On this very snowy morning/afternoon/evening, I continue to multi-task as I usually do. Half of me is working on all the work I can't get done during the week because of my day job - that could include anything from photography, music, web design, tonic interviews or web page updates, or in today's case, blogging/thinking/sorting/purging/writing/thinking/laundry/cleaning/thinking/writing - and the other half continues to clean up a mess I inherited from the last project manager. Talk about a great case for hiring based on experience versus a degree; you won't find a better example of why experience matters more than what I'm looking at. But I digress....sorta......
Anyway....I wanna talk about Web 2.0 - the somewhat misnomer that's mostly about social internet activity, application based, collaborative cool! (How's that for a description?) The 2.0 suggests a better version of what's come before. In the case of Web 2.0, as with Library 2.0, the advance is not so much in the technology as in the way the technology is being used. It has become more user-centered and user-controlled, less server fueled and more application/client fueled, it is interactive and dynamic, riddled with multimedia experiences.
As evidenced by some of the recent blog action here, UK Libraries has undertaken an adventuresome task to get staff and faculty up-to-date with the many ways today's Web, or Web 2.0, can enhance not only their personal experience but the service they provide to our patrons. An IMLS study released just last week found that libraries and museums are actually thriving in the new internet environment. They found that patrons trust information from libraries and museums more than perhaps any other internet source. And, instead of realizing long-standing fears that the internet will/is driving users away, evidence suggests it's actually ushering patrons to the libraries! The quick and easy access to information is basically fueling people's desire to learn more. There are several key assets Web 2.0 offers which is helping to create this kind of behavior. RSS, Wikis, Blogs-MySpace-Facebook and other avenues also known as "social networks", mash-ups, and virtual spaces like Second Life.
RSS (really simple syndication) gives one the ability to receive posts from the internet automatically. It's often called a feed. So, for instance, you could subscribe to this blog and every time I make an entry, notice of that entry arrives automatically to your reader (a reader is simply a collector of your RSS feeds such as Google Reader or Bloglines). RSS uses xml syntax and allows you to keep up with certain areas of interest without wasting time trolling to each web page for the information. In the case of a library, for example, one might subscribe to vendor feeds, publisher feeds, other library or librarian blogs that are a wealth of information. I've recently found two such blogs that are proving invaluable professionally: The Shifted Librarian and LISNews. Both fill my Google Reader with helpful information about advances in the field and what others think on any given professional topic that I can access quickly then move on with my day.
Wiki. I can't say enough about this technology. If you're about sharing your knowledge, work in an organization that's desperate to share knowledge within it's ranks or with colleagues abroad, if you're looking for others who share an interest in something with that you'd like to contribute to, wikis are the Mt. Everest of cool. Wikis are perhaps the ultimate collaborative tool. The name "Wiki" was coined by Ward Cunningham in 1995 based on his wikiwikiweb development and comes from the Hawaiian term wiki wiki which means quick. As the name implies, this tool can be easily altered (edited) by any number of people, the underlying language being HTML. Of course the most famous of these collaboratives is Wikipedia. For all the wonderful things it presents to the world is also presents a challenge to educators and researchers in that not everything is factual. By virtue of collaboration, it is prone to being wrong. But I've found, as many students have also, that sometimes it provides just enough "right" to set you looking in the proper direction and, for that, it's worth a lot. We use a wiki in my department for damn near everything we do and it's a HUGE time saver. It may take a little while to implement and, of course, it takes care and feeding, but it ultimately saves tons of time digging through stacks of papers/files, or bugging your co-workers with the same questions you've asked a billion times. It's not out of the question that some portions could be opened to external collaboratives by colleagues with similar interests. I'm of the opinion that every library or library department should institute a wiki if for no other reason than to document their policies and procedures for posterity. I think we tend to think that as long as we know, everything is okay, not taking into account that we will someday retire and our treasures may become someone else's nightmares if they don't know why we did some of things we do now. essentially, you save yourself time and you really will save your next generation a lot of heartache. (this would definitely fall under "good-management" practices!)
