the changing library atmosphere: wikis, podcasts, and libraries 2.0

The Changing Library Atmosphere:

Wikis, Podcasts, and Libraries 2.0

School Libraries 2.0

• “The digitally re-shifted school library must transcend the physical space to bring services and programming to every student and teacher throughout the school wherever learning is taking place.”

– Chris Harris, “School Library 2.0: Say Goodbye to Your Mother’s Library,” School Library Journal, 5/1/2006.

Where to Begin?• Re-think what school libraries can do

– Step beyond time and space– Be available 24/7– Be accessible online (email, Instant

Messaging– IM)– Plan for integrated systems that promote use

of all resources (federated searching across platforms)

– Utilize Open Source software to provide for sharing and collaboration efforts

Where to Begin?

• Teach others about NEW technology applications and their use in education– Social Networking sites provide opportunities

for collaboration between young adults, teachers, and librarians (My Space)

– iPods and MP3 players provide for audio / video access to library information, educational podcasts, and instruction

Where to Begin?• Allow students and teachers to become active

participants in the library program through blogs, wikis, and podcasts:

– Building their own book lists through the online catalog, accessing accounts, requesting materials

– Responding to and creating library blogs– Creating and working with wikis that relate to specific

activities– Allow online activities to become interactive with

responses from students, teachers, parents, other stakeholders through RSS feeds that alert to new information

Web 2.0 Technologies

• Provide users with opportunity to access resources “beyond the library walls”

• Allows users to actively participate rather than passively listen / watch

• Prepares students for the “real-life environments” that they face in higher education and in the work force

• Requires teachers, librarians, and other leaders to think “outside the box”

What Should Librarians Do?

• Learn, embrace, and become the experts of 2.0 technology—don’t allow others to take these information sources from the hands of experts (that would be…US!)

• Teach others how to utilize 2.0 technology by showcasing the Library’s use of it!

Trends for a 2.0 Library

• Social bookmarking and tagging • Wikis• Blogs and RSS aggregators• Web education• YouTube• Instant Messaging• MySpace• Text messaging

2.0 Technologies To Grab NOW

• Library Thing – allows “anyone” to catalog their book collections and share / locate similar materials without a librarian!!

• Flickr – to share book reviews and book covers that are linked to the library’s website!

• RockYou – allows photos to be used for an online slide show to attach to a wiki

• YouTube – provides instant access to educational videos, as well as the “unique” (Drill Cart Teams are even there!)

Librarians can add book covers to Flickrand link from the library’s website

Blogging

What’s your purpose?

The LibrarY or the LibrarIAN Blog?

LibrarY or LibrarIAN Blogs

• LibrarY blogs (with Y)– provide students, teachers, and parents with

daily information, assignments, research, etc.

• Provide information about– the library program and activities– upcoming events

• School Libraries with blogs

LibrarY or LibrarIAN Blogs

• LibrarIAN (with IAN) are used to:– Provide information about the library

profession to new librarians– Provide resources for other librarians– Provide insights into the profession for others

who might be interested• Professional insights• Personal insights

What are the pitfalls for a school librarian writing a blog?

• Many school librarians can’t even access (much less read) blogs at work, because anything with the word “blog” has been blocked by their district’s filters, so writing a school-based blog may require dealing with all kinds of technological hassles. 

• School bloggers need to understand that community members may be reading their blog, and thus be circumspect about what they post.

-Alice Yucht, Alice in InfoLand

Joyce Valenza’s Blog

Tagged forsearching

RSS Feed

Doug Johnson’s “Blue Skunk”Blog

Vicki Krebsbach’sBlog “MuchoBig”--San Antonio, TX

Which Blog To Use?

• Blogspot

• Xanga

• Edublog

• Blogger

• WordPress

• LiveJournal

• Moveable Type

Provides a great way to locate specific blogs onspecific topics

Podcasts

• Provide students with the opportunity to showcase their talents in everything from writing and speaking to digital storytelling.

• Motivates students to be creative and utilize technology in new ways.

• Provides immediate feedback of the work, and allows others to see “inside the classroom” for a brief moment.

Podcasts provide studentswith the opportunity to share

their insights to literature.

Wikis

• Wiki - wiki (in Hawaiian) means “rapidly” or really fast.

• Provide a collaborative environment to exchange ideas, information, and resources between individuals regardless of distance or time.

• Provide users to correct content or add content for more meaning.

Our Favorite Wiki

A new approach toWikipedia?

