Web 2.0 Strikes Again!

Did the last round of 2.0 come at a bad time? Did you participate but still need a brush up. Join us on our next journey into 2.0.

The DCPL Staff goes 2.0 is a self-directed independent study course in social web tools and technologies. We will be learning 20 2.0 technologies. The Every week, participants are asked to try out 2 Things, each one a different piece of the 2.0 world -- blogs, wikis, RSS, photo & video tools, comments, tagging, online applications and more.

The objectives of this program are to:

1. Encourage staff to learn more about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society and libraries access information and communicate with each other.

2. Give participants a structure in which they can play with these tools supported by their peers.
3.Support the Daviess County Public Library missions of improved customer service by helping staff become more familiar with the web tools their patrons use.

4. Allow staff to have time to stay abreast of in new technologies. By engaging in the same tools used by our customers we will be able to help in new ways.

This site will serve as an information archive for administrative notices, detailed instructions and other extra bits linked to from the main program blog as needed.

DCPL Staff goes 2.0 is not the first library to experiment with 2.0 technology. This program is modeled on the Learning 2.0 Program from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County. Visit the original site for examples of similar programs.Over the course of the next ten weeks, this website will highlight “20 Things” and discovery exercises to help staff become familiar with blogging, RSS news feeds, tagging, wikis, podcasting, online applications, and video and image hosting sites.

To familiarize yourself with this project, be sure to read the About page. The FAQs should answer most of your questions about this program. If not, then please add your question to the FAQ page as a comment. A note about the date on this post: Blogs are designed to display entries in reverse chronological order, with the most recent entry on top. I am trying to figure out how to keep this post on the top. Until then, Try the archives.

Survey available!

I have completed the survey. This can be done online and results are sent anonymously to Zoomerang web site. So your answers can only be seen by you. Just click on the word
SURVEY to complete.

If you have any trouble with the link- here is the web address. Cut and paste this address into your browser window.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22956DUENR9

I really have enjoyed reading all the blogs. The DCPL has a great staff and your willingness to learn continues to astound me.
Thanks for being the first in Daviess County to participate.

I am trying to find a way to show my appreciation. If you can think of a way just blog it and I will get more ideas.
Thanks again, Alicia

Week 9 COMING TO A CLOSE!

Don't let your excitement get the best of you. There are exercises this week. But they are easy.
Also don't get real worried if you have not completed every exercise. There are catch up weeks built into the program. Officially the program ends May 1st, 2009.

Some weeks we investigated 3 different 2.0 products and that has allowed us to post exercises in 9 weeks.

Discovery Resource:

1. Library Myspace account
2. Library Facebook account- requires you to have an account and log in.

Discovery Exercises:

1. Visit the Library Myspace account.
2. Browse what you find on the site.
3. Blog about how the site could be used in marketing our services or books.

Next week you will recieve a survey via the department mailboxes. After you complete the program please fill out the survey and place in mailbox marked Alicia in the mailroom or the office.

Thanks for going on this journey of discovery. I have enjoyed myself, learned a whole bunch, been burnt out and found the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope you enjoyed yourself too.

Week 8 ! Podcasts, Video & Downloadable Audio

Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.

Discover some useful search tools for locating podcasts.

Follow the Instructions in the links and post accordingly.

Learn to Podcast!

OPTIONAL! OPTIONAL! OPTIONAL!

So in your spare time you want to podcast? Here are some resources that will help you get started.

(Optional Resources for those who want to learn create podcasts)

• Beginner's guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts

Once you have done a podcast- you can post it to the DCPLSandbox Wiki. That way everyone can listen.

Podcasts, Smodcasts!

The word podcast is used to refer 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 podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last 24 months, it's easy to see why.

Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries (like the ones used in this Learning 2.0 program) to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the 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.

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Bloglines account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

Discovery Resources:
To find out more about podcasts start with Podcastalley: What is a podcast tutorial

There are many, many podcast directories and finding tools out there. Here are just three of the more popular ones that, unlike iTunes, don't require a software download:

• Podcastalley.com



• Yahoo Podcasts

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can 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?

OPTIONAL What? You want to learn how to be a podcaster too? Click Here!

You too can YouTube

Online video hosting sites have exploded allowing users to easily to upload and share videos on the web. Among all the web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day and allowing users not only to upload their own video content easily, but also embed clips into their own sites easily. Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from 1970s TV commercials and 80's Music to library dominos and kids singing about bloopers here. Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer. :)

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore YouTube & find a video worth adding as an entry in 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? Can you see any features or componets of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and paste code for the for "Embeddable Player.” Note: you'll need to use Blogger's Edit HTML tab when pasting this code.

