Ministry of funny looks

Thing #70 Free (&legal) mp3 downloads

2009-01-15T19:20:00.003+11:00

On looking at the list of (free) download sites I decided to try spiralfrog - solely because I liked the name. Unfortunately spiralfrog doesn't download outside the US. I then tried Amazon which also doesn't download outside the US.

Hmmm. Next it was off to Stereogum where I was able to download a 'premature evaluation' copy of Franz Ferdinand's Tonight. Stereogum had a pretty good range (some bands even I'd heard of!) There was some Radiohead but I figured that was a gimme as Radiohead are known for releasing their music online. There was a Springsteen track, some Dandy warhols, and a few others that i'd heard, and heard of.

I initially had some problems downloading - I seemed to get caught in a loop that allowed me to play the tracks only - but it turned out that it was Quicktime causing the problems. Once I'd downloaded a newer version things went smoothly.

Stereogum was easy to use but I doubt that I would find much music there that I would want to download (my musical tastes run from show tunes to the 70s & 80s - with the occasional hi-fidelity or radiohead thrown in for street cred)

I generally use a combination of Limewire & Youtube for my *free* music downloads but for this exercise Franz Ferdinand's Tonight slots neatly into my ipod between West Side Story & Rod Stewart!

Thing #69: Feed my Inbox

2008-12-05T17:40:00.002+11:00

I'm currently following 439 blogs using bloglines and receive between 200 & 300 updates a day.

With those statistics in mind I wasn't too sure about feed my inbox, but what the hey it is explore, discover, play, after all so I gave it a try.

On the feed my inbox home page you are asked to enter a website url and your email address.

Luckily HCPL Techincal Trainer had warned us in his post to enter the url of the rss feed and not the plain old home page url.

Once that is done you get a confirmation email from feed my inbox, and then updates from the website are emailed to you.

The feed arrives in your inbox as a standard email - with links as needed - (think email message version of usual bloglines update)

Given the number of updates I get each day I think I would prefer to have them sitting in bloglines waiting to be read rather than clogging up my inbox.

I could conceivably use it for sites that update only rarely - an email update would make sure I saw it and it wouldn't get lost among the bloglines.

However for the time being I'll stick with bloglines.

Thing #68: Filtering Flickr

2008-11-19T10:54:00.006+11:00

1. FlickrCC

Keyword searches Flickr to bring up a patchwork window of pictures tagged with the search term. I searched for the term chocolate and this is what I ended up with...

All of the images are copyright with Creative Commons licensing, which encourages sharing. There is also an option to search commercial images as well.

2. Tag Galaxy

Now this one is a lot of fun though the documentation, as the author points out, is very basic. I started by searching for chocolate and when it brought up the matches I also got the option of refining my search by cakes, desserts, cream, cookies, etc...

This would be an awesome tool if it had the option of searching by creative commons attribution.
Here is my result for chocolate...

If, as I said, there was a search by cc option then this would quite likely be something I would use a lot. it would make a great display tool - all book covers by jane Austen for eg.

I also found tag galaxy more to my liking search wise although flickrcc had the major advantage of the creative commons search. I would probably use both of these again - as I can see work related potential in both of them.

Uploading the results to the blog

Basically I did a screen dump and then cropped them in paint (and one in picnik), saved them as jpgs and uploaded them that way.

There may well be an easier way - however this one worked for me...

Thing # 67 Stress savers

2008-11-18T20:08:00.005+11:00

1. Dial a human. It's American (which is a shame as it would be good to know which buttons to push quickly to get a real person at the other end of the phone instead of a menu of numbers to select from.)

2. Custom Guide. This one's a keeper. It's a series of pdf quick (cheat sheet type) guides for Microsoft products for PC, and for Mac products. The sheets are not designed to be manuals but rather a reminder type (what does F4 do again - that sort of thing). If you work @ Boroondara think the 2 page tips & tricks guide we got when we changed to Outlook. I've already printed off the one for Evernote.
Suspect I'll be using this site again.

3. Where is your username registered? This had potential as I have *several* different user names on many different sites. You enter your user name and click cjeck and the site goes through and checks that user name on about 70 sites. I guess if your user name is truly unique then it would be more useful but I would use this more for fun than for anything else. I tried my most unique login name (which I have at gmail, yahoo, hotmail) and it was already taken on 51 of the 69 sites (and most of them were not me - so I guess it's not as unique as I thought!). I doubt I'll use this one again.

Of the three custom guide is certainly the most useful on a personal level and on a professional level. It's a site I'll certainly be recommending to our pc users (especially the novice users) as I think many of them would find it extrememly useful.

Definitely a site for the borrower toolkit.

Thing #66 Directory 2.0

2008-10-26T20:15:00.004+11:00

I like the idea of customisable start pages which is basically what allmyfaves and 43marks are.

Previously I'd toyed with allmyfaves, netvibes, pageflakes, clutterme, and mysurfpad before deciding on mysurfpad.

What I liked about mysurfpad was the clean lines and the way I could customise to suit me. Having said that though I tend to have my 'must check' sites as home pages (tabs) in my browsers.

I've blogged previously about my own version of browser wars - when I log onto the web I open:

IE7: (home tabs - gmail, my website, yahoomail, hotmail, blog 1)

Firefox: (home tabs - bloglines, twitter, facebook, gmail, my website blog 2,)

Flock: (home tabs - my surfpad, gmail, blog 3, blog 4, webmail)

These are the websites I use regularly - and I have other favourite websites set up in mysurfpad so that I have minimal clicking to get to where I want to go.

I'd looked at allmyfaves previously - I didn't really like it as it didn't suit my style of working. It seemed way too cluttered to my eye and I found it quite busy & distracting. I would/could use it for one-off search categories although it is very US based (which could be good or bad depending). I'm sure it did everything I would want it too but I just didn't take to it (personal taste I guess).

43marks was new to me but after looking at it for this exercise I think I will stick with mysurfpad.

43marks is basically lists of bookmarks that you can customise - I didn't mind the look and feel of it and might have been tempted to use it had I not already found mysurfpad.

Sites I haven't used before.

Under shopping I had a look at shopzilla which is a US based shopping comparison site - having seen a Halloween party today I looked at Halloween costumes - couldn't decide between wonder woman or catwoman.

Under dating I looked at plenty of fish - before I even needed to register it had produced a list of men (and women) either in Australia or looking for Australians to meet.

I think maybe a novice user might find this extremely useful mainly because of the exisiting categories which give a very good indication of the sorts of lists you can create/personalise.

Once again I have nothing against 43marks - I just didn't like it enough to switch to it instead of mysurfpad.

Thing 65 - It's hard to think about anything else

2008-10-03T19:32:00.002+10:00

I was curious about exactly why the US was teetering on the brink of depression and why (or how) the US economy had got itself into this position.

I started with the msnbc timeline - reasonably good but it did seem to assume some knowledge that i didn't have.

I then moved onto how stuff works - this was an excellent explanation of mortgage backed securities - how they work and what happens when home loans are defaulted on in record numbers. It also helped me understand the msnbc timeline a little better.

I finished up with kiplinger.com's 15 things you need to know about the panic of 2008.

Of the three - I found how stuff works to be the most useful for a non-us reader - I understood it all a lot better after that. (and some of the stuff I heard on the business news this morning suddenly makes a lot more sense.)

Thing 64. One Hit Wonders

2008-09-13T16:55:00.002+10:00

Site:CopyPasteCharacter.com

What I thought: Could be useful as it's basically a stencil like sheet of characters (think wingdings or webdings) that you can copy and paste into a document. I can't think of a time in the recent that I would have used it if I'd known it existed (except perhaps the £ symbol for the requests module at work?)

Site:Kuku Klok

What I thought: I probably wouldn't use this one - my pc is in a different room and I suspect that I would sleep thru kuku klok as the alarm I chose (slayer guitar) was loud but probably not loud enough. I'll stick with talking clock and mobile phone alarm!

