Delicious

I revisited Delicious today. The potential of the software is twofold. Firstly, you can tag your bookmarked websites to help refind information that might otherwise be lost as an untagged bookmark. That is to say, Delicious has personal application to your own workflow. Secondly, the social aspects of the software, allowing you to share information with your chosen network, could help other librarians find information more easily. One person searches the internet, but many benefit without having to reinvent the wheel. I didn't get the opportunity to experiment with the networking aspects of Delicious today but can appreciate its potential in a world that shares information. This could save a lot of time. One aspect of tagging that could trip users up is the use of free language rather than controlled language. Getting the corrent search terms would be a hit and miss affair. But nevertheless, Delicious adds another weapon to your arsenal when searching for information that you might otherwise miss. Here is my Delicious site.

Twitter

I have been pleased with Twitter. Last year during the Federal election, I held an election party through Twitter. Just me on the lounge in front of the TV election coverage with my mobile phone. I posted comments from the comfort of the chair to friends in interstate cities who were also watching election developments. Here is the link to my tweets.

The not-for-profit organisation that I work for also used Twitter in the NSW 2011 election to campaign for our clients issues. I wasn't involved, but watched with interest. I noticed that a number of high profile media people were following the comments placed on our Twitter election site.

Today, I just learned to add photos to Twitter through TwitPic. Much fun! But it appears that it can only be done from an internet enabled mobile or computer. Using my mobile phone (not good with the internet) to post pictures to Twitter is out of the question, however, I can place pictures on my Twitter site from my PC.

Reflections on the first lesson in Web 2.1

I have revisited this blog site to comment on my learning for this week. Tonights task was to find a new look for my blog. I managed this as well as updating my profile. All new information appears to be displayed with the exception of my photo. I may have to re-do the photo upload. The photo has me cleverly disguised in heavy winter clothes. I admit that as a baby boomer, I'm happy to chat and share, but have privacy concerns about sharing my real name and other details. Is this good practice or simply undue timidity? I will now try to have a look at some of the new gadgets that the tutorial mentioned. Bye for now.

Using Zoho

 I haven't found any opportunity to use Zoho applications at work or at home. All the applications that Zoho provides is available in MS Office or elsewhere. In the past year I haven't been tempted to use it. Though it could be useful if away from your desk while travelling. You could save work "in the cloud" that Zoho provides. ""  

Podcasts

I have recently started to use podcasts to learn french. I've noticed my facility with the language has started to improve a good bit. French is a language that you don't hear often on the streets of Sydney (where I live). Hearing the language is vital to developing confidence with speaking french. You can only go so far with learning a language by reading it. Listening to podcasts prepare you for real converstion when the time comes. There is no substitute for hearing the spoken word.

Mashups

Mashups could be a lot of fun. I've made a quick attempt at using one of the templates at Big Huge Labs website. See the jigsaw 'Australia - its full of real men' at the side.

Delicious in a sole-person library

I can see the potential for Delicious, the social network website organiser, for my work in the library. I could use Delicious to organise websites and make them searchable with tags. Most of my work involves searching on the internet for information. I work in a sole-person library, supporting 60 or so professional staff who have interests unrelated to the acquisition of information. My bookmarks would be of interest to nobody but me. At this stage, I can't see my bookmarks being useful to others at my workplace. That is, the social networking function of Delicious would be little use to me.