Evolving Evaluation. Evoluation?

Ahh yes evaluation, it is not just what you are saying anymore, it its what others are saying about it. Kind of like closing your eyes in public and saying something vitally profound to your own little universe, then opening your eyes to see if anyone stuck around to hear it. If nobody did, does it make it less important? Did anyone actually hear it?

It is in this so called 'closed eye' state where evaluation comes into play. I know the library where I am stationed monitors our library website usage, even down to what pages they are accessing and what browser/platform they did it with. Even if it was a referral from another site. As for 2.0 tech, I've noted blogs that track and display comments made on recent posts from outside sources (sadly none of mine have been there).

Reading through the State Library report on 2.0 implementation I found it interesting that 57.4% of Libraries in fact do not evaluate their new technologies. From what I've seen here, We collect flickr statistics, use survey monkey, monitor the video stats on vimeo, even monitor the use of Hornsby Library in google alerts (which I'll bet appears there, hi library reader!). It is a great way to discover up to date information on what people are saying about your library, which is generally generated without the prompting of feedback in the way the library collects such comments in house. It also means writers are often less inhibited in what they have to say, which has its good and bad points obviously.

As a side note I actually waited top finish this while my feedburner stats populated, and as my zero subscribers would confirm my status as that nutter rambling at the back about some sort of poppycock notion. Still, I can see if I indeed had a interweb reach, it would provide good information on where my hits were coming from, and an over-arching view of my readership landscape. But as this is not the case, I will merely substitute my own reality for the minds of others. Till next week!

Tasty titbits revisitied

Well delicious, it certainly has been awhile since we last met. you seem to have shed some of your unnecessary mid letter punctuation, slimming down in the process into one fine streamlined website. I know I promised to drop by and tell you all the places I've been and like to go, but I've been between computers you see. Forgive me?

I see you are getting serious with that Yahoo, even hitting me up for ID before entry. But I knew you before then, won't you let me back in? After much convincing and a little site searching, I was able to get through to you without having to go through your 'mate' Yahoo.

And when I got through, what did I see? a single post from April 08 was there, waiting for me.

OK, so I haven't lived up to my expectation that I would use delicious since the last course, despite my feeling at the time it would indeed be valuable at work considering the amount of computer hopping I do (I am on about 5 PCs during any given week).



So anyway I found my old account, added a blog or two and signed up to the State Library network. I had a go at the web address searching but it didn't seem to want to play for me today. So instead I used the search and tag options in delicious to find the tweeted item in the course. having no idea what the tags were proved a bit hard to compete with the sheer amount of game tags, but searching its exact title found it, even though it wasn't ranked #1. I really like the tag rolls option to add to a blog, despite the fact that mine is a little lacking at the moment.

So in summation, what would make me a dedicated lover outside of bookmarking places to go? well searching if done on a random keyword basis really does need narrowing, which is fine. Tag searching requires thorough tagging by users, so all in all beyond tagging I would find it would use up a lot of my time to find items I may have better luck searching the web for myself, which is how I would find my own bookmarks most likely.

as For how I would use it I think it would be a great way to keep a list of all the interesting articles I find on blogs though my RSS feeds so I won't lose track of where and when I read something, as well as all the important pages I need. Whilst it has further uses, That is what I want out of it.

Twit Wit

Ahh yes twitter, I've had experiences with you before and you left with a rather wigged out feeling in that cerebral area of my body. Why did you do this to me? WHY?

The interweb life of the twit KeithSuburban has gone through many shades of use: sparse, disparate, barren. I think you get the picture. I even garnered a few followers early on, but I fear they only latched on due to an Australian affiliate of a similar name.

Twitter has definitely gone through its paces since my last visit, with the addition of lists, and a new shiny list of hot twits to follow. Despite my seeming pessimism towards the social networking site I actually ran a short course on it at my library, focusing on its usage as an information medium for new users that may not have friends on there.

So on the topic of libraries, I did some sleuthing on what the word on the walls was like: Librarians, Libraries, Librarian were my weapons of choice. People seemed to like writing about their experiences of being in libraries, whether they were studious or stupendous, or stifling under the harsh regime of the enforcing librarians. Some of these were even viewed to be quite comely, always a good sign. interesting to see different perspectives out there, and the mix of new breed/old vanguard attitudes of librarians themselves that seep though the comments. People also seem to appreciate their libraries a lot, even if they do not use them much, by their own admissions.

As for my own use? My belief that its like talking to yourself in a crowd and hoping that someone likes what they overhear enough to respond stance does noting for it growing on me. Also the fact that I prefer to keep my socialising off the net as much as I can forebodes that I only would want to use it as a news push service, the kind of thing a library would use. So all hope is not lost.

For instance, I could foresee the library using the service to update users on events and services (especially interruptions to services) and even questions from the public, which I wrote about here. it could also host lists of businesses and other important centres in the regional area that may be of interest to users, such as on local elections, building developments, and so forth. So whilst the verdict on social use is a no, for the library its a big yes. Now to deal with that tape...