The Last Post

Well - made it at last!
I would agree that experience has enhanced my Web 2.0 skills, (which were pretty non-existant), and has provided me with some useful information and knowledge to help provide better service to our customers. If anyone ever asks.
However, it has been a major effort to complete the programme (especially as it has all been done at home). Not really designed for part-time people and I feel sorry for those that only work 1 day a week but who were also expected to participate. A shorter version might have been more appropriate.
But on the whole, the experience has been a rewarding one!

E-books

Took a look at Project Gutenburg at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
Unbelievable that 452 people downloaded the Illustrated History of Furniture by Frederick Litchfield yesterday. Interesting to see that there are a lot of textbooks & general reference books available here. Not just popular fiction. And such a range of languages available - never heard of Friulano before, but there are 4 books available in this lingo.

Week 9 - Podcasts

Podcast, vodcast - what next!
Well, believe it or not there is a Library podcast which I found on http://podcast.com called The Library Channel.

"The Library Channel - Podcasts. Join our staff, students, and friends in lectures, roundtable discussions, announcements and tips in the latest trends for research libraries. Take an audio tour of one of our libraries, subscribe to the latest news, or watch video presentations. The Library Channel is your source for all things library."

Wow. Listened to one about old Arizona which was quite interesting.

You Tube - Funny Cats

You Tube - well you could spend a long time watching all these videos, some are really trashy, but others are really good.
Thought this video was quite funny, especially with the added sound effects.

(Week 8) Discovering Web 2.0 tools

As I have an interest in genealogy, I took a look at the first prize winner - My Heritage at . a site that originates in Israel of all places. Looks like quite a good family history site, it allows upload of your family photos & you can creat a web page as well. One interesting feature is the application of advanced face recognition technology to personal photos and family history; and it's free! It also has the usual message boards & family tree building software to download. Easy to navigate around & nice layout. Can see why it won an award

Zoho

What a neat tool Zoho is. Can see great possibilities here for presentations etc. I often wondered how people could put together such complicated slideshows - now we know!

Week 7: Social Networking

Social networking - another great little video clip to describe how it works.
Signed up to Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/) & found Ed on holiday in the USA. Hopefully he will be my friend. Would like to hear about his adventures since he left us. Facebook is a bit Americanised I think, still, I can see it does have great potential for making contact with old friends etc.
Bebo (http://www.bebo.com/) - a bit teeny-bopper 4 me - I had trouble reading some of the messages, (showing my age I think) and there is obviously no censoring of language required! Can see the attraction for the younger set.
Hennepin County Library http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minnetonka-MN/Hennepin-County-Library/ - nice to see a message from Manukau Libraries on the wall. Guess this is an alternative way of getting noticed by the Facebook users.