PBwiki

More in-house problems re this. Flash v. 9 required and I am shut off from install privileges. So can't view the tour or other videos in a work learning context. I have added my blog to the faves and found that process to be clunky. Works better in HTML as Wise Woman showed me. Will have a longer play another day.

technorati

I'm like - in. This will change my life!
(edit note) Well it did since I included the link in this post, which appeared to become a default format for all further posts. Deleting the link still left ghost formatting (underline) that could not be removed. Solution was to go back to the original post and delete the technorati link.

Week 15 on Library and web 2.0; A review or what Rick can do with his oar

Rick Anderson is Director of Resource Acquisition, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.
In his article Away from the “icebergs”, published online @ http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm, Anderson discusses, amongst other topics, the relevance of training for library clientele in a web 2.0 environment. In essence Anderson argues that resources spent training clients would be better used in making library resources more user-friendly. It’s the library that needs to be “fixed”, not the client. This gets my goat.

Anderson does not acknowledge that libraries are presently end users of products they do not themselves produce. Libraries mostly buy, lease or otherwise access products produced by others. This may change over time, but will not cease to be so in the near future. Hence the continuing pressure to educate library staff and clientele in the use of products that libraries make available to them.

Or to mirror Anderson’s simplistic style, libraries as organizations are better able to train people in the use of – for example - EBSCO products, than to rebuild and make transparent these products to users. Kind of obvious isn't it?

It is clear to me that libraries as customers are getting better at demanding more user friendly products and more vendor support. Consortiums were so overdue and are still at an early stage. Perhaps soon libraries will be organized enough to commission products. Then libraries will have more control over the nature of these products. Whilst working towards that end, libraries need to face the reality that training is central to their role.

Anderson also notes that web 2.0 and etc enables deeper and broader access to resources and an end to the requirement that users must always physically come to the library. These no-brainer observations are correct as a nod to developing trends.

Back to Flickr

Had a good play with flickr today and can see it's use as an image storing and sharing resource. Will empty my small hard disk of images and store them in my account. They take up too much space, mostly due to the ease of digital photography. Also because PC based programmes to work with them are so large. Having arty daughters and partner amplifies the issue.

My next image project will be to document the windows I have been building. An excuse to practice with Flickr and other blog tools.

Image Generators

Well I HAVE successfully played with one - but have no clues how to add it to my blogg. Have to have another look later.

This is the one I used: http://www.dylanmessaging.com/create/

And then I tried this one http://www.glassgiant.com/rocket/ which was to be rocket blasting off inscribed "Lovegod" - just way it looked in my dreams. Thwarted by WebMarshall.

Tried again, including the whole registration. "Unable to save data. Try again later. Glassgiant hates me. It's mutual. More firewall fun and games I reckon.

Wow! RSS's and Polls!

Easy peasy! Although going to "add a page element" was not an obvious step. Easy from there.

Noreen Keeps Fighting; Human Flagging

More metal plates required. Them possum's is devlish hard to keep down. (Power tools and wrecking bar not shown)