Thursday, December 17, 2009

Two Best Readings of the Semester

By far my favorite text this semester was Courtney's Library 2.0 and Beyond. I enjoyed the collection of articles. It was a refreshing departure from a banal text. I also appreciated that the information was current and provided a concrete ideas and websites for reference.

The two chapters I most enjoyed were chapter 4, Podcasting for Libraries by Chris Kretz and Mashups and Web Services by Weic Schnell. The primary reason I have selected these two is because they were my introduction to the topics of podcasting and mashups. In each article I made many notes and stars in the margins.

Kretz's article provided a comprehensive history of podcasting along with instructions on how to get started with podcasting. This is just what I needed. It also provided many examples of library podcasts for booktalking and teen services. I visited many of these sites and marked a few on my Delicious. I also signed up a for a few feeds as a result of this article. Lastly, and importantly Kretz introduced me to the term "podsafe music" and the legal issues surrounding this medium of communication.

Schnell's article was also largely informative. API, SOA and geotagging were all new concepts to me. Combining complex online systems like Google Maps with others to create new content is exciting. The possibilities are endless and stand to make an impact on how libraries interact in an online environment. I admit to not completely understanding all the technical lingo connecting to computer programming, but I certainly understand more then I once did.

I am glad I had the oppotunity to explore this text. I will definitely be keeping this it for future reference.

1 comment:

  1. I like the chapter about podcasting too. I am definitely going to learn how to do that in the coming year. It looks like fun and is perfect for the library!

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