Social networking

I am familiar with My Space and Facebook as my daughters are avid users but I had never thought of the application of these sites to libraries or other businesses. I found the Rotorua Public Library page a good example of what a library could do with this technology. It did concern me , however, that I could go into pages posted by 'friends' of this library and read all sorts of personal stuff about these people. The privacy issue is a big concern.
I haven't posted anything the past 2 weeks although I read all the information about mashups and online applications and tools. I'm afraid the technology has gone a bit past my ability to comprehend at this stage but I am willing to keep trying to learn more. This whole experience has been quite an eye-opener for me and given me insight on how this technology can help libraries move into the 21st century and remain in contact with the youth in our population.
Well done!

Podcasting

I found watching and listening to the various podcasts very interesting and was astounded at the variety of content found. One library podcast I viewed consisted of a teen radio show including music, interviews and book reviews which I thought was quite a novel idea. Several were audio only readings of children's books. University and college libraries had podcasts of lectures and tutorials. All interesting applications for libraries.

Answer boards

I really enjoyed reading the Answer Board Librarian's wiki. What a great way to get the message of librarians out there! I particularly liked the tagline: Librarians - we eat questions for breakfast! I think "slamming the boards" is a terrific idea and several of the librarian's answers referred enquirers to libraries and on-line reference services provided by libraries which is great publicity.

del.icio.us

I was interested to learn about de.licio.us as we have been using this for the Ask Now on-line reference service. The National Library has this set up with useful sites for reference enquiries. I find this very helpful. However, I have no interest in setting up my own account as I wouldn't have enough use for it.

Videos online

It's amazing the videos you can find on YouTube and Google video and it's amazing the things some people will make a video of! I personally find the whole thing a waste of time but I know it's something that young people love. If there was some way to attract the younger members of the population to using the library more through the use of online videos it would be a useful tool. I'll have to think about that!
I'll try to attach my favourite Michael Buble video clip just for fun.

Week 5 Wikimania!

I was disappointed that all the examples if wikis we were given to look at were American. I did find the Book Lover's Wiki very interesting and what a great idea for a library. Patrons can feel they can contribute and share their reading experiences with others.
It could also be a great tool for regional libraries like ours with several branches. Staff could use a wiki to share ideas and information without some feeling isolated and left out of the loop.
Another use outside libraries could be for students preparing a group assignment to each contribute, share and edit each other's ideas.

Week 4 RSS

I added quite a number of feeds for topics that interest me and will see if this proves to be a useful way to keep up with information. I can see the advantage of using this service in a busy library environment. A good example would be to keep up with newly published material without having to trawl through long lists of titles. It is also a useful way to keep up with the news.