Just browsing ...

Photo of Young People's Browsing Room from New York Public Library's photostream.

I’ve really enjoyed this sightseeing trip. Was entertained by the video doing the comparison between the four browsers.

Then decided to do some exploring myself and did tours of Google Chrome and Firefox. I’ve downloaded both. Firefox was trouble-free. Encountered some problems with Google Chrome’s installation. Reports on each to follow:

Firefox

• The video tour highlighted the speed and security aspects of the browser. The private browsing, scam identifiers and “forget about this site” features were of note. I was intrigued by the “awesome bar” and the idea that it learns as you use it. The bookmarking tool is certainly easy to use and edit.
• I admit I was taken in by the add-ons mentioned in Fashion Your Firefox. Some sounded promising but weren’t quite what I’d expected. StumbleUpon and the Shutterbug options got my attention immediately. Of course, News Junkie is a prerequisite for me, particularly its Read It Later. Lost plenty of time playing in the Decorator area. Appreciated the Digital Pack Rat especially the Thumbstrips.

Google Chrome

Features that I prized:

• Like the Google search page, Google Chrome’s interface is clutter- free. The arrangement of the toolbar and address bar allow for so much room to view a web page itself and not the browser.
• Chrome’s double duty all in one address bar & search box was an adjustment that I admit took a little getting used to. I suppose I don’t mind the set up of the separate ones as per Firefox.
• Liked the options to “Pick a theme” by artists or google. What to choose - Wes Craven, Mulberry, Anna Sui or Hedgehog in the fog?
• Adored the huge list of shortcut keys although I don’t think my memory is quite up to the job to retain even half of them.
  

Photo from State Library of Queensland's photostream

Which is best? At this stage I’m just happy to find the content I’m after, however the browser looks and operates. I have a leaning towards Firefox for all its customization options, but then again I am in love with the layout of Chrome - there are still so many other browsers I haven't tried yet. Haven’t quite made up my mind. So many goodies to choose from the window. Still browsing, thanks for asking though.

Casting a wide net

Photo from State Library and Archives of Florida's photostream.

On this latest fishing expedition I have stopped off at a few hot spots to see where the fish are biting. I have even jumped into several "streams" in the hope of catching some interesting cod casts, sorry I mean podcasts.

I am by no means a podcast aficionado but am very familiar with the attributes that make it so enticing. The beauty of being able to access what you want anywhere, anytime and listen to it whenever, wherever you please is a revelation. Convenience and the attraction of being able take podcasts with you has many hooked fish in the Internet Ocean. It means that there is now no excuse for letting the big one get away - there's always a podcast archive.

Photo from Oregon State University Archives' photostream

Photo from State Library of NSW photostream

My favourite fishing (podcasting) spots include ones that :

• enlighten me: I love to catch topical and not so typical podcasts on news & current affairs. I prefer to visit podcasts with a slightly different angle or more in depth approach. Enjoy most of ABC's podcasts. A particular favourite is ForaRadio. Also like throwing a line in to catch some of ABC's sport podcasts.
• educate me: Whether it's learning a language or a song, podcasts can be a rewarding expedition on the education freeway. I've found podcasts to take me to lectures and festivals. I didn't have to worry about finding a good seat or deal with noisy distractions. I could pause at any time. I spied a lot of libraries on this journey making use of podcasts for sharing author talks, book reviews and exhibitions. Also caught sight of some using it for training and tours.
• entertain me: Podcasts can brighten and lighten the day allowing me to catch up on those shows that I've missed out and to listen to them at my own leisure. So, if someone tells me again about the crazy thing on the Hamish and Andy show I can go to their podcasts to hear it myself. Music & podcasting go hand in hand and give you a front row ticket. I am a fan of NPR Music with its music interviews and performances. For instance, I could listen to a two-hour Tom Waits concert that I could never get to. Again ABC offers so much, for example, Triple J's Richard Kingsmill's podcast.
  
  On this trip there were a variety of professional broadcast podcasts and unique amateur (& bizarre) offerings that were worth paying a visit. For example, askaninja with its comic take on a ninja handbook. By the way, on a little side trip I snagged plenty of fishing podcasts - threw most of them back though - bit dry for my taste. Anyway, there are plenty of other podcasts in the sea. This is a stream I think that will never be fished out.

IN THE MIX?

Photo of tram & taxi crash in Pitt St. from State Library of New South Wales photostream.

