#21 - Podcasts

Does the concept of a "living library" interest you? Then check out this ABC Radio National podcast - it's quite long (1/2 hour) but very interesting... or click the image above to read more.

2007-09-23 Don't judge a book by its cover

#20 - YouTube

Couldn't resist this when I saw it...

the Medieval Helpdesk... the trials of new technology!!

and the book... perhaps the 1st edition of the witch-hunter's 'how to' bible... the Malleus Malificarum ??

#19 - Web 2.0 awards

There are so many Web 2.0 based applications out there... I've checked out the awards list and had a look around some of the 'winners'

Care2 comes under the Philanthropy category. I've used it for a number of years, especially it's petition site. I recommend it regularly for people looking for an alternative to Hotmail and all the usual web-based email providers. It is a site worth checking out. It's only downfall... it's American-centric but still provides good information.
Amongst other things it provides a News Network, Photo storage and sharing, email, e-cards, healthy living tips, environmental information, animal activism updates, newsletter and much, much more.

The next one I checked out was SpringWidgets... well, I have actually checked it out before but haven't had much success with the RSS Feed custom widget... lots of feeds didn't work properly in it... so not much of a recommendation there!!! Tried a couple of other widgets too but no success so I guess they're still ironing out the bugs!!!

Of course, then there's Facebook - apparently everyone's on this and I can't understand why... after joining it a while ago I'm afraid I just think it's a big wank!!!!... pretty much the only time I go into it these days is when I check my current games of scrabble - that's the only thing that really interests me in it, and apparently one of the only things you need to use your brain for... all people seem to do in this application is poke, slap, spit, throw things at you, invite you to join causes (which apparently means all you have to do is sign up to, you don't have to support the cause in any other way - don't quite understand that - obviously by doing this people think they're 'political' and don't have to do anything else!!!!); and then there's the endless stream of useless crap... every time someone sends you something you have to download a new application... frustrating and not at all mentally stimulating!!!!

I can understand if you're away from home (overseas maybe) that it could be a useful way of staying in touch regularly, but can't think of any other reason to use it. Guess I'm just not that social (if that's what being social means)!!!! My idea of socialising is actually conversing with people, sharing time, food, wine and intimacy!!! I must be a bit strange - much prefer playing around with my blog!!

This letter appeared in the Sunday Life magazine of The Age today... I did get a laugh out of it because apparently there are other people out there who feel the same way as I do about "Crap"book.

And then there are all of the applications we've used throughout this Learning 2.0 process... LibraryThing, Del.icio.us, Technorati, PBWiki, Zoho etc. Some are extremely useful and easy to use, others not so useful or easy to use. I also wonder about all the tools you upload things to, such as Flickr, Photobucket etc... seems to me there is still a need to back everything up to disc if you're trying to save your hard drive space - it would be terrible to lose everything!!!!

So all in all, the technology has a lot of potential... but there are still problems with some of the applications.

Guess what???!!!! Now it's on to Podcasts, Video and Downloadable Audio - YAY!!!! Made it through all those tasks that sounded so boring to start with!!!!

#18 - Online productivity tools

I've played around in Zoho Writer and Zoho Show ... all these tools take a while to learn though... playing around is very time-consuming - but I guess once you've worked it all out then the time factor isn't so important...

Being able to do something from anywhere, have others check it out and then be able to edit remotely by choosing who can collaborate on the presentation would be extremely useful for those of us that work in different locations regularly, or who like to 'perfect' things from home. It does appear to have limited templates to use though... haven't been able to work out how you would create your own background in the programme - or whether you even can.

Here's a presentation I put together in PowerPoint and uploaded to Zoho Show... yes, you can import your own stuff but you don't have the same editing ability you do if you create within the programme!!! If you upload you need to make sure it's right... otherwise you have to edit in the original document and upload again... that's not a good way to create a presentation if you want others to have input!

But it was good for my purposes. This way I could create a background that I wanted. This is a condensed version of an assignment I wrote when I was undertaking the Diploma of Library and Information Studies (Library Technician's) course at Swinburne a few years back. It's something I feel strongly about and it fits in with my blog's theme perfectly.

These are the Zoho Services you can access:
Zoho Sheet
Online spreadsheet service.
Zoho Meeting
Zoho Meeting - Web Conferencing
Zoho Show
Online presentation tool
Zoho Writer
Online word processor
Zoho Notebook
Online Note Taker
Zoho Creator
Online web applications creator (one I'll definitely have to check out sometime!!!)
Zoho Planner
Online organizing tool.
Zoho Wiki
Online Wiki with public, private & group permissions
Zoho Chat
Instant messaging and group chat tool

... a tip for adding animated gifs to your blog...

This took me a while to work out... discovered Flickr is no good for animations - they just become static images... you need to join Photobucket - I know, I can hear you groan - not something else to sign up to!!!! - but it works... it automatically generates the HTML code for each graphic you upload, and then you can copy and paste it into your post... grouse!!!!

... and after my procrastinating over the Del.icio.us task, I am actually finding it quite an invaluable tool at home....

just thought I'd add this post while I'm procrastinating now over the online "productivity" tools task... doesn't that sound boring!!!!! learning how to upload animated graphics was much more fun!!!

