Tag team

I can lots of potential with using social bookmarking. The obvious one is as a collaborative online reference tool. I can see each our branch libraries contributing to a reference group social bookmarking website. I like the way Sutherland Library e.g. highlight the fact that professional librarians are choosing the websites and that they have found them to be useful reference tools. It seems a nice blend between the folksonomy angle and the professional cataloguing skills of librarians.

I can also see it being used by specialists e.g. young people's as a way of sharing good websites, especially if you have an rss feed set up in a network so that people are alerted when new ones are added. I would be far more likely to check them out if I was prompted rather than having the self-discpline to check regularly (let's be honest here).

I can also see it as being useful for projects e.g. we've got an indigenous library liaison committee brainstorming and discussing possibilities at the moment. This could be a great way to share info as each of us come across useful websites.

I've always been pretty organised with my favourites (with subfolders etc), but this seems to be much more efficient and effective. Feeling pretty excited about this!

I also like Library Thing. We could use it with our library book clubs, like Noosa has done. I also like the idea of it being part of our online catalogue. I prefer the idea of a one-stop service, rather than people having to go to several places. It will be more likely to be successful.

RSS Feeds My Imagination

It was easy to subscribe to Bloglines and set up a free account. I can see that RSS feeds would be useful personally to aggregate new items appearing on blogs that interest me. The tricky bit is narrowing that list of blogs down, so I'm not being overwhelmed with new stuff. I can see more benefit for RSS feeds for our customers - keeping them informed of new events and programs, as an example. We currently have a monthly e-newsletter, and this seems the logical next step so that customers aren't having to wait until the next month to find out what's happening or having to constantly go to our website and look for updates.

I found searching for the particular blogs I wanted to subscribe to a bit overwhelming. So I didn't search widely to be honest. The sites I ended up selecting were OPAL training, Between the Shelves (our library blog for young people), ABC top stories, Librarians Internet Index New This Week and Bloglines News.

Social butterfly networking

I am already on Facebook, so I have a basic knowledge of this utility. I was interested in looking at Twitter because of the "hype" surrounding it. Wasn't particularly impressed.

In terms of possibilities for our library service, I can see advantages in having a presence on Facebook with a link to our catalogue. I can also see possibilities with online friends of the library via such networks, to promote events and encourage interaction. We could possibly have a book discussion group too. This could work particularly well with young people.

I liked the use of Facebook by IFLA and because I am interested in attending this conference intend to sign up as a friend, so I can keep posted about what's happening without having to do much searching.

Wading through the world of wikis

Before this session I didn't really quite get the difference between blogs and wikis. Now I do. Yay! I had a go at posting a thread on the slq library 2.0 wetpaint site (under Jennyfers). Nothing particularly rivetting to say though.

In terms of the different wikis I explored, there are quite a few possibilities for public libraries. I like the collaborative nature of wikis. I know that our staff have previously used a wiki to record their conference experiences. I can see too that we could use one for our library technology committee to use in between meetings. It could become a virtual meeting and development place. A wiki could be used to develop a local "story".

Playing with photos

On the road again...

Had fun exploring Flickr. Could spend hours here quite easily as I'm an avid photographer. I like the idea of being able to add tags and quickly search my photos, as I take lots of digital photos when I travel. My next trip will be to New Caledonia, the closest I can get to France which is my favourite travel destination.

Can see quite a few uses for our library service, including events, competition results, local history, photo buffs club (like a book group but with photos)... Look forward to my next test-drive, but for now it's on the road again... back to my office.

What a fun start. My first test-drive. I'd come prepared with some unusual names for my blog address and password, but surprise surprise they were already taken. Just goes to show that sometimes you just aren't as original as you think you are.

I hope to develop a comfortable familiarity with Web 2.0 technology. I've got some limited general knowledge, but want to feel more au fait. I can already see lots of possibilities from this first taste today.

I think that life long learning is a key principle. It can sometimes get a bit harder as we become more advanced in years, but the thirst for knowledge doesn't necessarily abate. Our library service participating in this online learning demonstrates our belief in the importance of this key principle.

I've come across a few blogs, of varying quality and usefulness. They seem to be becoming more effective and sophisticated. I like their interactivity and potential for sharing ideas and info. We have just started our first library blog (for young people) and it is being well subscribed to. I can see other possibilities - perhaps for local history/genealogy, online bookclub type thing, promoting activities as just a couple of examples. The sticky bit will be getting the time to devote to their development and upkeep.