news, which isn't that often. If I get a reference question about the news, would I go to my RSS feed, or would I go to Google, or a newspaper? The RSS feed would work well for news junkies for whom too much news is never enough.
My library service has RSS feeds from all the top news services on its website: ABC News, The Australian, BBC, CNN, etc. as well as some non-news feeds: On this day, Quote of the Day, Fashion, Movie Reviews. Have I used it in the course of my working day? The answer is no, but please don't quote me. Maybe I will make more use of it after this.
Lastly, and I left the best till last, I have joined the legion of Stephen Fry fans and I have added his blog StephenFry. I'll forgive him for not posting daily. It takes me ages to read one of his posts/essays/articles, so in his case less is more. And the RSS will let me know when there's something new.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
I could spend hours doing this
Well, I have learned a lot in the last week. I know I want to change the layout of my blog posts, new setup, new font. I'll do that when I've speeded up a bit.
As for the photos on flickr, I am astounded at the high standard of the images. Commercial photography must have gone through a huge upheaval since the advent of the Internet, now amateur photographers can promote their skills and put their images 'out there.'
This picture isn't the one I first chose. In true Internet style one click led to another, and I found an even more impressive photo by the same photographer. I started with a South African town and ended up choosing a big brown dog! The stunning textural effect in this photo is attributed to tonemapping using photomatix. That's something else I have to learn more about...
As for the photos on flickr, I am astounded at the high standard of the images. Commercial photography must have gone through a huge upheaval since the advent of the Internet, now amateur photographers can promote their skills and put their images 'out there.'
This picture isn't the one I first chose. In true Internet style one click led to another, and I found an even more impressive photo by the same photographer. I started with a South African town and ended up choosing a big brown dog! The stunning textural effect in this photo is attributed to tonemapping using photomatix. That's something else I have to learn more about...
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