Web 2.0, Week 4 - Books and social networking

Have just visited the Goodreads website and think it is a great way for book lovers to keep track of what they have read or will read and share it with other readers. Some readers may prefer this site instead of using the opt in/opt out facility in the OPAC or use both.

If a customer is wanting help with what next they might like to read then I would certainly make them aware of this website or show them if they are not happy with using a computer.

Library staff can also refer to Goodreads and check the 'popular list' of books or the 'most read books for this week', so that they are kept informed.

Overall, I like Goodreads and will use it from time to time.

Web 2.0 Week 3 - Twitter

I have just signed up to Twitter and chose a couple of topics to follow - funny and health, along with @Manukau Libs.

At this stage I don't think I would use Twitter much. To some extent it seems to be a young person's pastime. I need to get more familiar with Twitter before I decide if tweeting is for me.

It was easy to sign up so most library customers shouldn't have trouble doing the same (with a little assistance from a librarian maybe).

Perhaps Twitter could be used by Manukau Libraries to promote Manix to our young adult readers.

Web 2.0, Week 2 - Zamzar Conversions

Have just used Zamzar.com and converted a word document to a pdf file and it was easy!

I wasn't aware this was available and would certainly recommend it to our library customers.

Although I would probably only use this conversion site occasionally it is worth knowing it is there to use.

The only drawback I can think of is the delay it sometimes takes if online traffic is heavy and a library customer is waiting for it to be emailed back to them.

Until next week ...