Feedback

I think there are a few technologies that we have covered in the 23 Things program which may improve the service we provide to our patrons. Things such as feeds, podcasts, and YouTube could all be utilised to communicate with students and teachers and could add another element to how we conduct our training.

I did enjoy the 23 Things program and there were a number of things which I have discovered along the way.

I have tried blogging a number of times before and I just seem to lose interest and forget to update them. I suspect that this blog will go the same way.

Messaging

These are handy tools to use if you need to pop off a brief message to somebody. Especially in the current climate where nobody seems to answer landlines anymore. I haven't really got a preference of which communication tool is better than the other, they all seem to be fairly similar. I have noticed on my travels around the library that Meebo seems to be popular with the students.

Podcasts

There's a huge range of podcasts out there and you would be hard pressed not to find something of interest to listen to.

Somebody may have already pointed this out in one of the blogs, but Murdoch University in W.A. have a Library Tour Podcast. Check it out here. Library Tour

YouTube

I think this is a site that has some merit and could be used in a number of ways to communicate and assist our patrons.

The video below is a very funny Health and Safety video from Germany. No subtitles I'm afraid but you'll get the general idea. Probably not for the squeamish.

Wikis

I had a huge collection of pets when I was young. Snakes, lizards, birds, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets were all pets at one stage or another.

Now all I have left is Horace.


I found the edit facility in the wiki really clumsy and awkward to use.

Library 2.0

I think the strength of the Library 2.0 movement is the increased emphasis on encouraging patrons to provide feedback and participating in their libraries. Their are valuable lessons to be learnt by listening to patrons and not just providing what we think they may want.

However having said that I do wonder at the necessity of some of these new technologies. Most appear to be geared towards social interaction rather than having any academic value and I am a bit puzzled as to how we (or the patron) would get any benefit from these tools.

I am certainly not against using all of the elements of Web 2.0 in a library environment. I can see something like YouTube being used to provide searching tutorials for instance. I guess it's the same with any new technologies that are developed, we need to ascertain how best to put it in use and not simply embrace it because it is there.

Delicious

I don't get social bookmarking at all. It just seems a very haphazard way to search for information and more an indication of what is popular on the Internet. Popularity doesn't necessarily make the site worthwhile. In no way does popularity equate to quality, just look at the success of reality TV.

iGoogle

I quite like iGoogle. I like the idea of having a customised home page that gives you little snippets of information that your interested in, such as news headlines, cricket scores, whether, new book releases and the like. Great fun!

Google Book and Google Scholar

I have used Google Book Search to preview particular items in the past and have found it handy for this purpose. Apparently Google have scanned about 7 million books of which 1 million are in the public domain and another million are in full preview mode because of agreements reached with publishers. They have just reached a settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers which should see must books in full preview mode. (The article).

I find Google Scholar to be very unappealing. I would much rather use databases and electronic journals. It also makes me think of a REM lyric from "King Of Birds" "...standing on the shoulders of giants / leaves me cold."

Google Docs

These are great free tools that enable people to share information/data. Also good to use if you haven't got access to Microsoft Office or do not wish to purchase it.

Another similar product is ZOHO, which has an extensive range of business applications as well.

At the end of the day I don't think Microsoft need to feel to threatened.

Google Maps

I like Google Maps, especially the 'Get Directions' facility. I have used this feature a number of times and it has been a great help.

Social Networking

I first looked at MySpace about 2 years ago primarily because a lot of bands had MySpace URL's. I found that the site was incredibly convoluted and nearly impossible to navigate. I've recently had another look to see if there have been any significant changes - guess what? I still don't like it.

I have just recently done a bit of reading in relation to Facebook. Whilst I recoginise that these sites are not going to go away anytime soon, and I can even see the value of Academic Institutions, Businesses and Social Groups using Facebook for advertising, promotional and general communication with their client base, I don't see any value in me having a facebook account. I value my privacy and while they appear to be relatively secure and you have sites such as the Australian Communication and Media Authority detailing how to stay safe online, the ultimate way to stay safe is don't set up an account.

So with that in mind I will not be setting up a Facebook account. I thought of setting up a false account but that is an abuse of Facebook's terms of use so I'm uncomfortable doing that. So any social networking I will be doing will be done face to face.

Google Reader

Can't say I'm a huge fan of google reader. I tried it out for a couple of days but it just doesn't do it for me. Being a Firefox user I much prefer Sage Reader. I've been using this one for a while now and I just prefer the aesthetics of it. Nice clean lines and an orderly appearance.

Library Thing

I quite like LibraryThing. It's a fun site for people who enjoy reading and it can lead you on to numerous other books that you may otherwise not have come across.

The only problem I have is that there is not enough time in the day to do all the reading I would like.

Image Generators

Here is the most thumbed book on my bookshelf.
It is essential to me and I don't know where I'd be without it.

Flickr

There are some amazing images on Flickr and I could see how you could get lost in this site for days, weeks or even months, emerging at the end of it very bleary-eyed.

The most amazing thing to me was that there were 4,665 images uploaded in the last minute. I have no idea if this is an average upload, but if it is just think about this. If 4,665 images are uploaded every minute for a year you end up with 2,451,924,000 images being uploaded in one year.

That's one large photo album.

The first post

Last year in conjunction with a Liberal Arts teacher I set up a blog entitled From Footscray to the Ganges. This blog was for Tradition and Modernity students to share their ideas and promote on-line discussion about their course.

It wasn't as successful as we had anticipated and we were not really sure why. Was it because the students were uncomfortable with posting something the whole world could see? Or did they have the attitude of 'why post my good ideas and share them on a blog when I could save them for my end of year essay'? Or were most students a little bit intimidated by another student?

It was probably a combination of all three.

My role in this endeavour included posting links to that weeks reading e.g, assisting students setting up their google accounts and helping the teacher invite students to make postings onto the blog, etc.

Well this year we decided to try again. This years blog is titled Curry up and don't be late. It's only been going for a couple of weeks, thus there are not too many postings as yet.

I would be interested in any thoughts or comments you may have.