Week 6 final task - thoughts on Library 2.0

I just finished reading Away from the “icebergs” and Into a new world of librarianship. Both authors make good points about Web 2.0 technology and how librarians need to know how to use the tools that their patrons are using in order to continue serving them. I found a couple of points particularly true.

We CANNOT expect our customers to learn how to do things "our way." Library's no longer have a monopoly on information. We are competing for business, and if we make our products nearly impossible to find because of outdated catalogs, the users will go elsewhere. I feel improving library catalogs would be the single most effective thing we could do to stay in business.

Secondly, we should not adopt every new technology that comes along simply for the sake of "keeping up with technology." Each new Web 2.0 technology must be evaluated for each library and its users. All libraries are different and different technologies might be useful. We need to think about what our customers want and remember that they are just as bombarded by an overwhelming amount of choices as we are. We need to make our library and information about the library easy to find online. But we also need to pay attention to whether or not our customers are responding. Are they subscribing to our blogs? Asking questions on our Wikis? And, if not, what are we doing wrong that we can change? Or, maybe we just don't need to use certain Web 2.0 technologies that seem to be ignored by our customers.

I think that learning about all of the Web 2.0 possibilities is a good first step. Once we know what is available to us and our customers we are better prepared to choose the technologies that might actually help us reach our customers.

Technorati (Week 6 continued)

I was exposed to Technorati several months ago when Polly suggested that we search for our library's name to see what people might be blogging about us. Today I experimented with it a bit more, but I have no desire to claim my blog, or spend much time on the site searching for what others are saying.

I watched the tutorial, but I could not follow through with some of the instructions on the PLCMC blog. We are instructed to do the following: "Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for “Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different?" The tutorial showed this, but I am wondering if the site has been changed. I can't figure out how to search this way. If anyone can, please let me know.

Overall, I find the number of blogs out there daunting and really feel that searching them would be useless. I would rather keep up to date on blog favorites by using something like Bloglines.

Week 6 - Delicious

I opened a delicious account (http://del.icio.us/smbeliveau). So far I have only added 2 sites to my bookmarks, but I'm sure that I will continue to add more now that I've seen how easy it is.

Delicious might be especially useful in my library where we do not have a specified computer from which to do reference. Since I never know what computer I'll be on when helping someone, it will be nice to have access to all of my favorite sites from the Internet.

I have added Sandy's and Lisle's bookmarks to my network. I know that Sandy has many useful reference sites bookmarked and I love that I can access all of these so quickly! The way I happened upon Lisle's is kind of interesting. I added a bookmark to my page (checking work webmail) and then it told me that one other person had also bookmarked this site. It turned out to be Lisle, so I added her to my network.

This is such a great tool. I use Firefox at home and was able to download the buttons that allow me to tag sites and/or view my delicious bookmarks with one simple click. I love it!

Rollyo (more week 5)

I used Rollyo to create two new search engines. One I titled Kids Crafts and the other Kids Science. These are to help me come up with project ideas for the programs that I do at the library. Here is my attempt to link to my search rolls. I'm not sure if it will work or not http://www.rollyo.com/smbeliveau/

I can see many uses for Rollyo in the reference world. This Web 2.0 technology could really help librarians weed out undesirable search results by only selecting the reputable sources they like to rely on. I was a bit disappointed that there is not an advanced search feature. I also looked for search tips, like is truncation allowed? Should we use boolean search terms? I was unable to find this information on their site. Overall, though I had fun and I'll continue to edit my searchrolls until I'm consistently happy with the results.

LibraryThing (more Week 5)

The first thing that I noticed about LibraryThing is how easy it is to use. I will likely continue to use it to keep track of books that I've read. Love that you can rate and write reviews, see what others have rated, and get recommendations for future reading. I would definitely recommend this site to library customers who are avid readers and always looking for their next read. It is so easy. I also love that I can view (or sort) my catalog by author or date or rating. This certainly beats keeping an Excel spreadsheet of books read. The only downer is that a free account is only good for up to 200 books. Maybe by the time I get to 200 they will have increased the limit?! Here is the url to my catalog: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/smbeliveau

Practicing with image generators

This image was created using Framer on the following site: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

I'm not a big fan of image generators, but I did play around with a couple of features on this site before settling on this picture to add to my blog. I found some of the other features difficult to use. I tried making a magazine cover, but the font was too large and the picture was too large and I could not figure out how to change the size. I tried to Warholize a couple of photos, but they did not come out good. You could not even tell what it was a picture of. I think I would rather just alter my photos in Photoshop, when necessary. If anyone has tips on where I might have gone wrong with the magazine feature please let me know. I would like to try that again.

