Monday, March 29, 2010

2.0 - Advantages and Disadvantages of the "Delicious" method.

Anyone looking for an example of how advantageous the Delicious method of organizing websites is, need look no further than this weeks lesson. Our instructors used Delicious to create a list of all the different blogs each of us have created, making it very easy for all of us to see the blogs of our co-workers. Other advantages of Delicious include the ability to instantly search a subject and see which sites are most "popular" - in the sense that they are most frequently bookmarked. Popularity, however, is no guarantee of quality. The advantage of using the CPL's own delicious sites is that these have been chosen by experienced staff, and you can feel fairly comfortable that the information contained on these sites reliable.

Disadvantages? Well, a common complaint I hear (and share) is that the site is not "user friendly". Most people do not have a instinctive feel for the "bundle" method of organizing. Many people prefer a more "visual" method, like the old Best Websites, where a few simple icons represented general subject areas. Having even a few visual cues are like little life rafts in the sea of information - safe places we can swim back to and catch our breath - and without them many people feel like they are drowning. Looking at bookmarks created by someone else always means that you are at the mercy of their way of organizing information. If your mind doesn't work the same way, you might be frustrated. However, there is nothing preventing any of us from creating our own bookmarks, organizing them in a way that makes sense to us!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Books, books, books....

I love books.

A great site where you can share your passion for books is www.goodreads.com . Here, you can create lists of your favourite (or least favourite) books, write reviews, take book quizes, and see what books other people are raving about. The fact that you can create content makes it very 2.0, so it is in keeping with what we are learning through the CPL. I have found out about many cool books from this site!

Monday, March 22, 2010

2.0: A question posed and answered

Q: What do you hope to learn from Web 2.0?

A: I hope I can learn to show other people that internet is not just a place to get information, but a place where they can let their own thoughts and opinions be known! I am looking forward to learning more about creating content and sharing what I learn with others.