Web 2.0 - Week Seven

RSS feeds - what a waste of time. :)

Not a huge fan of blogs at the best of times, sadly. There's only one that I follow regularly (not counting the CPL Web 2.0 blog and this one) - and thus consolidating them into one site does nothing for me. I'd much rather read them in the form that God and the blogger intended them to be read.

That said, it's good to know more about RSS and what it can do - it's a valuable service for bloggees more active than myself. And our job is all about sharing knowledge, isn't it?

Questions of the Week:

Were you able to successfully set up your RSS feed? -- Yup. Easy peasy.

If not, where did you run into problems? -- No problems.

If you were successful, does this make information-gathering more convenient for you? -- Nope. See above.

Web 2.0 - Week Six

Google Week!

Okay, so I'm fairly familiar with Google, but it's always nice to see how dynamic the services they offer are and how they're continuously updating existing services and offering new ones.

I'll talk quickly about how they've done each of the above.

One thing of which I was unaware until a colleague pointed it out was that they've incorporated "street view" (with which I 'm familiar from Google Earth) into Google Maps. Nice to be able to take a virtual walk down almost any street.

One other service that was new to me until a month or two ago was "Sketchup" - an architectural type program that allows for the design and layout of homes and buildings. It works very well for set design for theatre projects - giving an all angles view of sets and stage area.

What's to like about Google products? The ease and accessibility primarily. I don't use gmail, but I might eventually have to succumb....

What do I dislike? Not a heck of a lot. :) - except for a niggling concern that "big brother is watching me...." And yes, I'd recommend Google products to friends and colleagues. The price is right.

Web 2.0 - Week Five

Facebook week. I coulda slept through this one.

I'm an avid Facebook user and have been a fan of the Calgary Public Library's Facebook pages since forever.

This week's reflection question: For you, is Facebook useful or a time-waster?

Definitely useful. Helps me keep up with people I wouldn't have the chance to to so with otherwise. Also very helpful from a promotional perspective. With theatre productions, no better way to get the word out. Also, easily allows me to email people whose email addresses I don't have on hand.

And it's a great time-waster. :p

Web 2.0 - Week Four

Wikipedia Week in Web 2.0land

Question of the week: How easy or difficult was it to find articles that needed editing? Were the errors you found factual or grammar/spelling?

It was actually kinda tough finding an article that needed editing. Wikipedia has some good information. That said, I chose an article that I could add to, rather than simply correcting. I did correct a punctuation error and rephrased an awkward sentence. More exciting was adding a few more paragraphs to the article and adding a citation. I've never done this before and it was surprisingly easy.

Web 2.0 - Week Three

In response to this week's reflection question: "How comfortable are you using Best Websites, after this practice? Do you have any tips for using Best Websites on Delicious?"

So ... Delicious really isn't all that delicious, for the most part. Despite its cumbersome nature and impossibility to maintain, I do feel somewhat nostalgic for the old CPL Best Websites. Ah, well - progress is a cruel mistress at times.

Anyhow, as long as one can follow the direct links on Delicious, all is pretty well. I've used it very successfully to provide, for example, Citizenship information for new Canadians.

However, I have concerns with the opportunity to search, particularly if you do not realize the lack of authority that is involved when you do search. As a general rule, sadly, I'd rather search with Google.