Site:Stormpulse

What I thought: Not being in a hurricane threat area I probably wouldn't use this although it was interesting to track the progress of hurricane Ike (the only active one at this particular moment). It gives you details such as the current location of Ike's centre, wind speed, pressure, & movememt. Like I said - interesting but probably not useful for me.

Site:Pixadus

What I thought: I was interested in this one as Gitte & I are currently 'working' on an online photos demo for early October. Pixadus is basically social rankings for photos - you opt for + or - for photos and they move up and down the rankings accordingly. I searched for Paris and found some ace photos (I voted for one fo them just to see what would happen). I think I'd use this site to search for photos but probably wouldn't get around to posting any of mine to it.

Site:Fake Name Generator

What I thought: Gotta admit this one was fun! I entered a name set of American and country Australia asnd this was what I got. (When I changed the name set to England/Wales I was Sienna L Patel!). can't imagine why I would use it (especially while I am not being evil) but it was fun to play with.

*****************************************

Your Randomly Generated Identity

Gender:			Name set:
Save:			Country:

These name sets apply to this country: American

Janet T. Laney
89 Creedon Street
Gowanbrae VIC 3043

Website: Babblevee.com
It looks like Babblevee.com is available! Click here to register it!

Email Address: JanetTLaney@mormoncoffee.com
This is a real email address. Click here to use it!

Phone: (03) 9605 2415
Mother's maiden name: Smith
Birthday: March 10, 1950

Visa: 4916 7608 6275 8186
Expires: 2/2010

UPS Tracking Number: 1Z V69 W36 43 5845 674 4

************************************************

Site: PicApp

What I thought: Okay this one I liked (and actually signed up for) - it searches photos such as Getty Images (eg editorial or creative). i searched for gymnastics beijing olympics and found some awesome photos that i hadn't seen anywhere else. I expect to make a lot of use of this one.

Two blogs that I read religiously (for web & library stuff)

What i learned today

Nicole Engard's blog about "Web 2.0 and programming tips from a library technology enthusiast, What I Learned Today… covers blogs, rss, wikis and more as they relate to libraries."

I find lots of interesting sites via her blog and it keeps me learning, and thinking about some of these sites could be useful to me both at home and at work.

Swiss Army Librarian

Brian Herzog's blog about 'the hitchhikers guide to fear and loathing at a public library reference desk' is another that leads me to all sorts of interesting sites and ideas - his post about using firefox on public library pcs is almost a' bible' to me - I so want to do this where I work.

There are a lot of other blogs that I more than skim read ( I'm following 380-something blogs on a wide range of topics) but these 2 are 2 of the best imho (and for my purposes) as they frequently inspire and seldom disappoint.

Thing #63. Foxit reader

2008-07-02T08:46:00.000+10:00

I don't like downloading stuff onto my laptop - mainly cos the hard drive is almost full and the replacement twice-the-capacity hard drive is sitting on my desk staring at me as i type this (Note to self: must install new hd)

I've downloaded foxit reader onto my usb drive of portable apps (aka as the surfboard if you are rifling thru my usb drives for any reason)

I suspect this could be another useful tool if I need to fill in a PDF form online.

Once again I tried the US Postal Service- online job application and found foxit a little more 'tapsister friendly' than pdf escape when filling in the form. It's hard to pinpoint why I preferred foxit - I think it's probably just a 'personality' thing, no real reason just personal preference.

I did wonder whether zamzar (my favourite conversion tool) would be useful for these online pdf forms?

(wanders off to upload us post office job app to zamzar...)

Thing 62. PDF Escape

2008-06-22T09:22:00.002+10:00

This could be a very useful little program. I couldn't think of a site that I'd accessed recently that I'd use it on so I followed Mary's example and used the employment form from the US Postal Service.

I also followed Mary's advice and registered with PDF escape from the getgo.

I found PDF escape easy to use, although I did get a little annoyed by having to 'insert text' for each line I wanted to enter info into.

Mind you if it had been a real job application I would have been obsessively resizing text boxes and the like.

I'll have to try and remember this one for when I do come across pdf forms that can't be filled in online.

#61 Facebook & libraries

2008-06-01T19:27:00.003+10:00

I've done the whole search for library on fb previously and friended and fan'd several - some because I'm interested in them- they're located close by, I work for them, I went to uni there etc, others I follow to get a feel for how they are using fb to promote their library service.

Our ILS vendor is, I think, almost ready to 'unleash' a fb application to search our catalogue which I think would be great.

The libraries that to me have the most effective fb presence are those that have a catalogue search widget/application rather than just a link on their page.

In the realms of fantasy (or way outside my programming league) I'd love to see library patrons being able to do most everything from our facebook page (think library elf meets e-resources).

I'd like to be able to do things such as renew my books from the fb page - the catalogue search app is a good start but how about being able to join online via fb?

Something to think about?

#60. Facebook

2008-05-16T08:50:00.002+10:00

I was watching tv yesterday morning (breakfast tv - I feel so ashamed) and the 'Today' show was 'interviewing' a technology guy who was basically saying that fb was on the decline - that the number of people signing up was decreasing, the number of regularly active accounts was decreasing, and so on.

I found that interesting as a couple of days ago I read a blog post that said that there were more applications currently being written for bebo than any other SNS.

I think Facebook and other SNS sites are great for libraries - it gives us a presence where our users (and potential users) may be, it enables us to publicise and promote our events to a wider audience, and it enhances our virtual library.

I've been on fb for a while now - I'm not the most active of participants, but I do check it most days, and I like to experiment with different applications.

I only wish more staff would get involved with the online tools available and see them as an opportunity, not a threat.

#59 Authors on the web

2008-05-01T11:09:00.002+10:00

I have used Authors on the Web previously and whilst can be a useful resource I seldom use it anymore.

One of my most visited websites is Fantastic Fiction which answers pretty much all my book related queries such as series order, forthcoming books by favourite authors, and the like.

Authors on the web seems to be very US author based.

For example I searched authors on the web for 2 of my favourite British authors (Danuta Reah, Hilary Norman). Neither of them were listed. On FF I got a list of their books in series order and a link to their homepage/s.

AoTW is a useful website but for me I find FF to be more useful at home and at work.

#58 Being green

2008-04-22T20:14:00.002+10:00

Last month I blogged on the library ning about a list of green resources that I'd come across on the virtual hosting blog.

As I worked my way thru the (mainly American focused) list I came across one little gem of a program that I blogged about here.

One resource I really, really, did like - I've downloaded it and use it at home all the time - is greenprint.

When you click on print a document you get the normal print screen but with greenprint as the printer.

It then displays the document in a print preview format with what it thinks is unnecessary pages highlighted in red (you know when you're not paying attention and you print something and the last page is just an ad?)

If you want the page printed you just 'unhighlight' it and the document prints in the usual way. You can also remove logos, banner ads etc before printing.

If you don't need a hard copy of a document you can save it as a pdf.

There is a free version of greenprint or a pay version. I use the free version at home and find it quite useful.
It also keeps track of the money you've saved (in ink, paper, energy, terms) by using greenprint to stop printing the extra pages/logos.

If you're the type of person who always looks at print preview before printing then you may not need this but for the rest of us it is useful.

#57. Feeding my addiction - Tastespotting.

2008-04-16T11:45:00.003+10:00

Sandy via Jamie warns us not to visit Tastespotting if we are hungry - so true.

Much as recipe sites/blogs/whatever are not my cup of tea (or should that be homemade biscuit), how can you not like a site where the first picture is of homemade marshmallows with 100s & 1000s on top?

I added the widget fairly easily to my blog, the hardest part was finding the widget to add.

I used my standard cookery search terms - corned silverside and chocolate mousse (separately, not together) and found several photographic recipes for each. (and as a result I am now seriously hungry).

I much preferred Tastespotting to I'm cooked (Thing 50) as I like to look at the pretty piccies of the food rather than the video. In fact I've already looked up several recipes that I plan to cook in the future.

