Emerging Technologies and Libraries

Over the course of this class, I have been using Livejournal for my blog. I have used Livejournal for years, and have had no complaints, so I decided that sticking with this system would be best. Livejournal offers a free or paid account type. The free version contains advertisements, and the paid version has a ton of benefits including ad-free viewing of all Livejournals, and webspace for storing photos, etc.

Livejournal is web-based, and does not require users to download any software to update or change the look and feel of their blog. This is a big bonus for me, because it allows me to access, update, and completely customize my blog from any computer with internet access. When I studied abroad in 2007 in Russia, I was able to keep friend and family updated with my personal blog, because I could access it at any cyber café.

Livejournal also comes with a wide selection of pre-made layouts that really do look very neat. They can be further customized and made to look pretty much any way that the user can dream up fairly simply with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). In addition, if users are not very good with creating their own CSS, they can find user created layouts through groups such as freelayouts. This is where I found the layout I am currently using.

Really, I think what I like most about Livejournal is that it is extremely easy to use. Liveournal is blogging made simple. It’s easy enough to use everyday, and for a few years now, I have.

For an online tutorial, I think that logging into the IRIS server on a Mac would be ideal. This would of course be aimed at first semester SLIS students, because it would not really apply outside of this environment. Many students come into the program without ever using the Macintosh operating system and in the intro technology course here is taught in a Windows environment. However, any classes past 401 that deal with technology are often taught in Mac labs, and students are completely lost as to how to access their IRIS accounts.

The best way to convey this information would have to be through the videocast format, showing a video of someone actually performing the task on a screen. This could easily be accomplished using a tool such as Jing that captures video of computer screens. This video would be accompanied by a voice-over explaining the steps, as well as text-boxes that provide the same information as the voice-over, but would allow for greater accessibility (allowing the hearing-impaired community access) and reinforcing the information provided.

The content of this videocast would begin with opening Finder, then Applications, and finding Fugu. Fugu is probably the simplest application for connecting to the IRIS server, so I figure that would be the best choice. Then the videocast would show what to type into the server textbox (iris.slis.indiana.edu) and username textbox (ex. the “jsmith” of jsmith@indiana.edu) and where the “connect” box is located. After that, the screen will ask for a password for the user to input. Once that’s done, the videocast will demonstrate the “drag and drop” uploading and downloading that Fugu and the Macintosh operating system allows for, and how easy it can be.

This videocast seems very necessary to me simply because of how many times during this course alone I have helped my classmates access IRIS. The 401 class does a good job of teaching the students how to use the Windows machines, but students are never taught Mac. In SLIS, Macs are everywhere and it really becomes essential to learn how to perform basic tasks, like accessing the server, on this operating system.

Click here to see Kristina's Mashup.

The topic of social bookmarking is one that is relatively new to me. I never really got into this, but I’ve heard about it, so I was interested in exploring it. The assignment was to try out two different social bookmarking sites and then compare and contrast them. I worked with Delicious and StumbleUpon.

Delicious is pretty much the standard of social bookmarking, and as such it was everything that I expected. It allowed users to create a profile, and then to bookmark their favorite sites, adding a title, description, and subject tags. Once the user adds those bookmarks, they can also search the site for either that URL (in order to see what others have used for subject tags) or an individual tag (in order to see what others think it applies to). The site is set up intuitively, and I found it very simple to get started with and continue to use. The only really annoying thing that I found was that tags could not be more than one word. [Example: grad school becomes gradschool.]

Next, I looked at StumbleUpon. Unlike Delicious, StumbleUpon focuses on the quality of the sites, and asks users to provide reviews of the sites they bookmark, and in return suggests other sites that they may enjoy. This is an interesting feature, but for me, it seems unnecessary. Also I feel as though it has a tendency to bury the more important aspects of tagging and saving links.

I find tags to be extremely interesting as a way of determining the "aboutness" of an object. For example, when I searched in Delicious for the website tumblr.com on Delicious, I of course found that most users tagged the site as "blog" or "blogging," but interestingly, I also found that some users tagged it as "art," "photography," and even "wtf!" Also, when I searched in Delicious for the tag "gradschool" I found not only graduate programs, but I also found tips on getting into grad school, tuition estimates and articles, and many other things.

