Today we talked about social networking, with sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I decided to sign up for Twitter, just to see what all the hype was about.

Setting up an account was very easy, although it was hard finding a user name that wasn’t taken!  Once I set up the account I fiddled around a bit with the appearance in the settings.  Afterwards, I searched around for people to ‘follow’, and found a few, although most of them had their ‘tweets’ protected, so I had to send them a request, so here’s hoping they actually accept me.

I guess I’m sort of on the fence about Twitter.  I don’t hate it, but I really don’t think it deserves the hype it’s getting.  I mean, sure, some people tweet some really boring (and weird) stuff, but it’s your choice to follow them or not.  I think Twitter is a more appropriate tool for things like online shops, or magazines, as they can actually give you updated information that you can use, rather then reading personal updates like: “I just crashed my car because I was tweeting!”

I really don’t know if a Twitter account would be worth the time and money for a library to use.  I guess a library could tweet about upcoming library events, or post relevent library-related links, but there’s already Facebook and blogs for things like that, which actually allow you to post more than 140 characters.  Maybe the attraction to Twitter is that posts are short and sweet.  Lots of  people, myself included, find large blocks of text daunting, and would be more open to reading something that didn’t look like a short novel.

Dear Twitter,

I like you, but I’m not in love with you.

I hope you understand.

Sara

Today in class we talked about social bookmarking, and more specifically, a site called del.icio.us which allows you to keep all of your bookmarks in one place.  All you have to do is sign up with the website, and then use the simple ‘bookmarker’, which you can install on your taskbar, to bookmark any interesting sites you come across to your del.icio.us account.  When bookmarking a site you add simple ‘tag’ words to the site, such as ‘art’, or ‘photography’, so that it will be easier for you and others to find the site using these ’tag’ words later on.

Before I signed up for del.icio.us, I went on to the website and did a general browse for photography, and was amazed by all the cool websites that were there. 

Afterwards, I searched for the same topic on Google, and I definitely noticed a big difference when searching ‘photography’ on Google versus del.icio.us.  The search results that came back on Google were very broad-most being sites that had the definition of photography or sites about photography.  The sites on del.icio.us were way more streamlined, focusing on applications (lots which are free!) that allow you to upload and edit photos.  I’ve already found a few websites which I’m interested in using, and can’t begin to imagine all the new websites I’ll discover using this tool.

After registering for del.icio.us I had some fun browsing for new websites, and saving pages to the site.  It seems really simple to use, and I really like the fact that you can ‘follow’ other members’ bookmarks if they seem to have the same interests as you, or if they always seem to find really cool sites.

I also saved the website Shelfari, and added the tag RRC_Library2.0 to it so my fellow classmates can find me.

I guess it’s too soon for me to say if I would really use this site instead of my boring old favourites tab.  It seems to keep your bookmarks a lot more organized, but it could also be a big distraction for me when I’m finding new and interesting websites all the time! 

After using a social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us, I’m kind of curious if any libraries use this tool.  It would be interesting if a library used this to provide different useful websites to library patrons, such as children’s or young adult websites, educational websites, and anything library-related really.  I guess the only issue would be making this resource known to library patrons, but I still think it would be a really helpful tool.

That’s it for now folks! Have a good one!

here

Today in class we talked about online applications, such as Google Docs, where you can create documents, presentations, spreadsheets and forms that can be edited simultaneously.  The documents can be edited by up to 10 people at the same time, and spreadsheets can be edited by up to 50 people, which is really quite amazing.  I can see how groups and teams would find it a very helpful tool to use in collaborative projects, assignments, etc.

Before today I was not aware that these applications existed, but they seem pretty straightforward and easy to use.  They are basically like wikis, except without all the messy, lock-stealing business.  Although, since a spreadsheet application on Google Docs can be edited by up to 50 people at one time, I can see myself possibly getting dizzy watching my fellow classmates click away at the screen.  Otherwise Google Docs seem pretty interesting.  I’m not sure how much I would use the application in my daily life, but I guess it all depends on the situation.

I also looked at another online application called Picnik, which allows you to edit your photos for free.  I got pretty excited about this actually when I checked out the website.  It’s not Photoshop of course, but it’s good enough for someone like myself who can’t afford that kind of editing software.  The website is super slick, and pretty intuitive.  I fooled around with some of the demo photos, and it was super easy and fun.  Besides simply editing your photos, you can also make collages, slide shows and keepsakes.  However, if you want some of the fancier stuff, you do have to pay for an upgrade.  But as far as I’m concerned the basic tools offered are still pretty good.  I’m definitely going to be using this application on my home computer for my family photos now!

