Library 2.0 Topics

While the hcplc=Lib 2.0 lessons have come to end, my learning certainly will not end. In fact, there are quite a few enhancements I could make to this learning blog alone. For example, I could add another page or finally assign tags and categories to my scant blog posts. Outside of working on this blog, there are innumerable ways I can continue honing my proficiency in Library 2.0 topics, and the hcplc=Lib 2.0 blog will be my starting point, or rather the place that I will return to time and again for information and inspiration. I have come a long way in my understading of Library 2.0 from where I started in January, but there is much more ground to cover and many more 2.0 gems to uncover.

The topic of this final lesson was the one with which I was the least familiar. I don’t play video or online games, though I recognized the names of some of the games featured in this lesson. The articles provided in the Resources list and posts by the Library 2.0 Team have really taught me a lot about why libraries are offering gaming opportunities and how gaming is helping to attract new users to libraries and make the delivery of library instruction more interesting and relevant to students. Prior to this lesson, I was somewhat of the opinion that offering gaming in libraries was just indulging young people rather than really helping them. I have changed my opinion and in the future hope to see more research concerning both the educational and cultural impact of gaming in libraries.

Gadgets and widgets galore! Online apps are really cool and much more plentiful than I had imagined. Google Docs, for instance, has so many offerings, including new features such as the option to place gadgets in spreadsheets. What a neat idea (anything that makes the data on spreadsheets more lively and engaging gets two thumbs up from me)! I plan to use Google Docs to create a spreadsheet to help me keep track of the titles that I recommend for replacement.

I tried using ThinkFree; however, I was not able to because the computers at work do not have the Java Plug-in installed, and the plug-in is necessary to run the applications on the site. In any case, I like that it is very easy to establish an account with ThinkFree (an e-mail address and a password are all that are needed). One very useful feature of ThinkFree, aside from the document sharing and free storage space, is that documents can be converted to PDFs. I did not create a document using FlashPAINT because I can’t draw. However, for people who can draw using a computer, the site is arranged nicely and easy to navigate.

I have been intrigued by widgets since Lesson 3 of this self-paced training, and in this lesson, I am pleased that I got the chance to delve much more into widgets and how they work.

This lesson confirmed what I already knew to be true: blogs are much easier to use when the author has taken the time to assign tags to blog posts. In the case of this blog, there are no tags as of yet, which is a deficiency I have wanted to correct since my very first post. I am not indifferent to using tags; it’s just that I have been concerned about my skill in thinking up labels that best describe my posts. After working through this lesson, I have come to an important realization: tags can be changed, if necessary. Knowing that I am free to modify tags eliminates any concern about not assigning the “right” tags to a new post.

I have always liked the idea of bookmarking Web sites and found registering with del.icio.us to be easy. Like storing photos on Flickr, bookmarking Web sites using del.icio.us presents a wide range of possibilities. What’s great is that I can practice assigning tags using both Flickr and del.icio.us.

I have had particular trouble with this lesson, not with the concepts presented necessarily, but with appreciating the appeal of specialized search services or personal search engines. There was a lot of good background reading associated with this lesson (as with all the lessons), but I am really not that enthusiastic about jumping on the personalization bandwagon. While I can see its usefulness for library catalog searches (i.e., by library customers who are searching an OPAC without the guidance of library staff), I am not convinced that the benefit (enjoying customized information and interfaces while searching, networking, or shopping online) outweighs the cost (privacy concerns) of online personalization. It is an interesting topic for discussion, certainly, and having worked through this lesson, I appreciate the awareness I now have of the various personal relevance services.

This lesson was replete with interesting sites to visit and information that I can use presently. I found the product reviews on cnet Reviews to be especially helpful with navigating through the marketing and product details for all of the electronic and digital equipment available today.

I was unfamiliar with many of the peer services with the exception of the comments and ratings on Amazon.com. In the past, I have relied on the comments and ratings on Amazon.com for book-buying decisions, so I guess you could say that I have used peer services without knowing, until now, that they are a part of Web 2.0.

I am not really interested in using LibraryThing to catalog my personal collection of books because I can visually keep track of what I own and because I can’t figure out why anyone else would be that interested in knowing exactly what titles I own. However, I did take the tour of the site, and I like that LibraryThing could be a useful tool for people who are charged with organizing a small library collection.

