Thing 23 YouTube

YouTube ...a lot of fun. The site was easy to navigate. The features such as relevance, date added, number of times viewed were all very helpful. A good way to preview music and new artists.I can see using YouTube for instructional purposes on library websites.

Thing 22 Flickr fun....Flickr mashups

The mashup which I found interesting was Mappr. Mappr allows you to take Flickr images and paste them on a map. The Stamen Design Group,in 2004, started to collect images from Flickr and compare them to a U.S. Postal Service database of place names. Their collaborative ingenuity was centered around the idea of having a mapping of photos without having to depend on cameras which had GPS locators installed in them. This mashup has potential applications for tourism, and promotion of regional events etc.

Thing 21-Tags, tagging ..photosharing web sites.

Flickr and tags go together. Tags are important facet of this photo sharing web site. Flickr has features similar to online social networking sites.Tags have been a successful means by which groups have created galleries of images. Tags merge images and words. Sharing your digital photos online is a way to create collaborative communites in which numerous people can participate. Common interests bring people together online. In Flickr you can search through groups to meet people who have similar interests.

Thing 20 -Flickr

Flickr is an interesting photo sharing managment tool. I learned about tags,sets, and collections. The pictures I viewed were the tourist destination of Niagra Falls. The keyword Niagra Falls came up with 31,214 hits/results. The Flickr experience was enjoyable and I can see how it would come in handy when sharing photos with family and friends. The photo attached to this blog will orginate from the Blogger Photo Upload Tool. The "Snow Pup" picture to the right was taken by Jessica Burns.

Thing 19 - Web 2.0 Awards list findings

I viewed Farecast.com. I frequently book airline tickets online and I was interested in what this site has to offer the consumer. I liked the fact you could price compare from multiple airline sites. It was easy to navigate Farecast.com. The useful features on this site included (1)Know When To Buy:Airfare Predictions, (2) Top Airline Ticket Deals and, (3) Know When To Fly Travel Tools. The consumer could search flights for accurate airfare predictions. The predictions were indicated with arrows pointing up or down. An arrow pointing up means to buy the ticket now. An arrow pointing down indicated that you should wait to purchase your ticket. The Top Airline Ticket Deals gave the consumer the option to check various cities for the latest deals. And finally, Know When To Fly: Travel Tools displayed graphs which tracked departure dates and lowest fares. Many people use the public library Internet terminals to book their airline flights. Farecast.com is another tool the public could take advantage of when they are considering purchasing an airline ticket online.

Thing 18 -Thoughts on Technorati

I was blown away by all the features displayed on the Technorati homepage. I viewed a YouTube on Technorati. There were two versions of the the homepage a signed in version and a signed out version. I particularly liked the Discover Section which broke down the blogs into topic sections similar to what you would find in a newspaper.The topics included: news, enetertainment, life sports, business, tech, and most popular. It sort of reminded me of what USA Today did with the layout of their newspaper. I explored TechCrunch on Technorati.Next to the blog entry was an authority icon, favorite it icon and rank icon. the authority feature allows you to view blog reactions and the favorite it (heart icon) allows you to add it to your favorites. The related tags feature offered me another way to search. It is good to have a tool to track blogs and tags.

Thing 17 Tagging,Folksonomy,Del.icio.us

I can see the direct benefit of using Del.icio.us as a way to manage and categorize my bookmarks. I have seen tags on different blogs and started to follow the links. I like to see what descriptive words different users have come up with to tag various websites. Since I do use different computers for my job I appreciate the fact that I can access Del.icio.us on any terminal. I think for research assistance Del.icio.us would be valuable tool for gathering content information.

Thoughts on MySpace Thing 16

Wow....MySpace... Generally I see the reasoning behind having a MySpace account especially for teens and college students. I was surprised to read the adults are catching on to the whole social networking phenomena. Although after I thought about it this type of site would work well with different clubs etc., keeping in touch with people who have common interests or hobbies. The registration form for MySpace looked fairly straight forward. I tried to absorb all the technical points which the Discovery Exercises offered. There was information overload on all the different editing options you have at your fingertips to customize your page. I think the popularity of this page will grow and blend into different areas such as your school activities, work activites etc. I don't see a need to create a MySpace page at this time for myself.

411 on Social Networking (Thing 15)

Lets face it teens are on the web alot. Blogging, im, email, MySpace, Facebook, are just a few of the digital activities which teens are involved with on a daily basis. Teens enjoy connecting with their friends in a digital format. I think VBPL should use a social networking site to connect with teens. It is crucial to have a presence in this digital arena. The important thing is to make sure our information and input are relevant and that we are using the technology for the purpose in which it is designed. Our effectiveness in connecting with teens on the social networking sites is what really matters in the grand scheme of things. I think the Hennepin County Library MySpace profile is a good example of what VBPL should be striving to attain.

Thing 14 -VBPL Reader's Advisory Wiki

I found it very easy to add my comments to the VBPL Reader's Advisory wiki. It really helped that I had viewed the CommonCraft You Tube video on wikis. It was interesting to see what other staff members had listed as their favorite book. Other library groups can use wikis to collaborate on group projects. I can see wikis being utilized by book clubs, Friends of the Library, and the various library committees all of who seek collaborative input on their specific projects.

Wikis and Libraries

I enjoyed looking at all the various wikis. The ALA conference wiki was informative and easy to navigate. The wiki format works well with a conference as there are always last minute changes to a daily schedule of events. I think the pathfinder wiki would be an excellent tool to introduce new college freshman to their academic and specialized libraries on campus. In the public library setting the wiki could be utlized in the marketing of community programs and workshops. I can see the possibility of using a wiki for summer reading or teen gaming nights.The branch at which I work uses a wiki to keep track of display books which go out and which books don't circulate.