Mashups

Well this has been an interesting week. Mashups are indeed an interesting Internet invention and the possibility for their use would appear never ending.

Having said this I still a little sceptical as to the point of the whole thing.

I like the idea of including Google Maps into websites and I could see this being used in an historical for towns to identify historical landmarks. This is something that I will perhaps keep in mind when I am looking through the old photos of the Tumut Shire. You never know one day I may feel that it is necessary to mash the photos, Google Maps and information together to create a historical website for the Shire. This will only be when I have completely nothing else left to do and I have sat and done nothing for a long period of time.

For this exercise I created a "Motivational Poster' from a quirky picture I discovered on the Internet.

For now Cheers!

Podcasts

Podcasts really do add a new dimension to the way in which we send and receive information. Personally I have accessed podcasts from radio programs, usually after someone has come to the library and told us about an author that has been on a program and that they were flogging their latest book etc.

In that dimension, podcasts have really revolutionised the radio industry. The radio program is now no longer limited to that one time, place or station. Anyone, anywhere in the world can access radio programs via a few clicks. Podcasts could be viewed as a possible saviour to the radio medium and its future direction.

In the Library environment podcasts have yet to be fully utilised and provide as with unending possibilities for their use. How many of us have been unable to attend a meeting and would love to know what discussion took place? Podcasts provide an avenue for meetings, discussions, lectures and library programs to be recorded and saved as podcasts on library websites and then accessed by any interested party.

There is the possibility that training sessions and notes could be converted to podcasts, which for those of us who benefit from that type of interactive with our learning, it could open up a whole new learning section.

Cheers!

Answer Boards & Social Searching

Well after several weeks of not being able to get anything done on my Web2.0 I have excelled myself and completed two sections in one day (must be a slow day, lol).

Answer Board Librarians would have to be one of the most inventive marketing tools for the librarian profession ever developed. All it is costing us is our time to sit and answer questions that we may otherwise get in our libraries. It is very subtle in getting the point across that librarians do know what they are talking about and it is a fabulous tool for ensuring that we give people correct information rather than the one off thought someone may have. Answer Board Librarians would seem to be the easiest solution for those of us wishing to impart our knowledge and help people without the major hassle of actually developing our own answer board.

Answer Boards can provide a great avenue for libraries distributing small quantities of information to large audiences. How many of us have dealt with the night before rush on an assignment only to find that the one book on the subject was borrowed weeks ago by the very diligent student. With so many people using the Internet now as their first research tool, Answer Boards can act as a bridge between us as librarians and the general public who are looking for answers.

In regards to Answer Boards there is a continual need for vigilance in filtering information. I have read a lot of questions on these sites from people actually trying to find quality information and advice who in the end have received nothing but childish and stupid replies from people who use the system as a method to mock people through anonymity. By identifying ourselves as librarians in answering these questions we are providing these people with a guarantee, for one of a better word, that we have considered their question and answered it with the same manner and relevance that we would a question asked directly to us in our libraries.

I actually have used a couple of answer boards personally. One instance was only a few weeks ago when I was trying to find out how to get grass stains out of my fabulous Dianna Ferrari beige silk peep toe heels. I was in a real panic about the fact that they may have been ruined. Using the Vogue Answers page I was able to get some great advice from people on what products to use to clean the shoes and how to preserve them and now they look as fabulous as they did the first day I brought them.

So again that is it for now, Cheers!

Del.icio.us

Well, what can I say but that I have simply not had a moment spare to even give Web 2.0 a thought in the past few weeks. As shocking as they may sound I am attempting to make good in my efforts and get my blog back up to speed.
Del.icio.us does seem to be very interesting and I can see its benefits for someone like me. I have hundreds of websites bookmarked on about 3 different computers, and each set is unique in its own manner.
Del.icio.us attempts to give me more control over the websites that I have tagged and allows me to organise them in a more "firendly" manner.
This is the link to my Del.icio.us account http://delicious.com/kt01 For those of you who are interested, enjoy! You will notice that a great many of the sites listed here are horse related, taht should give you an indication of my hobbies.
This tool has merit in all walks of life. Both professionally and personally. I have many "library" related sites bookmarked and Del.icio.us allows me to share them more readily with my staff. It is a great invention and one that I will promote in my work place.
Library Thing looks like a site that requires more investiagtion in its merits than I have been able to give it at the moment. The user interface seems simple enough and it looks as though it can offer a great deal of information to us about recommending reads and helping our patrons discover new and wonderful titles and authors.
Whilst this is only a short and sweet post I have been really surprised by the possibilities of what is available out there. Until next time, Cheers!