One last message: Over and Out

If there is anyone out there reading this blog, and I am guessing that's a big if, you would know that I have been a bit philosophical about some Web 2 applications. Are some of them really offering something new? And might we be losing something along the way? But I don't want to leave a lasting impression of a Luddite because, if there is actually someone out there reading my past blogs, they would know there is far more that I like than not. YouTube and Googlemaps have become a regular part of my daily life. Admittedly YouTube is more of a guilty pleasure, but Googlemaps has become an essential tool. I suppose it is all about what works for you. What works for the library that's another matter. I think it is important as librarians to ask ourselves, is an application providing a useful service or simply and enjoyable experience? I think we should be focusing on applications that will have long term use. Not that there is anything wrong with thinking about the experience of our users. Ideally we should be providing both something useful and enjoyable. But if we are to avoid getting caught up in fads that will eventually fade, we need to ask the question: Are we helping our users to learn more effectively by embracing a particular Web2 application? So far I think we have done well.
Well that's it.
Over and out from me!

Facebook and MySpace: Bringing it all together

Facebook and MySpace, this does seem to be the point where most of Web 2 comes together. Particularly in relation to the social/communication tools. Not being the most social creature in the world I have never really been driven to explore either of these sites, and it's probably good that I have now taken a peek. I still don't feel the need to participate, but I think I now understand why many do. It's the ultimate way of staying in touch. I am sure it will grow and develop. I was a little concerned about how pervasive advertising was on these sites. But I suppose they have to make money somehow.

Twitter: No detail of your life is too dull to share

What can I say about Twitter? Not really my cup of tea. I can see how it might have appeal during the big adventures: i.e. having a baby, travelling etc as a continuous, live update. It appears to me though that it's mostly an outlet for chatterboxes that find themselves alone but unable to turn off the impulse to talk. Hopefully someone is listening.

Podcasting

I have always thought of Podcasting as a technology just waiting for a bit of bandwidth to really take off. Perhaps this new super speed optical fibre network we are getting will be the key that opens the flood gates. When it comes to flexible delivery Pod/Vod casting is the dream we have all been waiting for. It's what we want, home delivered, reading and waiting. Too bad the video quality is so ordinary. It will be very interesting to see what happens to other delivery modes such as television, radio and optical disk, once the cables are in the ground and connected.

YouTube: The medium is the message

Sorry for getting all Marshall McLuhan but I really do think that YouTube is a terrific example of The medium is the message. Leaving aside the whole copyright minefield. The YouTube clip is about as disposable as K-Mart junk mail, and for this reason we are happy to view, and even enjoy, material we would quickly reject if it appeared on TV or the cinema. I use YouTube all the time, and along with Google Maps, I think it's one of the few Web2 icons that I will continually come back to. Most simply because it's fun!
I'm not sure however that libraries should get too involved. We all know there is good stuff on YouTube, but we also know a whole lot of what you can find is of little or no value. Combine this with the fact that it is free, and you have at best a trash and treasure of mostly stolen goods.
Do we really want to associate the Library brand to closely?
However for those who are interested here is my current favourite, copyright suspect, YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvKtxTsVoMo

iGoogle: The hompage you have when you don't have a homepage

I don't have too much to say about iGoogle other than it's just another example of how Web 2 is all about taking web resources out of the hands of the tech heads, and allowing the rest of us to do our thing. You want to fill a web page with all the stuff you like? Try I Google.

Googling Maps and Docs

I'd love to see usage statistics of these two Google products. I suspect that Google Maps gets a lot of use while Docs not so much. Google maps seems to me to be the perfect internet product. It takes advantage of the internet's multimedia capabilities, it provides access to far more material that any competing format, there are few privacy issues, and most importantly everyone will find it useful at some point. It's one of my favourite web products.

Docs on the other hand is markedly inferior to its offline competitors in regards to its functionality, and perhaps most crucially there's the privacy issue. Who is going to trust their business reports, latest novel or memoirs to Google when pc based word processors and spreadsheets are so easy to come by? Still, it wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong.

Let's go Wiki now everybody's learning how

Does anyone remember the days when if you had managed to put something up on the web, or programme a VCR, you were considered quite clever. Those were they days!

Wikies

Years ago I went to a conference and I heard a New Zealand man talk about Wikipedia. Having missed the start of the talk, I assumed that a Wiki was some kind of Kiwi thing like Wirinaki. It was ages before I discovered my mistake.
I think the humble wiki is one of those web 2 tools that (unlike many of the others) is likely to last. After all it serves that simple function that Tim Berners-Lee intended for the original html web. That is easy, low tech, online information sharing.
Most of the Wikis I have seen haven't been pretty (our own Libnet included), but they sure are functional. Allowing a lot of web writers to get on with the real work.

