Week 14 - Social networking...over and out

Yes the meaning of life is relationships and the explosion of social networking on the net is evidence of that. Social networking is in the human dna, and I see Facebook, MySpace etc as the humanisation of IT, creating cyber-space for human interaction, engagement and collaboration around a shared interest. This is a very popular, powerful but often trivial pursuit. And strangely cerebral and remote. In essence, it is not that far removed from a yarn around the campfire. But for mine, a whole lot less 'real'. The social networking of information has been the role of the physical library for centuries, but no longer. Like just about every other human network, the information network has been re-purposed on THE net. The totally virtual library is coming. The effect of the coming of THE net and the vastly empowered access to information it brings will ultimately be determined by its effect upon human relationships. And that may be "too much information". Over and out friends.

Week 13 - Lucky for some

With the finish line in sight, Im streaking ahead. I uploaded a document on Googledocs and shared it with my collaborators here at Library central. I think the idea is that it can be edited in real time by a number of collaborators thus saving the two and fro. It is interesting to see the number of helpful sites providing free applications to help connect people and their documents. The meaning of life is relationships. You heard it here first. And the net is an amazing expression of this desire to relate. End of story...nearly.

Week 12 - Mashups

Mashups creatively combine text and graphic - kind of digital scrapbooking. Mashup sites enable the import of graphics into templates which can overlay image with text so as to create interesting products like posters or badges. It is one expression of sharing information and repackaging it that is such a powerful aspect of the web. My mashup was created in Big huge labs on a poster template - it aims to encourage initiative and self esteem in the workplace.

Week 11 - Podcasts

Podcasts offer great convenience for the viewer or listener to access them at their leisure rather than at the programmed time of delivery. They also offer potential to be archived into a series for later reference. Meetings, seminars, talks, lectures etc. held in libraries may be podcast on the libraries website - enhancing the reach of the event far beyond its initial delivery. Often library communities are spead over great distances, so podcasts offer a very economical option for disseminating group information.

Week 10 - Questions and Answer boards

Have you ever considered that our library is part of the knowledge market? Absolutely. Libraries have lost their monopoly on information. Now Libraries are trying to join the new international democratic republic of information enabled by the net. Web forums - answer boards provide a space for the transfer of knowledge and for librarians to show their wares. Again Libraries and librarians are putting up their hand and saying 'hello' information professional here...but its gettin kind of desperate.

Week 8 - LibraryThang - it's a beautiful thang

Who needs librarians? the inner librarian has been unleashed. go forth and tag my children...

Week 7 - embedding video