Podcasts

I'm glad that I had the opportunity to look at podcasts more closely with Learning 2.0. I knew about podcasts in theory, but I didn't realize how easy it is to find them and listen to them. I added the NPR Movies podcast to my blogger account. I'm not usually in the car (where I listen to NPR) when they broadcast that segment and now I can pick when I listen to it. Hopefully seeing it on my blogger list will remind me to listen to it, too! To find podcasts I looked at Podcastalley and Yahoo Podcasts and Podcastalley was my favorite. The search function worked well and I liked the layout better than the others I tried.

YouTube

I really enjoyed playing around with YouTube. I think it's fantastic that it's so random...To solve an argument about the existence of "fainting goats" we turned to YouTube, of course! The video I chose to blog about is "No Cookies in the Library". A classic skit from Sesame Street. I just love that something so obscure is just out there to be reminisced over. As a librarian, I was intrigued when this came up in my "library" search. Brought me back to my childhood. I think that without knowing too much about YouTube I assumed that it was mostly people's personal movies and homemade music videoes, etc. So, I was a little more than surprised to see the range of videos out there--a little bit of everything. As far as libraries are concerned, I think that it would be interesting to imbed tours of the library in the website and why not involve teens in library activities by asking them to make movies about using the library or what they're finding for fun or school at the library. The way that different videos are connected through the "Related Videos" section would be a useful feature for library websites. Also, people are always interested in what's popular and being checked out, so why not add a section to the website that lists what has been checked out in the last hour (like YouTube's "Videos being watched right now..."). Here is the Sesame Street skit: Enjoy!

Web 2.0 Awards

I went to the short list for the 2007 Web 2.0 Awards and checked out the winner in the City Guides & Reviews category. The winner is a site called Yelp--the name intrigued me. I tried it out for Denver and I was pleasantly surprised by all of the options. You can search by categories like restaurant, nightlife, and local flavor or do a search for your keyword. I looked up an individual restaurant I was curious about and then browsed the categories. Once you're in a section there are suggestions for related categories and a cool map with the reviewed places/things marked (you can search from a few blocks from the center up to a couple of miles for other sites of interest). What a handy thing to access if you're going on a vacation or trip in the U.S.! I did notice that you can do a library search and find reviews of library systems and branches in the Denver area. There isn't a ton of coverage, but that could be changed...

Zoho Writer and Online Productivity

I love the idea of online applications. Personally and professionally I see uses for them. An example would be that when Matt and I were putting together our wedding guest list we used an online spreadsheet so that we could access it online and it wouldn't have to be saved in different versions on different computers. At the library, I think that instead of trying to keep up with the latest versions of software products we could offer patrons access to these resources instead. The icons are handy and I haven't found many things that I'd be missing by moving to something like this. Looking at the templates, it occurred to me that it might be possible to set up meeting agendas online.

The above was a document I created in Zoho Writer and then published to my blog. Unfortunately, it didn't keep all of my formatting. Which doesn't actually surprise me since the blog entries offer fewer format options. A very cool resource, though, and a handy feature!

My one issue with Zoho Writer has been some lag time in performing functions. It seems like the program gets stuck frequently when I try to switch between documents or make changes...

PBWiki

I'm so glad that Veronica set up the PBWiki for us to play around with. I think my biggest problem with these exercises is that I don't really feel comfortable leaving a footprint online. I know many people (as I've seen going through the 23 things) are fine with getting their thoughts and opinions out there, but I want this to be learning experience for me--without the pressure. I like the idea of these communal areas that we, as a unit, can use to create content that is useful and/or fun for us. I did some playing around in the sandbox and left my mark on a few things!

Wikis

In my opinion, Wikis are a really useful tool and I think that the libraries are and will use them for a variety of purposes. A couple things that came to mind while I was browsing around. Using wikis for book reviews is a great idea--how timely and what a good way to involve the public in a library sponsored forum. Having a wiki like Library Success: a best practices wiki reinforces the idea that as a profession we enjoy collaboration and posting on the kinds of topics contained in the wiki shows our dedication to supporting each other in our work. I really liked the SJCPL Subject Guides wiki for it's timely nature and the value in having patrons and librarians alike responsible for keeping the material updated and fresh. After attending library conferences, I could see using wikis for many things--making location information available, keeping information on sessions up to date, and providing a forum for people to add information on the fly without having to update a static website seems like a great way to keep up with these dynamic situations.

Library 2.0

I read the posts on the OCLC newsletter and the Wikipedia article on Library 2.0 and I thought all of the perspectives were good in some respects. The library world certainly includes people with all kinds of backgrounds and experiences, so it doesn't surprise me that there are so many ideas floating around in regards to how libraries should implement Web 2.0 theories and technologies. I think some of the most important things I drew from reading these articles was the idea that change is constant. We've all witnessed how things seem to be speeding up and there isn't the lull in between technological changes anymore. Libraries need to be proactive and find what fits for their users--technology shouldn't be implemented for technology's sake. Dr. Wendy Schultz made some interesting predictions about the next steps in the future of libraries--3.0 and 4.0 will seem just as radical as 2.0. I can't wait to see Library 4.0 when all of these concepts-virtual, in-person, archives, and gathering space-converge!