#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.

# 17 Building Sandcastles in the Sandbox -PB Wiki

Hi, besides taking a while to sort out creating an active link on the Favourites Blog page this exercise was very straightforward.... I popped an entry under 'Favourite Vacations' and added it to the Favourite Blogs page.

#16 Exploring Wikis

I love the potential of Wiki's as an information sharing and learning tool for staff/public. I can see its application for various library services , such as Youth Services . The Wiki could include a Reading Book Club where teens and children discuss what they have read. It could be linked with the Premiers Reading Challenge, advertise upcoming events, add staff aids for story time activities, link up with the catalogue and favourite reads, provide links to programs available in the local and wider community , parent discussion group on favourite reads/developing their children's reading skills, subject guides and more.......

An Information Services Wiki could include online training, newsletters, minutes of meetings, use to workshop/exchange ideas for special projects and policies, add links so staff can be informed of external training programs , provide links to journal articles you'd like staff to read, links to wider groups, such as the Reference Co-operative.... You could run surveys... ...... .....

There is the issue of control over content, protecting Wiki's from spam. I noticed registration or log in such as an e-mail confirmation can be used to help overcome vandalism problems, another had an edit tab (for librarians only). I like the fact you can easily create a Wiki and that you can control participation by make a Wiki private or public.

#15 Library 2.0 and Web 2.0

We all know the younger generation have already much experience of what has been covered in 2.0. They are the "plugged" in generation - using mobiles, ipods, myspace, MP3s, blogs etc as a regular fabric of their lives- relating to friends and learning, in the techno world. So where do they sit as users of libraries and what direction do we need to take for the future . Libraries definitely need to embrace their world and connect with their online lives. Through our web site alone we know that there are some members that are purely virtual members - using the online resources we offer, web links and relying on the online environment to be alerted to activities and other resources offered. It is obvious libraries are at the cross roads . All of the technologies in 2.0 and beyond such as RSS, Wikis, web logs will help us to provide a library service that is much more dynamic, connect to our community , package information in an intuitive way, promote and generally expand service delivery. The notion of Library 4.0 of connecting from virtual reality to 3d reality, library labs, knowledge spas - we can only wonder and explore - it really seems a huge experiment being propelled of its own volition - always evolving. The journey is going to be fascinating......

#14 Technorati

The idea of 50 million blogs in 'blogosphere" is totally overwhelming - doubling in size every 6 months or so. I read that in 2006 175,000 blogs were created each day and has moved on to- 2 blogs being created every second of the day!!! I looked at the 2.0 blog posts . The most popular Blogs in Technorati all seemed to be techno-related. To make thse blogs more useful the art of tagging becomes important.

#13 Del.icio.us

Well looking at the site and articles on Delicious, I have discovered that this is a good resource for streamlining your bookmarks, sharing them and has a definite advantage over the old "favourites" folders being able to access them from any internet connection. The inbox allows you to track what has been added. You can add others bookmarks and add to your inbox. RSS are also available on most pages. You can have bookmarks autoposted to your blog daily. This way of organising bookmarks could be a useful aid in research and for creating bodies of information on any subject imaginable e.g. use for bookclubs. You can make them private or public, and you can share a link with a friend and tag it with forusername. "Linkrolls" are also a way to share bookmarks with the people who read your blog.