Pietroniro and Fitcher "Map Mashups ..."
Right away, the authors cite wikipedia's definition of a mashup as follows,
"a web ‘mashup’ is “a website, or web application that combines content from one or more sources”.1 The word ‘Mashup’ comes from a term that is used in the music industry. In music, the term refers to a genre of popular music whereby the remixing of vocal and instrumental tracks from different songs to create a new song, is practiced."
I like the fact that a scholarly article is citing wikipedia! More power to wikipedia!
Anyway, the authors explain that what mashups are to music, the map industry is now joining in and using live info in correlation with maps, gps, etc... to create maps on the fly for users looking for very specific content, directions, information.
As someone who is constantly either mapquesting or google-mapping everything when I go to an unfamiliar location this is very exciting! My husband and I are more likely than not to get lost if we stray a block or two off the prescribed google map route. If we could afford an iphone we would automatically sign up for one of the map services (discussed in class a couple weeks ago).
I love the idea of housingmaps.com. How helpful that would have been when I was apartment and house searching. There are so many ideas that could be implemented with maps/info, etc... This should become very popular, and as the authors mention the possibilities are endless!
I also like the points made about traffic updates/conditions, flight info, commuter train update, etc... What a long way technology has come since the AAA TripTik my parents relied on for this information on our summer roadtrips!
Wikipedia entry on Mashups...
Reading through the description and process for creating a mashup I began to think that it seemed a little beyond my skill level. As I continued to read I noticed a variety of sites that serve as "mashup platforms" to help users creat mashups. Hooray! That is what I need to give this a try.
I thought the section on applying mashups to businesses was quite interseting, and certainly applicable. I hate "trawling" through information to dig up the tiny little piece of info that I need. By re-organizing a website with a mashup, info should be more accessible and more importantly user friendly.
We have already used a successful and popular mashup- Flickr... next I want to look into Travature- a travel mashup.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Library School Update...
Well folks, there are only two weeks left of summer session one! Only 8 more class sessions for me to attend (among the three classes I am taking) before I can officially say that I have just one more class before I officially earn my MLIS.
Yea!
Just thought you all should know!
Yea!
Just thought you all should know!
Part two of Gaming, Second Life and Virtual Worlds...
Czarnecki, Kelly and Matt Gullett. "Meet the New You"
In some ways the idea of presenting course content to middle schoolers completely online makes perfect sense, and in other ways it is quite scary to think about. Would life online mirror real life? Would the same bullies exist? Could your online avatar name remain anonymous when you are in a set group of 30 or so people working collaboratively on recreating Ellis Island? Does it matter?
I just seem to think of the discipline problems that may occur, the disrespect students may have, which might ruin a wonderful idea for the majority...
It will be interesting to see how popular TSL becomes for schools in the future, let alone libraries. A very intersting concept.
Hurst-Wahl, Jill "Librarians and Second Life."
Like many other web 2.0 tools, librarians quickly identified Second Life as a platform on which to connect with information users. A Second Life Alliance Library System has now been created. It is run by volunteer librarians devoting their time and energy to creating libraries and lirbary services within the context of SL. This seems like just another way to add our presence to where our patrons are.
Like last class where we discussed how many people "live" on MySpace, many people also "live" on Second Life. Even though I am not one of those people, I see the potential for additional outreach services.
The article also talks about the opportunities for collaboration among librarians from different locations across the globe, rethinking library 'space' (in both virtual architectural design, and the actual existence of online libraries), and the exploration of new tools. All are important ways for libraries to remain relevant, cutting edge, and cool!
In some ways the idea of presenting course content to middle schoolers completely online makes perfect sense, and in other ways it is quite scary to think about. Would life online mirror real life? Would the same bullies exist? Could your online avatar name remain anonymous when you are in a set group of 30 or so people working collaboratively on recreating Ellis Island? Does it matter?
