Favourite blogs

Here are some of my favourite blogs..

http://www.darkroastedblend.com
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz
http://publicaddress.net
http://whythatsdelightful.wordpress.com

Wikis

I think wikis may indeed have a number of useful applications. The examples on the CCL Learn wiki weren't inspiring and didn't enthuse me but when I imagine the potential for the use of wikis on the CCL website then my interest in them increases - for CCL one possibility would be to build a group of wikis that replaces the fitch/internet gateway/ premium sites. A one stop info shop. One aspect of wikis which I really, really like is that more than one person can create/maintain them (the problem with Internet Gateway has always been the lack of scope for making changes to the content and structure of it because its management has been invested - I think there were technical reasons for this - with 1-2 people).

NZ Museums

NZ Museums is a good example of the web 2.0 elements of diffusion and concentration (as I understand them!) Diffusion in the sense of "richer connectivity between people, applications and data" manifests itself on the NZ Museums website in several ways e.g. the use of tags and tagging that users can attribute to objects in the collection may allow for a richer description and more access points to the material. Also, providing the ability for users to add comments on materials in the collection may add to a richer information experience. Concentration in the sense that the site enourages collaboration among NZ museums and is an effort to pull collections together. But why no RSS!

NZ 2.0

NewZealand.Govt.NZ provides a good way of finding out what national, regional and local government are up to with web 2.0 technologies. Using the keyword search feature and searching on, for example, rss provides an insight into how much this application is embraced at all levels of government. Many smaller local body governments (Nelson, Rotorua etc) have taken up RSS to disseminate information about events, council news to people with an interest in this information. Environment Waikato have set up blogs for all of their Councillors - most allow users to post comments but a look at each of the blogs reveals that no comments have been made. Probably not surprising given the level of apathy in local government. Most Councillors have added an obligatory post or two but over the last month or two the posts have faded away.

Flickr and NZ 2.0

Interesting to see how National Library, Te Ara etc have a presence on Flickr while others NZ History net are going their own way it appears. There are advantages for piggybacking on the success of Flickr - the technology platform is already their so no need to develop afresh; users already have some familiarity with the Flickr interface which can only add to its appeal and usage. I quite like the upfront approach by Te Ara - it's presence on Flickr is stated loud and clear - the link to the Te Ara flickr page is on the Te Ara homepage.

social networking (again)

Continue to have my doubts about the usefulness and relevance of social networking especially for public libraries. The impression that sticks is that a lot of people join and then lose interest and their involvement drops off.

Social networking - Facebook

Created a Facebook account - easily done, no real issues to report. Disappointed with the search features for finding groups. Gives the ability to browse broad categories or do a simple keyword search but it is difficult to refine searches. Joined several groups - Library 2.0 was one of the groups I attached myself to - had hoped to find some interesting gems but sadly it was a rather underwhelming experience: recent posts on the discussion board included an open invite to a workshop in Oklaholma and a link to a full text article on Library 2.0/ Web 2.0 in Arabic.