Dark side of the web

I myself have managed to avoid phishing scams but I have seen others including members of the public affected by them. Malware in general has been a huge problem for us and councils IM&T has spent a lot of time, money and energy protecting councils network from these problems. As we have internet computers unfortunately the library appears to be where a lot of these problems originate and many new users do not understand what these people/groups are trying to do. I am very wary of any emails that say they are from any one I do not know or have not contacted. I also had a patron recently on a dating website that asked about why they would be asking for the details they were and I explained wht "phishing" was. He was shocked to hear that people will do this.

I have again really enjoyed this part of the program and have found it very useful and informative

More with google docs

I have stated before i like Zoho but on having a closer look at google docs I can see some very obvious strengths. It of course integrates well with other google applications and I did like the ability to check older drafts. It also seems to blend in well with other non google applications as well. For someone who used google, gmail, etc a lot I can see how good it is and also I think companies, groups would be better off using it as well as it has that google feel about it that everyone would recognise. So I do have a greater appreciation for google docs and will try to use it at work in the future. For my personal use I just like the look and feel of zoho and find it works better for me. I did a little scouting looking for comparisons on the internet and zoho gains a lot of positive reviews. Zoho seems preferred in business circles as it is marketed at that area and google docs more for personal needs. It seems google docs is also better at real time changes/editing than Zoho which is probably not surprising.
I also found this offering from a well known name - Adobe
It is very simple and of course integrates brilliantly with PDF documents and had a really nice look and feel to it. I also felt it was very easy to use and very easy to navigate (probably a bit easier than google docs or zoho). It was a bit slower due to it's realiance on flash but overall I was impressed

Mash ups revisited

Upon revisiting mash ups I was very impressed with the different ways people are using the sites and was interested to see a lot of these mash ups use similar data but each mash up looked very different.I was very impressed with the ones that had crime statistics and how safe people felt in suburbs. Firemash was another one that I really liked and showed how useful mash ups can be.

I decided to play it safe and create a mash up of the campbelltown libraries and was pleased with the ease and functionality that it had. I used Zeemaps and it was very easy to use and there were a lot of options enabling you to tweak your map.

Slideshows, screencasting, and digital storytelling

I found this topic very interesting. What can now be created and published on the web is astounding and creates endless possibilities. While exploring I saw how to use online catalogues, information about libraries, interesting presentations on activities, etc, etc. I am very interested in pursuing this and similar applications as I will be looking at training staff and library users in various areas in the future. Also being able to combine and share presentations, video, documents all online really helps in making information more accessible. For me this is what library 2.0 and 2.1 is all about a fun and easy way to share and keep track of information with friends, colleagues, etc, etc.I was impressed with slideshow (although there seems to be some technical issues with it working properly). I was also impressed with authorstream as well. I am a real zoho fan. I find it very easy to use and have always felt it's applications are superior to the google ones.

Nings

Again a useful way of combining lots of different elements together in the one place.Again very useful for libraries to use but also fun and interesting. Not only does it need to be practical and easy to use but it needs to have that extra little bit to get people interested in what is on there

Evaluation

It is interesting to find ways of tracking how web sites, blogs, etc are going. As others have said we all really want to connect with other users and if no one is then we peobably need a rethink. I found all the applications easy to use and can really see the benefits of being able to do this. At work we have used surveymonkey a few times and it is very helpful, and easy to use.

Delicious

I have used this quite extensively to coordinate a lot of my resources, websites and it is handy but I like the interactive part and looking at what others are looking at and the tage they use. I think it is the sharing aspect that appeals the most and is the cornerstone of library 2.0, 2.1, and beyond. I also like the fun element that is also built in and I think it is important not to forget that.

Twitter

I have had a twitter account at home but found that I was not looking at it frequently enough or really saw the benefits for me. Certainly I see why users would have it on their mobile phones, etc as it is meant to be looked at straight away and why people are using it so much. Unfortunately we cannot access twitter at work due to restrictions but we have started using yammer.com .
Our library manager started us off on it and we have been using it to keep in touch with each other concerning interesting technology, surveys, articles, websites, etc. This has been from my perspective an excellent way to see what others are looking at but also to comment and interact. For me at a branch it has been a good way to still feel connected to the central library and what is happening that day rather than waiting for it to reach us.

Starting library 2.1

I enjoyed going back and recreating the look of my blog. There does seem to be a lot more opitons in terms of adjusting the look and feel of the blog. I enjoyed looking at all the templates and choosing some new additions. I do not use blogs personally or professionally at the moment but have in the past and certainly our library does (we have a new childrens blog you should take a look at)

IGoogle

I have been a frequent user of iGoogle for over 12 months now and have found it invaluable for organising many of the RSS feeds (New books from Campbelltown library being one of them). I also couldn't do without my star wars quote of the day and various comics.

I had a look at the others and found them easy to use and quite helpful. The ability to quickly and easy post to various different places is helpful and seems to be the normal thing at the moment. I don't think you can go on any of the social network sites without seeing links to others as well. The consumer can only be a winner as it becomes easier and easier to use these sites although I have so many passwords now my head spin.