#22 Audiobooks

The World EBook fair site is no longer free. The website states that the next open access fair will be available from 4 July - 4 August 2010. I may have to revisit then! It now costs US$8.95 per year to join the World Public Library, where around 750,000 eBooks are available to download.

In the meantime, I have had a look around the World Public Library site. There are many public domain works available in pdf, as well as in MP3. The audio books mainly seem to be divided into chapters. I assume that this is because they are quite large files.

Subscription services offered by the World Public Library and NetLibrary are especially useful for Libraries to set up for their clients. I had a quick look at my local public library, but alas, no such service is offered.

#21 Podcasts, Smodcasts!

Podcasts are a great way to impart information. Listening to a voice with inflections can help the brain process information quicker and more easily. It can also make the intake more interesting. For this exercise I looked at Podcastalley.com. I didn't like it. The search feature is much too basic, the list of results is difficult to read, and there is a lot of dated material (not that older material doesn't have its merits). And the advertising was way over the top. Unfortunately Podcast.net and Yahoo Podcasts seem to have gone the way of the dinosaurs, so I also looked at Podcast.com. I found this site much easier on the eye, and found it yielded much better results with a search. I came across an interesting podcast - the LexisNexis Government Info Pro Podcast.

#20 You too can YouTube

I've been a fan of YouTube for a long time now (along with a great majority of the online world). I use it for entertainment, information, reminiscing, and to settle arguments! I love the way you can browse around using the Related Videos feature. I have been stuck at my computer into the wee hours of the night more than once by browsing around. The suggested searches as you begin typing into the search box is another favourite feature. Both of these features could be used in all kinds of applications within libraries. Anything to make things easier and more intuitive!

Unfortunately, it seems that the "Embeddable Player" link is no longer available. But I did want to share my favourite YouTube clip - Medieval Helpdesk. It is Norwegian, but has English subtitles. Enjoy!

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools

For this discovery exercise, I looked at My Heritage, a family tree building site. It is very easy to navigate and use. I was able to establish a basic family tree in a matter of minutes. Another feature is the ancestors search, which searches across many different genealogy databases at once. This feature took quite a while, so I will come back to it at another time.

Although I can't see this site being of any great benefit in a special library, public libraries could, of course, promote it to users. Just a bit of fun!

# 18 Web-based Apps

So this is Zoho Writer. It looks very similar to Word. I can change the font, the colour, the size - exactly the same as in Word.I can bold, italicize, and underline.

I can indent a line.

It all feels very comfortable and familiar. I love the idea of being able to access documents regardless of which computer I happen to be at. Yet again though, my inner pessimist is nagging at me about continuity and security. I wonder if this is a concern shared by others, or if I just have to shake off this feeling and go with it?

Being able to export a document to pdf is great! And I am now going to try to send it to my blog - wish me luck!

#17 Playing around with PBWiki

Hmm... Not sure what I have done wrong, but I can't add content to the Learning 2.0 Wiki Sandbox. I've created an account, confirmed it with the link in an email, but I still can't edit! Very curious, I'll have to come back to this another time.

#16 So what's in a wiki?

I love wikis. But then, as a librarian whose job it is to understand concepts such as authority, I know to take them with a grain of salt. Yes, the content in a wiki can be subjective. But so can the content in a newspaper, journal, website etc...
I remember a skit on a comedy TV show from many years ago, which demonstrated the differences in reporting between Channel Nine news, ABC news and Channel 31 news. The subject was a police raid on a marijuana crop. The Channel Nine newsreader praised the brave and heroic police for saving the community from the scourge of drugs. The ABC newsreader reported on a raid on a "community farmer". The Channel 31 newsreader berated "The Man" for keeping the working man down. Everything is subjective. At least with wikis, we are prepared for it.
And look at the benefits. You no longer need to be a published academic to share knowledge in your area of choice. As a community, big or small, we are sharing our information, our knowledge, and our wisdom. How can that be bad?