Week 8 - Discovering Web 2.0 tools

I didn't realise that this Web 2.0 awards page existed and found it hard to limit myself to one option to write about....obvisouly I took the exploration further...

Fluxiom is the site I chose to look at to talk about and I was instantly interested in it as soon as I saw it. It is visually stimulating and makes you want to explore further. The site won the second place award and is all about a new way to share, organise and store media files. It looks to be quite a comprehensive site, and recognizes over 100 file formats. Its searching capabilities are quite versatile and search not only the title but also searches via author, number of pages, image resolution and even colour profiles. I have not seen searches in this capacity before. So what is it exactly that Fluxiom do? It allows you to store all kinds of documents and files which can be zipped and uploaded at once.

What I like about this site is that it is easily readable, it is easy to navigate. Their Q&A section was very good as it covered a lot of the questions that users of this service may have. The colour scheme is great. I really liked the black, white and green look.

The pitfalls however are that as critiqued in the web 2.0 awards the social aspects are not there....they have rated it 2/5, however the purpose of this site isn't to be a social meeting place but a file sharing facility. I was also disappointed that when I tried to access the blog/help section that it wouldn't load, i left it running for quite sometime but it failed to do anything. Up until this point I didn't really feel any negativity towards the site. I do however see the value of this especially in corporations where traveling is involved and files need to be accessed remotely.

One last note....I shamefully will say now that I have shared my view that I chose this particular site because the first place site didn't work, and also because the name looked cool!!!! I think that means in some way the site has done its job by luring someone in by a catchy name and a logo that draws you in!!

Week 7 - Lets get social!

As I have continually through this whole process I loved watching the commoncraft in plain english clip on YouTube. I find them so good, so easy to follow and broken down for the average person to understand, so added it to my blog for good measure!!


I'm already getting social on Facebook and have tried MySpace before. So I already have an account for both. On facebook I already have classmates Kelli and Jasmine added and socially network with them regularly. I have never looked at Facebook or MySpace from a library perspective before but as I went searching I found it quite interesting.

On facebook I was able to find several libraries that used facebook as a resource for their library although they all appeared to be American. Some of their facebook pages advertised opening hours and contact details. Some showerd their collections, advertising what is on, digital downloads and other similar things. Most of these pages appeared to be libraries from University's which makes sense as Facebook is generally a younger persons domain although more and more users are from other generations. Other library related facebook pages were were not attached to specific libraries but more related to things such as library lovers, library buildings, library thing, and other such pages.

MySpace, a place I don't use myself really....ued it a couple of times but it doesn't grab me. It had heaps of libraries using the site....again a lot of American libraries and some UK ones, mainly University libraries. I was pleased however after doing another search option to find mention of Australian libraries on peoples Myspace pages but nothing specific to a particular library. I am not sure that Australian Libraries have yet embraced the Social networking side of things.

So, my thoughts on social networking through Facebook and Myspace, I see there is potential to keep up to date with your libraries through this medium...although it could also be done just as easily on a blog or library website. Although, I think it is another medium to get people involved in the library even if they never step into one so can definitely see these social mediums being more a part of the future of libraries.

Week 6 - Podcasts

I see real value of podcast in libraries. I was happy to be explore them further in this task and to see what other library institutions find them valuable.

Stepping back a bit though, taking a look at the discovery exercises I mainly focused on looking at the ABC Australia site and and podcast alley. Both were interesting and easy to navigate and had interesting blog topics. Podcast alley had quite a lot of really valuable library related podcast ,I will be subscribing to Library Geeks....that really appeals to me and am slowly making my way through the hundreads of other podcasts to see what else I might find appealing.

My choice of podcast that I am chosing to evaluate however came from the NLA. I chose this because I went looking for a podcast I have used them there before. This time I couldn't find what I was looking for but found some MP3s of a conference at the NLA and it was focusing on Web 2.0 and podcast in libraries. Follow this link if you would like to take a look http://www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/meetings/web2prog.html . There were several podcast I looked at but found “What is web 2.0 and what does it offer” by Jake Willis from CSU is one of the most engaging. I guess in the true sense this isn’t a typical podcast because it isn’t advertised as one; it is a recording from a conference but it presents like a podcast. Podcasts are in many different forms. This podcast was easy to use but initially looked as though it was embedded so that I couldn’t download to my preferred listening device but with a simple right click I was able to download it to my blackberry.

Just a note now on how valuable I see podcasts to be in the library. I think there are so many uses for them, book reviews, keeping up to date with your library, reading lists, what happening in the community, catering them to different ages in the library. Podcast are a platform for delivering service and it would be great to see them used more often in libraries.

Week 5 - Tagging, Taxonomies and Twitter

Del.icio.us, social caos being made orderly?? Before today I have never used it, I have looked very very briefly. After watching the Common craft show tutorial I was excited about making the caos more clear. Looking around the Delicious site, I can see it being a valuable tool for Patrons of libraries who access the web a lot in their library. This would make it such an easy way to find your bookmarks and have them tagged under topic making them easier to find. For purposes of research or study there would be no need getting frustrated because you can't find the URL you bookmarked at home because you can easily access it from wherever you are. It is also valuable that you are able to access other users bookmarks, they may have something quite useful that you haven't found yourself. If libraries were to use this system as part of their work environment bookmarks and tagging could be made for sites relevant to their users of the library or to the Library staff.

