LIBRARY 2.0

I watched the PowerPoint by David Rothman called Medical Library 2.0. One of his PowerPoints said that "Library 2.0 service is service that physically reaches users, is evaluated frequently and makes use of customer input." The only element of that statement that might be different from library 1.0 might be the part about frequent evaluation of services and customer input. I did have to chuckle at the Scot Plutchak quote in David's PowerPoint, "As a detonation of something specific, Library 2.0 is logically vacant". I think Scot may have a point based on the two articles I read.

The second Library 2.0 item I read was by John Blyberg, "11 Reasons why library 2.0 exists and matters". The two points I took away from that article are a definition of Library 2.0 as a means of making library spaces more interactive, collaborative and driven by community needs. And the other point was that Library 2.0 requires libraries to pool their resources.

I do agree with the concept of making library spaces more interactive and collaborative. I am told that the new generation of young adults are much more collaborative than the generations that came before them. This younger generation also grew up with computers and playstations. I doubt that they would be happy with anything less than a collaborative, interactive atmosphere. So I like those features of library 2.0.

I have seen educational spaces and libraries which have been designed with collaboration in mind. My only concern with libraries being collaborative is whether administrators in a hospital setting might pass through this wonderfully designed collaborative, interactive library and decide they needed that collaboration space for other hospital priorities.

To me Library 2.0 means that you learn about all of these new sharing and collaborative capabilites now available on the internet and adapt those that make sense in your individual library setting.

As to what Library 2.0 means to my library, it means that if I stay on top of these new technologies there will be a number of them that will be easily applied in our environment. However, the VA and many other institutions are currently blocking access to some really great Library 2.0 tools. So implementation of some of the items I learned about in this course on the job may be delayed for quite a long period of time.

Podcasts

I did check several of the links to podcast directories including iTunes and Podcastalley. It might be more appropriate to say I stumbled around in them. I found them a little difficult to use. This was probably due to my inexperience searching for podcasts. I had the most success with iTunes. I'm not exactly sure how I got to their podcast search interface but eventually I did. I'm very impressed with the libraries who have embraced this technology and figured out how to apply it for web savy patrons.

I added the Library of Congress book festival podcast to my RSS Reader. It's URL is www.loc.gov/bookfest. I'm not sure how to insert a live link here so the URL is likely not a live link.

My learning goal at the beginning of this course after viewing the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners was to figure out how to get a podcast to my iPod. Since I must admit I am still trying to figure out how to get my own CD's from my computer to my iPod, I have a ways to go with this goal.

I was thinking last night that Podcasts and YouTube have opened up the world of broadcasting to just about everyone in a very democratic way. It used to be that just a few rich families and corporations had control of most of the media and its content. Now anyone savvy enough can produce a podcast or YouTube video. Truly media for the people. It's interesting what ethical dilemmas this new freedom can create. Should there be someone riding herd on what is broadcast (ie hate speech, inaccurate information, etc.?) And who's to decide?

YouTube Experience

Ok. I'm going to try this post again. My other post is wandering around in cyberspace somewhere where I can't quite conjure it up to send it. It got lost when I tried to preview it. Anyway, I viewed several YouTube selections including one on how to create video for YouTube, one on the Big Island of Hawaii and videos on how to shelve books among others. We'll see if I can successfully embed a video on how to shelve Library of Congress books once again. I can see using clips like this to train students and volunteers. They would be an improvement over the system we currently have and much more entertaining than my talking head. I could see loading how to use the library clips on a web site for staff as well as videos on how to search the electronic databases we subscribe to. Ok here goes a try at embedding again:

Online Productivity Sites

I have played a little bit with several of the sites recommended by Learning 2.0 instructors. It was pretty easy to figure out how to post to a blog in Zoho. But Google Documents didn't seem so easy to figure out for posting to my blog. I had previously used Google Documents for the MLA sponsored Digging Deeper class and was pretty impressed with the features I used for that class.

I spent the most time playing with Snipshot. We have had occasion to take digital photos for going away celebrations and memory books and for library activities. Snipshot would have been very useful for cropping out store signs when we took a picture in front of our hospital sign for a retirement memory book.

30 Boxes looked like it could be fun to use also. But I use Outlook Calendar and Task features at work already. I don't see that 30 boxes would have many features I don't already have with Outlook calendar functions.

I think there are security and privacy concerns for all of the shared sites we have looked at. Those concerns crossed my mind last week as I requested an account for flickr and allowed flickr to communicate with my google account.