Even though we weren’t required to, I’m going to check out some of the other applications we talked about like drop.io and LibraryThing, which both look pretty interesting.  I’ve never heard of LibraryThing, but I have been on Shelfari which is awesome, and I’d like to compare the two.

Overall, online applications=awesomeness!

I have subscribed to and downloaded podcasts on iTunes and  to my iPod before, but unfortunately it took me awhile to realize that for the most part, podcasts are free!  In my experience with podcasts, I’ve found them quite easy to use, although sometimes the constant downloads, depending on how many subscriptions you have, can be a little overwhelming.  Although you can always stop a podcast from downloading if that particular episode doesn’t look appealing.

I think that if used correctly, podcasts could be a really fun and informative addition to a library setting.  Library staff could not only subscribe to appropriate podcasts to help keep up with the newest trends in the library world, but they could also use them to help promote their library by making podcasts that could target specific age audiences (teen, children), relate to upcoming holidays, or just generally talk about what makes their library special.  The only problem I see with this, is that iTunes seems to be the most well-known program to acquire podcasts, and although a large percentage of people have iTunes/iPods, not everyone does! Shocking, I know!  Besides that I think using podcasts would be a cool idea, and i’m interested now to see if any of my local libraries use them.

Brian would not approve of all the book cart riding!

At first wikis might seem very similar to blogs.  They can be compared to blogging because of the fact that they are both “social software” sites, however, the one difference is that the content of a blog is usually controlled by one blogger, while a wiki can have many contributors, or a set number of contributors.

When you think about it, wikis are very useful for a variety of things; group work, brainstorming, notes, etc.   Since I am interested in working in a school library, or at least in the children’s area of a public library, I took a look at this article.  Within an educational setting, wikis can help keep not only teachers and teacher librarians connected, but also the library staff itself connected. Library staff could use a wiki to contribute to posting helpful resources for each other, any general information or insights, meetings, etc.  The term that the article used which I thought described wikis perfectly was as an ”electronic bulletin board.” 

I guess up until now I’ve always found wikis not so appealing, the main reason being that I thought all wikis could be edited by anyone from anywhere.  I never realized that you could make a wiki that was only available for a certain number of people who are granted access to edit the page.  This makes me feel more comfortable with the whole idea, knowing that Joe Somebody isn’t always going to be messing up my wiki!

As I was using our class wiki, I didn’t really notice anything that I had expected to see but didn’t.  This is mostly because I’ve never had experience using a wiki before, but it was very straight forward to use.   When editing the page on our favourite books, I simply clicked the edit button, and clicked on the grid and filled in my information.  I’m really enjoying reading all the recommendations my classmates have given, and hopefully I’ll have more to add myself soon!

I’ve followed blogs before, but I never really knew what RSS was,  and so I would sometimes spend up to several hours going through my bookmarked pages and visiting all of my favourite blogs, not knowing if there would be a new post, or if I was just wasting my time.  Now I just have to go to my reader, and all the new posts are there waiting for me without the hassle. 

Unlike most of my other classmates, I would definitely call myself a non-techie, and so to help understand the magic of RSS, I chose to read this article: RSS For Non-Techie Librarians.  I agree that RSS is quite easy to set up and use, even if you are a Library Technician who is not up to date with the newest in Internet trends.  In regards to the use of RSS within the library, I think it would be very helpful.  If your library has a blog, then you are one step closer to keeping your patrons up-to-date with the newest goings-on in your library.  It’s also helpful for the library staff who want to keep up with the newest in library trends, as they don’t have to waste time when looking through websites for Library Stuff.

The only complaint I have about using RSS concerns the reader.  I am a very visual person, and I enjoy seeing all the work that someone has put into the appearance of their blog.  For me it helps set the atmosphere and a tone to what you are reading, and I feel that sometimes the reader can come off as cold or distant.  Maybe this is just me.  Otherwise, I think it is very useful, and I’m happy that I’ve been clued into the wonderful world of RSS!

Books:
The Virgin Suicides, I Capture the Castle, the Uglies trilogy, Little House on the Prairie, Harry Potter, anything Francesca Lia Block writes, Alice in Wonderland, I like little kids books-you get the picture!

Movies:
Legends of the Fall, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, Pride and Prejudice, there are others I can’t think of right now.

Music:
ABBA, Bat for Lashes, Fleet Foxes, Tom Petty, Bon Iver, Lisa Mitchell, Coldplay, Pearl Jam, Florence and the Machine, etc., etc.

I guess that’s all I have to say for now!
See you soon,
Sara ♥