I just seem to think of the discipline problems that may occur, the disrespect students may have, which might ruin a wonderful idea for the majority...
It will be interesting to see how popular TSL becomes for schools in the future, let alone libraries. A very intersting concept.
Hurst-Wahl, Jill "Librarians and Second Life."
Like many other web 2.0 tools, librarians quickly identified Second Life as a platform on which to connect with information users. A Second Life Alliance Library System has now been created. It is run by volunteer librarians devoting their time and energy to creating libraries and lirbary services within the context of SL. This seems like just another way to add our presence to where our patrons are.
Like last class where we discussed how many people "live" on MySpace, many people also "live" on Second Life. Even though I am not one of those people, I see the potential for additional outreach services.
The article also talks about the opportunities for collaboration among librarians from different locations across the globe, rethinking library 'space' (in both virtual architectural design, and the actual existence of online libraries), and the exploration of new tools. All are important ways for libraries to remain relevant, cutting edge, and cool!
Gaming, Second Life and Virtual Worlds...
Brown, John Seely. "New Learning Environments for the 21st Century."
Comments:
This article is important for teachers at all levles of education to read. From elementary teachers to graduate school professors, it is clear that all education profesionals must re-evaluate the ways in which they reach out to their students. The shift in education from "learning about something" to "learning to be" has occured as professors shift away from straight lecture format to in-class hands on activities. Even in the first grade classroom of my mother-in-law, students are enthralled with the whiteboard (Go 3M!) and seem to have a longer attention span when content is presented in a mulitmedia fashion. The same can be said for all ages of learners, the flashier the better.
But, a fundamental change has also occurred in the way students today learn and process information, just as the ways in which they seek information differ from the era in which their teachers attended school.
Teachers must look into the questions Brown presents: "How do they learn? How do they like to learn? How do they solve problems? And most importantly,what creates meaning for them and helps them to constmct their sense of self?"
Each student will have a different level of exposure to video games, but the basic sentiment in this article is that video games today present opportunities for education. Many games present opportunites for higher level thinking, problem solving and decision making in a format that is appealing to students.
Brown writes that,"the gaming generation tums out to very bottom-line oriented.
They want their performance to he measured. They want to learn and, without metrics, they can't tell if and how much they are learning. Surprising as it may sound, many gamers say that if they're not leaming, it isn't fun! It tums out that using excellent pedagogical principles in constructing a game—for instance, requiring
tbat players tackle challenges that get increasingly more demanding, but at just the right pace—makes for great play."
Students are not just wasting their time on video games, they are actually learning something, expanding their brains, and even interacting with other people online! Who would have thought we'd go from Tetris to such intense online gaming!
Lifelong learning is important now more than ever. Teachers must learn how to best teach students in the digital age, while continuing to instill the skills necessary for students to be able to learn and adapt the envirnoment as it continues to change around them.
Comments:
This article is important for teachers at all levles of education to read. From elementary teachers to graduate school professors, it is clear that all education profesionals must re-evaluate the ways in which they reach out to their students. The shift in education from "learning about something" to "learning to be" has occured as professors shift away from straight lecture format to in-class hands on activities. Even in the first grade classroom of my mother-in-law, students are enthralled with the whiteboard (Go 3M!) and seem to have a longer attention span when content is presented in a mulitmedia fashion. The same can be said for all ages of learners, the flashier the better.
But, a fundamental change has also occurred in the way students today learn and process information, just as the ways in which they seek information differ from the era in which their teachers attended school.
Teachers must look into the questions Brown presents: "How do they learn? How do they like to learn? How do they solve problems? And most importantly,what creates meaning for them and helps them to constmct their sense of self?"
Each student will have a different level of exposure to video games, but the basic sentiment in this article is that video games today present opportunities for education. Many games present opportunites for higher level thinking, problem solving and decision making in a format that is appealing to students.
Brown writes that,"the gaming generation tums out to very bottom-line oriented.