#2 Mashup mousetrap mishap?

I feel as though I've been trapped too long looking at the huge range of websites using mashups. It was an enlightening exit to take , but I felt I had better escape and get back to blog business. Some of my discoveries include:

• Twitter seems to dominate this path. Mashups to help Twitter users (twitters? twitterers? tweeters? twits??) with their tweets abound. Everything from how to convert tweets to SMS shorthand or to translate them to another language. Twitterfall highlights the latest tweet trends & allows searches on what those in your suburb are tweeting about.
  
  
• Photos also get a lot of attention on the mashup motorway. I saw a lot of creative sites making use of them. I particularly liked gimme shiny where the mashing up of the photography & art communities (using Flickr & deviantART along with the bookmarking of FFFFound ) made for fascinating viewing. Pixelpipe showed another way for photos & videos to be shared on social networking and photo websites.
  
  
• Maps certainly direct the action on a lot of sites. I saw many inventive examples of Google Maps use - from checking on real estate in the area to the nearest coffee shops. There were sites combining it with recommendations and reminiscences of town hot spots. Another interesting combination was spot story where maps, photos and experiences of favourite "spots" are shared. (Perhaps this is an avenue for libraries to encourage client participation with their favourite books or spots where they like to read or spots in the library or other local spots that they like.)
  
  
  
• Books do have some mashed up locations. Amazon.com appears to feature heavily in these collaborations. Reading radar is a simple combination of it with the New York Times bestseller list. zoomii books is another example where a mashup is used to bring the experience of browsing bookstore shelves to life while shopping online.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

It's all about working together!

Photo from The Library of Congress photostream

#1 Applying myself 2 test drive part b

Spent a bit of time today exploring the applications & tools available online. Sites worth noting on my trip included:

• Google docs & Zoho - not only great spots to store and get at your documents anywhere anytime but also a simple way of sharing and collaborating on documents. (Great for procedures manuals)
  
  
• SlideShare - a visual vista for sharing a range of material with colleagues or clients. I see it as a great training tool for example. Really enjoyed this and lingered here for while taking in a lot of sites (sic) including - Pivot points for change; Libraries and collaboration with local government; & Library card sign up month.



• Also pulled into Myplick to look at the plicks & plickers on show. Another fantastic venue for presentations and to engage - Social networking & its impact on libraries caught my eye.
  


• A quick visit to Zamzar was worth it. What an easy way to convert files without needing to download the software! I went to town converting several files to PDF.
  
  
• Initially I though Dimdim and Yugma were new options on a takeaway menu. But I soon discovered they were sites that made conferring on the web oh so easy. Great places to use for meetings or even brainstorming to get all those discussions down online, especially if your shorthand is iffy. You can host online training sessions or meetings for up to 20 people on your PC and never have to worry about providing morning tea for them.
  

All of these sites appealed to me as great attractions on my tour for a number of reasons. They were all easy to navigate - I never got lost and had little need to call on any help maps. Everything was on hand where I didn't have the extra baggage of installing software. Their free admission was definite plus and certainly opens them up for accessibility in a library environment.

Tag …you’re it!

Finally ... I’m at the tag end of a trip to cloud nine!

Photo found at lincolnose's photostream

► On the journey I observed many libraries making “delicious” use of social bookmarking. I encountered stacks of sites that took advantage of Del.icio.us. This use enhanced access to online information by presenting links to authoritative & well-organised subject guides. The AskNow site was an interesting example of providing public pathways through the Web world.

Surely Del.icio.us social bookmarking has great potential as a research tool for staff. It provides a central point for staff to refer to and could include links to info on subjects that students in the local area are studying. Del.icio.us is easy to use and different staff can contribute to the bookmarks.

On a personal level, its attractions include its portability & customising features. For this blog I created my own Del.icio.us account. Being able to share and make use of the bookmarks of others has great appeal too.

► The major thing I learned on this trip was the importance of tagging and certainly the tour of Technorati demonstrated this. Tagging can be crucial in reaching your audience. One thing I noticed about tagging was how the use of plain language was often vital in improving access and drawing people in.

I also saw the appeal of tag clouds on this journey. The visual nature of them must make them attractive across the board. Often they seem to be living entities and not static pages.