I like that the site's not just about the recipes, there are blogs from people, some about food, some about recipes.

#56. Smilebox

2008-04-08T17:17:00.003+10:00

I'd downloaded Smilebox a while ago, played around with it a little, and then went back to Picnik.

Whilst I quite liked Smilebox I didn't want to shell out US$5 per month for the added features. (the main added feature I wanted to use was to add my own itunes music to my photos)

It has a lot of useful feaures, especially in the 'paid' version but I think the main thing against using it in a work situation (apart from the $) is that you need to download it.

We are not really able to download stuff onto our computers at work so this limits Smilebox's usability and usefulness.

At home I'm happy with Animoto, picnik, etc for all my photo fancifying needs although some of the design templates in smilebox are really cute...

#55. Slideshare

2008-04-04T05:54:00.000+11:00

I first encountered slideshare at the Beyond the Hype conference where one of the presenters mentioned that her presentation was freely available on slideshare.

I checked it out (both the presentation, and the site) and discovered a wealth of relevant (to me) presentations that I could view and/or download.

There are a lot of web 2.0, and library, presentations available there which means that you can almost see it as a sort of defacto way of tailoring a conference (or should that be unconference) to suit your own personal needs or interests.

I found it a useful creative commons site for storing and sharing online presentations.

#54. Bookjetty

2008-03-28T19:36:00.005+11:00

I'd heard of Bookjetty but never looked at it until, at VALA, Polyxena went to a presentation by Schubert Foo and came away really interested in this application.

She told me about it and, like her, I could see the potential for public libraries.

So, of course, I checked it out and, of course, I joined up.

At the time there were only a few melbourne libraries on bookjetty - it has really come into its own since more libraries have added their catalogues to it.

From a library point of view the more libraries that are available to be searched the more valuable it will be as a tool. Being able to access multiple libraries with one search is a definite plus.

#53. LitLovers

2008-03-13T19:18:00.002+11:00

It feels kind of weird posting this seeing as I submitted the 'thing'.

However I've completed the first lit course (which deals with formula romance fiction)

It consists of a 'lecture' (15 slides), readings, a study guide and a quiz.

once you've submitted your answers to the quiz (there are seven multiple choice, and a couple of free response questions), it is 'marked' instantaneously and then there is a link to print your certificate.

There doesn't seem to be a pass/fail type option so if you're serious about literature then you probably won't get a lot out of it.

However if you're getting back into lit. or have never read for discussion previously, you may find this a bit interesting.

#52. Clipmarks

2008-03-04T18:41:00.002+11:00

Polyxena and Annabel have been singing the praises of Clipmarks for some time and I signed up a couple of weeks ago to see what all the fuss was about!

It's a little gem of a tool - instead of saving (as I am prone to do) the urls to thousands of blogposts in bloglines I can save the posts themselves, or parts of them, in clipmarks.

Depending on my mood the clips can be:

private (only seen by me when logged in),
my network (can be seen on my Facebook, myspace, blog, etc.) pages
public (viewable by anyone)

I still like bloglines and use it a fair bit but I am gradually replacing the saving of posts with clipmarks.

I can see great potential for clipmarks if I could clip things directly to Zoho or Buzzword (that would be soooooo useful)

#51. Libraries and the social web

2008-02-24T18:38:00.003+11:00

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about libraries and how they can use 2.0 & 2.1 applications.

This is partly because I took myself off to Brisbane to the Beyond the Hype symposium (which I have blogged about here), and partly because I got to go to some sessions at the VALA conference in Melbourne (2 as part of a shared registration, and 2 because other staff members were ill).

So far our Library Service has:
*a web page (connected to the Council web page)
*a Facebook page
* our catalogue is available on Bookjetty;

we are working on:
* a myspace page
* a bebo page (if I can just get the bl***** logo to skin)

We are also running the Library 2.1 program through a ning, as well as a Local History ning.

In the setup for staff to play and learn on category:
* we have a blog
* a ning

Independently staff are working on:
* wikis (for Local history and library in general)
* suprglu (blog aggregator)

Hopefully we will have a blog for the public to access up and running in the next couple of weeks.

Scarily of the 25 social networking tools list I have accounts on all but 3 of them.

I like to try the different tools and then use the one that I like the most, that suits the way I work etc.

So mnay tools, so little time...

#50 I'm cooked

2008-02-18T20:22:00.002+11:00

"It's like you tube for cooks" We ll can't argue with that!

I'm cooked is a video recipe sharing website. The idea is you film yourself cooking something then upload it to the website for others to see.

Now while others cook vats of plum sauce or bake lovingly - I don't. I cook because I can't afford to eat out every night!

The thought of being filmed as I look in the fridge, rummage in the cupboard for ingredients is not a good one, nor is my recipe for "it's in the fridge so can go in spaghetti sauce" one that should be handed down from generation to generation.

However I searched for corned silverside and watched a couple of videos of silverside being cooked. One with ginger beer, and the other with the more traditional(?) vinegar and brown sugar.

Would I use this site? In a library sense I doubt it; in a personal sense maybe - if I wanted to see how to cook something rather than just reading the recipe - could be helpful I suppose.

After playing with this site I was mega hungry - thank goodness I didn't look at video recipes for chocolate mousse.

#49b Musigy.com

2008-01-25T20:30:00.001+11:00

Musigy is basically an online music conferencing platform (think teleconferencing or videoconferencing) where musicians can jam with other - in the next room or halfway across the world.

As stated in previous posts I am not in the slightest bit musical (I wish I was but that's another story).

So I asked my friend Benj (who's a sound engineer & muso) to give it a go.

He thought it sounded pretty cool so he has installed it on his pc and is trying to arrange to play a duet next week with a friend of his who lives in France.

(They're busy IM'ing each other trying to decide on a song now.)

In Libraryland it would make a good activity, perhaps as part of Battle of the Bands or similar, for teenagers and younger library members.

#49 Soundsnap

2008-01-25T20:16:00.000+11:00

Okay, I can see the YSL's having fun with this.

Soundsnap is basically a website containing a collection of sounds - I looked in sports and listened to a basketball being dribbled, a pinpong ball bouncing, a baseball bat making contact with a baseball etc.

Each 'sound' was 1-20 seconds long. So ideal as a background for a link on a website.

Under film & comic fx there was a 2 second 'splat' or a 1 second 'squelch'.

Some of the stab/swish/weapons sounds would be fun if we were having a crime fiction discussion on the website.

You could string some of these sounds together and have a Batman like (1966 tv version) Kapow, splat, holy gatorade Batman' type soundtrack running beside parts of your website.!

Holy soundtrack Batman!

#48 music.download.com

2008-01-19T23:04:00.000+11:00

Once again this is a site I would probably use more at home than at work.

It is extremely easy to use, although I couldn't find many (free to download) songs that I wanted to download.

There was some ELO under rock and pop as well as a sub-genre of glam rock. They have a function that makes it easy for you to download stuff to you ipod (you nominate a genre and they stream the songs for you).

If you only look for music online then there's heaps here, but if, like me, you have racks & racks of cds you may not get as much use out of this.

#47 Jamstudio

2008-01-19T22:59:00.000+11:00

I am not in the least bit musical (more's the pity) so Jamstudio was not that exciting for me.

Basically you choose a style for each of a number of instruments, choose a key (if you want to) and press play. Voila instant song.

I 'created' a song called (creatively) yukk!

If you have some vague idea about music then you would probably find this to be great fun as you can be as original and/or creative as you like.

In a library sense you could use it to create background music for events or podcasts etc I guess.

#46 Groundhog Day

2008-01-19T22:34:00.000+11:00

Learning 2.0 (the first 23 things) was, for me, a chance to play and experiment with some new, and not so new, applications.

During the program I was focussed on finishing the program, now that I have finished I'm focussing more on how those apps can be used at/for work.

