Technology Coordinator Gregg Headrick, from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Middle Atlantic Region (NN/LM MAR), continues to keep this four-credit continuing education class up-to-date. He presented the latest iteration to Chapter members on August 12, 2010 at the Simmy and Harry Ginsburg Health Sciences Library at Temple University’s health sciences campus on North Broad Street in Philadelphia.
Gregg handed out four-pages of URLs to resources. These included explanations and examples of Web 2.0 resources, as well as specific links to open source software, mashups examples, collaboration sites, folksonomies and tagging examples, and communities and social networking sites. The list also included links to studies about the users of Web 2.0 technologies, as well as links to blogs taking advantage of these technologies. Gregg included links to resources to enable us to get involved in Web 2.0 by starting our own blogs, taking advantage of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to disseminate blog feeds, and RSS aggregators to read such feeds. Besides information about blogs, the list also included links to information about wikis–collaborative websites. One section of the resource list included links to technologies that may be on their way in or out. Last on the list were sites about personal electronic health records. The list of resources, which Gregg keeps updated, can be found at http://likenyc.blogspot.com. Because the list is so extensive, only a few specific resources will be highlighted here, and only the names of resources will be presented.
Web 2.0 101
Gregg started by emphasizing that Web 2.0 was characterized by information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration. For instance, iGoogle enables the user to decide what elements (news, weather, blog rolls, etc.) appear on the home page, and in what position. One of Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science was to save the time of the reader: another characteristic of Web 2.0 is that developers are providing an added element of ease to users. In Yahoo! Maps, for instance, one can alter a query without having to submit an entirely new search. In the instant messaging program meebo, users may log in from a variety of sources: Facebook, AIM, Yahoo!, WindowsLive, etc. The website for Webware provides a list of the 100 best Web 2.0 applications.
In years past, most software programs and operating systems were developed and controlled by large companies: Microsoft, Adobe, etc. They required users to purchase costly licenses to use the programs. However, the Linux operating system was created by Linus Torvald and others as open access software. Since that time, many developers have decided to share the burden of product development among others with similar interests and abilities. As a result, Linux and other systems are updated constantly, rather than according to specific roll-out schedules. Other open-source projects include the OpenOffice package of programs, the Firefox search engine, the Thunderbird email plug-in for Firefox, and the Drupal content management system. When creating or using such programs, it is important to consider whether the program can be used or is interactive with other operating systems or programs; whether the software is updated regularly; and whether, if the individual with the expertise to develop or maintain it leaves, there is someone to replace him or her.
Combining Data, SharingMetadata
Mashups use openly available data and combine them to provide new services. For example, one could provide Amazon.com book reviews in a catalog. Or create a map of favorite restaurants using Google Maps then write one’s own reviews of each site. Creating mashups requires knowledge of scripting languages, although some mashups are easy to do. Folksonomies and tagging are methods of providing metadata to content. Subject terms created by follksonomies and tagging are not controlled vocabularies, which may affect the value of their use for consistently finding a comprehensive list of resources when searching for information. Examples of folksonomies and tagging can be found on Digg, Flickr, delicious, and other sites where users typically upload their own content.
Connecting, Friending, and Following
Gregg introduced the concept of social networking, which enables people to connect with one another and have ongoing online relationships. This topic was punctuated by a discussion among the participants regarding the relative merits of Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, with particular attention paid to the privacy settings of Facebook. The users of such sites are studied by many organizations: Gregg pointed out in particular several studies of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, many of which provided information regarding the demographics of the users of various social networking sites. The Harris Interactive poll on cyberchondriacs was also presented as a study about those who look up health information online.
There are many sites that provide directories of blogs or that discuss the state of blogging. Many companies provide platforms on which to host and support the development of blogs as well as to search and subscribe to blog feeds. Similarly, several sites mentioned support the growth of wikis.
What’s In, What’s Out
Among the “new frontier” of Web 2.0 resources, Gregg opined that that Second Life is dead, although some class members disagreed. He said that cloud computing was on the way up. Cloud computing enables users sharing and editing documents to store those documents on an internet site, such as GoogleDocs or Zoho, rather than on specific computers. Other sites are intended for storage only. These sites and others provide a certain amount of storage for free, beyond which one may pay for additional space. Examples are Dropbox, SkyDrive (part of Microsoft’s WindowsLive), and drop.io.
Lastly, Gregg presented resources taking advantage of the interest in electronic personal health records, including Google Health and the Microsoft Health Vault.
This class provided a fun, fast-paced, and informative introduction to and update on today’s technology trends. Participants were able to briefly examine some of the resources and discuss how (or whether) they could be implemented in their own libraries. After the class, many of us also attended a tour of the lovely Ginsburg Library. See http://bit.ly/bs8NAs for photos from the tour.
–RR
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