THE END!

I have finally completed all of the learning 2.0 activities! So what did I think of everything? I think the program was good for making me look differently at programs that I was either already familiar with or had a vague idea about. I now see many different internet tools as more then just interesting gadgets for me to try out. I now see them as potential tools for a library, I now look at things as to how they could benefit a library. This should be a good way to think when I enter the exciting world of work. My favorite activity was this blog. I think that blogging is the most important activity in the list and that it is a good thing that we get the most practice with it of any of the activities. Some of the others are rather limited in there application but in the blog we were capable of describing all of the other activities.

By the way as a good bye present to everyone; go google the words "do a barrel roll". Enjoy. 

Expoloring Lulu

      I looked through some of the pages in the web 2.0 activity today and have decided to talk about Lulu. Lulu is a site for people who are not only interested in reading books but also publishing their own. It has sections for buying books (which has relatively low prices) and a section to help writers to get there books ready for publication. I think the site is well organized and pretty easy to use. I enjoyed the layout and loved the old time illustrations that were in the graphics of the page. The site also had a feature that allowed you to make a very professional looking portfolio. It also offered a cost calculator for the portfolio. If you know any artists you know that we don't have a lot of money so it is good to know how may couch cushions and vending machine we are going to have to violate to get the money to pay for something. The price was low for a colour printing. The services to help auther's publish were also very nice. They had packages available to help with many different parts of publication including marketing and distribution.
     I was happy to find this resource and may use it to print up my portfolio in the future. I also thought some of the more kitschy things on the site might be good for making presents for my more sentimental relatives over the holidays.

Library 2.0

       Today I started to look into the future of libraries with library 2.0. I looked at the possibilities and possible problems that libraries in the future will have. I read two articles and learned the perspectives on two individuals on what should be done to face the problems that they foresaw afflicting libraries. The First Article was Away From The "Icebergs" by Rick Anderson which highlighted a few of the difficulties libraries might face in the future. Rick Anderson believes that the physical collection should no longer contain as many "just in case books", that the library should try to make its tools self explanatory so that users do not need to be educated in them and that users should not be expected to come to the library, the library should come to them. I agreed with him on the point of education in the libraries in that the searches and organization of a library should be self-explanatory so that users are able to find things on their own without having a mental breakdown. I also Libraries should try to do a bit of self promotion in the community and that librarians should find patrons that look like they need help not just wait for someone to come to the desk and ask for it. I don't believe that libraries should be intruding on people at home when they don't want them around. I do not think the library should be sending junk mail and spam to people in the community. I also disagree with Anderson on the point of the collection, just because electronic media is available I don't believe this is an excuse to cut too far back on the physical collection. Some patrons will not be comfortable with electronic media and others may not even have access to it. I have lived out in the middle of the Adirondacks for most of my life and satellite internet is no roadrunner.
    The second article that I read was Into A New World Of Librarianship by Michael Stephens. I agreed with Stephens on the Idea that the library should be for the patrons and community and what it contains and the services it provides should be specifically designed for them. It would be a waste of money for a library located in a community of squirrels to purchase a large collection of reference books the Atlantic Ocean and octopus harpooning, but this same collection would be greatly appreciated in Atlantis. I also liked Stephens point about the library not purchasing new technology for the sake of having it but only as an improvement on the library. I think this is important to remember since libraries have limited funds and too much technology may scare off some users, my parents for instance would freak out if they saw a self check out machine in our local library.
   To end this entry off right I figured I would add a video with a future library from a scifi perspective.

Zotero and Citation management

My Zotero
Today I learned (or in internet speak TIL) about Zotero and citation management. I think that this could be one of the more useful tools I have learned about so far. This is the first time I have used this product and believe that it may have saved me a lot of time in the past in paper writing. I plan on doing a bit of experimenting with it in the future. I also see how this tool might be useful in a library. A librarian casually surfing through the internet might come across a book or periodical that he/she thinks would be a good addition to the collection and with the help of zotero could just drag it down and save all the citation information so at a later date they would know how to find and identify the item for purchase. This would also help in gathering resources for a patron of the library. you could find them books and then print out a list with citations. I am not yet familiar enough with this tool to point out what its kinks are but I am sure it has a few problems that need to be addressed.

Tagging

     I can see that tagging could be a very useful tool for libraries. If you have patrons of a library tag books in a electronic system it may become easier to search for books that are similar to the ones they have already enjoyed. This like most systems has a down side. I for one, am unlikely to be able to resist the temptation to put in an odd tag on a book such as lobster or orchard when the book has nothing to do with either thing. This although amusing would not help you in your search for a book about apple orchards. The solution to this problem would be to make the librarians responsible for the tags which would be time consuming and would negate the social aspect of the tagging. The bookmarking site that I looked at in order to learn about tagging Delicious.com didn't seem to have too many people like me who when asked for a tag for a site on making cupcakes that look like the stars of musical theatre would write in the word Rasputin. This may be because of the vast number of users and the lowered chances that one tag of Rasputin on a cooking site would have any effect. So the Solution to the mistagging problem would be to have many people participate and have the tags only show up if they have been suggested multiple times.

RSS Feeds

Today I set up a Google Reader in order to compile some of my favorite webpages along with some new library science related pages into an RSS feed. I think of the activities that we have done so far this was by far the most useful. I did not have an RSS feed set up before this point and although I did know what they were I had not seen how useful they could be until doing this activity. I compiled about 13 pages the topics of which where books, movies, video games (I don't really understand why most libraries don't have these), technology, comic books, news and of course library science. I decided to include sights that would give me information on the latest in entertainment so that I can keep up on what people and there for library users are interested in. I also added reddit so that I can stay up on what is happening on the internet in general. The most useful discovery tool for finding fees was the Real-Time Search. I think this was more because of the design of its webpage then its functionality for me. I liked its minimalist look and it seemed less intimidating then the others text heavy pages. For the most part though I just went to my personal favorite pages and found them that way. This would not have been a good strategy for someone new to the web as they would not have any favorites to check out.

Wiki

       I like most people on the web have used Wikipedia a great deal. I use it to look up any stray fact that I might need or in order to win or lose arguments with my friends. I liked seeing the different ways in which libraries are using wikis and think that this is a great way of sharing information about your library with the community and having them be able to share with you as well. The wiki does not have the stigma that some social media sites like Facebook have so you could use it to connect with people in a less controversial way. Wikis are easy to use and are often easily navigated through. You could have people from your community reviewing books they have read on the site so that you can get many more options that you might have had if just librarians and library staff could edit the page. This free form editing may also be a problem for some libraries since wikis invite pranks. I librarian would have to keep up to date on what was on the wiki which may take a great deal of their time. I looked at the Book Lovers Wiki and I liked the reviews feature. I would have liked to see more book reviews and on a greater verity of genres.