So much so that, in tandem with this blog, I am redoing the first 23 things (partly as a training aid), mainly thinking more about how they can be used at work and less about how I would use them.

The real eye opener for me was how many American Public Libraries are using these tools as part of everyday library life, not as an added extra sort of thing but as an integral part of the library's presence - a sort of not so much thinking about web 2.0 as doing web 2.0.

I'm surprised by the number of people at CoBLS that haven't 'embraced' 2.0 - some people I thought would be all over it are just not interested (can't understand it myself)

Some staff seem to thing it will bring about the end of libraries and librarianship as we know it. To those people I say "that is what people said 25 - 30 years ago when OPACs were being introduced"

The use of Web 2.0 will not replace Desk shifts, or booktalks, or storytimes, itwill complement and enhance them.

It gives patrons extra options for using the library and allows us to expand our services into the community and to the public.

I'm tempted to setup a mini learning 2.0 program, using just a few of the 23 things, to give those who haven't tried it a taste of the 2.0 experience.

You never know you might just enjoy it...

#45 (d) Mindmeister

2008-01-19T20:15:00.000+11:00

Well I think this is the one. Once I worked it out (I may have been paying too much attention to the tennis) I was hooked!

It's very easy to use and suits my style of working extremely well. It automatically saves the mind map as whatever is written in the main box (nominally a good idea, but at one stage I had 7 mindmaps called Ian Rankin. Exit Music.)

I like the linear style far more than the flowchart/cloud style but I realise the more creative may prefer bubbl.us.

This one very much comes down to personal choice. Whichever mindmap style suits you - they are both equally as good, it's just a matter of personal preference.

#45 (c) Bubbl.us

2008-01-17T20:07:00.000+11:00

Seeing as flow chart still hasn't sent me an invite I've moved onto the mind map portion of this week's entertainment.

Bubbl.us was surprisingly easy to use (once I'd stopped hitting enter and making many unneeded little boxes.)

I came slightly unstuck when I tried to upload my mindmap to Blogger. However I *quickly* worked it out. (hint: click on menu at the bottom of the page and you get several different choices.)

I was going to embed the code but the left hand column is looking a bit cluttered so instead I exported the mind map as a jpeg and uploaded it as an image.

Will now finish playing with mindmeister and post a comparison.

#45 (a) Going with the flow (chart)

2008-01-15T19:01:00.000+11:00

Given how excited I was about flowcharting Gliffy was a bit of a disappointment.

When I first signed up I found it very unresponsive to my typing. For example typing in a login name - press t wait for letter to appear on the screen, press next letter, wait for it to appear on screen and so on.

Now I'm no touch typist but I found it unbelievably slow, and therefore frustrating.

I had the same problem when I finally got to create my flow chart. Perhaps It's my computer but I haven't had the problem with any other site. Gliffy looks like it should be easy to use.

In flowchart mode there is a range of shapes that you click and drag into position.

Likewise in floorplan mode there is a range of popular shapes (door, stairs, wall, window etc) that you drag into position.

#44 Jott

2008-01-13T17:40:00.000+11:00

Jott is not available in Australia so, instead of playing with Jott tonight with a view to blogging about it tomorrow or Tuesday, I can tick thing 44 off my list.

I have a vague recollection of reading something about an australian equivalent so if I can remember what it was I'll blog about it later. If not I'll probably replace #44 in the CoBLS learning 2.1 with another application (probably shelfari)

Besides #45 is flow charts and I've been hanging out to get to it...

#43 Midi Files

2008-01-13T17:19:00.000+11:00

Clicking on the link in the Midis post takes you to a site called midimart.net which allows you to download midi files for free. The rub is that to be able to access these free downloads you must first join midimart (which costs 15.50 GBP).

You can join the forum for free which gives you access to midifiles before they're posted on the main board (I think). However my application to join the forum is awaiting approval from an administrator (still) since Friday. So far it seems like a lot of palaver for an application that I'm not that interested in and may never use.

#42 Google groups/usenet

2008-01-13T17:05:00.000+11:00

I did as instructed and had a look at the society.libraries.talk group. It was classifed as low usage although usage from year to year seemed to be increasing.

Interstingly the previous ten posts on the this group about libraries all seemed to be spam type postings. There was an earn $50-$100 online job posting; a posting about how to win a free i-phone; and 8 postings about persecution and MI5.

I then searched google groups for tap dancing (well, why not). The first hit was a tapdancer come motivational speaker; the next half dozen were all linked to a religion discussion group (it had picked up on the phrase 'tap dancing' as in 'tap dancing round the issue'). A salutary lesson on search terms there.

I even searched for a couple of groups I belonged to when the service was called Dejanews but nothing leapt out at me so I'll probably stick with the few Yahoo Groups I belong to.

#41 Live mocha (Ca plane pour moi)

2008-01-13T16:44:00.000+11:00

Ever made the New Years resolution that this year you are going to learn a language? Then Live Mocha could be for you.

It bills itself as a social networking site for learning languages. When you sign up you nominate a language that you wish to learn and specify your level (beginner through to native). Ichose Italian - no problems there - however a bit further on, when I went to enrol in a course, Italian was not an option - I could only choose from English, German, French, Hindi, Spanish, or Mandarin Chinese.

I chose German, (thanks to my CS reading I figure I already know a few key german words about food!) and enrolled in German 101. Most of the '101' level courses appear to be 50 hours, and it is self paced learning. It is divided into units (the idea is one unit per week) and you can pause and resume the units as often as you like.

Within 30 seconds of signing up I was being IM'd by a guy from Afghanistan who was learning Spanish - not sure what we had in common as it certainly didn't appear to be languages.

If Italian was an option I'd probably be using this site quite regularly, as it stands I'll check back occasionally to see if italian's been added but that's about it.

#40 Retroland (stars on 45)

2008-01-11T15:37:00.000+11:00

Okay this was a real walk down memory lane.

Retroland describes itself as a social networking site where you can connect with others who have the same (embarassing!) memories about their past.

The site is very american - almost all the foods in the food tabs were unknown to me or known only to me via (bad) american tv sitcoms.

The music tab brought back some 70s memories - Bay City Rollers (long stripey sox, tartan trews, platform shoes), The Sweet, Abba, T-Rex, and so on.

Couldn't find much australian music (unless you count the bee gees) apart from ac/dc; no Sherbet or Skyhooks for example.

Not sure how we'd use retroland in a library sense, unless we were having a themed 70s (or 60s, or 80's) activity and wanted to capture the era.

#39 Animoto (Video killed the radio star)

2008-01-09T20:22:00.000+11:00

This was waaaaay cool. (and very easy to use).

You select some photos, upload them to animoto, choose some music, and voila - video clip.

A 3o second video clip has about 15 photos in it - ample for a trial run.

If you choose from animoto's music, the genres are indie rock, hip hop, latin, singer/songwriter, electronica, (no 70s glitter rock, or show tunes) from up-and-coming bands.

You can upload your own music but I couldn't be bothered.

It occurs to me that if you can upload music you could upload voice - say for a virtual tour of a libraries on the website.

Might experiment with that when I'm in better voice.

ETA. The resolution on the photos was surprisingly average - will look for some higher res. piccies and edit.

#38 Comic relief (toondoo)

2008-01-08T19:47:00.000+11:00

I may have to leap ahead to Thing 45 as everytime I log in to explorediscoverplay I am tantalised by #45 - Flow charts. (uber-nerd/geek alert obviously).

Anyway #38 Toondoo is a diy comic strip creator. Many talented people have created comics on it; many untalented people have created comics on it.

I gotta admit this thing did nothing for me. I have absolutely no creativity in this area.

Objectively I can see that this could be useful in the library as a promotional tool if you have the talented people to exploit it. Alternatively it would make a good school holiday program type activity for kids/teens.

