I thought one of the most visually pleasing mashups was the Flickr Color Pickr. I also like that the designer admits that it is “a toy.” I feel that the point of a good mashup is the originality and fun found in it. Flickr Color Pickr is simple but I spent a lot of time clicking on the different colors. I also think that this would be a great site to use when working on any type of art or interior design project. You could find the exact shade you are looking for in a real life object. So, though it is just a toy, I can also see where this mashup could be useful.
On the other hand I wasn’t impressed with the Flickr Postcard Browser. It allowed you to search by keyword and it would then pull up images for you as postcards. This didn’t seem any different than a regular Flickr search to me. Maybe I was missing something.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tagging and Flickr
Tagging builds community on Flickr because it allows you to find exactly what you are looking for. And, for you to find these images you are likely coming in contact with someone or many people with the same interest, in the same location, in the same profession, with similar or new and exciting ideas, etc. This can be very useful for us as librarians. In the past I have done searches for library displays to see what other people are doing. Sharing images, and tagging them appropriately so that they can be found, could be a useful way to do professional networking and share information and ideas. As I said in my previous blog, tags allow you to connect with something on a deeper level. For example, since the person who took the photo of the statue in my last blog tagged it with “Mercyhurst” I was able to find it and would never had thought to look for something like that on my own. Based on instances like this I think it is the proper use of tags that would allow idea sharing to take place.
On a side note I have to say that I agree with the author of Flickr+Libraries= Scary, Scary, Scary. The argument is made that community monitoring of the site and education is better than banning it. I think that this is where the future is going. Web 2.0 is about user interaction…and there are always going to be crazy weirdo users out there. Are we going to block and ban the root of what makes up 2.0? It would be safer and easier but it would certainly delay progress. I agree that the answer lies in the combination of monitoring and education. Now my question is who should be doing the educating. Certainly not us. No one can educate the entire population on the new and ever evolving websites out there. We need a broader topic lesson on internet safety. And, based on what I have seen through Learning 2.0 people on these sites are still sharing way to much personal information.
On a side note I have to say that I agree with the author of Flickr+Libraries= Scary, Scary, Scary. The argument is made that community monitoring of the site and education is better than banning it. I think that this is where the future is going. Web 2.0 is about user interaction…and there are always going to be crazy weirdo users out there. Are we going to block and ban the root of what makes up 2.0? It would be safer and easier but it would certainly delay progress. I agree that the answer lies in the combination of monitoring and education. Now my question is who should be doing the educating. Certainly not us. No one can educate the entire population on the new and ever evolving websites out there. We need a broader topic lesson on internet safety. And, based on what I have seen through Learning 2.0 people on these sites are still sharing way to much personal information.
Flickr
I really liked exploring Flickr. I use Facebook to put my pics on the web but Flickr has some really nice options such as the map application. Also, I liked having the option of turning photos into calendars, art, cards, etc. I have seen this done before using Snapfish and wasn’t sure what Flickr had to offer. I am impressed. Another nice part of this site is the tagging. I was surprised at how many people had tagged images with the same wording I searched with. It was great to stumble across more obscure items in this way.
While exploring I searched for the places I have been that bring back the best memories to see what others have posted. One image that really made me laugh to myself was of a “haunted” Jesus statue from my undergrad college, Mercyhurst in Erie PA. And here is why…
WARNING: PERSONAL REMINISING AHEAD, NO NEED TO CONTINUE UNLESS YOU ARE BORED.
Mercyhurst is an old Catholic College that was founded by the sisters of Mercy and built overlooking Lake Erie. It was constructed during the Great Depression and the story goes that the nuns helped hand construct the buildings brick by brick due to the shortage of funds and workers. During our freshman year my best friend and I were housed on the top floor of one of the oldest buildings on campus, Egan Hall. It used to house the nuns back in the day so it was filled with stories of unrequited love, death, evil spirits, etc. The rooms were built into the rafters and each one was shaped differently and had its own ghost story. We found out that the year before we moved into our room the former residents had come back after break to find all of the furniture pushed against the door from the inside. With no other access to the room it was decided it was done by “ghosts” and maintenance had to come and push the door open so they could move it back. We were Okay with this story…others were much more creepy. Our best friends down the hall thought they were lucky since they had the only dorm room with a fireplace and personal bathroom. In the end that room wasn’t so lucky…but that’s another story. Above the haunted third floor was an attic that no one was allowed to go in. There were abandoned rooms up there and we would hear footsteps at night. This attic leads back to the Flickr image I found.