They want their performance to he measured. They want to learn and, without metrics, they can't tell if and how much they are learning. Surprising as it may sound, many gamers say that if they're not leaming, it isn't fun! It tums out that using excellent pedagogical principles in constructing a game—for instance, requiring
tbat players tackle challenges that get increasingly more demanding, but at just the right pace—makes for great play."
Students are not just wasting their time on video games, they are actually learning something, expanding their brains, and even interacting with other people online! Who would have thought we'd go from Tetris to such intense online gaming!
Lifelong learning is important now more than ever. Teachers must learn how to best teach students in the digital age, while continuing to instill the skills necessary for students to be able to learn and adapt the envirnoment as it continues to change around them.
Comments on Podcasting Articles...
Podcast 1-2-3 by Jason Griffey
The one-two-three of podcasting: 1. create content, 2. distribute podcast, 3. sync to ipod or other music player.
Simple?
Sure, if you have the time and equipment to produce a podcast, it could be a great tool to implement for your library.
Griffey writes that podcasts can be a good tool to use with distance education students. Users can access content anytime, anywhere they want. Also, it has a certain appeal to users with a more auditory learning style, or those who can’t sit still very long to pay attention.
Short and sweet podcasts can capture the attention of an audience with more effect than an in-person hour long lecture.
I agree with all of Griffey’s comments on the potential for podcasting, I agree that podcasts might add a bit of a human touch to an otherwise quite boring distance learning experience with everything being self-paced and even more difficult- self-motivated.
Creating Communities with Podcasting by Angela l. Jowitt
Sets forth the basic definition: ipod + broadcasting = podcasting
Jowitt discusses a pilot project using podcasts in an academic setting as a new method to connect with patrons. For example, the podcast on “how to use MyAccount” was a success! I wish St. Olaf had this, so many questions would be erased with the click of a mouse to a short three minutes explanation of how to renew your books online- fascinating!
The conclusion of the project based on patron feedback revealed that the podcasts were quite popular, but a wish for video as well as audio was stated.
I agree, the idea of listening to a podcast through my computer without any visual aspect just leads me to wander across my favorite sites while attempting to stay focused… Now powerpoint slides with a podcast lecture… now we are talking… Hmm isn’t that exactly what Chris did for us?
The one-two-three of podcasting: 1. create content, 2. distribute podcast, 3. sync to ipod or other music player.
Simple?
Sure, if you have the time and equipment to produce a podcast, it could be a great tool to implement for your library.
Griffey writes that podcasts can be a good tool to use with distance education students. Users can access content anytime, anywhere they want. Also, it has a certain appeal to users with a more auditory learning style, or those who can’t sit still very long to pay attention.
Short and sweet podcasts can capture the attention of an audience with more effect than an in-person hour long lecture.
I agree with all of Griffey’s comments on the potential for podcasting, I agree that podcasts might add a bit of a human touch to an otherwise quite boring distance learning experience with everything being self-paced and even more difficult- self-motivated.
Creating Communities with Podcasting by Angela l. Jowitt
Sets forth the basic definition: ipod + broadcasting = podcasting
Jowitt discusses a pilot project using podcasts in an academic setting as a new method to connect with patrons. For example, the podcast on “how to use MyAccount” was a success! I wish St. Olaf had this, so many questions would be erased with the click of a mouse to a short three minutes explanation of how to renew your books online- fascinating!
The conclusion of the project based on patron feedback revealed that the podcasts were quite popular, but a wish for video as well as audio was stated.
I agree, the idea of listening to a podcast through my computer without any visual aspect just leads me to wander across my favorite sites while attempting to stay focused… Now powerpoint slides with a podcast lecture… now we are talking… Hmm isn’t that exactly what Chris did for us?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Podcasting...
Listening to Cody's podcast was my first expereince with this web 2.0 tool, unless you also count Chris' earlier asynchronous lectures? Anyway, being new to this type of media I had to search for my recommendation...
