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.

Event management

I tried all of those listed and found them all to be easy to use and I can see how they would be useful in library land. I already know of a systems librarian using a google calendar to roster staff to come and do their library 2.0. They have been able to keep track of who is coming and when is popular whilst not having to send and receive emails and then add manually to a spreadsheet or work calendar. It's also easier for those who must attend as they can see what the best days are without trying to contact theIT/systems librarian which is always tricky)
The event management sites were also interesting to see how you can present and request events which would help when organising events
Doodle was also easy to use and allows a far more time efficient way of trying to organise people over long distances. A useful tool not only for library branches in the system but also wider library groups

RSS feeds

I am already familiar with RSS feeds and have used them to keep up to date with latest news, sport, etc. I do not have a work one but check my personal ones every now and then although I tend to clear a lot as they can build up very quickly. They are very handy as you can get all the current information on topics you want straight to your google reader. Keeping up is hard but I don't have too many so it's easier to keep up.

I like the idea of tabbloid, feedrinse, reminderfeed as they all help in organising and gathering only the information you want. It also makes it easier to share which is always important with these things

Blog

Week 11 Online applications

 

I thought I would use this program to write and publish for the blog and after testing it I cannot believe how easy it was to write and then publish straight to my blog. I must admit I have seen a lot of the things we have covered on this course and I knew these existed but to see how easy it is to use and link in with everything else is eye opening. A really good way of keeping files open for access whereever you are as well as being able to share them with others. I also like zoho better than google as it seemed a easier to use

 

Overall very impressed.

 

 

Week 11 Online applications and tools

I used Zoho to publish another entry and was very impressed with it. Very easy to use and follow and it allows you to save without needing usb's or shared G drives (and you can restrict who uses it as well). I really was impressed and will use it for my own documents but also for those that a few people need to work on. It saves all those countless emails and you can get things done much faster

Week 12 Wrap up

Social networking. I do not use it but see a lot of staff and especially library users who do (Bebo is the favourite of many of our users). I can see that libraries are already using it as a marketing tool and also to keep people updated on what is happening. It really is a good way to bring all the different library 2.0 applications together so that you can get a real interactive feel. I think what people like is that they have some control and input into this site that they do not have on a website.

Overall all I have really enjoyed doing this and although it did take a very long time to do there have been technical difficulties along the way which made it hard to complete. This course has enabled some of these It type issues to be sorted out which has helped staff and public alike. It has opened my eyes to many things and as someone who gets asked a lot of computer and IT questions it was interesting to be on the other side thinking why can they get it to work but I can't

I also promise library 2.1 will not take as long to complete

week 9 Podcasts and audio

Podcasting is another tool that libraries have already embraced and seem to be developing. I see suggestions from others on using them to distribute author talks, storytimes, training, book club meetings, etc. I can see that they allow staff and the public a chance to experience events/training at the library when they may not be able to make it into the library because of various reasons.

I know our library has Royal Blind Society volunteers who read the local paper onto cassette, perhaps in the future this could be a podcast from the library website for everyone to enjoy. Also perhaps library meetings could be podcasted for remote locations, or sick staff rather than having to read the minutes.

IT Restrictions could be a problem though as I was unable to access this at work due to recent downloading restrictions because of a virus attack on council.

week 8 Answer boards and social searching

This is another application that I have often looked at and used but never thought of in a library environment and it was an eye opener.

I know many libraries have ask a librarian spots on their websites that patrons can email questions and I see this as another way of doing that but with the added bonus of input from the public as well. This could be in the form of helping with the question but also in the feedback. How often have we helped someone and thought I wonder how they went or did those books really help and could I have done better. Answer boards enable you to get that feedback and help you improve your skillset.

I can also see answer boards helping library staff gain some experience and improve their skills. A library could use answer boards to hone and improve the skills and knowledge of their staff (Preparation for those tricky questions always sent to the reference staff as well as practice at getting to the information faster which another blogger mentioned in their comments) Something to think about

Also I had fun with answering the questions and I'm curious how my answers will be received.

Week 10 Mashups

I must admit it took me a while to get my head around mashups. It took quite a lot of searching all the different websites to get a feel for how it would be useful in a library environment. I could see how the maps/images etc worked but stuggled with how it could be used

Week 7 Tagging

I found this very interesting. I had very briefly looked at most of these sites but on actually exploring them I found a lot of things I did not know and saw how useful they could be. An excellent way of keeping all your blogs/bookmarks centrally so you can access them anywhere. Also to be able to have videos etc there as well was excellent. And of course being able to see what other have done is also very handy. I had used library thing before but really was surprised at how much more it can be used for.

My library thing page is here and it was a fun exercise to add books (and very easy). Took me a while to add it in but I decided to go with it on the sidebar with a search. Good fun and interesting to see what others thought about the books on the booklist. Also very interesting and useful to be able to link all these things back to your blog. Those libraries with book clubs could find this very handy.

Week 6 videos online

On to week 6 and videos online. I was aware of youtube and had seen many instances of videos being embedded in blogs, websites, etc. Again though I was surprised by the different applications and roles that video plays and could play in the library environment.



Being able to follow the progress of a new library building (some libraries use blogs and photographs) but this opens this up to a whole new level. Also documenting author visits and events in the library and being able to share it with others who could not be there or as a promotional tool. Also being able to show patrons (or new staff) an introductory video to the library would also be very beneficial. One example of campbelltown libraries use of video and youtube is below




Again I guess the possibilities are endless and we should be aware of these things when we are looking at any events, etc in the library where we could use these things