Other popular video hosting sites:
Yahoo Videos
Google videos

NOTE: Videos, like music downloads, are bandwidth hogs. It is recommended that you complete this exercise during light internet usage times. So I wouldn't recommend after 3 pm to try this exercise.

Week 7 & Del.icio.us, Technorati, and Library 2.0

You have 3 different things to accomplish this week. Have a Great Week!

I am way behind. So glad this is among friends.
What is this week all about??This week is a little bit deeper. So I have broken it down a little more. This week we will explore together. I don't feel comfortable with my knowledge of these things. We are getting close to the end. Only 3 more weeks after this. Be sure and visit the links to find your Discovery Resources and Discovery Exercises.

Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati Learn about tagging and discover a Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)

Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.

Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and blog your thoughts.

Where do Libraries fall in Web 2.0?

Library 2.0 is term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name, as you may guess, is an extension of Web2.0 and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (libraries).

Many have argued that the notion of Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. But no matter which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.

Discovery Resources:

OCLC Next Space Newsletter – Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it 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 Exercise:
Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list above. Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these? Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries

Library 2.0 is term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name, as you may guess, is an extension of Web2.0 and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (libraries).

Many have argued that the notion of Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. But no matter which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.

Discovery Resources:

OCLC Next Space Newsletter – Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it 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 timeWikipedia – Library 2.0Library 2.0 Discussions (list of great references from Wikipedia)

Discovery Exercise:

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? Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & posts). Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (i.e.Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want.

In the past few weeks, we’ve already explored a few sites – Flicker and LibraryThing to name two --that allow users to take advantage of tagging. This week, in addition to exploring Technorati tagging, we want to also take at popular social bookmarking site called Del.icio.us (typed in as http://del.icio.us/).

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks.



Many users find that the real power of Del.icio.us is in the social network aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another users’ filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network.For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at Del.icio.us and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.



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:

View the 8 minute Del.icio.us tutorial to get a good overview of its features.


Take a look around Del.icio.us using the PLCMCL2 account that was created for this exercise. (We are using there account in the interest of time.)


Note: In this account you will find lots of resources that have been highlighted or used throughout the course of the Learning 2.0 program.


Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize this reference?

Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

Week 7 Del.icio.us, Technorati, and Library 2.0

I am way behind. So glad this is among friends.

What is this week all about??
This week is a little bit deeper. So I have broken it down a little more. This week we will explore together. I don't feel comfortable with my knowledge of these things. We are getting close to the end. Only 3 more weeks after this. Be sure and visit the links to find your Discovery Resources and Discovery Exercises.

Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati Learn about tagging and discover a Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)

Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.



Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and blog your thoughts.

Week 6: Collaboration! Online Applications & Tools

What are Online Applications & Tools

Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

Discovery Exercise:

Log into your gmail account

Explore the site and create a some test documents.

Try out Google Docs features and create a blog post about your discoveries.

Wikis
Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them. Visit this Blog Entry about WIKIS

Everyone who has registered their blog has added an entry to the Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki.

So you have already covered this 2.0 Thing. I snuck that one in on you. Relax and put your feet up.

Blog Exercise:

Blog about how wikis could be useful to DCPL. And try to comment on this blog. Just a hello so I know you are out there.

What are Online Productivity Tools?

The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past two years and for good reasons!

These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the internet without the need of installed desktop applications. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean the death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office. But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, on this both sides seem to agree; web-based apps have their place.

One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs* (formerly known as Writely) to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing.

Online Productivity Tools

Zoho Writer

Google Docs

Thinkfree

Go to LifeDev and see the Big list of productivity software.

So what’s in a wiki?

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

1. Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:
2. Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
3. Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.
4. Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed.
5. And users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.

Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, ALA conference wikis and even library best practices wikis.

ALA 2.0 Wiki

Book Review Wikis

1. Children's book reviews
2. East Bonner Public Library Book Reviews
3. Nancy Pearl's Book Lust
4. Palo Alto City Library

Week 5 Picture This! Photosharing & Editing

This week is all about pictures. This can be addicting. And because of that I have created a Flickr account. Explore the photos I have uploaded, add tags and descriptions, explore what you love. but BEWARE this can consume your time quickly. DON'T LET THIS PROJECT CONSUME YOU!

First watch the Common Craft video "Online Photosharing in Plain English." Click arrow to start the video.

There are lots of places to store photos online. Walgreen's, Walmart, Picassa (associated with your gmail account), and Flickr.

Investigate the photo sharing and image generators this week.

Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.

1. Take a good look around Flickr and find an interesting image that you want to blog about. You can explore Flickr photos, search the tags, view various groups, and more without a Flickr account.

