Twitter Talk

Twitter is a neat idea for people who love to be connected and keep on top of posts on a daily basis and it is great that is available on multiple electronic devices and very faint signals as well. I think I heard that in aftermath of the earthquake in Chile, the only mode of communication for many survivors was twitter. On the other hand, twitter can also be a forum for TMI and be a barrier when interacting with people in the flesh. I know I raise my eyebrows when I am visiting with someone who then takes out their phone to check all kinds of 2.0 updates and, how many updates can you keep on top of before you begin to sacrifice the actual "living" part of life?

Linking with LibraryThing

LibraryThing appears to be user friendly if you are familiar with 2.0 sites such as that use tags, etc. To me, the most interesting part was reading the honest reviews (more interesting than the publishers reviews) from other people on various books and I was also impressed by the broad coverage of books on the site. I probably wouldn't catalogue my own collections or use it very much for personal use but I could see using the recommendations sections to help customers at the library find something new to read next.

Digging the "Docs"

I really like the google docs site and think it is a great way to provide resources to everyone that doesn't have or wish to own a computer. The templates are useful to customers - especially the resume one - and access from any computer without having to save to an external device will be very useful when we help people on the public terminals. It could easily give microsoft office products a run for their money, particularly with buyers who don't need any fancy applications and only sometimes use basic word processing which is the majority of the population that we see at public library terminals.

Yipee for YouTube!

YouTube is a wonderful resource to find things you never knew existed - from how to sew a dart in your shirt, to turkish music videos and how to train your cat to use the toilet, you're covered. I really enjoy searching flickr as well and if you don't have a photo editing program at home it would be a very handy site to use. The only drawback is that you have to get a yahoo account which I don't have, which means another user name a password to try to remember.

Really Simple Syndicated Sampling

The RSS feed was quite user friendly to set up and I managed to find a blog to subscribe to - National Geographic as well as staff blogs. I haven't taken note whether or not my favourite sites are RSS compatible but I will certainly keep my eyes open. It seems like a really neat, convenient way to get your info especially if you don't surf the net very often or forget what you were interested in keeping an eye on.

Google Gambol

I have used a lot of the Google products before and often show some of them to my Cyberseniors (along with the directories) as a hook to keep them interested in the internet. Google Earth, Sky, Moon and Mars are really fun way to practice playing around with the mouse, etc.

Facebook Flirtations

Facebook, like most 2.0 sites on the net, can be very seductive. I don't think it necessarily has anything to do with the physical appearance of the site (which seems to be constantly morphing as soon as you've figured it out) but rather the content. Just like a personal blog, facebook allows you to "creep" the pages of acquaintances and plunder the photos and personal information they lay bare whether you "friend" them or not. For the virtual voyeurs out there or the reality TV fanatics, Facebook is a playground offering hours of enjoyment. I don't know if it's up me to be to judge if it's a time waster or not - certainly there is a time and place to discover your 6 (or 2) degrees of separation from the man who you saw on the train 8 days ago -but if you've got the time and people have put that information out there, it's a free for all. On the flip side of the coin, Facebook can be used effectively to connect people. Invitations to events can be organized quickly and effectively, you can join groups and news forums on topics of interest all over the world and connect with friends and family internationally. However, for those of us who try very hard to remember we have a Facebook account, a phone call is much appreciated or we miss all the parties.