Podcasts are a great way to get broadcasts on demand on any subject. One more Web 2.0 technology that frees you from the tyranny of scheduled broadcasts from certain outlets. Broadcast on demand is rapidly becoming the preferred way of experiencing content.
I went to Podcast Alley, which lives up to its motto: Free the Airwaves. Browsing among the various subjects, I found an interesting podcast series called Econtalk that deals with economics in everyday life. I added their RSS feed at http://www.econlib.org/library/EconTalk.xml to my Bloglines account. Very neat!
Libraries can definitely take advantage of podcasting as a way of reaching customers. You could broadcast current library news, interviews with authors and staff, and local community happenings. This would connect you to your customers when they are at home, and make your library web pages more information-dense and much more relevant.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
YouTube!
And now, for a timely topic:
Electing a US President in Plain English
YouTube is famous in the Web 2.0 world, and justifiably so. The ease of finding videos, the sheer amount of them on an incredible variety of topics, the optional high-resolution mode, the handy URL and Embed codes right next to the vid- all much appreciated. The comments section can be rather rough, but it is fun seeing how many times a video has been watched. Creating an account allows you to build your own favorites list.
Having videos embedded in library web pages could be an effective marketing tool, or a convenient way for customers to see instructional how-to clips such as 'how to reserve a book from our online catalog'. Perhaps staff at a particular branch could record their own videos for use about their location for the public.
Many, many possibilities!
YouTube is famous in the Web 2.0 world, and justifiably so. The ease of finding videos, the sheer amount of them on an incredible variety of topics, the optional high-resolution mode, the handy URL and Embed codes right next to the vid- all much appreciated. The comments section can be rather rough, but it is fun seeing how many times a video has been watched. Creating an account allows you to build your own favorites list.
Having videos embedded in library web pages could be an effective marketing tool, or a convenient way for customers to see instructional how-to clips such as 'how to reserve a book from our online catalog'. Perhaps staff at a particular branch could record their own videos for use about their location for the public.
Many, many possibilities!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
CML Power Tools Blog.
My favorite part of the CML Power Tools page is Tooling Around, the Power Tools page blog. This blog highlights useful tech and Web 2.0 features (as well as CML's tools).
For instance, a recent post there was: Top Five Reasons To Use Gmail. Since Gmail is my favorite email service, I heartily agreed (and chimed in with a comment on the post). Reasons discussed were the availability of built-in chat, the large amount of storage space, and the ease of labeling and archiving emails. In my comment I mentioned the tabbed email conversations that allowed an ongoing conversation in one single email, as opposed to a new email for every response.
Tech blogs such as Tooling Around always interest me, because you almost always learn something from reading them. One can never have too much knowledge in this fast-moving technology world we inhabit.
For instance, a recent post there was: Top Five Reasons To Use Gmail. Since Gmail is my favorite email service, I heartily agreed (and chimed in with a comment on the post). Reasons discussed were the availability of built-in chat, the large amount of storage space, and the ease of labeling and archiving emails. In my comment I mentioned the tabbed email conversations that allowed an ongoing conversation in one single email, as opposed to a new email for every response.
Tech blogs such as Tooling Around always interest me, because you almost always learn something from reading them. One can never have too much knowledge in this fast-moving technology world we inhabit.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Biblio.com
Biblio.com won 2nd place in the 2008 Web 2.0 Awards books category. If you like used, rare or out-of-print books, this is a great resource!
To quote from their site, "We are proud to host over 5000 of the finest bookstores and booksellers worldwide, representing a combined inventory of over 50 million books from these bookstores." Biblio is a centralized site that allows you to buy from thousands of booksellers from all over the planet. You simply create an account- you have the option of using Paypal or, if you prefer credit card, of not storing your credit card info on your account (this is a nice touch). If you've ever ordered anything from Amazon, you'll be familiar with their system.
Doing a search is easy. From the front page, you can search by title, author, keyword or ISBN number. One can easily be surprised at the amount of hits on a particular title that you can come up with. Here is a sample search- check out those low prices!
The sheer number of sources that Biblio.com uses to find books for you is a powerful incentive to use their service. There's even a textbook section on their site.
Buyers and sellers from around the globe come together at this one site, and this benefits everyone in the process.
Web 2.0 is a wonderful thing :-)
To quote from their site, "We are proud to host over 5000 of the finest bookstores and booksellers worldwide, representing a combined inventory of over 50 million books from these bookstores." Biblio is a centralized site that allows you to buy from thousands of booksellers from all over the planet. You simply create an account- you have the option of using Paypal or, if you prefer credit card, of not storing your credit card info on your account (this is a nice touch). If you've ever ordered anything from Amazon, you'll be familiar with their system.
Doing a search is easy. From the front page, you can search by title, author, keyword or ISBN number. One can easily be surprised at the amount of hits on a particular title that you can come up with. Here is a sample search- check out those low prices!
The sheer number of sources that Biblio.com uses to find books for you is a powerful incentive to use their service. There's even a textbook section on their site.
Buyers and sellers from around the globe come together at this one site, and this benefits everyone in the process.
Web 2.0 is a wonderful thing :-)
Monday, October 13, 2008
Google Docs.
Now this is something to be excited about!
Google Docs is an online application suite similar to Microsoft Office. Sure, there are other free apps around that one can use, like Open Office, but the key word with Google Docs is- online.
Online applications allow for two very useful things: they allow you to access your work from any online PC regardless of the software it may or may not have, and it allows for collaboration on projects by fellow co-workers. Think of a wiki experience with documents, spreadsheets and presentations!
Google Docs is simple and streamlined. The essentials are there for you to create an application that looks good, and is functional. The controls are intuitive. You are not bogged down with too many options, yet you have enough control over what you are doing to come up with an effective document.
Libraries could easily benefit from such an online application. Think of work groups that can collaborate on a single job, bringing different participants together to share their strengths.
The days of being asked, "do you have Word?" are definitely numbered.
Google Docs is an online application suite similar to Microsoft Office. Sure, there are other free apps around that one can use, like Open Office, but the key word with Google Docs is- online.
Online applications allow for two very useful things: they allow you to access your work from any online PC regardless of the software it may or may not have, and it allows for collaboration on projects by fellow co-workers. Think of a wiki experience with documents, spreadsheets and presentations!
Google Docs is simple and streamlined. The essentials are there for you to create an application that looks good, and is functional. The controls are intuitive. You are not bogged down with too many options, yet you have enough control over what you are doing to come up with an effective document.
Libraries could easily benefit from such an online application. Think of work groups that can collaborate on a single job, bringing different participants together to share their strengths.
The days of being asked, "do you have Word?" are definitely numbered.
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