#37 Last. fm (76 trombones)

2008-01-07T12:13:00.001+11:00

Unfortunately Pandora is no longer able to be accessed from Australia (it's based in the U.S.) so that left Last.fm

It allows to create your own playlist and embed it on your blog. I first searched by genre/tag for musical theatre. Among the results it returned was the cast album of Spamalot and Phillip Quast's Donmar album.

Last.fm gives you the code to add to your blog and you can also link directly to Amazon to buy then music you're listening to.

Useful for home, perhaps not so much for work.

#36 Picnik (Do-re-mi)

2008-01-07T11:43:00.000+11:00

Before. Me at Cadbury World a few days before Christmas 2003.
After. Me in Christmas mode.

I decided to try Picnik and found it to be a lot of fun and potentially very useful.

From the red eye correction mode (when I forget to use the setting on my camera) to the ability to manipulate the photos I can see quite a few uses in a library setting especially to promote events and booktalks.

For some reason I'm envisaging promo type ideas along the lines of the free postcards used to advertise many different events and organisations, something a bit different from our usual fliers/flyers.

#35 Twitter (I taut I taw a puddy tat)

2008-01-05T19:16:00.000+11:00

Twitter - think miniblog (140 words).

I tried to enlist in jaiku but it is in the throes of joining the google empire so I must wait for an invitation (when an account becomes available).

I'm not really sure what I would use twitter for - it seems like an online version of sms (although you can access it on your mobile phone as well). Between my 'normal' blogs and sms on my phone.

I must say I love how mashable describes the evolution of blogging (and the need for twitter)

"To some, it really feels like Twitter has stumbled upon a new blogging paradigm - short, to-the-point messages that let your friends, family and the world know exactly where you are and what you’re doing, every second of the day.
But others are asking: what’s the point? Those people just don’t get it. Clearly, Twitter is an amazing new way to blog about your cat."

I'm guessing I'm one of the 'what's the point' people.

#34 A fridge full of leftovers and nothing to eat

2008-01-02T10:52:00.000+11:00

Fitday and Nutridiary - scary tools to be looking at on New Years Day with the Xmas leftovers and chocolates still filling the fridge.

Both work in similar ways. You enter your height, weight, age, type of job, and you use them as a personal weight loss diary, calorie counter, diet planner etc.

I preferred Fitday mainly because it has a cleaner, less cluttered look; and because it accepted that I knew my weight in kgs (metric) and my height in ft & inches (imperial). This, however, caused nutridiary to have conniptions as it assumed I would use the same measuring form (metric or imperial) for both -doh, and it couldn't cope with the concept that I was 5 metres tall...

I tried the learning exercises on both of them and the results were unsurprisingly similar (once I worked out what my height in metres was).

BTW those results will NEVER be published...

#33 String spin (Fun, fun, fun)

2008-01-01T17:05:00.000+11:00

I chose to play with string spin (v2).

I started with v.1 and that was fun but a bit tame, so in v.2 I opted for my name then watched as what started out as a rather passable version of my signature suddenly was spun into "art".

You could spend hours playing with this stuff and I'll be introducing my neice to Mr Picassohead as I think she'll have fun creating with it.

Word of warning though stringspin can, and will, crash your browser if you get too carried away with your spinning!

#32 Omnidrive

2008-01-01T16:49:00.000+11:00

I've been using omnidrive for a while now. When I was studying I'd keep a copy of my notes stored on omnidrive so that If I forgot my usb drive (or was using one of the many pcs at uni with dodgy usb ports) I could still work on my notes or essays or whatever.

The free account offers 1gb of storage which was more than enough for me for study purposes.

It was also useful for group assignments - we could all access the most up to date changes to the assignment rather than having to email the others when we changed our part.

Since the demise of my PDA (pause to mourn briefly) I've uploaded the files that I kept on my PDA to omnidrive so that I can access them from any computer anywhere. (Drawback is that I need computer/web access - not always available in 2ndhand bookshops...)

I would have liked to explore box.net more, however it can't be accessed on the work computers (it's classified as peer to peer so is a no-no) and if I can only access it at home and 'on the road' it becomes 33% less attractive.

Having said that I've played at home and like the look of it and will probably use it as a backup drive at home.

From a library point of view both programs could prove useful for patrons to save documents they're not finished with, or if they just want to print something they've created at home (but don't have a printer); staff wise given the network setup it would probably only be used if we wanted to work on a document from home.

#31A Get organised with Jotlet

2008-01-01T16:40:00.000+11:00

Loving Jotlet.

After playing with it for an hour or so I'm liking it's style. It's basically a calendar program with options for tasks and notes to be added in. It (so far) has good clean lines and display options that suit the way I (allegedly) work.

I've set up desk shifts and meetings in it and will trial it over the next few weeks as I think it is more what I want than plaxo. We shall see.

#31 Get organised with Plaxo (now pulse)

2008-01-01T16:00:00.001+11:00

I love organising tools but have yet to find the perfect online one. I've toyed with google calendar, yahoo calendar, remember the milk and tada lists - they all have their good points but none is exactly what I want.

Back in April 2007, Plaxo was mainly an online address book/calendar type setup; you could import contacts from a range of email programs (outlook, yahoo, gmail etc.), now it seems to almost more of a social networking tool.

Like linkedin and facebook you can invite people to become contacts (friends) and you can get plaxo to cross reference your existing email address book with the list of plaxo members.

Plaxo has tabs across the top for calendar, tasks, notes, address book which could be useful. I've set up some recurring tasks, and put in my desk shifts and some meetings and set notifications, so I'll see how it goes. (It is currently counting down to my desk shift tomorrow)

Ideally I would have all this stuff set up in LotusNotes but as that is work access only I need something that I can access from home and from work so may be Plaxo is the answer.

#30 LOLCats (jellicle cats)

2008-01-01T15:42:00.000+11:00

At the risk of incurring the wrath of all those above me - what is it with library staff and cats?(the miaowing kind, not the singing kind).

This 'thing' is all to do with cats being cute, adorable and funny. Not that I have anything against cats I'm just curious as to the correlation between books and cats.

I liked this Pirates of the Caribbean lolcat. (Like I said, nothing againts cats, just curious..)

#29 Scrapblog

2008-01-01T14:33:00.000+11:00

Hmmmmm, I thought scrapblog looked like a lot of fun as I created my three pages using a mixture of photos and stickers.

However, I am now on my third attempt at publishing my scrapblog and, after 20 minutes, it is still publishing page 2 - this seems like rather a long time and is rapidly decreasing my enjoyment of scrapblog...

I will post my scrapbook pages when and if they finish saving. Well 4th time was the charm, I was able tos ave my scrapblog and post it as a page element on my blog.

Or you can see it by clicking here

#28 Well we're big rock singers...

2008-01-01T13:32:00.000+11:00

I'm possibly less enamoured of this thing - I can see it's uses as a publicity tool, making promotional posters etc. but I think I preferred the earlier one where we could create 'for dummies' book covers.

I s'pose with Time and Rolling Stone we could have a bit of fun promoting the periodicals collection.

#27 Photobucket

2007-12-29T19:17:00.000+11:00

I started a photobucket account last year because I was told that it was a far more effective (and cheaper) way to upload photos to ebay. (it is)

I used it for a while and then promptly forgot about it.

Revisiting it today I thought I'd set up a new account for the purpose of this thing but that probably I'd continue to use flickr for my online photo needs. Now I'm not so sure.

Playing with photobucket again today I really liked the ease of photo handling and the range of visual media that can be accessed and stored.

However I found the ads very intrusive. I accept that the trade off for free access is ads - I just found the ones on photobucket to be very annoying and far more in-your-face than flickr.

Is it enough to stop me converting to Photobucket? Maybe.

Stay tuned as photobucket and flickr go head to head for the chance to host my photos.

#26 Widget, widget, who's got the widget (wicked!)

2007-12-28T18:53:00.000+11:00

Courtesy of yourminis I have added a calendar and a clock to my blog. (I desperately wanted to add 'Dilbert' cartoons but I couldn't work out howto resize them so that the whole strip was visible, and not just the first frame and a half - memo to self - homework for weekend)

Late breaking news - I couldn't help myself - I had to add a 'to do' list.

