Final Post

When I started the Web 2.0 programme, I was quite confident with the web and thought I knew most things. This as it turns out was not completely the case; I have learnt many new tricks, which will be helpful at home as well as work. I especially found Google reader helpful, I did not use it before this course and it saves me lot of time as I would usually spend a while surfing the net and now I don't need to so much, I can find all the information I want in one place. I also found the free online software helpful. Overall this course has been fun and informative and I'm sure to use the things I've learnt in everyday life.

Week Nine

This week I had a look at Youtube, though I have to admit  I am already kind of an addict, I use Youtube all the time.
I found this video that relates to the library, I like the noir feel to it:

I think the library can utilise the embedding fuction in youtube to embed related videos into our webpage, or even just links so the pages are easier to load. It could make the website more fun and add another layer of information.

I found the podcast information very helpful as I had heard of podcast but didn't really know how to access them or use them. I had a look at Podcast Alley to search for podcasts and found plenty of podcasts about libraries, I liked the name of this one: library geeks

I also looked at eBooks and audiobooks and the technology that goes along with it. Quite recently there was a new addition to eBook readers - the iPad from Apple, which has meant that eBooks have had a high profile as there was a lot of publicity surrounding the release. I think more and more people will be getting the books they read in digital form. I managed to find Alices Adventures in Wonderland, on Netbooks, and though it is still limited in the numbers of books it does provide I think it is a very useful resource. I didn't download an audiobook but have browsed the catalougue and there are books that I would like to download. I will have a go at this at home. I also had a look at TumbleBooks which looks like a very good resource for kids and parents.

Week Eight

This week i have looked at Google docs and Zoho Writer. I found these applications very useful as they reduce the need to purchase expensive software and make it easy to access your documents from anywhere you can access the web. I prefered Zoho Writers layout and found it very clear, though I would be more likely to use Google docs because I use a range of google produces so would only have to sign in once.
I made this document using Google docs.

The tool I selected to play with from Web 2.0 Awards was the iGoogle. The iGoogle is a startpage / homepage which has gadgets which you can customise like the weather, a link to gmail, search youtube, news updates and many more. I really liked it because at home i use google.com as my homepage because I like to be able to search from my homepage, and iGoogle still has this function and also has a lot of other useful gadgets. You can also choose different backrounds to make it look pretty. I will definately use this tool.