At the Museums Australia conference in Canberra in May there were a number of papers on social networking (using web 2.0 features) in the museum sector. One of the speakers was from the Powerhouse Museum and he described a number of their projects including allowing users of the online catalogue to create their own tags (or user keyword) that they felt helped locate items in the collection thus creating a separate facility to search user produced keywords as well as the conventional museum headings. The rationale behind providing the two different search options is to help "bridge the 'semantic gap' between the language of the museum and that of the user".
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/browsekeywords.php
The Powerhouse Museum, in its online sources section, also provides podcasts and videos on a range of topics as well as a blog associated with an expedition held at the museum - "Walking the Wall follows the 3000 kilometre hiking journey of Brendan Fletcher and Emma Nicholas along the Great Wall of China. Walking the Wall is associated with the Great Wall Of China exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney".
The discussions on museums using web 2.0 stressed the need for the users of websites to not be just passive observers. Increasingly visitors to museums are online visitors only, especially as people from any place in the world may visit a museum website but may not necessarily be able to physically visit the museum itself. Museums and galleries when designing websites are increasingly adding features to involve the online visitors in exploring the museum collections and exhibitions online.
Libraries can also use features of library 2.0 to enhance the experience of visiting the library website as an information resource. Library 2.0 allows for greater interaction between library staff and patrons for providing, sharing and creating information resources. The argument about search terms used by patrons not necessarily being in the same form as thesauruses used in libraries (terms for an object or concept also differ from country to country and even state to state) also applies to libraries. Creating a blog or a wiki for a specific purpose - subject area (local history, genealogy), book reviews etc - is another way libraries can encourage user involvement in the websites. Making podcasts of talks and information sessions available online allows those unable to attend an event access to the information.
The publication of library catalogues and access to other databases on the Internet has made the library available to patrons at any time including the ability to reserve and renew material online. The inclusion of web 2.0 and subsequent developments on websites will rapidly increase interaction between patons and the library and create an interactive information hub.
Showing posts with label tagging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tagging. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
#14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati
Experimented searching for sites and blogs on topics in Technorati. Advanced search is a better option than a general search. Can search for a specific phrase (exact words) with additional options of searching "All blogs" or "Blogs about" to further narrow the search. Just searching in the Tags option also refines a search.
Once a set is displayed there is the option of viewing posts, blogs, videos or pictures mentioning the search term(s). A wide range of social networking sites can therefore be searched at one time, primarily through use of tagging for blogs, blog posts, images etc.
Examples of one search:
A search for Australian Rules Football (exact phrase and all blogs) produced 200 posts, 10 blogs, 20 videos and photos galore.
Entering "Australian Rules Football" in the Tag Search box produced 15 posts, 10 blogs, 20 videos and photos galore.
Once a set is displayed there is the option of viewing posts, blogs, videos or pictures mentioning the search term(s). A wide range of social networking sites can therefore be searched at one time, primarily through use of tagging for blogs, blog posts, images etc.
Examples of one search:
A search for Australian Rules Football (exact phrase and all blogs) produced 200 posts, 10 blogs, 20 videos and photos galore.
Entering "Australian Rules Football" in the Tag Search box produced 15 posts, 10 blogs, 20 videos and photos galore.
Monday, October 22, 2007
#13 Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us
Having the ability to select and group often used websites as provided by del.icio.us provides another useful tool for organising online resources.
Although the site is realtively easy to use it can also be clumsy, especially when you want to access it from different computers with different operating systems. I originally used it on a computer using Firefox but when I tried to place the buttons on the toolbar of my laptop using Windows Explorer, the FAQ suggested going to the stage 2 of Registration (resulting in having to create a different account). Both times when I registered I did not automatically receive the confirmation email until I went into settings and requested that it should be resent.
I have since found some instructions via the about link (very small print at the bottom of the del.icio.us page which I will try again tonight.
As an exercise I exported the bookmarks from the first account and imported them into the second account - this worked well but each of the sites in the second account is marked as not shared (I must have missed a step).
There is also an option for changing tags collectively which I tried and it said it worked but the tag I altered did not change until I edited each record individually.
Despite the frustrations this could be a useful tool for collecting and sharing urls. The ability to add tag rolls and link rolls to a blog or website would be a useful addition for websites on a specific topic.
Definitely worth exploring more when I am able to get the buttons on the main computers that I use.
I added a tag roll (including network badge) to the blog - getting quite a collection of resources there now. Once the code for the tag roll has been added to a site it automatically updates as new sites and tags are added to del.icio.us.
Although the site is realtively easy to use it can also be clumsy, especially when you want to access it from different computers with different operating systems. I originally used it on a computer using Firefox but when I tried to place the buttons on the toolbar of my laptop using Windows Explorer, the FAQ suggested going to the stage 2 of Registration (resulting in having to create a different account). Both times when I registered I did not automatically receive the confirmation email until I went into settings and requested that it should be resent.
I have since found some instructions via the about link (very small print at the bottom of the del.icio.us page which I will try again tonight.
As an exercise I exported the bookmarks from the first account and imported them into the second account - this worked well but each of the sites in the second account is marked as not shared (I must have missed a step).
There is also an option for changing tags collectively which I tried and it said it worked but the tag I altered did not change until I edited each record individually.
Despite the frustrations this could be a useful tool for collecting and sharing urls. The ability to add tag rolls and link rolls to a blog or website would be a useful addition for websites on a specific topic.
Definitely worth exploring more when I am able to get the buttons on the main computers that I use.
I added a tag roll (including network badge) to the blog - getting quite a collection of resources there now. Once the code for the tag roll has been added to a site it automatically updates as new sites and tags are added to del.icio.us.
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