Completed!

Wow, what a learning journey.  I finally understand a little more about a lot of different elements of Web 2.0.

I particularly enjoyed the "In Plain English" videos which were very simple to understand and fun to watch.

I was amazed to learn that libraries already use twitter, facebook and flickr and even more amazed that patrons would access them.  I suppose this goes to show how important library services are within the community.

Time was an issue completing this course - there was so much I felt I needed to explore to find out how these technologies were being used but felt there was never enough time to really delve into it properly.  I hope I might get to do so later.

I am very grateful that I got the opportunity to do this course as I feel I have learnt a lot and am a little more "with it" now though I feel that I need to keep using all of them now so that I get more experience on how it all works and so I don't forget how to! So although the course has finished it really feels as though all the learning is just beginning for me....I'm never going to get off these 'L' Plates!

Geocaching

The word Geocaching refers to geo (for geography) and caching (the process of hiding a cache).

People leave caches of items in different locations and others can endeavour to find them with the help of a GPS enabled device and the coordinates obtained from a site such as Geocaching Australia.

Its just a matter of logging on and get the co-ordinates and then go seeking!

I can't see that I would personally get into this though a lot of people really seem to enjoy it.  Maybe I need to actually give it a go one day when I have nothing to do.....

I can't see much of a use for this in our particular library but perhaps it could be used in a much broader scope, such as for the whole shire, covering more community services other than just the library.

Podcasting

Podcasts are non-music audio or video recordings that you can download and listen to either on your computer, MP3 player or iPod.  Although podcasts actually come in a few different forms, ie. vodcast (videos), screencast (conferences and displays presentation slides) and podcasts (audios) they seem to all be generally known as podcasts.

You can even subscribe to them through RSS feeds or through itunes or a podcatcher so you don't miss out on any that you may be following.

Personally, I find Podcasts great for entertainment on the go and also for learning about any particular interests you may have that podcasts have been produced for.  If I get a chance to find something of interest to download, I will listen to it whilst doing the housework - makes the time go much faster!

I don't have any particular favourite podcast, I just listen to whatever I may be interested in at the time though one of my daughters loves to listen to the Hamish and Andy podcasts that she missed on the radio!

I suppose Podcasts could be useful as a learning tool (as long as it was with video, so a vodcast, as I'm sure there are lots of people like me who are visual rather than auditory learners!).  I can see that podcasting is great for libraries that have guest speakers, authors, etc but I am still a little unsure what else they could really be used for at the moment. 

Being a Socialite...

Social Networking, Twittering, Facebooking - all new to me.  I have never attempted to use these before though my eldest child is never off them!  I feel like I am stalking people (or that they are stalking me!?)

I don't know if its just me (and it probably is) but I found that Facebook is not really user-friendly.  I found it hard to work out the different parts of it - what my 'wall' was and how to find friends, etc so I found that a little bit frustrating and one that I am going to have to keep playing around with to get a proper understanding of it.  And seeing that it seems to be such a popular way to socialise, I'm going to HAVE to get my head around it!

I don't think I personally would ever use Twitter.

Facebook or Twitter could be another way (other than a blog) to let patrons know what is going on in the library, even if it is just what is happening in storytime that week etc.  In fact I am discovering the more I learn, the more I find there is more than one way to skin a cat (I hate that saying).

If this doesn't at LEAST make you smile.....

then I don't know what will!  Soooo cute.

I've always wanted to know how Bloggers put these videos into their blogs....and now I know and it's really not that hard :)  Its amazing what you can do when you know how.  In fact I am going to enter the steps here for easy reference for myself!

To embed a YouTube video into your blog:

1. Find video clip
2. Click on Embed button under chosen clip.
3. If embedding is allowed, a new box will open with a lot of code in it.
4. Select and copy all of the code in that box.
5. In your blog, choose "Edit HTML" (not "compose" mode) and paste the code where you want the video to go.

Simple as that!

It was interesting to learn a little history of Google and Youtube and I did not realise that there was a 15 minute limit on the youtube video clips.

You really could waste a lot of time looking at all of those youtubes!

Delicious!

What is Delicious?  It is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks.

My link to my Delicious:

http://www.delicious.com/kldaymo

Other than it being a useful tool to keep track of bookmarks from any computer within the library for staff, I am wondering whether this could be useful for patrons that use the public computers at the library as they can keep track of all of their own personal bookmarks, without having to bookmark them on public computers (not sure whether it is even possible for them to do this anyway?) or other patrons being able to see them.

It would be a shame that it may be on it's way out as I have been finding it useful for my own personal use and was wondering which of the other programs to use in its place - Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon or Slashdot, all of which also appear to be internet communities where people can rate or vote on webpages, as far as I understand it! 

As these links are tagged, it allows you to find other links that other people have found that share the same tag that you are interested in.

LibraryThing:    LibraryThing is a cataloging and social networking site for book lovers!  It allows you to create an online cataglog of all the books you own or have read or would even like to read and again, you can assign a tag to allow others with similar interests to find other similar books.  The books can also be rated and reviewed which helps other people in making their selections.

You can do searches for your books, create collections to sort your books and print off your catalog.
You can also keep your collection private.  It is not necessary to share it with others if you don't wish to.
As it allows you to join groups that cover books or topics that you are interested and you can read what others have to say and join in the 'conversations' happening it becomes like an online bookclub!

I imagine a lot of avid readers could really enjoy LibraryThing.

There is also a widget that you can put onto your webpage or blog that displays the titles of your book collection.

I think it would be great to let patrons know about this service so that they can more easily keep track of the books that they have read or wish to read.  It would also be good for libraries that have their own blogs as they can list favourites, new titles, etc.

My LibraryThing link: www.librarything.com/profile/kldaym

Not so tricky Wikis

Does anyone else feel totally blown away with the amount of information there is to explore? It is almost overwhelming really!

Wikis are web pages that are made by a group of people who can all contribute to its content (some wikis can be contributed to by anyone, others only by a certain group of approved people) thereby achieving a website that has information that has been provided by all of the contributors.

You need to install wiki software or use a service that hosts the wiki for you, such as WetPaint.

I thought the Antioch University's staff training and support wiki was a fantastic idea. What a great way to keep all staff informed of changes in procedures and processes within the library.

I have left my comments on the wiki site and found it was quite straight forward procedure.