Mashups - the final roundup!

For an excellent exposure to cutting edge technology -Mashups and API was a great ending to a wonderful but exciting course.

I found the different combinations of technology amazing. I was amazed at the maps and other technology mashups at work. I did notice a definite focus on "sexy babe" interfaces. Not wholly inspiring for librarians but at least they are organizing data. As a history undergrad I found the Cool Maps :: 7 Wonders really exciting. I spent an hour just checking out how everything was displayed. Nice to know there are other history geeks out there.

As far as RollYo I didn't find the search interface easy to use. It took me a few minutes to figure out how I was to use it. I did find it really neat that it could search the blogs but I want it to search all blogs not just one person's blog list. I'm not sure if I really figured out how to use it. I found it interesting that as far as privacy librarians can have different opinions and none of which were wrong. It was fascinating to read how excited we get as librarians that the main stream news highlights us. I guess it is the same as when a nurse or doctor reads about their profession.

This was a great course. I learned so much new technology and I considered myself as knowing the cutting edge.

Thanks for all the work!

YouTube

Wow the things you can see on YouTube and with the other services is amazing. I saw wonderful examples of libraries using this during National Library Week to advertise their services and shrug off the "boring" library image.

I can see these services being used in several ways.

1. Marketing library services in an interesting way.
2. Using these services to teach clients how to use resources (as we have learned through this course).
3. Using these services to archive presentations made (especially at academic institutions). Large databases of presentations could be created and managed by librarians to help keep the intrinsic knowledge of an institutions professors. In the private world this could be useful for inhouse training.
4. Use things like Odeo to highlight authors or news events to highlight resources in the library without having a author visit.

All of this requires that libraries and other organizations keep access to these video sharing resources open. I hope that libraries and organizations realize the power these resources can use for education and marketing.

Photo Sharing

The exercise this week was great. I didn't realize at all that the Library of Congress had a Flicker site. I sent this on to my brother who is a HUGE sports history buff. He thought it was really "cool". Uploading and sharing the pictures is really easy. I use Photobucket and Kodak Gallery to share pictures and videos of my son. It is easy once you figure out how it works. Of course I can't get the grandparents to understand they can go to the library to look at the pictures. They would rather wait to get the videos and pictures in the mail from us. The rest of the family loves them but a lot of businesses block the pictures.

Libraries can really utilize this technology to establish the friendly face. Have staff directories with faces. Of course several people mentioned stalking. So there may be concerns there. But if someone works in the public setting then there is always the chance someone will grow obsessed with them. I think what LC has done with flicker really shows how this technology could be harnessed to make Archives better. I wish now that I had this technology back when I was still a single librarian in the hospital. I could have used this to digitize our Archives.

Google Docs

I think Google Docs and other document sharing services can be very useful with organizations that are spread geographically but not necessarily the same organization. Perfect example would be an MLA Taskforce that needs to work on a document and each contribute. While the members of the taskforce can't necessarily have the same drive on a network (since members are belong to different organizations) it would be useful to use this type of system. I think it can also be useful working on large files that need to be shared within your organization because you can't open a normal word file or such if someone else has it open and make changes. I don't know though if this is really the future of document sharing. I see security concerns limiting its use for major corporations. I did like the functionality of the service and I'm in fact suggestion an organization that I volunteer with that this might be something we could use that would be useful. This was a really good learning experience and the first one that I really had NO idea about before starting.

Social Bookmarks

This was an easy lesson as my husband and I have been using del.icio.us to share our favorite bookmarks with family and friends on a variety of topics. This could be used by hospitals or libraries to bring together resources without having to "create" a webpage. Yet I see a wiki and other resources that have been discussed doing the same thing. So I'm not sure the value if you are already using a lot of the other resources that I've learned about now. I could see this as a way around security that an smaller hospital might have blocking wikis and blogs though. However, I'm not sure. As a librarian and "organizer" I love the ability to tag. My husband loves the resource because he has built a ton of links to favorite on flying airplanes in simulators that he can share with other enthusiast. I like the fact that there is a separate backup to our hard drive bookmarks. I also like that with my work computer. For security it is NICE!

Social Networking - What libraries could do best

If your information/computer services allows social networking applications they could be extremely useful for librarians in a hospital or academic environment. I can see potential for quality improvement projects, Magnet committees and for general hospital programs for staff to be involved in with different shift work.

I think most libraries should have a MySpace or Facebook page if the technology is accessible within their systems. In addition I think any librarians that have access to the technology and also serving consumer health should most definitely have a presence.

I think as individuals we have a responsibility for what we put on the internet just as we have a responsibility of what we say and do. I think too many parent shut kids off in their rooms with computers. In reality "they" not the government or other entities need to monitor what their children are doing. Of course the very fact that we could "make up" whatever we wanted and NOT use our real names to create these online personalities is a problem. However can you turn back the clock - no. Parents just have to teach their kids not to do stupid things. Of course that is all a part of learning as well.

I didn't like the fact that I could have created something that wasn't real. That scares me and makes it so easy to see how evil people can use these systems. It makes me wonder if we should promote them but on the other hand they are going to use them.

I will have to think on these things more.

Blogs and Wikis - Differences

I see a couple of differences with blogs and wikis. I see blogs as more conversational and more of an alert time of system. Wikis I see more as a database or resource that is meant to be up to date but not necessarily changing on a daily basis. Blogs are better for commentary or alerts. I've created a blog (not released to medical staff yet) (LSUHSC-S Medical Library Evidence Alert) for my library to keep physicians and others up to date on evidence based guidelines, reports and reviews. I had done this before the class started but I've learned some tricks that I'm going to incorporate into the blog since I only knew the very basics.

I could see wikis being used to create interactive educational tools for new residents. Not only do they have the stress of functioning as physicians with more autonomy but they often have to learn complex procedural tasks for the institution (how do you write orders etc, what abbreviations you are NOT supposed to use etc.) Students currently have big paper manuals that they don't carry and rely on others to educate them which can lead to misinformation or bad habits through students. A wiki might be a good tool that would work and could be updated by multiple individuals.