1. Podcast recommendation
NPR Booktalk
is hosted by Alan Farley who talks with authors about their work and their lives, with their latest book as the starting point for this weekly podcast, 30 minutes in length.
Even though I am not a regular listener, and only listened to this for the first time for this assignment, I found it to be a very enjoyable podcast which coincided with one of my ideas for a podcast below...
2. A good idea for a podcast:
Library news, events, author booktalks, weekely readers' advisory on specific topics each week, etc... The ideas are probably endless, but since I am currently in the readers' advisory class it would be fun for a library to publish weekly "What to Read Next" segments for each of the genres. I'm sure people would tune in!
3. Do not use podcasts for:
As specifcally mentioned in one of the articles, podcasts have failed as an alternative to library tours unless the user is actually at the library. Most users of podcasts access them outside of the library....
Also, a podcast about rules and policies would probably be a bad idea simply because it may be very dull.
1. Podcast recommendation
NPR Booktalk
is hosted by Alan Farley who talks with authors about their work and their lives, with their latest book as the starting point for this weekly podcast, 30 minutes in length.
Even though I am not a regular listener, and only listened to this for the first time for this assignment, I found it to be a very enjoyable podcast which coincided with one of my ideas for a podcast below...
2. A good idea for a podcast:
Library news, events, author booktalks, weekely readers' advisory on specific topics each week, etc... The ideas are probably endless, but since I am currently in the readers' advisory class it would be fun for a library to publish weekly "What to Read Next" segments for each of the genres. I'm sure people would tune in!
3. Do not use podcasts for:
As specifcally mentioned in one of the articles, podcasts have failed as an alternative to library tours unless the user is actually at the library. Most users of podcasts access them outside of the library....
Also, a podcast about rules and policies would probably be a bad idea simply because it may be very dull.
Michael Stephens on Social Networking Services
Here, Michael Stephens describes the background of social networking sites and defines the appeal of these sites as follows:
..."identity, presence, relationships, conversations,groups, reputation, and sharing—will all be found by users at various SNS."
Stephens cites the Hennepin Co. Library's MySpace page as a good example of how to reach teen users who have MySpace accounts. Specifically, "Hennepin's page features an embedded Library Search box and the code that the library's MySpace friends
can use to add the search to their own profiles. Rotating images on the page show the faces of various library staff members, adding the human dimension."
I thought the section on Facebook and academic libraries fit in nicely with the perceptions portrayted in Danah Boyd's article mentioned in my previous posting. The librarian's comments about his blog post, and the fact that he linked it to Facebook to increase the possibilities for his FB friends to read it were almost funny to me! College students are very much attached at the hip to Facebook, constantly checking online for status updates, new pictures, who has broken up with who, etc.. that it is the perfect place to publish exciting content that students will hopefully take an interest in reading! Even if something is published on a blog (a popular web 2.0 tool) students are more likely to open up Facebook and take the time to read or comment on postings.
I also had the chance to learn something new from this article. I had not heard much about Ning before, and am curious to learn more about this create your own SNS. I wonder how well it does in competition with Facebook, but supposedly it finds its niche among companies wishing to create an internal SNS.
Finally, yea for the mention of Bookspace! I recently discovered this through my Readers' Advisory class and think it is a great service. Too bad I am not actually a HCPL user.
..."identity, presence, relationships, conversations,groups, reputation, and sharing—will all be found by users at various SNS."
Stephens cites the Hennepin Co. Library's MySpace page as a good example of how to reach teen users who have MySpace accounts. Specifically, "Hennepin's page features an embedded Library Search box and the code that the library's MySpace friends
can use to add the search to their own profiles. Rotating images on the page show the faces of various library staff members, adding the human dimension."
