Week 1: What is Web / Library 2.0?

Watch this 7 minute video of Stephen Abrams opening Murdoch University’s "23 things" program.
What is Web 2.0?
The millionth word in the English language, according to the Global Language Monitor website, is "Web 2.0", meaning the next generation of World Wide Web products and services. There are many other definitions of the term "Web 2.0" but we like

Web 2.0: A term used to describe a new generation of Web services and applications with an increasing emphasis on human collaboration.

from Headland

Some argue that as librarians we have always tried to collaborate with each other and with our customers and that Web 2.0 is simply a natural progression of this. New technologies are certainly giving us a wider range of ways in which we can do this. Library 2.0 describes the way that libraries are using these technologies, often because they believe that it will enable them to become more relevant to their customers, engaging with them outside of the physical library space. What do you think?

Read/watch any of the following

• Away from Icebergs


• Web 2.0: Building the New Library


• This blog post by John Blyberg, a library blogger from Connecticut


• If you are still keen, check out Wikipedia’s entry for Web 2.0 which includes an extensive list of reference or this 5 minute video based on it. You might also like to look at Library 2.0

Thing 1: Join our Ning

• Ning is an online platform that allows us to build our own social network.
  
• Click on the Potluck picture on the top right hand side of this blog (“join our Ning!), and either sign in, if you have at a some point in the past already joined a Ning, or sign up if you haven’t. You are welcome to use a nom de plume here but please introduce yourself and briefly describe what you would like to achieve. You don't have to add a photo at this point.

If you are having problems with signing up to the Ning, Em has made you a short video that takes you through the process.

Fun and games: if you have time
If you have the time and inclination, you might want to create an image to upload to your Ning profile. You can do this easily by locating an online image (Google image search makes this easy), right clicking on it and saving it somewhere on your computer. While logged in to the Ning, go to the box with your name on it in the top right hand corner and click on settings. Find the the profile photo and click on the small picure of a camera, locate the image on your computer, and click on "upload".

If you want to go a little further, there are many web sites that allow you can create an Avatar (image) of yourself for fun or to upload to your profile on the Ning, and possibly later to your blog:

• Portrait Avatar Maker


• Meez


• Speech Agents


• or see the Instructable tutorial on creating avatars

... or any others that you know of. Save your avatar to your computer and then upload it in the same way as described above.

Even if you don’t use your avatar, you might want to try creating one – a little virtual you!