At the End of All Things

I find myself becoming maudlin here at the end of the Library 2.0 program... [sniff]...

But hey, life moves on. It was fun while it lasted, and I learned some great stuff! Some of it is more applicable to my personal life, and some I can see being more useful in a library setting, but I'm glad I know about the options. In particular, I found the lessons on the different Google applications useful, and the Flickr/MySpace lessons interesting from a social point of view (that's what comes of having a degree in psychology), but the lessons on YouTube and TravelBlog were downright amusing.

If I could have changed or added anything, I would have liked to learn more about how libraries might network information. Some of that was implied in the lessons (podcasts, blogs, myspace), but sometimes it's also nice to have things spelled out in a comprehensive lesson. To have one which just looks at ways in which institutions can mix and match their areas of expertise would be particularly relevant and useful. But other than that, two thumbs way up for the program!

Adios,
Sarcasm (Un)Lmtd.

Net worth of NetLibrary

... is rather on the low end for me. I like to read and I love to discover new books, but NetLibrary isn't yet broad enough to appeal to my tastes. For one thing, it is still new enough to lack all my favorite titles. That is not its fault, and time should cure that ailment. Another problem is the complete lack of ebooks. I love the silence of reading, and the complete freedom of my imagination to create images and voices for the characters. Audiobooks, then, have never been my favorite because by their natures they dictate the speed at which I "read" and the character's voices. So it was a little disappointing to find that the entire available collection is in e-audiobooks. Again, however, time should remedy the situation.

On the plus side, checkout and downloading is extremely easy. Even a technological neanderthal such as I can manage it without too much pain. I also liked the site's organization, which was pretty intuitive, and the impressive array of language options available (although this one doesn't really benefit me, since I'm not actually fluent in any other language).

When the pros and cons have been weighed, I find NetLibrary to have lots of potential, but it's not particularly useful for me at this time. I'll check back in few years, though, and see what the collection looks like then.

Podcasting. Is that a kind of fishing?

I got extremely confused at first by podcasts. I couldn't seem to find anything that would define them in a way I understood, and things weren't made clearer when I heard a few clips of random podcasts. This was because they all seemed to be random and without purpose, not to mention rather crude and reminiscent of a badly constructed fan fiction. I suppose it was luck of the draw that I managed, in my random sampling, to avoid all the good ones.

Finally, someone took pity on me and gave me some examples of what podcasts are and what they can potentially do. At the basic level, they seem to be an audible-only YouTube video. It's a cheap and easy way to "publish" something that would have otherwise had to compete for space on a radio station.

I couldn't figure out how to embed a podcast, but I've included a link at the bottom of this post which leads to one I found somewhat amusing. I listed to part of the Tues, May 13 broadcast, which was admittedly pretty aimless but which I nevertheless found most tasteful of the podcasts I'd sampled. So enjoy!

http://podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=27383

MeTube, YouTube, WhoseTube?

Part of this week's exercise was to explore YouTube. Well, I'm afraid I've already done that... extensively. Often using time I didn't have. But there's so much to see and learn about! If you can spell it (and often even if you can't) you can find a video about it. What I like about videos on YouTube is the immediacy of the experience, because it's so much more compelling and interesting to view a film clip than to just read about it or see a photo.

If I were to apply the concept of YouTube to libraries (which would make sense because working at a library started this whole journey), I can see many ways in which this could be useful. We could do video accounts of our programs, "teaser trailers" for upcoming programs (takes advertising to a whole new level), and create a video tour of the library for people who live too far away to visit.

Now for myself, I mostly use YouTube to watch funny or videos I find interesting . I suppose I could have gone in a scholarly direction with the video I chose to share, but this one captured my fancy so completely I had to make this my choice. Enjoy!

And the winner is...

Farecast! Or at least it is according to me. I agree with whomever awarded this site a Web 2.0 Award (2007), because I find it very useful. My extended family is scattered all over the map, meaning that we have to book flights if we want to see them. It's a constant headache to figure out when to book and when to wait. That's why I like this site, which can tell me how likely it is that fares will drop or rise in the near future.

The only downside I've found so far is that the predictions are only available for certain locations, which don't include most of the cities I need. Of course, I can always let the price for the nearest large city guide my purchase, but that's less exact. As far as I can tell, Farecast doesn't make predictions for international flights. Seeing as that's the site's specialty, the relative scarcity of options could have killed its usefulness. The saving grace is that even if the predictions are only available sporadically, the search results still show the lowest prices from many other airfare search engines.

Google Labs

I have a new fascination.

I think that I will now devote my free time to exploring all the different Google Labs out there. I particularly liked the one where we can create our own web page- very simple, very easy... it doesn't have as much flexibility as other programs, but seeing as the target audience is probably the technologically challenged (me) or those who just have a simple paper they want out there, it's ideal. I actually played around with one, and I've included the link below:

http://sjvandermolen.googlepages.com/home

(Just be warned- I did slip onto my soap box briefly at the end. It shouldn't be too onerous, but..)

