I can see the appeals of wikis. Really. In theory, they offer an easy way to communicate with other people, whether they're organizing an event or simply discussing a common interest.
Instead of clogging up one's e-mail inbox with constantly changing plans, a wiki allows a group of people to change plans easily by having a common area where they can edit details about what needs to be done, where they will meet, or a plethora of other things.
The largest collection of wikis on the Internet to date is Wikipedia, a site that most- if not all- Internet users have heard of. Like all wikis, it allows the general public to edit information on subjects with a simple click. However, this often leads to inaccurate information, so it's not usually considered a reliable source for reference by most schools.
As you can no doubt tell, I'm not the biggest fan of wikis (outside of Wikipedia, of course). I think their concept is all right, but when combined with practicality, most people- myself included- would rather use email, phone, or a more common and accessible channel.
To be honest, I'm not really sure how libraries can use wikis outside of staff organization. However, I may be a little biased, considering my contempt toward them.
This is not to sasy that libraries shouldn't use wikis. On the contrary, I think they should use any and every opportunity they have to improve communication on a staff/staff basis or staff/patron basis.
To learn more about wikis, or if my explanation was unclear, this short video should help you understand a little bit more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
(It's not Rick Astley, I swear)
Friday, October 21, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
RSS? SOS!
I consider myself to be fairly technologically advanced. I mean, I grew up around computers, learning about them as early as first or second grade. However, until I started this class, I had no idea what RSS even stood for, never mind its purpose in Web 2.0.
RSS, or Rich Site Summary, is a feature on blogs and news Websites that enable the user to follow, or 'subscribe' to a blog or news feed that they find particularly interesting.
There are two basic steps that a user needs to complete before they can subscribe to an RSS feed. First, they must sign up for an RSS reader, which acts as a commonplace for the feeds to gather, where the user can easily check for updates.
Second, the user needs to find blogs and news sites to which they'd like to subscribe, and click on a small icon that signals that the blog can be followed via RSS. Once they've subscribed, when a blog or news site adds a new post, they will receive an email in their RSS reader, usually with a link to the new post.
I do like the concept of RSS feeds. I find them to be easy to use and understand, as well as very convenient to navigate through recently updated blogs.
Libraries often take advantage of RSS feeds in a couple of different ways. They may have RSS on their own blog, or they might find news feeds pertinent to a library setting and subscribe, posting interesting articles on their own website for patrons to look over.
Now that I know what RSS feeds actually are, I think I'll be using them a lot more in the near future.
RSS, or Rich Site Summary, is a feature on blogs and news Websites that enable the user to follow, or 'subscribe' to a blog or news feed that they find particularly interesting.
There are two basic steps that a user needs to complete before they can subscribe to an RSS feed. First, they must sign up for an RSS reader, which acts as a commonplace for the feeds to gather, where the user can easily check for updates.
Second, the user needs to find blogs and news sites to which they'd like to subscribe, and click on a small icon that signals that the blog can be followed via RSS. Once they've subscribed, when a blog or news site adds a new post, they will receive an email in their RSS reader, usually with a link to the new post.
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| RSS icon |
I do like the concept of RSS feeds. I find them to be easy to use and understand, as well as very convenient to navigate through recently updated blogs.
Libraries often take advantage of RSS feeds in a couple of different ways. They may have RSS on their own blog, or they might find news feeds pertinent to a library setting and subscribe, posting interesting articles on their own website for patrons to look over.
Now that I know what RSS feeds actually are, I think I'll be using them a lot more in the near future.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Not a Blogging Expert
I don't normally blog.
Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of sharing ideas and thoughts with people on the Internet, and while I post short stories online, the task of sharing my own personal opinion evades me. However, this entry isn't supposed to be about my opinion, it's supposed to be about blogging facts, so to speak.
Blogging. It's an excellent way of throwing news into the world, sometimes by news corporations, but most of the time, a blogger is just a normal person, one who wants to be heard, who wouldn't normally be able to make their views known normally.
Libraries fall well within this category. Librarians and library staff struggle when it comes to promoting their services- to the point of frustration. It's not their fault- many people in this society just don't care what the libraries do, which makes advertising considerably more difficult. However, with the introduction of the blog, promotion has become astronomically easier. Librarians can now voice their opinions about current events where patrons will see it, on a free website, where they can link to and from other websites.
Public libraries definitely have the potential to benefit from this aspect of Web 2.0, more so than most other libraries. While many school libraries have students coming in regularly, public libraries rely on the general populace, parents that bring in their children, students looking for a quiet place to study, or anyone that's looking for a good book, or Internet service.
Libraries have been waiting for a free mode of information transportation to become available, and that mode is finally here. Nobody will benefit more from a blog than a library.
Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of sharing ideas and thoughts with people on the Internet, and while I post short stories online, the task of sharing my own personal opinion evades me. However, this entry isn't supposed to be about my opinion, it's supposed to be about blogging facts, so to speak.
Blogging. It's an excellent way of throwing news into the world, sometimes by news corporations, but most of the time, a blogger is just a normal person, one who wants to be heard, who wouldn't normally be able to make their views known normally.
Libraries fall well within this category. Librarians and library staff struggle when it comes to promoting their services- to the point of frustration. It's not their fault- many people in this society just don't care what the libraries do, which makes advertising considerably more difficult. However, with the introduction of the blog, promotion has become astronomically easier. Librarians can now voice their opinions about current events where patrons will see it, on a free website, where they can link to and from other websites.
Public libraries definitely have the potential to benefit from this aspect of Web 2.0, more so than most other libraries. While many school libraries have students coming in regularly, public libraries rely on the general populace, parents that bring in their children, students looking for a quiet place to study, or anyone that's looking for a good book, or Internet service.
Libraries have been waiting for a free mode of information transportation to become available, and that mode is finally here. Nobody will benefit more from a blog than a library.
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