Week 7: Thing 17 Library 2.0

I have been hearing about Library 2.0 for a long time now. The idea of library users being able to be active participants in the library through our website and catalogue is a great idea. Through an interactive website, library users could write book reviews, tag books, and provide book recommendations that other library users could see. A library user may discover a new author he/she has never thought to read all because of a review that another library user has written.

Week 7, Thing #16 Technorati

Well, Technorati was definitely something different to try. I had not heard of it before participating in this "Thing". Do I think I will use Technorati in the future? Probably not. The main thing I learned is what it is and how to use it. I did have some problems trying an advanced search. I could not find the advanced search tab or link.

If a patron asked what tool to use to find blogs I will mostly likely point them towards Google Blog Search. I found it much easier to use and it is likely a tool I will use in the future.

Week 7, thing #15 Delicious

I have looked at Delicious before and thought it would be a useful tool to take your bookmarks with you where ever you go. Reference staff could use this tool to save all of the bookmarks we use out on the reference desk. Then no matter what computer we are on we are able to access those bookmarks. It would take some time to set up and maybe it is something we will do once everyone has participated in the 25 Things tutorial.

Week 6, Thing #14 Image Generator

I didn't have too much time to fiddle with the image generator so I found one where I could create a tatoo. It took a few minutes to figure out what exactly to do. The main problem for me was trying to post it in blogger.

The image generator I used was:

Shoulder Tatoo

Week 6, Thing #13 LibraryThing

Well I just signed up for a LibraryThing account - Megan's bookshelf. I like the idea of having a place to store all the books that I have read. I just need to find the time to put them all in. Using a tool like this is not new for me. I use Shelfari to do the same thing but Shelfari does not cost money to use.

I find LibraryThing easy to use and would suggest this to a patron. We have a lot of patrons asking us the history of what the have read. Since we are not able to do this for them, suggesting that they use LibraryThing to catalogue what they have read would be benefifical to them.

Week 6, Thing #12 Twitter

Well I signed up for a Twitter account today. Here is the link:
Refassist Home Page
I am not sure if I will use my Twitter account. Again, I am familiar with what Twitter is but I don't feel I will use it. The interesting thing that I found out was that I had quite a few friends that tweet (although some haven't done it in awhile).
From some of the articles I have read I find it interesting on how people use Twitter. Maybe I will follow some of those.

Week 5, Thing 11 Finding Feeds

I previously took a webinar about Web 2.0 and the focus was on blogging and RSS feeds. The instructor was great and I subscribed to a lot of her suggestions. I currently follow a number of the Library Journal blogs. One of their new blogs ShelfRenewal is very interesting. Two Librarians in the U.S. use "best seller buzz" to create interest is older books that may have been over looked.

The keyword search in Google Reader was easy to use to feeds that I might be interested in subscribing to. My main problem is remembering to use my Google Reader to follow my blogs. Sometimes I am overwhelmed when I look at the number of new posts there are to read!

Week 5, Thing 10 RSS

Well, it took me a few tries but I finally was able to figure out how to subscribe to different blogs through the google reader. I tried through bloglines but I couldn't remember how. I think RSS readers are great, it is nice to find out update information without having to read pages and pages to find current information.

Libraries could take advantage of this technology as a way to stay up to date on current information in the library world. They could have an RSS icon on their website to keep patrons current about upcoming programs, new releases and new happenings around the library.

Week 3, Thing 8, anything technology related

This week we can talk about anything technology related. I guess I will talk about cellphones and people driving. This is my pet peeve. While I think cellphones are great to communicate with one another I don't think people should be talking on their cellphones and driving or even texting and driving. This week, after the cellphone law went into effect, I was caught off by a woman driving her huge suburban and talking on her cellphone! GRRRRR! If you need to talk to someone on your cellphone pull over! That is my rant for today.