I have heard many people talk about delicious for bookmarking sites, but I've never used it before. I really like the idea. While I don't really need to share bookmarks with other people often, I am always using different computers. Being able to access my bookmarks on any computer is wonderful.
Adding the delicious button to my toolbar was easy. Adding new bookmarks is quick and easy but still give you some options. You can add tags and decide weather or not to share the link right as you create the bookmark. I also like the feature of importing my current bookmarks. The only downside is that going through and adding tags to the imported bookmarks can be time consuming.
This would be a great help for reference or reader's advisory librarians. They can use delicious to create a webliography of relevant and helpful sites. Also, each of the librarians would be able to add new bookmarks that they find helpful.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Bloglines vs. Google Reader
I haven't used either one previous to this class so this list will be based on initial impressions.
- Bloglines wasn't hard to set up, but Google Reader was much easier.
- Google Reader was easier to add feeds to my list
- The log in for Bloglines is really small and out of the way
- Bloglines is less cluttered, making it easier to read
The main point for me, however, is this. In Google reader, it tells me when there are new posts and I can see them easily, however, I can also look at the older 'read' posts. In Bloglines, once I've 'read' a post, it disappears. So if I check Bloglines at work, see that Gabrielle has a new post, by the time I go back to comment on it from home, that post is gone and I have to go to her blog in order to see it again.
Feed
Looking at a few of the points other people have posted about, it seems like most of us feel that world presented in "Feed" is not desirable. I agree, mostly. Having a computer inside your head bombarding you with ads and telling you what to buy or wear or be is not desirable (and not that far fetched).
However, I don't mind places like Amazon.com sending me recommendations based on my past purchases. For example I had been buying an anime TV show when the company who held the licence went out of business, leaving me hanging a few episodes before the climax of the show. Almost a year later Amazon tells me that the next volume of the show is coming out soon. I follow the link and see that a different company has bought the licence for the American release.
As all of these blog and news readers that we are talking about in class show, there is certain information we want to come to us. There are a lot of benefits to the technology we have today and the technology that is presented in "Feed". Having tried to talk to someone in loud, crowed places the M-chat does hold some appeal.
However, while advertising is all over computers, buildings, signs (in Shanghai I even saw small TV screens in the wall next to elevators) we can, whenever we want, turn off the computer, close the door and retreat to a book. That is an option the the people in "Feed" don't have.
However, I don't mind places like Amazon.com sending me recommendations based on my past purchases. For example I had been buying an anime TV show when the company who held the licence went out of business, leaving me hanging a few episodes before the climax of the show. Almost a year later Amazon tells me that the next volume of the show is coming out soon. I follow the link and see that a different company has bought the licence for the American release.
As all of these blog and news readers that we are talking about in class show, there is certain information we want to come to us. There are a lot of benefits to the technology we have today and the technology that is presented in "Feed". Having tried to talk to someone in loud, crowed places the M-chat does hold some appeal.
However, while advertising is all over computers, buildings, signs (in Shanghai I even saw small TV screens in the wall next to elevators) we can, whenever we want, turn off the computer, close the door and retreat to a book. That is an option the the people in "Feed" don't have.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Blogger vs. Live Journal
I've been using Live Journal for a few years and am using Blogger for the first time for this class. Here are some points that I have noticed.
- Blogger is able to search for keywords within a certain journal
- Blogger is very simple and straightforward. (Good for first time bloggers)
- Blogger does not have ads
- You can post to Blogger using an LJ or other account
- Live Journal allows more freedom in creating your profile
- Live Journal has space for multiple icons, allowing users to chose an icon for each post and comment.
- Live Journal allows adding voice, polls and charts to the post from the post editor window
- Live Journal has a 'cut' feature for long posts
- Live Journal can adjust comment screening and permissions on a post to post basis
- Live Journal allows 'friends only' posting on a post to post basis
Blogger is very good for first time bloggers and the search feature is very helpful, however Live Journal give the user more freedom. (All points are based on the free account, a paid account has even more options and no ads.)
