Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Shout out to my instructors!

I want to send a great big thank you to Diane N. and Sarah W. for being so supportive and taking the time to answer questions and give us a broad variety of tools to famiarize ourselves with Web 2.0.

Thanks ladies! It's been a blast and a half!

Week 9 - YouTube and Podcasting

Well, this is week 9 and we reviewed YouTube and Podcasts.

Here are a couple of really fun videos from YouTube:
Library Zombies
Zombie bloopers

I think YouTube would be a great tool for a library. We could highlight all kinds of things: exhibits, special collections, programs, displays, etc. (I think we may have some students in the library in the summer or fall working on videos for the library.)

Podcasts would also be a great way to highlight various meetings, programs, etc. within a library.

The Library Channel had some great podcasts; check it out!

Both podcasts and youtube are downloadable and portable -- both would be great for libraries; I would see myself using them both!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Week 8 - Which do I prefer, MySpace or Facebook?

Well, the choice was simple, Facebook!

In my opinion, MySpace was the more social of the two sites. It was for groups of friends to fool around and post photos. Facebook was not quite as juvenile. Also, more library-use" friendly.

Monday, March 10, 2008

To wiki or not to wiki -- that is the question

Wiki's are cool! They are an open place to put your thoughts, share your opinions, or show your expertise. However, not all experts know what they're talking about.

Be careful when looking for information and consulting a wiki -- verify that the information you found is correct with a reliable source.

Wiki's would be useful for planning purposes for a specific activity, e.g., Friends of the Library auction. Who's doing what? What else needs to be done? Did we forget ...?

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Week 6 - Delicious and Technorati

Another informative week ...

Del.icio.us was interesting! Another place to bookmark your favorite sites. The only use I could think of for us within libraries would be a place to sent others when wanting to share a collection of sources, probably on a temporary basis (e.g., Friends working on bylaws and wanting to see what others have come up with). Check out my sites at: http://del.icio.us/Lydiann

Technorati was just another place to organize your favorite blogsites. Pretty much the same as the good ole bookmark -- without having to log in. However, if I was away from my "primary" machine, I could appreciate Technorati. I can't think of too much a library could use this for except as a "temporary" collection of items for group work. Check out my faves at: http://www.technorati.com/faves/Lydiann

We also learned the importance of Tagging. Tagging is essential if you wish for others to find your site or for you to be able to find other sites that interest you.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Week 5 - Rollyo, LibraryThing, and GlassGiant

Week 5, and we're half-way done.

I wish I could celebrate with a dark chocolate candy bar -- but I've had the flu all week and don't think that would be a good idea!

I've played with Rollyo, and found out everything I wanted to know about the flu in one place. Would be an OK application in libraries for verifying information or if you check multiple locations for information during your routine work. See my search at: http://www.rollyo.com/search.html?q=Try+it+out...&sid=350931&x=10&y=12

I liked LibraryThing -- It's a great place to organize your books, music, videos, etc. so you or others can see what you have at a glance. Perhaps this is a great place to put "specialty" items like a special collection pulled for a special event at the library?


Lastly, I used GlassGiant to create my ideal candy bar -- dark chocolate! This would be a great way to make creative signage for a library.