Week 8 Mashups and API

I love Mashups. I'm sure I don't understand API, but as long as it works, that's good enough.
I found several mashups that will be useful. It is nice to be able to search for mashups and I have saved the mashup search tools to my delicious account.

• QLock = World Clock...gives times around the world by just hovering a mouse over a world location. http://www.qlock.com/time/gmaps?map=1
  
• Health Map/Global disease alert = Infectious disease outbreaks around the world http://healthmap.org/en
  
• 100 Great American Towns on Google Maps http://www.mibazaar.com/fortune/GreatAmericanTowns.html
  
• Map Builder = Create maps using Google maps. http://www.mapbuilder.net/index.php

Map Builder is quite complex for me, and much more interactive than the others. It allows you to save your maps, edit, share, post, etc. but I have not figured it all out. It is in beta and not totally intuitive (at least for me).
I have played with Rollyo in the past, but it was fun to go back and re-discover it.
I created a new searchroll and it is posted below.
http://rollyo.com/btweed/web_2.0/

After searching librarianblogs for privacy, I found many interesting posts. I found it interesting that Google has a bad privacy profile...guess they are so popular that they can get away with it.

"Privacy International placed Google at the bottom of its ranking because of the sheer amount of data it gathers about users and their activities; because its privacy policies are incomplete and for its poor record of responding to complaints."

I am interested in young people's views on privacy and found the following comment thought provoking:

"Younger people, one could point out, are the only ones for whom it seems to have sunk in that the idea of a truly private life is already an illusion." "Your life is being lived in public whether you choose to acknowledge it or not."
Since Google is a creation of this younger generation, perhaps that provides the reason for the looseness of their privacy policies.

Thanks for the class....I really enjoyed it!

Week 7: Online video hosting and podcasting

I have always thought youTube was just for entertainment and thus never really investigated it. Oh I would play the clips that were sent to me, but I never searched anything out on the site itself. MY GOODNESS! I just looked at a 55 min lecture on hypertension, (the first few minutes), and viewed a clip on echocardiograms...which looked just like the one I had done yesterday! I can see tremendous use for these videos in an academic setting. Beginning with a library tour, designed by students for students, and continuing on to physical assessment videos, ascultation and so much more. I'm sure young folks are well aware of the potential and use of YouTube, but I bet their professors are fairly clueless. I do wonder where all the videos come from and the production and copyright aspects, but that is for another discussion.

I have been utilizing podcasts for a couple of years, and developed a podcasting webpage for our library. It is just a simple linkage to health related podcasts. I am trying to finish a podcast tour for our library, but now I'm wondering if a video clip would be better. I love the commoncraft videos about social networking tools, and have embedded one on a wiki I made. It seems these tools strive to make themselves as interactive with other types of web 2.0 as possible, facilitating transferring of data from one venue to another. The ease is ridiculous. Podcasts could easily be used as instructional tools embedded on our database page for example.
TA Ta...

Week 6 : Photo Sharing

I am really glad to have had this opportunity to "Play" with photo sharing. It has always seemed just a bit out of my reach...or I never took the time to figure it out. I am pretty amazed at how interactive all these programs are and the ability to share photos is so easy. I have a Mac at home and discovered that I could download a simple app which allowed me to export directly from iphoto to facebook. Blogs and wikis too have made it easy to add images. I am sure there are multiple uses for photo sharing in library land. Once exposed to all these various tools, it is great fun to discover how to apply them in a useful way. 

Week 5 Web Office Tools

I really enjoyed trying out Google Docs. I had heard about it, but being involved in this class got me to try it. I know students on our campus are using it already. I think Web docs are probably evolving towards the future, but probably not the definitive product. The way things keep changing I imagine that eventually there will be even better, more versatile tools.
I think ZOHO seems to have more applications than google docs, but google is so ubiquitous and innovative, that I think it is a trusted "friend". Folks are always waiting to see what Google will do next.
So...web docs are in the future, but will continue to morph...for the better. MY Opinion!

Week 4 Social Bookmarking

I really like delicious and have been using it for sometime. Great to see what others are saving and I know I can always get to my bookmarks. I have used it when teaching to pull up a favorite, and we have thought about using it for a reference resource. We have moved our library and all the bookmarks we had are now on a single pc that we don't use much. Need to try establishing a reference account and transfer the bookmarks.
I like tagging, but find I am inconsistent when applying tags...need to have my own authority file!
I have played with Citeulike, but after being away from it Ifound it not intuitive to get back into it. We are encouraging students/faculty who are using endnoteweb to use citeulike to save pdfs.
All for now!

Week 3 of MLA Web 2.0 101 class

I think MLA would have to have a more definitive, descriptive Acronym, or use the phrase: Medical Librarian Association, because after searching for MLA, I found lots of alternative & Interesting uses for MLA...
Why not have a presence on Facebook? All the library students are probably learning about it, and it would be a good way to network...by type of library, hospital or academic or ???; by locations, by interest groups etc.It might increase interest in our profession as well.

After looking at a couple of library websites I am not sure if we should have a facebook profile or not. I'm not sure how many health science graduate students have discretionary time for facebook.
I did come across a site that had an Ask A Librarian link , and that might be helpful. If students spend a lot of time in Facebook, it would be nice to have the option to search the catalog etc. from within FB, but I guess I am hesitant with our little staff time, to work on an online presence in FB.

I have heard that young folks have a different (looser) idea about privacy, but it could be that they are just naive. I'm pretty sure some of them don't understand the ramifications of their web presence down the line. My nephew's facebook page is embarassing to me!

I am enjoying facebook more as I go along and it could become addictive.
I think it is great to keep in touch with the younger generations and their use of technology. If we don't keep up as things morph, it will be really difficult to try to catch up later.

I preferred FB to My space...which seems geared more toward younger teens. More frenetic!

Bye dear readers, whomever you are!
Beth

Difference Between Blogs and Wiki's as I see it!

The difference between Blogs and Wikis (for me)
I like to read Blogs. I never comment on them. Blogs feel more personal to me.
Since Blogs are chronological, I'm always getting the most recent updates at the top and I don't have to figure out what is new or what I've already read.
My Bloglines Reader lets me know at a glance when there are new postings.
You can subscribe to blogs...I don't think you can subscribe to wiki's unless you are a member...but I am not aware of wiki readers.
I don't think you can store documents on blogs.
I find Wiki's to be much more collaborative, and it is tempting everytime I visit one to edit/comment etc. Blogs usually have one "author", whereas Wiki's have many.
Wiki's are much more suitable for group work/collaboration. They can be much more organized than blogs...a table of contents for instance, rather than in order chronologically. The editing feature of wiki's, the opportunity to add widgits such as calendars, videos, etc. is advantageous. OOPS...I just noticed that you can add a video to this Blog.
Wiki's just seem more versatile to me.
I like the idea of daily "wiki gardening" to help maintain wiki's and keep them fresh.
All for now!
Bye dear readers!

Applications for Blogs/RSS

How do you think you could use RSS feeds at your library? How do you think patrons could use RSS feeds?
I use RSS feeds to keep up with the medical literature, and it's great for easy access to famous librarians, and the latest trends in library land and the tech world.

Patrons could use RSS feeds for the same reasons...I really think it would help them get a handle on Keeping up with the Literature. It is also a great way to stay in touch with friends, family, and collleagues.

Finally... I'm a Blogger!

I have been subscribing to quite a list of blogs and RSS feeds for some time now, but I have never created a blog!