Thing #20
It is very frustrating and disappointing when looking around Youtube. I love the idea, don’t get me wrong, and there’s so many videos I would like to look at, but the aesthetic experience of watching a video is marred by the slowness of the internet.
I chose to watch in full a 2.54 minute clip, the one from ‘Life of Birds’ by David Attenborough featuring the dance and mimicry of the Superb Lyrebird. I love that bit of film. In that time the video paused for up to 8 seconds 42 times! It just doesn’t work for viewing videos. Once the video has been shown once, it seems to be faster the second time around. This isn’t too bad for short films, but imagine waiting for a half hour film to come in, perhaps taking an hour, then watching it after that.
Thing #21
I had trouble with Yahoo Podcasts. I couldn’t find a free player. They all seemed to need a subscription. Podcast.net had some book reviews, but clicking on the Podcast net player brought up a box without any obvious Play button. I added two RSS feeds from this site to by Bloglines. Finally Podcastalley.com came up with the goods. Clicking on a podcast brought up a player immediately and I listened to some history podcasts. I can see podcasts being useful in an educational and library context. For the sight impaired podcasts are a boon.
Thing #22
Audiobooks. This is an interesting concept. Instead of all the packaging that goes with audio cassettes and audio CDS, patrons may download material for a certain amount of time directly onto their MP3 players. This has great potential for a library service.
I looked in the Gutenberg collection and was pleased to see works by Kipling, Twain, Poe, Coleridge. Very exciting. I listened to some of the recording of Mark Twain’s ‘On the Decay of the Art of Lying’. This worked well.
Thing #23
The program has been useful in many ways. I always meant to explore what the web has to offer and this program has shown some of the various applications, tools and sites which may be useful. I found that with life commitments and work schedules that there was a lot to take in. I imagine that I will go back to some of the sites and tools which I thought may be fun to explore and take more time after the course finishes. Sites I wish to explore further include ‘Library Thing’ , Zoho , YouTube, Truveo and the Del.icio.us site.
I have mentioned a number of times that the slowness of the dial up connections and even broadband in the country hinder one’s use of the web based tools and sites. This is something which may have to be pursued.
Another concern I have is the amount of ‘stuff’ out there. People are putting everything on the web -- their photos, their journals, their pets. It’s endless. However, I like the idea that smaller special interest groups may now communicate easily across the world.
After exploring 23 things, one can only assume that there are endless sites and tools to find on the web.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
#19
Thing #19 Web 2.0 Tools
I selected Truveo, a video site and looked in the category music. Using tags I discovered many musicians film clips were on line and available. This free site allows you to join and store favourites on the site. It uses tags extensively to guide you to similar styles and trends which you may be interested in.
Just a point of annoyance. Even using the work computer, the videos display in fragments and are disjointed. Again problems with substandard ADSL passing as Broadband. This would limit the site ‘s utility in the library.
I selected Truveo, a video site and looked in the category music. Using tags I discovered many musicians film clips were on line and available. This free site allows you to join and store favourites on the site. It uses tags extensively to guide you to similar styles and trends which you may be interested in.
Just a point of annoyance. Even using the work computer, the videos display in fragments and are disjointed. Again problems with substandard ADSL passing as Broadband. This would limit the site ‘s utility in the library.
Thing #18
Zoho looks interesting. It will take some time to explore all of its features. I would like to know how compatible it is with Word. I'll try emailing to myself and seeing how it comes out. Export Word Document looks promising. At present I can see that you can centre or align left and right; change the line spacing, use a number of fonts, even add pictures.
I have inserted an image of a gulley in the Strzelecki Ranges Forest on the Franklin River.
Week 7 Thing #16 and 17 Wikis
#16 Wikis
Wikis are an interesting tool. They allow for a group of people to edit and change and build up an information base, data base, or information about anything and everything. In a regional library where the staff are scattered, a Wiki could be useful in educational tips for staff, information sharing and so on. The video was very useful, simply showing what is possible from a small task to creating an encyclopaedia.
Can a Wiki be restricted to a group of people or are they always public and subject to random misinformation? I noticed on the ‘Library Success: A Best Practices wiki’, one has to provide an email address. This is their attempt to restrict vandalism problems.
