Exercise #23

When I first heard about this Web 2.0 programme I very much doubted my ability to do it. However as we were guided through I found my confidence increasing with the completion of each exercise. A few times I needed help from friends at work to clarify something I didn't understand. I found that sometimes there is a simpler way of doing things rather than my roundabout way. My general computer skills have improved too, lots of copying and pasting.
What about all the new terminology! I had never heard of some of this stuff. Publishing a post?? Embedding a video??
The internet is so vast and we have touched only a tiny part of it. It's valuable to know about these sites, although I won't be using most of them again. It was fun using the creative sites and posting pictures, slideshows etc to my blog. I enjoyed Project Gutenberg, Library Thing and the Web 2.0 finalists where I found Mangolanguages. I didn't like RSS feeds or Rollyo.

Exercise #22

I think it would be a good idea for a library to build a presence on a social networking site but it would need to serve a useful purpose.
The library's Facebook or Myspace page should be an extension of the library website with links to relevant items such as the catalogue, booklists, research tools, calendar of events etc.
It would be important to encourage feedback from patrons, asking for suggestions on what books they'd like the library to order, what programmes they'd like to see in the library, asking their opinions and giving them a voice in the future of their library.

Exercise #21

I explored these three social networking sites with the help of my kids, because I didn't want to register on them myself. They all agree that Facebook is the best one, followed by Bebo, although to me the pages looked too busy and cluttered with all their added-on enhancements. I liked Bebo, it seemed simpler to navigate. However Bebo is smaller and quite local, whereas Facebook is worldwide and is the site that most people are on. Occasionally I do check up on my kids overseas on Facebook. Myspace is the site that all the bands have their page on, so is popular with music lovers who want to send messages to their favourite artists, check out upcoming gigs etc.
I thought Rotorua Public Library's page on Bebo was great, very colourful and vibrant. I want to checkout the library next time I'm there. Their young patrons had left nice comments too.

Exercise #20

The title I searched for on the eBook site is Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Librivox had two entries, one was a work still in progress. You can download the whole book on to your computer, subscribe in iTunes, or listen to a podcast. There is also a link to the Gutenberg e-text. The same title on Project Gutenberg had five entries, three in English, one French and one Dutch, in print ready to read online for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You can also download for free. Google Book Search was excellent, yielding umpteen entries in different languages, and at different levels. Most had pictures of the cover, book details, and links to bookshops and libraries. The first entry had the full readable text, while others had only snippets. Reading my books online is not for me, but as a try-before-you-buy option, these sites would be very useful.

Exercise #19

Of the podcast directories listed I found Podnova and PodcastAlley reasonably easy to search. Under Podnova I found some American library vidcasts of lectures to the library community. Under PodcastAlley I found History according to Bob, which tells fascinating stories of history's people, places and cultures. I pulled this feed to my Bloglines account.
I also searched under iTunes for comedy and found a vidcast by John Cleese, but I couldn't get it across to my Bloglines.
Another interesting exercise, which took a lot of time, and was a bit frustrating. I don't think I will use this much.

Exercise #18

This was the first time I had actually signed in to Youtube myself. Previously I had watched video clips that my kids wanted me to look at. What a huge range of videos, but I'm not sure why, in the case of Morecambe and Wise anyway, there are so many clips of the same scene. I had trouble embedding my video until a very kind colleague showed me how to do it. It's really quite simple once you know what you're doing. The instructions we were given are confusing and put me on the wrong track.I was trying to do it a more complicated way which wasn't working.
I think the library videos are a bit of fun which might appeal to those who are already library users, but as a marketing tool they're "too cheesy", according to my 18 year old.