It's Pink Ribbon Day today...

Women at work in the 30s, 40s, 50s & 60s... (yes, another toy!)

I found PictureVictoria, PictureAustralia and SLV picture catalogue invaluable for these images.

#17 - Learning 2.0 Sandbox Wiki

I'm just starting to play around in "the sandbox", and I've added the Port Phillip Library Service Learning 2.0 blog to the Favourite Blogs, added my blog as well, and you can get there by clicking the graphic - you need to scroll down a fair way (I've cut, pasted and manipulated - that's why it looks like we're up the top of the page!) - and then see how you go adding your blog.

This will take you to the Learning 2.0 Wiki Sandbox front page... go on, have a play around... I'm just learning what fun can

be had!!!

#16 - Wikis...

The wiki concept seems simple enough - collaboration and content... perfect Knowledge Management tools...

I can see a lot of useful applications for wikis...

Book clubs, patron reviews, subject guides, community guides, programmes, training calendars, event calendars, staff collaborations (instead of having to trawl through all those emails!!!! - everything relevant would be in one place and able to be manipulated/updated immediately!!!! that would have to be good!!!)... there appears to be a wealth of ways to use wikis... but there is a concern about 'authority', 'ownership' and 'hacking'... they would definitely need to be 'moderated'... how much staff time would need to go in to that??? must be viable because so many are using these applications already... depends on the funding source I guess, and what priorities and future directions libraries (and their 'backers') envisage for them!!

Here are a few wikis I thought looked interesting and could be useful...

and a couple of cartoons (from Google images)

#15 - Web 2.0... the future is here...

This 'meme' map looks daunting, but makes interesting reading - it shows how 'user-centric' libraries can be using Web 2.0 principles... a true 'community hub'... many libraries have already adopted or are in the process of adopting this technology - and I can see libraries expanding, and really fulfilling their increasing roles as community and cultural hubs... there's going to be a lot of change, but a lot of fun to come... if you can cope with change!!! If not looks like you're in the wrong industry!!!

And the definition of meme according to Wiktionary:

meme (plural memes)
Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity.
A self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics).

#14 - Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

Okay, I love the 'portability' of these types of tools... being able to access

them anywhere...
but I'm not so sure about the tagging process... especially as there are a lot of people with extremely obscure posts with extremely popular tags that don't seem to have anything to do with each other... some people just seem to want their blogs/posts seen by as many people as possible - they need to feel popular?? - whether they're interested in the actual topic or not... that can be a whole lot of wasted time as far as I'm concerned!!!

So, I've posted about Technorati and I'll keep coming back to check it out but now it's on to wiki's... (another step closer to podcasts, video and audio.... yay!!!!)

#14 - Technorati

Okay, I'm playing around with Technorati... could be a useful tool... will post more once I've searched around a bit...

#13 - Del.icio.us.... done - finally!!

You can tell the things I like playing around with... and it's certainly not the tools you have to read about... but I have done Del.icio.us... and just for something extra, here's another mosaic... Escher's work... I luv his stuff...

1. My creation, 2. escher1, 3. escher2, 4. escher3, 5. escher8, 6. escher4, 7. escher5, 8. escher7, 9. escher9, 10. escher10, 11. escher11, 12. escher13, 13. escher6

I can actually see the benefit of this tool... how many times have you been at home or work and thought what a perfect website you saved the other day, and how useful it would be NOW??? If only you could remember it... Your favourites accessible from anywhere - it makes sense.

Now on to Technorati.... more reading!!!!!! Can't wait to get to podcasts, video and audio (sounds more like my sort of thing... but that's a few processes away yet!!!)

Yes, I'm procrastinating...

... but I will get around to doing stuff with Del.icio.us... I've printed off some information and am looking through it now... sort of... while I'm relaxing... on my day off...

Delicious.... but Del.icio.us???

#12 - Rollyo...

My Rollyo experience has been had... my searchrolls are right here

Now this tool could have potential... all your favourites rolled into one search engine... very handy... that could save a lot of time... can be embedded into your browser as well... nifty.

#11 - LibraryThing... it's done!

Well, I’ve done the LibraryThing task… not a bad tool… much the same as iRead in Facebook... this is one of the blurbs from their site about LibraryThing for Libraries – I can see the possibilities:

"How can libraries use LibraryThing?

Fully integrate LibraryThing's social data into your catalog using LibraryThing for Libraries. LTFL lets you add tag-based browsing, book recommendations, ratings, reviews and more to your OPAC, by integrating with LibraryThing and its high-quality book data.
Use a LibraryThing widget to display new books or featured books on your library's website. You'll have to create a LibraryThing account, and add the books to it. Then use one of our widgets to generate code that you can just copy and paste into your website.
Small organizations and libraries can use LibraryThing to as a catalog for their collection."

You can see a random list of titles from my library in the sidebar on the left of the page – this is just a small selection of books I’ve read and enjoyed over the past 30-odd years.

And these three books, the Tomoe Gozen Trilogy, are definitely some of my favourite – if you enjoy things samurai, like a bit of fantasy with some mythology thrown in, this is a brilliant series, based on a legendary female hero.