Zamzar is a handy tool and great for customers and staff. I love the four step, simple conversion box right on the front page ... no clicking around trying to figure out what to do next. No need to read through an instruction page before jumping right in.
I think before recommending it to mr or ms public, it would be good to warn them that it's not suitable to use for sensitive documents (like court documents, a passport/birth certificate copy). According to their privacy policy, they delete the originally uploaded file as soon as it's converted, but the converted file remains on their servers and is accessible by them.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Week 1: Here we go again!
I just had some fun reading over some of my posts from the first round of web 2.0. It's interesting seeing how fast things have changed in the web world since then. E-books are now taking a fair share of the market (overseas at least ... still waiting here). AOL announced last week they are either going to sell or shut down Bebo entirely.
Blogging is still a big part of the web, but what has really taken off since 2008 is the whole micro-blogging thing: blogs made up of one sentence updates, like twitter or a facebook status. I guess that says something about the modern attention span. I suppose longer blog posts require some skill on the part of the writer to maintain people's interest, where as micro blogging is more accessible. Even if you've just learnt to string two words together, you can still tweet.
A Manukau Libraries public blog would be a great idea, I think. I envision it as being something updated once a week from different locations around the organization. So one week we'd have a post from cataloging, and the next from Mangere Bridge library, for example. It would work like a Captain's logbook ... a record of our thoughts and feelings and interesting observations. What I think would not work would be some kind of PR or marketing blog which is all about advertising our greatness to customers with no personal element behind it. The most successful blogs tend to be the most opinionated ones.
Blogging is still a big part of the web, but what has really taken off since 2008 is the whole micro-blogging thing: blogs made up of one sentence updates, like twitter or a facebook status. I guess that says something about the modern attention span. I suppose longer blog posts require some skill on the part of the writer to maintain people's interest, where as micro blogging is more accessible. Even if you've just learnt to string two words together, you can still tweet.
A Manukau Libraries public blog would be a great idea, I think. I envision it as being something updated once a week from different locations around the organization. So one week we'd have a post from cataloging, and the next from Mangere Bridge library, for example. It would work like a Captain's logbook ... a record of our thoughts and feelings and interesting observations. What I think would not work would be some kind of PR or marketing blog which is all about advertising our greatness to customers with no personal element behind it. The most successful blogs tend to be the most opinionated ones.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Week 23: Final Thoughts
I spend a lot of time on the internet, but I still learnt a lot out of this course. It gave me a reason to explore websites I would never have looked at before. My favourite parts of the course were the various videos explaining the concepts. A lot of them were very well done.
It's definitely been a worth while exercise. Time for Web 3.0 and 4.0 now ...
It's definitely been a worth while exercise. Time for Web 3.0 and 4.0 now ...
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Week 9: Ebooks
The ebook ... it is supposed to do for the publishing industry what mp3s and youtube have done for the music and television. Yet it hasn't happened. Not yet, anyway. They are certainly growing in popularity, and, according to Wikipedia, are apparently very popular in Japan.
I love websites like Project Gutenburg. Sometimes you just want to look up a particular scene in a classic novel, or confirm a particular quote. Archives of classic ebooks like this make this task as simple as doing an internet search.
Ebook readers are already starting to address the common concerns that prevent people from embracing ebooks - the number one drawback being that reading off a screen isn't as easy as reading off the printed page. But a library of ebooks has the potential to hold millions and millions of books in the space of a single library shelf. Perhaps the benefits outweight any potential drawbacks.
I love websites like Project Gutenburg. Sometimes you just want to look up a particular scene in a classic novel, or confirm a particular quote. Archives of classic ebooks like this make this task as simple as doing an internet search.
Ebook readers are already starting to address the common concerns that prevent people from embracing ebooks - the number one drawback being that reading off a screen isn't as easy as reading off the printed page. But a library of ebooks has the potential to hold millions and millions of books in the space of a single library shelf. Perhaps the benefits outweight any potential drawbacks.
Week 9: Podcasts
The podcast I choose is Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for better writing. This is a great podcast if you're interested in learning more about grammar, whether for fun or professional purposes.
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
The RSS feed is http://www.qdnow.com/grammar.xml, which I've added to my bloglines account.
Podcasts are like a magazine, except you listen to them rather than read them. Another way to think of them is as an audio blog. This means you can catch up on them while you're driving or doing the housework. MP3 players can be synced with a PC to automatically download new podcasts when they become available, meaning you don't even have to take the time to download new podcast episodes onto your mp3 player or pc. For libraries, they can be used to deploy information to staff in an interesting format, much like blogging.
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
The RSS feed is http://www.qdnow.com/grammar.xml, which I've added to my bloglines account.
Podcasts are like a magazine, except you listen to them rather than read them. Another way to think of them is as an audio blog. This means you can catch up on them while you're driving or doing the housework. MP3 players can be synced with a PC to automatically download new podcasts when they become available, meaning you don't even have to take the time to download new podcast episodes onto your mp3 player or pc. For libraries, they can be used to deploy information to staff in an interesting format, much like blogging.
Week 9: YouTube
I present the Barack Roll:
This alone is why YouTube is one of the best things on the web.
I've seen YouTube improve a lot over the years. It used to be hard to find the videos you were looking for, but they've improved their search engine (possibly after being bought by Google).
In a library context, YouTube can be used to deliver information and content in a way that's accessible and interesting. Imagine a tour of the library video on YouTube? A guide to the Learn.net? Librarians making videos to introduce themselves to the customers? The possibilities are endless.
This alone is why YouTube is one of the best things on the web.
I've seen YouTube improve a lot over the years. It used to be hard to find the videos you were looking for, but they've improved their search engine (possibly after being bought by Google).
In a library context, YouTube can be used to deliver information and content in a way that's accessible and interesting. Imagine a tour of the library video on YouTube? A guide to the Learn.net? Librarians making videos to introduce themselves to the customers? The possibilities are endless.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Week 8: Discovering Web 2.0 tools
I chose colorblender.com for my tool:
http://colorblender.com/
I was thinking about using backpack - http://www.backpackit.com/ - but I changed my mind after I saw this on their front page.
Quote:
"No "computer guy" required. It's easy. Sign up in 30 seconds!"
Computer guy. Uh huh. What about computer girls? Yes, there are women who work in IT. Women also have the vote now. Get with it, backpack.
Anyway, enough feminism. Back to colorblender. Very fun. I loved the random blend feature. I think this would be great whenever people are designing documents/brochures/websites for the library and need help choosing matching colors.
http://colorblender.com/
I was thinking about using backpack - http://www.backpackit.com/ - but I changed my mind after I saw this on their front page.
Quote:
"No "computer guy" required. It's easy. Sign up in 30 seconds!"
Computer guy. Uh huh. What about computer girls? Yes, there are women who work in IT. Women also have the vote now. Get with it, backpack.
Anyway, enough feminism. Back to colorblender. Very fun. I loved the random blend feature. I think this would be great whenever people are designing documents/brochures/websites for the library and need help choosing matching colors.
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