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Report on: "Communication & Collaboration: North Smithfield, RI Report by: Janice Schuster, Providence College |
| December 9, 2005 |
Megan Fox, Web and Electronic Resources Librarian - Special Projects Analyst for Administration and Planning, Simmons College.
Megan, who is an engaging and interesting speaker, gave a whirlwind overview of new technologies in libraries, i.e. new tools and how libraries are using/can use them. Listed below is a synopsis of the technologies Megan discussed.
She began with new handheld devices: computer notebooks; PDAs; Ebook readers; tablet PCs; smart phones; gaming devices; smart watches; IPODs, etc.
Library uses for handhelds:
Blogs or weblogs, which are searchable; updated automatically (no need to wait for a third-person or webmaster to update); are easy to organize and keep up-to-date. Blogs are good for current information because they are updated immediately after each posting.
RSS feeds, "really simple syndication" or "rich site summaries". The feeds are a wonderful way to organize and keep track of multiple blogs, without the need to look at each blog individually. One subscribes to the feed for a blog; then the RSS aggregator service indicates whenever there's a new post to the subscribed blog. The subscriber can see at a glance which blogs he or she needs to go to since there are new postings. This is one way to decrease the amount of e-mail one receives. (I subscribe to this via http://www.bloglines.com/) The Kansas City Public Library provides an RSS feed for every subject guide they produce; folks can keep track of when the guides are updated (I wonder if we could do this for our Find your way guides?)
Personalized RSS: "Library elf" is a free web resource which can be set up by the patron to manage all library accounts, from disparate libraries. A family could, for instance, add everyone's library accounts and keep track of notices, overdues, etc., all in one place.
Podcasting is syndicated web audio (not text) content. Some public libraries are checking ipods out to their patrons with e-books already downloaded. This technology also can be used to enhance course assignments, etc.
Wikis are collaborative web tools which differ from blogs in that wikis include a much larger group with full editing rights, even the right to edit what someone else has written. It is easily possible to revert to a previous version, though. UConn uses a library staff wiki for staff documents and files (example of student procedures manual).
Instant messaging/chat: Live, real-time communication. The millennial generation uses IM or text-messaging far more frequently than they use e-mail. Megan mentioned that librarians must let go of perfection in order to use IM; messages can't be too long; it isn't important to check for good grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.
Smartphone services: Example of Montclair State University's "Campus Connect": students can get registration information; details about upcoming events; can check if a classroom is available for use; can track the location of the campus shuttle bus, etc, all from their cell phones (must be a smartphone).
Social software: Folksonomie: how regular folks, not librarians, classify information. How to tag data so that "real" users can find it? Example of photo of new books: click on the photo to go to the catalog record for that book; also bookmarks that normally reside only on an individual's computer: could put on a remote web server in order to let others use what the person's done (including the changes he or she made to the name of the web site). For example, instead of "Welcome to the AAA site", the user might use "Travel directions." Those changes are useful to others.
Weblogs and Knowledge Management
Jessica Baumgart, Information Resources Specialist, Harvard University Office of News and Public Affairs was the next speaker. She concentrated on knowledge management, which she defined as "the storing and organization of data so it's available for future use." Blogs are ideally suited for knowledge management because of their currency, ease of use, and their ability to target desired subject areas. Blog features that lend themselves well to knowledge management include the ability to archive posts, navigational features (browse by date, etc.), and that they can include tagging. Drawbacks of blogs for km are their limited export options; the content contained within them is tied to certain proprietary software; and they might be a hard sell to others.
Jessica mentioned her blog: at http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/jkbaumga/2005 , which uses the Manila platform. In response to a question, she elaborated on what Megan Fox had said earlier about RSS feeds. She then answered several questions from the participants, including:
Jessica also mentioned an article in the Aug. 2005 issue The Scientist about blogs.
Blog on Baumgart's by Jessica Baumgart.
His presentaton: Blogs as information tools: Scientists and Science Libraries [Download Power Point Presentation]
Susan Herzog: "I am so sorry that the weather prevented me from joining you last week. Though it's a bit odd out of context, this PPT contains screenshots of the blogs I would have shown you. Please see below for a link to the presentation blog, which includes annotations and links to all these blogs, plus much more. I hope that you'll find it useful."
Blogging for Academic Librarians [Visit the Blog Presentation] and [Download Power Point Presentation]
Report by:
Janice Schuster
Reference Librarian
Providence College
Providence, RI
jschustr@providence.edu
Comments Welcome!
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