A Study Skills Wiki

• Freshman Study skills project that required students to create a wiki that details information about our school's library. – approximately 70 pages were created – 93 students worked on the project together – students have been working on it throughout the day and

evening hours (as noted by the wiki's date and time stamps) – most students answered questions correctly by

investigating the library program– some students are overachievers....check out this page

from a student who wanted to "sell the database"...(his words) http://moncrieflibrary.pbwiki.com/EBSCO's%20MasterFILE%20Premier

Vicki Krebsbach, LibrarianWilderness Oak Elementary School

San Antonio, TX

Joyce Valenza’sWiki that provides

librarians the opportunity to share

insights and information.

District Librarians share their resources.

What Wiki To Use?

• Wikis to consider using:– PB Wiki– Wikispaces

• Wiki Matrix allows you to select the wiki that will meet your needs

RSS Feeds

• Allows any new information published to a website to be collected and sent to you.

• The RSS feed will only alert you if there is new information– this helps you avoid overload.

• RSS feeds can be accessed through an RSS reader--which means you only have to go to a single site for all of your updates!

Which RSS Feed Reader?• Performing a search for "RSS Feed Readers" in Google or

Yahoo! will produce a slew of software options — many of which are free or at little cost.

• Subscribing to an RSS feed is as simple as looking for the appropriate XML code. Most websites that publish an RSS feed will display a tiny orange box or button labeled "RSS" or "XML."

• Click the button and your web browser typically goes to a page of cryptic code. Just copy the Web "address" or URL of that page and plug it into your feed reader. The software will then automatically retrieve and display that site's latest information.

Our Mission in a 2.0 Library

• To prepare our students to become Information Literate

• To prepare students for higher education, the work force, but most importantly, life

• To make the library an integrated part of the curriculum, the classroom and the community

• To remain effective and relevant within the world of information

Librarians With Blogs• Alice Yucht: Alice in Infoland http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/ • Rob Darrow: California Dreamin' http://robdarrow.wordpress.com/ • Diane Chen: Deep Thinking http://deepthinking.blogsome.com/ • Sara Kelly Johns (AASL president-elect) From the Inside Out

http://fromtheinsideout.squarespace.com/blog/ • Frances Harris Gargoyles Loose in the Library http://

www.uni.uiuc.edu/library/blog/index.html • Chris Harris Infomancy http://schoolof.info/infomancy/ • Mary J Johnson The Primary Source Librarian

http://maryjjohnson.com/primarysourcelibrarian/ • Joyce Valenza's TheNeverendingSearch

http://joycevalenza.edublogs.org/ • Jacquie Henry's Wanderings

http://nlcommunities.com/communities/wanderings/default.aspx

Trends to Read About

• The Spring 2007 issue of Texas Library Journal--- “Top Texas Technology Trends for Libraries” by Richard Wayne, p.22.

Resources to Review

• “Online Powered School Libraries: Web 2.0 Technologies are Transforming School Libraries,” by Will Richardson. District Administration, January 2007.

• School Library Journal Summit held in Chicago, November 2006. Available online through PB Wiki.

• The Digitally Reshifted School Library by Michael Stevens. ALA TechSource, Feb. 6, 2006.

• “Positive Uses for Social Networking” compiled by YALSA. American Library Association, 2007.

• Tools for the TEKS: Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Classroom Podcasting by Wesley A. Fryer.

• Podcasting Success: A Best Practices Wiki.

Beginner’s Guide to 2.0

• Infomancy Christopher Harris’s blog, where the school library professional discusses technology issues as they relate to libraries and more.schoolof.info/infomancy 

• Library 2.0 A collection of related Web links.ma.gnolia.com/groups/library2

• Library 2.0 and “Library 2.0” A balanced look at Library 2.0 from Walt Crawford, Senior Analyst for Research Libraries Group, Inc.cites.boisestate.edu/civ6i2.pdf

• Library 2.0/Web 2.0 A wealth of 2.0 blog entries by Michael Stevens, former special projects librarian at the St. Joseph County (IN) Public Library.tametheweb.com/library_20web_20/ 

• School Library Blogs Also by Chris Harris, an aggregated page of top school library blogs.libraryblogs.suprglu.com

• Tags/library20 Library 2.0 in pictures.www.flickr.com/photos/tags/library20/ 

• TechCrunch A blog that reviews emerging Web 2.0 tools.techcrunch.com

• What Is Web 2.0 The article that started it all, by Tim O’Reilly, the publisher and Internet guru who coined the term.www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

Link to the Resources

• All resources and links in this portion of the presentation (including the PowerPoint) can be downloaded from:

• http://digitalbookends.pbwiki.com