Week 6: Library 2.0

It was interesting to see some of the thoughts others had on the future of libraries. All of the articles had the same theme in common. The evolution of libraries will be fueled by technology. The article “Away from the icebergs” pointed out that technology has given people the belief that everything is at their fingertips. The fact is many services provided by the library are actually at their fingertips. Ill’s, electronic databases, and patron account access are just a few of the services offered online. By the time we get patrons comfortable with all of the advanced in library services that have taken place over the last few years, there will be a whole new set of services for me to get use to.

Week 6: Technorati

Technorati seemed to me to be the Google of blog tracking. There is an overwhelming array of stuff. You have to sift through so much junk just to find one relevant topic. It was fun to see what sites were most popular. I don’t use the web very often for entertainment so I liked the fact that Technorati showed me what blogs were popular. That way I can stay familiar with trends even though I’m not into that facet of the Internet.

Week 6: Del.icio.us

I think del.icio.us is a great tool for ready reference. There are millions of websites out there and you just want quick access to reputable sites. Del.icio.us makes it easy to access your bookmarks from anywhere. I hate to add bookmarks to computers that are being used by all staff members. Eventually the Favorites file becomes a hodgepodge of everyone’s links. This way I can have instant access to my favorites and have them categorized in ways that are easy for me to find.

Week 5: Rollyo

The Rollyo site was very interesting. It is like having your own personal search engine that only uses the sites that you trust. As a librarian, it is always a challenge to find reputable information on the Internet. This could help cut through a lot of the junk that sites like Google turn up.

My Rollyo Link

Week 5: Library Thing

Week 5: Online Image Generator

I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk

Week 4: Exploring Merlin

The Merlin site had a few interesting links to visit. As you can probably tell from my blog page, I really got into the link about widgets. Widgets are the little icons that display things like the weather or movie reviews. They seem to function like mini RSS feeds. They locate current information from a particular website and condense it in to an easy to ready box. I had way more fun playing with those things than using the search functions for different feeds.

Week 4: My RSS Feed

I know a lot of the people rave about RSS feeds but I still like the old fashion way. I'm a slave to the flashy graphics and colored pictures of my favorite sites. When I read the news, I want to see the front page headlines. When I look at ESPN, I want to see the pictures of the Cowboys beating the Redskins. The one big advantage to RSS that I did see is if you follow a lot of blogs. At least with this feature you can just read the most recent.

My Bloglines Subscription

Week 3: My Thoughts on Technology

I love new advances in technology but some of the changes seem excessive to me. I was watching the roll out of the new iphone and wondering why do we need a phone that does a million different things. I just want a phone that makes calls. It seems you can't even buy a cell phone anymore that doesn't take pictures or connects to the Internet. Like I said, I love technology. Bring on the advancements in home entertainment . GPS, satellite radio and HDTV are my kind of toys. I just want to make a call that doesn't involve playing music, taking a photograph, or checking my email. Don't even get me started on the new chat lingo created by text messaging. I received an email from my niece the other day and I needed a translation dictionary. Oh well, the times they are a changing.