Web Browsers

Where would we be without Web Browsers? They are the software tools we use to connect to the internet. There are many free downloads available out there. Each company's browser offers slightly different (and sometimes radically different with advanced users). These features can save lots of time and frustration so taking the time to get to know your particular browser is well worth the exercies. Google Chrome shows a simple design with technology which makes it much faster than Internet Explorer which I am using at the moment. Security is always an issue and it appears that Firefox offers a very secure browser and their add-ons are amazing. However, Internet Eplorer is the most compatible browser so it is a matter of considering what options you want from your browser and go with that one. It is good to know we have lots of choices.

Podcasts & audio

The beauty of podcasts is that anyone who has access to a computer, mp3 or mobile phone can make use of them. Podcasts would be of particular value to our library service in the area of local history. We have a large collection of local history collections available. A podcast presentation about these collections would be of assistance to locals and visitors alike, who are searching for information and where to go to get it.

Browsing through the podcasts, the Meditation Podcasts available on meditation.org.au caught my eye. This is presented by the Meditation Assn of Australia and has a huge selection of free podcasts ranging in duration from 6 minutes to 30 minutes. There are even podcasts for children. We can choose to either download the file, usually mp3 or there is a 'listen now' option.

Mashups

Mashups appear to be useful when specific information needs to be combined eg. addresses, maps, photographs etc. Mashups can be created in Flickr, YouTube, eBay and many more. I went to Mashupwards.com - filtered by category, I chose 'Art" and checked out 'Gimme Shiny' which is a JavaScript slideshow of today's popular images from sources such as Flickr, deviantART and FFFFound. While I'm not sure I would make use of these images right now, I can see how useful and time saving having a mashup site like this would be when you can search by category and see what's available.

Gogole Docs

Google Docs is a very impressive online application which improves collaboration with others to allow access to a central point. This would be a wonderful tool which will save time and energy however I still believe there needs to be human contact and one-to-one contact between participants. This seems to create a personal bond and understanding. However, in the case of meeting agenda for example, Google Docs and Zoho both provide a simple, quick forum 'prior' to the actual meeting. In the case where distance is a factor, this tool would be invaluable.

LibraryThing

Now I am in heaven. LibraryThing has given access to so many books and I can also look at other like-minded folks lists to check out other relevant books. This would be a handy tool to add to our Libary's online catalogue. It would assist with searching for new books by similar authors or on similar subjects - tags is a very simple tool, just click on the tag to find books on that topic. I can even add a widget that will display titles I have in my catalogue.

del.icio.us

Gosh, it just seems the technology out there gets better - to have learned about del.icio.us has allowed me to organise my bookmarks in a whole new way. Using this social bookmarking site, I can save bookmarks to a central site which I can access from any computer, anywhere! I also get the benefit of being able to see what others are bookmarking and can access new and relevant material from this one central point. It just makes the whole process much more orderly and efficient. Librarians can use this site as a collaborative online reference point, especially those of us going through the amalgamation process in Qld. It is exciting times and to be able to reference others bookmarks on similar topics from just one site is just so time saving and practical. I am also studying Visual Arts - must say I got lost in time checking out just what is here relating to my field of interest, saves me reinventing the wheel so to speak. I am so appreciative of having the opportunity to discover all this great technology and being able to apply it to my own special circumstances, both at home and hopefully, soon at work too.

challenging

RSS has been more of a challenge for me to use. Mainly because I don't allow a lot of time to check on bloglines. However, I can see the benefit of being able to choose particular bloglines to access quickly. Having them available at the click of the mouse is very handy. The time consuming part is that there is so many interesting ones to choose from and I simply doodle along looking at this and that and could spend most of my life reading all these interesting things. Do I really need to know all this information? The answer for me is no. But I do like to have the choice. From this exercise I have added 7 feeds to keep a tab on, and have found the OPAL training & Learning 2.0: 23 things you can do to become web 2.0 savy pretty interesting and above all useful.