Final Thoughts . . .

This has been a really interesting experience! I have tried many new tools that I know I would not have sought out on my own but with the great structure and support provided by the Web 2.0 programme it never felt too intimidating as it was so accessible. I feel this has contributed to the idea of "walking in our customers' shoes" as they are often overwhelmed and unsure of the technology that is required for accessing the library and I also have a much better understanding of the numerous web applications accessed by our "internet only" patrons.

Personally, the tools that have had the biggest impact for me are those that "simplify" and are "convenient" for the organization of my online information. Tagging, bookmarking (Delicious), online lists of websites (Rollyo) and the virtual bookshelves such as LibraryThing.

I would encourage even the most reluctant individual to consider learning about "2.0" and start exploring because it really does have something for everyone. Don't miss out as this has been wonderful being an information seeker.

Week 9 - YouTube, Podcasts & The Digital Library

In my search for library related media I came across an unfamiliar term "mediated culture" used by Dr Michael Wesch, he lectures on cultural anthropology and digital ethnography at Kansas State University. His research addresses how our society and culture are affected by social media and digital technology, it is very relevant to what we are experiencing in the library world.

This YouTube video was designed as a "conversation starter" to engage his students with respect to new technologies and their useage in our daily lives. In 2008, Dr Wesch won the award of "U.S. Professor of the Year".

In his words "it explores the changes in the way we find, store, create, critique, and share information."



Podcasts are a great way to get ways of capturing news and other snippets of information. Some of the links were not working to the sites recommended but accessed through iTunes. To obtain a series of podcasts it would be very convenient to have an RSS feed.

I have accessed the ACL Downloadable Media for the NetLibrary and audiobooks in order to use a book or two. This is a service that appeals to many of the older patrons in our library but unfortunately most of them feel they require a little bit of IT support to get started. Repeatedly, I get asked if we will be offering a class or demonstrations on using the technology. Its too bad that we cannot download from the Digital Library on the library computers as I think the service would have more uptake if we could meet our customers' demands. And, I am sure that eventually we will be able to so!

Week 8 - Zoho Writer, GoogleDocs and Web 2.0 Awards

 

For a reader's advisory assignment I had to read this graphic novel - this is a new genre for me and it was extremely thought provoking read!

Taken from http://www.readalike.org/

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (2003)

Author: Marjane Satrapi
Genre: Graphic Novel (Memoir)

Book Summary:
This autobiographical novel tells the story of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in Tehran. The story commences in 1979 when Marjane is 10-years old and wearing the veil has recently become mandatory due to the Islamic Revolution. Marjane, an only child, lives in a very progressive household where dissent is common and more than one of her relatives has been imprisoned due to his Communist beliefs. The story captures Marjane’s (also known as Marji) childhood from when she was ten up until her adolescent years of fourteen. Her personal life at home is inextricably bound to the downfall of the Shah, the Islamic Revolution, and the war with Iraq. However, her personal life is also contradictory to what she learns at school and what she sees on the news. By the time Marjane is 14, she has become rebellious and the regime has only gotten more repressive. One day she returns home from shopping for jeans and discovers that an Iraqi missile has bombed the family next door. No one in the family survived. Shortly after this occurrence, her parents decide to send her to Austria to live with friends of the family and to attend a French school.

The Persepolis summary was copied into a Zoho Writer document and then published on my blog! Easy technology to use and eliminates the need to purchase software as everything is done in the "cloud". I have used Google Docs on one occasion and the idea of it was good but the practical aspect of it was actually quite frustrating. I had uploaded a powerpoint presentation and it could not cope with the graphics and size of the file. So once I did get it into GoogleDocs, I had to simplify and edit a large portion of it unfortunately.

Looked at the 3 sites in the shortlisted "book" category. Lulu had some nice features of being able to print your books - thought it would be great to print cookbooks of my family's favourite recipes and give them as gifts. VuFind combining Web 2.0 and the OPAC, having all resources in one locations is probably the a direction that libraries will be considering in the not too distant future. Also looked at the "maps" as always interesting to explore with Google Satellite. Have bookmarked the site for future web surfing.