Social Networking - I'm not much on MySpace and Facebook though, clearly, millions are. Maybe it's because I have my own domain and can do what I want so, I don't need them as much. Too, I just don't like the whole login/logout BS - my days and nights are far too busy to be bothered. The one "social" technology I've fully embraced is blogging. I resisted for years, played a bit with it on MySpace, but I'm just too damn busy to be bothered. However, participating in Blue 2.0 has completely changed my attitude toward blogging. And not just the act of doing it myself but tapping into other's blags as well. As I mentioned before, The Shifted Librarian and LISNews are regulars in my reader and I am grateful for them. They are learning tools and, in many ways, that's exactly what blogging is supposed to be. Maybe you learn about yourself based on what you write but you can really learn a lot about the world by tapping other blogs. MySpace and Facebook are good for things like individuals and bands that don't have server space or the skills to build a comprehensive website but, never the less, have a real need for an internet presence. In that regard, libraries, too, have a need for an internet presence. MySpace and Facebook provide a way to go to where the people are if you can't get them to come to you. So many younger people are using the two social spheres that it only makes sense they should be accustomed to approaching anyone in the arena - including libraries. What a great place to put your virtual reference desk! And, hey, let's not forget Flickr (which I almost just did). And, just tonight as I continue to think and write (I'm tired of cleaning) I discovered LibraryThing! This is one of those things that I've heard classmates talk about but, because I actually work in a library and take classes, I don't have a lot of time to pla, as it were. Now that I do - WOW! This is pretty cool. OMG - when setting up your profile it asks what other networks your associated with, like MySpace or YouTube - then it gives you a drop down menu. Holy Smokes - there's got to be more than 60-70 social networks listed!!!
One of the most important aspects not to be overlooked about all these incredible social networking avenues is tagging and folksonomies. Again, going back to the idea that Web 2.0 is user controlled, you, the user, can add tags that you think are relevant. What word might you use to find a particular item? Add it as a tag - you'll remember because it is your language, your "folk"sonomy. The bigger aspect of this is the corralling of a common language by the people, taking the taxonomy out of the hands of professionals and putting it in the hands of people who want to easily access the goods. I think this will be a VERY interesting field of study in the the not-too-distant future. After all, language is a fluid beast - it's constantly changing, what one day is slang ends up in the dictionary next day and so it has been for hundreds of years. Tagging is yet another step in this evolution me thinks.
The last two things I mentioned are virtual spaces like Second Life and mashups. Maybe I'll write on them tomorrow but, for now, I have discovered LibraryThing and I'm gonna go have some fun!
As evidenced by some of the recent blog action here, UK Libraries has undertaken an adventuresome task to get staff and faculty up-to-date with the many ways today's Web, or Web 2.0, can enhance not only their personal experience but the service they provide to our patrons. An IMLS study released just last week found that libraries and museums are actually thriving in the new internet environment. They found that patrons trust information from libraries and museums more than perhaps any other internet source. And, instead of realizing long-standing fears that the internet will/is driving users away, evidence suggests it's actually ushering patrons to the libraries! The quick and easy access to information is basically fueling people's desire to learn more. There are several key assets Web 2.0 offers which is helping to create this kind of behavior. RSS, Wikis, Blogs-MySpace-Facebook and other avenues also known as "social networks", mash-ups, and virtual spaces like Second Life.
RSS (really simple syndication) gives one the ability to receive posts from the internet automatically. It's often called a feed. So, for instance, you could subscribe to this blog and every time I make an entry, notice of that entry arrives automatically to your reader (a reader is simply a collector of your RSS feeds such as Google Reader or Bloglines). RSS uses xml syntax and allows you to keep up with certain areas of interest without wasting time trolling to each web page for the information. In the case of a library, for example, one might subscribe to vendor feeds, publisher feeds, other library or librarian blogs that are a wealth of information. I've recently found two such blogs that are proving invaluable professionally: The Shifted Librarian and LISNews. Both fill my Google Reader with helpful information about advances in the field and what others think on any given professional topic that I can access quickly then move on with my day.
