#18 and #19 Webjunction

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded OCLC Online Computer Library Center a three-year grant to build a portal for public libraries and other organizations that provide public access to information.

WebJunction is an amazing resource. Self described as an "online community for library staff", it has resources, training courses and a community of members that can interact in various ways, such as forums, discussion boards, wikis and blogs. WebJunction is a cooperative of library staff sharing and using online resources that enable us to identify and embrace appropriate technologies and apply them to our daily work.

#17 Podcasts

Looks like Yahoo will no longer have a Podcast search, so must move on to other specialized search engines. Looks like the Podcast directory is still up and running as well as of course the itunes store, where one can download free podcasts of NPR material- the key is to get each episode within the week after it's up on the site, after that it's .99/cast of This American Life and the like. Look on wikipedia under podcast and you get a listing of many podcast directories.I see that the ALA has a podcast of library news, and you can get an rss feed, when the new p-cast comes out. I don't see an easy way to download , but you could listen to it streaming directly from your computer.

#16 YouTube

Looked at youtube....again and some other video-sharing websites. For some reason, I just can't get that absorbed in it. Maybe because I don't do videos (nor do I take photos for the most part) myself. Although I watch tv and films, I just don't get that absorbed in television much of the time. I've used you tube for videos to add to presentations (just a clip of course), and can see the point of video and podcasting on a library's website, but don't exactly see where video-sharing would be used by public libraries. Putting a tour of the library on youtube, rather than the library's website, so that ....? I'm not sure. Maybe the question is, would patrons like to share their videos and add their user-generated content to the library's website? More questions then answers.

#15 Rollyo

Can't help but be amused by the name. but it's disappointing that the search is limited (without major tweaking I assume) to top level domains. This appears to preclude searching within a library's catalog or databases directly, only the homepage. It also precludes limiting searches to certain sections of newspapers (i.e. restaurant reviews). It may still useful for librarians to construct rollyos for YA and kids classes where the teacher wants their internet searching limited.

#14 On-Line Productivity

I use Google docs frequently. I have looked at Google's spreadsheet tool and I like the idea of different people going into a workbook, and adding data. Excel (as far as I can tell, I am far from expert) doesn't really allow for collaboration, just additions. Both of these tools are useful if you don't have or can't afford Microsoft and other expensive software, and it adds a collaborative function that is quite useful.

#13 Library Thing

LibraryThing is easy to use even for Web 2.0 novices and applicable to libraries. I've read where a school library has put their books into LibraryThing so users can more easily find them, tag them, share them. For a public library, it would require a paid acount (limited to 200 books free) and a possibly labor-intensive export process?

#12 Wikis

Wikis seem anywhere from very easy to mildly complicated to create and edit. and of course each one you have to look at the sometimes unspoken protocol, when you are going to edit. Are things in alphabetical order, do you delete and then post updated content, or do you post underneath or?In some ways wikis are/can be like the stenographer's book at the reference desk, where people use to write important things that they wanted all to see. Of course they can be much more, and some brave libraries probably allow their patrons/customers/clients/stakeholders to edit.