Hi all,
Facebook is another interesting Web 2.0 application. It is also very popular. It is useful for social computing. One can meet people who share similar interests, join groups, and share information about oneself. It is very easy to use. One of the articles we were given to read about the use of Facebook for libraries (which can be read at http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/node/360) brings up a good point, that it would be useful if organizations such as libraries could register and post things about the library. Currently, however, only individual registrations are permitted, and not institutional. This limits its work-related application for libraries to networking with other librarians to discus best practices and other library issues of the day. All in all, it is still an interesting application.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Thing # 22 - Overdrive
Hi all,
This looks like an interesting resource. People can borrow e-books and they are automatically returned after the loan period. People can even burn the books to CD so that they can have them in a portable format. The book will simply be inaccessible at the end of the loan period. There are options for audio books or printed e-books. Generally, the books tend to be popular titles, fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction items are primarily general self-help or business/legal self-help popular titles, including language instruction. There are also children's titles. Searches for several common medical topics such as diabetes and arthritis, however did not yield any results, but there are some items under diet and under cancer. So, this is not going to substitute for a complete, well balanced library collection, but it can be a convenient way to borrow books for any library's e-customer on the go.
This looks like an interesting resource. People can borrow e-books and they are automatically returned after the loan period. People can even burn the books to CD so that they can have them in a portable format. The book will simply be inaccessible at the end of the loan period. There are options for audio books or printed e-books. Generally, the books tend to be popular titles, fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction items are primarily general self-help or business/legal self-help popular titles, including language instruction. There are also children's titles. Searches for several common medical topics such as diabetes and arthritis, however did not yield any results, but there are some items under diet and under cancer. So, this is not going to substitute for a complete, well balanced library collection, but it can be a convenient way to borrow books for any library's e-customer on the go.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Thing # 21 -- Podcasts and tools for finding them
Hi all,
In this exercise we looked at podcasts. There are several directories for finding them, and we looked at three. They are useful tools and it is easy to find podcasts by subject. I think that the educational podcasts can be very useful. There are some that are for learning languages that people can find very useful. I added an RSS feed to my Bloglines as the exercise indicates, and this is useful if you are following a particular subject or a particular show. I think that this can have some use in librarianship as an alternate resource to show customers, such as the podcasts for learning languages I mentioned earlier.
In this exercise we looked at podcasts. There are several directories for finding them, and we looked at three. They are useful tools and it is easy to find podcasts by subject. I think that the educational podcasts can be very useful. There are some that are for learning languages that people can find very useful. I added an RSS feed to my Bloglines as the exercise indicates, and this is useful if you are following a particular subject or a particular show. I think that this can have some use in librarianship as an alternate resource to show customers, such as the podcasts for learning languages I mentioned earlier.
Thing # 20 --YouTube
Hi all,
YouTube is another useful Internet based application that libraries can make use of. The premise is simple. It is one of several hosting site where anyone with a camera can upload content. These sites enable the ultimate in audiovisual self-expression done just for the sake of opening up to the world and saying "here I am" and "look what I can create." This has some interesting potential for libraries, because it is a great way to promote events. Broward County Main Library has a few YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVKd_36cFrg, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9zMBTbSKvk&feature=related, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1yILzzE56U&feature=related, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3XkmzrIPX8.
This is a great way to advertise for several reasons. Traditional advertising generally has an element of luck based on the fact that people are not setting out to seek the ads for their own sake. With TV or radio advertising, people may see the ad if they like to watch a particular show, provided they do not hit the mute button during the ads or go to the kitchen to get a snack. People are not seeking out these ads, but rather encounter them if they are on when they seek out a particular show. Therefore, putting it in very basic terms, the likelyhood that people will see the adds depends on the viewership of a show. The higher the viewership of a show, the likelier that ads shown during that show will be seen by a higher proportion of the audience. One might call this passive advertising in the sense that the audience's primary intention is to watch the program, not the ads, and the ads are just "hitching a ride" so to speak.
With the video hosting sites, your audience comes to you without the need for something else (such as a program) to attract their attention and bring them in. One can call this active advertising rather than passive advertising since the person goes to the website to seek out the various videos. There's still an element of luck in that if people don't know you have a video there they may miss it, but then one can find ways to locally advertise that the videos are there. Also, because this, like many other Web 2.0 tools, has a social component, people will often find a video when looking at videos others like. So, if one gets really good at producing short and highly attractive and creative videos, their videos may get a reputation in the online community as a "good view," which is a paraphrase of the typical library phrase a "good read," and build up a following of people looking forward to see "what will they come up with next." With that kind of popularity, the chances of people joining in the popularity bandwagon is high, and then they will also be looking forward to the library ad and will seek it out. They may even link to it or embed it in their own website or blog, thereby disseminating it even further. It is a great way for libraries to get the word out. In a sense, these videos are a natural extension of the whole reality show phenomenon. It is a grass-roots series of short reality shows which has found in the Internet and the video hosting sites an effective user-based medium for dissemination which offers something for everyone.
Following is a YouTube video on the Moon Rock event at the Broward County Main Library on October 23, 2007.
YouTube is another useful Internet based application that libraries can make use of. The premise is simple. It is one of several hosting site where anyone with a camera can upload content. These sites enable the ultimate in audiovisual self-expression done just for the sake of opening up to the world and saying "here I am" and "look what I can create." This has some interesting potential for libraries, because it is a great way to promote events. Broward County Main Library has a few YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVKd_36cFrg, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9zMBTbSKvk&feature=related, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1yILzzE56U&feature=related, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3XkmzrIPX8.