Egan Hall had stairwells that were locked, and were also the only way to access the attic. At the top of the locked emergency stairwells there were ancient religious statues. Very very creepy. They made you happy that the stairwells were locked. One day a group of my friends decided to go into the attic and explore. We did this for three reasons. First, all of the RAs were at a meeting so we knew we had a time slot where we wouldn’t get caught. Second, we had out of town guests and thought it would be fun to scare them. And lastly, it snows A LOT in Erie and you get really bored. These combined to make this adventure look like a really great idea. Out of a group of 8 girls 6 of us decided to go outside, around the dorm, up the emergency stairs, past this very creepy Jesus and into the attic. The other 2 girls said they were going back to their rooms.
I was feeling brave, leading the way and telling everyone not to be scared. When we reached the top of the stairs and entered the attic we found a small dark room with 3 doors and the prerequisite dust and abandoned creepy debris from days gone by. I made sure that all of my friends had reached the top of the stairs and in my bravest voice announced, “See, there is nothing up here” as I opened the door nearest to me. As soon as the words left my lips large dark objects rushed out the door I had just opened. I couldn’t tell what they were due to the blindingly flashing lights that accompanied them. Needless to say we all ran screaming back down the stairs, past the creepy statue, and outside. We returned to our room petrified. Moments later our 2 friends, the ones that had decided not to go with us, walked in wearing Scream costumes carrying camera. They had gotten us good. The blindingly flashing lights came from the cameras as they captured the look of horror on our faces for year’s worth of blackmail.
Later on we heard conversations around the dorm about the screaming in the attic over the weekend. The ghosts were spreading out…they even heard the screaming on the first floor this time. I am sure that this is how many of the wonderful ghost stories got started.
The point of my story here… is that sites like Flickr allow users to connect in more personal ways. Tags allowed me to find this photo and thus came the wave of memories.
Click hear to view the scary statue
While exploring I searched for the places I have been that bring back the best memories to see what others have posted. One image that really made me laugh to myself was of a “haunted” Jesus statue from my undergrad college, Mercyhurst in Erie PA. And here is why…
WARNING: PERSONAL REMINISING AHEAD, NO NEED TO CONTINUE UNLESS YOU ARE BORED.
Mercyhurst is an old Catholic College that was founded by the sisters of Mercy and built overlooking Lake Erie. It was constructed during the Great Depression and the story goes that the nuns helped hand construct the buildings brick by brick due to the shortage of funds and workers. During our freshman year my best friend and I were housed on the top floor of one of the oldest buildings on campus, Egan Hall. It used to house the nuns back in the day so it was filled with stories of unrequited love, death, evil spirits, etc. The rooms were built into the rafters and each one was shaped differently and had its own ghost story. We found out that the year before we moved into our room the former residents had come back after break to find all of the furniture pushed against the door from the inside. With no other access to the room it was decided it was done by “ghosts” and maintenance had to come and push the door open so they could move it back. We were Okay with this story…others were much more creepy. Our best friends down the hall thought they were lucky since they had the only dorm room with a fireplace and personal bathroom. In the end that room wasn’t so lucky…but that’s another story. Above the haunted third floor was an attic that no one was allowed to go in. There were abandoned rooms up there and we would hear footsteps at night. This attic leads back to the Flickr image I found.
Egan Hall had stairwells that were locked, and were also the only way to access the attic. At the top of the locked emergency stairwells there were ancient religious statues. Very very creepy. They made you happy that the stairwells were locked. One day a group of my friends decided to go into the attic and explore. We did this for three reasons. First, all of the RAs were at a meeting so we knew we had a time slot where we wouldn’t get caught. Second, we had out of town guests and thought it would be fun to scare them. And lastly, it snows A LOT in Erie and you get really bored. These combined to make this adventure look like a really great idea. Out of a group of 8 girls 6 of us decided to go outside, around the dorm, up the emergency stairs, past this very creepy Jesus and into the attic. The other 2 girls said they were going back to their rooms.
I was feeling brave, leading the way and telling everyone not to be scared. When we reached the top of the stairs and entered the attic we found a small dark room with 3 doors and the prerequisite dust and abandoned creepy debris from days gone by. I made sure that all of my friends had reached the top of the stairs and in my bravest voice announced, “See, there is nothing up here” as I opened the door nearest to me. As soon as the words left my lips large dark objects rushed out the door I had just opened. I couldn’t tell what they were due to the blindingly flashing lights that accompanied them. Needless to say we all ran screaming back down the stairs, past the creepy statue, and outside. We returned to our room petrified. Moments later our 2 friends, the ones that had decided not to go with us, walked in wearing Scream costumes carrying camera. They had gotten us good. The blindingly flashing lights came from the cameras as they captured the look of horror on our faces for year’s worth of blackmail.