Looking for library related feeds to subscribe to?

I could not pass up posting this. Here are the Top 25 Librarian Bloggers. Very cool!

Libraries using Flickr

Of the libraries I read about in the most recent issue of American Libraries (September 2007, p. 42) I was most impressed with The Clemens and Alcuin libraries. I love the "On This Day in American History" Theme, and the best part is that when you click on one of the books in one of their photos it links to the current availability of the book in the library catalog - the is a very cool, practical application. I also enjoyed looking at the Pierce County Library System, which posts one picture each day for the 365 days of the year. Again - I think this is a cool theme and I could see doing something like this in my library. What a great way to allow people to see what's going on in your library.

Week 4 - Bloglines

Week 4 is kind of a quicky for me because I already have a Bloglines account. I opened the account shortly after starting library school (about 3 years ago). I used to read my feeds daily, but I have to admit that I rarely go to my Bloglines account anymore. There is just so much to read and so little time!! One of my Web 2.0 goals should be getting back into the habit of reading these.

I currently subscribe to quite a few library related feeds including: The Shifted Librarian, YALSA, PLA Blog, Library Web Chic, and, yes - Bonita Library Teen Space. I really need to get back into reading these, but who has the time? I share Ramona's sentiments that it is just so overwhelming (especially for something with "simple" in the title) Simple, and yet so extensive. Plus, Ramona gave a few more feeds that sound interesting to me in her recent post. How does one keep up?

Although it is a bit overwhelming I am really impressed with the power of aggregators (sp?) like Bloglines. They do so much of the work for us, even though one can only read so fast! When I was reading my feeds regularly on Bloglines I found that it really helped me keep up with goings on in the library profession. It is a very useful tool.

Here's a question worth looking into. How many people subscribe to library blogs?

Open mouth insert foot

Well it looks as if many libraries are using Flickr. In the latest issue of American Libraries there is an article titled "Pixels Worth 1,000 Words" where the author presents many libraries that are using Flickr. I will explore some of these - more to come later.

Week 3 - O.K. I'm a bit behind...

Well, Here I am running behind on my Web 2.0 lessons. Last week I did go to Flickr and I took the Flickr Tour. I even took notes on how to upload, organize, and share photos on Flickr. I opened my very own Flickr account. You can view pictures from my recent vacation at http://www.flickr.com/photos/smbeliveau/! What a great way to share photos with friends and family. However, they would have to be friends and family who are also into Flickr and Web 2.0 technology - like my brother in law, for instance: http://www.flickr.com/photos/obkimmer. Kim is constantly uploading pictures to Flickr straight from his camera phone.

I can't help but have my doubts about how Flickr can be used to promote a library. Anybody know of a specific library that utilizes Flickr? I, personally, am not that into digital photography and I don't see myself spending a lot of time playing on Flickr. And once you have a Flickr account, how do you get people to look at it? Kim has had his account for a very long time, and I just now have taken an interest, mostly because of these Web 2.0 lessons.

Learning about this stuff is fun, but how much can it really apply in the library world? I know - now I'm really gonna get it. Well, at least I'll now if anyone is reading. That's another thing - I don't think I'm interesting enough to have a blog that people will actually WANT to read. I think few people really are. O.k., now on to RSS feeds...

I've been on bloglines for a few years now, but do not have much time to keep up on my feeds. More on that in the next post.

Misty Fjords National Monument, Alaska

P1010047_1
Originally uploaded by smbeliveau

Just sharing a bit of scenic serenity as I practice uploading a photo from Flickr directly into my blog. This technology is really amazing!

WooHoo

I figured out how to change the background. This is a great site that Laura recommended http://www.glitter-graphics.com/ I bet you're wishing I chose something different - not to worry, I will not be striped forever. Changing the background is fun, not sure if I want to venture to change anything else yet.

I tried to the Maximum to get into "School's Out Forever," but to no avail

8/18 - School's Out--Forever by James Patterson

I just took this book off of my reading list. I know how popular these books are, but I just could not get into it at all. Maybe because I was listening to it, and not reading it? I really do try to give "boy" books a chance, but this was just boring and had no character development. Maybe I should have started with the first in the series?