Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki

Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki is cool!
I signed up a few days ago as I was invited to by someone. Back then, not knowing that this was part of the exercise- to add our blog's URL to the 'favourite blogs'.
It is so cool that we have our own sandbox where we can add little entries in the appropriate page.
During this, I accidentally added a quote in the fav recipe page and was shocked when I realised this- as I thought that we wouldn't be able to delete anything.
HOWEVER! Ta-da! deleting it was as simple as typing it in the first place.
Thanks to this, I could delete it before anyone read it :p
Another wonderful thing about sandbox is that we can add entries to an already existing entry.
I imagined it to be like all other sites where one entry would be on one page, another entry on the next page etc etc.

library wikis

What I found interesting was that library wikis had specific services to groups of people such as for the disabled, older adults, teens, poor and homeless, distance learners..and many more!
For the older adults, there is a programme to teach (train) about technology to those people.
As well as that, they also have a site called Info Eyes- where the disabled people can talk to librarians on live on the Internet!
I think having section with book reviews (public access to read and write) will be a great application for the libraries, as many people will use this application when they are in the library.

WEB 2.0 AND LIBRARY2.0

In this modern world, web2.0 is becoming increasingly popular and ideal for many people.
Library2.0 according to Wikipedia(2008), is defined as a: "...model for a modernized form of library service that reflects a transition within the library world in the way that services are delivered to users. The focus is on user-centered change and participation in the creation of content and community". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_2.0)

I think this will mean more learning and training for everyone who uses the library (librarians and patrons).
My opinion for Library2.0 is that, more people (esp. those that don't come into the library often) will be wanting to use the library more often as it becomes easier for them.

From the article "Away from the “icebergs”, Rick Anderson says that we need to find new ways to bring our services to patrons rather than insisting that they come to us—whether physically or virtually. At a minimum, this means placing library services and content in the user’s preferred environment (i.e., the Web); even better, it means integrating our services into their daily patterns of work, study and play.
This means that patrons will find it more convenient as they don't necessarily need to come into the library so much, because they can do almost everything on the web.

I think that the libraries (including the North Shore Libraries) will be very different to the libraries we have now, in approx 5-10years time.
I imagine that most services such as options to purchase from an online bookseller, displays of availability in any geographically proximate library (John Riemer) could possibly happen.

We are still collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming, however we lack those characteristics as mentioned above.

I personally think that our current libraries are doing a very good job, and it is already very easy and convenient to use for all people, however I believe that if a little bit more of services are made available, it would "attract" more patrons into using the libraries.

Technorati

Technorati sounded quite complex when I first heard about it, but actually it isn't as complex as it sounds!
Firstly, I had a look around Technorati and explored the different tabs/tags.
Its very handy that all the blogs/blog posts are separated into different categories which means that I can choose the ones that I want to read, instead of scrolling down millions of blogs and blogposts to find something that I want to read about.

What I found funny was that when I searched for Learning 2.0 through the blog directory, nothing came up. However, when I searched Learning 2.0 in blog posts I came up with thousands!

This time I explored poplular blogs, searches and tags.
I came up with the search results of a topic I choose from popular searches (I choose olympics) but what suprised me was that for this, it also showed my a list of all the different tags I could search by other than "olympics". I recall that this was not shown when I searched for Learning 2.0, because in order to find other tags; I had to actually click into a post and scroll down to see the tags that were related to the blogpost.

Del.icio.us

I think that Del.icio.us is an excellent tool that enables people to quickly and easily bookmark their page.
I like the way how Del.icio.us works by tagging, and especially the fact that everyone can see what you have bookmarked.
Like what the man had said about Del.icio.us on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU,
making Del.icio.us public is a fantastic idea, as it means that you are sharing your information with everyone else in the world who shares the same interest as you.

Also if you are looking for information on a particular topic, then through tags and user names of other people from Del.icio.us that have bookmarked specific pages from the web, you can find information on the topic that you are researching for, more quickly.
As well as that, you are able to see comments written by other users so this can also become good information.

Therefore, I think that Del.icio.us is useful to know as it comes very handy at times you need it the most.

RSS(2)

For me, Blogline was the easiest place where I could search to find a feed.
I used the search box on the top right hand side of the page, and searched for a subject under 'search for feeds'.
After doing this, Bloglines showed me a list of different blogs/website that related to the subject matter I had typed.
On the page that showed the results of my search, and under the names of the blog/websites it said 'preview feed' and 'subscribe to feed'.
All I had to do was to click on 'subscribe to feed' and then 'subscribe'.

Another way to locate a feed is by searching for the post.
On the search box, by entering the keyword of what I was looking for, Blogline came up with pages that was full of posts relating to the keyword which I had typed in.

RSS (1)

Firstly, making a Blogline account was really simple- all I had to do was enter my e-mail address, a password and confirm it through my inbox.

What I like about RSS and news feeds is that by adding the name of the blog or the URL to me feeds, I can check on the updates of those places that I have added; very quickly.
By clicking onto 'feeds', and then on the name of the blog/site it will take you straight to the site showing the recent updates.
Now I can use RSS to check the latest book review, see what songs are in the top lists, and to check out some recipes as one of my hobby is cooking.
I think libraries can use RSS for many reasons. For example, it is more fast and convinient for librarians to just click on their feeds to go to a specific website rather than typing out the address of that site.
As for the NS librarians, we can do the same- to go straight to the NS city council homepage rather than going from the library homepage, and then to the council homepage (as I had been doing previously).

Some library related blogs are the 'NYT>Books', 'The Shifted Librarian', and the 'Publishers Weekly -Best Seller News'

Good Water

Ever heard of 'The Good Water Company'?
I recently found out about this company. What makes this company so special is the fact that they use renewable resources to make the bottle (corn).

http://www.goodwater.org.nz/

If you go to this site, you can gain access to the information about the company.
Everytime a bottle of Good Water if sold, a proportion of the money goes to the education of young Kiwis having a relationship with the Sir Peter Blake Trust.
The site also has information on the retailers, where to buy the water and so on..
It also says that the company will come to collect your empty bottles so that is can be reused .

What I like the most from the site, is that there is a short video clip which shows a bottle being made. Pretty cool right?

The Good Water relates to 'technology' as there are a number of processes that needs to be done in order for the bottle to reach you-which involes the use of machinery to make the bottle, delivery...etc.

If you have time, why not go into the link above and find out more on the Good Water Company?

Flickr Color Pickr & Montagr

In technology, a mashup is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2008).


Firstly, in my opinion Flickr Color Pickr is a really useful tool,
as if you are looking for photos that are of a specific colour all you have to do is
click on the colour you are looking for, and SWOOSH- its all there!
VERY easy to use. Also by scrolling down the bar, you can get photos of different brightness.
(ie: pick a colour, and then use the bar and scroll right down to get very bright photos, and scroll right up to get photos that look dark).


Montagr is AWESOME!
By using photos uploaded on Flickr, you can create a photo mosaic with them.
I have seen a couple of face images, and when you move your mouse over the photos in the photo mosaic, you can see the photo enlarged. When clicking on a picture that is in the photo mosaic, it leads you to the photo mosaic of the picture that you have just clicked on.
Montagr is a fun and interesting application.
If I happen to upload any photos on Flickr in future,
I shall try making a photo mosaic of my own!


The exercise states that I should be talking about one of the applications, however I found both of these very interesting so I decided to talk about them both :)