I thought the section on Facebook and academic libraries fit in nicely with the perceptions portrayted in Danah Boyd's article mentioned in my previous posting. The librarian's comments about his blog post, and the fact that he linked it to Facebook to increase the possibilities for his FB friends to read it were almost funny to me! College students are very much attached at the hip to Facebook, constantly checking online for status updates, new pictures, who has broken up with who, etc.. that it is the perfect place to publish exciting content that students will hopefully take an interest in reading! Even if something is published on a blog (a popular web 2.0 tool) students are more likely to open up Facebook and take the time to read or comment on postings.
I also had the chance to learn something new from this article. I had not heard much about Ning before, and am curious to learn more about this create your own SNS. I wonder how well it does in competition with Facebook, but supposedly it finds its niche among companies wishing to create an internal SNS.
Finally, yea for the mention of Bookspace! I recently discovered this through my Readers' Advisory class and think it is a great service. Too bad I am not actually a HCPL user.
Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace
In her article, Danah Boyd discusses the impact of socieconomic status with the choice to use MySpace or Facebook among teens of different social classes. I found her study to be very insightful, and had never thought about this divide before within the context of my own reasons for choosing to use Facebook only and not MySpace. As Boyd mentions, I also feel that Facebook is 'safer' than MySpace. It seems more organized, professional, and of course has the basic options for privacy as do other SNS sites. To me, MySpace is for kids, not adults/grad students! I have looked at it briefly and find it to be too busy, unorganized and simply not very appealing. Therefore, I do not have a MySpace page. I have heard that it is a great place for bands to promote themselves, for alternative kids to show their creativity, etc... That is simply not what I am looking for in a social networking site. I guess I am one of the "good" kids.
Joining facebook while it was still the "college" thing to do, I have a different perspective from teens today who are joining either MySpace, Facebook or both. Facebook was the only option for me, it was what my friends were doing- and in fact I wasn't on Facebook until my friends created an account for me and convinced me to use it. I have now used it for everything from gathering addresses for my wedding, organizing birthday parties, to wasting time at work!
As librarians, the key concepts to take away from this article are knowing where our audience is online. Public libraries may focus on MySpace if they are in poorer areas, diverse communities etc... where teens are more likely to favor MySpace. Academic libraries may want to get involved with Facebook to connect with college students simply because this is often the SNS of choice.
I particularly liked the following statement in the article,
"Teens are using social network sites to build community and connect with their peers. They are creating publics for socialization. And through it, they are showcasing all of the good, bad, and ugly of today's teen life. Much of it isn't pretty, but it ain't pretty offline either. Still, it makes my heart warm when I see something creative or engaged or reflective. There is good out there too" (Boyd).
With all of the other stresses of teen life, teens turn to SNS to connect with other teens! Librarians must accept this trend and become part of this online world.
Joining facebook while it was still the "college" thing to do, I have a different perspective from teens today who are joining either MySpace, Facebook or both. Facebook was the only option for me, it was what my friends were doing- and in fact I wasn't on Facebook until my friends created an account for me and convinced me to use it. I have now used it for everything from gathering addresses for my wedding, organizing birthday parties, to wasting time at work!
As librarians, the key concepts to take away from this article are knowing where our audience is online. Public libraries may focus on MySpace if they are in poorer areas, diverse communities etc... where teens are more likely to favor MySpace. Academic libraries may want to get involved with Facebook to connect with college students simply because this is often the SNS of choice.
I particularly liked the following statement in the article,
"Teens are using social network sites to build community and connect with their peers. They are creating publics for socialization. And through it, they are showcasing all of the good, bad, and ugly of today's teen life. Much of it isn't pretty, but it ain't pretty offline either. Still, it makes my heart warm when I see something creative or engaged or reflective. There is good out there too" (Boyd).
With all of the other stresses of teen life, teens turn to SNS to connect with other teens! Librarians must accept this trend and become part of this online world.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Researching Library 2.0 in Local Academic Libraries
The following links will be used for my presentation (for missing class on June 28th)
Survey of MN Academic College Libraries and their use of Web 2.0 Applications
I took some time to investigate many academic library websites to determine to what extent they are or are not incorporating Web 2.0 into their daily activities. I looked for links to blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, online tutorials, or other obvious uses of Web 2.0.
