Exercise 1:

The mashup I looked at was Quick.as.  This mashup allows you to search for keywords in certain website using abbreviations.  For example, you can search for a book on Amazon, by typing “a title of book.”  This saves a few steps when searching.

Exercise 2:

The blogs I looked at all seemed to be talking about different aspects of privacy.  Some concentrated on privacy from the government and talked about the Patriot Act or the domestic spying program.  One spoke about privacy on the internet especially among young people using social networking software.  Another blogger talked about the role of ALA, the federal government, and privacy.

Write a blog entry discussing how you felt about the experience of using YouTube and what you think about this service. Do you see any potential uses for Podcasting in the library? If so what and why?

I think that YouTube is a valuable resource for students and faculty. I think it would be interesting to use it for more in depth library instruction. How great would it be for a student to log in to his or her course management software and find relevant library instruction videos linked to the assignment his or her professor assigned in class that day? Wouldn’t that be helpful for distance education students, too? On the other hand, will the use of these types of efforts be worth the staff time that is put into creating them?

I like podcasting. I think libraries could use this technology for things like self-guided tours of the library (if it’s a one time thing though, is it really a podcast?). I also think that a library could develop interesting and relevant podcasts similar to the lecture series that many libraries currently sponsor. Again, my questions would be how many people would actually listen to these podcasts?

A fun library commercial from YouTube:

Blog about the process on your personal blog for this course and share how this concept might be used in your library.

I was already very familiar with online photo sharing and had already set up both Flickr and Photobucket accounts. (I also have a Snapfish account.) I think it is neat how Photobucket allows you to share photos directly with Facebook, but was disappointed to see it didn’t do the same with WordPress. That is the problem I see with so many online photo sharing sites– sometimes they aren’t compatible with other Web 2.0 services. That’s why I have so many different accounts. I wanted to share photos on a social networking site, which is only compatible with Flickr.

I’m not sure how useful this would be for our library, as we don’t have a digital images collection. However, it could possibly be used for a library promotion contest. (Take a cool picture of yourself using the library, upload it to Flickr, and win a prize if it’s the best.) I can also see using it to take pictures of new books, so people can see what they look like and what we have, even if they are not in the library.

Is this the future of all software products? What do you think?

I think so. Many jobs currently require a high level of collaboration to complete projects, especially in libraries. As online software products increase their functionality, I believe that more and more workplaces and schools will adopt these software products over traditional ones. I really like that all versions of a document are saved in one place, instead of in multiple places like many of my documents are right now.

Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance?  Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

Using a social bookmarking tool like del.icio.us would be great for organizing our library’s collection of useful links, which are currently somewhat difficult to use and maintain on our library’s website.  Also, I like the idea of using this kind of tool to share information with researchers, although RSS feeds may be more useful for that purpose.  It is also very useful to be able to access these bookmarks from anywhere, but that is also possible with bookmarking tools that do not have the same tagging and social aspects.  For example, Yahoo! allows its users to create a customized list of bookmarks on their My Yahoo! pages, which can be accessed from anywhere.  Overall, I think social bookmarking provides a valuable resource for libraries and their users.

How can social networking be used by MLA to connect members?

Social networking can be used by MLA members to keep in touch between events.  It can also be used to publicize events and opportunities available to members.

Should your library have a Facebook or MySpace page?

Yes. I think having a page in Facebook or MySpace with the library’s contact information and other basic information would be a great idea.

Are there privacy concerns for individuals when using social networking sites?

Yes, but I think it is possible for an individual to include or not include information in order to  have a page with the level of privacy with which he or she is most comfortable.

What did you like or not like about your experience with Facebook or MySpace?

I like Facebook, but the number of applications can be overwhelming.  I really like being able to see what people I went to high school and college with are doing now.

What is the difference between a blog and a wiki?

Blogs and wikis have many differences. Blogs are usually arranged chronologically, while wikis are usually arranged thematically. Blog content is created by the owner or owners of the blog. While more than one person might contribute to a blog, content is not widely available to edit, add onto, etc. Once a blog post is made, it rarely changes. Most people participate with a blog by either reading or commenting. The content on wikis is created by a larger number of people. It is edited, rewritten, expanded upon, etc. Wiki pages change often. Most people participate with a wiki by changing or adding to its content.

What sort of things might be better suited for a blog and better suited for a wiki?

Announcements, news stories, and other updates are perfect for a blog. A wiki is good for group projects and other collaborative efforts where members can share, revise, or add ideas.

How do you think you could use RSS feeds at your library?

RSS feeds will be a valuable collection development tool for me. By subscribing to PubMed searches and the tables of contents of journals in my selection subject areas, I will be able to keep up to date with trends in those areas. Also, I will be able to see when new book reviews are published in the journals in my field. I will also be able to use RSS feeds to monitor the library literature that will be valuable to my work with the library’s website and the serials project I am currently working on. I currently subscribe to a number of e-mail alerting services, but I think that converting as many of these as possible to a RSS feed reader will simplify things.

How do you think patrons could use RSS feeds?

The patrons in my library who will find RSS feeds most useful will be faculty members, graduate students, and researchers. They will be able to create precise PubMed searches for articles they are interested in and have them sent to them, rather than needing to repeat the search on a regular basis. They will also be able to use RSS feeds to keep up with the articles in the journals they consult most often by subscribing to the tables of contents for those journals.

This is my first post.  I will use this blog at first to document my participation in the MLA CE course “Web 2.0 101: Introduction to Second Generation Web Tools.”  I also hope to eventually discuss some of the challenges and opportunities I have as a new librarian.