Tonight in class we talked about virtual reference and the challenges and benefits that come with it. We even created a meebo chat widget and used it to interact with each other in a mock-reference situation. I found this interesting, and confusing, but useful for libraries that need a simple solution for implementing this technology into their services.

How it works, is that once you sign up for the service at http://www.meebo.com, you can simple copy and paste a provided code into your existing webpage and then anyone can start chatting with you, while you are signed into meebo.com.

Of course, we also discussed how chat reference is different than in-person reference. For one, there is a level of confusion that comes with that medium. In person, librarians can detect body language as well as use their own, to make sure that the patron in getting what they need. In chat, you have to continually as the question back to the patron, and add, “is that correct?” A little of an inconvenience, but the ability to access the library from anywhere more than makes up for it in my opinion.

I used Bloglines to subscribe to several RSS feeds in class. Bloglines is a web-based RSS feed reader, which allows users to create an account, and then subscribe to feeds. In a sidebar, the feeds are collected and sorted by category, such as “blog” and “clippings.” In order to read new entries, users click on the individual feed. Bloglines incorporates a search feature for users to find new feeds and is very simple and intuitive for me. However, I am a seasoned user of RSS feeds and pretty much know how they operate. I’m not sure that for someone brand new to this sort of technology it would be that simple.

The second RSS feed reader was a little harder to decide on. I considered options of another web-based reader, one built into a browser, and even an app for my iPhone. However, I decided to try out the one built into the Flock web browser. I really don’t need another app to obsess about on my iPhone, haha. Flock is really interesting in itself, as it automatically subscribes its users to feeds of their Myspace and Facebook accounts and updates them in a sidebar while you go about your everyday web business. Users can add other feeds and they will also update in the sidebar. This is probably the simplest and most intuitive system for RSS feed reading that I have ever seen! It does not require users to go to a certain website to read their new entries, as it is constantly right there in the browser. In order to add a new feed, the user just clicks on a little button in the address bar. However, like all browser-based readers, it isn’t portable. If the user changes computers, or is on a shared computer, such as one in a library or computer lab, those feeds cannot be accessed.

So for me, I will definitely continue to use both readers. Flock is great for things at home and things that I appreciate being updated on constantly, like Myspace and Facebook. However, feeds that I would prefer access to while away from my home computer, I will add to my new Bloglines account. While this may be redundant, it’s the best system I can imagine, that doesn’t involve me downloading yet another app on my iPhone. :]

Last time in class we further discussed the use of blogs. For class I read the article Using blogs in academic libraries: versatile information platforms by Schrecker, D. L. (2007) located here:link. I also found an article at guardian.co.uk entitled Blogging is so 2005.

Both articles were interesting. The first, by Schrecker, looked at the implications of blogging in the academic library setting. Personally, I have been trying to decide between working in an academic library or in a public library, so I found this article very helpful if I do end up in an academic library. It provides many ideas on how to incorporate this technology into the website/other technology that many libraries already use.

The second article was written about a conference held in Newcastle, England about the future of social media and technology, and specifically on their treatment of the topic of blogging. Basically, they have found that social networking sites, such as facebook.com and myspace.com, as well as microblogging, such as twitter, have replaced mass blogging. Blogging has now become just another part of the "mediasphere," with many traditional media outlets taking over. Personally, I have found this to be incredibly true. As a long time user of livejournal (poetry_emotions) I have noticed a sever decline in active users on my friends list, while my twitter/facebook/myspace account have exploded with activity. This poses the question, should libraries abandon blogging in favor of more contemporary technologies? It's worth discussion.

RSS FEED CLICK HERE.

This is obviously my first entry here for my class blog.  I will be posting about class, and I will also post some of my class writing assignments.

From the course description:

This course will take a look at a variety of different types of emerging technologies that have been created and developed in recent years. The focus of this course will be to look at the tools and technology that are considered to be Web 2.0/3.0 and social networking. Some of the items that will be explored during the workshop are blogs, virtual reference, and social bookmarking.

Hopefully someone out there will find it interesting/useful/etc.

Have a great day!