# 23 - Contemplating 2.0 and the future

I commenced the program aware that my knowledge of the internet and the tools that people were talking about and using, was starting to fall behind and this would be a wonderful opportunity to gain this knowledge in a structured way.

I began slowly (well taking holidays will absorb a big chunk of time and not having access to the internet at home was limiting), but once I really got going I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn about these resources. I'm sure you've noticed by now a tendency to include lots of "fun" elements which kept me amused tracking them down and incorporating them into my blog.

Key learnings

I have learnt that Flickr isn't a horse (ie. My friend Flicka) or a light driving someone crazy and it is an incredible resource for storing and sharing photos. (It also has lots of fun tools associated with it).

Bloglines are a valuable resource and I now check my feeds daily to gain a quick overview of those areas of interest I identified and must admit that it does save alot of time.

There are a lot of reources on the internet that allow you to have fun. It was fairly obvious that I enjoyed play week, as this was when my blog suddenly started sprouting games, pictures, etc. and I loved LibraryThing - a great way to list all your favourites / personal collection and share them with others.

From Rollyo I created my AFL search engine, which I have used and found effective, although in the long term it will probably be more useful for retrospective searches than current issues as they will be picked up via my bloglines feeds.

I love the concepts of Del.icio.us, Zoho Writer and Google documents and spreadsheets as they allow you to operate effectively no matter where you are based. I do think that the web based applications still require some development before they replace Microsoft Office programs, however, I suspect it is just a matter of time before they evolve to something more sophisticated or Microsoft make a big leap and setup their own web based applications.

Wiki's rock and I can see there are signifcant uses for them within libraries. They can be used:

• internally to managed policies, procedures, forms, etc. instead of intranets
  
• for pathfinders, booklists, etc. which can be opened up to the community so they can share their links
  
• for socialised community information linked to the library website - what a simple way to make your website a virtual community hub.

YouTube, podcasting and eBooks have all been around for some time with varying degrees of takeup/success in the wider community. These are key tools/resources for us to use to promote libraries to those members of the community who are fully utilising web 2.0.

Final reflection

At the conclusion of the program, I am far more aware of the evolution of web 2.0 and the key resources which are available for all to access, and I've certainly accessed sites/tools which I will continue to use.

I believe that in order for public libraries to continue to remain as a relevant resource and a key community hub, we need to embrace these resources and incorporate them into everyday policy and planning.

Web 2.0 and beyond should not catch us unaware, we should be planning now on how we can utilise these technologies to enhance and promote our services, so that our virtual libraries continue to grow to meet the needs of our communities.

# 22 - eBook frustrations and musings

Very difficult to comment on this learning step as I was unable to access any of the ebooks in the Learning 2.0 program (World eBook Fair site), as there was a charge/password associated with all I tried - unable to locate any free downloads.

However, I did get a sense of how an eBook would work through the tutorial in Netlibrary and could see that there could be quite a demand for them, particularly with non fiction titles.

I believe that the key thing is to offer the option of the traditional physical book, along with providing access to various virtual tools, which include eBooks and other online databases/resources, and then letting the borrower choose what format they wish to access the information from/in.

It will be interesting to see how eBooks evolve with the introduction of the Amazon "Kindle" reading device in the last couple of weeks - will it make them more popular being portable ???

# 21 - Podcasting

I already had an understanding of what a podcast is and have accessed them on many occasions, however, I did have some difficulties with Podcast.net where I was unable to hear any of the podcasts I searched for.

I located a book review and listened to it, then got adventurous and went 774 ABC Melbourne and went to their podcasts, selected Health and lifestyle and loaded the RSS feed into my bloglines account, which then enabled me to hear the podcasts of the last few weeks. A very simple way to ensure you don't miss out on a regular segment you listen to on the radio.

In relation to public libraries, podcasts are a way to expand the services we offer through the virtual library to the time-poor, transport-poor and socially isolate (including aged) elements of our community. I can just imagine a parent and child listening to a podcast of a storytime before bedtime or an individual/group in an aged care facility listening to an author/book talk.

This web 2.0 tool could easily be introduced to websites - in fact some libraries have already done so.

# 20 - To YouTube or not to YouTube

You could spend alot of time playing around in YouTube as you explore the millions of videos. Just trying to find an amusing library/librarian video took me a significant amount of time, although if you were looking for something generic it would obviously be quicker. (see below for clip found)

In seaching for this video, I did find a number of "serious" videos which were promoting services and even advertising for staff. I didn't see a booktalk or storytime video'ed (not that I was really looking for them), but this may be a possibility for the future so that our community can still have access to these services without leaving home.

The possiblities for the virtual library are endless.

# 19 - Web 2.0 tools and award winners

Some very smart people (or certainly people with a lot of time) out there to create some of these winning sites. I checked out the Biblio rare book site and a games site and had fun exploring both. (Note: there is now a new game in my blog - see bottom of the page for the fishing game, courtesy of my exploration).

Loved the tool box, what a good way to combine all the useful sites/information together, so you can create the ultimate website/blog. Unfortunately, I couldn't save the link to my Delicious favourites, as I don't have the 2 key buttons installed (they were blocked - see previous blog entry). Will just need to save it to my favourites on my PC.

# 18 - Zoho writing

Well this has been an interesting experience, just trying to locate where my I could locate the published document from Zoho writer was saved as a draft.

I've joined and tested both Google documents and Zoho writer. Can see benefits to both, but they don't yet have the functionality of Microsoft Office programs. Of course, this refinement may come and it must be admitted that my familiarity with said MS programs means that I am looking for the functionality as a given.

Will be interesting to see how both products continue to develop and whether it will mean the end of MS office as we know it.

Testing Zoho Writer

Lets try to add a table

---

hours of opening	Mondays	Tuesdays
Hawthorn Library	10 am - 6 pm	10 am - 9 pm
Camberwell Library	9 am - 5 pm	9 am - 5 pm

Note: unable to manipulate cells easily. Tried to make hours centred only, but also centred library names and needed to highlight each seperately and then click on the left align button to return them to original state. Columns don't seem to work also.

Otherwise table was easy to insert and looks clear and simple

Let's add in an image

I find it quite difficult in resizing and manipulating images once they are in the document. Easy to add them however.

# 17 - Playing in the Wiki sandbox

I must admit that it is incredibly easy to add and edit a wiki, which demonstrates why they are so popular and work well - you can't really stuff it up.

I've added my blog address to the PLCMC learning wiki under favourite blogs and Boroondara as well as making a comment under Favourite books, way down at the end. (comment refers to "The Bagthorpe Saga" by Helen Cresswell.)

I can actually see some applications for a wiki between only friends / family, and may even set one up to handle some of the issues around Xmas present shopping.