Evaluation of 23 Things

I have reached Thing 23 and time to look back at the Journey of Discovery of the last few months.

Most of the 23 Things were familiar to me, but there were a few pleasant surprises as well.

My favourite 3 Things were:
Thing 8: Online photo editing: Photoshop.com, Web2 Badges, Fototrix.com, Image Generator.com, Bighugelabs.com, Neoformix

Thing 10: Social bookmarking with Delicious, managing my own favourite websites and links and having access from any computer with internet access.

Thing 18: Library Thing, following the links to other members with the same book, book reviews and discussions, discovering more interesting books.

The funniest thing was Thing 12: Twitter. Very high entertainment value. The most interesting twitter message that I came across was from a colleague of mine trapped in the snow in Sweden. When I arrived in Sweden two days later, the roads were cleared and everything was business as usual. Just loved hearing all about the worst snow storm in 15 years hitting southern Sweden, from my Swedish friends. Pity I missed it, happy that my colleague has experienced it!

Which things I would love to see in my library? Library Blog, LibraryThing widget with latest additions and list of top titles, more photos on the library website.

It was great having the opportunity to experience the principles of object based learning. Object-based learning provides everyone with a clear set of goals and supporting documentation. People can then work at their own pace, deciding on the depth of research and application. Giving feedback about their learning experience in their webblog. A fun way of learning.

Most of the members of our team enjoyed this learning opportunity. It was encouraging receiving feedback and reactions on the various postings from my colleagues. There was also a lot of discussion about the content and applicability of the tools in our work environment. It will be a pity if we finish the course and then close the book on all the interesting application possibilities.

Any surprises during the 23 Things course?
Thing 20: Online music sharing via LastFM: LastFM is a paradise for music lovers. An opportunity to keep up to date with their favourite musicians and also to discover new musicians. Another feature that I have found very useful is a overview of concert dates and venues for every artist. An English site with the web address of the concert venues where one can reserve tickets. There are links to online suppliers where one can order CDs or DVDs.

A fantastic thing for personal use. The use of physical music material is declining, so this thing might be an alternative where libraries can provide information to the users as an online library service.

Thing 13: Online office applications. I was surprised at the amount of office applications available, for example Google Documents. With Google documents I have online access to various Office applications with the option to store the documents that I create online. Accessible with my Google e-mail account from any computer in the world. Also solving compatibility problems that are often experienced when trying to open received documents with the software on my computer.

What can be done to improve 23 Dingen?
I think a meeting of participants somewhere in the middle of the programme would improve communication and also serve as motivation to continue the course.

To conclude. 23 Things was a fun way of updating general knowledge about the 23 latest developments on the internet. Focussing on the possibilities for communication and marketing via social networks. Blogging, e-mailing, sharing photos, wiki's, linking/bookmarking, microblogging or Twittering, podcasting and videocasting to name just a few applications.

Looking forward to the promised Thing 24!

Discovering Hidden Talents

Towards the end of the journey of discovering 23 Things, we made a little detour. Discovering some hidden talents during a teambuilding workshop.

Mission:
Serving a three course Japanese meal.

Menu:
Starter: Sushi with tuna and cucumber, Panko-crusted salmon
Main course: Yaki soba chicken and vegetables, Tempura broccoli, Tiger shrimps and turkey Yakitori, Teppanyaki beef
Dessert: Lemongrass sorbet with pineapple and Japanese coconut poffertjes / fritters

Results:
Perfection! My compliments to the 14 aspiring chefs!

Future of Libraries

The role of the library has been changing for centuries. From keeper of information, to educator, to supporter of education, to supporter of culture and cultural activities. Adapting procedures to keep up to date to the community where it functions. Using available resources and technology.

Lots of speculation about the library of the future.

There will be high-tech libraries and virtual libraries, mainly in Europe, America and other developed countries.

But there will still be libraries with paper books, often outdated, no computers, no electricity, run by enthusiastic librarians hoping to contribute to the quality of life of people in their community.

Again illustrating how important it is to keep up to date with the requirements and needs of the community, library users and general public.

Making the essence of Library 2.0, namely “providing users with the opportunity to help with the development of new services and to maintain existing services” applicable to traditional and modern libraries.

Library 2.0 and the future of Libraries Thing 22

After studying the provided literature I have come to the conclusion that the essence of Library 2.0 is to provide users with the opportunity to help with the development of new services and to maintain existing services.

Library 2.0 can be seen as a strategy guide for finding information, gathering knowledge and creating content.

Interactive communication between librarians and library users being the main focus. It emphasises the importance of frequent evaluation of services, followed by updating and changing services as required. A constant flow of ideas between librarians and users in a virtual or physical environment.

Library committees have been around for many decades. Often set up by enthusiastic librarians and users. After time most of these committees loose their initial enthusiasm and force, due to various reasons. Lack of time to attend meetings being one of the main reasons.

With Library 2.0 the whole idea of library committees can be restyled. Social networking is the buzz activity of the moment! The ideal opportunity for libraries to get involved into the daily online life of users and the public.

Another suggestion is updating the library website and adding some of the Web 2.0 applications. A blog, RSS feeds, Library Thing widget, Wiki’s, Twitter, joining a social network like Facebook or Hyves linked to the Library website.

People spend hours on the internet. Even if they complain that they never have time, they somehow always find time to browse the internet. To check e-mail or the updates to their social networks (social/ music/ hobby/ career based). Library users are active on social networks. A library blog or network will be the ideal place where they can share their ideas and feedback about the library.

Wouter Gerritsma provided some interesting statistics. At the age of 21 the average Dutch youth has send and received 250 000 emails and text messages, and spend 3500 hours on the internet.

Why not use this opportunity to get in touch with the youth again? The library can manage this by becoming visible on social networks.

The new service point at the Heerbeeck College might be an ideal starting point.

There are so many excellent examples of how Library 2.0 works in practice. So many webinars and presentations available. With enthusiastic people on the Ning network providing examples, evaluating projects and sharing the enthusiasm about change.

Certainly worth concidering and giving it a try.

Aquabrowser My Discoveries and Social library catalogues Thing 21

I have always enjoyed viewing tag clouds. Following various links on the cloud and looking at results. Sometimes I am surprised by the tags allocated to an object.

Traditional catalogues are very structured and compiled following strict rules in order to maintain quality. I love this.

Then the internet appeared. So much information. Google was an immediate favourite with millions of internet users. No structured catalogues for retrieval, but information retrieval based on popularity and use. At first I was sceptical about the quality of results, but then I learned how to scan these results. I was pleased with the new way of information retrieval.

The concept of social sharing on the internet became more acceptable and used by billions. Again my thoughts went out to the quality of input and retrieval on these social sites. I am often sceptical about the tags offered for eventual retrieval of information.

I have been using WorldCat much longer than Aquabrowser Library. It has been interesting viewing the process of WorldCat becoming more sociable.

After visiting the social library catalogues and looking at the functionalities and the content I come to realize the potential. With social library catalogues library resources are becoming more visible. Providing the user with a single point of access to a wide range of retrieval possibilities.

Visibility leading to sharing! Information and resource sharing being one of my career and life goals.

Social library catalogues providing traditional bibliographic information, like title, author, publisher and year of publication enhanced by tags, ratings, reviews and comments provided by fellow users.

My Discoveries and My WorldCat allowing user-friendly access to national and international information sources.

Looking forward to future developments in information sharing via social library catalogues. Combining the skills of information technologists, information specialists and librarians and the requirements of library and information users.