Online Photo Sharing

Oops! I missed an assigned blog-post!

This issue - online photo sharing - is another 2.0 feature I've used before, but not to the extent that this assignment required. I have a Flicr account and I've posted several photos from family, friends and work on it. As someone who manages a consumer health information program, which frequently requires me to find photos from, say, a workshop I taught several months ago, to spice up a report or presentation, I've found Flickr helpful in keeping my photos organized. I'm disappointed that one can only create 3 sets without paying for "advanced Flickr" or whatever they call it. But, since I'm cheap, I'll manage with just the 3 sets, I guess.

I did enjoy importing my photos of family and friends on my Facebook profile - I'd never tried that before. Unfortunately, my amateurishness shows in the upside down photo of my baby grandniece. Still, it was fun! I only wish my photos were as cool as the ones Christie S. posted on her profile of the backstage scene at a Bruce Springsteen concert - I'm so jealous!!

Mashups, etc.

This was maybe the most difficult concept for my aging, non-techie brain to grasp, but I did my best despite my general mystification. (Perhaps the most difficult part of this week's assignments was the podcast, which made me a little sleepy - until, like the RCA dog, I perked up at my "master's voice," that being the voice of my boss, Scott Plutchak, who was actually going on about a couple of programs I run here in my library. Cool!)

Anyway, I can definitely see the potential for medical librarians in developing mashups targetting their clientele and their needs, even if it's doubtful I would ever be so inclined to develop one myself. It is good to know about the ones already out there, however, like HubMed and eTBLAST.

The "Award Winning Mashups" were interesting. I really liked the 24-Hour mashup, allowing one to find 24-hour grocery stored, drug stores, gas stations, etc. However, it appeared that mashup database was currently only populated with listings for services in LA and NYC. So, no way to find that haven for midnight munchies here in my hometown as of yet. I then checked out the "World News Map" with current headlines from all over the world, accessed by clicking on the global map. Since I'm a bit of a news junkie, and since I'm heading for a 10-day trip to Turkey this summer, I checked out the postings for Turkey. (Yes, I can find it on a map, believe it or not - it helps that the rollover links include the names of the countries too.) Postings are of the "News McNuggets" variety, although you can follow links to more in-depth articles. Not bad...

As for the Rollyo searchlog posts for librarian blogs and privacy, I seemed to gravitate to The Shifted Librarian posts, although some of them were a bit dated. I liked the post about the difference in perceptions of privacy among the Netgeneration folks and us old fogies - it is interesting that what the older generations may view as narcissism re: the cataloging of all manner of personal info online for all to see can be seen as simply a nod to the reality of life in the 21st century, what with cameras everywhere taping our movements, tracking data online related to our purchases or website visits, etc.

You Tube in the Library

Like a lot of folks in this online CE, I'm a little behind with assignments. I won't bore anyone of the maybe 2 people actually reading my posts with the reasons why, but I think it's safe to say I'll never make it as a blogger in real life. Anyway, I've gone through the reading and listening/watching exercises on podcasts and YouTube. I had trouble with slow service on Odeo, so I'm not sure if I ever actually signed on to that account. I did poke around on some of the other suggested sites, PodcastAlley and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library podcasts of medical history - really interesting. However, of the YouTube videos I saw, it was naturally the silly ones that I liked best - like this one:



I find I like the playful nature of YouTube. Even the YouTube videos describing Web 2.0 in this class are concerned about "keeping it light" which is an appropriate concern for library instruction as well. After all, the subject matter of most bibliographic instruction sessions can be downright deadly for most people. I do think that there is a place for serious instruction about the library using YouTube - as long as we don't get too serious! Maybe a short video on evaluating consumer health information online with Jon Stewart - it could happen!

Web Office Tools

It's funny - in this assignment for the MLA Web 2.0 CE, I've discovered, as I have in several other assignments, that I've been using 2.0 tools for a while now in my work and I just didn't realize it! I've been using Google Docs - at the initial prompting of my techie boss, Gabe Rios - to create collaborative documents for my consumer health information service advisory board as well as distance collaboration among colleagues on an article. What I was totally unaware of, however, was Zoho - that looks like an extremely cool resource!

Is this The Future of All Software Products? Danged if I'm willing to forecast about anything in the area of technology, although it does seem more efficient to use Google Docs and Calendars and what not than sending a gazillion emails back and forth. There are drawbacks I've run across, however, including the resistance of some collaborators to creating a Google account in order to access the documents or calendar or whatever. After all, we all have to register for so many online accounts these days, it's hard to even remember what we have out there. Maybe Zoho could make it so you don't have to register to use it...

BTW, if you're interested in seeing a Powerpoint presentation I made available on Google Docs to promote my consumer health service (which is an NLM MedlinePlus/Go Local partnership) you can view it here .