Window Arch Moab Utah

Window Arch Moab Utah, originally uploaded by Mountains and Mesas.

Ok. After a couple of evenings trying to figure out where the Blog This tag was to send this to my blog, I have finally accidentally found it. I had given up and was going to copy and plaste the sucker into my blog. But when I clicked on the picture to copy it, up popped the Blog This tag along with a number of other options.

This photo of Window Arch was taken on a hike to Corona Arch in the Moab, Utah area. I am posting this because this is the time of year my thoughts turn to hiking in the desert around Moab where natural arches abound.

But back to Flicker. I have not played with any photo web sites. It was on my list to do. I am very impressed that Flicker can tell you when your photo was taken. Currently I have a project going to just arrange 40 years of home photos in choronological order as they are shifted from some old furniture to a new location with the arrival of new furniture. And it's a pain trying to guess the year the photos in unmarked envelopes were taken. So how wonderful to have dates identified at flickr as well as what camera took the photo. Amazing!
And I love the tagging aspect of flickr.

As far as library applications, I could see storing photos here for promotional brochures and digitizing historical photos of library interiors, etc.

By the way, if you would like to see a picture of Corona Arch, several photos are in the public domain on flickr. I haven't got mine uploaded just yet but there are some beauties already there.

WIKIS

I'm not as familiar with WIKI's as I am with Delicious and RSS.

I can see an application for a WIKI though. Two other librarians from other facilities
in other states and I have been planning a poster for the MLA poster sessions in Honolulu. We have spent months having weekly conference calls and emailing our suggestions back and forth. We have each offered corrections to the work of others to make the submission a better quality product.

Messages from the two other participants have been misplaced in my voluminous emal inbox from time to time. Improving on the documents sent out becomes interesting at best after we have made numerous suggestions and changes. It's hard to track all the generation of changes. But a WIKI looks like it would improve that process.

And we have a bibliography we have created as a handout at the poster session. On a WIKI each of us could have edited and added to the bibliography without one person having to do all of the compilation of the bibliography

RSS and Delicious

I have listened to one hour sessions on RSS feeds at least three different times since last May. But I had not followed through, set up a reader and signed up for feeds. I have now set up a Google Reader and signed up for three feeds. It was easy to do both.

I tried using the Google Reader search box to search for RSS feeds. I didn't have much luck. But I am impressed with the Ebling Library's list of RSS feeds listed on their web site. I did select a Medscape feed from their list as well as a couple of NLM RSS feeds.

Now I need to learn much more about how to manage the feeds once they are on Google Reader. The Medscape feed has a large number of postings.

I found another use for Delicious this week. I have been running between about four computers to get my assignments done since the computer in my office is heavily restricted. I had been forwarding the Learning 2.0 assignment email to my home email several times a week to access the links on public access computers in the library as well as my home computer. But now I have the link on Delicious. And voila, it appears whenever I call it up on Delicious from any computer.

Del.icio.us Experiences

I first learned about Social Bookmarking in a session for VA librarians at MLA in Chicago. Then shortly after that Rebecca Brown offered a couple of one hour web sessions on Del.icio.us. After the second session, I decided to set up an account at work for the convenience of having bookmarks available on more than one computer. Previously I had acquisitions and cataloging bookmarks on one computer and reference bookmarks on another one.

When our IT department upgraded my computer with a new hard drive and a more recent version of Internet Explorer. They thought to back up my Google favorites. But I had a moment of panic related to the Del.icio.us bookmarks. Not to worry, I logged into Del.icio.us and they were all intact just as they had been before the upgrade.

As a result of the upgrade, my Del.icio.us button on the IE toolbar disappeared. Because of this class, I have been motivated to go to the help section and figure out how to get the button back on IE's toolbar.

The Dykes Library bookmarks are much more extensive than mine and very well organzied. I would think students would be interested in many of them. If there is a way to put the link on the Dykes Library webpage my guess is that students might find them useful.

I am a great proponent of life long learning. I have taken several vacations that were learning vacations and loved them all. Most involved a cruise or a tour with subject experts that went along to tell you about their area of expertise. I also consider it extremely important to attend MLA or MCMLA on a yearly basis and to take CE classes while I am at these meetings.

And as the tutorial mentioned the first week, an excellent way to learn is to teach. I serve as a mentor within the Veterans Affairs (VA Library Network) system. I learn a great deal in the process of mentoring new managers of libraries