Web 2.0 final thoughts

I enjoyed this project very much. I thought I already knew pretty much about web tools but I learned a lot! It will be interesting to see what I stay with over the next year. I'm also excited to see how the web tools will evolve in the years to come.

There is even more to explore every day. I like Craigslist, Zillow, and Redfin too. I've also customized my Google start page to igoogle.

I hope the library will be able to incorporate more of these technologies. Patrons want them and are using them - and now we know what they are talking about!!

Last post for today - Wikis

I can see the usefulness of a wiki but (like everything on the web) there are pros and cons. So far I am more comfortable using a blog to communicate in group but I think I'm just more used to the process.

We are using a wiki for the Long Range Planning Steering Committee and so far it seems like the info on the wiki is helpful and well organized. (It also helps that the wiki is membership-only and it is moderated.) As a reference librarian, I am skeptical about wikis due to the reputation of wikipedia but I have read wikipedia entries that have been well done, accurate and insightful. It's just a "user-beware" situation.

Sometimes I think too much effort is put into creating wikis when the content is duplicating information that is readily available in other places.

GoogleDocs/Zoho

I was not very impressed with either of these sites. The only reason I could think to use them is if the person does not have the desktop software. (I did put patrons on Zoho before we had Word software in the library.)

I did import a document into Google Docs but the image didn't transport correctly and when I tried to post it to my blog it posted it to my personal blog instead of this blog - even though I directed it to post to this one. Frustrating!

Library Thing/Facebook/Youtube - user content

Let's start with Facebook, myspace & twitter. I'm having a lot of fun on them, but probably spending more time on them than I should. I don't know if the novelty will wear off or not. For now, it's a fun way to be creative and connect with others.

I struggled with a few things on Twitter - how to respond to someone was tricky. I was able to install software on my home computer that opens like AIM in a little box and then alerts me when I have a new message. Fun but distracting when I'm trying to get something done. I have enjoyed the humorous posts from other staff members! When I first set up Twitter I followed lots of different links - like political figures and news sites, but I soon deleted them because there were too many tweets and I can get that info on my google reader.

Library Thing is fun but I already have something like it on Facebook (iReads). I enjoyed looking at the list of books we've used for Book Banter. I thought the page was pretty cluttered but I'd have to spend even more time if I wanted to customize it to all of my preferences. Also, their search function is a little strange....I didn't get the hits I wanted (but I have the same problem on iReads).

I enjoy YouTube but don't spend much time on it. My 14 year old son LOVES it! He has made movies with his friends and posted them on You Tube and sent them to friends and relatives. They are fun and creative in a new way. Sometimes teens are criticized for spending too much time on the computer but what they are doing with YouTube is just like the plays we used to put on in my friend's basement and then invite our parents to come and watch the show. :) It's just this generation's version!

The ridiculous thing is that I could see this happening!

Aug 4, 9:06 PM EDT
Fla. man dials 911, complains his sub had no sauce

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- The sauce for a spicy Italian sandwich was apparently a must have for one Florida man. The man, Reginald Peterson, called 911 twice after a sandwich shop left off the sauce.
Peterson initially called the emergency number Thursday so that officers could have his subs made correctly, according to a police report. The second call was to complain that police officers weren't arriving fast enough.
Subway workers told police that Peterson, 42, became belligerent and yelled when they were fixing his order. They locked him out of the store when he left to call police.
When officers arrived, they tried to calm Peterson and explain the proper use of 911. Those efforts failed, and he was arrested on a charge of making false 911 calls.
Peterson did not have a listed phone number.

RSS Feeds, Blogs, & Twitter

I learned a lot by working on this for the past few days. I already had a Facebook & a blog (the better to connect with my friends and my teenagers) but now I've added Twitter and set up all my news sites and blogs that I read to a feed. My biggest frustration in all of this (other than losing my blogs due to user error) is keeping track of all the logins and passwords. I try to keep them all the same but then one site wants a password with a capital letter, and one wants one at least 9 letters long and then one wants one shorter than 6 letters long!! It's a bit confusing and I'm starting to write things down to keep them straight.

This project has also encouraged me to try some other new web things - I listed my first item on Ebay (no bids yet!) and set up a Snapfish group account so everyone from our recent family reunion can post their pics.

I like Twitter more than I thought but I think the Facebook status component pretty much does the same thing. (And on Facebook I know the true identities of the people I'm reading about!) I'm going to work on Library Thing and some of the online office tools.

Let's try this again!

The last week I've been working on all my web 2.0 stuff and this morning all of my blogs are gone!! Yikes! I don't know what happened to them... I had linked them all and (a family blog, my MLLI blog and the web 2.0 blog) and now I can't find any of them. I guess Blogger thought my blogs were spam!

It took me an hour yesterday to figure out how to put a widget on my blogger for twitter. Let's see if I can remember how to do it again!!

I guess I need to chalk this up to a learning experience.....

C.