Reflections on Module I – Affordance

Last night, I spent some time going over student comments from our first two weeks of Module I (Affordance) of LIBR559M. As we move into discussing the ‘web 2.0‘ phenomenon, consider some of the most important aspects of each of the tools and technologies below as you examine libraries, archives and/or museums and how those information agencies are responding to web 2.0.

Blogging – a few reasons blogs are central to web2

* blogs are for communicating, sharing, writing and meaning-making
* blogs provide very current insight into information technologies that few other mechanisms can
* all of your favourite blogs can be pulled together into one area using RSS or a blogroll for easy tracking
* as an information professional, you can use blogs to float ideas and talk to your colleagues anywhere
* blogs are peer-built democratic networks and help you to develop your knowledge of the information age
* using comments in blogs can encourage your peers with their writing, and get responses to questions for difficult information problems

Microblogging – where does Twitter fit?

* Twitter is great for networking, exploring ideas, collaboration across professional and geopolitical boundaries
* micro-platforms are places to snoop, assess opinion, try ‘metacognition’; ‘listen in’ to presentations; intellectual ‘ping pong’
* a tool for reference or research, facilitate virtual classroom discussion, create a micro learning environment aka. “Personal Learning Network”
* use it to broadcast publications and materials, locate original sources of ideas, quotes, allows for focused, concise and concrete feedback to refine your ideas
* foster professional connections, informal research, for storytelling, follow a professional, get feedback
* get event updates, live coverage of events, build trust, build a community etc.

Wikis – as we move to collaborate!

* use wikis for projects; for collaborating on documents and resources
* use as a knowledge-base in your field; as a teaching or e-portfolio
* as a group research project for a specific idea or paper
* asynchronous collaborative writing
* to manage large complicated documents; use as a collaborative handout; journaling
* create and maintain a library FAQs; debate area;
* a place to aggregate web resources; committees, working parties and university projects etc.

Photo / Slides Sharing – Flickr, SlideShare, YouTube

* to share, comment, and add notes to photos or images or knowledge objects in LIBR559M
* inspire writing and creativity; create a presentation using photos; share using Creative Commons
* write metadata/tags to find photos and events around the world
* post your presentations to your user groups and get feedback
* share professional development materials and have them available anywhere, anytime, to anyone; post presentations of special events
* professional development on own terms; create subject specific videos for your organization; as examples of your teaching

RSS Feeds & Syndication

* time saving; aggregation
* obtain or find updated information in your area of interest
* information coming from multiple viewpoints, share with other librarians and archivists
* RSS feeds can potentially replace traditional email lists, reducing email overload
* feeds can be used to keep course specific webpages current and relevant etc.

Social Bookmarking- Delicious! (among other tools)

* create set of resources to be accessed on any computer connected to the internet; conduct research and share research with peers
* track author and book updates; groups doing projects sharing their bookmarks;
* rate and review bookmarks to help with students decide on usefulness of resources; bibliometric data
* setup a group tag in order to share educational resources
* use one account by large group of information professionals to share resources with each other etc.

Other tools such as IM, VoIP and calendar apps

* instant messaging (i.e. Meebo, GoogleTalk, MSN) increases sense of community and accessibility (required for collaborative learning)
* VoIP to promote international collaboration
* calendar applications to make and schedule calendar events, anything you want available on mobile devices connected to the Internet
* survey and polls, online diagrams and web-based word processor, on-line spreadsheets, social search, mind mapping;
* virtual and immersive worlds – virtual conferences and seminars, team meetings and collaboration spaces