Revisiting my goals

Revisiting the goals I set in Week 2. Did I reach them?

Goals
To learn about emerging library technologies
Well I definitely know more than I did before, in some cases more than I needed or wanted to know.

To evaluate these technologies and assess their potential for adoption
I can definitely see a use for some of the technologies, others I'm less sure about, some I just think are irrelevant - I think the Library as a whole needs to seriously evaluate these technologies and the role, if any, they should fulfill in the provision of our services.

To adopt some of these new technologies to resolve current workplace need
Have already begun using RSS feeds and del.icio.us to help management information, will possibly adopt other technologies as the need arises.

To help mentor others
I found that many of my colleagues did not need the assistance of a mentor.

As I thought at the beginning of this programme regularly finding time to complete the tasks was the greatest difficulty of all.

Now at the end of the programme, my overriding thought is that all of these technologies need to be rigorously evaluated and pedagogically validated before they join our current methods of service delivery.

In my eyes it is preferable that we use these technologies to find creative solutions for existing service delivery needs rather than the "lackey band" situation that causes us to deliver the same service using so many different technologies that staff and other resources are stretched to breaking point and we provide no service well. Just because a technology exists and other libraries have chosen to investigate its use, does not necessarily mean that it is valid or that we have to use it too.

Retroland

While in Learning 2.1 I had a quick look at Retroland and now I'm definitely feeling my age.

However, it did give me some ammunition to use in a disagreement about this horror product of the '60's and '70's - Fresca:



Big Brother remembered it as lemon flavoured but I was sure that it was the most awful version of synthetic artificially sweetened grapefruit drink that I have ever ingested. It used to be sold as a diet drink along with the equally awful tasting Tab, so I was amused to read this description in Retroland:

"In Spanish, the word "fresca" means fresh, and that's something the Coca-Cola company sought to bring to diet-conscious soft drink consumers in the early 60s. The grapefruit-flavored beverage catered to more 'discriminating' palates, and has grown a cult following over the years. While its popularity has grown slightly since its introduction, it remains a cult beverage with followers that grew up with the drink. It joins the ranks of Tab, another specialty diet soda that didn't get mass market appeal."

It was apparently the beverage of choice of US President Lyndon B Johnson - go figure.

Learning about Learning 2.1

The learning 2.1 activity that I chose to look at was Thing 45: Go With the Flow which is all about mind maps and flowcharts - I looked at two different web-based tools for creating this type of graphic: bubbl.us and Gliffy.

bubbl.us is an easy to use tool for creating mind maps - easy that is until you try to export or embed the image you have created, their help is non-existent! as you can see from my mind map I had lots of ideas about how this technology could be used in libraries, including brainstorming, project management, promotional literature and information literacy. I could see a direct tie in with the information road maps that were discussed at the Sharecase.



Gliffy is similar to bubbl.us but also has this nifty floor plan creator.

Sharing slideshare.net

Web 2.0, Hip or Hype - A Library Perspective

An intelligent and reasoned look at what libraries can do to harness the potential of the collective intelligence.

SlideShare Link

Most useful to libraries ... hmmm...

The two most useful tools that I have looked at so far are RSS feeds and del.icio.us.

I can see that these tools could be effectively used to aid information management by both library staff and library patrons - right here, right now.

Another advantage in my eyes is that they don't rely on critical mass and the obsessive need to have "friends".

Second Life = Sierra circa 1980

This is another new technology that I just don't get.

In the beginning I thought okay a way of combining gaming technology with educational purpose this could interest me. Then I made an avatar and checked out Lindenworld - the cynic in me very quickly realised that the main purpose of Second Life is to make money (lots of money) for Linden laboratories.

What I discovered is that for me it offered little in the way of inducement to learn. There are a lot of hoops to jump through to achieve nothing that could not already be achieved using existing library technology such as web pages, phone or IM, videoconferencing or wikis.

This combined with graphics that were so clunky they reminded me very strongly of the old Sierra PC games of the early 1980's such as King's Quest and Mystery House - it is so slow. Unlike Tibia or WoW you don't even get to kill anything but there is every chance that my avatar will commit suicide due to frustration.

The final insult to injury was having my screen filled with obscene messages and my avatar "frozen" by some other user.

Wittering on twitter

After posting on Twitter for a week I'm not sure I ever want to use it again.

However, I can see a possible use for it as a way of disseminating (perhaps embedded in our web page?) info about library services or upcoming events such as tours and classes. This would be especially useful at the beginning of semester or to provide rapid information but would require constant attention and appropriate content.

Socially, I don't need constant snapshots of other peoples lives in 140 characters or less and lets hope it doesn't have this effect.