Connections

After reading the chapter "Machines and the web" from Weaving the web : the original design and ultimate destiny of the World Wide Web written by Tim Berners-Lee nearly a decade ago I can see that his goal of creating a semantic web is yet to be achieved.

In my opinion there are both beneficial and worrying aspects about the development of machines that can make sense of data found on the web. For students at school and university any information found on the web would need to be accurate and reliable if computers were so powerful that they could make connections between various databases to give meaningful results to complicated search queries.

Searching a semantic web would be beneficial to a user if the computer could filter out incorrect responses to a search via an ability to "understand" machine readable data. This could reduce the amount of time spent trawling through screens of inappropriate hits displayed for a particular search query. It would save me a lot of time at work if this option was available now!

Davy Jones' Locker

I do not have anything positive to say about Voyage. It is a thoroughly confusing interface to use and I was totally unsuccessful in loading any of my own feeds. All I managed to do was delete the existing RSS feed links at the bottom of the screen. As a visual display it is a total disaster. Floating text on a computer screen is a nightmare for anyone with less than perfect eyesight.

Turkey time

Searching on Kartoo can be fun. An image search on turkeys found photos of roaming, tom, heritage, range, fruitland, grownup, and numerous wild turkeys!



I also did some web searches on Kartoo. These searches often had unusual and irrelevant results unless keywords were very specific to topic and country.

Exploring the FlickrStorm. search engine was really interesting. A search under Warrnambool brought up some great bird photos taken in the area. I could link to Flickr and access the photographer's photostream to view lots more bird shots he had taken.

Paddock view

Auction of St. Helens, the prince of paddocks in Hawthorn on Saturday 4th February [1893]

When searching the National Library of Australia VuFind resource portal I found a reference to a map giving details of a forthcoming auction of 101 blocks of land in Hawthorn last century. The description of the site is very complimentary. "This paddock is without exception the finest land ever offered to public competition in this prosperous and magnificent suburb, being situated on the highest spot within ten miles of the city ; each lot commanding a view unparalelled in any suburb of Melbourne."

Source: National Library of Australia VuFind resource portal

I found the National Library of Australia VuFind resource portal quite impressive. After searching for the Australian author Ada Cambridge I was overwhelmed with the number of additional search options available to me for this writer. There were links to all her titles in the collection and the formats available for each title. Patrons could use tools such as cite this, email, and add to favourites, for all catalogue entries found. The history tab allowed the user to track the strategy used for the search. The addition of a picture of the front cover of a book when it's available would be a useful addition to the portal.

Overall I think that VuFind would assist students to find a far greater breadth of information via a Library's OPAC than they do at present.

Bribery way

I'll keep blogging if you are going to encourage me like this.

Link Freeway

I searched for people employed in my workplace and found quite a few entries in LinkedIn. It's quite surprising to see the number of people who live in different places with exactly the same name. Are they all linked?

I decided not to join LinkedIn because the network does not have much relevance for my job or for someone who is thinking about retirement. It would be a useful tool for contacting and collaborating with people who work in the same profession throughout the world.

Switchback lane

I thought I'd done with all this blogging. But no, we are at it again. I wish someone would give me a bone instead!

Road Closed

Journey's End

Feedback

Now that I've completed 23 Things it's time to assess my trip along the highways and byways of the program. Overall my journey has probably been worthwhile from a staff development point of view. My computer knowledge and skills have improved - I can now easily add links and download images to my blog. I managed to complete the second half of the program without too much input from others. I've found out about Flickr, Youtube, iGoogle, podcasts, and RSS feeds. Although some overseas and Australian libraries use MySpace, Facebook, and Second Life I regard these aspects of the program as pathways for social interaction rather than as important highways for studying at university.

After participating in the 23 Things program I think that our Library could explore how other libraries are using new technologies in interesting and innovative ways to deliver improved library services to their communities. We could add websites like Citeulike to the Library webpage and investigate the LOCKSS system for preserving digital materials. Perhaps we could even make a video about Swinburne Library and add it to YouTube!

