Sunday, May 31, 2009

Week 9 - Podcasts

Podcasts have great potential to be the next big thing after radio. The reason being is that you can download to your mp3/ipod previously played interviews or radio shows.

For example, if I wanted to listen to an interview on the radio about the government's recent budget, which was to be aired on the radio at, say 2pm Saturday. However, I had other plans at that time and wasn't able to listen then. I could listen to the budget interview using the internet, by going to their website and clicking on their podcast section and listen to it. Alternatively, I could download it from their website on to my mp3/ipod and listen to it while I was on the train for example.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Week 9 - Discover YouTube

Have just been having a look around YouTube and what a lot there is to see! Had a look at several video clips including the video made by library school students about a student who gets some books out from the library on Rock'nRoll and learns to play the guitar.

Also looked at a clip made by some school students about Monarch butterflies and then looked at the susanboyle video clip that has been on the news lately.

You could spend a lot of time just watching, and posting your own video clips, to YouTube. It really makes the world seem like a small place when video clips are globally shared.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Week 8 - Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Wow, what a huge list of sites on the Web 2.0 Awards. Interesting to see what categories there were as they covered things such as genealogy, reading maps, philantropy and cooking. It just shows the huge range of websites available on the internet.

I had a look at the site http://www.imcooked.com/ and watched a short video of a woman making an omelette. This site is like a recipe scrapbook where recipes are found, kept if you like them and shared with others. Recipes can also be rated and commented on.

I started to watch another video on how to cook battered and stuffed chillies. It was about 7 minutes long but it took so long to load that I gave up on that.

So overall I thought this website was good to be able to find and share recipes but the loading of the video clips was too long. Maybe it was just my slow computer!

Online Applications and Tools - Week 8

I have been reading about 'Zoho' an online application which includes Zoho Writer and Zoho Spreadsheets.

The great thing about Zoho is that it is all done online, no need to have the right software installed in your computer. Just connect to Zoho Writer, for example, and create a document or use Zoho Spreadsheets to do accounting calculations. A document or spreadsheet can easily be edited online and anyone can read the document as a public file on a webpage. Documents can also be shared and files upload all done online.

Another advantage of using Zoho or for that matter any online application is that it can be accessed from any computer anywhere! No need to carry around a USB drive or disc.

One disadvantage I thought about is that computers still on a dial-up internet service may be a bit slow and lag.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Social Networking - Week 7

As part of Manukau Libraries Learning 2.0 I have been having a look at the social networking sites of Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.

Firstly, I looked at the Bebo page set up by an Auckland City Libraries' staff member. Quite a lot to it and interesting to look at.

It makes me think back to when people had 'pen pals' in other countries and would write to each other, sometimes becoming good friends. Pen pals had to have similar interests and write to each other fairly regularly for it to work. Sometimes pen pals would eventually meet each other in person. I think it is similar with social networking.

But there is more to these social networking sites. They are like scrapbooks that people put their photos on, quizzes, favourite music/bands, videos on YouTube, widgets or anything that is of interest to them.

Then once your website is set up, people view your website and can become your 'friends' (as long as you are happy with that). Friends add their comments and photos and so it goes. A person can have hundreds maybe even thousands of friends added to their website.

These social networking sites are popular with teenage and young people who find it a great way to communicate with friends from all over the world.

The Hennepin County Library is a good example of a library making use of the social networking site Facebook. It would appeal to young people who use social networking sites and also enjoy reading. It is possible for Book Club readers to post lists of favourite books for discussion, share lists and see what other clubs are reading.

The catalog of the Hennepin County Library can be added to your website or blog, and like other social networking sites, you can become a friend, add comments or upload photos and videos. This Library has 1,125 fans already!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Library 2.0

Have just been reading two articles about Library 2.0.

The first one, by Rick Anderson, was titled Away from Icebergs. In his article he talks about there being three icebergs that are barriers to libraries moving forward in the future.

The first iceberg is the "Just in case" collection. Here he is referring to how libraries used to be when collections were only available in print format. Patrons will now expect to access everything - from digital collections of journals, books, blogs and podcasts.

The second one is "Reliance on User Education". Don't ask yourself how are we going to train all of the patrons. But rather focus on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need.

The last iceberg is the "Come to us" model of library service. We have to find new ways to bring our services to patrons rather than them coming to us, that is, on the Web and in their daily patterns of work, study and play.

I found Rick Anderson's comments on the 'iceberg barriers' to be quite accurate in how libraries need to adapt themselves in order to remain relevant to and meet the needs of future patrons.

The other article I read was titled To a temporary place in time, written by Dr Wendy Schultz.

In this article Dr Schultz talks about the library experience of the future and discusses it under the following headings:
  • Library 1.0 Commodity
  • Library 2.0 Product
  • Library 3.0 Web 3D to Library 3D Services
  • Library 4.0 The Neo-Library Experience

In the last one (Library 4.0) she sees libraries as mind gyms, idea laboratories, as art salons and also as knowledge spas.

I found this article very futuristic and look forward to seeing it put into practice!