Infobahn: reflections on the information superhighway

When all is said and done

chriswade — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:12:12 +0000

I have enjoyed the learning 2.0 program and even though it was hard sometimes to make time to research and write a blog post, I usually found it worthwhile in the end. Although I was already familiar with some of the web 2.0 tools, it has been great to discover the online office applications and the full functionality of Flickr – I am using it for my personal photos collection now.

There are opportunities for libraries to use these tools to engage new and existing audiences with their collections through geo-tagging images in Flickr, for example. Libraries that make strategic use of relevant online applications will continue to offer value to people, especially those that hold unique collection material. Libraries have always provided physical spaces for people to learn and create together – our challenge is to provide the same opportunities in the dynamic, virtual space.

More web 2.0 stuff

chriswade — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:40:17 +0000

I have had a look at some other web 2.0 applications and have found some really useful whereas others are not really of interest to me. Google Maps is terrific and I use it regularly for planning trips and I especially like the Bikely mashup for planing where to ride.

Yahoo pipes looks like a very powerful tool to enable customised rss feeds but I have found it tricky to learn the ropes. Fortunately, there are lots of other pipes that can be copied. I also like Last.fm as a starting point for music.

Overall, most of these tools are easy to use and provide effective ways of finding and sharing information, depending on your subject of interest. Nearly all of the websites that I have looked at in this blog have obtained a critical mass and operate in a decentralised way that doesn’t require that assistance of a librarian or other kind of mediator. However, some more scholarly domains and researchers will still benefit from the expertise of an information professional.

Youtube

chriswade — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:01:23 +0000

There is certainly lots of to explore on YouTube, just like you find on the rest of the web. The motto “Broadcast Yourself” says it all: plenty of people want to broadcast themselves and there is a massive watching audience for the broadest possible range of purposes. When I am doing research, I would be hesitant to tap in to the “wisdom of the crowds” on YouTube without answers to key questions about the identity and authority of the creator and the evidence for their point of view, etc.

There is a clear role for libraries in using video sharing websites to make historical footage in their collections available:

And to challenge us about the future of libraries and information seeking:

However, video sites like YouTube are certainly lots of fun but that is another matter!

Flickr

chriswade — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:21:17 +0000

I really like Flickr – it is one of those really intuitive websites (like delicious) that is both easy and pleasurable to use. Unlike a book, an image is much better suited to experiencing online and Flickr does offer all the tools you need to manage and share images online – my favourite is the geotagging feature because it provides a physical context in which to understand the picture. This picture of my place of work by macinate is intriguing:

Whiling away the hours...

It seems to me that there is significant scope for libraries to promote collections and engage with users using sites like Flickr. Picture Australia has been a successful initiative and the opportunity for users to contribute their own pictures to the online collection via Flickr is an exciting development.

Getting back to the geotagging, Powerhouse museum has made terrific use of this tool for its collection of historical photos. A really interesting user-generated initiative that I saw at a conference earlier in the year is the Flickr and Google Street View mashup which compares historical photos with current street view for the same location. It would be great to use online geospatial tools for library pictures collections as well.

Tagging

chriswade — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:39:26 +0000

I have been using delicious for a while and it works well as I have set up tags just for me. These sites are also useful to see what everyone else is looking at and the cloud view (where size reflects popularity) is so intuitive that it easily makes sense for everyone. Tags are great for empowering users to decide what they label they want to apply to a resource, using a word that makes sense for them. Our Library’s new search interface includes user generated tags (and reviews) which will be important to offer our online visitors who may like to add content when they visit our website.

I added my novels at home to LibraryThing in a flurry of activity some time ago. It was fun and new but I have not used the site for some time and now wonder about the utility of the experience that LibraryThing provides. I have enjoyed following up tags to find potentially interesting books held by others with similar collections to me but I actually find my recommendations to read elsewhere.

Tagging also results in different but similar words used to describe the same thing which can direclty affect thse success of searches for resources on a given topic. Looking at the tags for World War 2 on LibraryThing, there is work involved in grouping all the similar tags together and it makes the controlled vocabulary of the Subject Headings on the right hand side of the page more attractive (despite its glaring problems). I use a range of strategies when conducting research and while I now follow tags of interest on some websites, I would not rely only on this approach to find the information that I am seeking.