#23 This is the end.....

Well, it seems I've made it! I must confess it's been hard trying to fit it in with normal work, going overseas and now moving house..But I've found it interesting, have learned a lot, and can see many of these new technologies having applications for libraries. I caught the end of an interview on the radio (no, not a podcast!) with writer Andrew Keen. His new book "The cult of the amateur : how the democratization of the digital world is destroying our economy, our culture, and our values" (Doubleday 2007) presented a rather more negative view. But maybe this guy is just an elitist? Anyway, like most new technology, like the internet itself, Web 2.0 will no doubt have its critics and its enthusiasts.
Thanks to everyone who organised the training - now I can go back to reading a book when I get home in the evenings!

#20, 21, 22

I really enjoyed looking at some of these sites. The "Gorilla Librarian" is a good oldie, of course, and I loved the Melbourne walking tour. Being a bit of a radio junkie, I've often been tempted to listen to all those programs I've missed, but have never before had any idea how to go about getting them. And I'm sure these new technoogies can have a useful application in libraries. As for audiobooks and ebooks, I can see myself enjoying them when I can't see the print any more (in the meantime I'll just purchase stronger glasses!). I listened to a couple of the poems on WorldeBookFair, but couldn't stand the voice of the person reading them - perhaps they just sound better in my head?

#18 and 19 Online application tools

Certainly seems like a great idea to have these applications freely available online. No need to keep installing new versions of software, and like most of these things we've been looking at, good for collaboration and -I guess this is the new buzzword - social networking!

#16 and 17 Wikis

I'm attracted to the democratic nature of wikis - "with a wiki, everyone is the final arbiter". But I guess that as with most of the new communication technologies they are both good and bad. It's a bit like having a referendum on every issue (true democracy perhaps?). But I can see their value for libraries, especially public libraries, with users being able to add book reviews, contributing to subject guides etc.

#15

I read some of the articles about Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries. It occurred to me that we've been hearing about the "future of libraries" (generally predictions of their imminent demise) for the last 30 years, but I guess the pace of change has increased somewhat recently! A brave new world indeed.

I was interested in the article from Wikipedia on tags, folksonomies and social bookmarking, and how items are still being sorted into broad categories before using tags for the finer classification distinctions - seems we can't really escape hierarchical systems altogether?

#12 Rollyo

http://www.rollyo.com/dashboard.html

I can see this being very useful - and time-saving.

#11 LibraryThing

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/rosburns

Now this I really liked (of course), though as a cataloguer I may be feeling a little threatened!

#10 Image generator

As I seem to be spending a lot of time sitting on aeroplanes travelling to the U.K. (well, at least once a year..), and I always feel so revolting after 24 hours in the air, I thought it might be an idea to have my very own airline that would get me there faster than the speed of light...

#8 and 9
It's occurred to me I may have sounded a bit negative in my earlier comments. Being something of a news and current affairs junkie (Radio National is my friend...), I'm sure RSS and newsfeeds will be more my thing. I've created a Bloglines account, or at least I think I have. Couldn't, however, see any way to subscribe to BBC World, though I do seem to have feeds from any number of book and literature sites - odd for a librarian, when you think about it!

#6
What can I say? I'm just amazed that all this stuff is out there. I'm not convinced I have either the time or the enthusiasm to do anything with it, but I'm sure my 19 year old son would love it (come to think of it, he's probably already an expert..)

#7
I'm going to be on leave from next week so I must confess I'm just trying to complete as many of these "things" as possible before I go. What can I say about technology? A necessary evil? All I know is that after a day at work staring at a computer screen the last thing I want to do is sit in front of another screen (though I have been known to send the odd email or two...)

#5 Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_grasse_matinee/523835993/

One of my favourite places - Granada in southern Spain. I was fortunate enough to spend half a year there as a student in 1973. I studied French and Spanish for my degree and the 3rd year of my course was divided between the 2 countries. I was there during the reign of the Fascist dictator General Franco, and the University of Granada (along with most unis in Spain) was closed indefinitely because of student protests. I did attempt to borrow some books from the university library but it was a genuine "closed access" library. No-one except the librarians were actually allowed to see the books on the shelves, and I had to fill in a request form which was then sent down in a kind of old-fashioned lift to the bowels of the earth.. Several hours later the requested books would emerge. Ironic, I guess, that more than 30 years later Spain is now one of the most liberal of European democracies..
I'm afraid this isn't really about technology at all, but at least I managed to get the link from Flickr on to my Blog!!

TESTING TESTING...

Help!!!
Maybe I just don't have anything to say?