Week 9: The Last One

Well, I didn't think I'd get this far to be honest! So I'm glad and relieved to be here. It hasn't always been easy, mostly to do with time constraints and my developing level of technical ability. Now that it's finished I can see that I've learnt quite a lot and I feel more confident finding my way round a lot of these sites, some of which I'd either not heard of before or was only vaguely familiar with.
I have developed some skills along the way and have increased my knowledge in areas that I probably wouldn't have bothered with if I hadn't had to. I may not need or want to revisit some of the sites, but it's good to be familiar with them. And there are some sites that I definitely enjoyed and would make use of again.
As for the usefulness of the training for my role in the library - I see it as being helpful in a more general rather than specific way. I am now armed with more knowledge than I had when I started Web 2.0 and greater confidence in sharing that knowledge with others.

Week 9: Ebooks and Downloadable Media

It was good to check out something on our very own library website - a reassuring feeling of familiarity! I've been through most of this before, but it's always good to have a refresher. We have some great resources on our website and it's good to be reminded of them and to pass on that info to our customers. The Tumblebooks and Tumblereadables are fun for kids and something I will remeber to recommend to mums.
Another area that is well worth a look is the ebooks and perhaps something that the average library user is not aware of. I think this is particularly useful for students as there are a lot of classic books and study notes. This was the sort of thing I concentrated on in the NetLibrary when choosing my favourites because I wanted to see what I could recommend to a desperate student, for example, who couldn't find a thing on the shelves about To Kill a Mockingbird or Hamlet or whatever book is on the syllabus at the time.
Downloadable Media is a great service with a big selection of books for entertainment or education. I don't think the older generation is making much use of it because of the technology, so audiobooks will be found on our shelves for a while yet - but it has definite appeal to younger, more mobile and computer savvy people.

Week 9: Podcasts

I was new to Podcasts - have heard a lot about them, but never checked them out before. This was interesting, and once again amazing, to see the sheer volume of information available. I had a look through the various podcast directories, but having limited time to work my way through them had to decide on one and go for it, more or less. I can see that an awful lot of time can be spent, and quite possibly wasted, on this - similar to youtube in that respect. Once again, selectivity is important. Perhaps it has some use in a library environment, in terms of instruction and information sharing.

I found some interesting podcasts on books, reviews etc. This one is called Books on the Nightstand.

Week 9: Youtube

Youtube is something I'm familiar with. Yes there's a lot of rubbish on it, but there's a lot of good stuff, too. Always good for a quick bit of entertainment. It's informative, too - have found some useful hints on home maintenance and cooking recently. I've added a clip of Sheldon's response to gift giving.

Week 8 Online Productivity and Web 2 Awards List

I found Google Docs a useful tool. I can see that it would be great to save docs and upload files to one place so you can access, share, edit etc from any computer. I was able to sign in quite easily as I already had an existing account, but then I had trouble uploading files. I read all the instuctions, did the trouble shoot and so on, but no matter how many files I tried, I always got the same message - server error. So I don't know if this is something I'm doing wrong, or if there's a problem with the computer. I then tried making a simple document and saving it. this seemed to go OK. Here's the link.

Then I checked out the Web 2 winners. I settled on books and had a look at Lulu and Biblio. They are quite different in what they do. Lulu is a website which enables authors to publish their own work for free and sell it to their particular audience, with publishing tools provided so they can format and upload. It has millions of registered users and visitors each month, so the published work potentially reaches a huge audience. You can take advantage of their specialised tools and packages, become members of groups, follow blogs, buy, sell, and connect to others. It seems to be a very clear and well thought out website, easy to get around and full of links and information. I don't see it as being of particular use to the library, however. I liked Biblio a lot because I'm a huge fan of second-hand book shops and this one kind of brings the whole thing online with an independent book seller philosophy behind it. The user has the ability to buy new and used books from over 5,500 independent booksellers globally. Some of the profits are channelled back into helping literacy and providing books in poorer communities. This again is probably not of particular use for a library other than providing some information on sourcing rare or hard to get books.

Week 7 Wikis

This week I explored wikis and checked out some of the recommended ones to get a feel of how they work.While they are all places where knowledge can be pooled in a collaborative way by anyone, they also have differences in they way they present their information and in the amount of content, links, editing options etc. It seems to me that in some cases the wikis give information, but after that there probably isn't much more need for it to be added to changed or whatever, because the information is pretty good as it stands. So from that point of view, I'm not so sure how they differ from a regular website, apart from the fact that the option is there for anyone to take part if they want. I enjoyed looking around the various wikis and seeing just how much information we have at our disposal. Sometimes this make me feel a little dizzy though
- the old information overload problem again!
I like the idea of people being able to contribute their knowledge for sharing with others with similar interests and this concept seems ideal to a library environment where rapid turn over of information about books, reviews, events, technology, learning programmes etc would be very uselful and enriching.
I logged in to the ACL PB Wiki and went to favourite blogs where I added my blog to the list. This was a pleasant exercise because it went without a hitch and showed me how easy it is to add info to a wiki.

Week 6: Library 2.0, Web 2.0: The Future of Libraries

I found the articles interesting and quite thought-provoking. It's hard to fully imagine where libraries are heading as things are moving so quickly. The way one can access information has altered radically in recent times. Now it's possible to get information about anything at any time from sources that can be accessed directly, and not have to rely on an organisation to provide it for you. You actually don't have to leave your home to get a book or specialised information any more. This has changed the kind of relationship patrons have with their library which is evolving more and more into a kind of collaborative and sharing environment. People still want to come to the library, join in activities, share a sense of community and know that there is a safe and welcoming place where they can spend some quality time, get the information they require, or enjoy a specific experience. I like the quote: "Libraries are not merely in communities, they are communities."I see this as being the way a library might feel in the future - a place where there is a lot of interactivity and user participation, information sharing and education.