Thing #20, YouTube and other such sites

I looked at YouTube, the most popular site for videos that people upload. I also looked at google video which not only is a site for uploading videos, but it also lets you seach for "all videos" on the net. I liked metacafe.com's slide preview option. You don't have to watch the video in order to get an idea what it is about. Metatube says it searches 100 video sharing sites. But mostly I just got results for YouTube.

Thing #19, My Maps on Google Maps

This was the hardest thing for me so far. I could easily make a map on Google and save it. I could upload a picture to Flickr.com. But putting the 2 together was agonizing for me. P. had to help me - twice. I made 2 maps: one for the library and 1 for my house (the one for the house is private - email me if you want me to put you on the list of people who can access it). I had to make sure I at least got the concept.

As for use in LibraryLand: well, it is nice that people could see what the lbrary looks like if they use google maps to find it.

Thing #17, Add an entry to InfoPeople's Wiki

Well, that was easy. Log in, click on edit and type away. The hardest part was figuring out what to say. In the end I repeated part of my last post about interesting wikis done by libraries.

Thing #16, Learn about Wikis

The definition of wiki according to wikipedia.org is

"A wiki is software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites."

Lots of libraries use wikis. There were two popular uses I found: 1) descriptive/informational wikis (where is the library, holdings, history of the library etc) and 2) subject guides or pathfinders.

Some of the more unique ways of using wikis were:

a Library 2.0 learning wiki (Arlington Public Library)
a Worldcat search function on a wiki (Bull Run Library)
Book Lovers' Wiki where people reviewed books (Princeton Public Library)
handouts and outlines of classes (Akron-Summit County Public Library
library volunteers wiki (Tulsa County Library)
the library policies and procedures as a wiki (Taunton Public Library)

Thing #15: perspectives on Library 2.0

I read the 2 suggested readings and here is my blog about them.

First of all, I've decided that Library 2.0 is a vague term and no one can agree on what it means. Without a solid definition, you can't really talk about it. So I've decided what it means to me. It's those web applications which are often open-source and collaborative, that can be brought into the library for use on our computers and which serve our patrons in some way, and may even involve patrons.

I am omitting coffee counters and rock concerts and gaming tournaments from the definition. I think those are great ways to serve patrons, but aren't really Library 2.0.

Wikis, folksonomies/tagging and social networking can all be called part of Library 2.0. And there are more. The idea is to bring better and more varied service to more people via the Web.

We need also to think about those who have no computer, but that's beyond Library 2.0 in my definition.

There are some caveats mentioned on page 19 of the Library 2.0 and the future of libraries article (the Charles W Bailey Jr section). If a library is to have a blog or wiki which is then open to alteration or comments by the public, you really have to watch out for some things. The three mentioned are libel, fiction presented as facts and intellectual property violations. I think that is one of the most important points I came away with. Libraries are trusted sources of information. I wouldn't want to damage that reputation.

I thought one idea mentioned was worthy of looking into for Yorba Linda Public Library. One is based on "Picture Ann Arbor". I'd love to see patrons and users letting us scan in pictures of an older Yorba Linda for all to see on the web site. I'd also like to see written stories of old Yorba Linda.

Thing #13, del.icio.us

I have now tagged some library 2.0 websites. It was quite easy. What I foudn difficult was to tag other sites which do not have the del.icio.us icon on them. My understanding is that I would put it on the computer I'm using and then it would be easy. Since I'm sharing a computer, it seemed unfair to add something like that without permission.

I can certainly see the value of del.icio.us. I'd like to be able to use all my bookmarks no matter which computer I'm using. I think it'd also be useful to combine them into a Yorba Linda Public Library set and have subject specialists add bookmarks as indicated.

Thing #6

Okay, I figured out I was numbering everything wrong. Now I'm on track.

For #6, I'm supposed to look at some library web sites which are using Web 2.0 and blog about anything Web 2.0 that I think would be useful for our library.

Of the four libraries mentioned in the document I'm working from, the one I'm most impressed with is the Ann Arbor District Library.

Ann Arbor District Library has 2 things which I'd love to include on our web site (catalog). 1) Catalog tags. Wouldn't it be totally cool for the public to be able to tag a book or dvd or whatever? That's another way for people to search for items they're interested in and it's a way of involving the public. That got me excited. 2) AADL has a card catalog view of the MARC record. On it there are 3 places where a patron can write their opinion of the book or dvd, etc. So for Bride and Prejudice people wrote that it had good dancing, it's a fun movie, and that it's a great entree into Bollywood films.

Thing #2 Flickr

I signed up for a Flickr account today and joined some groups. Signing up was way easy. So was joining the groups. (They have groups for everything!) I think the purpose is so I can post to the discussions and so I can post pictures to the group.

I think I will borrow my husband's digital camera and take some pictures and upload them. Just to see what it's like.

What I really enjoyed was looking at the tags and exploring pictures people took that way.

Next I need to look at mashups. I did a google search to find out what are mashups and I found a site which lists the 10 best Flickr mashups. What it looks like from the article is that programmers create some sort of toy or useful program for Flickr.