#46 Update

Going back to look at the Learning 2.0 program is a great idea. Some of the tools I haven't visited since the first program - Rollyo, Bloglines (I prefer Google Reader) and some of the image sites for example. But what I liked most about the Learning 2.0 program is that it got me interested enough to find out more - I still use Blogger, but I've been playing with the WordPress site. I don't use Flickr for my own photos, but I've been impressed with the way that libraries are making use of the site (the Sydney Powerhouse Museum uploading images to Flickr's The Commons project).

I'm also really impressed by how many web 2.0 applications we are now using in eLibrary. The LibraryThing for Libraries tags, Google Books, wiki, blog, RSS and now podcasting. It's easier to keep up to date with developments when the tools are ones that you use for work and play!!

For anyone else who is looking back and reviewing the Learning 2.0 sites, I'd recommend checking out the Web 2.0 Award site again. The 2008 awards were updated in May.

#45 Go with the flow

Okay so I'll admit it - I love flowcharts and mind maps! What can take two pages of text or ten minutes of description with a lot hand gestures can be described with one simple image. I agree that sometimes they can help the creator more than the reader, but still I think they are valuable tools.

I really liked the sites that were recommended this week. Bubbl.us is easy to use and you end up with a professional looking diagram. Flowchart.com is another good site, but by far my favourite is Gliffy.

• The flowcharts were easy to create
• You can share your diagram for collaboration
• You can create flowcharts, floorplans, network diagrams and user interface diagrams

I can see many applications for these tools at work, but I also enjoyed playing with the floorplan diagram you can see below. [while setting up the floorplan was fun, I doubt this room would look very nice or be functional. At least I got to sample most of the images!]

#44 Nag Yourself/Jott.com

Jott.com could be useful in those instances where you need to send a reminder and have no other means - but I'm just not sure often that happens these days. With mobile phones and wirelesss access to email and the internet, is there room for another service?

I can't seem to live without post-it notes so I can't see myself using a service like this.

On to a different topic - Retroland. I can't help but keep going back to this site. I love it!! Even a search for library found some fun memories (the scene from Ghostbusters, the Breakfast Club) and a list of pages where people comment on their favourite childhood books. Some of the RetroTalk topics were a fun browse too - which book can you never finish and which book would you recommend were entertaining.

Thing #42: Google Groups / Usenet

Google Groups is not a site that I have found useful. When I searched for some of my interests I didn't find anything useful - and with a hobby of pottery it can't be the subject that is the problem.


Yahoo! Groups is a site that I find is much more organised and interesting. I'm a member of a number of Yahoo! groups for authors I like and reading discussion groups as well as some for travelling, pottery, movies and other interests. What I really like about the groups is that they are easy to browse and I can subscribe to the discussions in a number of ways - those groups that have a lot of posts and I can choose to only receive messages from the owner, if a group is moderately busy I get a daily email of all the posts for that day, and for the quiet discussion groups I received all the individual posts.

I like discussion groups to be like my RSS reader account - I don't always to participate and comment, but I like to have good content to browse through and keep up to date. Even though I didn't find the librarians group to be that great, I'll give Google Groups a second try for other areas of interest.

Animoto

Twitter

#35 Mini or micro blogging

Twitter is great! I found a thread for Sydney weather that I can follow and of course there are some great library threads as well. Micro blogging could have a lot of use in libraries.

#32 Online file storage - Box.net

I really like online file storage, especially for files that I access at work and at home - it's so much easier than emailing new versions.

What I liked about Box was the other services you can access - editing images and using sites like Zoho were easy to access.

I can see a lot of application for the online storage on files - especially those files that aren't sensitive and need collaboration. There are a lot of sites that do this and I use Google docs quite frequently. The next time I need to edit the files and use images I will use Box.net

#31 Plaxo

Plaxo has some great capabilities - importing information like contacts and calendars was easy to do and it's a pretty cool way to carry all the information around. Now I'll have no excuse not to send emails when travelling or forget someones birthday.

I'm not quite sure what to make of how easy it is to capture all that data. There's a lot of info about people just sitting in the world wide web. On the other hand - it beats trying to find contact details on my phone, work diary, address book, post it notes, work email, home email.......

#29 Scrapblog

#29 Scrapblog

What a great site!!! With all the templates and saved images I can see a lot of potential for professional looking presentations as well as a fun way to display photos.

#27 Photobucket

Photobucket is a great site. It's a lot more interactive than other image sharing sites and I really like the fact that you can add other people's photos to your account. Another great feature is all the options you have to share images.

I've added some pictures of one of my favourite things - chocolate. Hours of fun!

YourMinis

I really like widgets - I use iGoogle which lets you set up your Google page with tools such as news, weather, maps, the Wikipedia search box, my Google Reader feeds and lots of other applications. They are often a useful reminder of other sites to search or news you haven't caught up on.

As I've mentioned in previous posts I think it's great that people create these tools and make them available for everyone to use. For anyone who's not programmer or willing to learn html code it doesn't matter - someone else has done for you AND encouraged you to put their work on your site.

The widget I added below...... well it makes a change from news, weather and other web 2.0 content.

#26 Widgets

#25 Newsletter Pop

This is a great site for publishing newsletters. Having lots of templates to choose from makes it easy and the link to Flickr was great for uploading photos to my newsletter. I can see that this would be a great tool for creating newsletters or flyers advertising training sessions. It would also be a great way to send to family and friends some of your photos with captions or to use for invitations to your next BBQ or party....... the list could go on.

You can view my newsletter and see some of my favourite photos from trips I've taken.

#24 Zamzar file conversion

This is a really useful site for file conversions. I don't have Adobe Professional at home so this site is great for converting documents to pdf. The conversion wasn't instant (and being the impatient person I am, I really prefer the instant results), but I only had to wait an hour for the email with my download link for the file.

I tried a few different conversions - images and sound. All worked well. There are a lot of conversion sites free on the internet, but I really like that I can use one site for all types of files - I don't need one site for music and a different site for images.

A couple of dislikes - other than the time it takes to get the file (other music conversion sites are instant downloads in the new format) I really got sick of all the ads. Obviously the idea is to get people to pay for a subscription and get files a lot faster without all the ads, but this site was getting annoying.

I don' think I'd pay to use the site, but it is a good way to convert files.

Learning 2.1

Just when I thought I had nothing to blog about........ along comes Learning 2.1

#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.