Wiki. I can't say enough about this technology. If you're about sharing your knowledge, work in an organization that's desperate to share knowledge within it's ranks or with colleagues abroad, if you're looking for others who share an interest in something with that you'd like to contribute to, wikis are the Mt. Everest of cool. Wikis are perhaps the ultimate collaborative tool. The name "Wiki" was coined by Ward Cunningham in 1995 based on his wikiwikiweb development and comes from the Hawaiian term wiki wiki which means quick. As the name implies, this tool can be easily altered (edited) by any number of people, the underlying language being HTML. Of course the most famous of these collaboratives is Wikipedia. For all the wonderful things it presents to the world is also presents a challenge to educators and researchers in that not everything is factual. By virtue of collaboration, it is prone to being wrong. But I've found, as many students have also, that sometimes it provides just enough "right" to set you looking in the proper direction and, for that, it's worth a lot. We use a wiki in my department for damn near everything we do and it's a HUGE time saver. It may take a little while to implement and, of course, it takes care and feeding, but it ultimately saves tons of time digging through stacks of papers/files, or bugging your co-workers with the same questions you've asked a billion times. It's not out of the question that some portions could be opened to external collaboratives by colleagues with similar interests. I'm of the opinion that every library or library department should institute a wiki if for no other reason than to document their policies and procedures for posterity. I think we tend to think that as long as we know, everything is okay, not taking into account that we will someday retire and our treasures may become someone else's nightmares if they don't know why we did some of things we do now. essentially, you save yourself time and you really will save your next generation a lot of heartache. (this would definitely fall under "good-management" practices!)
Social Networking - I'm not much on MySpace and Facebook though, clearly, millions are. Maybe it's because I have my own domain and can do what I want so, I don't need them as much. Too, I just don't like the whole login/logout BS - my days and nights are far too busy to be bothered. The one "social" technology I've fully embraced is blogging. I resisted for years, played a bit with it on MySpace, but I'm just too damn busy to be bothered. However, participating in Blue 2.0 has completely changed my attitude toward blogging. And not just the act of doing it myself but tapping into other's blags as well. As I mentioned before, The Shifted Librarian and LISNews are regulars in my reader and I am grateful for them. They are learning tools and, in many ways, that's exactly what blogging is supposed to be. Maybe you learn about yourself based on what you write but you can really learn a lot about the world by tapping other blogs. MySpace and Facebook are good for things like individuals and bands that don't have server space or the skills to build a comprehensive website but, never the less, have a real need for an internet presence. In that regard, libraries, too, have a need for an internet presence. MySpace and Facebook provide a way to go to where the people are if you can't get them to come to you. So many younger people are using the two social spheres that it only makes sense they should be accustomed to approaching anyone in the arena - including libraries. What a great place to put your virtual reference desk! And, hey, let's not forget Flickr (which I almost just did). And, just tonight as I continue to think and write (I'm tired of cleaning) I discovered LibraryThing! This is one of those things that I've heard classmates talk about but, because I actually work in a library and take classes, I don't have a lot of time to pla, as it were. Now that I do - WOW! This is pretty cool. OMG - when setting up your profile it asks what other networks your associated with, like MySpace or YouTube - then it gives you a drop down menu. Holy Smokes - there's got to be more than 60-70 social networks listed!!!
One of the most important aspects not to be overlooked about all these incredible social networking avenues is tagging and folksonomies. Again, going back to the idea that Web 2.0 is user controlled, you, the user, can add tags that you think are relevant. What word might you use to find a particular item? Add it as a tag - you'll remember because it is your language, your "folk"sonomy. The bigger aspect of this is the corralling of a common language by the people, taking the taxonomy out of the hands of professionals and putting it in the hands of people who want to easily access the goods. I think this will be a VERY interesting field of study in the the not-too-distant future. After all, language is a fluid beast - it's constantly changing, what one day is slang ends up in the dictionary next day and so it has been for hundreds of years. Tagging is yet another step in this evolution me thinks.
The last two things I mentioned are virtual spaces like Second Life and mashups. Maybe I'll write on them tomorrow but, for now, I have discovered LibraryThing and I'm gonna go have some fun!
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