Back in one of my very first posts to this blog, I said that I was going to try to find out what certain widgets do. On logging in to WordPress.com a couple of days ago, I saw a message on my dashboard that said the Akismet widget had protected my blog from 7 spam comments. From the Akismet Web site, I’ve learned that the Akismet software is free for use with personal blogs and that it works by running hundreds of tests on every comment, trackback, or pingback that a blog may receive. I am glad to know what Akismet is now, but even more glad about the fact that it has been protecting my blog from spam without my even knowing it.

I’ve been pretty comfortable with the idea of consulting wikis for a while now. However, I find that wikis are not always intuitive to use because they can be arranged in different ways. Still, the idea of contributing to a wiki and the possibilities for sharing information, including best practices, is exciting. I have used the Best Practices Manual and the Tech Instructor Wiki for work. I have also consulted various other wikis for information on library topics in general, especially Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. I am currently familiarizing myself with the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) wiki, as I am thinking of joining the group. I usually consult Wikipedia articles by way of my Google search results.

In addition to posting to my blog and commenting on others’ posts more than I do now, contributing to a wiki is a goal I hope to achieve through this Library 2.0 training. It was exciting for many of us who established a blog for the first time ever at the start of the hcplc=Lib 2.0 training, but I think contributing to a wiki would probably generate just as much a sense of personal accomplishment in addition to helping colleagues share information.

This lesson, Lesson 6, marks the mid-way point of the self-paced training. If I were to assess my progress in the training so far, I would have to say that I wish I were more consistent about posting to my blog. I’ve done a lot of reading of others’ blogs, but I’ve made very few comments and only minimally participated in discussions. Blogging is fun, practical, and very easy to do. I just wish that I were in the habit of posting to my blog or someone else’s blog more regularly. The self-paced training guarantees that I learn new things each day, so, in theory, I have a lot to blog about!

With each lesson, I am left more impressed with the sophisticated 2.0 software that we have at our disposal, such as Flickr. Until I watched the Flickr tutorial, I had no idea of the extent of the program’s usefulness. I would like to start storing and sharing photos online, but I don’t own a digital camera yet. At least now, thanks to this lesson, I see how libraries and schools can use Flickr quite imaginatively and to the benefit of the populations they serve.

Learning about mashups in general has been eye-opening. I am nowhere near being ready to create a mashup, as I am still struggling somewhat to understand the components of a mashup (especially APIs) and how they are brought together to form useful and innovative Web tools. For now, I will just enjoy perusing the daily winners on the Mashup Awards site, which I think I will add to my feed reader.

There was much to do in this lesson, so where to start…I guess I’ll begin with the Ask A Librarian commercial on YouTube. I viewed the 31-second video. It contained all of the pertinent information about the service but was not as polished as I had expected it to be. Next, I went to Hillsborough Remembers and listened to the interview with Kim O’Haver, which is part of the collection of interviews titled A Slice of Life. I learned quite a bit about the history of some present-day Bay area landmarks by listening to Mr. O’Haver’s stories. As for other downloadable audio that I listened to for this lesson, I really liked the informational and instructional podcasts from the Pierce County Libary. 

When it came to better acquainting myself with eAudiobooks, I chose to browse the nonfiction titles in TBLC’s Digital Media Catalog and found more than a few titles that I would like to listen to. (In the process of searching the catalog, I learned that in order to make browsing TBLC’s Digital Media Catalog as efficient as possible, I need to make sure that the box beside the statement “Only show titles with copies available” is checked.)  Some of the titles can even be copied unto a CD for the length of the loan period. Having worked through this lesson, I think I will probably use OverDrive and NetLibrary eAudiobooks much more than I have up to this point. I had no problem figuring out how to download titles from either product.

What was problematic for me was figuring out how to post a podcast to my blog. So, instead of posting a podcast, I posted a music video that I found on Google Video. I was able to figure out how to post it after reading a very helpful post from The Moxie Librarian. Thanks to this lesson, I finally have some lively and fun content on my blog: The Monkees performing “Daydream Believer”!