Week 9 comments on Web 2.0

I read some of the articles on Web 2.0 - they all make valid points.
There are so many Web 2.0 things available, you really need to concentrate on what is useful. The widgets help to bring together things such as RSS feeds, videos, ipods etc. Google reader does this well I think. Flickr is terrific for pictures and it's great to have your own photos online. There are some really good functions for libraries and individuals here. I liked the Library 2 Ripples diagram by David Lee King - it has the traditional library at the centre, with changes and developments rippling outwards in concentric circles. The physical library is still there, with changes and growth incorporated. (Eventually the physical library may disappear, but not in the foreseeable future, at least for books). The challenge is to use Web 2 functions to make the library part of people's lives wherever they happen to be. Much of what we do is related to collections and we have to mesh this with Web 2.0 functions. Lifelong learning is one area which could use the Web 2.0 technology. I don't think Web 2.0 technology has taken over our lives yet, but it is an unparalleled organiser of information and a great communication tool.

Podcasts and videos

Looked at youtube.com - it has a Salute to Librarians at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgrQ4NNoq6M
I like the http://www.podcast.net/site - it has a wide range of music and is easy to download.
Science Hack at http://sciencehack.com/has short,informative videos on science topics.
The video downloads can be very frustrating because they often take so long to download and some of them stop and start while you watch. I notice this happens with the news videos on newspaper websites as well. with short videos on science topics like the environment, space, solar heating etc. SLV has podcasts of talks, which download without problems. I created RSS feeds to these.
Here's a podcast from http://sciencehack.com/ on massive solar storms:
http://sciencehack.com/videos/category/3

Zoho Writer

This is very convenient, having portable software via the web.
It means we can create and edit documents while on the desk and at Internet cafes etc. I am always recommending Google docs to the public when they want to edit their documents, so it's interesting to see Zoho.
Downloaded SLV logo from a word document and added a colour image from the web. This is good for creating visually appealing documents to augment the text.
I did have trouble sending the Zoho document to my Blog- it wouldn't accept the url or the blog name, but apparently others more technically knowledgeable than I am have had this problem too. It may be a temporary glitch.

Image generators galore

I've been playing around with some image generators. There is a huge range which let you put your own message on a photo or message board. Plenty of librarians who have cleared the emails can identify with the Nigerian scammer image generator at http://nigerian.scam.signgenerator.net/
There are George Bush ones and lots of historic ones and joke ones. You can send them as an e-card. They don't allow very long messages, so they are limited that way. I liked the Bob Dylan one with moving sheets, which has multiple (moving) message sheets, so you can have a longer message, which can go on and on. (Like Dylan himself!)