Brown and Duguid Chpt. 3
In this reading what I focused most on was the idea of how important collective knowledge is. Brown and Duguid's story of the new employee in an isolated office struggling with the technology who's problems cleared up once she was move to a more populated area really stood out to me. When one runs into trouble with technology, or to put it into a library setting, when one runs into an information need of any kind, being able to tap into a shared collection of knowledge is crucial.
In the Human Information Behavior class I took one idea continued to appear. When a person has an everyday life information need, in most cases, they turn first to friends, family or co-workers and ask. (Ever since taking that class I have observed this in my own everyday information seeking behavior) Sometimes they are able to gain a satisfactory answer. Sometimes their immediate circle has not encountered this problem previously and the information seeker must look to other sources.
As was pointed out in the reading, the problem of technology that allows one to work almost anywhere, thus enabling the work from home attempts Brown and Duguid discuss, is that the user is cut off from that collective knowledge generated when groups of people gather. Social Software like blogs, wikis, IM and the others we will discuss in our class can be used to take this collective knowledge online and help to reconnect the user with others to recreate that ability to chat around the water cooler or ask a neighbor for help.
A recent example of this from my own experience is an online friend of mine from LJ posted a question on her blog asking for bibliographic data on the manga art group CLAMP. I saw the question and knew that my library had a manga guide book that would contain that information. During my down time at work I was able to look up and send her the answer to her question. I have also frequently observed blog users ask other users how to perform certain functions like customizing their blog or placing their posts behind LJ-cuts (a function that allows long posts to be collapsed or expanded so as not to take up too much space). This behavior greatly resembles a worker at a desk asking the workers near him if they know how to do "X".
The benefits of social software for creating a virtual shared knowledge collection are great. However, there are limits that need to be addressed. How such knowledge is stored and retrieved for later use is a questions librarians have been grappling with, in one form or another, for a very long time. Also, if your problem is that your computer crashed or your modem won't connect to the Internet then sending out a tweet or posting a help message on your blog won't be easy to accomplish.
In the Human Information Behavior class I took one idea continued to appear. When a person has an everyday life information need, in most cases, they turn first to friends, family or co-workers and ask. (Ever since taking that class I have observed this in my own everyday information seeking behavior) Sometimes they are able to gain a satisfactory answer. Sometimes their immediate circle has not encountered this problem previously and the information seeker must look to other sources.
As was pointed out in the reading, the problem of technology that allows one to work almost anywhere, thus enabling the work from home attempts Brown and Duguid discuss, is that the user is cut off from that collective knowledge generated when groups of people gather. Social Software like blogs, wikis, IM and the others we will discuss in our class can be used to take this collective knowledge online and help to reconnect the user with others to recreate that ability to chat around the water cooler or ask a neighbor for help.
A recent example of this from my own experience is an online friend of mine from LJ posted a question on her blog asking for bibliographic data on the manga art group CLAMP. I saw the question and knew that my library had a manga guide book that would contain that information. During my down time at work I was able to look up and send her the answer to her question. I have also frequently observed blog users ask other users how to perform certain functions like customizing their blog or placing their posts behind LJ-cuts (a function that allows long posts to be collapsed or expanded so as not to take up too much space). This behavior greatly resembles a worker at a desk asking the workers near him if they know how to do "X".
The benefits of social software for creating a virtual shared knowledge collection are great. However, there are limits that need to be addressed. How such knowledge is stored and retrieved for later use is a questions librarians have been grappling with, in one form or another, for a very long time. Also, if your problem is that your computer crashed or your modem won't connect to the Internet then sending out a tweet or posting a help message on your blog won't be easy to accomplish.
