Library 2.0

Well I have made it to the end of the tasks. I wasn't sure that I would. After completing all of the tasks in the program I am still undecided about the concept of Library 2.0. One thing that seemed to be repeated in a lot of the Library 2.0 articles was that becoming a 2.0 library means you get feedback from all the 'techno-savvy' library users. What about people are not so techno-savvy. If we embrace the online technologies will they be left behind? We have customers who can barely use the catalogues or don't know how look up an address on the web (and I am not just talking about older library users). How do we make sure that these people get a voice? Also I think that before we embrace this technology we need to find out what our customers are doing online.

I think that it is important for libraries to be aware of what is going on around them and to consider how new technologies and trends can be used to improve services. I think that we need to provide our customers with a way to give us feedback and also tell us what they want from their library service. I am glad to have made it to the end of the tasks. It will be interesting to see how we embrace Library 2.0 in our service what the impact will be for both us and our customers.

My Space, Facebook & Social Networking

Should libraries embrace social networking sites? There seem to be lots of opinions about this topic. I think there are both reasons to embrace this technology but also reasons why it may not be a good idea. By creating a profile for My Space or Facebook a library is not waiting for users of this technology to find them. I think this is a good way to promote libraries to the groups of people that use these sites.

I think there are some things that need to be considered if we were to create a profile on My Space or Facebook though. First of all the time involved in creating and maintaining a profile. Would we have time to do this? Second, most of what was on the profiles of the libraries that I looked at seem to be a duplication of what would be available on the website. Do we need to have both a profile and a website? I also think that the friends we would make could be an issue. We cannot control what they would have on their own profiles. Do we need to be linked to profiles that could have inappropriate material? While I think this technology could be a great way to reach out to certain groups I think that there are issues that need to be considered before we embrace it.

Podcasts & Vodcasts

I visited Podcast Alley and had a listen to a couple of podcasts. I have to say I am surprised at the amount and variety of podcasts available. I also subscribed to a couple of vodcasts on the ABC website. I think podcasting could be useful to libraries in many ways. Author talks and other events could be podcast. Also storytimes and other childrens activities could be podcast for those who cannot be at the library. Podcasting/vodcasting may also be a way that the library could provide news, promote upcoming events, report on new books, dvds, etc. in the library and more.

You Tube

Wikis

Wikis are an interesting technology. Although they can be a great source of information e.g. Wikipedia, they can also be a source of misinformation. We all know how much information is available on Wikipedia, but what do we know about where it has come from. This is one big problem with Wikis. There is no guarantee of the accuracy of the information available.

I think that libraries need to be cautious in embracing this technology. If we allowed our customers to add information to a wiki on our website there could be issues of incorrect or inappropriate information posted. As a library we need to make sure any information or links on our website are accurate, relevant and appropriate.

Del.icio.us and Tagging

I think that social bookmarking sites are a clever idea for people who access the internet on more than one computer to be able to keep track of their favourite websites. Del.icio.us seems an ideal way for people to do this.

There were a couple of things about Del.icio.us that I think could be improved however. I think more search options would be helpful (there were search tips but they were buried in the help pages) and more options for sorting results. It would be useful to be able to sort search results by most saved bookmarks. I was unable to find a way to do this. Its helpful to see the most recent bookmarks but I would also have liked to be able to see the most saved. There may be a really useful site out there but its frustrating if you have to scroll through 20 pages of results to find it.

I think it would be helpful to use the Library's list of bookmarks when looking for information for our customers. Perhaps having a link to the Library's bookmarks on the staff resources page would be useful.

I have to say after exploring Flickr and Del.icio.us I am not too keen on the idea of tagging. One thing I found really frustrating with tagging is users tagging items with words that have nothing to do with the website, picture, video etc. that is being posted. I found this happening a lot on Flickr. For example I did a search for pictures with Frangipanis in the tags and got pictures back with no frangipanis in sight. Searching on Flickr can result in thousands of pictures and you don't need to be getting pictures that have nothing to do with what you are interested in. I think searching using tags isn't always efficient as sometimes the tags don't really reflect the item they are supposed to be associated with.

Fiji & Flickr

I found this photo on Flickr. It's a beach on one of the islands of the Yasawa group in Fiji. I went on a cruise there last year and the islands are as beautiful as they look in this photo. I especially love the colour of the water over there.

I think Flickr is a great tool for libraries for sharing of information and ideas. I wonder though is it maybe too big of a resource. There are so many photos available and so many libraries have profiles. Is there just too much to look at? As for tagging I am not sure what I think about it yet. What I am sure of though is that the beach in this photo is looking very nice right now!

Frangipanis from Flickr

I found this image on Flickr. I posted it because frangipanis are my favourite flower.

RSS Feeds

I have completed the task on RSS feeds. I used the Google reader as I already had a Google account. I have subscribed to ABC news and sports feeds, The Chaser and Sydney Morning Herald feeds amongst others. Some of the library related feeds I subscribed to are The Librarians Index to the Internet, Library Stuff, ALIA and the Sutherland Libraries blog.

I don't think RSS feeds will impact me heavily in my personal life. At the moment I not a heavy user of the internet. I don't use it every day. I have a few sites I enjoy visiting regularly and I usually check them whenever I go online. I think for people who spend a lot of time on the internet and like to visit a lot of sites RSS feeds are probably an ideal way keep up to date. If I become a heavier internet user in the future I may embrace this technology further.

I think that RSS feeds could be a useful tool for libraries. Subscribing to feeds would enable staff to keep up to date with news and events in the world of libraries.

Bula!

This is my first post. I decided to go with a Fijian theme as I was there on holidays recently and loved it. The name of my blog Sega Na Leqa (pronounced senga na leng-ga) means no problem or no worries. For more Fijian words follow the link: http://www.fijibure.com/fijian.htm
Creating my blog wasn't too difficult. I think the most difficult thing was finding a name that was available.