The biggest problem that I encountered with the program was that it was very time-consuming. I had to do 80% of the work in my tea breaks and at lunchtime. This resulted in much eyestrain because I was continually using the computer all day without a break. I'd like to suggest that any instructions given for completing a task need to be detailed and comprehensive when introducing new ideas to inexperienced participants. For example, the directions for adding a photo to the Wiki required more information for a novice user. If another program is on the drawing board I feel that it should run for a shorter time frame so that participants do not lose momentum.

I appreciate that I've been given the chance to experiment with web-based activities that I would not otherwise have used. I enjoyed writing the blog but probably will not continue blogging because I feel that I spend too much time in front of a computer screen already. I might set up a RSS feed to sites that I subscribed to during the 23 Things program and that interest me personally, so that I can access the updates more easily.

Virtual Way

Although I have both feet firmly planted in real life I can see that universities and libraries could utilize Second Life to present information to students in a novel way within a virtual environment. Ohio University suggests that Second Life can give students the opportunity to spread their wings and to develop their imaginations. At Murdoch University a librarian has conducted workshops on Second Life for staff and students. The librarian argues that Second Life gives people the opportunity to develop new skills when experimenting with new types of technology.

While not being entirely convinced by these arguments an institution with sufficient financial resources could utilize a virtual world in various ways. Perhaps a university library could use Second Life for demonstrating how to use the library and its resources, conduct virtual tours of the library, and publicize new resources. Universities could use Second Life to assist students to find their way around campus, or to present English language courses for overseas students to help them learn the language faster. Business, Engineering, and Arts faculties could set assignments that encourage students to experiment with strategies to solve problems in a virtual world. This might help them discover innovative solutions for problems that exist in the real world.

Podcast Alley

The Naked Novelist program aired by Melbourne radio 3CR is available as a podcast and I subscribed to it via Google reader. The program is about writing and some of the broadcasts aired in the series include "The seven habits of highly effective writing" and "The stifling air of an Australian country town". Unfortunately the series finished in December 2007 because the presenter, Brendan Gullifer, decided to move on to other things. I also used Google reader to access the Correspondents Report podcasts produced by Aunty ABC.

Podcasts are useful because they give listeners the freedom to access favourite broadcasts at a time that's convenient for them.

Video connection

I've viewed both overseas and Australian videos about libraries on Youtube. LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe) is a software program developed by the Stanford University Library to help libraries preserve digital material for future generations. The LOCKSS website describes the program "as an international initiative that provides tools and support so libraries can easily and cost-effectively preserve today's web-published materials for tomorrow's readers".

The Day of Action Protest Rally shows footage of the NSW Public Libraries protest march in November 2007 after the state government made funding cuts to public libraries .

Youtube is a powerful tool that individuals and small groups can use to connect with other like-minded people and to broadcast their message to others throughout the world.

Wiki Way

I've added a photo of our Cairn Terriers to the Wiki. A couple of weeks ago a metre long copperhead snake visited our backyard and was found near the dog's water bowl. Mollie was intent on dealing with it but Lockie decided the safest thing to do was to take refuge in the kennel. Our unwelcome visitor was not as large as the one in the photo but it was much bigger than any I've seen around the property for quite some time.

Source of photo: Peter Robertson, Museum Victoria website

New pathways

When reading the article "Library 2.0 - An academic perspective" the authors included a link to "Evaluating web content" which I found interesting. This link referred to a list of bookmarks and I eventually found a reference to Citeulike. This bookmark is useful for finding references to scholarly material on the web. It would be a handy tool for students looking for scholarly information within their area of study. If a university has subscriptions to the journals listed in Citeulike the articles can be accessed immediately. Swinburne University had access to all the citations I selected.

Delicious Junction

I've visited del.icio.us and found a number of sites that reflect my interests. A site that I particularly like is the one for Bush Heritage Australia. Bush Heritage is a non-profit making organization that purchases properties with the aim of protecting Australia's unique plants and animals and their habitats. This organization has just purchased Yourka Station in far north Queensland and the frog in the picture is found on this reserve. This frog and its habitat certainly looks worthy of preservation to me!

Social bookmarking is fine for recreational use but I do not envisage that I would find it useful for my work activities.

The photo of Lesuer's frog found on Yourka Reserve was taken by Wayne Lawler and appears in the summer edition of Bush Heritage news.