LEARNING 2.1

#23 Summary

Yes, the program was at times challenging, some components were fun and yes, I'm glad I took the journey. I now feel as though I am on the same page as the techno-literate. Atleast I can nod intelligently if some one asks have you heard of...? Some of the technologies I knew in name only, so it was great to have first hand experience . Wikis, podcasts, RSS and library thing were stand outs , and I'll definitely look in to these further and use these applications at work. YouTubes were a personal favourite . The 2.0 activities has given me a good basis and the confidence to explore further and build on skills. Thanks to Lynette and the team for making the Learning 2.0 program available.

#22 Audio books (or The end in sight)

There are library members who prefer audio books, so the World EBook Fair -Gutenberg really adds another dimension that we can promote. I noticed that there are books in various languages that would suit some of our local community and extend the library's community language collections. - example -Classic Chinese Literature Collection. The cost to the user is minimal, if not free. The Project Gutenberg surprisingly started as far back as 1971. The Australian site was set up in 2001. As all titles are in the public domain the titles tend to be "the classics" - adult and children's titles. Some titles are regularly on school reading lists - My Brilliant Career and For the term of his natural life as an example. - a good alternative if all print copies are on loan. The fact that these are all downloadable to the various mobile technologies out there is fantastic.

#21 Podcasts, smodcasts

Like Youtube, I can see many practical applications for the library setting - use as an information services tool,introduction packages - new members, author talks and link podcast to themes /preams to library events, podcasts to highlight library innovations and other news, surveys, guides. Exploring Podcast.net I discovered podcasts for all subjects imaginable. I scanned some of the author and writer podcasts example Diana Gabaldon Podcast. A link to her website is also available. In Podcastalley there were Authors on Tour live, a free weekly podcast featuring bestselling authors reading and discussing their newest books, Much ado about books - a book talk radio show- interviews from New York Times bestselling authors and Meet the Author - a podcast where leading writers tell you what they feel about their books. Podcasts, definitely have potential as an enhancement for the library website.

#20 You too can YouTube

Hi, I love YouTube! I even found videos of my fave pianists performing fave compositions . Some of the videos showed the performances close up so I was able to have a look at the more technical aspects of their playing .

I believe the max length of video is 10 minutes. This application could be used in the library setting for promotion, recap of events and library activities, surveys ,various instructional/ training programs for staff or public - e.g. new members - library layout , how to use the catalogue.

Groups, under the Community Tab enables you to share videos and have discussions on a common theme. The videos can not be downloaded to watch later . You can subscribe and be alerted to new videos.

If you like jazz, here is one of a number of videos that Joe has on YouTube. playing the standard 'Smoke gets in your eyes". Joe Chindamo, is an Australian Jazz Performer /friend from college days . Support Australian artists.... To see the full screen you can click the button bottom right of the video.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools

I dipped in and out of the various categories from the winners lists. Biblio.com- a useful tool for searching out of print, rare books, and even signed copies. Being a music buff the ability to search for sheet music and other genres of music titles appealed. Bookstores and booksellers can be searched by name or country. The various spreadsheet and word processing applications such as Writeboard and Google looked like good practical tools. The "Listdumps" were diverse and fun to browse. However the application that caught my eye were the "Hosted Wikis". Within "Wetpaint" are examples of subject Wikis . I explored the Classical Music for Everyone Wiki. A new feature of Wetpaint is the 'Wiki Whiteboard' . You can create a Wiki within a facebook application . Videos can be posted including those from YouTube . In this application there are also privacy settings to control who sees the information. The other Hosted Wiki I looked at is 'Stikipad'. Again this a tool that could be used to write and update manuals and procedures and more, a collaborative tool for planning etc. You can make your own templates. Tags and tag searching is available and the site claims to have enhanced security.

#18 Web based applications

Looking through the site, Zoho offers not only word and spreadsheet facilities but also Zoho Wikis, Zoho meetings for online conferencing, Zoho Show for online presentations and more (under Switch to). with the advantage of not having to have the necessary software installed to your desktop. You can download files from your desktop, add images and all the usual facilities and tag documents for easy access. You can create various templates for specific tasks- resumes, cover letters etc If you happen to lose your documents Zoho can provide a backup copy. The FAQ 's give useful tips including how to post the document to a blog. I created a document and tagged it Debussy-Bibliography- imported the page from a URL.