Week 7 - Wonderful Wikis

Collaborative, efficient and creative way to share information and ideas between individuals. The sum of of the whole is always greater than its parts! The virtual world of brainstorming is opened up through this interactive process. It has many applications and can be adapted by the controls or lack of parameters set up for each particular wiki dependent on its purpose. The WebJunction discovery resource had alot of good ideas for library wikis -- inclusion of the library community in creating content, especially the annotating of the library catalogue. Staff intranet wikis such as ACL training and development wiki is the resource for the most up-to-date information -- sharing it part of the experience. So I guess we all need to start making more contributions in order to have thriving wikis at Auckland City Libraries.

I visited the 2.0 Sandbox today. Had a small hiccup with access, took me awhile to figure out what email address I needed to use in order to gain access. All resolved in the end!

Week 6 - Del.icio.us, Technorati & 2.0

Del.icio.us is one of the few tools that I have used in the past, bookmarking is a really good way of keeping track of websites that are of interest but it also makes life easier! Great to use at work in the library because your personal list of "favourites" is just a Del.icio.us click away. In the library it is ideal as staff are constantly using different computers when out on desk duty or even in the workroom where we share computers.

I had not even heard of Technorati, had a good look around and "claimed" my blog, which does sound exciting to be active in the blogosphere. Tagging the new replacement for post-it notes.

Library and Web 2.0 is having an impact and the technology that drives it and the ability to access it is very apparent in the library environment. In my daily work I notice that patron's require more assistance with technology and social media issues rather than accessing items in the physical library collection. The ideas do support what libraries have to offer of being user friendly and open to new ways of thinking and that is part of the appeal factor. The new tools only enhance what we have to offer as modes of communication for those patrons who do incorporate them into their daily lives.

Week 5 - LibraryThing and Rollyo

Now why have I not heard of LibraryThing before? This is a very useful tool than I can integrate into my reader services toolbox. I am always on the look out for a good book to read or something new for my Homebound patrons at work. LibraryThing is very user friendly and I would recommend this to some of our patrons. Some of my favorite reads were not very popular in other peoples' lists and that was a bit surprising. It reminded me of a quote that goes something like this:

"There is a book for every reader and a reader for every book."




Rollyo is working again -- interesting site and concept. Set up my account, made my search roll as I am starting a collection of websites for Readers Advisory services. Great to see where others go in serach of book titles. User friendly site.

Week 4 - RSS Feeds with Google Reader and Twitter

Great YouTube clip on RSS feeds! I really like the emphasis on a "new and fast" method of managing the amount of information that is accessed on a regular basis. Its an ideal set up of having your main/daily information websites send out rather than individuals having to go in search of. My Google Reader is set up and active and just adding in my new RSS feeds, having some difficulty linking in my RSS feeds from the ACL websites for my favourite authors. Says they were added successfully but not on my "subscription list". Will post the solution once I have sorted it out!

Resolved! I was linking the RSS feeds but they were getting stored on my laptop under the tab "feeds" within my Favourites instead of my Google Reader. I also found a feature on my laptop that tells me if there are any RSS feeds available on the webpage I am viewing.

Can I stop at adding just ten?

RSS feeds will be very beneficial in keeping up-to-date on librarianship news and events. As a student I am always wanting to be informed on the latest. For my work responsibilities, I am linking in some reader advisory websites for finding new titles for my Homebound patrons.

I have joined Twitter, I really have mixed feelings about this one as I don't really want to know all the small details that are happening in other peoples' lives between their blog postings and emails as explained in the YouTube clip. With respect to implementing this in a community library -- perhaps for quick reminders of events or a change in services. Would staff actually be able to manage the tweets from all the tweetple that would be their followers? How many patrons would need to be on Twitter to warrant adding this as a communication tool?

Today on my lunch break I was reading the latest issue of Vanity Fair magazine (February 2010) and it had an interesting article entitled "America's Tweethearts" that stated "Google has signed a deal to prominently add Tweets to its search engine results". Its infiltrating!