2. Use any keyword(s) (baseball, cats, library cats, library signs, Minnesota library, whatever…) to find photos with those tags.When you find an interesting image or group, comment on your experience finding images, using Flickr, and anything else related to the exercise. Upload the image to your blog (be sure to credit the photographer). Don't forget to include a link to the image in the post.

In this Thing, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people and other libraries (a list here, too) are creating thanks to Flickr. The Library of Congress has a Flickr account--with more than 3,000 photos that you are invited to tag.

I have started an account for you to view and play with. This will save you time. There are photos of my kids and animals, mostly building pictures. Are you feeling adventurous? Upload your favorite building photo from the Staff Doc Grand Opening folder.

Username: harringtondcpl

Password: threekids2

Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color

splashr lets you present your Flickr photos in different view.

Create puzzles from your Flickr photos.

Image Generators!
No, not the gas powered kind that we all wanted in February. Listen to the podcast and learn about Image Generators.





Listen to this podcast [1:00]-->powered by ODEO

Most of us don’t have the time or the artistic talent to create specialized graphics or logos for projects. Enter the Online Image Generator! These handy-dandy tools let you create many types of images – framed pictures, slide shows, comic-style captions, trading cards, calendars, and much more.

Why use this tool? Create trading cards of authors, scientists, historical figures, or even concepts you’re trying to teach or promote. Media specialists can support teachers by helping students create images around astronomy, algebraic equations, historical figures (“I’ll trade you two Ben Franklins for an Eleanor Roosevelt!”). Students and staff can create trading cards of themselves to help them get to know each other. Other possibilities include creating a calendar with an image related to what you’re promoting that month, or a mosaic with multiple images related to your books, videos, or other resources.

Use the images generators in summer reading programs, book clubs, training, and more. Librarians at Carleton College are using trading cards as a way to reach their students.

The possibilities are endless! As is the time you can spend playing around with these sites—beware! Don't spend too much time on this. We are learning.

1. Go to Big Huge Labs.
2. Choose Trading Card from drop down list.
3. Create a trading card and save it to your computer.
4. Use the photos from the Grand Opening
5. Upload the your trading card and images to your blog to share with others.

Made with ImageChef

Be sure and blog about your favorite thing you did this week. Let me know if you will use one of the sites again to store photos. Remember to Smile you never know when you are on camera.

Week 4: It's ALL about BOOKS, Seriously!

Books & Being Social

This week is all about social networking sites for books. You knew we would get there. We are a library. Did you really think I would leave out the books? We love to talk about what we have read, what we are reading, and what we plan on reading. It is time to take that discussion online.

And, I know I hear a groan coming, you will blog about 2 different things.

Discovery Resources:

About LibraryThing

How libraries are using LibraryThing

LibraryThing also has group forum for librarians

Take the LibraryThing tour

About Shelfari

Shelfari blog

Good Reads tour

Good Reads Blog

Discovery Exercise:

1. Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about one of the social networking sites for books.

2. Create a free account at one of these sites

• LibraryThing




• GoodReads




• Shelfari
  

3. Start getting social with books by placing at least 5 books on your virtual shelf.

4. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with one that interests you.

5. Blog about your shelf and the site you explored. Try to link to your shelf from your blog.

Don't forget someone will be in Reference next Wednesday for a questions and answer session and to help you.

Blog Suggestions
How do you think a library would use a social site for books? Which site did you explore? Did you have popular books? Did you write a review?

Week 3!

WOW! We are 1/3 of the way through the program. I am beat. I have read more blogs in the last 3 weeks than I have ever read. Keep them coming. I am learning so much. Today, I spent the afternoon preparing for the next exercises. I hope you find them fun.

We have several newcomers to the program and I am estatic. The staff is going to make this such a success. I know this is really different for most of you. I applaud your willingness to take the challenge. Some of you are out discovering have already discovered some of things we will be investigating and sharing them. This is wonderful.

Keep up the hard work. I look forward to reading your blogs in the coming weeks.

Shelfari!

Some of you have already discovered Shelfari. This is a social networking site that is about books. You can see my bookshelf on the right.

You can

• Create a virtual book shelf or list



• Visit the Shelfari blog



• Read reviews



• Add reviews



• Explore authors



• Invite friends to join

It is a virtual place to gather and discuss books. There are even applications that will let you place your bookshelf on your blog. You can also find Shelfari other popular social networking sites- Facebook, and Myspace.

What are people doing online?

I have been hearing lots of feedback on the program. Some good. Some bad. I wanted to show you what each age group is doing online. Think about yourself and where you fall. Maybe you aren't the majority. That is OK. This visual said a lot to me and I wanted to share it.

Spectators are rampant. And as people age they are more inactive users. I got this visual from Business Week, July 11, 2007