Later on we heard conversations around the dorm about the screaming in the attic over the weekend. The ghosts were spreading out…they even heard the screaming on the first floor this time. I am sure that this is how many of the wonderful ghost stories got started.
The point of my story here… is that sites like Flickr allow users to connect in more personal ways. Tags allowed me to find this photo and thus came the wave of memories.
Click hear to view the scary statue
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
43 Things
I explored one of the winning websites, www.43things.com. I really enjoyed this site and spent WAY more time playing on it than I intended. It is basically a place where people post 43 things they want to accomplish. Some of them are funny, some depressing, and some are just plain weird. I liked that it had a very clear layout, anyone could use this site (and they do). I also liked that when you clicked on a goal you were able to read comments from people who had completed the goal. There was also a strong FAQ page with both a section on content help and section about the site.
There were some aspects of the site that made me uncomfortable. For example, some of the goals seem very personal to me, such as beat depression. Then when you click on it you see a list of everyone trying to do this, which is followed by their posts, which were VERY personal and sad to read. This is another example where, like any other social networking site, people don’t think about their own safety or personal privacy. Also, many of the postings seem like people are calling out for help and this doesn’t seem like the place to do it. On a good note, people seemed to be very supportive of each other.
Overall I view this is a social networking site. People make lists, post comments that often read like blogs, post pictures, talk to each other, etc. There are even “cheers” that you can give out to support others in reaching their goals.
I would say this is worth checking out if you have free time.
There were some aspects of the site that made me uncomfortable. For example, some of the goals seem very personal to me, such as beat depression. Then when you click on it you see a list of everyone trying to do this, which is followed by their posts, which were VERY personal and sad to read. This is another example where, like any other social networking site, people don’t think about their own safety or personal privacy. Also, many of the postings seem like people are calling out for help and this doesn’t seem like the place to do it. On a good note, people seemed to be very supportive of each other.
Overall I view this is a social networking site. People make lists, post comments that often read like blogs, post pictures, talk to each other, etc. There are even “cheers” that you can give out to support others in reaching their goals.
I would say this is worth checking out if you have free time.
Technorati...I am Not Impressed
While exploring Technorati I found that searching learning 2.0 in the 3 different advanced searches brought different results. This is nice because you can narrow or broaden your search based on which process you choose. I thought that the search “in tags” gave the best result for learning 2.0. But this all depends on what you are looking to find. I also noticed that the most popular blogs seemed to be about news, politics, social networking, and new technology.
After experimenting with Technorati I am even less interested in blogs. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading a blog when it is pertaining to something I am directly interested in. For example, when I read the newspaper from my hometown I will occasionally look at their blog. But Technorati seems like a big mess to me. Many of the blogs I came across were about issues I was unfamiliar with or postings by people that didn’t make any sense. Now I know this is not true of all of the blogs, since they allow you to search TONS of them. The point I am trying to make is that I don’t want to read a blog for blogs sake. I would rather stumble across a blog at a website I already use…such as a library website.
After experimenting with Technorati I am even less interested in blogs. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading a blog when it is pertaining to something I am directly interested in. For example, when I read the newspaper from my hometown I will occasionally look at their blog. But Technorati seems like a big mess to me. Many of the blogs I came across were about issues I was unfamiliar with or postings by people that didn’t make any sense. Now I know this is not true of all of the blogs, since they allow you to search TONS of them. The point I am trying to make is that I don’t want to read a blog for blogs sake. I would rather stumble across a blog at a website I already use…such as a library website.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Del.icio.us
I had a Del.icio.us account that I had made previously, but this week’s activities showed me that there is more I can do with it. For example, I was only using it as a way to access websites I use a lot at work. I did this because we move from computer to computer so often and I can’t always remember the URL I need quickly off the top of my head. But truthfully, after creating this account I really haven’t used it very much.
After exploring the operations of the site and the use of tags further I can now see how it can be useful for research. I can see how it would allow you to “copy” other people's search histories to find what they found, thus saving time. But, because I am not taking classes right now I can’t see this being something that I would personally use very often. What I can see is tags being useful on a library reference page. How many times do we do the same searches for different patrons? How often are we duplicating each other’s work? Maybe it would be helpful to have a Del.icio.us page for reference work. We could get the icon on all of the library computer tool bars and simply add the URL and tags after helping a patron (if time allows). Would this be something we would use? I don’t know. I thought that I would use the page I made more than I do so I guess we would have to try and see if any of us remembered to use it.