There was a huge range of widgets I could have added (and may still, see comment above) such as 'quote of the day', the weather channel, a 'to do' list and many, many, more.

For a while there this evening my blog was in danger of being 'widgetized' to within an inch of it's life - as I added widget after widget before deciding that widgets should be added in moderation so i settled on clock and calendar, with cartoon and to do list sitting on the interchange bench.

Widgets such as these would be very effective on a library blog (especially weather, news, clocks etc.) as they could localise and indivdualise a web presence (be it a blog or a social network, or even the web page)

#25 Letterpop (My boy Lollipop)

2007-12-27T21:06:00.000+11:00

I've created a newsletter on Letterpop. it was fairly easy, although once I'd uploaded and image and dragged it into my newsletter, I couldn't work out how to delete just the image. I ended up trashing the whole newsletter and starting again.

The free version of letterpop only allows you to upload 25 images - which probably wouldn't be enough in a year - a library newsletter would most likely be monthly which would limit you to 2 or 3 piccies per issue - which isn't many because I would want to illustrate a newsletter with piccies of activities, 3 just wouldn't be enough...

If you didn't have ms word then letterpop would be useful - I think it could replace ms publisher in the newsletter stakes but I didn't find it any easier to use than the newsletter template in word.

#24 Zamzar (Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher)

2007-12-27T11:52:00.000+11:00

Way back in #7 I mentioned my then favourite website zamzar - it's a file conversion site and I'd been using it to convert old clarisworks and msworks files into formats my pc could understand.

Well three months on and still zamzar is one of my favourite online tools only now I'm using it to convert youtube videos to ipod (mp4) which I can then watch on my ipod (although why I would want to watch them on a 2 cm screen is a mystery to everyone, me included.) But the point is - I can!

After seeing Billy Elliot the other week I've been downloading clips from the previews and rehearsals and watching them on the ipod.

I've also experimented (so far semi-successfully) with converting .bmp photos to .jpg (some have worked, some haven't).

With zamzar you upload the file (or link) you want converted to zamzar, and specify the conversion format. Zamzar then emails you a link to the converted file which can then be downloaded.

The major drawback to the free version of zamzar is that the download link only stays active for 24 hours so you need to be ready (it can sometimes take a little while for the email to arrive)

Still zamzar rocks!

In a library sense I've already recommended zamzar to patrons who want to edit and print a document format not supported on the library pcs (eg: pdf to word, mac to microsoft).

It's an added platform that gives us and our patrons more flexibility when wanting to use our pcs as the number of file formats supported increases. In a 'back room' sense no more queueing up to use the 'publisher' pc - we can convert the publisher file to another format to have a look at it.

Encore Encore

2007-11-26T19:44:00.000+11:00

Well it's been two weeks since I wrote my last post and finished the 'blog' portion of Learning 2.0 (she says gloatingly) but my involvement didn't end there.

Since then I've been 'mentoring' (bribing, bullying, threatening, cajoling - you get the picture) people into starting, continuing, or finishing the program.

It's interesting to see the effect that Learning 2.0 has had on people.

I'ts been called narcissistic (I like to blog - so sue me);

some have embraced it with an almost religious fervour;

others are doing the minimum amount possible (to stop me from nagging them, I guess)

Many people (myself included) suffered from a mid-program slump where the blogs remained untouched for a couple of weeks before finishing strongly with the proverbial 'wet sail'.

Some are finding it very hard going - convinced that it is all too hard for them.

I listened to the podcast of Stephen Abram's talk at the State Library earlier this year - he talked about the hardest thing we've had to learn in the past few years is to double click (actually he said freakin' double click - but you get the picture).

It seems that many people still have a fear of computers and computing despite having used pcs at work for over 15 years - is that the reason people didn't want to web 2.0?

I loved exploring the different tools and thinking about how I'd use them - and not always in a work sense.

Some of the tools I played with in learning 2.0 have become part of everyday life (bloglines, del.icio.us, youtube), others I want to explore more (rollyo).

Perhaps (inhouse) we could look at 'modulising' web 2.0 a bit - instead of completing all 23 things people could opt to complete a youtube module, or a bloglines module - and relate it directly to their library or their position.

Would people find it less confronting if they could complete 4 or 5 tasks, involving say Bloglines, at their own pace and then move onto something else?

Back to Library 2.0 though...I guess what I'm wondering is how can we get library staff to try something that they're convinced they can't do, are sure they don't want to do, and are convinced will bring about the downfall of the free world (and libraries) as they know it?

(Something about you can lead a librarian to a computer but you can't make them blog...)

Roll on Learning 3.0!

Finale

2007-11-11T19:48:00.000+11:00

You have reached the last page of the internet.

Please turn off your computer and go outside and play.

Thank you for dropping by.

#23 Give my regards to Broadway

2007-11-10T19:21:00.000+11:00

Libraries are not made, they grow. (Augustine Birrell)

How true.

I've enjoyed the learning 2.0 program. A lot of the 'things' I'd used, or heard of, already but I hadn't really thought about how they could be applied in libraryland.

If I have a criticism it is that we really only skimmed gthe surface of a lot of things - I have a list of websites to go back to, to explore in more detail, to play with in library terms, as I could have played with some of these websites (especially youtube) 24/7.

Where to from here?

What tools could we use in the library right now?

Which programs could we put in our 'to do later' file?

Does our website have the capability (bandwidth, download capacity, IT backup) to host all the applications that we want to add?

The Internet adds a whole other dimension to the traditional look and feel of a library; we can reach a much wider audience, and an online program means that users are not bound by library opening hours (for example) when they want access to library information, programs, and services.

It's another way in which we can "provide maximum access to a free and effective public library service to support the informational, cultural, educational and recreational needs of all members of the community on an equitable basis" (City of Boroondara Library Service Collection Development Policy)

The End

#22 Audiobooks (A pirate's life for me)

2007-11-04T17:53:00.000+11:00

Worldebookfair

Personally this is not a resource that I would use as ebooks don't interest me all that much. Mainly, i think, because I find it easy to tune out voices and near impossible to tune out music (so maybe if the ebook was set to music... bizarre mental image of me listening to a musical version of Sun Tzu's "Art of war")

Librarily I think these online ebook libraries would be a boon. People could download them from home or from library computers and listen to as many, or as few, as they liked. Especially as MP3 is such an available format now.

I was interested in what, if any, mechanisms are in place to prevent piracy - for example: can I, instead of (or as well as) saving the book to my MP3 player, burn it to cd also? I mean what is to stop me (hypothetically speaking) from downloading something that's on the VCE reading list, burning mutiple copies to cd, and selling them to students?

I had a bit of an explore and couldn't find anything that specifically addressed that issue. Will continue to look (for interest's sake, not for nefarious reasons)!

#21 Podcasts (Listening to you)

2007-11-04T17:32:00.000+11:00

I have been looking at the use of podcasts in public libraries for a while now as we are keen to make available podcasts of booktalks and guest speakers on our website.

A few years ago we got a grant to record some book reviews and put them our website and, in a way, that was the forerunner to podcasts. (The reviews were very popular and at one stage were one of the most visited parts of the site)

Podcasts are a great way to introduce people to the range of services offered by the library. It doesn't have to be a podcast of a booktalk, it can be an instructional tool - how to reserve a book; informative - listen to the library guide rather than reading it; find out what's new in library land.

I've added the podcasts of (author) Michael Connelly to my bloglines account. He regularly adds new podcasts to his website - usually of interviews he has done or talks he has given. As he is one of my favourite crime authors I can hear him: read a chapter from his new book; talk about character development in his next novel; or discuss crime fiction with other authors.

I can see a lot of uses for podcasts in libraries, the open up a whole new way for people to access the library and its programs without necessarily having to enter the building.