Listed below are the links to library websites I looked at:
University of St. Thomas
Macalester College
College of St. Catherine
Hamline University
College of St. Benedict/Saint John's University
Gustavus Adolphus College
Bethel University
Augsburg College
In class, I will show everyone the types of tools these institutions have added to their existing library webpage to promote a better web presence, reaching out to where their patrons are online.
This exercise was also interesting for the purposes of website design evaluation. I definetely developed favorites among these websites!
Also, to learn which academic libraries are currently blogging, check out The Blogging Libraries Wiki
Survey of MN Academic College Libraries and their use of Web 2.0 Applications
I took some time to investigate many academic library websites to determine to what extent they are or are not incorporating Web 2.0 into their daily activities. I looked for links to blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, online tutorials, or other obvious uses of Web 2.0.
Listed below are the links to library websites I looked at:
University of St. Thomas
Macalester College
College of St. Catherine
Hamline University
College of St. Benedict/Saint John's University
Gustavus Adolphus College
Bethel University
Augsburg College
In class, I will show everyone the types of tools these institutions have added to their existing library webpage to promote a better web presence, reaching out to where their patrons are online.
This exercise was also interesting for the purposes of website design evaluation. I definetely developed favorites among these websites!
Also, to learn which academic libraries are currently blogging, check out The Blogging Libraries Wiki
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Ontology is Overated... Clay Shirky Article
The following is from Clay Shirky's article:
"Look what's happened here. Yahoo, faced with the possibility that they could organize things with no physical constraints, added the shelf back. They couldn't imagine organization without the constraints of the shelf, so they added it back. It is perfectly possible for any number of links to be in any number of places in a hierarchy, or in many hierarchies, or in no hierarchy at all. But Yahoo decided to privilege one way of organizing links over all others, because they wanted to make assertions about what is "real."
Reading this section of the article on shirky.com I just had to laugh out loud. This is exactly why I have a hard time with tagging things online- I LIKE HIERARCHY! Hierarchies make things easier to find, they make sense, and are whoa- shocker- similar to the Library of Congress classification system getting smaller and smaller, more and more detailed as you go. Simply put, I like what Yahoo is doing with the hierarchy bit, but I don't actually use it all that often. My own searching behavior involves primarily natural language on the simple little Google search box. There goes that argument....
(library of congress)
And then I read on,
"One reason Google was adopted so quickly when it came along is that Google understood there is no shelf, and that there is no file system. Google can decide what goes with what after hearing from the user, rather than trying to predict in advance what it is you need to know."
Exactly, that is why these Google folks are so darn smart! Then again, never in a million years would I be able to figure out how exactly the Google search algorithm works... and there is obviously an advantage for not categorizing everything the way Yahoo does.
Anyway, I appreciate ontology as any good librarian should and struggle with the randomness of the web. In contrast, catalogers and the general public have very different ideas of what makes a good subject heading. Catalogers are not mind readers, what they consider as good controlled vocabulary is often not what others think of when trying to describe a book.
"Look what's happened here. Yahoo, faced with the possibility that they could organize things with no physical constraints, added the shelf back. They couldn't imagine organization without the constraints of the shelf, so they added it back. It is perfectly possible for any number of links to be in any number of places in a hierarchy, or in many hierarchies, or in no hierarchy at all. But Yahoo decided to privilege one way of organizing links over all others, because they wanted to make assertions about what is "real."
Reading this section of the article on shirky.com I just had to laugh out loud. This is exactly why I have a hard time with tagging things online- I LIKE HIERARCHY! Hierarchies make things easier to find, they make sense, and are whoa- shocker- similar to the Library of Congress classification system getting smaller and smaller, more and more detailed as you go. Simply put, I like what Yahoo is doing with the hierarchy bit, but I don't actually use it all that often. My own searching behavior involves primarily natural language on the simple little Google search box. There goes that argument....