► LibraryThing also demonstrated the importance of tagging. I paid several enjoyable visits to libraries that use it. Some were almost online book clubs. The beauty of Library thing is the encouragement of participation and connection to others online. Also, it has abilities as a kind of reader’s advisory tool. For example, recommended reading or RSS feeds for newly added titles. Book reviews and ratings add to the collaborative potential of this site in a library environment. I especially loved the Zeitgeist links to “Authors who librarything”, “Prolific reviewers” & “Top taggers”.

So ... in the last few weeks on my road trip I discovered that it’s not so bad to be tagged as having your head in the clouds. In fact,you can still be “social” and share with other folks(onomies).

Look .... it's a feeding frenzy!

Finnish cane farmers in Tully catching up with the latest news in 1923. (Photo found on SLQ's photostream).

Wow! What a trip! I know sometimes it's hard to get a good feed on the road, but this jaunt provided me with plenty of indulgences. So far, this has been the "best" on the 2.0 highway. I know what you're saying I bet she says that to all the boys (blogs).

It's time for me to fess up. My name is Tammy and I am a ... (gulp) ... news junkie. I am devoted to following the news, love having the latest information and hate being out of the loop. So the idea of feeds appeals to me. I am lucky that keeping up to date with the news does assist me greatly in my job on the reference desk. Anyway, that's my excuse for the addiction.

Whilst I have ventured on the "Feeds Freeway" before, this was my first opportunity to inspect it so thoroughly. I have been roaming for hours now and have finally pulled the car up for a bit of a "driver reviver".

I have been treating myself to sites that provide feeds on my pet subjects including "typical" news, plus news on the offbeat, entertainment and public libraries. Though, I did venture off the beaten path and saw all sorts of fascinating feeds and more than a few disturbing ones. For the latter I think it's best to leave it at "what happens on the road stays on the road".

After a bit of touring I pulled into Bloglines and set up my account. It was a breeze - the road was smooth and so easy to navigate on. Initially, I let it set the menu by going with several choices from the "Quick Picks" and "most popular subscriptions" suggestions - including Libraries, News, and Books.

There was some branching off to find some nourishment elsewhere. In the end, I chose more than ten feeds. Included were: OPAL training , SLQ news, Crikey, A pair of raggedclaws, and At the movies.

On the trip, I saw a lot of libraries are using RSS feeds. Many academic libraries are using it for highlighting the latest items added to collection. I spent a lot of time looking at public libraries use of it and can see the benefits of it for marketing events and services and essentially "cutting to the chase" of snappy links to relevant information.

I certainly see myself making use my Bloglines account. For me, it's the convenience of having news on my pet subjects put into one location. The added beauty is the fact I can customise it to my personal preferences.

I think I will make good use of this and go to the "feedbag" personally and professionally. I discovered it is a speedy way of keeping in touch with the latest to do with my profession from literature to technology. Now, mind you I am not going to totally abandon my actual ABC news readers and my daily newspapers, but I am certainly heading off in a new news direction.

Just paying a (an anti) social visit...?

Hmmm ...the social network neighbourhood is not a place that I would normally stopover personally.

Use of it by some of my family has made me well acquainted with its attractions. My nieces are sociable beings in both the real world and the online community. Others have sprouted its virtues for keeping up with the friends (new and old) and I know more than a few people who use it to keep up with exes! At this point I'd rather visit occasionally. Letting it all hang out is not for me.

Nevertheless, in the past fortnight in my sojourn to libraries' use of the social networking facilities, I can see some advantages. Seeing the virtual village is expanding, libraries can benefit from not only having a presence in this online world but actively reaching out to its members.

On the road, I stopped by many social network forays made by public libraries and discovered some interesting bridges and intersections. The use of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to promote events and services to entice, encourage and excite like an online grapevine was fascinating. I especially like Twitter's short but sweet tweets.

Seeing libraries being hospitable hosts using social networking to provide videoposts and podcasts as a kinda online tour of their services was great fun. I witnessed other interesting uses. I loved the online book clubs in this environment where like-minded and opinionated alike could express and exchange. Also did some "drive bys" of other special interest networking, for example, genealogists and crafters. I found lots of libraries creating great teen-directed networks.

What caught my eye were some readers' advisory venues on these sites. Often this is an overlooked aspect of library services and I see this being a potentially great element to use.

I accept that in this ever expanding online 24/7 world, libraries should be making virtual connections. Facebook (and the like) has its place but I feel the value of face to face should be upheld. Our energies should be directed at making and keeping "friends", "fans", "followers" in the real world and the virtual world.