Transcript Emergent Technologies and Services Tolulope Folarin & Alliah Humber Howard University Libraries

Emergent
Technologies and Services
Tolulope Folarin & Alliah Humber
Howard University Libraries
HUL Emergent Services
 Forms
 Course-Related Webpage
 Electronic Reserves
What’s New on the Web?
Blogs, RSS, Podcasts & Wikis
Our Program
 What are Blogs?
 How can I start a Blog?
 What’s RSS?
 How can I read RSS feeds?
 What are Podcasts?
 How can I listen to a Podcast?
 What are Wikis?
 Why would I create a wiki for my courses?
 What are PDAs?
 Why would I use a PDA for my courses?
 What’s IM?
 Why would I use IM in my courses?
All about Weblogs (Blogs)
A Brief History of Blogs
 Began with hand coding
 Free blog sites in 1999: Blogger,
LiveJournal
 Diaries, journals, ramblings
 Definitions in media 1999, 2000
Blogs Take Off!
 2000-2005
 Easy publishing to Web
 No need to know HTML
 Add / edit content anywhere, anytime
 Dozens of features – dynamic, quick
and easy to develop
 Millions worldwide
What’s a Blog?
“A Weblog can take the form of a diary, a news
service (or summaries of and links to current news
items on a topic), a collection of links to other Web
sites, a series of book reviews, reports of activity
on a project, a journal or diary, a photographic
record of an event or activity, or any number of
other forms. Most Weblogs display material for the
current month or the current week, with older
material being archived on the site for browsing
and/or searching.”
(Prof Laurel Clyde, 2004)
CNN November 30, 2004
Merriam-Webster Inc. said that blog, defined as
"a Web site that contains an online personal
journal with reflections, comments and often
hyperlinks," was one of the most looked-up
words on its Internet sites this year.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/11/30/words.of.the.year.reut/ind
ex.html
Weblog features:
 Dated entries
 Mission or goal statement
 Categories for posts
 Archives
 Lists of other blogs the author(s) reads
 Navigational links
 Contact info
Blog Statistics
 Technorati now tracks over 27.2 Million blogs
 On average, a new weblog is created every second of every
day
 13.7 million bloggers are still posting 3 months after their
blogs are created
Basic Requirements to Blog
 Blog software
 Movable Type, Blogger, TypePad, Word Press
 Other Web-based or client software
 Server space & a bit of programming
 Entries can be pasted in from Word, etc.
(save as .txt to avoid formatting quirks)
 Time
 Something to say
Let’s make a blog together!
All About RSS
RSS Basics
 Rich Site Summary
 “Really Simple Syndication”
 Automatic Web Browsing
Rich Site Summary
 Simple XML encoded information and news items from
Weblogs or news sites
 Syndicated content includes such data as news feeds,
events listings, news stories, headlines, project
updates, excerpts from discussion forums or even
corporate information.
 ATOM feeds are a newer version of RSS
 Aggregators read the “feeds” and
 Provide current awareness delivered to one location
What to Look for:
Syndicate this Site
What is an Aggregator?
 Software
 Client based
 Server based
 Subscribe to sites by adding feeds
 Different aggregators that do basically the
same thing
 Saves time
 Content is syndicated into one place
http://www.cnn.com/services/rss/
An Aggregator reads RSS
Aggregators
 PC: Amphetadesk, News Gator
 Mac: NetNewsWire, iBlog
 Web: Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)
Let’s Try Bloglines!
All About Podcasts
What is a Podcast?
 Podcasting is a method of publishing audio programs
via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed of
new files (usually MP3s). It became popular in late
2004, largely due to automatic downloading of audio
onto portable players or personal computers. Podcasting
is distinct from other types of online media delivery
because of its subscription model, which uses a feed
(such as RSS or Atom) to deliver an enclosed file.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast
Podcasts:
 Began as self-published “shows”
 Everyone can be a “radio star!”
 Business has jumped in as well:
Podcasts can generate interest and
fuel advertising dollars
 Launch of iTunes 4.9 with built in
Podcast support brought it to
mainsteam
Podcasts & iTunes
Ipodder.org Podcast Directory
http://www.ipodder.org/
How do I listen to Podcasts?
 Needs:
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A computer or MP3 player
A directory of podcasts to find content
Time to listen
Bonus idea: Burn Podcasts to CD for the
car!
All About Wikis
What are Wikis
 What is it?
 Simple online database
 Allows user to create and edit web content
 Supports hyperlinks and simple text syntax for
creating new pages
 Allows you to search between internal pages
 Allows open-editing and collaboration
between subscribed users

http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki
Creating Wikis
 Software: Mediawiki free software
originally written for Wikipedia
 Content
 Commitment to learn a new
technology
 Community of participants
The Biz Wiki
 http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects
/bizwiki/
Benefits of Wikis
 Reduce redundancy of resources
 Encourages interlinking of concepts
 Allows multiple edits of the same
content
 Searchable
 Able to measure use
 Able to make timely updates
All About PDAs
Evolution of Personal Digital
Assistants
 Pocket PCs
 A hand held device that can do a lot of
the things a computer can do
 Smart Phones
 A Pocket PC that has the capabilities a
phone
Uses of PDAs
 Productivity tools
 Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint
 Email and Internet
 Built in Web browser
 WiFi and Bluetooth connections
 Internal Memory and Expansion Slots
 Digital Camera and Multimedia
 Synchronizes with computer or
laptops
Examples of Pocket PCs
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Palm Pilot
HP Ipaq
Toshiba Pocket PC
Dell Axim
PSP Zodiac
 – hand held Sony Playstation gaming
device
Examples of PDA Smart Phones
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Blackberry
Palm Treo
Motorola Q
T-Mobile MDA
All About Instant Messaging
(IM)
Using IM in Academia
 Virtual Office Hours
 Students can get help immediately
 Students can transfer files and vice versa
 Great for distance learning
 Tools
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MSN Messenger
Yahoo Messenger
Aol Instant Messenger (AIM)
Meebo
 HU Reference department Chat
 http://www.howard.edu/library/Reference/Faculty/Re
fChat.htm
Thank You! Questions?
[email protected]
[email protected]