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!

Videos Online

Welcome to the latest edition, Online Videos. Let me just say from the outset, I love them! YouTube has changed my life and I search YouTube just about everyday.

Personally I use YouTube to upload videos of my horses. I ride show horses and upload videos onto YouTube so owners, instructors and friends can view the videos and see how the horses are going. It has been a marvellous tool and has cut down on the cost of copying videos and mailing them to people.
This is a video of my young horse at his first competition.


I also thought I would add a video of one of my favourite horse and rider combinations, Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht. This is what I continue to aim for (may need to win Powerball to help this dream going along though).


I have also been known to waste many hours looking at the down right ridiculous and stupid content that is available on YouTube, but in doing so I have also found some gems. This is the Fat Guy sining Numa Numa, a classic video which made this guy and international star. Whenever I watch this video I just crack up laughing.


YouTube is inevitably hindered by the same issues that all Internet available material is. When placing videos onto YouTube you relinquish the control over the video in the sense that everyone and anyone can view and comment on the video. Plus there is the issue of videos being placed on YouTube without a person’s knowledge or consent. I am reminded of an incident that occurred several years ago when a video was uploaded onto YouTube showing a teenage boy acting out a Star Wars fight scene. The boy had filmed the scene for himself but someone else obtained it and placed it on YouTube. Within a matter of days the video had received millions of hits and comments. The boy in the video became so victimised that he suffered severe depression as a result. In the end he successfully sued the person who uploaded the video on YouTube.

We also frequently hear on the news the incidents of “Happy Slapping” where people are physically assaulting others, videoing it and placing it onto sites like YouTube. These are senseless actions which are only able to gain attention through means like YouTube and Google Video as they are free and the element on anonymity means that the people involved are able to relinquish any type of responsibility.

For me the positives of YouTube and Google Video far outweigh the negatives. Both have opened up great possibilities for sharing video files with people. In relation to it use in the library environment I feel that we need to be vigilant in ensuring that if we use this medium we do so with the same scrutiny that we would any other form of publicity. Once uploaded it is out there for everyone to see and use.

Cheers

The Wiki Way

Wiki’s truly are a fascinating phenomenon. They seemed to have appeared from nowhere and all of a sudden have become present in every facete of our internet searching.

I doubt that there is a time now when you do a search through Google and a Wikipedia page for the subject does not appear in the first 10 listings.

In my general searching I have found Wikipedia to be very useful. I generally use it when I am trying to establish my understanding of a subject. I have often found the information on Wikipedia to be extremely user-friendly. Whilst it may not have the theoretical knowledge base at its grounding, it is a wonderful tool for establishing and understanding of a topic.

Recently I had a request for information on a building in Europe. The person who gave me the request knew little more than its name. With the help of Wikipedia, and indeed Google, I was able to establish a few basics to then start exploring in greater detail.

In searching through the Discover list of Wiki’s I have found one in which I am sure to waste considerable amounts of time, Wookieepedia. I am a Star Wars Fan. No I am not one of those people who dresses up in the costumes and goes to conventions, however I think I would make a good Darth Vader, I am one of those fans who truly loves the Star Wars theme and am beholden to the original greatness of the first films.
Wookieepedia has opened up a new world in which the Star Wars saga continues, with Princess Leia’s & Han Solo’s children. Ahhh the marvels of it!

The positives of Wiki’s are that we the general public are able to contribute to information gathering. It is often the case that the person you least expect knows the most. They are usual people who don’t like to broadcast themselves. Wiki’s allow these people to contribute to areas they have knowledge in an easy access environment.

The negatives of Wiki’s are also that of the positives. They provide a platform for know-it-alls to broadcast their version of information all over the world. I have always found accessing medical information over the Internet to be fraught with danger and I always advise against it. I have seen people come to the library to use the internet to find out about a condition they have been diagnosed with and they are usually always confronted with horrible images, misinformation and false understanding.

Wiki’s do seem to be the new “It” search tool on the Internet and with their explosion of use and easy access, it would seem apparent that they are going to be with us more and more.
Cheers for now.

The Adventures of RSS

Well this post is going to get even more cynical as I have just finished typing out my post only to have it disappear when I accidently hit a key on the keyboard. Trying to think happy thoughts!

So, back to the point at hand, RSS. I have been searching the web looking at various feeds and what not and at the end of the day I can’t really see the point. Perhaps I am coming at it from the wrong vantage point but I am a bit miffed about the whole thing.

In a positive light I can see that RSS would have advantages in the Library environment for allowing us to keep our keen and enthusiastic patrons up to date with the latest library happens.

In the negative light I am just not a person who would use this and I can’t really see me being persuaded. For those of you out there who like it Good Luck with it, but I think I will stick to randomly checking in on the few blogs I like and leaving it at that.

For the purpose of this task I subscribed to the following RSS feeds: ESPN; Movie Reviews; Powerhouse Museum Photo of the Day; Shopping Blog; USA Today; Dilbert Daily Strip & K Werner Designs. That reflects the diversity of my palette.

For now, Cheers!