Web 2.0 Tools for Collaborative
Library Communication
Presented for SCRLC by:
Goals for Today
• What is Web 2.0?
• What are some Web 2.0 technologies/tools?
• Begin using them—today!
• Find out what’s out there—on and by you—
and add to it!
Web 2.0 Defined
“A second generation of services available on the World
Wide Web that let people collaborate, and share
information online. In contrast to the first generation,
Web 2.0 gives users an experience closer to
desktop applications than the traditional static
Web pages.” (emphasis mine)
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
Web 2.0 in Brief and Benefits
• Personalized content
• Portable
• Many-to-many and/or few-to-few
communication
• Conversation/Community
• Participatory, not passive
• Networking opportunities galore
1.0 vs. 2.0
•
•
•
•
•
•
Read-only web vs. read/write web
Yahoo mail vs. Gmail
E-mail vs. IM
Newsletters vs. blogs
Static vs. dynamic
Isolated vs. interactive
The 2.0 Difference for Libraries
• Social, social, social
• Info sharing
• Opportunity!
– Branding/getting your name out there
– Community building
– Truly user-centered libraries create superpatrons
A Handful of Web 2.0
Technologies to Explore
• Blogs/RSS – Blogger, Bloglines, Tumblr, MovableType,
WordPress, MySpace, etc.
• Wikis – PBwiki, Wikispaces, MediaWiki, Jotspot, etc.
• Social bookmarking/sharing – Flickr, del.icio.us, etc.
• Social networking/personal info search sites –
Zabasearch, LinkedIn, etc.
“Web 2.0 Is Here…”
• Use Web 2.0 resources to connect, share, trade,
collaborate, and stay up-to-date:
Watch this short video!
RSS
RSS stands for:
• Rich Site Summary, or
• RDF Site Summary, or
• Really Simple Syndication.
RSS Defined
“RSS files (which are also called RSS feeds
or channels) simply contain a list of items.
Usually, each item contains a title, summary,
and a link to a URL (e.g. a web page).”
--Fagan Finder All About RSS
http://www.faganfinder.com/search/rss.shtml
Using RSS Feeds
• End-user, via a feed reader
• Provider of RSS feeds, your team’s blog
Does My Favorite Site Have RSS
Feeds?
Yes, if you see any of the following:
“Syndicate this site!”
Why Use RSS?
• Info access wave of the right now!
• One-stop shopping for information people
need & want, the way they want
• Simplicity
RSS In Short
All of the information,
none of the formatting.
RSS In Short
RSS feeds:
“They’re the glue that holds Web 2.0
together” Peter Bromberg
Reading RSS Feeds
• Aggregators:
–
–
–
–
–
www.bloglines.com (we will look at this today)
http://google.com/reader
http://newsgator.com
http://blogbridge.com
http://blogspace.com/rss/readers
Free Tools & Technologies:
Why Use Them?
• Easy blogs/pseudo-blogs for really quick sharing
• Simple start Wikis for fast interactive
communication (in print and real-time voice)
• No hassle Social Bookmarking/Sharing sites for
pictures, real-time collaboration, file-sharing, and
communication
Blogs
• Frequently updated
• Entries in reverse chronological order
• Entries are usually brief, chock full of links &
commentary
Blogs
• Individual blog entries are saved w/ unique
URL, and can be categorized and searched
• Entries are archived automatically
• Blogs can have one or more contributors
Why Use Blogs?
• Library’s web presence = warm, human voice
• Easy-to-update
• Start a conversation with your patrons
– go on, give ‘em a stake!
Blogs vs. Listservs
Excerpted from the SJRLC Blog:
“The blog will be more informal than the
listserv, which is not to say it will be
unprofessional. The listserv is
business wear, the blog is casual
Fridays.”
-- http://tinyurl.com/s5783
Lots of Choices:
Blog Software
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bloglines: bloglines.com
Drupal: drupal.org/
Blogger: blogger.com/
WordPress: wordpress.com/
MySpace: myspace.com/
Tumblr: tumblr.com/
The State of Technorati
http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000492.html
Wikis
“A type of website that allows anyone
visiting the site to add, to remove, or
otherwise to edit all content, very quickly
and easily, sometimes without the need for
registration. This ease of interaction and
operation makes a wiki an effective tool for
collaborative writing.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
Wiki Examples
• Wikipedia
• Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
• ALA Emerging Leaders
• Education Zoomerone
More Wiki Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
SJCPL Subject Guides
Camden County Library Intranet
Princeton Public Library TTT
NJLA Blog Planning Wiki
BizWiki
LISWiki
Library Instruction Wiki
Camden County Library Intranet
Build Your Own Wiki!
• PBwiki: www.pbwiki.com
• Wikispaces: www.wikispaces.com
• MediaWiki: www.mediawiki.org
• Jotspot: www.jot.com
Social Bookmarking
“These tools "allow users to tag Web sites
and links and to share their finds with other
communities of users.”
Laura Gordon-Murnane in Searcher,
June 2006: pp. 26-38
Start Collecting and/or Sharing!
• Flickr: www.flickr.com
• del.icio.us: http://del.icio.us
• Filamentality: www.filamentality.com
• Social Networking Sites and Personal
Information Search Engines:
www.filamentality.com (search for Lackie)
Other Ways to Collect, Share, and
Communicate in Real Time with Others:
•
•
•
•
•
Ta-da Lists: tadalist.com
Google Docs & Spreadsheets AND Gtalk
LibraryThing: librarything.com (sharing books)
SlideShare: slideshare.net (for sharing PPTs)
Senduit: senduit.com (for sharing files)
Questions?
And who wants a copy of the
PowerPoint using Senduit.com,
right now!?
Final Tips and Hints for Keeping Up-todate on Other Tools and Technologies:
• Time Magazine’s 50 Coolest Websites 2006
http://www.time.com/time/2006/50coolest/
• SEOmoz’s Web 2.0 Awards 2007
http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/
• OEDb Top 25 Web 2.0 Search Engines 2007
http://oedb.org/library/features/top-25-web20search-engines
PowerPoint Presentation Slides:
http://leto.rider.edu/~rlackie/web2/w
eb2introSCRLC8-2007.ppt
THE END