Libraries are boarding the RSS Train

RSS is an abbreviation of Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. RSS provides a simple way to stay current socially, news wise, events wise as well as keep you informed about places or areas you are interested in physically (receiving live updates from an NRL game whilst at work), digitally (notifications when your favourite bloggers post) and research wise (new acquisitions at your library). All this information and more is provided in a single convenient feed, you decide what you want to see, you custom build your feed to your wants and needs (Zanin-Yost, 2010, p.1: Wilson, 2008, p.9).

The library sphere is taking interest in RSS technology and how it can serve clients. Different libraries use RSS feeds for different purposes (Yue, Greene & Blackwell, 2006, p.307), for example the University of Sydney Library uses is for students loans information, promote library events, subject guides news, and library news. The State Library of NSW has multiple RSS feeds available, however they are almost entirely devoted to promotion of new resources.

Moxie Librarian is a blog that used to be regularly updated with lots of information relation to libraries and web 2.0 or library 2.0 technologies. Unfortunately this has not been updated for around 10 months now, however in 2008 a list was posted of 10 ways the author proposed that libraries could use RSS technology within the library environment, these included; new additions, reminders, events, and interestingly job openings which was an option I had not considered. Click here to view the full list.

I located some videos which demonstrate different libraries and their use of RSS feeds;

The University of Wyoming example uses Google reader. It was interesting to note that whilst there are a lot of videos available from Libraries surrounding how to use web 2.0 technologies not many people view them. Are these videos unwanted or are they just not well promoted?

The National University of Singapore, this video provides a step by step from the library homepage which makes it that much easier for students to follow.

Redeemer Lutheran College has recently released a video which is a good example of the fact that the use of this technology is still expanding.

 

References

Cheryl (The Moxie Librarian). (2008). 10 ways libraries can use RSS [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://moxielibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/10-ways-libraries-can-use-rss/ on 25 July, 2012.

Nuslibraries. (2011). How to add and view RSS feeds at the Library portal. Accessed via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWbXsVZYyYo on 25 July, 2012.

RedeemerLibrary. (2012). Adding an RSS feed. Accessed via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAb2vOFITD8 on 25 July, 2012.

Skrabut. (2012). RSS Feeds – Linking to UW Library search queries. Accessed via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUgLUJLsFU on 25 July, 2012.

State Library of NSW. (2012). RSS Feeds. Retrieved from                http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/rss/index.html on 25 July, 2012.

University of Sydney (2012) RSS Feeds. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/library/about/rss.html on 25 July, 2012.

Wilson, D. W. (2008) Monitoring technology trends with podcasts, RSS and Twitter, Library Hi Tech News, 25(10), p.8 – 12.

Yue, P., Greene, A. & Blackwell, L. S. (2006). RSS in Your Future? The serials librarian, 50(3-4), p. 305 – 310.

Zanin-Yost, A. (2010). Library 2.0: Blogs, wikis, and RSS to serve the Library. Library philosophy and practice, 09/2010, p.1.

Advertisement

Social Bookmarking Tools – Delicious

Social bookmarking is an increasingly popular form of social networking technology, eBiz has compiled a list of the 15 most popular social bookmarking sites. Number seven on this list is Delicious (eBiz, 2012), this company was founded in 2003 and initially I was a heavy user of it. However, in 2011 it was bought by a company called AVOS and was completely rebuilt (Delicious, 2012) I did not find the new platform pleasing or as useful for my purposes so I stopped using it.

In particular I find the search function clunky, you are not able to easily seek for a particular user. If you know the particular ‘tag’ you wish to search under you can enter this or random search using keywords. If you were searching in general for subjects of interest it is much more user friendly, but when seeking specific channels or stacks it can be frustrating. If you find something you like, make sure you tag it then and there as you may not be able to find it again.

Having returned to this after a couple of years not using it, my initial thoughts on the new layout was that it seemed reminiscent of Pinterest.

http://pinterest.com/about/

After having played with a few different social bookmarking sites I do prefer the interface of Flickr…

http://www.flickr.com/

I will be using delicious for the duration of this session for INF206 as a storage place for information I feel is relevant or useful to the subject and my understanding of it. This would be a good tool for a compilation by numerous people around topic areas, it would also be a useful place to save links if you were collaborating or had a group project. With the ability to tag and write a summary on each link this enables the contributor to write notes as to where the link fits in with their research. Teaching wise depending on the age of the student it could be a great tool. For younger kids you could ask them to locate and tag links around a topic area – it could be a good introductive tool to the web and web 2.0 technologies for younger children.

Following is a great video entitled, “Social bookmarking in plain English, for the rest of us”, this video is from 2009 so is based on the old delicious website. However it is still a great video which explains really well what social bookmarking is, how it works and also talks about ways it can be used in education as well as networking.

References

Delicious (2012). About. Retrieved http://www.delicious.com/about on 22 July, 2012.

eBiz (2012). Top 15 most popular social bookmarking websites. Retrieved from http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-bookmarking-websites on 22 July, 2012.

Social Networking

What is ‘Social Networking’?

The commonly accepted definition of social networking has changed, when I was growing up it referred to catching up with friends and/or making new ones, these days the definition has been revised and the most common association is with online social networking tools that allow communication across many mediums. People may share conversations, information, pictures, collaborate, catch up with old friends and make new ones in any corner of the world where the person has an internet connection, (Burke, 2009, p. 155: O’Reilly, 2005: Wikipedia, 2012). If I was only allowed three words to describe social networking I would say ‘user generated content’.

Here’s a fun little video about the different types of social networking and how we get wrapped up in them.

Social Networking I have used

I have had what I believe is a pretty decent exposure to social networking technologies and either use or have used the following:

• Bebo – professional
• Blogs – blogger and wordpress – personal and study
• Etherpad – professional and study
• Facebook – personal and professional
• Flickr – personal and professional
• Googledocs – personal, professional and study
• Linked In – professional
• MMORPGS – personal
• Myspace – personal and professional
• Social bookmarking – delicious
• Twitter – personal, professional and study
• Video sharing – You tube
• Virtual worlds – second life – study
• Wikipedia – personal, professional and study
• Wikis – variety of platforms – professional and study
• Yammer – professional

Social networking tools I use

What I hope to learn

In today’s world of constantly evolving technology I believe a comprehensive understanding of social networking technology is important both as a general user and as an information professional. Whilst I would consider my exposure to these technologies broader than most people in general, I certainly do not have expertise in their use. I believe the work of information professionals will continue to expand in this arena and I hope this subject will bring me up to date with the current trends in social networking as well as provide me with the skills and understanding to embrace and understand technologies which may emerge in the future.

References

Burke, J. J. (2009). Neal-Schuman library technology companion: a basic guide for library staff. (3rd ed.), Neal-Schuman Publishers, New York.

O’Reilly, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0? Retrieved from http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html on 14 July, 2012.

Wikipedia. (2012). Web 2.0. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0 on 14 July, 2012.