Social Networking and Web 2.0 Wrap Up

The most interesting use of social networking I've come across is this one created for Burberry it's stunning. The combination of the photographs, music and interface really demonstrate how a luxury retail experience can be translated to an online application. It shows how social networking tools can be adapted to meet the needs of an organisation, what Burberry has done wouldn't work for a library, so what would ?

To answer this question I think it's important that there is collaboration between those working with the technology- developing user interfaces and customising applications- and those working with library users. A good example of this is the collaboration between a "user-experience librarian" and software developers at Georgia Tech. Students developed an unofficial iPhone application for university students. It allowed them to access various campus services already available online on their iPhones. One of the librarians suggested they incorporate a tool that showed which computer terminals were available throughout the library. Although not a social networking application the collaboration here shows how libraries can take advantage of emerging technology to enhance services.

One area that I think is set to expand rapidly as far as Web 2.0 applications and libraries is with iPhone applications. Washington D.C. public library were one of the first libraries to take advantage of this technology. Clients can search the catalogue, get information about library services, read reviews and reserve items using their iPhones. I think it's going to be a very interesting year in terms of changes to the way people access information in their everyday lives.

Well this is my last and long overdue post- I've enjoyed each week and am looking forward to looking out for new developments in the world of Web 2.0 on my own.

Week 13 Online applications and tools or Better late than never!

In my rush to finally get the last two weeks of the course finished I completely forgot to blog about my experiences with online applications. Throughout the year I have completed several group assignments as part of my uni studies and each time I have been surprised by the reluctance of my classmates to use online tools to help with communicating and collaborating. Despite having access to already well developed tools through UTS online most students only make use of emailing and Facebook (which I have come to decide although it is great for organising events amongst friends it is inappropriate for most collaborative work). I was really disappointed. I expected all the tech savvy Gen Yers to show me how easy it was to use online applications to get group work done. Now I've done this course I have accepted that in most cases I'm going to have to lead the way.

Earlier in the year I came across this demonstration of Google Wave and I was very excited- this was unlike my reaction to Facebook. It just seems to make so much sense. It was USEFUL. I'm not suggesting that social networking sites aren't useful but I guess I'm much more willing to change my working habits than I am to change the way I relate to my friends and family. Watching the demo I was relatively unaware of the collaborative tools that are already available online but now armed with more knowledge I'm even more excited about what Google Wave will make possible http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ.