#18 Web-based Apps: ZohoWriter

Zoho sounds great for library use. When I first read about it, my mind immediately went to the announcement given every day at closing, “please save your document or you will lose your work.” This service can eliminate the need to save on a disc at times. It can also be used as an online backup. It would be so much fun to collaborate on projects with this. I like that you can add comments This makes me want to go collaborate on something!

 

 

#17 Playing around with PBWiki

I had trouble adding my blog.  I tried to follow the example, but I could not produce a live link.  So I cheated and used the Insert Link button at the top.  That worked just fine and seemed a lot easier to me.  The result is also prettier.  I also easily added to the Favorite Music page. 

#16 So what’s in a wiki?

I’m not sure how the SJCPL site qualifies as a wiki, since apparently only the librarians can edit.

I’m not sure if a wiki is the best format for something like book reviews.  Why would you want to edit someone else’s opinion?  If the point of a wiki is to be able to easily correct and update, then it should be used more for factual stuff, not opinions. Unfortunately, that is exactly when they are the most dangerous.  Wikis would be good for things that need to be frequently updated, like lists of links, and info about classes and other community events, like a community bulletin board. 

This is certainly a way to spread the responsibility for a website around.  For example, there is a wiki that I am familiar that has outdated links.  Instead of just looking and thinking, “Boy, this site sure has some outdated links,” I think I just might go in and update them. 

#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 …

I think of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 as being about user/patron empowerment and community building.  Web 2.0 does a lot of this through peer-to-peer applications. 

I feel that the quintessential Library 2.0 application is LibraryThing.  I suspect this sort of service can do a better job of reader’s advisory than any single librarian, since I don’t know one who has actually read all of the books.  It is all about user input, users helping users.  The librarian/programmer just sets it up and stands back and lets it run.  

John Blyberg says in his blog that “L2 requires a fundamental change in how we handle ‘authority’.”  The internet is unlimited.  Users can add as much stuff as they want.  Under the old system, the librarian’s job was to filter out the bad stuff and only show you information from “trusted” sources.  But there are times when we don’t just want the most trusted sources.  What about when what you really want to get to is something on the fringe.  What is the role of the librarian under “L2”?  The librarian should be able to tell you the level of “trustworthiness,” but the ultimate decision about what information to use should be up to the patron.

#14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

Searching the blog directory brought up results that were about the general topic of learning 2.0.  So bloggers were talking about just about anything that could go under that topic.  Searching tags gave a lot of posts from people who were apparently taking this same course.  Searching posts was more of a mixed bag.  Searching either tags or posts gave me posts that actually mentioned learning 2.0.  So if you wanted to find out what learning 2.0 is, it might be better to go with tags.  If you already know and are looking for something new and exciting, look in the directory.  

The most popular blogs are mostly pretty geeky.  I guess that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. 

#13 Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

Delicious allows you to find out who is interested in certain topics.  From there you can learn about things that you didn’t even know enough to know that you wanted to learn about.  Kind of like having lots of knowledgeable friends. 

#12 Roll your own search engine

It’s funny that using Rollyo to search several sites at once is actually easier that going any individual site and searching it.  I suppose you could probably get better quality results if you go to the individual sites, though, depending on what you’re looking for.  For me, and with this topic, the advantage would be primarily the convenience of one-stop searching, along with eliminating all the usual garbage you would get with a normal web search. 

Here is my search engine on ballroom dancing:

http://rollyo.com/leafygreen14/ballroom_dancing/

#11 A thing about LibraryThing

I entered six of my favorite books into my catalog.  It would have been five, but I thought I’d better add another one to show that I’m a grownup.  (Did it work?)  I can see using the social information as a fun way to decide what to read next.  

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/leafygreen14

#10 Play around with Image Generators

I’m not much of a photographer, so I don’t have a lot of images laying around to work with. But I thought that this image and this image generator from Lunapic worked well together.

http://www79.lunapic.com/editor/?action=photo-spread

#9 Finding Feeds

I used the same search terms for all the search tools listed.  Topix felt more like a regular web search.  I found news stories and webpages but could not find the feed symbols.   Syndic8 only came up with two results.  Technorati gave me blogs with only occasional on-topic posts.  The only one of the search tools I found useful was Bloglines.  The results all had feeds that I could find and use, and they were generally fully on topic.  Bloglines wins!