Podcast!

We have so far listened to quite a few podcasts explaining why we are doing the Web 2.0 tasks and what use we have for them. Therefore libraries could have great use for informative or instructional podcasts to explain different things to patrons. For example, how to successfully search for items in a library.
In the "podcastalley" directory I have found a great series of podcasts titled " The Library Survival Guide Podcast" which contain information on everyday library services. If you wish to explore it follow the link below;

http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=52949"

I have also subscribed to Podcast news and added an RSS Feed to my Bloglines account.

You Tube!!!

I love you tube. It is so easy to find a video clip of just about anything and of course it is free. You can find different clip sizes as well as different video clip quality. Also, if you have a decent internet connection the loading times are very quick. I really like how easy it is to share the clips, you can place it on the blog, a website and as always email it.
I guess the only downside is that you have to be a bit careful about copyright implications, especially if you are using the clip on a website.
Overall You Tube has been one of my favorite sites since it first arrived as I got easy access to all the soccer clips I can get my hands on. Below is one of the funnier ones. Well for the soccer fans at least.

Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

For this exercise I have looked at a web tool called " G.ho.st". It is virtual computer. What this means is that you can run it online exactly the same as you would windows at home. It contains all the applications that you need to create documents as you would with Microsoft office and you get storage space as well. Therefore a virtual hardrive. You also get an email address and application and it is very user friendly if you are sharing files. The biggest advantage is that you can access it anywhere, it is free and you don't have to worry about admin tasks. Overall a very useful tool.
The only down side would be that if for whatever reason you don't have access to the internet it can't be used offline. If you want to have a look at it below is the website.


http://g.ho.st/?language=%20en

As regards to its usage in the library it could be very useful on the public usage computers, but it may be difficult to implement.

Zoho Writer

As you can see in the previous post I have managed to publish my Zoho Writer document onto my Blog. To me Zoho represents a collection of free online programs that are easy to use and easily accessible. It is also an online storage so that you can always find your documents where ever you are. It is also really good to see that you can export the files as various file types so that they are compatible no matter what software program you use to open them.

test

Well I hope that this works and that this document gets placed in my blog. I guess I will call this test 1.

Wiki

I have to admit that when you are a Uni student a website like Wikipedia can be your best friend. That's as long as you are prepared to use information that may or may not be correct.
After reviewing some of the library wikis I have to say that I find the " Library Success: A best Practices" wiki very very interesting. I think it was a good idea to have a database of library practices in one spot. Plus it is really good that the information can be edited to add other suggestions and keep up to date.
Having a Wiki of CCLC procedures and practices would be a great help in certain occasions. Everyday procedures are easy to find, but what about the ones that you may only use once a year. That's where wiki could help.
I also like the topic guide wiki, because a lot of people would benefit from being able to search the topic they like in alphabetical order as opposed the numbering system. We can also advertise upcoming events that relate to certain topic through this.
Overall I would have to say that wikis could benefit the CCLC organization a lot both professionally and personally.

Web 2.0

After having a read of a couple of articles related to Web 2.0, I would have to say that I agree with a lot of it.
Well I'll try to be more specific. I believe that we have got to a stage where libraries can not rely only on books and hard copy information. We are in the age where information can be accessed with a touch of a button. If we don't adapt to the changes, people(patrons) will stop visiting libraries and go to a place which supplies these services. And even though we supply free access to the Internet, we don't necessarily have the required knowledge to help patrons use a lot of the services that are available on the web. I know that a lot of people choose not to learn a lot of things on the web or just plain are unable, but we are at the stage where they won't have a choice. Online networking and information sharing are most peoples favorite past times. We just have to look at the library usage. Most nights there is barely anyone using the library for books, but the computers are almost all used.
I also strongly agree that we don't have an excuse not to have information that is uncommonly used. Online information is not hard to find and a lot cheaper then buying books that may never be used.

I say bring on the digital age. Instead of ignoring it we should use all the new resources to make the patrons visits easier and more pleasant.

Technorati

Well my first impression of Tecnorati is that it is not very user friendly or easy on the eye. I think it's great to have access to such a huge number of blogs and the option to search for them through keywords, blog titles and tags, however I don't think I would be to keen on using this resource again. I believe that it is just too messy and a bit difficult to find exactly what you want, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who would disagree with me. After doing the search for " Learning 2.0" I had 8299 blog titles, 693 tag options and 32299 options in the directory. I'm not too surprised with my findings, however I don't believe that they are correct as I would have to search Web 2.0 as a related search to get a more precise number.
After looking at the popular blogs and searches I was surprised to see "Boing Boing" on the top as I have no idea what it is and I couldn't access it due to a problem. Also I would have never imagined that a top search would be "Taskbar" , but there you go, you learn something new every day.

Del.icio.us

This is the first time I got to use " Delicious " and I personally believe that it is useful for work, as well as a personal collection of bookmarks wherever I go. From personal experience, there have been too many times where I had to redo my bookmarks due to viruses with the browsers or having to add the same bookmarks on different browsers.
I do also believe that it is very useful for work as it is an easy way of finding popular websites to use if patrons need information for assignments or any other needs.

Rollyo

I have had a chance to play around with rollyo and create my first search database. It is very useful if you are after any football related matters. It is a collection of my favorite football sites. I should mention that when I say football I mean soccer not AFL. Hate to disappoint. Below is the link to my search database.

http://rollyo.com/ned.railic/football/

Library Thing

I have created an account to "Library thing" and I find it to be quite interesting and useful. I have selected several titles that interest me. Obviously soccer, electronics and fords are my main interests. I have also added a widget to my blog so my books can be viewed.

3D Wheels Image Generator

I have chosen the "Envizio" image generator to play around with for the image generator tasks as it gives me an option to modify cars. It lets me add wheels, lower the vehicle, change the colour and choose the background of the image. It has a big database of avaiable vehicles to mod. If anyone wants to have a play with it, the web address is http://www.wheelenvizio.com/?wheel=Envizio. It's a lot of fun for a car entusiast. The image was originally just a standard 2008 Ford mustang.