#20 Youtube (You should be dancing)

2007-11-04T17:00:00.000+11:00

This clip combines three of my favourite things

Rudolf Nureyev
Swan Lake
The muppets

Couldn't decide between the above clip or this one

Rudolf Nureyev
The Muppets
Tap dancing

Both clips show that Nureyev, as well as being a stunning dancer also has a wicked sense of humour. It also shows the creativity of the talent behind the muppets.

In a library sense we could maybe film booktalks, storytimes, guest speakers etc. and post them to youtube so that all patrons could view them, not just those who were able to attend.

Would need a video camera of some sort and due care and attention to copyright issues.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools (Eureka)

2007-11-04T16:04:00.000+11:00

I used netvibes to set up a personalised start page for my computer. It's a free web start page; the idea being that when you turn on your pc your start page is the netvibes page you have customised.

There are a number of templates you can use (or you can design your own). On the start page you can have up to four columns and a nunmber of browse boxes within each column. You can also add tabs (think tabbed browsing a la firefox, or IE 7) to further customise your page.

In a library setting I think this would be a very useful tool. For example the first screen the user sees on the library pc might include:

a search box for the library catalogue
a list of upcoming events (with a search option)
a list of feeds from the library blog(s)
todays weather
todays news headlines
google search
link to online databases
link to ebooks
podcasts
youtube
flickr
and so much more

As with all this type of thing the hardest part is the setting up - deciding what to put on the page, how to arrange it, and what it should look like. Once those decisions are made it's easy.

#18 Web based Apps (Memory)

2007-11-04T15:39:00.000+11:00

I've been using google docs for a while now - mainly the spreadsheet application. I use it to keep track of my to do list. Being web based I can access it from work and/or from home, or from anywhere where I have web access.

I've opened up an account with Zoho and had a bit of a play with its various functions. I really like the look of the planner as it seems to have most of the features I'm looking for - to do list, appointments, notes, I can email stuff to it, and it's free.

Looking at the list of "Web based productivity applications" it seems that if you have access to the internet then there is a huge range of web based applications. No need to carry round a memory stick (or floppy disc) with info that you want to be able to access on different computers. Instead you can have a half finished letter saved in zoho writer or google docs, a shopping list saved on remember the milk or tada lists, a calendar application that sends you an email to remind you of an upcoming appointment and so on.

I can also give other people access to this info if I want to. When planning a family get together I can check my sisters online calendar for a date we're all available, she can do likewise (it reduces the number of back and forth emails as we all try to decide on a date/time.

There is such a range of free, online apps that it makes me wonder if there is any real need to purchase Microsoft Office or similar programs anymore.

#17. PBWiki (I have confidence)

2007-11-03T20:19:00.001+11:00

Well, I added my blog to the Australian blogs list at PBWiki.

I was tempted to confuzzle everyone by adding it to one of the library services that had added their logo (- how did they do that, btw?)

I tried to use the WYSIWYG editor to add the link to the blog title but it just kept pointing at me and laughing (or saying error on page - you choose)

I will return to PBWiki at a later stage as I'm determined to do the whole title/link thing or die in the attempt.

#16 Wiki Wiki Wiki, Oi Oi Oi (All that jazz)

2007-11-03T18:58:00.000+11:00

In one of my other (non library) lives I am involved in an organisation that used to have an entry on Wikipedia.

The entry (which a third party wrote) contained some factual inaccuracies which we felt obliged to correct. We then (with the blessing of the original author) continued to update the entry regularly with competition results and the like. (This is sorta, kinda, against the Wikipedia rules which discourage autobiographical entries)

However someone took umbrage with the organisation and edited the information on Wikipedia maliciously.

This led to accusations of vandalism, sock puppetry*, and whatever is the internet version of duelling pistols at thirty paces.

This gave me a somewhat jaundiced view of wikipedia and wikis in general.

I can see how useful they could be in a library but the collaborative, anyone-can-edit aspect concerns me especially where accuracy of information is crucial.

Unfortunately what is attractive about wikis (their openness to all, minimal moderation, anyone can contribute to them) can also be what is most dangerous about them, and most open to abuse.

Nonetheless I think a wiki could be extremely useful (and valuable) for a public library - as a form of interaction between the library and the readers, (eg: book reviews, recommendations, suggestions) and the library and the wider world (information sharing, local knowledge etc.)

* Sock puppetry - an explanation. On Wikipedia sock puppeteers are contributors who have multiple logins/ids (and use their multiple ids for evil instead of good). Wikipedia have a 'one vote, one person' ideal but some people have multiple logins so that they can basically vote/comment more than once on a issue in which they have an interest.

#15 The terrible 2(.0)'s (Tea for two)

2007-10-27T20:51:00.000+10:00

Reading about the 2.0's reminds me of a couple of recent conversations with colleagues.

A colleague and I were discussing the changing face of reference collections - where hard copy resources are being replaced with online sources. A quick look at our reference collection had us wondering how long a hard copy reference collection would remain.

At the moment we seem to be in a transition period - where hard copy and soft copy resources co-exist but don't necessarily complement each other - some patrons prefer one format over the other.

We have one patron who comes in once or twice a week with the crossword from the Saturday Age. He spends a few hours each day trawling through the reference collection looking for the solutions. (he is probably more familiar with the ref section than some of the staff are).

He will happily look up an answer in the hard copy of Britannica, but using the computer (even if it is to use the online Britannica) is, to him, only one step removed from cheating.

I've shown him google and the online databases but he's not interested. I'm sure he's not the only one that feels like that.

In five, ten, years time he may not have any choice - the ref collection may well be mainly online.

I mean consider today's reference resources compared with ten years ago. The online environment means that the library's collections, and how we access them, is constantly changing and evolving.

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald titled Internet a surprise boon for books
looked at longstanding predictions that the internet would crush the book publishing industry with digital readers and online sales of used books. It noted that people seemed to want to be able to download music online but that they still wanted to own a physical book (or borrow it from a library I guess).

Local schools still set projects which specify that students must use a mix of sources - online, hard copy, reference encyclopedias etc.

As people become more familiar with the Internet should library online catalogues look more like web based search engines?

A lot of people are familiar with searching using a search engine such as google, but they struggle with the library catalogue - perhaps because it isn't as 'intuitive' as the google interface?

If you misspell a word or term in google you get, at the top of the results, a 'did you mean " option. In most library catalogues if you make a spelling mistake -that's it, you don't get a match (and you don't get an alternate spelling option - at least not in the system we use)

Libraries are looking at ways of getting themselves more noticed in the online environment - applications such as blogs, myspace, are very attractive as ways of taking the library to the wider population.

The fact that some public libraries have started using LibraryThing for libraries to enhance their catalogue (and to provide a link between the library catalogue and LibraryThing) shows just how powerful and effective the web can be.

#14 technorati (Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop)

2007-10-25T20:04:00.000+10:00

I've been having a look at technorati - I've managed to claim my blog (one of them) and create a watchlist - using one of my other personas.

Looking at the most popular searches on technorati - I recognised very few of the terms entered. The top search term was leopard (I'm guessing the new apple os, not the cat), next was noelia (no idea until I looked at the tags -now I wish I hadn't looked at the tags), third most poular search term was Mark Driscoll (once again no idea until i looked at the search results - he's an elder in the Mars Hill Church).

The three top favorited blogs are Boing Boing (cultural curiosities & interesting techie stuff), Blog tips to help you make money blogging (self explanatory), and Techcrunch (all things web & techie).

The three top blogs are Engadget (for gadgetaholics), Gizmodo the gadget guide (more gadgets) and Boing Boing.

Obviously I've been looking at technorati at the same time as the gadget freaks - I can see the usefulness of searching blogs for info on the leopard os - cos you'll get posts by users; but looking for blogposts on a church pastor? why? - if he's newsworthy (or even if he's not) I'd probably just google him - I doubt I'd think to use technorati for news of him.

