Mashups and API

Mashups are the first topic in this course that I had not previously explored. Hubmed looks fascinating and I will explore it in more depth. Most of what I am viewing in the mashup awards don't look very interesting to me. The concept of combining different data is cool but sites like Twitter Browser look like a waste of time. I played around with Pageflakes. It looks interesting, however I already use Google's customized home page. I found the web 2.0 toolbar kind of interesting. I might use this.

Rollyo looks like a site I will use. I loved creating a list of preferred URL's to search simultaneously. I will be using this feature for sure. What a time saver! When searching for privacy in this, articles like the eproblem that posted library patron information on the web are very scary. Most of these web 2.0 technologies bother me as they create comfortable situations for people to share personal information. If the world was 100% honest, these sites would be wonderful. I always am concerned about data mining and where some of this data ends up.

This was a wonderful course and I'd like to thank the MLA for providing it. I learned a lot and will follow up with more readling. I hope that the website stays up for at least a year. I'd like to go back and revisit some of the optional readings at a later date.

Podcasting and Online Hosted Video

I have been a user of iTunes as I have an iPod. I have subscribed to many radio programs. I tried subscribing to a few short library podcasts but I didn't enjoy listening to them. I am a visual learner and I don't learn as well from audio recordings. I will probably not use podcasting technology in my library but I can see the benefits.

I have been a YouTube user for personal use for a few months. My children convinced me that I was missing a lot. I have even found myself on YouTube. It means that Big Brother is always watching.

From a profesional view, there is some really good information on YouTube. I found the Cochrane Collaboration video. It was informative. I will add this link to my help files on my intranet website. Our CEO has just recommended the clip - Shift Happens and I have helped many users find this. I will explores this medium further. I see that some hospitals even promote themselves on YouTube.

Online Photo Sharing

This was another challenge for me. The technology was not the challenge, however, sharing photos with the world violates my sense of privacy. I have found pictures of myself on Facebook AND I cringe each time. I don't like that others can post these without my permission.

I opened a Flickr account and uploaded a single picture. It is of no significance so I felt comfortable doing it. I could not transfer this picture to Facebook. I did succeed in copying the same picture to Facebook.

I guess that I could use this process in my library in working and storing archival pictures. However, the privacy issue still bothers me so I won't do this. For buildings and scenery, it might be fun. I'm not eager to post pictures of real people.

I am experimenting with Picassa as a means of sharing family pictures. I would only share old pictures where the players are not alive anymore. The identification of the pictures would not be posted, only shared by email to specific individuals. I've purchased a scanner and will try this whnever I find the time.

Web Office Tools

I love this week's assignment. I have been using these tools and think they are wonderful. Some of the attraction has been the ability to share files with others without using attachmments. Some of my presentation files are too large to email. This tool has been a useful resource.

At a conference, I heard the speaker say that nowadays, when you purchase a computer, you do not need software other than a web browser. Everything is doable on the web. The speaker was alluding to the fact that you can survive without Microsoft Office now. There are workarounds everywhere. Having said that, I just tried the Microsoft Live Office site. I will continue to play with this as my pps will not lose any formatting by sharing them this way. This is an invaluable tool.

Social Bookmarking

I have tried del.icio.us before and had forgotten how useful it can be. I think it has great potential in being a personal organizing tool, especially when there is a lot of movement between different computers. This would allow everything to be available on any computer. The social aspect of sharing information and links is huge. It actually scares me as I could live on my computer using all of the features and tools I know. Finding people with similar thoughts is a fascinating way to spend time and to learn.

I find that most of these social sites are very busy in appearance. Perhaps I show my age when I say that I prefer the simplicity of the Google Home Page. I don't absorb information well when pages are 'busy'.

After reading other members' comments, I plan to check out www.flock.com as I know my biggest drawback is that there are too many sites to visit and check. I will forget some.

I plan to explore CiteULike for work use. It may only be scientific but it looks like it has more potential for a professional library.

Social Networking Tools

Social networking tools can be used by MLA to connect interested members to each other. MLA has created several groups that can share information and events online. I have been working with Facebook for several months and although I can navigate it, I don't particularly have any interest in it. Facebook and MySpace have been blocked at work so these sites will never become useful work related sites. Some of the pictures and comments in these sites make me uncomfortable. I fear that the postings and pictures may come back to haunt people years from now. Personally, I was very uncomfortable in creating these accounts. I didn't use my real name. This meant adding friends was odd. A good friend of mine denied me access as she didn't know who I was by my code name. We did connect and become'friends'. I think that I am too private a person to enjoy these sites.

Blogs and Wikis

What is a blog and what is a wiki? hmm. A blog is a personal sharing of information. One person can generate ideas and others can contribute comments on the orginal idea. A blog is one person communication to an outside world. A wiki is a gathering place of information. Many can contribute to a wiki in real time (the initial set-up of the wiki determines how open it is). A wiki is true sharing of information from many to many. Wikis can share live documents and can document how processes are done. They are handy for reference questions and commitee work. Wikis capture community knowledge.
Examples
MLA Web 2.0101 Blog
MLA Web 2.0 101 Wiki

RSS Feeds in my library

I am experimenting with RSS feeds in my library. I can imagine having web pages that import data via RSS feeds. In this way, the web pages will always be updated. The disappointment I have is that many websites, especially government or healthcare websites, do not offer feeds. It will be easy to capture journal content RSS feeds. EBSCO and ProQuest have this available now as well as most journal publishers. I currently have some of my feeds dumping into my email using 'Send Me RSS'. This allows everything to be in one spot - I don't have to check a reader, just my email.

I am trying to figure out the easiest way for patrons to use RSS feeds. We currently use IE 6.0 at work so a separate reader is needed. This is beyond the scope of the majority of my users. I am still hoping to create pages that incorporate feeds so that my users don't have to!

Learning Librarian

This is a new attempt to try blogging. I used Word press before and am now trying Blogger.