In conclusion I still feel the main strength of Del.icio.us is its ability to serve as a favorites list as we move from computer to computer within the library.
After exploring the operations of the site and the use of tags further I can now see how it can be useful for research. I can see how it would allow you to “copy” other people's search histories to find what they found, thus saving time. But, because I am not taking classes right now I can’t see this being something that I would personally use very often. What I can see is tags being useful on a library reference page. How many times do we do the same searches for different patrons? How often are we duplicating each other’s work? Maybe it would be helpful to have a Del.icio.us page for reference work. We could get the icon on all of the library computer tool bars and simply add the URL and tags after helping a patron (if time allows). Would this be something we would use? I don’t know. I thought that I would use the page I made more than I do so I guess we would have to try and see if any of us remembered to use it.
In conclusion I still feel the main strength of Del.icio.us is its ability to serve as a favorites list as we move from computer to computer within the library.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
I Don't Like MySpace
I have to open with the statement that there are some good points to be made for MySpace. First, it looks to be very easy to sign-up for an account. This is probably one reason why it is so popular. Also, the other sites I explored showed that there is a lot of user support. For example, the MySpace Help site showed you how to customize just about everything on your page. And customization does seem to one of the biggest attractions to the site. People love to be individuals and this site allows you to customize it all.
After watching the tutorials and exploring the other resources I really really do NOT want a MySpace account. I have to also admit at this point that I am very biased in that I have been using Facebook for years and am, like many of us, not very excited about change. (This being one of the reasons that Web 2.0 has been a good experience for me J)
But beyond this I saw a lot of things that did not attract me to MySpace;
-While watching one of the tutorials I noticed that there seems to be a lot of advertisements on the page.
- I didn’t like that you can view your friend’s friend’s profiles.
- The pictures that other’s have posted seem to have a “trashy” look to them, or at least I have felt a “trashy” vibe from some of what I have seen.
- The How to modify your MySpace, Facebook, MSN Spaces or Hi5 page had a discussion board where people asked each other how to get around the security features. For example they were discussing how to view blocked accounts, break into spouses MySpace histories, see who has viewed their page, etc.
If anyone feels that these points are not valid please let me know. Maybe the site has improved from when my friends used it and my bias is based on weak groundings?????
After watching the tutorials and exploring the other resources I really really do NOT want a MySpace account. I have to also admit at this point that I am very biased in that I have been using Facebook for years and am, like many of us, not very excited about change. (This being one of the reasons that Web 2.0 has been a good experience for me J)
But beyond this I saw a lot of things that did not attract me to MySpace;
-While watching one of the tutorials I noticed that there seems to be a lot of advertisements on the page.
- I didn’t like that you can view your friend’s friend’s profiles.
- The pictures that other’s have posted seem to have a “trashy” look to them, or at least I have felt a “trashy” vibe from some of what I have seen.
- The How to modify your MySpace, Facebook, MSN Spaces or Hi5 page had a discussion board where people asked each other how to get around the security features. For example they were discussing how to view blocked accounts, break into spouses MySpace histories, see who has viewed their page, etc.
If anyone feels that these points are not valid please let me know. Maybe the site has improved from when my friends used it and my bias is based on weak groundings?????
Social Networking at VBPL
I personally do not think that the VBPL should use social networking sites to try and reach our teens. I am not saying that it isn’t something that could be used in the future, but at this point in time I feel we need to focus elsewhere. I feel this way for a number of reasons.First, and the most basic reason being, I see social networking sites as a place to talk to friends and find out about the newest gossip. I think that I am not the only one who feels this way. So my Facebook account is not the fist place I would go when looking for a new book to read or homework help. Many of the articles referred to social networking as a new version of the traditional teen hangout. My question then becomes how much would the library’s presence be accepted and used in this setting? Because of these questons I think that we need to focus more on improving our website, creating a stronger blog presence, etc. before adding social networking to our to-do list. The main concept that is attractive to me about social networking is a reader’s advisory sort of blog, and we already have that in another format.
Another reason I feel this way is because the VBPL system does not employ young adult librarians. If we design a Facebook or MySpace account we would need to do almost daily maintenance and regulate what is being posted etc. And with the frightening number of problems that come with these sites someone would have to really watch what is taking place on there. The main problems that I pulled from the articles included;
Sexual Predators
Scams
Porn
Impersonators
Cyber Bullying
Explicit Content
Pictures and Text being used as Evidence Against the Poster
Etc…
So, if the library did decide to use social networking we would have to be super careful that none of these things took place involving our page. And can we really control this? I am not an expert so I really don’t know what we can control. All we need is one wrong comment posted to our wall or one incident somehow connected to our site to cause a controversy. With my own Facebook account I use the highest security settings and have it blocked so that no one can become my friend unless I first ask them. With a public page we couldn’t be as careful or set security as high.
