#18 Exploring the depths of the blogsphere with Technorati

You’ve been blogging for about 6 weeks now, exploring the blogs of the other participants and perhaps outside the Ferguson community. And as the blogs seems endless, perhaps you have wondered, just how big is the blogsphere? Is there an end? According to Technorati, the leading authority and search tool for blogs, 1.4 blogs are created every second, and they are currently tracking over 70 million blogs!

These numbers are truly astounding, but you have already seem for yourselves just how easy blogging can be. Many industries are taking advantage of the publishing tools to communicate their messages and ideas, including libraries!

So how do you get your blog listed as part of the blogosphere and tag your posts with keywords to make them more findable through a Technorati search? Since you are using Blogger, the most popular blogging too, changes are your blog is already being captured by Technorati. But you want more? To have your blog listed on Technorati and take advantage of the watchlist and other features, you will need to claim you blog yourself. As for tagging posts with Technorati tags, piece of cake! All you need to do is add a little bit of HTML code to the bottom of your post (see my example below) and Technorati will pick up these tags when it spiders (or web crawls) your site.

There are a lot of new features that have been added to Technorati this past summer, including new ways to search for blogs. You can search for keywords in blog posts, search for entire blog posts that have been tagged with a certain keyword, or search for blogs that have been registered and tagged as whole blogs about a certain subject (like photography or libraries).

Discovery Resources:
Technorati Tour – videocast of new features & new look
Technorati Discover & Popular features

Discovery Exercises:

1. Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for “Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different?
2. Explore popular blog, searches and tags. Is anything interesting or surprising in your results?
3. Create a blog post about your discoveries on this site.
   
   OPTIONAL: If you’re up for a challenge, learn how to tag your posts by with Technorati tags so they can join tag searches. Create a post about something. It can be anything you want and add the HTML code to the bottom to tag it as “fergusonlibrary”. You may also want to consider claiming your blog and creating a watchlist.NOTE: When adding HTML code, you’ll want to make sure you’re in Blogger’s Edit HTML window.

There’s a lot to explore.

Technorati: newcanaanlibrary

#17 Folksomonies, tagging and social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

Tagging is an informal and open method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content. Library subject heading follow a strict set of guidelines for their use. Tagging is unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want and in ways that are meaningful to them (and possibly others).

Flickr and LibraryThing are two of the many sites that allow users to take advantage of tagging. This week, in addition to exploring Technorati tagging, we want to also explore the popular social bookmarking site called delicious (which is found at http://delicious.com).

Delicious is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize our bookmarks.

As a web 2.0 tool, many users find the value of delicious in the social network aspect, which allows you to see how others have tagged similar links and discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another user’s filing cabinet or bookmarks, but with this tool each user’s filing cabinet helps build an expansive network of knowledge.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at delicious and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.

(Delicious recently was known as del.icio.us, which is why you may see it on some of the older posts.)

Discovery Resources:

• Otter Group Del.icio.us tutorial (8 min video) - Highly recommended!!!
• Us.ef.ul: A beginners guide to Del.icio.us
• Several Habits of wildly successful Del.icio.us users

Discovery Exercise:

1. View this 8 minute tutorial on del.icio.us to get a good overview of the features.
2. Take a look around delicious using the New Canaan Library Learning 2.0 account that was created for this exercise. http://del.icio.us/NCL2 (NCL2/learning2009) (Click sign in in the upper right hand corner)
   
3. Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by many other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize this reference?
4. Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool.
   Can you see the potential for this tool for research assistance? Of just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed for anywhere?

OPTIONAL: If you’re up to the challenge, create a Delicious account for yourself and discover how this useful bookmarking tool can replace your traditional browser bookmark list. You might even want to explore Delicious’ latest addition, a network badge. (Psst! see it over there at the end of the navigation sidebar)

Note: If you do setup a Delicious account, here’s a quick word about the Delicious Buttons. On PCs that have the toolbars locked down, these will install as options in your browser bookmarks. Use the “Post to my Delicious” link to add the current webpage to your account (you may need to log in). Use the “My Delicious” link to view your online account.

#12 All a twitter about Twitter

What is Twitter? A tweet?

Twitter is a small social networking site that was started in March 2006 as a way for users to send out quick short messages on the internet and to their followers.

The premise is very simple. A user will send out a short tweet, of 140 characters max. However, like any social network, this won't work in a vacuum. So, user will locate people or news sources to follow. This means when you sign into your account you will see tweets of the people you are following. Tweet interesting and witty things, and you may find your followers growing. Same idea as followers, the people who are following you will see your tweets on their account?
Pretty simple right? All you need is an email address!

Discovery Resources:

• About Twitter
• Twitter in Plain English
  

Discovery Exercise:

1. Visit Twitter and set up an account.
   (If you don't want to set up and account, you may used an account I set up. I will send the login and password to you through email.
   
2. Tweet your first message, and look for some people to follow. You can import your contacts from Yahoo/Gmail/Hotmail.
   (You can follow me @mauradeedy)
3. Here is a list of libraries on Twitter
4. Write a blog post about your thoughts on Twitter. What were your impressions about the site? What do you think this tool could be used for?
   

#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.