Final Week of Learning 2.0 Program

Just wanted to say thank-you to YPRL and especially Fiona for organising the course. I've really enjoyed the experience and have learnt a lot about what is out there in web land. Like most people I'd heard of these applications but had not explored many of them. The hands-on nature of the course was very good and I now have a greater appreciation of what's involved. I found most of the applications were user-friendly and easy to set up accounts and could immediately seem like a real info. maven. I appreciate the effort of bloggers who maintain their sites year after year as posting regularly could become quite daunting.

It will be interesting to see what applications we can develop in our health library as IT blocks many of the sites (eg. Facebook, Youtube). The Wiki may come in handy once it's established and for my own use I really appreciated LibraryThing. Of course one of the main lessons I take away from the experience is how important it is that time and effort is devoted to maintaining and updating any of the Web 2.0 applications the library may employ. Thanks again for the opportunity to delve into this world.

Week 11 E-books

I can see e-books being very effective especially with regard to textbooks where you can easily search on screen for specific areas of interest. The Gutenberg Project is a great undertaking especially as a lot of texts go out of print. I did look into the audio books at my local library (Port Phillip) - The title Jane Eyre comprised 16 compact discs that approximated to 20 hours of listening time. I must admit though that the tactile reality of the book you can snuggle up to read in bed will always be my preference.

Week 10: Podcasts and Videos

I had a play with both of these this week. As I was using the work computer I didn't like to download any software so could only look at podcasts that didn't require additional downloads. I set up an Odeo account and was able to subscribe to a podcast by Nancy Pearl an American librarian on whom the library action figure is based: http://www.mcphee.com/items/11247.html
She presents a show called Book Lust where she interviews authors and I now have access to several of the most recent on my blog.

YouTube is fab. I could spend hours looking at all the esoteric fragments from my childhood and beyond which had faded in the mists of memory. But here they were again vivid and slightly cheesy ! I embedded a video showing the opening song to an Australian TV show called Adventure Island which I remember racing home to watch after school. Of course there are also myriad educational possibilities for this technology! It could be very useful in sharing instructional information across the globe.

Opening song to 70s TV show Adventure Island

Week 9 Wikis and Rollyo

Wikis look like one of the most useful applications for our enterprises. Fortuitously for this exercise our IT department is considering the purchase of Confluence http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/wiki.jsp that would allow each hospital department - plus of course the library - to have their own wiki to advertise services, provide training information and keep abreast of developments etc.
I also set up a Rollyo account and built my search roll. I based it on the movies of Powell and Pressburger (who created one of my favourites "I Know Where I'm Going") and it proved pretty good at bringing up the required info. I could see this app. being useful for specific subjects and interests but again there is always the question of maitenance and vigilance so that the websites included remain relevant and up-to-date.

Week 8 Del.icio.us

I've set up my account and had a bit of a look around this service. It is very useful having the ability to look at your bookmarks on any computer. I also like the ability to create own tags and see what other people consider the best synopsis of what a text etc. is about. Tag clouds are favourite in providing a visual cue to scope and relevance. I imagine the networking of particular groups of bookmarks on particular subjects to interested parties could prove very useful. For example a group of people wanting to travel could share a cache of helpful websites or in libraries if students are undertaking a particular project. Again maintaining these services takes time/effort and would require the dedication of resources (time/personnel) to keep the service effective.

Week 7 iGoogle

I've had an iGoogle account for quite a while. My artist theme is "Chalermchai Kositpipat (เฉลิมชัย โฆษิตพิพัฒน์) A native of Chiang Rai province in Northern Thailand, Chalermchai is most widely known for his intricate murals combining traditional Thai art with modern images and style." It changes colour as the day wears on. I also have the moon phase gadget, horoscope and currency converter. All these are extremely easy to add and there are a plethora of others that you could add also - including one to a library comic strip called "unshelved" will see how that goes in providing amusement.

Week 6 More Google Applications

I also had a look at Google docs. I created a document for my study and could see the benefit if it was a collaborative assignment. I also liked the readability index you could run your carefully crafted prose through to make sure you were reaching your target audience. Book search could come in handy I suppose if you were looking for related texts and reviews. I looked up Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" and could see books of literary criticism of the text also listed. (Just wish I had time to peruse further - Harold Bloom's contribution looked especially intriguing).

Week 6 Google Maps

Had a look at Google Maps Could see it could be really useful if I had a phone that connected to the Internet or if I was prepared to check location before heading off. Otherwise you could always just ask someone in the neighbourhood.
View Larger Map

Week 5 Social Networking

I had a look at both these services. Unfortunately the computer was running v. slowly and so the MySpace page for Yarra Plenty was jerky and couldn't be appreciated in all its glory. I could see how it would be an asset in reaching "the yoof" and portraying the library as a mulimedia/social focal point in the community. Facebook is also intriguing and I know a few people with very sophisticated and active accounts. I did start a profile but got too shy to put in too much info. I really don't have the time or energy to be interacting much on line in a personal way but could see the benefit of professional applications.

Week 4 RSS feeds

I've had a bloglines account for several years now and have found it useful to skim headlines of blogs I'm interested in even if I don't proceed to the whole article. I look at about 20 library related sites (mostly American) plus one on the theatre and several general interest. I've added the urls of all those blogs associated with this learning exercise and find it an easy way to keep abreast of when someone has added a new post etc. One of my favourite blogs when I need cheering up is this one http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/ Enjoy

Week 3: Image Generator and Library Thing

Had a great time playing around with these two applications. Found both fairly self-explanatory and just needed to follow the steps to set up basics. Image Chef was fun especially liked the poetry blender application (see below) and I could see lots of creative uses for library promotion and notices. Library Thing is also very useful as a way to keep track of books, find ones of similar interest and have web interaction with like-minded bib-heads. Really loved being able to customize the book covers to my aesthetic taste. I also followed the instructions in the wiki and created an author tag cloud from the Blog Widgets

Library Thing

Bat Haiku - I wrote this (seemed apposite with all the vampire stuff around eg "True Blood" etc.) then put in Poetry Blender on Image Chef

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

Playing with Image Generator - great fun