Technorati: Little Letters to Everyone

So it's time to blog about Technorati: the international capital of blogs! Well I could say it has a lot of blogs. I could also comment on those listed as the most popular. I was certainly surprised by what people are reading. The blend of popular culture and techno talk must certainly say something about 21st century society. More interesting though is the way most blogs are written. As I read the thing that strikes me most is not the content but the tone. Nobody writes a personal letter these days, but I think the tradition has been reborn in the personal blog. As I skip from one blog to the next (especially those that aren’t technology oriented), I can't help but notice the personal style in which they are written. To me they are like little letters to everyone. It seems to be a very human thing to want to write down your thoughts and send them to someone. Does it make us feel more connected? Or is it just a way of getting something off your chest? I think that probably depends on whether you are an introvert or an extravert. Who knows? What does this blog say about me? What I am sure of is that something new may also be something old.

del.icio.us

Hmm del.icio.us.

Social bookmarks?
So long as you lead as well as follow then I can see how this can work. The danger is that you become lazy and only follow the paths laid down by others.

Portable bookmarks?
This is the really useful bit. But where do you store the bookmark for del.icio.us ?

Google Books

As long as it remains free I think Google Books is a great force for good. Hopefully this will continue to be the case considering Google’s mantra about doing no evil (was the China debate ever settled?). I read with interest how Google has made peace with the publishers, and as far as I can see, it has been a thumping victory for the laws of copyright. Thank God for that! I know the naughty boys and girls of the internet find copyright the most annoying legal right in the history of annoying legal rights. But ultimately if the creative types don't get paid for each copy that is made of their work, then they just won't bother anymore. There is more than enough out of copyright and copyright free material to still make this a wonderful resource.

As a history tragic Google Books gives me access to unbelievable material. I only wish I had the time to explore it properly. I know we have noble sites free of the commercial taint, such as Project Gutenberg. However they are never going to be able to match the resources of a profit making venture like Google. Let’s just hope that Google is happy is settle for its advertising and promotional revenue, and the subscription word is never uttered across the boardroom table.

LibraryThing: for The Hoarder Who Likes Order

I think there are two kinds of librarians. There are the information seekers and the information hoarders. And although the LibraryThing does allow you to search, I think this has been designed to tickle the fancy of the hoarder who likes order. I wonder if this is the future of library catalogues. It's amazing to me how a powerful tool like this, that could easily have cost thousands of dollars a decade ago, is available virtually for free. I had a bit of fun entering a few of my favourite books, but being the sort of librarian who is into the searching side of things, I'll leave this one to the cataloguers.

RSS: Feed the Hungry Beast

I must admit that I often have doubts about just how long some of these Web 2 tools are going to last. To have longevity I think a tool has to provide a useful service that didn't exist before (in any form). It has to really change what we do rather than simply entertain us. It has to be a fundamental shift rather than simply to cooler way of doing something. Otherwise it will be swept into insignificance by the next craze.

I think RSS is here to stay!

Not too long ago when you surfed the web there weren't that many breaks to choose from. New waves were a cause for excitement and much discussion. Today something new has to pretty special to make a splash.

As the edges of the web stretch further beyond the horizon, it is becoming more about personalisation than exploration. Rather than hunting down that exciting new surf break, we are cruising a vast ocean on time saving guided tours. Hoping our chosen vessel will deliver visits only to our ports of interest. If you can't see it all then spend more time visiting your favourite places.

If libraries can't do something with RSS that I think we need shooting! It seems to me that anything that is a tool for the selection and delivery of information has librarian written all over it. We have known for a long time that we inhabit an information hungry era. I think RSS is an opportunity for us to create a few menus. Perhaps one day every course, collection, or library community will have its own feed?

Flickr: a Face in the Crowd

I have chosen a picture of a face in the crowd from Flickr because it seems to me that as convenient as it is to share photos on the web, the sheer size of the collection that is available to anyone, is diluting the power that the image has had in modern society. So many images race through our consciousness every day, that even if we see one that could potentially have meaning to us, it is likely to pass us by unnoticed. A diluted drop in the ocean. I think too we tend not to value anything that is made available to us free and on mass. Would you have the same reaction to an image discovered hidden away in a Fryer Library archive box, if it was just another jpg amongst a million others on Flickr?

Of course there is another side to the story. Not all images on Flickr are open to everyone. And I suspect that these are the ones that are most valued. Of course the value is only partly in the content of these images. It's the shared story of the individuals behind these images that provides most of the value. Like post cards on a shared notice board they become meaningless when nobody can remember who sent them.

So what does this mean to libraries and librarians? I'm not sure. However I do think we should always think about who we are collecting for. I think also we should remember that sometimes the more we make a resource accessible the less what we do is valued. Of course in this world of convenience the danger is that if something is not a click away, then it will be ignored as “just to hard”. This unfortunately is the Catch 22 we are stuck with.

Life Long Learning

I don't think you can work in a library and not be a lifelong learner. It's a place which attracts that kind of person. It also attracts the kind of person who has boxes of books at home which they will never read again, but just can't bring themselves to throw out. I think this is because we value what we got from those books, and we need to repay them by giving them a good home for ever. Something like a public housing scheme for war veterans, except these vets suffer from yellowing paper and dog eared corners rather than shrapnel wounds. But I am wandering off the point. What I want to say is that I think we all have the desire to be lifelong learners. However, I think we wander around a bit directionless, like a bee with an overwhelming number of flowers to choose from. For me the 7 1/2 habits are road signs that keep the lifelong learner from travelling down too many no through roads.