First, I was sad that Goodreads didn't win for books. I love Goodreads!
I tried Mango Languages. I love learning languages and plan to learn Japanese on my own since taking an actual course and working the schedule I have will probably never happen. I liked that you could see the text and the pronunciation and everything had a little key if you moused over it. A lot of people come to the library to learn languages so this would definitely be a useful tool. It would probably be most useful if we had a "language lab" or something where people could speak the answers aloud. But it would also be good as a useful weblink so people could access it from home.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Zoho
I wanted something like this a long time ago. This is helpful as a writer since you can access all your documents from any computer. I think a backup is also useful. This is also obviously good for collaborative works. I have attended one workshop where the presenters created a suite of Google docs for attendees to read after the discussion. This was useful.
I already use google docs so I won't use this Zoho account any more.
I already use google docs so I won't use this Zoho account any more.
PBCLS Wiki
I added my blog and mentioned a couple of my favorite books.
This is a good practice wiki but a real one would be much more organized and would have a specific purpose in mind.
My favorite wiki that is not wikipedia is Lostpedia. Even though the bloom is gone from the rose as far as I'm concerned. I used to refer to it all the time, however.
This is a good practice wiki but a real one would be much more organized and would have a specific purpose in mind.
My favorite wiki that is not wikipedia is Lostpedia. Even though the bloom is gone from the rose as far as I'm concerned. I used to refer to it all the time, however.
Wikis
The best part of wikis is the collaborative element and the ability to make changes on the fly.
I think libraries could use wikis behind the scenes to coordinate efforts. This would come in handy and require fewer meetings when planning large system-wide events such as the library's 35th anniversary celebration or a library grand opening or re-opening. It would be handy to keep track of the expansion projects as well.
I think libraries could use wikis behind the scenes to coordinate efforts. This would come in handy and require fewer meetings when planning large system-wide events such as the library's 35th anniversary celebration or a library grand opening or re-opening. It would be handy to keep track of the expansion projects as well.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Web 2.0 perspectives
I find it depressing and hilarious that the Library 2.0 wikipedia page has been marked as lacking sources. This actually fits the textbook definition of irony!
To me, Library 2.0 is more about perspective and communication than it is about technology. The technology is an important part of it but it should be a given at this point. You can learn about web 2.0 tools until the cows come home but until you're ready to actually implement them in your real day-to-day practices they don't mean a lot. We are all playing with these tools now but what are we going to do with them after this project is done? Will we still receive support from administration encouraging us to explore and use these ideas and tools or will it once more become "goofing off on the internet"? Will we be allowed to use creative ideas such as blogs, wikis and del.icio.us links to benefit our patrons or will our proposals be shot down because we are not trusted to be self-directed, and our patrons are not trusted to have so much unfettered input into library processes and practices? Only time will tell if this exercise was meant to be theoretical or practical.
To me, Library 2.0 is more about perspective and communication than it is about technology. The technology is an important part of it but it should be a given at this point. You can learn about web 2.0 tools until the cows come home but until you're ready to actually implement them in your real day-to-day practices they don't mean a lot. We are all playing with these tools now but what are we going to do with them after this project is done? Will we still receive support from administration encouraging us to explore and use these ideas and tools or will it once more become "goofing off on the internet"? Will we be allowed to use creative ideas such as blogs, wikis and del.icio.us links to benefit our patrons or will our proposals be shot down because we are not trusted to be self-directed, and our patrons are not trusted to have so much unfettered input into library processes and practices? Only time will tell if this exercise was meant to be theoretical or practical.
Technorati
Evidently the Mousing Around tutorial is very popular nationwide, not just with PBCLS patrons! Cool to see that one of us created such an obviously useful tool.
Web 2.0 tags--I like the little graph that shows you how many times web 2.0 has been mentioned over the last month. Looks like the buzz has died down recently, maybe because bloggers would rather write about upcoming vacations than about web 2.0?
Web 2.0 tags--I like the little graph that shows you how many times web 2.0 has been mentioned over the last month. Looks like the buzz has died down recently, maybe because bloggers would rather write about upcoming vacations than about web 2.0?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Del.ico.us
I have never used del.ico.us before but I have friends who use it religiously. I do love the portability aspect of this sort of thing, and tagging is definitely a good way to remember stuff for later. Imho the internet is already full of time-wasters and creating/using a del.ico.us account would just add to my tendencies to waste time instead of writing or doing homework.
This site is a great way for librarians to create a master list of good websites to recommend to patrons. Our old "useful weblinks" page is pretty static and many old links are no longer valid. A del.ico.us page could be updated easily by multiple people on an ongoing basis.
This site is a great way for librarians to create a master list of good websites to recommend to patrons. Our old "useful weblinks" page is pretty static and many old links are no longer valid. A del.ico.us page could be updated easily by multiple people on an ongoing basis.
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