Social bookmarking

While I've had a del.icio.us account for a while now - well, okay at least a couple weeks - I hadn't really given much thought to the social aspects of it, or the fact that I could use it for "research" purposes beyond basic reference. I knew it could solve the problem of being able to access my carefully gathered bookmarks from places other than my work desktop, but I hadn't really taken a look at others' tagged links much or thought about my links being useful to others. Could it be useful for research? The CiteULike is interesting, although I didn't see many citations that were reviewed, and it didn't seem much worth it to bother with CiteULike, when other databases covered much more than what seemed available there. Still, I just finished writing an article with colleagues both local and across country. We set up a Google Docs page to draft the piece, and I can think of a couple instances in that experience where posting links to highly relevant journal articles and websites might have been very useful to each other in the process. And of course, del.icio.us can come in very handy in the day-to-day reference interaction. One of the sites I tagged in del.icio.us a while back was OR-Live: Online Surgical and Healthcare Video and Webcasts which was also tagged by over 260 others. I could definitely see creating a del.icio.us account for particular user communities, such as consumer health, public health, medical education, etc.

I'll have to revisit CiteULike again before I make up my mind about it.

Social Networking

1. How can social networking be used by MLA to connect members?
   This has been a major focus of current MLA President Mark Funk. As a member of the MLANET Editorial Board, I should be thinking of creative ways to employ social networking on the site more than I confess I have. On the other hand, I have had a Facebook profile for some time now, and I include among my friends on that page a number of librarian colleagues scattered around the country. So, at this point I'm tempted to say that incorporating some kind of MLANET-centered social networking scheme might be redundant. But then again, perhaps I'm not being creative enough...
2. Should your library have a Facebook or MySpace page?
   I looked at the sample MySpace pages by Denver Public and the college library. There's always a danger of coming off like the kid's parents trying too hard to be hip. Still, those pages were well done, and were obviously created by folks a lot younger than me, in addition to being targeted at folks way younger than me. So, perhaps they will succeed in attracting kids to the library resources who may have otherwise been unaware of them.
3. Are there privacy concerns for individuals when using social networking sites?
   Obviously. I wouldn't go posting my home address or SS# or anything.
4. What did you like or not like about your experience with Facebook or MySpace?
   My experience with Facebook has been mostly positive. I actually created my profile at the urging of my library's administration, who wanted us to be available to library users here at the university through that means. At first, I put it off as a waste of time, but once I finally got around to it I quite enjoyed wasting time on Facebook! The applications I keep getting invited to add to my page aren't always welcome, but it's nice to know my friends are thinking of me all the same! I've also had some odd moments, such as the message from a young person who insisted she was related to me in some way - still not sure about that one.
   
   Interestingly, I hear that, now that us old folks are getting in on the Facebook act, the kids are abandoning it - go figure! ;-)

MLA Web 2.0 CE Questions for Week 2

"What's the difference between a blog and a wiki? What sort of things are better suited for a blog and better suited for a wiki?"

In my admittedly limited experience (so far), I would say that a blog focuses more on the blogger's knowledge and expertise in a particular area and the point is to share that knowledge and expertise with others who need it. Comments and even criticism of the blogger's posts are invited, but the focus is on the blogger's store of information. The wiki on the other hand draws on the strengths and knowledge of numerous people - "[multiple] heads are better than one" being the operative principle here.

Here at UAB Lister Hill Library, we've been using wikis to collaborate on projects for a while now - to the point where I've more than once remarked that if one more person asked me to post something on a wiki I was going to scream! There's no denying their potential usefulness and efficiency, however, especially when compared to serial emails and frustrating attempts at scheduling meetings. I even suggested starting a wiki for a group I work with in the local health department, which was looking at various local resources that provide information and referrals to health and social services for residents.

Blogs are less used, and that's probably as it should be. As I noted before, I would have to consider it carefully before I started a blog on any subject. For one thing, I'm not sure I have sufficient expertise in anything to warrant any extensive prattle on the subject, but I'm quite sure I don't have the time (except for assignments like this!) There are some very useful and fascinating blogs out there however. I do like some of the lefty political blogs like Sadly No and more locally Birmingham Blues (Suburban Housewife Gone Bad) and even some library blogs like Learn to Live and my boss, Scott Plutchak's blog, T. Scott. (I better mention that one, don't you think?)

Links to MLA Web 2.0 CE Features

Blogs - http://mlawikiclass.wetpaint.com/page/MLA+Web+2.0+101+Blogs

Wikis - http://mlawikiclass.wetpaint.com/page/MLA+Web+2.0+101+Wikis

RSS Feeds and the Library

Like most people, I have difficulty keeping up with "what's happening now" in my specific areas of interest within librarianship - i.e., consumer health and public health issues and trends. I get frustrated with the sheer amount of information I'm confronted with and would love to get a better handle on ferreting out the gold among the glitter. I'm sure RSS feeds would help, and I have established some RSS links to Bloglines before - although, I must admit, I don't check it every day. (I added the Bloglines alert in my computer's system tray, but it doesn't seem to work - it always says my "user ID is empty". Hmmmm....) One task in this assignment I'm having difficult with is subscribing to an RSS table of contents feed - every journal I've checked for which I'd really like this service either doesn't have an RSS feed or I can't make it work. Can I maybe get points for my advanced age in figuring these things out? ;-)

As far as how my library patrons might use the service, ideally they would include an RSS feed to the library's news (which we have, and few people subscribe to other than us librarians) and/or to a research blog for a specific field, e.g., public health created by the librarian. I'm just not convinced that it would be worth the trouble, to be completely honest.