Something on Sunday in June
1 year ago
Friday, December 19, 2008
Online Applications & Tools
Just a quite bite on online applications. They are great ideas allowing document sharing and free access, however untill computers can be connected to the web without interuption for a significant majority of the time people will always won't desktop applications. For example at work the internet is up for the majority of time but when it goes down that would mean the end of work untill the work applications could be accessed again. Also for may with dial up and broadband it costs for the access therefore apllications that are not in the confines of the web are preferable. Online applications in the furture however with continue to grow with sites such as Zoho Writer to grow in populatiry.
Wikis
Wikis are a great way to exchange information. On of my faviorite sites is the wikipedia site, it is useful to a quick reference such a when reading and someone refers to the "rape of the Sabines" a quick look at wikipedia will tell you enough to get the general idea. Wikis are good for keeping up with information and although it would be inadvisable to ever use one as a reference many wikis refer back to where they got their sourses from and in essanse can lead to some great sourse for reasearch.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
YouTube
YouTube is a window to the world. Not only is it educational in having study related videos such as anatomy and physiology it also provides entertainment and another web based artistic platform. Long live YouTube for ye shall provide us with visual medium.
All I can say is Taking the Hobbits to Isengard!!! Needs sound:
All I can say is Taking the Hobbits to Isengard!!! Needs sound:
Library 2.0
Learning 2.0, and extension of Web 2.0, is about applying web application in the environment of the library. The readings for this week raise some interesting issues for the future of libraries and the application of technology.
As Rick Anderson states that the Web 2.0 in "reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything- digital collections of journals, books, blogs, pod casts, etc." This can be seen in two lights, firstly a nightmare for people to protect their copyright and secondly explaining the delivery sources already available. Many copyright and intellectual writers explain the nightmarish situation where all books, journals and other material are all freely accessible through the library. The world would become a large library where information is freely traded when in the past lack of technology and distance has to some extent protected copyright. People continue to buy books, subscribe to journals and pay for peoples work because they can be difficult to access otherwise. Applications which make these resources more readily available online to any user may defeat this copyright defence, a situation which sends shiver down the collective spine of copyrighters.
This however, is only one view of the increasing avaliability of information. As Michael Stephens explains Library 2.0 is more about libraries embracing tools such as instant messaging, weblogs and wikies, the information is the same, its just how we present it. As John J. Riemer explains it is simply an expansion of delivery not a time bomb on copyright. This is what libraries are really about in essence, allowing information and education not to be guarded by those who can afford it. Therefore allowing people to access information which is already there, but in different and more accessible ways.
As Rick Anderson states that the Web 2.0 in "reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything- digital collections of journals, books, blogs, pod casts, etc." This can be seen in two lights, firstly a nightmare for people to protect their copyright and secondly explaining the delivery sources already available. Many copyright and intellectual writers explain the nightmarish situation where all books, journals and other material are all freely accessible through the library. The world would become a large library where information is freely traded when in the past lack of technology and distance has to some extent protected copyright. People continue to buy books, subscribe to journals and pay for peoples work because they can be difficult to access otherwise. Applications which make these resources more readily available online to any user may defeat this copyright defence, a situation which sends shiver down the collective spine of copyrighters.
This however, is only one view of the increasing avaliability of information. As Michael Stephens explains Library 2.0 is more about libraries embracing tools such as instant messaging, weblogs and wikies, the information is the same, its just how we present it. As John J. Riemer explains it is simply an expansion of delivery not a time bomb on copyright. This is what libraries are really about in essence, allowing information and education not to be guarded by those who can afford it. Therefore allowing people to access information which is already there, but in different and more accessible ways.
Tagging, Technorati
I'm enjoying working through 23 Things at the moment, there are so may applications that are useful. I definitely plan to use them in the future both in work and for when I'm travelling in the future. My favourite things so far are Flicker, Blogger and now this week I can add Delicious to my list.
Delicious is a great web tool to synchronize your bookmarks. This has great application for me as I have several computers from which I work as well as personal and student computers. Delicious allows me to add all my favorites no matter where I am logged in which is great, there has been many a time when I have been unable to find that link because I don't have access to bookmarks.
