Tech Talk recap from MLA

In a brief summary this is some of the things that caught my attention at MLA. Some new some old but, until I can do a more substantial post here’s what was going on and where to find out more.

Library labs http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/news/labs.php

Evernote http://evernote.com/

Android http://code.google.com/android/

Bright Kite http://brightkite.com/

Microsoft Surface http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html

Site meter http://www.sitemeter.com/

Doodle http://www.doodle.ch/main.html

Moodle http://moodle.org/

Netvibes http://www.netvibes.com/#General

IGoogle http://www.google.com/ig

Web Junction http://www.webjunction.org/do/Home

Jing http://www.jingproject.com/

Freebase http://www.freebase.com/

Aviary http://a.viary.com/

Osalt http://www.osalt.com/

Pipes http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/

RSS FWD http://www.rssfwd.com/

Second Life http://secondlife.com/

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Filed under: MLA, social networking, web 2.0

MLA update soon to come!

I have so much to update but, I need to get my notes in order before I start so stay tuned for TONS of tech information.

Filed under: MLA, web 2.0

My Favorite Mashup

I looked at the “award winners” but in my book this HealthMap.Org is my favorite mashup. I use it in an epidemics and plagues class I work with. They love it! While it was interesting to bang round the internet looking at different types of mashups they all seemed gimmicky. I was expecting to see more practical applications as “award winners” and I was hoping to get to create my own mashup with this class not just look at them. I’m a little disappointed. Also, to be honest I really don’t see the point to Rollyo. It’s more of a toy than a tool.

Filed under: MLA, web 2.0

You Tube

Great video by DePauw

I think that you tube is a great way to market your library or your library services. The DePauw library is a great example of creative ways to use multimedia and you tube to reach your users. I think it would be a fun way to break up an instructional session also. Video isn’t something users expect to see in an instructional session so it would be a great way to liven things up! BTW do a search on you tube for DePauw they have several great videos.

Filed under: instruction, MLA

Flickr and the Wide World of Photos

This week the MLA course focused on online photo sharing. I have to admit it was fun and if you are interested there are some great pictures of my hometown now on this blog (look up and to the left) but, I don’t see how this is a professional tool. Perhaps I could see my faculty using this to share pathology slides but, isn’t that what institutional repositories are for? While I’m happy to try out Flickr I don’t see it as a professional tool; It’s just a fun toy and I’m left wondering why it ended up in the MLA course?

Filed under: MLA, web 2.0

Web Office Tools – Cool Toy

This blog post is not being created in wordpress but, is being written in Google Doc. I’m considering this an experiment to see how sending a post to your blog will work. So far I am loving web based office tools. I must say that I prefer Google Docs over Microsoft Office Workspaces. Office is more complicated to use but, I haven’t giving up on it yet. I think there is potential there but, I need to explore it more on my own. I can think of several different reason why web bases office tools are useful. For students, you have the option to work on projects when you have time no matter where you are. For professionals, it’s a great way to collaborate and I must say for my own personal use I’ve just uploaded a power point presentation that I need to present in the next few week. This way if the flash drive dies I don’t have to rely on e-mail alone to save my presentation; I have it in Google Docs. This is a technology I have not used before but, I am confident I will be using it consistently in the future. Kudos to this class for exposing me to this great new toy!

Filed under: blogs, MLA, web 2.0

Social Bookmarking

So this week we worked with del.icio.us which I really enjoyed. I started off last year using Connotea and I think for bookmarking PubMed it’s wonderful but, it wasn’t as intuitive as I found del.icio.us. Over all I think social bookmarking is an extremely useful technology. Just think of how many researchers work in the field and internationally. To be able to have your “go to resources” wherever you are in the world is wonderful. I also think it’s useful if you teach outside of the library or if you present at a lot of conferences. I think uses for this technology is only limited by your imagination.

Filed under: instruction, MLA, web 2.0

Week 3 – Michael Chiarello style rant

Ok, so this week we are exploring the wide world of social networking software. For this experience that means Facebook and Linked In. Honestly, I’m not enthusiastic about this. A “profession” should not have to resort to gimmicks in order to reach its users. I loathe Facebook and Myspace and pretty much anything that is along the same vein. So now I’ve had to create two accounts to experiment with something I know I’ll be deleting later. I suppose I can say it is all in the name of research and nothing ventured nothing gained but, the only thing I’ve gained is a number of accounts I will be deleting in 6 weeks and more junk in my inbox. I am hoping that comments from my colleagues will open my eyes and I will find a kinder and gentler attitude towards professional uses of social networking sites. Thus far I am not impressed.

Filed under: MLA, social networking

MLA Web 2.0 101 Part II

As the comments started to roll in about how wikis could be used in libraries I was struck with the thought that maybe they are over used. There was a lot of discussion concerning how to get people to participate in wikis and how to keep them current. My response was, if they are a valuable wiki they shouldn’t need reminders they should naturally keep themselves up to date. While I am a glass is half full kind of person maybe we need to think of what things in librarianship wikis should *not* be used for. We’ll all agree that there is a lot of garbage on the web so why add to it if it’s not necessary? To bring back on of my favorite phrases from library school “Garbage in, Garbage out.” Maybe the wikis are static because their content is only useful to a small group of people. Just a thought.

Filed under: MLA, web 2.0, wikis

MLA Web 2.0 101

In an effort to explore web 2.0 I signed up for the MLA course. Even though I feel I’ve exhausted all avenues of web 2.0 I wanted to confirm this. So far I’ve built a blog, set up an rss reader and am creating a wiki. Have I already done all of these things? Yes, but the input from the other participants who have never done these things is very valuable. Since I’ve already created blogs and wikis and readers, oh my. I’ve forgotten all the little stumbling blocks that pop up along the way. If you’re not able to take a course like this to remember the rough spots maybe you could ask your colleagues to contribute to your blog or wiki or create one of there own and report back to you with any problems they may have. We tend to get so caught up in the technology and submerse ourself in it every day that we forget it’s not that easy. Since I am the emerging technologies coordinator for my department I am using this course to help me create a how to guide. By reading all the comments and seeing how the instructors are setting up the course I am hope to create my own manual.

This is an 8 week course and we’ve already covered what I’ve been working with. I am very excited to see what weeks 4-8 hold. I bet there will be something new, exciting, confusing and exhausting in those weeks.

Filed under: instruction, MLA, web 2.0