Conclusions

I have enjoyed the Library 2.0 program. My preconception of "Web 2.0" was hype over substance. So I was pleasantly surprised by...

1. RSS


2. Wikis


3. Podcasts

I am gestating ideas about how libraries could offer a PIP (personalised information portal) to patrons through a library web site. A library version of pagelakes or netvibes. So it has been very worthwhile getting the creative neurons firing.

downloadable audio books

Downloadable audio books definately part of libraries in the future. The problem as I see it is that subscription services are tied to a particular technology (eg windows media player). In reality there is a diversity of mp3 players out there. For patrons to really embrace it would have to be in an unrestricted mp3 format. I had a look at the project gutenberg audio books. I was to curious to hear what the computer generated audio books sounded like....AWFUL. Really awful.... I don't why they bothered.

Podcasts

If YouTube is on demand television, then podcasts are on demand radio where you get to choose the content. Listening to podcasts is not really something you would do in the office. I am tempted to download a series of podcasts and burn them to CD. Then I can listen to them in the car. A CD can hold 700MB of mp3s, so I would be able to choose between different programs on the same disk. It would be like changing radio stations but listening to content I am interested in.

The potential for library podcasting is in recording talks by speakers at library events.

YouTube

It it easy to spend a lot of time on YouTube. I like the way the similar videos are listed. By folowing those you can rapidly change genre. Staring off at comedy and ending up in punk for example. When broadband gets faster in a few years this will be a vialble alternative to watching TV.

The obvious use for YouTube for libraries, is for promotional videos and library tours. Make the film , upload to YouTube and then link from the web site. Free advertising!

Web 2.0 awards

I was looking at Web 2.0 awards. In an earlier post I mentioned the idea of a personal information portal "PIP". A personalised page that would include search and rss feeds. It seems there are already sites doing this such as Netvibes and Pageflakes. Suddenly my inspirational ideas for making Web 2.0 fortune vanish in a puff of smoke.

What I did like was also the idea of incorporating email, to do lists, video search, image search into the PIP as well. What it did not seem to offer was the ability to custom add rss feeds.

I think libraries in the future should definately offer some kind of service like this. It would promote the library as an online service as well as physical one.

Zoho writer

I had a look at Zoho Writer. I was quite impressed. The features that interested me were the file sharing functionality. I was also impressed by the export to PDF capability.

Wikis

Wikis could be used in 2 different ways by libraries. Firstly as a way for staff to maintain content. Subject guides are perfect for this, as the the more who contribute the better the content. The other use is community building. Booklovers wiki is a great example of this.

Library 2.0

Library 2.0 seems to mean 2 different things. Firstly is the use of Web 2.0 technology by libraries. The other meaning is making the library service more user centric and community driven. This 2nd meaning lends seems to me to be an old idea in new clothing.

Use of Web 2.0 technology by libraries has interesting possibilities.

A common theme of Web 2.0 sites is simplicity and ease of use. This is something that library web catalogues are often very bad at. Library vendors do not seem to spend much time on usability testing.

A another trait of Web 2.0 sites is user created contentor customization. What springs to mind here is a "My Library" portal page for patrons. The patron would signup at the library web site and create a personal page. This would be a customizable page for a personal information portal ("PIP").
This PIP could contain
-library catalogue search box
-a rss box that the patron could add feeds
(some of these feeds could be library (events, new books etc) but eternal feeds could be ok
-a bookmarks box the patron could add bookmarks

2 ways of doing this
1) Page uses a cookie to identify user so the customized page is diplayed upon revisiting
2) Patron has to login. This is a barriar to use, but allows the use of online databases that available to library members. The patron could customize what databases are offered to search from the PIP.

It has struck me how with customization blogger can be used to create a PIP. With the audience being the author.

Technorati

Had a a look a technorati. It is something that could be used to search for blogs on a topic that I might want to subscribe to. The Technorati search searches by tags so if you want to appear in Technorati search results need to be tagged.

Here is a Tag
Library 2.0

del.icio.us

At first I thought del.icio.us sounded really boring. A web site for storing bookmarks. SNORE!! However reading Several Habits of wildly successful Del.icio.us users I was intrigued that you can subcribe to the site via RSS without being a member. You can subscribe to particular tags, even what individuals are tagging or what their INBOX is monitoring. I am still getting my head around that. On the left column of this blog I will add a widget(?) that is RSS feed on the tags "web" and "design" at del.icio.us.

It is an interesting idea because the content is updated by random strangers.