You save all your favourite websites in the ubiquitous Favourites folder on your web browser at work. But then you go home, go travelling, or simply use someone else's workstation and - kazoom! - no more Favourites :((
You could always print your list and carry it around in your wallet ... but that would be wasting paper ...
Or memorise them ... folder by folder ... OUCH!
Luckily for our trees and our brains, there is an easier way. Enter del.icio.us (that's delicious in web-speak). It's a simple site which can store all your favourites in one online location. But the icing on the cake is that delicious allows you to "tag" each site with a keyword and group them into "bundles" so you can keep everything organised. So you can access a neatly organised bunch of favourites from any PC in the world :))
Find delicious at http://delicious.com
Monday, May 11, 2009
Square eyes - video goes global on YouTube
You can do it just using your mobile phone. Or you can use sophisticated editing software to develop a clip complete with screen effects, music and narration. Either way - it's easy to share your videos with the world now, thanks to sites such as YouTube and Google Video.
For a library servicing an isolated and geographically scattered community such as ours at Talbingo, such technology has wonderful potential. For older people or those with vision impairments - or those people who, like me, hate reading off a screen - video makes information delivery more accessible. Our library shares a building with the local school and the young students are keen to learn to use our services for information gathering. But we aren't open every day! Educational videos posted online allow students to access relevant content on library services any time, day or night.
But video sharing has its sinister side too. Once it's online, it's hard to erase - and hard to stop the wrong people from viewing it. And the boffins have still to find a foolproof method to protect copyright and intellectual property - it's still so easy to steal someone else's work and post it as part of your own.
For a library servicing an isolated and geographically scattered community such as ours at Talbingo, such technology has wonderful potential. For older people or those with vision impairments - or those people who, like me, hate reading off a screen - video makes information delivery more accessible. Our library shares a building with the local school and the young students are keen to learn to use our services for information gathering. But we aren't open every day! Educational videos posted online allow students to access relevant content on library services any time, day or night.
But video sharing has its sinister side too. Once it's online, it's hard to erase - and hard to stop the wrong people from viewing it. And the boffins have still to find a foolproof method to protect copyright and intellectual property - it's still so easy to steal someone else's work and post it as part of your own.
Wikid! - are wikis the foundation of a new digital empire?
No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were;
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.
John Donne wrote this back in the seventeenth century (1624 to be exact!), but if he were transposed four hundred years into the present, he might well have been writing about the concept of wikis.
WIKI - (W)hat (I) (K)now (I)s
A wiki is a collaborative website - a site in which anyone (or sometimes just a selected group of people) - can post, modify, edit, and share information. It draws on the experience and expertise of contributors who can be scattered across the globe but can add their portion at the click of a mouse. You don't need to know HTML or have any programming skills to be part of it! Usually there is a moderator at the helm to ensure the content is reliable and accurate. But the main feature of wiki development and use is that the site relies on the community to participate in an ongoing process of development - it's a real team effort! One of the most well known wikis is Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page), a FREE online encyclopedia composed entirely of pages contributed by users.
There are lots of ways in which libraries can benefit from the use of wikis. Book clubs can communicate and comment on the books they read - members can review books (anonymously if they like!) and arrange meetings and social occasions.
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were;
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.
John Donne wrote this back in the seventeenth century (1624 to be exact!), but if he were transposed four hundred years into the present, he might well have been writing about the concept of wikis.
WIKI - (W)hat (I) (K)now (I)s
A wiki is a collaborative website - a site in which anyone (or sometimes just a selected group of people) - can post, modify, edit, and share information. It draws on the experience and expertise of contributors who can be scattered across the globe but can add their portion at the click of a mouse. You don't need to know HTML or have any programming skills to be part of it! Usually there is a moderator at the helm to ensure the content is reliable and accurate. But the main feature of wiki development and use is that the site relies on the community to participate in an ongoing process of development - it's a real team effort! One of the most well known wikis is Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page), a FREE online encyclopedia composed entirely of pages contributed by users.
There are lots of ways in which libraries can benefit from the use of wikis. Book clubs can communicate and comment on the books they read - members can review books (anonymously if they like!) and arrange meetings and social occasions.
Holding all the threads - RSS
Get tired of flipping through all your favourite sites to see what's new? Ever wish someone ELSE would keep an eye on them for you and let you know when an update was in?
Behold - a FEED READER might be just what you need!
Many websites now allow their latest content to be shared as RSS. This techno-term really just means that the content is published in XML format and can be read by specially designed websites called feed readers. Content including blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video can all be accessed by feed readers providing the home site has it as an RSS feed.
