Cool Web Tools

February 16, 2006

Chaichin Chen, Library Program Specialist, CChen@gw.doa.state.ri.us
Karen Mellor, Library Program Specialist, KarenM@gw.doa.state.ri.us
Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services, www.lori.ri.gov

Introduction

• Delivery of information over the web has shifted
  Then: people go to information; Now: information comes to people
• Tools that define the new web and allow users to participate in the creation and repurposing of information
• Shift in social relationships, sense of community, and creation of virtual communities
  See The Strength of Internet Ties (Pew Internet & American Life Project)

Social software and the social web

Web 2.0

• Defining Web 2.0 (Tim O'Reilly - short Web 2.0 definition)
  set of principles and practices, not a specific technology
  Examples: RSS, weblogs, wikis, podcasts
• Web as platform: Web 2.0 Meme Map
• Architecture of participation
• Enabling and encouraging participation through open applications and services
  Example: Google Maps api, Libraries411, A4 - Amazon Lite
• Collective intelligence for development of software (open source, non-proprietary, end of release cycle)
  Examples: Firefox, WordPress
• Collective intelligence for the creation and dissemination of information (Wisdom of Crowds - James Surowiecki)
  Examples: Amazon.com recommendations, digg, Wikipedia
• Mash-ups: bringing together content from more than one source
  Example: MyYahoo!, Whisper, Google Maps Mania
• The long tail (Chris Anderson) - power of small sites, unlimited selection, customer self-service
• Rich user experiences
• Further reading
• What is Web 2.0? (Tim O'Reilly)
• Web 2.0: Building the new library (Paul Miller)
• Other Web 2.0 articles

Library 2.0

• Talis white paper: Do libraries matter? The rise of Library 2.0 (Ken Chad, Paul Miller)
• The library is everywhere
• The library has no barriers
• The library invites participation
• The library uses flexible, best of breed systems
• Library 2.0: making your library's space (virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative, and driven by community needs (Sarah Houghton)
  Example: Ann Arbor District Library
• Further reading
• Do Libraries Matter: On Library & Librarian 2.0 (Michael Stephens)
• Other Library 2.0 articles

Communities

• xanga
• mySpace, Thomas Ford Memorial Library
• 43 things

Tagging Tools

Folksonomies and Tagging

• Folksonomy: folks + taxonomy, or uncontrolled vocabulary (see Wikipedia on folksonomy)
• Tags: bottom-up classification
• The end of professional cataloging? Library Thing topics | Library Thing authors
• Using tags to connect content and users in social networks
  Example: Internet Librarian 2005
• Fun with tags: tag clouds and TagCloud (tool)
  Library catalog as a tagcloud (Horizon)

Social bookmarking

• Locate, classify, rank, and share Internet resources (see Wikipedia on social bookmarking)
• del.icio.us: keep, share, discover
• Research - keep track of all your source materials
• Wishlist - tag what you like with "wishlist", then tell people to check it out at http://del.icio.us/username/wishlist
• Podcast -
  List of popular podcasts
  del.icio.us creates RSS feed for mp3 files posted on the site
• for:tag - a way to send bookmarks to other del.icio.us members
• Bundles
• RSS or link to bookmark collections
  Example: http://del.icio.us/kmellor/presentTools2006, RSS presentTools2006
• Delicious toolbar
• Technorati
• Weblog search, weblog trends
• Tag search, tag trends, clouds,
• Subscriber services: watchlists, add your blog tags to Technorati
• Tag spamming

Images: Flickr

• About Flickr
• Upload options
• Organize pictures
• Fun and easy stuff
  Examples:
• mosaic - Murder by the Book @ APL, Exeter Public Library
• trading card & captioner - from Chaichin's Flickr page
• note - from dslri Flickr page
• favorite - an interesting photo that's in Chaichin's favorite
• Value added features
• Blogging from Flickr
  Example: Read Up a Storm at the Library
• Comment, a family re-united after photo posted on Flickr
• Interestingness, photo ranking in Flickr
• Clusters, based upon user tags and by associated relationships amongst photos
• The Great Flickr Tools Collection, tools developed by Flickr staff and Flickr users

Content: Furl

• Furl (LookSmart): File + URL: find, save, share
  
• Exploring Furl: Topics, Recommendations, Subscribers
• Copyright? Personal copy, all others use link to original source
  UPDATE POST SESSION: Content that you furl that has copyright restrictions, such as Providence Journal articles, will not be stored in your furl account. Only content that appears to be "savable" are web sites on sites that don't require membership. (This is true even if you are registered at the Providence Journal site.)
  

Wikis

What's a wiki?

• Users add and edit content in collaborative workspace (see Wikipedia on wikis)
  Examples
• Wikipedia: evolution of an entry
  Hurricane Katrina | August 26 | Compare 8/27 | August 29 | August 31
• Star Trek Wiki
• ALA Conference Wiki (Chicago)
• Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
• Other LIS wikis

• Simplification of the process of creating HTML pages combined with a system that records each individual change that occurs over time
• Any damage done can be undone (or re-done); collective intelligence as a filter
• Applications: projects

Wiki software

• Host your own wiki: download from site such as Atlassian
• Jotspot: wysiwig interface; no ads; basic features; 20 pages/5 users
  Example: this presentation
  
• PBwiki: use wiki language (simple text language, easier than HTML); lots of features; ads by Google; 10.5 mb
  PBwiki Tour
  Example: RI Spanish Language Outreach Program
  
• Schtuff: wiki language; lots of features; 200 MB space; ads by google
  Example: RI Gates Programs
  

Other Cool Tools

Firefox

• Mozilla browser: customizable, open web standards (community of developers)
• Features: security, automatic updates, tabbed browsing, live bookmarks, accessible,
  
• Add-ons:
• Search engines - the searcher's browser
• Sage: RSS aggregator
• Web developer toolbar
• More Firefox add-ons
• Email: Thunderbird

Other Tools

• Blogger - get your own blog
• Bloglines - read other blogs; find blogs through social networks
• LibraryThing - tag your personal library
• LibraryLookUp - bookmarklet that users can install on their browser, then lookup book from a book-related site in your library catalog
  
• Podcast. Example: Google print discussion in PRI
• Vlog, a blog that includes video clips to be downloaded and viewed immediately or transferred to a portable player
  Examples: Rocketboom, Google Video Blog
• Skype - free calls over the internet to anywhere in the world
• Creative Commons - flexible copyright for creative works
• More?

More Resources

• Social Software Metapost (Meredith Farkas: Information Wants To Be Free)
• The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005 (Dion Hinchcliffe)
• Social Software Top 10 (Many-to-Many)

Summary

• Development of the web as a computing platform for services
• New ways to deliver, access and share content
• New communities and social relationships
• Users and developers are empowered to participate

This page is located at http://lori.jot.com/coolTools