Podcasts, videos and downloadable audio

This week was lots of fun! Using Podscope, the Google directory and the CBC site, I added several podcasts to my RSS feed. I plan to listen to them on my MP3 player (I'm hoping that it will be easy to transfer them from RSS feeder to MP3). This is a great way to listen to the shows that I have missed and would like to hear.

Social Networking

Because I already have a Facebook account, I decided to try out Twitter. It's easy to get on to, and even though none of my contacts were on Twitter, I followed a few of the 'suggested users,' one of which was a cat named Sockington. I can see how this could be entertaining as long as it didn't get too intrusive, but apparently there are ways to silence twitter when you do not wish to be disturbed (although I could not find this feature on my page).

I can actually see our library using this tool for last minute messages, such as when the library is closing at lunch time, reminding users when we're going to summer hours, or informing them of any special events in the library.

I also checked out the Facebook pages for the University of Illinois and Georgia Tech. One of them has zero posts to the wall and one has not been updated for over a year. Perhaps this tool is not suited to library use, or maybe these libraries did not market their page enough?

Online Applications & Tools

This week's Library 2.0 adventure has taken us to Google Docs, where we added songs to a group spreadsheet. Very cool that ten people at a time can add content. We were also introduced to a few online applications and asked to share our impressions.

Of the three productivity applications suggested, I took a look at Basecamp. It certainly looks like a great organizational tool, especially for groups, but it was not free (as far as I could see) so I didn't sign up.

The photo editing tools seem like a great idea, but I got hung up on Phixr (screen froze) and had to Ctrl/Alt/Delete my way out of there. Not a great impression.

As for the library tools, I've been on LibraryThing for a while but have not been a frequent user. I just haven't taken the time to add all my books to the site. I do love some of the possibilities there though, like finding someone with, say, 50 of the same books as you and seeing what else they have. Lots of fun.

Social bookmarking

This week I opened an account in Delicious and in Diigo. I really enjoyed these tools as I have a lot of bookmarks that need to be organized and finding one subject heading for a folder is not always possible. The Diigo account proved more useful because of the highlighting tool. I love that. I have to say that I'm not taking advantage of the social networking side of these two tools, not because I don't know how, but because I'm not really interested in that aspect of them.

Overall, these are very useful tools for both private and public use.

Wikis

Well, I'm a little behind in my Library 2.0 coursework but I finally did a little wiki exploring. Of course, I am familiar with Wikipedia (as everyone is) but did not have a firm grasp on just how it was created. This definitely helped. I cannot actually foresee using a wiki for anything personal and our library staff is small - 3 people - so we usually just end up discussing everything in person. Maybe we could set up a list of helpful websites for music students that could be added to by other students, staff, and others. We already have such a list on our website, but students may use other sites that we have not discovered yet. I just wonder if there would be enough interest for people to actually set up an account, login and make changes.

It's great learning this, though. I truly appreciate the opportunity.

Not really a summer trip

Apparently I lied. This isn't about trips at all. It's about Library 2.0 and, more specifically this week, about our experiences with them. I managed to add three different feeds to my Google Reader and then ran out of time. I made the mistake of choosing 'Staff Pick' which automatically added a whole folder full of feeds to my reader which I didn't want. Not knowing how to delete the whole folder, I had to individually unsubscribe to each feed. There must be a better way.

If this were a real blog

there would be stunning pictures of trips I have taken in past summers, as well as riveting text describing all of the adventures I had, people I met and places I visited. (Therefore, it would be quite a short blog as I have not been on that many trips, unless I went back to my pre-children days....)

But that's not going to happen - not soon anyway. This is it for now.