Dark Side of the Web

It's easy to think that only the gullible can get caught out with internet scams and malicious software. Not long ago I accessed my daughter's bank details while she was overseas ( with her permission) so I wasn't surprised when I checked her emails (that was OK too) and found one asking her to confirm the details. I quickly realised it was on the nose but it was close.
Recently we have had a few people in our library using the PCs to answer emails announcing a huge lottery win overseas. I can be very difficult advising them that what looks too good to be true probably is especially if you have never heard of the lottery in question.

Mashups

I've come to the conclusion that just about everything is a mashup of one sort or another these days. It is obviously a rapidly growing area. When I look at the apps on my ipad a lot of them are map based mashups - Histprypin, LiveTraffic, Domain. I rather like the Arts on a Map mashup. It reminds me of a link we have on our library's CWA Country of Study website for Timor Leste. This is a Google Earth based site that maps all of the cultural sites and institutions. http://www.timorlesteculturemap.org/videos-images-audios-descriptions-timor-leste-culture-map/

Slideshows

Slideshare presentations from Public Library Services events are often a handy way to recall a particular speaker. It is also good to be able to the comments posted by others. Digital storytelling would definitely have local history possibilites in a public library for oral/visual history.

I had a go at doing a simple promotional slideshow of our library using Prezi. The non-linear format makes it more visually appealing than gool old Powerpoint however I'm not sure that all the 'zooming' wouldn't make some a little seasick.

So here it is:

http://prezi.com/pbylz9xzimnk/present/?auth_key=vqtz5qb&follow=_j4yuptim3ml&kw=present-pbylz9xzimnk&rc=ref-24681829

Nings

A Ning seems like a good way off pulling together various 2.0 type tools to serve a particular purpose. Mosman's Ning, for instance, does a brilliant job with their readers advisory type services.

I joined Library 2.0 and a couple of the groups therein but I must say I was a bit disappointed that there doesn't seem to be much action of late. I tried adding the Library2.0 badge to my blog but for the life of me I couldn't get it to happen. Did however manage to add a couple of other gadgets - some very calming animated goldfish and a calender. I shall revisit the badge at a later date.

Instant Communication

The chat features of a lot of the social networking tools are handy. For a lot of people I think that they chat at least as often, if not more than they post on their wall or comment. I can see applications in a library setting although we would need access from our staff PCs which we are currently not permitted. Perhaps it is a way of engaging with time poor clients who want information in real time but who don't come to the library or visit library websites.

Google Docs

Of course this has gone to a whole new level with Google Drive and cloud storage generally. I love some of the collaborative ideas on the Google Drive blog. I've downloaded the Google Drive app for my ipad. I haven't got my head around icloud yet. I was thinking of purchasing Pages but now I'm wondering if Google Docs will do the trick for my ipad word processing needs. Also when library clients don't have a memory stick we usually suggest that they email their documents to themselves but perhaps we should be encouraging them to use Google Drive. Yes, for collaborative group work Google Docs is ideal

Event Management

Doodle is great for those highly annoying situations when you are getting nowhere with a group of people trying to decide when to hold a meeting, dinner, weekend away, whatever. I also played with Anyvite and quite liked its snazzy invitations and the way you can keep track of RSVPs. We share our Outlook Calendars quite a bit at work and find it particularly useful when their are tasks to complete by more than one person.