#23 (it's the end already????)

I really enjoyed the Learning 2.0 program and I'm surprised at how much can be covered in just 23 Things. As I've mentioned throughout my posts I'm not convinced that all these programs will work in libraries at this stage - not all users have the same access to technology, dial-up internet would make a lot of these sites frustrating. But those programs that can be used in libraries will definitely make a difference for both librarians and users.

I hope that others have found this program to be just as rewarding and fun as I have. It has certainly generated a lot of discussions and given us all a chance for professional development within work hours. My favourites have to be image generators, YouTube, Wiki's and the online productivity tools. A surprising discovery was just how connected all these things are. For example when I signed up at YouTube and registered my blog I could automatically post videos with one click or I could tag it using my del.icio.us account. Now when I research on the internet I notice just how many sites have the icon for tagging and blogging sites. With very little effort you can save, sort and share everything.

For me this is just the beginning and I know that I will keep all these tools in mind. A big THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in organising this for us and monitoring the progress.

#22 Audiobooks & eBooks

I can see the appeal of eBooks for libraries. Especially for reference titles and technical manuals it is quick, easy and less time consuming for libraries if clients can download the text to their PC for a time. However, I still like the look and feel of a real book. Real books are easier to read in bed or while standing on the train. I've tried listening to Audiobooks on my iPod and all I could concentrate on was how annoying the narrators voice was. I downloaded the Rime of the Ancient Mariner from the Gutenberg site and while it was okay to listen to - I still prefer reading my paper copy. There's something about reading it yourself that gives a better understanding, particularly reading aloud poetry.

Like using iPods and other audio devices to save music files and therefore cut down on the need to keep CDs, recording books as text files or audio files can help to preserve work and reduce the space needed for an archive. But I'm still not going to give up my bookcases just yet.

#21 Podcasts

I can see the potential for using podcasts in libraries - for training information and promoting library services. I use iTunes for buying music online and I've checked out some of the video podcasts. I like that on iTunes you register for a podcast and automatically receive new podcasts when they become available.

I'm not a fan of talkback radio and some of the podcast sites remind me of that. It was easy to subscribe to the podcast series and I used Yahoo! Podcasts to subscribe to a couple on my bloglines account.

The Muppet Matrix

Once I set up my blog on YouTube it was easy to post videos so I thought I'd add this one as well.

Ellen - Dog in pool

A friend emailed me this clip from YouTube. Inspired by this I thought I could get my two dogs to perform some amazing trick and post it. It wasn't to be. My two dogs (who attended puppy preschool twice) are lucky that they're cute. The most I could get out of them was to sit and even that involved a bribe!

So instead I've added the clip of the clever (but not as cute) dog.

#20 You Tube

I spent about half an hour on YouTube and I'm not sure if I would call it useful or time wasting (fun, but time wasting). I found some great videos for instructional demos and I can see that they would be useful for libraries. Even though they aren't interactive with the user, shared video sites can be used to view various demonstrations.

And then..... I found some videos of dominoes competition, people dancing and someone singing (badly!). At first I couldn't remember why I looked for dominoes, but it's actually a suggestion for this week's exercise. The dancing and singing was just a bonus.

I do like YouTube, it's a great video sharing site, I'm not sure how practical it is for work use. Still, it's enough to convince me to have a go at posting my own video and adding it to this blog.

Tip: search on you tube for library finds some "interesting" videos.

#19 Web 2.0 tools

I agree with the advice from the '23 Things' program - there is so much to web 2.0 that it's best to start with one thing..... so I looked at the short list of 2007 winners and picked a few sites to take a quick look at.

• Google Docs and Spreadsheets is a useful tool - and you can use it from the desktop at work which makes it great!
• YourMinis web widgets is an interesting site - one because it has a lot of programs you can use on blogs, wiki's and desktops but also because all these programs are shared. It's great that so many of these tools and programs are shared on the internet and so easy to add to your own site.
• A quick scan of the professional netowrking and organising tools showed some useful sites.
• And for something fun - Cocktail builder is a great tool. You can go through what's left in your bar (assuming there are leftovers) and type them into the "in my bar" field and you'll get a list of cocktail recipes you can make. Next time you have a cocktail party, bring your laptop!

#18 Online productivity tools

These online tools are pretty cool. Easy to use and you can access them anywhere without worrying about the right software. It also means that you don't have to worry about taking up space on your PC with lots of files. I like that I can share files instead of attaching them to emails and being able to upload any existing files makes it easy to start using.

#17 More wiki-ing

I've added my blog to the PLCMC Learning wiki - there is list of Australian blogs so I've left some space after the Yarra Plenty list and started the list of blogs, hopefully others will join me there soon.

#16 Wiki

More than Wikipedia.....

I really like wiki's and I think it's great that libraries are finding ways to make use of them. I know that there can be a lot of nervousness around letting anyone edit a wiki and concern over just how accurate the information is, but the same can be said for a lot content on the web. Wiki's are a great tool for compiling and sharing information and with some minimal administration of content can provide really useful information.

I can see an application for wiki's to become a key communication tool.

#15 Library/Web 2.0

I've read a number of articles on Web 2.0 and the common element to all of them is that technology is changing, how people search for information is changing and what people will expect from Librarians is starting to change. We have already started to see this in our workplace.

The positive aspect to all of this is the opportunities that are now available. We have so many new technologies to make use of and new ways to encourage clients to collaborate with us.

The challenges will be learning new things, keeping up with technology and the way that clients want to access their information.

#14 Tagging with Technorati

I had a look at Technorati when looking for RSS feeds, so I checked out the "popular" section and found some interesting things.

• A lot of the Top Blogs were in my bloglines feeds. It seems like everyone is blogging about blogging and all the cool new tech toys.
• I was surprised to see that Google is one of the top searches - I would have thought that most people use Google to do the searching.
• I really like the WTF page. 'Where's the fire' explains why topics are so hot at the moment. Some are obvious (like Paris Hilton) and others are useful to have an explanation.
  

Technorati tag: technorati

#13 Tagging

Del.icio.us


A lot of the sites I've looked at during the Learning 23 Things journey have used tags - Flickr, LibraryThing, del.icio.us and Blogger, and all of them designed for social networking. I like the idea that I can organise my bookmarked sites and store them in a more meaningful way, but the more I look at other people's sites, the more I start to wonder, why do I want to know who else tagged the same site as me? It was interesting to see what other sites people had tagged - a bit like ordering books from Amazon and being told that other people who bought the same book as me also bought these titles......

For Amazon it's a marketing ploy, kind of like up sizing your order. On the web, do I really want to know what others are tagging? Does a site with a lot of tags mean it is more useful? (sometimes it does, but not all sites I found with a lot of tags looked that useful).

Del.icio.us is easy to use and I installed the tagging button on my home computer it's the same as adding a site to your favourites. I didn't look around del.icio.us enough to see if I can upload an existing set of bookmarks like Rollyo, but it would be good to be able to export the collection I have.

I can see the potential for the social tagging of information, but the librarian in me still wants to evaluate the source of the tags and question why I should be using their recommendations.