I also looked at using Technorati which is another site that is useful. Technorati can be used to search for blogs, an application that confusingly Blogger does not have. This can be used for those times when you only want to read and search only blogs, especially useful for reference questions such as "what does a library worker do?". Simply refer them to a blog where they can read peoples personal experiences. Also useful for those time burning moments when you can come across bazaar blogs such as Haughty Elf.
I'm also learning new skills on blogger such as adding links into my postings as above. Also experimenting with new blog layouts and design.
Delicious is a great web tool to synchronize your bookmarks. This has great application for me as I have several computers from which I work as well as personal and student computers. Delicious allows me to add all my favorites no matter where I am logged in which is great, there has been many a time when I have been unable to find that link because I don't have access to bookmarks.
I also looked at using Technorati which is another site that is useful. Technorati can be used to search for blogs, an application that confusingly Blogger does not have. This can be used for those times when you only want to read and search only blogs, especially useful for reference questions such as "what does a library worker do?". Simply refer them to a blog where they can read peoples personal experiences. Also useful for those time burning moments when you can come across bazaar blogs such as Haughty Elf.
I'm also learning new skills on blogger such as adding links into my postings as above. Also experimenting with new blog layouts and design.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Library Thing and Rollyo
Today I looked at creating a Library Thing account and Rollyo account.
Library Thing
I liked Library Thing in being a free tool to catalogue books, I like the display and tool interaction of the web site and it is well designed. Although in my case most of my looks I can see within a glance on the book shelve and therefore I don't think I would be using this application to a great extent. I also liked how there is an image of the item in the catalogue which helps to visualize what the item will look like on the shelf. This could have wide application in libraries because a patron can see what the book looks like before trying to find it on the shelf. It can also help with library staff activities such as tracing items, although the saying goes don’t judge a book by its cover, the cover can give additional information relating to whether the material is relevant or not.
Rollyo
Rollyo is also another useful web application. The by-line that you can create your own search engine using the source you trust. This is useful for law students who can mix academic law sites such as LexisNexis with no academic sites and also things such as blawgs (law blogs). This way you can search both formal and no formal sites with a search engine while keeping out all the rubbish web sites which crop up with your search terms but have no relevance.
Blogging
On the blogging front my spell check on Blogger has disappeared as well as the insert image button. I have tried refreshing the browser, logging in/out, closing and restarting another browser (all in Mozilla) but they are still missing. I am using a word document then pasting this into a new post to avoid spelling mistakes. Hopefully next time I log in they will reappear!
Library Thing
I liked Library Thing in being a free tool to catalogue books, I like the display and tool interaction of the web site and it is well designed. Although in my case most of my looks I can see within a glance on the book shelve and therefore I don't think I would be using this application to a great extent. I also liked how there is an image of the item in the catalogue which helps to visualize what the item will look like on the shelf. This could have wide application in libraries because a patron can see what the book looks like before trying to find it on the shelf. It can also help with library staff activities such as tracing items, although the saying goes don’t judge a book by its cover, the cover can give additional information relating to whether the material is relevant or not.
Rollyo
Rollyo is also another useful web application. The by-line that you can create your own search engine using the source you trust. This is useful for law students who can mix academic law sites such as LexisNexis with no academic sites and also things such as blawgs (law blogs). This way you can search both formal and no formal sites with a search engine while keeping out all the rubbish web sites which crop up with your search terms but have no relevance.
Blogging
On the blogging front my spell check on Blogger has disappeared as well as the insert image button. I have tried refreshing the browser, logging in/out, closing and restarting another browser (all in Mozilla) but they are still missing. I am using a word document then pasting this into a new post to avoid spelling mistakes. Hopefully next time I log in they will reappear!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Image Generators
Well long time no post-almost a month, there has just not been the chance.
This week I looked as image generators which I think are really interesting and usefull. I used the image generator located at http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/textpix2/ which offers may different appliactions including providing icons for Myspace and Blogspots. One of my favorite generators was that which provided for the cover of the Dummies guide, see mine delow:
Cool Myspace Generators
This week I looked as image generators which I think are really interesting and usefull. I used the image generator located at http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/textpix2/ which offers may different appliactions including providing icons for Myspace and Blogspots. One of my favorite generators was that which provided for the cover of the Dummies guide, see mine delow:
Cool Myspace Generators
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