#16 Let’s jump into a wiki!

“Sandbox” is the term that wikis often use to describe the area of the website that should be used for pure play. (That’s right… pure play!) For this discovery and exploration exercise, we’ve set a whole Learning 2.0 favorites wiki, that is nothing but pure play!!

For this discover, explore and play with wikis exercise, you are asked to add an entry to two to the PBwiki Learning 2.0 wiki. The theme of this wiki is simply Favorites: Favorite books, favorite vacation spots, favorite restaurants, favorite anything… all you need to do is play and add your thoughts. To mark your adventure on this site, add your blog to the Favorites Blog pages.

Discovery Resources:

• PBWiki Video Gallery - Short videos of PBwiki features
• PB Wiki Tips

Discovery Exercise:

1. Access the New Canaan Library wiki.
   Click on the Edit Page button.
2. Add your blog to the Favorite Blogs page. That’s how we’ll know that you’ve been there. It is very easy to do.
   Click on the “Edit Page” button, and you will see a text editor appear (which slightly resembles Blogger and Microsoft Word).
   Enter your blog name, highlight the text and press the Link button, and a edit box will appear. Under link type, choose URL if you are linking to a page outside the wiki.
3. OPTIONAL: Add a favorite or two to a few other pages (Favorite books, favorite vacation spot, etc). And, if you feel up to the challenge, you might even want to create a separate page for book review or short travel essay and link up to that.
4. Create a post in your blog about the experience.

* NOTE: The New Canaan Learning 2.0 wiki was created using the free version of PBWorks, a tool that lets you create webpages that anyone can edit.

#15 What exactly is a wiki….

Wiki! Wiki! Wiki! A fun simple word that is fun to say fast and over and over again.

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring toll that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the online open encyclopedia that anyone can update, is the largest and perhaps most well known of these knowledge sharing tools. With the benefits that wikis provide, the use and popularity of these tools are expanding.

Some of the benefits include:

• Anyone can add, edit or delete content. (Users can be registered, unregistered, unrestricted and restricted. Many layers to ensure the right people are editing the wiki.)
• Tracking tools within wikis allow users to easily keep up on what has been changed and by whom.
• Earlier versions of a page are archived, and can be restored if needed.
• Users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. A simple syntax structure is used, (and very easy to learn!)

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, libraries all over the country have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, conference wikis and best practice wikis.

Discovery Resources:
Use these resources to learn more about wikis.

• Wikis’: A beginner’s look - an excellent short slide presentation that offers a short introduction and examples
• What is a Wiki? - Library Success wiki presentation
• Using Wikis to Create Online Communities - a good overview of what a wiki is and how it can be used in libraries

Discovery Exercise:

1. For this discover exercise, you are asked to take a look at some library wikis and blog about your findings and thoughts. Here’s a handful of wikis to get you started:
   • SJCPL Subject Guides - a pathfinder wiki developed by the St. Joseph County Public Library system
   • Book Lovers Wiki - developed by the Princeton Public
   • 2008 Midwinter ALA Meeting Wiki
   • Library Success Wiki
   • The Bull Run Library wiki
   • Other library wiki examples
2. Create a blog post about your findings. What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

So, what’s in a wiki? Find out by exploring and discovering this knowledge management tool!!

#14 On Library 2.0 and Web 2.0

Library 2.0 is a term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name is an extension of Web 2.0 and shares many of the same philosophies and concepts included including utilizing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of updates, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (the library).

The term is not without controversy. Many argue that the notion of Library 2.0 is more than just at terms used to describe concepts that merely revolved around the use of technology; it is also a term that can be used to describe the physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. However, no matter what side of the debate you fall on, we all can agree that libraries of tomorrow, and those years down the road will look substantially different from libraries today.

Discovery Resources:

OCLC Next Space Newsletter: Web 2.0- Where will the next generation Web take libraries?

Five Perspectives:

• Away from Icebergs
• Into a new world of librarianship
• To more powerful ways to cooperate
• To better bibliographic services
• To a temporary place in time

Wikipedia - Library 2.0
Library 2.0 Discussions (list of great references from Wikipedia)
Discovery Resource:

1. Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list above.
2. Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these perspectives. Library 2.0 is many things to many people. What does it mean to you? How do you think this might impact librarianship and the future of libraries?

