Wiki wonders

Wikis are very cool!

The idea that it acts like a giant cyber noticeboard can be very handy. People can add their thoughts and the overall collaboration is a team effort. Great for working out details from remote locations or across the globe.

Very user friendly too. :-)

Web 2.0, Library 2.0

Technology moves at such a pace that if we as a library don't keep pace we will be left behind in a matter of just years not decades.

Already we have moved in a relatively short time from Microfische and the card system to a cutting edge technology resource centre.

The rate at which technology has advanced in this field has amazed both the professionals in the field and outside observers. Books are no longer the only resource available and in time may only make up a small percentage of what a library has to offer. The article titled "Away from Icebergs" was interesting in that it highlighted 3 key areas of concern for libraries:

* "Just in case" collections

* Reliance of user education

* The "Come to us" model of a library service.

These are all crucial things that need to be addressed if we want to remain at the cutting edge of technology.

It is however worth noting that the Titanic was at the cutting edge of technology for its time. And look what happened to it. Sometimes all the technology in the word isn't worth a damn if it is not matched by common sense, ingenuity and basic problem solving skills. Something that hopefully most Librarians seem to possess.

Online resources are becoming more and more amazing and the ease of providing these services in the patrons home will make libraries a valuable resource for years to come. We just have to move with the times.

Del.icio.us

Where do they get the names for these things??

The idea behind Del.icio.us is a great one. Although with the constraints our IT department put on our computers it makes it difficult to play as much as I may have liked.

I really like the idea of storing your bookmarks so that they can be accessed remotely. This would be fantastic for those of us that have to work from different computers or take work home. How many times have I thought I have that site bookmarked at home or at work or visa versa. It would also be a great backup for when the computers are replaced, upgraded or just plain crash and you loose all of the wonderful sites you have spent years accumulating.

Technorati

With millions of blogs being created every year Technorati is a fantastic tool. I put in a few searches and came up with the following results:

Learning 2.0 = 6009 results

Scrapbooking = 12715 results

Rollercoasters = 653 results

There is no way that I could have accessed all of these sites individually. Tagging them makes the search very simple and a great time saver. I can see how this tool would be a fantastic asset to the busy blogger who wants to read like minded blogs.

Rollyo

This sounds more like something someone would smoke than a search tool.

Very clever little tool though to add to a website. I must admit however that I still find Google one of the easiest to use and best sites on the web, so I think I would still head there first.

Library Thing

An interesting concept. I love browsing through all the covers and talking to people about similar likings and reading groups. I can definitely see the value of that.

I am however a little worried about the concept of cataloguing our own personal collections. I just think that is a little too neurotic for words. Librarians have a bad reputation as nerds already, if we catalogue our home collections it would just solidify us as the the kings and queens of the nerd world.

Is this a title we really want? Shouldn't we be way cooler than that. I know I try to be.

Online Image Generator

I have to admit my confusion as to the difference between the flikr week and the image generator week. To my mind they are both using photos be it your own or others to add to your blog.
Once again I am struggling too to find the time to play as much as others seem to be doing. Book sellers, extra Storytimes and a never ending pile of cataloguing makes the two and a half days that I work VERY busy. I seem to be constantly at least a week or more behind. As Ben Cousins big tattoo says though "Such is life". I'll just continue to do what I can, after all isn't that the best we can do?

Bloglines and RSS verdict

I really like the idea of being able to go to one spot and see if there are new blog entries for a number of people that I read regularly. This is indeed a great time saver and something that I will indeed be using regularly now that I know about it.

I also discovered with the assistance of John (Thanks mate) that I can drill down on the ABC news and only get my suburbs news. This is great as I like to stay informed but never have the time or the inclination to read newspapers cover to cover.

So the verdict : Great!

Now all I need is the time to actually read all these blogs, keep up with my own, continue the course and keep up with all my other work at the same time.

Sometimes I wish I had a timeturner like Hermione in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Mashup Madness

Mmm if only I looked like that in real life!

I have been playing with Mashups this week. An interesting combination of two technologies. I love the combination on maps and things and could definately see the benefits of this combined technology to really make a website stand out.

Flickr fest

Well the task at hand is to insert a picture into my blog.

I thought I'd stay with the theme of roller coasters as discussed last week and add this beautiful image. It combines 2 of my favourite things, roller coasters and sunsets. now if we could just add a bottle of champagne and some nice company I would be set!

Another task to be completed is to talk about technology. We all use technology everyday. Be it mobile phones, computers, or simply the barcodes on our groceries. The world is moving at such an incredible rate of knots that in the space of a lifetime we have gone from horse drawn carriages to satellite navigators in our cars.

We need to keep abreast of as much new technology as we can because it passes us so quickly.

If we take the easy option and say "I don't know about that" we will never learn and thus fall further behind. Imagine how daunting it would be to not be able to communicate it today's society. So thank you to my fellow colleagues who have encouraged and helped me as we all embark on this journey together. Learning's much more fun when we can do it with friends.