Technology, #7, Week Three

This is an entry for general Technology that I missed on #7, Week Three.

When I was in graduate school we had to use punch cards to insert in the mainframe. During my business career I have seen the entire revolution in technology. When I worked at Gannett Outdoor Group, I computerized the entire Marketing Department which had previously used electric typewriters.

The advent of instant communication worldwide has been a great boon, although there have been some negatives. On balance it's been for the better.

Is this really the end?

This was an interesting and educational exercise. However, I found that it took much more than 30 minutes a week. Some exercises were much easier than others and some of the topics I was already using.

I think the podcasts link is one of the most useful and didn't realize there were so many library podcasts available.

If another discovery program was offered, I wouold certainly consider participating again.

Thanks to all of you who put this together, monitored it, and encouraged it.

Audiobooks

Many of my favorite books are not available on audio. However, my favorite book, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens was available.

Podcasts, Smodcasts!

Checked out podcast,net and podcastalley.com. There were 63 library podcasts on the former and 126 library podcasts on the latter. I subscribed to the British Library podcasts which shuld provide an intersting perspective on libraries in the UK.

I Tube, YouTube

I was familiar with YouTube as one of my sons has his band videos posted. The band is called Sacrificial Blood. He will be going on an East Coast tour the first two weeks of January with 11 shows in 13 days in 6 states.

There is so much on YouTube, it's hard to find things from a browsing standpoint.

Could be of use from a reference standpoint in a library.

Our recruitment video is posted on YouTube.

Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

I chose Lulu as my website and found all kinds of things that would be useful to the library. The only downside is that you have to purchase some things. Still, it could be a useful productivity tool.

Let's Collaborate

I explored Google Docs and found that the word processing productivity tool works in a similar way to Word. I create a couple of test documents.

Facebook

I was previously aware of Facebook and am registered there. The BooksiRead seems particularly well-suited for QL staff and customers. Some of the other possibilities were covered in earlier steps in Learning 2.0.

Wiki Me This

I learned that Wiki is a Hawaiian word for quick. I visited the book lovers and Library Success wikis. Book reviews are always of use to librarians. The Library Success wiki coould use a chapter on branding and marketing.

Playing Around with Wikis

I went on tow locations on the instruction wiki and left suggestions on how branding could be of help to a library. I also invited art students to use their design skills as volunteers for a library.

Library 2.0 / Web 2.0

If Rick Anderson has seen a -55% decline in circulation over the last ten years, he should be fired. Library 2.0 / Web 2.0 is a supplement to traditional library offerings and services. I don't think it is the responsibility of the library to "teach" its customers, but to assist them. OCLC's work with Open WorldCat sounds very interesting and promising. 2.0 technology needs to be wanted by both staff and customers.

Technorati

Seems very easy to use. Found 813 items for "Learning 2.0" by searching blogs. Found no items for tags. Again, there appear to be so many tools it's hard to decide which ones should be used.

Del.icio.us

Was able to set up my own account. I'm finding that there are so many tools to choose from it's difficult to do a comparison without spending an inordinate amount of time. It seems easier to just to a normal search. However, if that fails, the other tools would be helpful.