This Link has some interesting library links that other users have bookmarked that may be interesting and are an example of what libraries can use this website for.

Finally something...also know as web 2.0 task., has got me to sign up to
I have been thinking about it just to have a look but have put it up.....if you want to find me I am Allisonjw.

I knew that Kelli was on there so went searching for her first. I found the process of looking for a user quite straightforward in the form of a search interface. I had a giggle at some of her twittering and enjoyed reading. I added her to my list to follow. I continued this process with a couple of people I thought I may find on Twitter.

I am struggling to find use for twitter in Libraries, I can see that it could be used between maybe the Librarian and library users, in particular young adults or possibly between staff. I asked my husband and he thought that Research assistance could use it as it can be a thought provoking tool.......I'm still open to suggestion.

Overall week 5 has proved to be interesting and getting me to try something new that I may have otherwise not look at so closely.

Week 4 - iGoogle and Wikis

I have always had trouble with the concept of Wikis. They have never appealed to me and I feel that they leave too much room for error. I took on this task with an open mind all the same; I looked at the iGoogle and Wiki tutorials. I really enjoy the tutorials that are done by "Common Craft" , they are a little bit of fun. Unfortunately some of the other tutorials weren't so clear on the screen so weren't as easy to follow.

I already have an iGoogle page but to be honest have rarely used it and am not so sure I have ever changed it. I can see how it could be a valuable tool because you can access it anywhere. This task prompted me to play around a little, I enjoyed changing my theme and I chose the one below.

One aspect of iGoogle I have always found useful is the calculator. As strange as it may sound I always like to have a calculator handy.....so I know I can always go there if I need to.

I have to say even with further exploration I am not yet converted to Wikis. I still can not come to a place where I see it as an overly useful tool. I am aware that it works for some but not me. I did find the tutorials interesting but was dissapointed that a lot of them haven't been updated in quite some time. I guess I like to feel that things are current.

As far as libraries using it as an application, I can see it used for staff but can see all sorts of negative that would come of it to open it up to clients; although that would be depending on what type of library it is. A small personal library may be able to use a Wiki succesfully. Public Libraries could use it as a medium for letting people know what is happening in their library, using it as a shared medium between each public library.

If the Polytechnic library used a Wiki I am not sure I would take the time to use it myself, maybe just check in every now and then and see what is on it. I would like to see new resources and maybe an area for the patrons to suggest new recourses for purchase. I can see that as a viable use for it.

Week 3 - Flickr and more Flickr

The wonderful world of Flickr. Having had experience with this for some year I knew that I would enjoy this task. I went through the exercises all the same and did learn some new bits and pieces. I decided to have a go at both options because they both appealed to me.

Option One:

My favourite quirky person on Flickr is Elsie*Cakes.'s so I knew I would chose one of her photos. I love her passion for photography and all things arty!

I love this photo and it it typical Elsie style. I love that it is basically a photo in a photo. Its quirky and fun! I like photos that are not what other people usually like, something that is usually arty or just a little fun like this one! I hope you guys like this photo too......

Option two:

I created a new Flickr account rather than using my personal family one for the purpose of this task. You can take a look at my Flickr photos here! I uploaded several of my favourite photos that I have taken and the one below is one of my most favourite of all time. It was taken before I had my Digital SLR camera so it was taken on an ordinary Digi but it just captured the beauty so nicely.

Flickr is a good internet site to use. It is a create resource for photo sharing. Even though it has a Pro option that you pay for, it's normal usage options are fantastic and I can't see a real need for upgrafing the account. The tagging system is useful and it is good that you can chose your level of security so that it caters to most people. I still have a lot more to discover about Flickr for sure but I am happy that I can use it at the level that i currently do and still be getting a good service.

Week 2 - RSS

So I have too admit I was not at all excited about joining up to Bloglines. This is something I have done before for personal blogs I read and I never used it so my attitude was blah blah about it all at first. My attitude has changed since this initial outlook somewhat!

I really enjoyed the discovery resources as these were a little bit of fun and a great introduction to RSS and newsreaders. It opened my eyes as to how useful they can be, particularly if you follow a lot of blogs. I like the fact that with RSS and Newsreaders that they are easy to use, it is all there for you in one spot. I chose ten blogs of interest to add to mine for now. As I find more I will add more, here is a peak at what my bloglines looks like!!

I currently do use this type of technology in my personal life but I use Google Reader, I don't use it regularly but every couple of weeks I check in and go through anything I have listed in there. As far as RSS is concerned I am going to explore it more so stay tuned......

I think more libraries are starting to use Blogging and RSS feeds., a lot of academic libraries seem to have blogs but they aren't as widely used as they could be especially in the public system. There are many ways libraries can use RSS and it doesn't need to be just through a blog. Any site can be set up to use RSS as long as someone knows what they are doing. A library using RSS could use it for updating new book of the week, podcasts, whats happening in the library etc....basically anything that is going to be updated regularaly and are on their website. I think it would encourage patrons to tap into the library or their website more knowing that they can recieve regular updates on the libraries happenings through a newsfeeder and not have to continutally navigate through other parts of the site to get access to this information.

That is my take on RSS feeds and newsreaders. Not something everyone wants to use but a useful tool for those who do. The challenge for me now is to remember to check my bloglines!!