I also had fun looking at the pictures of Mars, although that one seemed to be a bit of a dead end. Or at least, I didn't find any other links.

Again, this may be my own level of competence (or lack thereof) at work, but when I tried to do the search with extra information, I didn't really see any difference. Maybe I'll go back for another look when I'm less sleep deprived and check whether I missed some crucial step...

Still, I really liked the web page function, and may use that as a medium to get some ideas "peer reviewed" without paying for postage or the headache of individual addresses.

Searching for Search Engines

For my experiment with search engines, I tried the same search term on Yahoo, Mooter, and Exalead. I'd never heard of two of them before, I had very little idea of what to expect. Just to be contrary, I picked a rather esoteric term (Zivio Ethnic Arts Ensemble- the name of my dance group) and let each chew on it.

I was impressed with Yahoo's results, because the very first item was my group's homepage. The other top 5 results were variations on that theme, such as performance calendars and other options from our website's menu. Mooter and Exalead (who came up with these names, anyway?) didn't quite make that standard. The first item on each list was the same, and while it was the performance calendar for my group- which is pretty close- I didn't see the main page anywhere. Nor were the rest of the top 5 in each site quite as closely related as the Yahoo results (there were also several instances of repeats).

I was alittle surprised not to see Google on the list. Although I suppose it's too well known to be a tool for encouraging people to explore.

Well, I'm too tired to write more now. I'll finish this later in the event that I get up the energy. Apologies if this post didn't make sense.

Online Application Tools...

This could theoretically be the answer to every college student's frantic prayer (which is ironically often interspersed with creative swearing), the one where a paper is due in 2 minutes and the jump drive with the paper on it won't read on a school computer. (And since you're probably wondering, yes, this has happened to me.) As much as I love being able to access my information, though, I'm not entirely sure how this method is superior to email. Perhaps I have just not done enough research yet, but it seems that it would take about the same amount of time to open an attachment, and it will all be in the same format anyway.

However, I can also envision many other scenarios in which I would benefit from various online application tools. One is the feature on creating documents that allows several people to work on a document at once. If anyone reading this has not had the dubious pleasure of coordinating 5 schedules to find a time for working on a group project (and of course with all 5 people being full time students with outside jobs)... this might make group research and writing much easier as a process, and therefore might save my sanity.

Granted, most of the applications I find useful are due to my status as a student. I rather doubt they would be such a distinguished asset in all the other fields out there. I can think of several scenarios in which people physically located far apart must collaborate on a project, but many more others in which the pertinent people are all located in the same work building or where the project, being of a sensitive or complicated nature, requires face-to-face communication.

Ah well. It was fun, anyway.

Library 2.0

I thought of coming up with a witty, sarcastic title for this post, but my brain seems to have failed me. Oh well... I'll get one next time.

Anyway, I've just been learning about Library 2.0, which is apparently rather like Web 2.0. Whatever that means. It rather surprised me, though, that this term is more like a philosophy than anything else. If I understand it correctly, it encapsulates the idea that it is not enough for libraries to excel at their traditional roles, but instead must constantly strive to adapt their services and styles to the ever-changing public.

Why, you ask? Self preservation. According to some authors on the subject, the traditional role of libraries is already heading out the door, and if we fail to change with the times we risk extinction (not to be melodramatic or anything). One writer was bold enough to claim that even keeping hardcopies of books will soon become a pointless, expensive exercise, and that we should begin cutting back to prepare for this change.

I agree that times change, and that in many respects the needs which libraries fill are altering. But it seems too simplistic to say that we must begin building the libraries of the future by anticipating cultural shifts today. There are too many variables to consider, and if nothing else there are too many individuals who enjoy the old-fashioned feeling of a real book in their hands or talking to a real reference librarian face-to-face. I like that Library 2.0 seems to advocate flexibility, but I'm not convinced that we should aspire to the degree of fluidity some authors favor.

Generating Blogs

I have discovered two things: first, that it's incredibly easy to create customized pictures with text. I have millions of options online to write my own words over pictures, mine or someone else's, and create sentimental or funny mementos.

The second thing I discovered is that I don't know what to write for these things. I have dreams of coming up with something so witty and clever people will see it and think, "Wow, I wish I could do that." But really what happens is that I look at other people's ideas and think, "Wow, I wish I could do that." However, I think at any rate I will have a lot of fun messing around on these sites, regardless of my dubious talent to use them.

To salve my wounded pride, I also took the opportunity to look at some map generators which show all the places I've been in the world. Considering that I'm still pretty young, it was satisfying to see so many places highlighted in red. (For those who are curious, I've included these images below.)

