Thing #23 Super Summary!

21 Lunges is just beginning. But I have really enjoyed preparing myself for our program with Helene Blowers’ Learning 2.0 journey.
Of course, there were “things” I enjoyed more than others, but again, they all provided an insight into the new technologies that are out there and what the next generation are beginning to use.
· Mashups are great: the potential to bring functionality from two different applications could be of benefit to libraries.
· Creating Web 2.0 subject guides with a tool such as LibGuides is a great idea, because there is potential to tap into resources on You Tube, Flickr, del.icio.us and podcasts, beyond traditional print and electronic resources.
· Creating a Site-Pal-like avatar could be the next phase for virtual or electronic reference.
· RSS and Newsreaders are great because they push the content to you rather than you having to seek it out yourself every time, great for advertising what’s new at the library, to give just one use for it in our context.
· LibraryThing would be a perfect solution for a small or specialist library who couldn’t afford an expensive LMS. Or for a bookclub. Heck, it’s a cataloguer’s guilty pleasure!
· Del.icio.us. Well I have talked this up so much. Why wouldn’t you want to have your bookmarks travel with you wherever you go? Another good addition to a subject guide.
· Wikis would be valuable as a tool to keep track in a collaborative library project, or as a knowledge base for staff. It would save unnecessary e-mails.
· You Tube could be the medium used for online library tutorials. Podcasting could be used in the same way.
· Audiobooks are a great idea for those who travel, or are in a hurry. Can’t take a book, this is the next best thing.
There is potential there. All you have to do is take the time to think about it. Again, I’m glad I took up the challenge. Now onward and upward with our program.

Thing #22. Audiobooks

Well, I may not have been able to download audiobooks on Netlibrary, but I did get to have a play with its e-book functions. And I may have had problems doing the same with Librivox and Project Gutenberg (after I took the initiative too!). Finally though, Audiobooksforfree came through and I got to have the experience. Sound quality varied, but I really think while the paper-book-reading experience may not disappear, audiobooks are a great alternative if you’re travelling or in a hurry. Today’s audiobooks are really the new generation talking book. And isn’t it great sometimes to just feel like you’re being read to by someone, and not have to think about a thing. Shame I don’t get the MP3 player for my troubles.
I can feel a summary coming on soon! And then I can continue to use this blog to track 21 Lunges. Of which there is not a lot happening at my site library at the moment. I can feel a change coming though!

Thing #21 Podcasting

Here I am again, after a bit of a hiatus, working on my own library’s 21 lunges program, helping to get it ready for the launch. We have had a good, steady response so far from the staff and hopefully this continues. I really believe learning about Web 2.0 tools is a valuable exercise. While some of them may not be worthwhile in a library context, just to know what they are and what they do is important. Also, to know what our patrons are using, what they talk about, the environments they inhabit is useful for helping us understand more about who we are serving.

Podcasting is a really great way to reach our clients. Useful for online tutorials, when they are too busy to come into the library for a face-to-face session and to communicate library news and key information about our services. My library is considering using them to complement a self-guided tour we have created, which is how my interest grew in the technology.
I really enjoyed this exercise, because it allowed me to use dedicated search engines to find podcasts on a multitude of topics. – literature, soap operas, technology, teen issues. There is something for everyone. Podcast Alley was a good tool for this. I also got to hear the different levels of quality that is produced, from the really good to the not so good. I learnt more about how to create a podcast, which I will be returning to later.

I guess the basic idea behind podcasting isn’t new, communicating audio to the interested listener, but the ease with which they can hear it and find it is new, how mainstream it has become. I could have an iPod, or could listen to one direct from my computer at home or at work.

Till next time.