(library of congress)
And then I read on,
"One reason Google was adopted so quickly when it came along is that Google understood there is no shelf, and that there is no file system. Google can decide what goes with what after hearing from the user, rather than trying to predict in advance what it is you need to know."
Exactly, that is why these Google folks are so darn smart! Then again, never in a million years would I be able to figure out how exactly the Google search algorithm works... and there is obviously an advantage for not categorizing everything the way Yahoo does.
Anyway, I appreciate ontology as any good librarian should and struggle with the randomness of the web. In contrast, catalogers and the general public have very different ideas of what makes a good subject heading. Catalogers are not mind readers, what they consider as good controlled vocabulary is often not what others think of when trying to describe a book.
Social bookmarking tools- Hammond article
"Social Bookmarking tools" by Hammond, Tony; et al... (April 2005) discuss the history of bookmarking sites and the evolution to the tagging/folksonomy crazy we are now experiencing. I found this article to be very valuable in my understanding of the term 'folksonomy'. I have heard it many times but now feel like I truly understand the seemingly unorganized mess of tags found on sites like Flickr, etc...
I particularly like the following quote from the article,
"To anyone familiar with top-down classification schemes, this approach could look like a fearful muddle. But this doesn't mean that it is without value – after all, the Web itself appears from the outside as a somewhat messy affair (almost its defining characteristic). Rather, this is an altogether different – and, we would argue, complementary – form of classification. Compared to the traditional top-down approach, folksonomy data is much noisier but also more flexible, more abundant and far cheaper. Bear in mind also that the terms used are, by definition, the very terms that real users might be expected to use in future when searching for this information."
Before reading this article, I was not sure why someone would want to invest so much time 'tagging' items on the internet with seemingly no value added except to one's own collection of photos on Flickr for example. But, with more exposure to del.icio.us and other sites that rely on tagging, it is starting to make a little more sense. There is a level of organization to the randomness of folksonomy and natural language tags that a future librarian can come to appreciate. Not everyone has time to study the big red books for subject headings for goodness sake!
I am not completely sold on the idea that I should start spending my free time tagging away, but at least the concept is a little bit clearer! On the flip side, I do see myself using more Web 2.0 tools to organize my personal collection of bookmarks. Every time I go from work to home to school I have a hard time keeping all my favorites straight!
I particularly like the following quote from the article,
"To anyone familiar with top-down classification schemes, this approach could look like a fearful muddle. But this doesn't mean that it is without value – after all, the Web itself appears from the outside as a somewhat messy affair (almost its defining characteristic). Rather, this is an altogether different – and, we would argue, complementary – form of classification. Compared to the traditional top-down approach, folksonomy data is much noisier but also more flexible, more abundant and far cheaper. Bear in mind also that the terms used are, by definition, the very terms that real users might be expected to use in future when searching for this information."
Before reading this article, I was not sure why someone would want to invest so much time 'tagging' items on the internet with seemingly no value added except to one's own collection of photos on Flickr for example. But, with more exposure to del.icio.us and other sites that rely on tagging, it is starting to make a little more sense. There is a level of organization to the randomness of folksonomy and natural language tags that a future librarian can come to appreciate. Not everyone has time to study the big red books for subject headings for goodness sake!
I am not completely sold on the idea that I should start spending my free time tagging away, but at least the concept is a little bit clearer! On the flip side, I do see myself using more Web 2.0 tools to organize my personal collection of bookmarks. Every time I go from work to home to school I have a hard time keeping all my favorites straight!
Testing Flickr upload of pic
Thanks to a little help from Cody, I have figured out how to upload my pictures from Flickr! Yea!
I was so used to uploading the files saved on my computer... but now have another option for both photo sharing and uploading....
For anyone curious, this is a close-up of my wedding bouquet!
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