#13 The Thing about LibraryThing

#13 The Thing about LibraryThing

Is your home library organized by subject or author? Do you enjoy reconnecting with books you forgot you owned? If so, LibraryThing just might be the tool for you! Developed for booklovers, this online application helps your create an online catalog of your own, and it connects you with others who have similar libraries and reading tastes. And the best part, it is so easy to add books: just enter the title (or ISBN). No MARC training needed! There are lots of ways to use LibraryThing as well. You can display your books on a virtual bookshelf, add a widget (see my blog) to display titles your library owns, or even install a LT search box on your blog.

So, let’s join the ranks and create your own library online. With over 280,000 registered users and 19 million books cataloged you are bound to discover something new. And by the way, LibraryThing also have a group forum for librarians.

(Fun Fact about LibraryThing: They have LibraryThing for Libraries! Danbury Public Library was the first library to use this application. Check out their catalog and try a search for Bridget Jones.)

Discovery Resources:

• About LibraryThing
• Library Thing tour
• LibraryThing blog (updates & news)

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
2. Add at least 5 books to your library.
3. Blog about your findings and be sure to link to you LibraryThing catalog.

#11 WhoTube? YouTube!

Just about two years ago, Google bought a fairly new social networking site called YouTube for $1.65 billion dollars. Yep, $1.65 billion. Online video hosting websites have exploded in the past year allowed users to easily upload and share videos. YouTube is definitely the top dog in the video area, with users playing more than 100 million videos a day! (Holy cow!) YouTube also allows users to embed clips easily into their own sites.

Do some searching around YouTube and see what you can find. Be forewarned: it can be addicitive! You will find everything from 1970s commercials to library workout videos to Jonathan and his appreciation for turtles. Of course, like most of the internet you will also come across things that just aren’t worth watching. But still explore and discover what YouTube has to offer!

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore YouTube and find a video worth sharing as an entry on your blog.
2. Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Do you have many ideas about how these features might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

   OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and past code for the “Emdebbable player: Note: You will need to use Blogger’s Edit HTML tab when pasting this code.

#10 Podcasts, Smodcasts!!

In 2005, the New Oxford American Dictionary named “podcast” the word of the year. The word podcast refers to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcast is often done automatically through RSS. (And we all know and love what RSS is!)

Podcasts can take many forms, from short 1-15 minute commentaries, shows, and snippets of information to much longer interviews, panel discussions, or shows. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you do not need an iPod or MP3 player to access them. Since Podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, all you need is a personal computer, or a portal device, with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, one of the most popular online music stores and a free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options available. (Also: download iTunes! It is fun and free!)

For this discovery exercise play with some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. And now that we have a Bloglines account, you can easily add the RSS feed and you will be automatically notified of new podcasts! (Neat, right?)

Discovery Resources:

• Podcast Tutorial by Common Craft
• There are many podcast finding tools and directories available. These are some of the more popular tools, and unlike iTunes, don’t require a software download.
  
  • Podcastalley.com
  • PodFeed
    
• So, you want to learn to be a podcaster too?
  (Optional resources for those who want to learn to create podcasts and want a challenge!)
  • Beginner’s guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts
  • How to podcast tutorial

Discovery Exercises:

1. Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed above and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. Can you find some interesting library related podcasts here like book review podcasts or library news.
2. Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your Bloglines account
3. Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?

#9 AudioBooks!!

It’s time to take a look around at NetLibrary, and the media available for download.

For this discovery exercise, you merely need to familiarize yourself a bit with the structure of NetLibrary, and get an ideas of the types of titles you can find there. Take a look around and locate a few titles of interests, both in ebook and audiobook. Downloadable materials is a fast growing service offered by libraries, with some vendors releasing titles that are compatible with the ubiquitous iPod. With growing interest from the public, you definitely have a real reason to try out this popular library services.

Discovery Resources:

Create a Free Account with NetLibrary: This tutorial was created by North Metro Technical College Library, so the look of the site might be a little different, but the concepts are the same.

Discovery Exercise:

1. NetLibrary:
   • Establish a Netlibrary account for yourself by accessing NetLibrary through the New Canaan Library site. Note: Your not a member of the Ferguson Library staff or don’t have a New Cannan library card, full access to NetLibrary may not be available.
   • Once you have an account created, you can access NetLibrary directly at http://netlibrary.com
   • Click on the eAudiobooks link and explore some titles.
     OPTIONAL: Try downloading a title. You don’t need the MP3 player to listen to an audiobook. You can play it off your computer.
2. Create a blog post about your findings. Did you find any titles that you wanted to download once you have your player?