Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Method 7- Tagging, folksonomies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

I had an account with Del.icio.us for a while now and it is very convenient to have my favorite websites saved and then be able to retrieve them from anywhere.  Reading the articles and watching the tutorials showed me more of the possibilities available with this site that I had not utilized before.   I tried out the features to search for new bookmarks through tags and view the wealth of great sites that others have discovered.  I found some new gems that will be useful in my work and personal enjoyment I thought the way the site organizes the saved bookmarks by a tag to keep all the bookmarks with similar categories together a plus.  In addition, I did look through the other library's listing and found them helpful  My library has not created a Del.icio.us account yet which I will recommend that we do.  I agree with the article- there is great potential to provide online resources in a way better for patrons because the listings are offered with user friendly tags not just the ambiguous Dewey decimal labels.  This tool is easy to use and fun to discover all the "delicious" (I just had to add this) offerings.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Method 6 - You too can Youtube

I had not gone actively searching at the site until this exercise, however this is not, of course, the first time I have seen a Youtube video.  I have had friends and family asked me "hey, have you seen this…?" and sent me a link to some funny video.  There is so much to watch and I found variety of videos from independent music, commercials, and classical television.  I became pretty captivated with Youtube.  I spent several hours just going through watching one video that lead to another video that lead to another.  Just one of the purely frivolous videos that are available is this clip from classic Sesame Street.  I grew up watch this show and it was fun to revisit my childhood.  I am still a big fan.  Enjoy!





Beside the just entertaining silliness, there are some extremely useful and educational recording.  For example, I discovered a video on how to deal with difficult patrons.  Furthermore, I do think that this is great way for libraries to promote themselves and their services in a popular and cutting edge format.  Even with Youtube potential to offer an innovative mode of communicating the library's mission to possible non-library users, I highly recommend using some commonsense.  Anybody can post on this site and some things are just best not seen.  I will navigate this site carefully to avoid viewings I feel are inappropriate.  If utilized with caution, Youtube is worthwhile.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Method 5- To Photo Share or Not to Photo Share


Before this exercise, I used Fliker a few times just for work purposes.  My library recently created an account to share great event moments as one of the ways to have an online present.  We do have a photo sharing policy- all of the photos presented online capture a group setting or images with only one or two people we obtain written consent from the individuals.  Our patrons really enjoy viewing the pictures and it brings a sense of community. 

I would use Fliker to share photos with my family and close friends. This application's ability to easily upload photos, organize them into sets, and add descriptions is extremely valuable.  I also like that it provides a convenient place to keep these precious memories and help me remember the story behind the pictures.  Although, I think Fliker offers a wonderful service I have some reservation.  I am little reluctant to share my family photos to the world.  I feel allowing my personal pictures to be available to anyone may be giving out too much information.   

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Method 4- Making Life " really simple" with RSS


Well it is really simple to use the Google reader that even before this exercise I had already set it up.  It was one of the features I utilized when I created my Gmail account to work on this program.  At the initial set-up, I added six of my favorite author and librarian blogs to my reader.  These sites where the ones I would visit quite often (one site at a time.)  Bringing them all into one reader is very useful and time saving.  I enjoy these blogs because they are funny and insightful.  Shannon Hale's http://oinks.squeetus.com/ site is one of my favorites, she is a stitch.  It is so fun to read about her writing projects but also the news about her husband and her new babies.   Another fun blog that I enjoy reading is from the librarian Abby Johnson (http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/) This compelling and very informative site gives really great book recommendations and advice for librarian.
Then for this exercise, I searched through the recommended sites for some new web pages to add to the reader.  I discovered an amusing travel blog (www.everywhereist.com) and the scholarly Harvard Business Review (www.HBR.org.)
Now with this reader, I will stay current, entertained, and informed with each of my selected sites. 

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Method 3- Cloud Computing

I am not one to jump into a new technology quickly and I was not familiar with the term cloud computer before this exercise.  The I realized that I had already been "in the clouds" unknowing by using the services of Flickr.   Like Flickr, Googledocs and Zopper were very easy to navigate.  Beside the easy, Googledocs is practical tool. I already utilized it to work on a project both at home and work.  How exciting to be able to view and edit your work anywhere.  Also, there have been several cases where our library patrons needed a way to save their work and he/she do not have a disk or jump drive.  In these instances, Zopper or Googledocs would be very beneficial to recommend.  Even though the potential value is promising, I agree with Jenny Levine's points about privacy and security concerns.  I think that I will give cautious consideration before I will transfer everything into the cyber stratosphere. 

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Mathod 1 & 2 What is Web 2.0???

I heard the term “Web 2.0” about a year or so ago when it was being discussed by several of my library’s Web team members.  It was amazing what you could do on the web, but I felt a little intimidated. My fellow librarians, smart cutting- edge people, were well versed in various Web 2.0 concepts – such as creating their own Facebook pages and receiving RSS feeds. However, I do not feel I am anywhere close to being technology savvy; I still prefer using books to find information as opposed to the Internet.

After reading Stephen Abram’s article, “Social Libraries: The Librarian 2.0 Phenomenon”, I know I want to become a “Librarian 2.0.”    From now on, I will strive to not only take information away from the Internet, but also add my own data to the virtual collective by contributing to blogs and Twitter. I want to stay current and relevant to our patrons (customers) and go out to where they are instead of waiting for them to come to the library.  I want to step up.  Of course, I still need to learn more about the tools that are necessary for me to become Web 2.0 savvy, but I hope by going through this class it will put me on the right track.