Reflections

I often have difficulties with new computer applications. They frequently don't work the way I expect, or require software to be downloaded.
Learning2.0 was good in that it made me get out and try the new Web2 applications.
Also my employer allowed us time to try to finish the program.
But I've got alot more exploring to do.
I thought about printing out the pages - bad regressive me. Just bookmarking the internet links will not provide enough information. Probably I'll go home and save the pages so I can look at them again, explore more of the links, revisit to remind myself.
I can see myself using Library thing and Del.icio.us. Bloglines would be more helpful if it didn't delete all the feeds until you have opened/clicked on them rather than selecting the ones you want to keep.
Thanks to Lynette Lewis and Leslie Sharples at Yarra Plenty Library for all their hard work.

e-books

Well this might be a useful site if you have the time to wait around. Save the file don't try to play it as it downloads - and that was from a mirror site in Australia. Speed. speed, speed - I don't have it.
Because it is a subscription service, I thought it might have some of my favorite modern authors so I searched. It found multiple items but nothing easily visible as by the people I was searching for. Obviously copywrite hasn't expired. Advanced search seems to just be a search tips page.

Podcasts

I had problems with the software. Podcast.net had very little about libraries and when I clicked on Play a window opened headed Podcast player Microsoft Inter... but nothing happens. So I created a feed from Workout on the web to my bloglines account. (Of course I had forgotten how to add a feed to bloglines so had to return to the earlier session.) The list of podcasts does not match the website - I wanted to hear "Lower back Cat-Camel and bird dog." Clicking on enclusure in another feed it takes 5 minutes to download this particular podcast and then asks which program I want to use to open it (m4v).
Podcast alley required a program to be downloaded before any of the files could be played
Yahoo podcasts listed a lot of hits after searching on libraries. However, they were a variety of formats and Windows Media Player didn't play some of them(.ram)
.

Youtube

My favorite video was "Mask clearing drills". It was funny and it was short. The picture quality wasn't great.
Its a problem viewing videos with a slow connection (even though it is broadband. Thats two criteria to consider when adding to library websites. Most people don't have really high speeds yet. What they see needs to be clear to maintain our professional image.
Youtube is like so much of the internet - information overload - too much and not enough time.

Zoho writer

Could be very useful when collaborating over the internet - students doing assignments together.
Missing a few features of Word - but then its free.
i.e. can't merge cells in a table to create a heading at the top that I can find yet, fewer styles. And of course there's a whole new set of icons to learn.

Wikis

Like selecting hard copy books, its important to know what is the source of the information so we can assess its accuracy. Unfortunately there is the lunatic fringe, so those wikis which are controlled - must be registered to edit - will become helpful sources, as well as providing a different way of organising the knowledge within a specific library service. Now how do we find them.

Library 2

So much is happening with the web. How do we pick the stayers rather than the trendy here now - gone tomorrow. So many of our libraries users are not aware of what options are available. How does the library community decide where to spend its limited resources?