#18 - web based apps

In the past I have played a little bit with google docs. The most valuable feature for me was the ability to access documents from any computer, for example, home and work. One particular example was a travel itinerary when we went overseas. It was mostly complete when we left, but I was able to add to it & modify sections while travelling.

This session of the learning 2.0 course is a good opportunity to have a look at Zoho in comparison to google. I signed up, which like most web 2.0 apps was straight forward enough. The layout is fairly clear, although the toolbar initially looks a bit cluttered. This, however, can be modified and less frequently used buttons removed. The screen keeps a list of your documents in the left hand side of the screen. This differs from google docs which lists your documents in one window, then opens a document in a new window or tab of the browser. This is obviously a very persoanl preference but form my purposes I think the Zoho layout may my preference.

I looked through the welcome document which outlined the key features, then launched into writing this post. My intention is to try the feature that allows me to publish the document directly to my blog.

Edit: The post went through to my blog with no real problem. Zoho gave the option of publishing it to my drafts folder, but I went the whole hog. It also offers the ability to add tags to the post which worked fine, keeping in mind that they are Technorati tags embedded in the post not regular blogsport tags.

I think I'll keep playing with Zoho for a while as I suspect I may prefer it to google docs.


Technorati Tags zoho,google,apps,docs,web-based

#17 - playing around with PBWiki

This excercise simply involved adding my blog to the "play" wiki set up for this course. I tried adding in the url and title in square brackets as indicated but this didn't work. I could just put the url in by itself as others have done, but I ended up using the editing menu at the top of the page to insert a link with title.

A very easy and straightforward thing to do. Makes me want to come up with an excuse to start my own wiki. I just need a reason or topic for it. Maybe I'm better of just contrinuting tho others like Wikipedia and Library Success as a way of playing & learning.

#16 - wikis

I think Wikis in general have been somewhat hidden behind the success of Wikipedia. Wikipedia itself is a fantastic site in my opinion. No, it's not Encyclopedia Brittanica and no, I won't cite it in an essay. However, it is so much faster and simpler to search than it is to get into the Brittanica through the library website and for many types of general information it's just as good, or better.

The SJCPL wiki was a great use of the technology. They use it for subjects guides and it is therefore set up to only be edited by library staff. The format allows them to includes listings of new books on the subject and magazine subscriptions (all linked into their catalogue), along links to websites and other useful pieces of information. A really good example of how wikis can be used as the new pathfinders.

I think the Library Success wiki is fantastic too. A true wiki allowing anyone to register and add or edit entries. This is an ideal application for a wiki. It gives everyone the opporunity to share their knowledge about libraries with all interested people. People can add links, book references, quotes, ideas, whatever they feel valuable. This site looks to be a valuable resource and I have now added it to my del.icio.us and also added the updates RSS feed to my reader.

#15 - on Library 2.0 & web 2.0

Among the readings for this sessions, I particularly liked the article by Michael Stephens. His first point - that Librarian 2.0 plans for their users - is a crucial one. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that "old fashioned" libraries were stuffy and too inward looking and that the new breed of 2.0 librarians are outward focused because we are on facebook, youtube, flickr and blogspot.

The danger is that we start using these technologies simply because they are there, or fashionable, or because someone else is using them. Michael Stephens points out that we need to start with our users. What do they need? How can they best be served? Then we look for the technologies that can meet that need. It's not just about using all the available technologies. It is about using the technoogies that best meet our users' needs.

At the same time, we need to be up to date with the latest technologies so that we know what is available when we see a need. That is where programs like this Learning 2.0 course come in handy. The other aspect of this awareness is that like it or not, people ask us for help on public internet terminals. It's all very well to have a policy that they are self help and we can't always provide assistance, but surely we can aim to provide better service that that?

Librarians who are more comfortable with the online world will be better able to help users find their way around. We don't need to be intimate with every website, every web 2.0 tool, every email app. The more we use these types of things, the more comfortable we will be with them generally. Having used various applications in the course, we should be in a position to provide at least some guidance to a user struggling through a similar application that we have never seen. This is what I feel anyway.

#14 - technorati

Given the huge popularity in blogging, the development of a site dedicated to searching and tracking blogs makes sense. Technorati is one such site and probably the most popular. Many blogs are set up to automatically "ping" Technorati so it knows to index new content when blogs are updated. This ensures that it accurately reflects the constantly changing content of this medium.

There are several ways to search with Technorati. I tried a search for "learning 2.0", the default search is to search tags. The way these results are presented was discussed in an earlier post. The search can easily be modified to search entire posts. The search for items tagged "learning 2.0" returned 107 hits, while searching entire posts found 513. This is using the default option of searching blogs with "some authority" according to technorati's authority ranking. Modifying the search to include blogs with any authority ranking returned fugures of 1098 and 5047 respectively, including a number of posts that were clearly part of this program. Note also that I was searching for the phrase "learning 2.0" not individual keywords.

The results are obviously different as they reflect the fact the the content of a post may not warrant being tagged as "leanring 2.0" everytime the phrase is used. I also performed the same search using the blog directory search function on the advanced search page. This returned 352 blogs that are tagged that way.