I use a site called Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) to keep track of my favourite RSS feeds. There are plenty of others - Amphetadesk, FeedReader, and NewsGator. Try some - they all have slightly different features but the main thing is: they can grab the NEW stuff from your FAVOURITE sites and you can see it all on one page!
So - what can you keep track of with feed readers? I'm a current affairs junkie, so I love the ABC News RSS, and political blogs from Australian correspondents: these are often available through the websites of major daily newspapers. In my "other hat" as a horse trainer, I like to keep an eye on what's new in the local and international Quarter Horse scene, so I subscribe to the feed from the National Reining Horse Association site. And in my professional capacity as a library assistant, I can keep track of events, training opportunities, and news from regional and national libraries. I particularly love this blog: http://www.ipl.org/ - the Internet Public Library. It is full of GREAT resources for teacher-librarians, and the info is all FREE!
I love feed readers primarily for the TIME it saves me in searching sites that may (or MAY NOT!) have been updated.
Want to know more but don't want loads of technojargo? Try this site:
http://www.whatisrss.com/ - it's RSS 101! :)
Behold - a FEED READER might be just what you need!
Many websites now allow their latest content to be shared as RSS. This techno-term really just means that the content is published in XML format and can be read by specially designed websites called feed readers. Content including blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video can all be accessed by feed readers providing the home site has it as an RSS feed.
I use a site called Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) to keep track of my favourite RSS feeds. There are plenty of others - Amphetadesk, FeedReader, and NewsGator. Try some - they all have slightly different features but the main thing is: they can grab the NEW stuff from your FAVOURITE sites and you can see it all on one page!
So - what can you keep track of with feed readers? I'm a current affairs junkie, so I love the ABC News RSS, and political blogs from Australian correspondents: these are often available through the websites of major daily newspapers. In my "other hat" as a horse trainer, I like to keep an eye on what's new in the local and international Quarter Horse scene, so I subscribe to the feed from the National Reining Horse Association site. And in my professional capacity as a library assistant, I can keep track of events, training opportunities, and news from regional and national libraries. I particularly love this blog: http://www.ipl.org/ - the Internet Public Library. It is full of GREAT resources for teacher-librarians, and the info is all FREE!
I love feed readers primarily for the TIME it saves me in searching sites that may (or MAY NOT!) have been updated.
Want to know more but don't want loads of technojargo? Try this site:
http://www.whatisrss.com/ - it's RSS 101! :)
Historic Talbingo photos
One of the wonders of the internet age is the ease with which we can share digital images - from your weekend barbecue to pictures of historical importance, if they can be digitised, they can be shared!
Flickr is one of many "communal" websites which can be used (for free!) to share images. I did a search today for photographs of our town, and came across some within a wonderful collection called "Touring With the Covered Wagon". This set of 74 photographs from across NSW was taken in 1924 and is now available to be viewed at Flickr. Click here for a look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87791108@N00/3129911337/
The photo from the link above was particularly striking to me for, as a Western Australian, I simply have no concept of snow in winter. I'm reliably informed it's a regular occurrence in Talbingo - so I'm off now to knit some winter socks and mittens!!
Flickr is one of many "communal" websites which can be used (for free!) to share images. I did a search today for photographs of our town, and came across some within a wonderful collection called "Touring With the Covered Wagon". This set of 74 photographs from across NSW was taken in 1924 and is now available to be viewed at Flickr. Click here for a look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87791108@N00/3129911337/
The photo from the link above was particularly striking to me for, as a Western Australian, I simply have no concept of snow in winter. I'm reliably informed it's a regular occurrence in Talbingo - so I'm off now to knit some winter socks and mittens!!
"Talbingo" - by Kenneth Slessor
‘Talbingo River’—as one says of bones:
‘Captain’ or ‘Commodore’ that smelt gunpowder
In old engagements no one quite believes
Or understands. Talbingo had its blood
As they did, ran with waters huge and clear
Lopping down mountains,
Turning crags to banks.
Now it’s a sort of aching valley,
Basalt shaggy with scales,
A funnel of tobacco-coloured clay,
Smoulders of puffed earth
And pebbles and shell-bodied flies
And water thickening to stone in pocks.
That’s what we’re like out here,
Beds of dried-up passions.
‘Captain’ or ‘Commodore’ that smelt gunpowder
In old engagements no one quite believes
Or understands. Talbingo had its blood
As they did, ran with waters huge and clear
Lopping down mountains,
Turning crags to banks.
Now it’s a sort of aching valley,
Basalt shaggy with scales,
A funnel of tobacco-coloured clay,
Smoulders of puffed earth
And pebbles and shell-bodied flies
And water thickening to stone in pocks.
That’s what we’re like out here,
Beds of dried-up passions.
From: Selected Poems, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
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