13. I, (like many others, it seems), found the instructions & tutorials for using del.icio.us obtuse, and at least one link was dead. I know delicious is very popular, and I have been curious about it, so I decided to just go ahead and start an account. At the site, they describe delicious as a place to do social bookmarking. A place to put all your bookmarks in one place. And, "A tag is simply a word you use to describe a bookmark. Unlike folders, you make up tags when you need them and you can use as many as you like. The result is a better way to organize your bookmarks and a great way to discover interesting things on the Web."
I have registered and now I'm going to try and see how this site works.
OK, I have looked around and tagged some sites. I like it! The instructions at the site are quite easy to use, and the process and vocabulary make a lot more sense when you can actually apply it. Del.icio.us offers an intuitive way to use the net, the toggle for tagging that I installed on my browser is very convenient. I like how the list of sites are complete with URL. I think it'd take some use to understand the potential of the site to the user, but my first impression is that it's a neat tool, a human-friendly and interesting way of organizing bookmarks and learning about sites, recommended by others, related to an interest.
14. technorati link up:
Technorati Profile
15. Perspectives on Web 2.0:
"The first traces of Web 2.0 are already appearing. Consider the roaring success of sites that embody Web 2.0 principles of simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, collective intelligence, self-service, novel and remixed content—Flickr, MySpace, FaceBook, del.icio.us, YouTube, LibraryThing—to name a few."
from:
http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/1.htm
well, some of those sites have become pretty familiar.
"Reliance on user education Libraries are poorly equipped and insufficiently staffed for teaching. Ask yourself what your patron-to-librarian ratio is (at the University of Nevada it’s about 680 to 1) and then ask yourself how you’re going to train all those patrons. We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need, so they can spend as little time as possible wrestling with lousy search interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning. Obviously, we’ll help and educate patrons when we can, and when they want us to, and the more we can integrate our services with local curricula, the better. But if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons. One-button commands, such as Flickr’s “Blog This,” and easy-to-use programs like Google Page Creator, offer promising models for this kind of user-centric service."
from:
http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm
This is true: intuitive, user-friendly access is a terrific goal and definitely the direction the web interfaces are going. It's also true that unless or until the online environment is easy for all to navigate and contribute to, people need help to use it well. In some cases, the library is the only, or the main place where individuals have access to web, and other online resources. This is an awesome offering. We at the library could use more resources in terms of staff and training in order to provide expert education to our public so they are empowered to interact effectively and productively with the online environment. We should also try to assure that our own interfaces, like our webpage and database access are as un-intimidating, and welcoming to use as possible.
At the same time, even as the web becomes "easier" to use with clear buttons and easy programs, and even if our library homepages shine with well lighted pathways to our resources, "information literacy" goes beyond the ability to get at information, to manipulate and to contribute to it. Also important is the will and ability to look at material critically, the knowledge to evaluate information, along with the saavy to judicially, ethically and safely share information.
These components of information literacy promote quality use of the internet and still need to be taught "impartially". Critical thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment