8. Current Awareness

Personalisation is on the rise: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft etc. showing personalised limited search results marked the beginning of the era of personalisation and ignorance. "This trend is rising and the big companies predict that practically all information will be personalised in the near future". Huge amounts of data can easily turn to artificial intelligence and it is very scary to say the least.

We need to avoid falling into the bubble trap, and people who are responsible for such exclusion should really think of how significantly they damaged the image of true democracy.

7. Podcasts

TITLE: Exhibitions Podcast

Recording details: Paul Brunton talks about Charles Darwin

Library's name: State Library NSW

Summary:  Paul Brunton, Exhibition Curator, talks about Darwin's impressions of Sydney in 1836, and about the first edition of On the origin of species.

Part of the Charles Darwin Down Under, 1836 exhibition.

File size: 9.24 MB | Duration: 00:10:06
Tuesday 7 April 2009
Link: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/podcasts/exhibitions/index.html

6. Social Bookmarking

Online reviews, a form of online word-of-mouth, have recently become one of the most important sources of information for readers.

Book reviews can be very useful in a number of ways during the research process.
They may often give:

• information about the author,
• a summary of the book's contents,
• comparisons to other works in the field,
• and of course evaluative comments.

This proves that all libraries should provide this service. Unfortunately, the library that I use does not have this option available on their catalogue, but I hope they will fix that soon. 

5. Social Networking

It is a good idea for a library to participate on a social networking sites as online-social-hubs' members can gather and feel a sense of community and belonging. It's a perfect environment to find like-minded people and it's a great tool for portals, networking, marketing outreach etc. Library social networking can be used as a vehicle:
* to produce organised, multimedia knowledge bases by learners
* to collaborate with others
* to access needed information
* to build consensus among members of a community
* to help learners articulate and represent what they know, reflecting on what they have learned.

4. YouTube video

Nancy Pearl Reads Aloud New Children's Classic 

3. Photo sharing and Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/groups/library_of_congress/

The Library of Congress is America's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.
The picture shows some of the richest public interiors in the United States, the work of classically trained American sculptors and painters of the "American Renaissance". Its golden shapes are very symbolic, exhibiting the progress of civilization. This photograph reminds me of Paris with its similarly ambitious expression of national pride.
The statue in the middle is absolutely beautiful. Symbolising world's knowledge and wisdom, it inspires people to never stop learning.
http://www.loc.gov/visit/maps/
 

2. Investigating Blogs

Librarian in Black is Sarah Houghton's online blog which has been around since 2003. She is working as the Director for the San Rafael Public Library (California). [The views expressed on this site and in individual posts are not those of the San Rafael Public Library, the City of San Rafael, or any related agency.]

This blog is very easy to read, it has interesting presentations, pictures and publications. She's available to consult as an instructor on a wide variety of topics; and consults regularly with libraries in an informal advisory capacity on numerous technology topics.

It's up to date and I really liked its style. Miss Sarah Houghton's posts are very intelligent and interesting to read. It helps others find information on library web & digital services successfully. I would recommend this web-blog to people who are interested in technological aspects of managing/working in libraries.

1. What is Library 2.0?

Library 2.0 is a change in the way libraries interact with their users. Technological developments on the Web have had a major influence on these changes. The change also places new requirements on librarians’ competencies and skills. It provides new tools to make the library space (both virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative and driven by community needs. It encourages collaborative two-way social interactions between library staff and library customers. L2 requires user participation and feedback in the development and maintenence of library services.

Three Web 2.0 applications commonly used by Libraries are:

* Facebook
* WordPress
* Twitter

HELLO WORLD!