Blip.TV

Melinda and I were on IM this afternoon and she mentioned Blip.TV as a place to store our videos. I found this article about how Blip.TV ranks first in PC World in the quality of its video.

http://www.makeyougohmm.com/20070829/4760/

Photo Developments - August 29 2007

• After looking at other photo sharing websites, there does not seem to be any advantage to using them over Flickr to upload images. Since Melinda and I are already familiar with Flickr, using this service as a holding spot for images being sent in is currently the best option.
• A Flickr account for us to upload photos to has been set up. (bplonlinepics). The account is set to accept photos in private mode by default. The upload email for this account is called24always@photos.flickr.com .
• The hands-on photo workshop, "BPL Camera Clinic," is ready. It includes instructions on taking photos, connecting the camera to the computer, and uploading images to Flickr using the uploader. I guess it is about time to start considering dates for the training.
• Instructions for installing Flickr uploader are complete. The install is straightforward and should be a simple procedure for any CSL.

Great Job on BPL's First Podcast!

After listening to the first podcast, all I can say is great job. The sound and editing was well done. The topic and associated blog entry were interesting.

Article: The Future of the Workplace: No Office, Headquarters in Cyberspace

Imagine a work world with no commute, no corporate headquarters and perhaps not even an office in the physical world at all.

rest of article

E-LEARNING : TRAIN YOUR STAFF THE NEWFANGLED WAY

Are any of you planning on attending the E-Learning: Train Your Staff the New-Fangled Way September 19th, ULC Audio Conference ?

It sounds very Library 2.0. Helene Blowers is to be on the panel.

Can't just back out of L2 Crew blog?

Just a slight irritation, but when I'm ready to leave the L2 Crew blog, I can't just click on "back" but have to hit "view" and "go to" to exit. I don't have to do this for any of the other blogs on my Dashboard.

Does the poll have anything to do with this? It seems like it started happening about the same time as Richard posting the poll. Or does my tinfoil hat just need some minor adjusting?

Social Networking 101 posts on the Staff Blog

Thanks for noticing the "Social Networking 101" post on the staff blog.

My hope is this will be a series of posts that can introduce more Web 2.0 ideas to the staff. This would be similar to other blogs that have simlar entries like The Internet can Change Your Life and Learning 2.1 except on a much smaller scale.

Wiki Updates

I have added a list of web pages that contains lists of Web 2.0 applications. I have also added the links that were mentioned on this blog. Tressa has also made quite a few changes and it looks great. I have also added a link to the BPL Staff blog.

Photography 2.0 Developments

Since the last update:

• Bob, Melinda and I met to discuss methods to share photos. A shared network drive and Picasa were set up to find out if this would work for sharing our photos.
• As of right now, I am not optimistic about using Picasa. The application was intended for individual use and testing so far has been disappointing. Using the program is frustratingly slow over the network and at our locations with slower connections this may be worse. The way Picasa tags with keywords is another drawback of using this program. If the image is moved from the folder, renamed, or edited the keywords are often lost.
• The other option that Melinda suggested , using another Flickr account along with the Flickr uploader, looks like the better way to proceed. I am testing this method right now.
• Not all branches are using the Cannon A550. There are at least 4 models of cameras that have been purchased at for staff to take photos. Since the majority of the cameras are the A550 model , the BPL photo workshop will focus on this camera, but should be generic enough to apply to any digital camera.
• The hands-on photo workshop, codenamed "BPL Camera Clinic," needs just a little more tweaking, but should be ready by early next week. Due to the hands on nature of the workshop, the number of participants per session will need to be limited. We may need to do these workshops region by region.
• Once we have one of the BPL Camera Clinic workshops, we could add the slideshow to the intranet or staff blog. A podcast of the program to accompany the slideshow may be possible as well.

Once again, I would also like to encourage any ideas you may want to share on the photography front.

Blogs and Libraries

Interesting article.

http://www.infotoday.com/MLS/nov03/fichter.shtml

LibraryThing

This is a great site.

What is LibraryThing?

Enter what you're reading or your whole library—it's an easy, library-quality catalog. LibraryThing also connects you with people who read the same things.

Go ahead and take the tour.

What's good?

• Meet the world's largest book club. Find people with eerily similar tastes.
• Catalog with Amazon, the Library of Congress or 82 other world libraries. Import from anywhere.
• Get recommendations. Tag your books and explore others' tags.
• Put your books on your blog.
• Enter 200 books for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life).

Cool software for polling via email

This looks like a great free product:

Ask a Simple Question Get a Simple Answer with CircleUp
“How do you poll multiple people via email?” Send the question out to 10 colleagues, invariably get 30 replies back and you dig through the banter to try and get a consensus of opinion. CircleUp proposes a solution anytime you need to compile opinion, get feedback or even get the answer to a simple “chicken or fish” poll from multiple brains. The service facilitates delivery of your question to your targets, driving recipients to the web to enter their answer without bothering you with all the noise and discussion in email. You can then review the responses on one page and (hopefully) get a clear answer.

Official name

We now have an official name for our group . . . L2 Crew. What I really like about the name is the naming process we all went through. It is a kind of "mashup" of several names proposed by many of us in this group and then voted on. This is the way I hoped we would work together. I appreciate the initiative and enthusiasm. What a great way to begin L2 Crew.

Web 2.0 is What?

Take a look at this new blog called "Web 2.0 is What?" It focuses on controversy and confusion concerning Web 2.0. See the blog here.

Also, for a Web 2.0 laugh try this. Does Dewey have E.S.P. or something?

Vote!

Richard created an automated way for us to vote on our name. Please look in the right-hand column of this blog and vote.

Thanks!

Group Name

OK. I am waiting on a few more of you to chime in and give an opinion and then we will vote on a name. Calling David, Hunter, Frank, Robert, Tiffany... did I miss anyone?

Here is the list so far:
Libary 2.0
Social Butterflies
Quasi Crew
BPL 24/7 On Demand
Progressives