All the programs I tested seem like fun ways to jazz up my cyberspace interactions. They could be a cute way to let someone know I care, a personalized invitation or card, or just a funny moment to file away in memory. And at least for that, if nothing else, they are made worthwhile.

My Visited Countries>

Get your own Visited Countries Map from Travel Blog

My Visited US States

Get your own Visited US States Map from Travel Blog

Now What?

Well, I have completed the next step in my training-- namely, to research RSS feeds and create one of my own. This, I feel, I did with moderate thoroughness and a surprising amount of success (meaning moderate success). It was actually fun to go around clicking "Subscribe" to everything, knowing that I'm not going to get a huge bill a month from now. Anyway, I got my minimum number of feeds and I can check that off the list.

But now what?

Well, I guess now I have to go to my Google Reader account to get the compilation of feeds. That's awesome, except I'm not in the habit of doing so, and therefore I haven't yet remembered to make use of it. Of course, it's been more difficult than usual to remember the last two weeks... because for that time my home internet has been down and my only contact with cyberspace has been in miniature frenzied sessions on whatever computer I can find, therefore making my short forays the equivalent of runs for medical supplies: essentials only.
But I digress.

Anyway, this does seem to be a good tool. I can pick and choose which sources I like for my information, and this program will automatically combine new updates from those places on one neat site for my convenience. If I do get in the habit of using it, I think it would be very efficient (more so if I used it for work). The only downside I actually saw was that the site's navigation wasn't intuitively obvious. The only function-related problem I can imagine, not having yet had extensive experience, is that RSS feeds might only prove useful if I'm looking for brand new stories, rather than archived ones. Other than that, thumbs up!

Motley Mashups

I'm still not entirely sure what a mashup is, but just knowing that they exist has already put me way ahead of my previous learning curve. As of right now, I'm getting the impression that mashups are peripherally connected to some larger site, in this case Flickr, and that they find innovative ways to search, categeorize, and use the information from that site.

The ones I liked best were the map and color search functions. The first allowed me to search Flickr photos by location on a world map, while the second made it possible to search all photos in a specific color scheme. Not only could they be incredibly useful, but to be honest, I really liked them because they're pretty dang cool!

Of course, there are a few drawbacks to each approach. For the map search, the relevant photos will only display if they have been tagged or if the features in the photo are distinctive enough to suggest a location. For the color search, while it makes it easy to find monocromatic photos with one dominant hue, multicolored photos without an overarching color scheme will fall by the wayside.

Still, these are two very impressively inventive ways to look for information on the net. I like that someone was thinking outside the box. Specifically, the "search term" box.

And Ode to Flickr

I have to admit, I was a bit leery of any site that shares photos. I was thinking of it as a sort of extended MySpace for very visual people. Seeing as I'm still not that enthusiastic about MySpace, I wasn't expecting great things from Flickr.

But wow! I think I'm actually a convert! For one thing, it's actually a great site if I'm specifically looking for photos. I tried it out by typing in all sorts of esoteric search terms, and there were tons of hits. Perhaps not as many as I might get from Google, but they generally had closer relevance to my topic than Google results. The other thing, as people who have read my other posts will have figured out, is that I'm big on organization. And this site has it- I can put in my own tags on pictures, I can put tags on a map to show where they were taken, I can organize them by subject and then with subgroups... okay, enough salivating.

I think the only reason I didn't sign up for an account on the spot is that I don't have a lot of pictures. But since I'm working on fixing my camera, perhaps I'll remedy that situation and create my own little Flickr page!

Just for entertainment purposes, I'm including the link to a picture I found particularly great. It will give you an idea of what I consider important in life. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocieposse/180653960/

Library Thing... how descriptive.

I got started on my Library Thing catalogue, and I have to say that I like it. I'm always a fan when I get to share my favorite books and write my own reviews (i.e. I can stand on my soap boxes for a captive audience).

However, the format of the site somtimes confused me. For example, there should have been a way for me to create a "favorite authors" list, which I was somehow supposed to do through the "author's page". Sounds simple enough, except I couldn't find the "author's page". If it's there, it's not glaringly obvious. And I really need obvious.

In favor of Library Thing is the customizability of the cataloge. I have an account with Shelfari, and there I have far fewer options for organizing my titles. I also like how I can tag my books in addition to writing a review (although I usually just do the review, and to be perverse I put it in the "tags" box).

So that's been my experience with LibraryThing so far. I think it would make a great tool for libraries, mostly because it lets people express why they liked to didn't like something. Not only does that make people feel important (referring back to the soap box comment), but it gives the people who haven't read a particular book some clues as to whether they might like it, too.

By the way- for all interested parties, here's the link to my LibraryThing page:
www.librarything.com/catalogue/sjv0818

I though "Technorati" was a medical condition...

