Things 14 & 15

Technorati was interesting, it seemed like an attempt to impose some order and standardisation on blogs - a very library thing to do. I didn't sign up for it as I don't yet feel the need for people to be able to find my blog easily. But it is good to know that it is there if a want to find blogs on a particular topic.



I thought the article Into a New World of Librarianship by Michael Stephens http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm had a lot of sensible advice in it. Particularly the paragraphs on controlling 'technolust' and the need to understand 'content'.

There have certainly been a lot of words written about web 2.0 and it potential in libraries and I am going to add a few more with particular reference to public libraries. It worries me that Web 2.0 is seen as a way of enticing the 'digital natives' into a library when normally they wouldn't go near one - I think that the sorts of social networking that these potential customers like to use will have no effect on their library usage. Sitting at a computer trawling Facebook or YouTube or Flickr can be done anywhere and unless the library is going to spend big money on a lot of computers, thereby alienating lots of other users of the library, it is not going to attract the 'natives' with these tools (and shouldn't, I think). If we can think of ways to attract customers to use the space available in libraries for actual social networking perhaps initially via blogs or wikis which then lead to meetings of different groups that is innovative. If we just want a lot of extra computer users we might as well be an internet cafe. However there are loads of really good applications that can be used in a library situation to make life easier and more fun for staff and customers alike. Things like Mashups for displays, Wikis for communication, Rollyo and del.icio.us to help staff find relevant information fast and VUFind http://www.vufind.org/ to add value to the catalogue. To finish this rant I will quote Michael Stephens 'This librarian does not buy technology for the sake of technology. “Techno-worship” does not exist here. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status. Technology is put to the test....'

Thing 13 - revisited

I have had an enourmously useful comment left on my last post which has shown me the sort of thing that del.icio.us can be used for. It would seem that it is a good way of sharing websites of interest to particular groups. So for example, in a library all the Readers Advisory sites could be on it and any staff member could access it and add other useful sites. I will definitely be exploring it further.

Thing 13 - del.icio.us

I have been quite confused about this Thing. But once I sorted out the terminology; bookmark = favourites I was happier. However at this stage in my life I don't think I need to spend the time exploring this tool. I can't honestly think if a reason for using it in a library situation and for my own needs using Favourites is quite adequate. I can rearrange my favourites list however I want and see at a glance what I have access to without signing in to yet another website.
If any other Canberra 2.0 bloggers can tell me of a wonderful use for it I will be happy to hear it.

Thing 12 - Rollyo

Another fun new tool - what a great thing for busy librarians. Choose all your favourite sites and search them and only them - fantastic! I am having a bit of trouble working out how to link to my search roll but will persevere. Ok I think I've done it. http://rollyo.com/explorer/canberra_culture/

On Tuesday I went to the 'Web 2.0 and its potential for the library community' seminar at the National Library. There were a lot of interesting and knowledgeable presenters and a vast amount of new information to think about and consider.

Play - Thing 10 & LibraryThing - Thing 11

Hi - I have been having a good look at generators - there are a lot of creative people in this world. I particularly like The Generator Blog http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/ it has an amazing amount of ways of manipulating text and pictures. I have had fun putting in names to have them translated into Chinese Characters. http://www.chinesetools.eu/names/
Australie 澳洲，澳大利亚 - prononciation (PinYin) : ào zhōu ào dà lì yà

I have also 'discovered' LibraryThing. I've catalogued some books and am still thinking about all the uses of the site. I'm not quite ready to open up my library to public view.

Things 8&9 - RSS Feeds

Hi, RSS feeds - any technology that starts with the words 'really simple' has got to be worth checking out. So I did and I like them. It's great to just log on to a website and see if any new 'stuff' has come in. I also like that you can mark and keep any item. I'm adding and subtracting different feeds as I decide if they're worth keeping or not.
I can see that they are a useful tool for busy librarians and customers. With time on the internet at a premium, a service like Bloglines is an excellent way of getting lots of information in the shortest possible time.
The tools that allow you to search for feeds on specific subjects are useful (Feedster is still offline) particularly if you are after a group of feeds in one subject area but it is more fun to find feeds randomly.

Thing 7 - Technology

I've come to the conclusion that technology is addictive. What would I do without my remote controls (all 5 of them), my oven timer (no one likes burnt cake) or my computer (I can do work on it, keep in touch with my family on it and play on it). But it is also pretty mind blowing to think that I can type this in Canberra knowing that anyone in the whole wide world might read it!

I worked out that someone had posted a comment to my blog - thank-you. Now I have to work out how to post a comment of my own.

That is another thing about technology - it constantly forces you to learn. This is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. I am having fun learning about Web 2.0 but it can be very frustrating when I want to watch a DVD and I have to use 4 remotes to do so.