Yellow Fin Tuna

Yellow Fin Tuna
Originally uploaded by SBB1976

I looked at the "Tooling Around" blog which I have to admit I haven't looked at since it first started. I did like the "highlighting" feature that's on the Library's new toolbar. I think that could be a timesaver. In the list of web 2.0 tools on the Power Tools Page, I looked at several things. Boing Boing caught my attention. Pretty strange things on there. I did learn about a new project from Stanford University called Microdots: The Short Attention Span Science Theater. It presents 2-4 minute videos on scientific topics in a "simple and engaging way". The first topic is Ecological Sustainability and the video I watched was called Tuna and the Can (aka It sucks to be a tuna.) Get the idea? (lots and lots of stuff on Boing Boing - for those with time to kill.)

More Web 2.0 Tools

I looked at the "Tooling Around" blog which I have to admit I haven't looked at since it first started. I did like the "highlighting" feature that's on the Library's new toolbar. I think that could be a timesaver. In the list of web 2.0 tools on the Power Tools Page, I looked at several things. Boing Boing caught my attention. Pretty strange things on there. I did learn about a new project from Stanford University called Microdots: The Short Attention Span Science Theater. It presents 2-4 minute videos on scientific topics in a "simple and engaging way". The first topic is Ecological Sustainability and the video I watched was called Tuna and the Can (aka It sucks to be a tuna.) Get the idea? (lots and lots of stuff on Boing Boing - for those with time to kill.)

Web 2.0 Award Winners

Chef Series - Bakers
Originally uploaded by duttonkj21

I looked at the short list of Web 2.0 winners and chose the topic of food. The winning site does video recipe sharing. It's called Imcooked. You join the community and then share your videos on cooking. There are all kinds of videos to watch, arranged by topic. I watched several - it was quite interesting. Also, there is a video on showing you step-by-step how to make your own videos to put on the site. You can also access it by channel : the "side dish" channel features side-dishes, the holiday channel has holiday recipes, etc. Pretty cool!

Playing Around with Wikis

I visited the Learn&Play Wiki. I didn't receive permission to join the first time I tried but was able to get it right away the second time. I added my blog address and some favorites. Wikis are fun.

Google Docs

I used this to share a calendar template with my daughter. I also downloaded the "Beyond Google" presentation so I could download it at home on to my flashdrive. That experiment didn't go so well. I thought our computer at home was going to blow up. In fact, I'm having problems doing "Learn & Play" at home. The security stuff on our computer just doesn't like some of the websites I need to use. I wonder if other people are having this problem. It seems like Google Docs would be a great source for customers who are using library computers and want to save things for use later. I would think librarians could use it for work with committees that include members from other libraries. Seems like the possibilites are endless.

What's in a WIKI?

WIKI
Originally uploaded by Yong Hian Lim

I've been looking at wikis. I was especially fascinated with Ohio University's Biz Wiki. I especially liked the screencasting where you could watch how-to videos on many business reference topics. I could see where SBN could do that and reach a much bigger audience than we do with the in-person presentations. There seems to be all kinds of opportunities for libraries to use wikis - from internal group work to community wikis with other organizations. Very cool.

Library 2.0

The concepts of Library 2.0 seem really cool - promoting "empowered users" and getting ideas and information flowing in both directions. I guess my first observation was most of the articles and references are from 2006 so I'm thinking I'm already two years behind in learning new library technology! Sometimes working in the trenches makes you forget some of these great ideas - it's nice to think about the "big picture" for a change.