I am not closed to the idea of one day working with social networking in the library. But I would like to hear how we are going to;
1) Attract teens to the site and have them actually use it in a meaningful way
2) Protect those teens and ourselves within this environment
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Wiki Book Review
I found it VERY easy to add my review to the wiki. I wish it had been this easy when I had to do it in school! If libraries had, for example, book review areas for patrons set up in this format I feel it would work very well. It is a user friendly system which also allows for others (such as ourselves) to fix mistakes (such as someone forgetting to use alphabetical order). In this way the staff can keep the page clean and relevant for users.
When it came to tagging I was a little confused. At first I thought there was a tagging feature to the page which would allow someone to search through tags, etc. Once I saw what we were actually suppose to be doing it was much clearer. The one problem that I have with tags is that they seem so random to me. I have had AACR2 rules drilled into me too recently I guess.
When it came to tagging I was a little confused. At first I thought there was a tagging feature to the page which would allow someone to search through tags, etc. Once I saw what we were actually suppose to be doing it was much clearer. The one problem that I have with tags is that they seem so random to me. I have had AACR2 rules drilled into me too recently I guess.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Wiki
When I was working on my MLS last year we had to make wikis for some of our assignments. While doing this we found that the old saying “two heads are better than one” remains true. Wikis allow you to find the truth in numbers. People can disagree and “fix” each other’s posts. This form of technology can really be utilized in the library.
The two main wikis I explored were the Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton College http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library and the ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki http://meredith.wolfwater.com/ala2006/index.php?title=Main_Page. The Book Lovers Wiki is a great idea that all libraries can utilize. It allowed for people to post reviews of the books they read for the summer reading program book club. This is something we could easily do here at VB. I know that some of the branches had adults post reviews of books on slips of paper which were hung on a bulletin board. This same idea can be turned into a wiki. This can then be used as a reader’s advisory tool after the SRP ends. For example, while I was looking at the Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton College I found a few titles that I really want to read. This type of wiki works like Amazon reviews, only they are coming from others in your own community. I like the idea of receiving reviews generated from friends and neighbors, iIt allows the library to generating a reading list based on its specific community.
The ALA wiki was good because it allowed for members traveling to New Orleans to post what was really happening as opposed to what was advertised to be happening. I liked that this wiki gave a real word view of the city and the conference. It was strong in that people with differing experiences were all represented and there was a good usage of links for further outside research for the most up-to-date information. You could differentiate easily between posts because of the use of headings such as “another contributor notes” and “yet another contributor notes”. I think that this style of wiki could be used to promote library programs. For example people from computer or genealogy classes could post about what they are learning, what they wish they were learning, and their general feelings and ideas. This would allow others to see if they would be interested in the classes as well as allow us to see what changes or additions we could make.
I think that these are just two of the ways in which wikis can be used within the library.
The two main wikis I explored were the Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton College http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library and the ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki http://meredith.wolfwater.com/ala2006/index.php?title=Main_Page. The Book Lovers Wiki is a great idea that all libraries can utilize. It allowed for people to post reviews of the books they read for the summer reading program book club. This is something we could easily do here at VB. I know that some of the branches had adults post reviews of books on slips of paper which were hung on a bulletin board. This same idea can be turned into a wiki. This can then be used as a reader’s advisory tool after the SRP ends. For example, while I was looking at the Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton College I found a few titles that I really want to read. This type of wiki works like Amazon reviews, only they are coming from others in your own community. I like the idea of receiving reviews generated from friends and neighbors, iIt allows the library to generating a reading list based on its specific community.
The ALA wiki was good because it allowed for members traveling to New Orleans to post what was really happening as opposed to what was advertised to be happening. I liked that this wiki gave a real word view of the city and the conference. It was strong in that people with differing experiences were all represented and there was a good usage of links for further outside research for the most up-to-date information. You could differentiate easily between posts because of the use of headings such as “another contributor notes” and “yet another contributor notes”. I think that this style of wiki could be used to promote library programs. For example people from computer or genealogy classes could post about what they are learning, what they wish they were learning, and their general feelings and ideas. This would allow others to see if they would be interested in the classes as well as allow us to see what changes or additions we could make.
I think that these are just two of the ways in which wikis can be used within the library.
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