Wikipedia - Mashups

I find myself surprised when Wikipedia offers better information than articles, I had a hard time with the Map Mashup article, but Wikipedia made it clearer.

"Mashups can be divided into four main categories, mapping, video & photo, search & shopping and news."

I think Wikipedia uses clearer language. All that aside, I think that this article was good for showing the breadth of the use for mashups. When I hear the word mashup I think "map." And personally, I don't think map mashups are useful for libraries else than mapping branch libraries.

But this article also includes uses for mashups, such as businesses, and libraries can be similar to businesses in that "Information overload is a problem that many companies face, whether it’s within the company itself or when presenting information to users." I can't think of a great mashup on the top of my head. Images of book covers perhaps? We'll see.

And as a famous pig once said "Th-th-th-thats all folks!"

Annotated List -

This article is pretty cool. I think Library 2.0 is great, but many classes I feel push us to work it harder, make it better, do it faster. But low-tech is a great tool, we don't have to implement all these crazy whacky ideas that patrons aren't looking for from a library. Patrons don't expect us to be web designers or IT workers, we need to use our tools, not become one. I cannot agree with the learning/educational tool more. I wanted to be a teacher ever since I was 5. I changed my career, but I don't feel that I changed my core interest, I still want to inform and educate - and not grade papers. I also agree that Library 2.0 focuses more on the younger generation - and we need to not forget about serving our older patrons.

Meet the New You

I was skeptical of the title of this article, because I felt it would be a gung-ho "Get into Second Life NOW!" article. But thankfully it wasn't. I think that teen support is one of the best uses of library resources in Second Life. As the article stated, it's easier for teens to adapt to this type of virtual world, and they are more likely to use the resources offered to them.

Librarians and Second Life

Apologies for not completing this by class, Budapest Prep has been a hassle and somewhere between reading articles, laundry, and packing, I neglected to remember the Blog.

I'm glad that Jill Hurst-Wahl didn't do any urging for librarians to jump onto Second Life. It's just not that useful for some libraries, and librarians feel too much pressure that our patrons are there. However, she does say that "If you do not want to create an account, talk to librarians in your region. Likely, you will find someone who can give you a personal tour of Second Life."

Really? I'm at my home now in Wanamingo, MN. The libraries in my region, at least those close enough to my home serve rural patrons, and I doubt any of them even have a Second Life account, much less be able to give a tour of it. At my local library, the computers in the library are likely too old, not enough memory, etc to even run Second Life. Technology just isn't a high priority here. At most the only technology any patron needs is access to the internet. Second Life? It just doesn't serve these patrons.

View my page on St. Kate's Library 2.0

Creating Communities With Podcasting

I was so glad to find an article that actually did a study on the usability of podcasting in libraries. It's nice to know how it works, but better to know who uses it, why, and does it work. Not to mention the analysis of what needs to be improved. While it may seem obvious that sound quality and enunciation are necessary, other aspects such as volume and length may not be an obvious downfall. Articles like this one seem more useful when it comes to implementation of Library 2.0 Tools.

Making a Podcast Vs. Podcast 1-2-3

When I started the readings for the podcasts I started at the beginning: Making a Podcast. I read it, I swear I did, but my eyes glazed over and my head swam. The letters and words passed, but the comprehension never came. It was like reading about Quantum Mechanics when you've only gone through Algebra 2 "way back" in high school. And here I thought I was pretty tech savvy. The thing is, I know I could figure out how to make a podcast, it's not like it's rocket surgery. But using these instructions did not help.

Podcast 1-2-3 by Jason Griffey did a much better job of breaking it down. Though his article wasn't exactly a 'how to' it was much more useful to understand the basics of podcasting. I know that an iPod is not needed, and that any computer at the very least can play the audio, that for video MPEG4 is the best bet for video and so on with Griffey's article. Granted, my job deals with video and internet and audio files quite often, but even for me the fundamentals of Podcasts were more evident in the easier-to-read article.