Web 2.0 Reflection

The web 2.0 adventure has turned out to be a very rewarding journey. I started out with two main goals. My primary goal was to expand my technical capabilities and learn skills relevant to operating within the web 2.0 online environment. Secondly, I wanted to find ways to engage with professional issues through using web 2.0 tools. This goal is especially important as I am interested in gaining insights into the profession to improve my understanding of my future career.

During the second week of the web 2.0 journey I created an account with Google Reader and discovered that developing my own RSS feed was extremely helpful in regard to achieving my second goal. I subscribed to a number of blogs related to the Information Management industry including The Librarian in Black, Lorcan Dempsey’s weblog and Tame the Web to mention a few. Now I can regularly check up on all of these blogs from the one place (including my blogging buddies blogs) whenever I log onto the internet without having to visit each website separately. This is a great time-saver but also ensures that I have up-to-date information. Without a doubt I will continue to use Google Reader to remain informed about professional issues. Checking my RSS feeds has simply become a part of my daily routine  along with checking both my e-mails. Subsequently, I spend a longer online than I used to but it is time well spent.

 I commenced the web 2.0 journey with a pretty basic understanding of social networking. In the early stages of the web 2.0 adventure I had a Facebook account and that was it! My understanding of the potential of this tool was limited to staying in touch with friends and family.  I am now aware that Facebook is used by many corporations and institutions to disseminate information, for example the American Library Association uses Facebook.Whilst Facebook is not a very formal platform it is effective as it gets information into the public sphere quickly.

I have since  created a Twitter account and whilst I don’t do much tweeting myself I am using this social networking tool to follow a number of companies, institutions and individuals that I find interesting, funny or informative. For example, I am following the New York Public library, this institution uses twitter to inform the public about upcoming events and I also follow ABC radio Melbourne which provide their followers with a constantly updated news feed. Also, I enjoy Marieke Hardy’s witty and often acerbic observations on day to day life. However, this tool would not be best suited for communicating with colleagues in a professional setting, rather Yammer is probably more appropriate in this context as it is more private.  

In regard to improving my technical capabilities I have gained the ability to use collaborative tools such as Google Docs and Drop Box. In particular, these tools will be very useful in regard to future work in information management as they allow for collaborative work on documents. Also Drop box allows for the easy transfer of documents between home and the workplace. I am currently using Google Docs to both collaborate on an assignment for Information Provision and also develop a travel itinerary with some friends. I also think Delicious is an excellent social bookmarking tool for organising and sharing websites with both friends and colleagues and I am developing my competency with this tool. I have learned a great deal during the web 2.0 adventure and my confidence in using new technology has grown immensely. I no longer think ‘Yikes!’ when it comes to the prospect of blogging or tweeting, rather it has become a normal process.