Well, you learn something every day. So not only have I learned that "Technorati" is really a site on the web which searches blogs, but I have learned that I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it.

I suppose it's rather like a youtube for blogs, but it seems to almost defeat the purpose to require special tagging/registration before Technorati can find a blog. In my experience, most people who tag their blogs are very motivated to spread some sort of message or viewpoint. So, the main hits off this site will likely be collections of blogs from extremists and activists. My personal attempts at searches tended to bring up political blogs (always identified as either very liberal or very conservative), plus a few that just seemed to have extreme opinions on everything.

Honestly, Google worked about as well, and the results were much more diverse.

Mmmm... Del.icio.us!

First of all, my random brain has to take a moment and wonder what was going through their heads when they named a search-related site "del.icio.us". [Pause.]

Okay, that's done. Moving on...

I'm actually not convinced that del.icio.us is a particularly useful site. Perhaps this just stems from it not being particularly relevant to my life- if I needed to access a certain genre of sites a great deal for work or school, I suppose I can see that it would be very useful. And I do like that I can tag something and then access that tag from any computer with intertnet access. Not being able to do that has, on a few past occasions, been an annoyance.

There are some downsides, though: first, the slightest spelling error invalidates the search. So if I'm trying to look up a subject I don't know how to spell, perhaps because I'm new to it or because it's rather esoteric, this would not be a tool of choice. Also, the searches are relatively narrow. If I type in "Salt Lake City", it only gives me those documents that have been tagged with that complete phrase, or those with the complete phrase in the title. It does not pick up on partial phrases or hits in the body of the text.

However, I'll acknowledge that my assessment comes from a relatively quick and superficial examination. Maybe if I use it regularly for a while, I fill become more charitable, especially as I learn how to use it more efficiently.

What the heck are "Wikis"?

Actually, I'm not quite as clueless as the title of this blog implies. But I guess I'm pretty close because I first thought that "wikis" just referred to Wikipedia. ("What do you mean, there's more than one?!")

As a college student, my peers (and especially teachers) do not hold wikis in high regard. Academia is more concerned with peer-reviewed scholarly journals and other sources of verifiable facts. So, although Wikipedia and similar sites may serve a very valid purpose, I have not been familiar with that aspect in the past. I therefore had to throttle my knee-jerk negativity upon hearing that I was going to learn about wikis. [Oh Horrors!]

While I still don't like to rely on wikis for information when accuracy is important, I really like the idea of using a book-lovers wiki on a library site. That would be a great way to stimulate discussion in the community, and objective truth doesn't really matter because it's about subjective opinions, anyway. I would certainly visit such a site, especially if I could find someone who liked my favorites and could recommend others.

However, having said all that, I do invite people to disagree. Especially if someone reading this would like to point out scenarios in which it would be fine to rely on information from wikis (remembering my scenario of accuracy being important), I would love to hear that feedback.

Musings on My Space

As part of my education, I'm learning about the use of My Space. The part that interests me is the debate as to the wisdom of using such extremely public forums for information-sharing and discussion. To me, it looks like most of the protest against such use stems from fear that someone unscrupulous will see our information and use it to bad ends. And this is one I can appreciate.

Even if we don't venture into debating the actual validity of these fears, they are real feelings that every electronic predator intenisifies. I myself am reluctant to put personal information online. When I was a young teenager, I heard a story (no telling how true it is) that a police officer in the vice squad conducted a test: he gave his daughter's screen name (which, by the way, did not contain personal info) to their squad's computer expert, and within an hour that expert could tell the first officer his daughter's name, age, and home address.

Now, this was almost 10 years ago-- by now, I don't have any objective knowledge as to how true this may be in its own right, much less how it applies generally. But ever since, I have carried the message with me that sharing information online, any information, is dangerous.

What do you think? Is this danger real? Or is the true risk being exaggerated by media and urban legends?

Getting Started

Where to begin? Ah, the freedom of such gloriously blank space!

This blog should be a place rich in ideas and fodder for discussions, largely because I am in that peculiar stage of life where I am about to leave the hallowed halls of college, but I do not yet see myself as a true "adult". This may mean that the next few months will find me exploring some of the resulting intillectual questions/quandaries on this site...
...which should, at the least, provide ample amusement for any readers.

As you may have guessed from this short introduction, I try not to take myself too seriously. I may wax eloquent once in a while on some topic important to me (and heaven forbid, but I have a soapbox or two). Still, I do make a serious effort to have an open mind and consider other perspectives. I value open and free communication, so I particularly welcome replies that will stimulate discussions, further questions, etc... all on a friendly basis, of course.

Sometimes I may pose questions that puzzle me. Other times I'll just write quick updates on significant (or marginally so) events in my life. Who knows what this blog will become? At this point, the possibilities are endless.