Rockaway Twp YA Blog
The Rockaway Township Public library has a teen blog run by Kimberly Garnick. From the library's main page, the patron just needs to click on the teen section and there is a large link to the blog at the top of the page.
http://www.rocktwpya.blogspot.com/ (http://www.rtlibrary.org/)
While this blog isn't the biggest, shiniest library blog with a gazillion comments, I think it is a great example of what a smaller library with a limited staff (one YA librarian who maintains the blog alone) can do with blogging.
The purpose of the blog is stated in a side bar description. "This is the blog for Rock Twp Teens --the space for library events; book, movie & music reviews; cool websites; news; and more."
Kimberly blogs about meeting Holly Black at a Spiderwick book signing, writes a weekly review of a YA book, posts reminders about upcoming events, asks for help from her teens, talks about recently library events and posts pictures taken at them. She also includes information about movies based off of teen books, including trailers and updated release date information. (and this is all in the first page)
While there are not a lot of comments on her posts it is an effective tool for her to disseminate information to her teen users. For example, last February I observed one of her teen programs for a different class. At the end of the program they discussed an upcoming TAG meeting. Kimberly told the teens that if the meeting was cancelled due to weather she would post it on the blog. Her users know that to get the most updated information on library events and cancellations they just need to check the blog.
Kimberly also uses the sidebars of her blog effectively. She posts links to recommended and important web pages such as the Rockaway school's web page, Q&ANJ, teenreads, GLBTQ--Mathew's place, and the library's main page. Prominently displayed is the library's link to home work help and a meebo widget that allows users to IM Kimberly. She also includes a list of links to popular YA authors' web pages and a list of upcoming library events.
This blog is updated regularly and is a good way to promote upcoming events. It also celebrates the teens' participation in the library by recapping past programs and displaying photographs from those events. For example there is a picture on the blog of the goth sock puppets teen users made at a recent program.
Looking at the websites of larger libraries that have well developed web pages and a large staff supporting the library's online presence is very helpful for getting ideas and a better understanding of how the technology can be used in the library. However, I believe it is also important to see what smaller, less tech-savvy and cutting edge libraries are able to do with the same technology.
http://www.rocktwpya.blogspot.com/ (http://www.rtlibrary.org/)
While this blog isn't the biggest, shiniest library blog with a gazillion comments, I think it is a great example of what a smaller library with a limited staff (one YA librarian who maintains the blog alone) can do with blogging.
The purpose of the blog is stated in a side bar description. "This is the blog for Rock Twp Teens --the space for library events; book, movie & music reviews; cool websites; news; and more."
Kimberly blogs about meeting Holly Black at a Spiderwick book signing, writes a weekly review of a YA book, posts reminders about upcoming events, asks for help from her teens, talks about recently library events and posts pictures taken at them. She also includes information about movies based off of teen books, including trailers and updated release date information. (and this is all in the first page)
While there are not a lot of comments on her posts it is an effective tool for her to disseminate information to her teen users. For example, last February I observed one of her teen programs for a different class. At the end of the program they discussed an upcoming TAG meeting. Kimberly told the teens that if the meeting was cancelled due to weather she would post it on the blog. Her users know that to get the most updated information on library events and cancellations they just need to check the blog.
Kimberly also uses the sidebars of her blog effectively. She posts links to recommended and important web pages such as the Rockaway school's web page, Q&ANJ, teenreads, GLBTQ--Mathew's place, and the library's main page. Prominently displayed is the library's link to home work help and a meebo widget that allows users to IM Kimberly. She also includes a list of links to popular YA authors' web pages and a list of upcoming library events.
This blog is updated regularly and is a good way to promote upcoming events. It also celebrates the teens' participation in the library by recapping past programs and displaying photographs from those events. For example there is a picture on the blog of the goth sock puppets teen users made at a recent program.
Looking at the websites of larger libraries that have well developed web pages and a large staff supporting the library's online presence is very helpful for getting ideas and a better understanding of how the technology can be used in the library. However, I believe it is also important to see what smaller, less tech-savvy and cutting edge libraries are able to do with the same technology.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