I can see why the gadget blogs are favourites - there's some weird and wonderful stuff out there - and I like to read reviews from users of gadgets rather than professional reviewers - it's a sort of anonymous 'word of mouth' recommendation, to be supplemented by a third party review.

Perhaps we should organise for every participant to 'favourite' or search for the Victorian Public Libraries Learning 2.0 blog on a certain day/time.

Wouldn't it be cool to see a library blog in the top ten?

#13 Del.icio.us (A spoonful of sugar)

2007-10-25T18:56:00.000+10:00

I've been using del.icio.us for a while now; mainly as a way of transferring my bookmarks from work to home and vice versa.

In a work context it could be very useful for bookmarking sites such as 20 favourite crime authors, or authors who write like Maeve Binchy.

I see it being used as a sort of list generator (in a way) where instead of having a printed list of Maeve Binchy read-a-likes the del.icio.us version would be dynamic, more up-to-date (updateable), and much cheaper to produce.

If we have a guest speaker or author event we could bookmark relevant and related sites on del.icio.us (author's homepage, websites on the topic, all sorts of things).

Since exploring with the PLCMCL2 account I've been somewhat sidetracked by the Nancy Pearl action figure pool party from Flickr (not strictly relevant, but fun all the same!)

#12 Rollyo (Merrily we roll along)

2007-10-25T18:35:00.000+10:00

Rollyo.

I can see this having many uses in a public library.

Book reviews - by entering the search term (book title) into the Rollyo search engine it would search up to 25 book review websites for reviews - great for bookgroups and the like.

Limited only by 25 websites per searchroll you could set up searchrolls on current topics - such as study tips, or exam tips.

Current affairs/todays headlines - links to daily newspapers, and so on.

Could be extremely useful - am already planning how we can use it for our guest speakers and booktalks next year.

#11 Library Thing (Marian the Librarian)

2007-10-21T19:37:00.000+10:00

I've been a fan of Library Thing for a while now and have been slowly cataloguing the "tapsister" collection onto it.

It's actually rather scary to see how many books I (allegedly according to Library Thing) own. It seems so much less when you see them on a bookshelf (or two, or three, or...)

Which is why, for the purpose of this exercise, I've started a new account just for my family history related titles.

My sister and I wrote the history of dad's family about 20 years ago and we are currently (still) updating it. When we first wrote it we had to photocopy photos into it as digital cameras (and scanners) were not readily available.

Now we can scan all the photos in and include them in the middle of the relevant text rather than having to stick a photo on a page of text and then photocopy it numerous times.

Relatives overseas can scan in family photos and email them to us for inclusion in the book rather than having to photocopy and post us a copy.

We can (and do) also upload photos to Flickr and ask the rellies worldwide if they can identify the people in the photos for us. We seem to have a lot of old photos that have the identity of the person written on the back.

Unfortunately it is usually just a one word identifier such as dad, mum, or Robert. (whose dad, whose mum, which Robert?).

We then get sidetracked (rather like this post!) into trying to date the photos using the clothing and hairstyles as a guide.

But back to Library Thing.

It is free for the first 200 books. After that it's us$10 for a year or us$25 for lifetime membership. Or if you're too cheap to pay, or too lazy to pay, you can set up multiple accounts eg: by genre: miffy_crime, miffy_travel, etc. It takes some keeping up with but it is definitely do-able.

There is a LibraryThing for libraries which explains why a library would want to join LibraryThing and links to a few libraries which have already joined.

The Bedford Public Library inTexas is one public library which is on LibraryThing. At the bottom of the catalogue record is a list of all the tags that have been applied to that title. So by clicking on a tag you can link to other titles that have that tag as well - way cool.

A rather easy way to get a list of 'who writes like' or 'if you enjoyed this book you might enjoy such n such' recommendations.

Could be useful...

#10 Image generator (The lollipop guild)

2007-10-21T18:15:00.000+10:00

This post should really be titled A Librarian's Best Friend (playing into the whole Librarians love chocolate stereotype).

Image generators (such as these) would be fun to use in marketing library events and programs.

You could create some really cool and unique images that would stand out and catch the eye of the patron who maybe no longer sees the 'usual' notices and publicity type stuff.

#8 & #9 Bloglines/RSS feeds (Shuffle off to Buffalo)

2007-10-07T17:26:00.000+10:00

No connection really but I saw 42nd Street last night.

Anthony Koutoufides played Gangster No. 1 - he had 3 lines (and 2 minutes of stage time) which is apparently enough to get him a higher program listing than Pia Morley who is on stage for a lot of the show and has several songs as well.

Who knew Kouta would be such a musical drawcard!

In learning 2.0 related posting mode I have set up my bloglines account (see link on left hand menu - headed Bloglines!)

Of all the tasks so far - this is the one that I could play happily with for the rest of the program - amazing number of blogs and feeds available on subjects I am interested in, subjects I'm not interested in, subjects I didn't know I was interested in, and bizarre mis-spellings.

Type in a word, search for feeds, and almost immediately a whole new world opens up. Personal blogs, professional organisations, links to podcasts - you name it , it's there.

I actually enjoy looking at the blog titles that people come up with - there is the simply descriptive (Barb B's learning 2.0 blog) and the catchy (Hey there's a dead guy in the living room).

By clicking on the links in my bloglines list I can choose how far back I want to check for new posts (hour, day, week, whatever) which allows, I guess, for 'binge bloglining' (sounds almost illegal doesn't it?)

Could be spending a lot of time here methinks....

#7 Technology (Thoroughly Modern Millie)

2007-09-29T17:37:00.000+10:00

Blog about technology hmmmmm...

Where to start?

One of the most useful sites I've come across of late is Zamzar. It's an online file conversion site; you upload the file you want converted (and specify what format/program you want it converted to) and they email it back to you in the format requested.

I've been going through my old floppy disks (floppy disks -what are they?) and using zamzar to convert the files on them to something my computer can understand.

Another website I've been spending a lot of time at lately is LibraryThing, in fact I'm gradually 'cataloguing' all my books onto it.

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) I entered all my books onto a database in Clarisworks.

Using zamzar I've been able to convert this 'catalogue' to a csv format and then import those records (luckily I'd included isbn's) into LibraryThing. The result is a very quick, remarkably painless, way of entering my older books onto a database with my newer books.

What is it they say about a Librarian's desire to collect, classify and catalogue?

#6 More Flickr fun (Thank you for the music)

2007-09-28T10:01:00.001+10:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by batgirl_the_librarian

Following on with the Musicals theme from my last post, I have created a trading card with a piccy from the final performance of Mamma Mia in Melbourne.

I'm fairly confident I've seen more than 52 musicals over the years (with photos) so I'm already thinking of a set of musical themed trading cards for my sister for her birthday.

I think she'd appreciate it...

Trading card maker was a lot of fun to use - the hardest part was deciding which photo to use . The back of the card (optional) displays a flickr logo.

The next step is to investigate card to print them on. (and find the other 51 photos).

I'll probably also add more desciption to the card. There's a fair bit of empty space there that could be filled with more details about the performance (cast members, theatre, even seat numbers).

Could end up being bigger than Ben Hur!

#5 Flickr (Flash, bang wallop, what a picture...)

2007-09-25T17:27:00.001+10:00

CIMG0006
Originally uploaded by batgirl_the_librarian

Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz, one of my Australian theatre highlights from 2006.

I had all my photos on Yahoo photos -with their (soon to be) demise I moved the photos to Snapfish.

To get used to Flickr I decided to 'experiment' with Hugh Jackman (well, who wouldn't?).

I found it surprisingly easy so now the big decision -Do I leave some photos on Snapfish and move some to Flickr? Do I move them all to Flickr? or do I procrastinate and do nothing?

I'm guessing that procrastination will win out...

Getting to know you

2007-09-19T18:03:00.000+10:00

A borrower and I have just agreed that by reading crime fiction we become fictional master criminals rather than actual master criminals... but is that true?