This is a great way to advertise for several reasons. Traditional advertising generally has an element of luck based on the fact that people are not setting out to seek the ads for their own sake. With TV or radio advertising, people may see the ad if they like to watch a particular show, provided they do not hit the mute button during the ads or go to the kitchen to get a snack. People are not seeking out these ads, but rather encounter them if they are on when they seek out a particular show. Therefore, putting it in very basic terms, the likelyhood that people will see the adds depends on the viewership of a show. The higher the viewership of a show, the likelier that ads shown during that show will be seen by a higher proportion of the audience. One might call this passive advertising in the sense that the audience's primary intention is to watch the program, not the ads, and the ads are just "hitching a ride" so to speak.
With the video hosting sites, your audience comes to you without the need for something else (such as a program) to attract their attention and bring them in. One can call this active advertising rather than passive advertising since the person goes to the website to seek out the various videos. There's still an element of luck in that if people don't know you have a video there they may miss it, but then one can find ways to locally advertise that the videos are there. Also, because this, like many other Web 2.0 tools, has a social component, people will often find a video when looking at videos others like. So, if one gets really good at producing short and highly attractive and creative videos, their videos may get a reputation in the online community as a "good view," which is a paraphrase of the typical library phrase a "good read," and build up a following of people looking forward to see "what will they come up with next." With that kind of popularity, the chances of people joining in the popularity bandwagon is high, and then they will also be looking forward to the library ad and will seek it out. They may even link to it or embed it in their own website or blog, thereby disseminating it even further. It is a great way for libraries to get the word out. In a sense, these videos are a natural extension of the whole reality show phenomenon. It is a grass-roots series of short reality shows which has found in the Internet and the video hosting sites an effective user-based medium for dissemination which offers something for everyone.
Following is a YouTube video on the Moon Rock event at the Broward County Main Library on October 23, 2007.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thing # 19 - Discovering Web 2.0 tools
Hi all,
To a certain extent we have been using a variety of Web 2.0 tools throughout most of the exercises with the 23 Things. This Thing just shows us that what we've been looking at is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are many, many tools available for a variety of different purposes. And there are tools that list the tools, compare them, and rate them. For instance, one can visit http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0 and explore Web 2.0 tools for a variety of topics. They rate the tools on usability, usefulness, social aspects, interface & design, and content quality. These sites can be useful not just for the ratings, but also if you are not aware of the availability of tools in a particular topic of interest. Just choose the topic, and find a list of tools ready and waiting to be tried. Try a few, and see what you like. With everything that's out there, it's amazing that anyone these days finds time to do anything off the computer :)
To a certain extent we have been using a variety of Web 2.0 tools throughout most of the exercises with the 23 Things. This Thing just shows us that what we've been looking at is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are many, many tools available for a variety of different purposes. And there are tools that list the tools, compare them, and rate them. For instance, one can visit http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0 and explore Web 2.0 tools for a variety of topics. They rate the tools on usability, usefulness, social aspects, interface & design, and content quality. These sites can be useful not just for the ratings, but also if you are not aware of the availability of tools in a particular topic of interest. Just choose the topic, and find a list of tools ready and waiting to be tried. Try a few, and see what you like. With everything that's out there, it's amazing that anyone these days finds time to do anything off the computer :)
TLC 2-0 document from template
Hi all,
First, many thanks to the person who wrote in the comment on my previous post. I found the Remote icon in Zoho Show, so this can be used for remote audiences in doing a webinar as the commenter indicated. This is a very useful tool indeed. Librarians (and others) can easily share knowledge on specialized subjects with other librarians and other interested people. I see this as a way to improve library outreach and also distance education.
Also, this is a document I created using Zoho Writer using one of the templates.
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Thursday, December 27, 2007
Thing # 18 - Web based applications (online productivity tools)
Hi all,
This time I am writing about the exercise on web based applications (online productivity tools). I looked at Zoho Writer, Zoho Show, Google Docs (word processor and presentation module) and I used them to make brief documents. They were very easy to use, and I was impressed with the versatility of the programs given that they are for free. I think that this is great for group projects such as cooperative projects among librarians from different libraries across the country. It is also good for one person's projects in that one can access it from any computer with Internet access. It is also great for students because it is an easy way to learn how to use such tools and they produce very good looking results. The show is especially useful if one needs to take a presentation on the road for an outreach program because the computer one uses for thel presentation does not need to have proprietary software, just an Internet conneciton. It may also be possible to do a presentation remotely over the internet with several participants with Google Docs, but I'm not yet sure how this works. It may also be possible with Zoho, but I didn't notice a special window. I can see a great potential for this for remote training of librarians online.
This time I am writing about the exercise on web based applications (online productivity tools). I looked at Zoho Writer, Zoho Show, Google Docs (word processor and presentation module) and I used them to make brief documents. They were very easy to use, and I was impressed with the versatility of the programs given that they are for free. I think that this is great for group projects such as cooperative projects among librarians from different libraries across the country. It is also good for one person's projects in that one can access it from any computer with Internet access. It is also great for students because it is an easy way to learn how to use such tools and they produce very good looking results. The show is especially useful if one needs to take a presentation on the road for an outreach program because the computer one uses for thel presentation does not need to have proprietary software, just an Internet conneciton. It may also be possible to do a presentation remotely over the internet with several participants with Google Docs, but I'm not yet sure how this works. It may also be possible with Zoho, but I didn't notice a special window. I can see a great potential for this for remote training of librarians online.
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