#16 YouTube

I am not unfamiliar with YouTube as family members will often upload their videos to YouTube and this is better than e-mailing large files to everyone. However, I am not convinced that it can play a large part in our library community. I cannot see the advantage of uploading a video to YouTube over just placing it on the library website. This is what we have done with a marketing video of the library - and those interested in seeing it can go to the library's webpage rather than trying to find it on YouTube. I can see that there could be advantages of having the sessions of a conference, for example, placed on YouTube, where there is no permanent website.

I certainly enjoyed "Introducing the book" - it was very funny and relevant as the monk moves from scroll to book. Just like the problems we have all had moving from printed material to electronic material.

There is probably lots of similar material on YouTube but I would never have the time to find it!

#15 Podcasts

I've heard a lot about podcasting but never had the time to explore them, particularly as I don't have an mp3 player. I can see lots of useful applications for podcasting in the library environment - particularly public libraries where you could have podcasts of film reviews, book reviews, cooking shows, etc. They would be most useful on an mp3 player as you could listen to them whilst driving, sitting in the train, or even whilst preparing the dinner!

I added a few podcasts to my Google Reader - some film reviews and some walking tours of Melbourne from the ABC. The film reviews worked fine, but I could not get the walking tours to play. I 'googled' for some podcasts of book reviews and selected a couple - one from Curtin University and the other called 'Nancy Pearl book reviews'. Again I could not get the Curtin University podcast to play but had no trouble with the Nancy Pearl podcasts.

#14 Rollyo

Rollyo seems to be a pretty good tool by allowing searching across a number of web sites - how many times have I had to visit a number of different web sites repeating a search in order to find information. My only criticism is that the search function is very limited - by default, Rollyo searches for any of the words typed in the search box. To limit to a phrase it is necessary to add quotation marks around the words. But beyond that, there is no ability to add proximity limiters, Boulean searching, etc.

I also thought I would try using Rollyo as a substitute federated search engine. I added a number of different library catalogue URLs - such as the AIC library catalogue, the Victoria Police library catalogue, and the EMA library catalogue. But when I searched for a subject, it did not search the catalogues, only the parent website. What a disappointment!

#13 Wikis

I can see that wikis are a great way to get feedback and input on issues that affect the library community. For example, library policies could be put into a wiki and then patrons could be asked to add their comments on each policy before a final policy is endorsed. It would also be a great way for the library staff to edit library policies, procedures, etc. in the one place and staff could see what comments other staff have made.

I can also see a great use for it with getting feedback on what books the library should purchase. Library staff could post details of new books with links to reviews or other information about the book. And library patrons could also post suggested purchases.

But how do we go about creating a wiki? - do we need particular software? - I couldn't find any information on this in our instructions for this activity.

#12 Delicious

Due to our network constraints I was unable to load the application to our IE toolbar, so was unable to complete this task. I have done a bit of reading about Delicious and talked to some IT savvy younger people about it, but I am not sure that it has relevance to my library world. As I mainly search the internet for reports, agencies, etc. the relevance of being able to see how many other people have bookmarked a particular page or what tags they have given it seem irrelevant. I suppose if I was looking for more general information, such as 'how to sew', French recipes or accommodation in a particular country, then these attributes might be useful. But just because a website is visited many times doesn't necessarily mean that it is a good website!

I have also been thinking about the ability to add a whole number of tags to a bookmarked page, rather than just bookmark it to a particular folder. This has some use - but if I find a website that covers several topics, then I just bookmark it to several folders so that I can find it under whatever subject folders I have.

I have some other queries about its usefulness, but until I can see how it operates I will hold my comments. However, I can see its usefulness when travelling or using other people's computers in being able to access one's favourites.