Week 8 Privacy

I thought the variety in the blog entries related to privacy was really interesting. Of course, they ran the gamit from the privacy habits and feelings of different generations and groups to the practices of individual libraries to how we all forget or rather ignore that facilities like Google are harvesting information on us and use them anyway. But not only the focus, but manner in which items were discussed was all over the board--short informational pieces, long diatribes that took forever to get to the point. I was especially struck at the level of sarcasm that was in the posts I saw.

Week 8 MashUps and API

While I find MashUps visually interesting, I must admit that I see less use for them as a tool for our library than any of the other Web 2.0 technologies that we have looked at. The mashups that I found most interesting were those that provided information, usually with a geographic interface. B & B's in a particular location. Types of a certain store in a geographic area. Some of the marketing peices were interesting--like Dolly and Elvis in the car. But there is a good interface to Medline, why another? I did however see this as an additional source for reference questions.

Week 7 - Podcasting and Online Hosted Video

It seems that there are slicker and more professional looking ways of doing web instruction than online audio only files or online video through something like YouTube. Even PowerPoint with embedded audio and using something like Camtasia is a bit better. But I think that the really exciting use of things like YouTube is for marketing. People are out there searching and looking to see what exists and coming across things. That I see as an exciting way of drumming up new business. We don't have a limited user group and serve anyone.

Online Photo Sharing - Week 6

As the instructors mentioned, this week was pretty easy. It seemed very easy to add photos from flickr to my blog. It was also very easy to add photos to Facebook from my computer. I'm not sure yet about the pros and cons of using flickr over another way of managing photos. Guess the differences would be more from the sharing end than the organizing end. The question about how to use in the library is harder. Other than an occassional request for a historic photo, we really don't get that type of question. We'd have to see how it could fit some sort of need.

ppinkowski

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Originally uploaded by patpinkowski

This post is part of an optional excercise to see if I can create a document in Google Docs and post it to my blog. Let's see if it works.

Web Office Tools - Week 5

Is this the future of all office products? I really wonder. Right now, no, because there are functionalities in the non-Web versions that still make them more attractive for some purposes. But I can see a real niche for these web based products. Easy access is at the top of the list for those who travel or multiple people working from different cities/countries. Lots of the products that we used to get on CD have moved to Web-based only. Unfortunately with a loss of function in many cases. So I wouldn't be surprised if many/most/all office products moved. Would certainly save tons of staff hours updating versions of software, etc. But I would think many would be concerned with security issues.

Social Bookmarking Post - Week 4

I had heard about del.icio.us but had always wondered "what's the big deal"? Why are folks excited? Actually getting in there and working with it, I can see the allure. Right now I think it will be used, at least by librarian, or maybe at least by experienced librarians as a convenient place to keep and organize bookmarks. Many of us are used to a more controlled indexing structure and the advantages that provides. But as time progresses, we'll probably loosen up and take advantage of the "social" end more.

Social Networking Tools - Week 3 Post

I agree with the comments that right now social networking as a tool is probably more popular with those under 21. If you want to be integrated with or serve that group, you could find a use for it. I'm not all together sure that group will appreciate the old folks butting in though. I also think that as people get increased experience with this kind of site, more and more "older" people will like them too. Right now most of the pages I visited seemed disjointed and too heavily graphic for my taste. Hard to tell what they were about, trying to get across, etc. I think some of that will tone down and most of us will also get used to and not be bothered by increased graphics. I also found it odd that I was uncomfortable using my real name on Facebook (I didn't) but was just fine using it on LinkedIn.

The Difference Between a Blog and a Wiki

Blogs and Wikis both seem to be good for sharing information. I can see blogs being useful for discussions or one person shows. Possibly a problem being stated and then folks involved contributing possible solutions. A committee discussing or conducting a project. I could also see it being useful for one person updating people at a time. I've seen this more in social situations for trips or new babies or family news, but it could also be applied to some business purposes. The main strength I'm seeing with wiki's is for multiple people working a one document at the same time and not having the horror of everyone making different changes and then compiling them to find out that many cancel each other out, etc. It also seems that wikis are better suited to organizing final content--but that might just be my not knowing them well enough yet.

How to use RSS feeds in the library - MLA CE Week 1

I'm fairly sure that some of our patrons who currently get electronic tables of contents by email would probably prefer an RSS feed. At least for the titles that have it available. They would prefer not having email boxes filled with TOC's and are dedicated enough to go scan a reader to get the information when more convenient. Two of the things I just added to my RSS reader are things I currently get in my email box and I'll be glad to read them the other way.

I'd eventually like to share information with our program directors on special new books and videos right when we received them rather than waiting for a quarterly acquisitions list being posted on the intranet. That would be us being the source of the RSS feed, which I haven't a clue how to do, but it would be useful.

Wet Feet

I'm getting my feet wet in Web 2.0 technology. Here's hoping I don't get wet feet.
Pat