The site I looked at was www.yelp.com, under the heading City Guides and Reviews. I wasn't going to go for a winning site, but I was interested in the idea. Basically it is a site where people can review the services, businesses, events, etc. in their area. Unfortunately, it is only within the United States at the moment.
What a good idea though! It would be great if there was something like this for our locality. Any sites that I have seen about the area are either from a council view, for prospective residents, or from the local tourism folk.
To have something that residents can add to would be great. I still can't say definitively what the best restaurants in my area are, because we don't eat out very often, so when we do, it's hit and miss. To the best of my knowledge there are no local restaurant reviews.
Same with trades and services. Last year when we needed a new fence, we just picked a few people out of the phone book to give us quotes, based purely on...intuition? randomness? Same with mechanics - we tried a few local ones which we weren't happy with, and ended up going back to the one we knew outside of our area. It would be so handy if there was a site we could go to with people's recommendations (or not, as the case may be).
This would also be something I would regularly point people to in the library. We get a lot of people asking for local business information, and as I don't live where I work, I am generally clueless. I think I have already illustrated how much I know about the area where I do live.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
#18 Web-based Apps
Created my account with Zoho, made a few documents. As I am already familiar with Word, it was pretty easy to figure out, having a similar format. It's not something I would use regularly, as most documents I create are personal (as opposed to business) ones.
However, occasionally I do make some of my documents available for the perusal of others, and it's really good to know that Zoho is available.
However, occasionally I do make some of my documents available for the perusal of others, and it's really good to know that Zoho is available.
Monday, October 29, 2007
#17 Playing around with PBWiki
Good to put the last activity into action. I had a hard time adding my blog because of the erroneous bracket thing. Reading my email put me on the right track, lol.
#16 So what's in a wiki?
Well I looked through the given library wikis, but the thing that most inspired me came from the discovery resources, once again, namely Using Wikis to Create Online Communities.
Allowing our patrons to annotate the catalogue! What a fantastic idea. It facilitates a dialogue between staff and patrons, and encourages people to actively use technology who might not otherwise do so. Not to mention making our library website more dynamic and fun, and improving our resource to the community. I love it.
Allowing our patrons to annotate the catalogue! What a fantastic idea. It facilitates a dialogue between staff and patrons, and encourages people to actively use technology who might not otherwise do so. Not to mention making our library website more dynamic and fun, and improving our resource to the community. I love it.
#15 On Library 2.0 and Web 2.0
Icebergs...
I was interested to read about the 'just in case' collection. I must admit I was slightly horrified when I first began working at the library at how regularly books are deleted. What? No! You can't get that book anymore! It's an unusual topic!
Of course, I have now seen that it is necessary and right to cull the collection for various reasons. Yet some emotional part of me hates to see the old books go. You would see this in evidence at my house, where the bookshelves are overflowing. I use the library (duh) but I can't seem to stop buying books, either.
Yes, the internet means that anyone can access just about any information, but not everything. Sometimes it's just the inspiration to hit the library. For example, some time ago, while researching British folklore on the internet, I found a reference to an essay on the very topic I was researching. Was the essay online? No! It was in an English journal from the 1960's. So when I finally got to the UK, I went straight to the library and copied the article.
The other thing about the internet is that a lot of sites don't quote their sources - again, frustrating when researching history. You can't beat the old books for that. There has to be a middle ground between print and technology, IMHO.
I was interested to read about the 'just in case' collection. I must admit I was slightly horrified when I first began working at the library at how regularly books are deleted. What? No! You can't get that book anymore! It's an unusual topic!
Of course, I have now seen that it is necessary and right to cull the collection for various reasons. Yet some emotional part of me hates to see the old books go. You would see this in evidence at my house, where the bookshelves are overflowing. I use the library (duh) but I can't seem to stop buying books, either.
Yes, the internet means that anyone can access just about any information, but not everything. Sometimes it's just the inspiration to hit the library. For example, some time ago, while researching British folklore on the internet, I found a reference to an essay on the very topic I was researching. Was the essay online? No! It was in an English journal from the 1960's. So when I finally got to the UK, I went straight to the library and copied the article.
The other thing about the internet is that a lot of sites don't quote their sources - again, frustrating when researching history. You can't beat the old books for that. There has to be a middle ground between print and technology, IMHO.
#14 Technorati
A fair few results come up for "Learning 2.0", don't they? We really are part of a global community. It's pretty obvious what the differences are between searching blogs, posts and tags. Searching for blogs gets you whole blogs about it, tags gets you posts about it, and posts get you posts which mention it (the most results this way).
I am amazed to learn how seriously peoples' blogs are being taken. Major news websites linking to blogs - wow. One of the posts I found was about the five reasons why C.E.O.'s should blog (communication skills, company image, relations with staff and customers - to paraphrase). It seems blogging is becoming a major social tool.
Another one I found while looking for popular blogs is called Boing Boing. This is apparently the world's most popular blog (but not the one most looked at). Surprisingly to me, it's only mildly interesting. I'm guessing this is one of those things that spread by word of mouth (or hand), and has snowballed because of the hype, not through any innate merit.
I am amazed to learn how seriously peoples' blogs are being taken. Major news websites linking to blogs - wow. One of the posts I found was about the five reasons why C.E.O.'s should blog (communication skills, company image, relations with staff and customers - to paraphrase). It seems blogging is becoming a major social tool.
Another one I found while looking for popular blogs is called Boing Boing. This is apparently the world's most popular blog (but not the one most looked at). Surprisingly to me, it's only mildly interesting. I'm guessing this is one of those things that spread by word of mouth (or hand), and has snowballed because of the hype, not through any innate merit.
#13 del.icio.us
I wasn't initially impressed with del.icio.us - I am definitely not impressed with typing the word, lol. I didn't really understand why you wouldn't just use your bookmarks. Enter the discovery resources! The Commoncraft Youtube video explained things to me. Having your bookmarks online rather than confined to one computer terminal would definitely be useful - I will have to start transferring my bookmarks on to del.icio.us.
The main things that I personally would use this for would be when travelling, and if there is a website I want to show a friend while at their place. I probably wouldn't spend much time searching through other people's bookmarks though. Maybe I am not a very social person, at least not on the web.
The main things that I personally would use this for would be when travelling, and if there is a website I want to show a friend while at their place. I probably wouldn't spend much time searching through other people's bookmarks though. Maybe I am not a very social person, at least not on the web.
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