#17
I added my blog to the PB wiki and added an entry in the Favourite Music section, which said: I love a diverse range of musics from Indian pop, Indian classical, Techno, Funk, Qawwalli, Arabic, Rai. At the present I can't get enough of the haunting voice of Abida Parveen, a Pakistani Qawwalli singer. She is fantastic. I heard Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan when he came to Adelaide for the WOMAD festival. A beautiful performance on dusk after a 43 degree day. Another favourite of mine is Moroccan composer/singer Abdelwahab Doukali.
I've added a picture of Abida Parveen.
Week 6 #13, #14, #15
Thing # 13
I listened to the podcast and had a look around the Del.icio.us site. I also watched the video. I like the idea of having bookmarks available on any computer. I already do this through ‘ikeepbookmarks’ recommended by a colleague many years ago. The idea of tags is interesting and perhaps that is the benefit of Delicious. I will have a closer look at this. Tag sharing also sounds useful.
Thing #14
Results for searching for ‘Learning 2.0’ varied. A keyword search brought up 11,731 entries, a tag search, 972, and the blog directory 829. The popular blog, searches and tags page wasn’t really my cup of tea-- celebrities I don’t care about, mainly.
Thing #15
Thoughts on ‘icebergs’. I believe that libraries are attempting to move with the times, embracing new technologies and ways of finding information.
However from my experience in a small country library, the service is largely geared to the providing of books and I believe that is what the reading public are most interested in. The older population want to borrow Large Print fiction and others fiction mainly. Non fiction is a smaller percentage. Yes, there are some younger members who will use the internet to find information. However, at present, the technology, i.e., the on-line catalogue, is used primarily for ordering in books from other branches. Books still rule in a country library.
Availability of ‘hard to get’ journals through the web, access to library materials across the world are all exciting possibilities for libraries in the future. I like the idea that we don’t just cater for what the majority want and that there is a possibility to provide almost everything, even in a country town. We are not there yet. One big obstacle in remote places in Australia is that while the technology changes, the infra structure that provides the information flow is sub standard. For example, it is impossible for me to work on Web 2.0 at home. I need a book to read while the pages load. I find the slowness frustrating and annoying. And yet it is remote communities, far away from the large public libraries of the city who need the access the most.
I listened to the podcast and had a look around the Del.icio.us site. I also watched the video. I like the idea of having bookmarks available on any computer. I already do this through ‘ikeepbookmarks’ recommended by a colleague many years ago. The idea of tags is interesting and perhaps that is the benefit of Delicious. I will have a closer look at this. Tag sharing also sounds useful.
Thing #14
Results for searching for ‘Learning 2.0’ varied. A keyword search brought up 11,731 entries, a tag search, 972, and the blog directory 829. The popular blog, searches and tags page wasn’t really my cup of tea-- celebrities I don’t care about, mainly.
Thing #15
Thoughts on ‘icebergs’. I believe that libraries are attempting to move with the times, embracing new technologies and ways of finding information.
However from my experience in a small country library, the service is largely geared to the providing of books and I believe that is what the reading public are most interested in. The older population want to borrow Large Print fiction and others fiction mainly. Non fiction is a smaller percentage. Yes, there are some younger members who will use the internet to find information. However, at present, the technology, i.e., the on-line catalogue, is used primarily for ordering in books from other branches. Books still rule in a country library.
Availability of ‘hard to get’ journals through the web, access to library materials across the world are all exciting possibilities for libraries in the future. I like the idea that we don’t just cater for what the majority want and that there is a possibility to provide almost everything, even in a country town. We are not there yet. One big obstacle in remote places in Australia is that while the technology changes, the infra structure that provides the information flow is sub standard. For example, it is impossible for me to work on Web 2.0 at home. I need a book to read while the pages load. I find the slowness frustrating and annoying. And yet it is remote communities, far away from the large public libraries of the city who need the access the most.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
#12 Rollyo
I have created a search roll in Rollyo for haiku and haibun web sites which I like. I copied the searchroll information from Rollyo and pasted it here, but it doesn't seem to do anything. The instructions for doing this are quite long. I went to Dashboard on the blog site, but there didn't seem to be anything called 'template' so I gave up for the moment as this is optional anyway. I'll come back to it when I have time.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
#11
I have made an account and put five of my favourite books in it so far. The idea of linking with people with similar tastes and sharing information about books may be interesting. Again, time is the problem.
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