Opal and SirsiDynix Institute

1. The major difference between these two sites is on their target audience. OPAL is for anyone who is interested in Book Discussions, interviews, health and wellness, history and genealogy,music, etc. SirsiDynix Institute is for library workers who are interested in professional development.
2. I had hard time listening to the OPAL video. It stop every two seconds, so I finally gave up after many attempts.
RCPL can encourage staff to utilize OPAL for self training. RCPL can also use this technology for staff meetings and thus eliminate driving time between locations. Staff time and energy resource are valuable to us.

Instant message

I IMed Seattle Public Library. The back-up librarian could not answer my question about the length of time their ASK a Librarian service has been on. She was going to forward my question to the supervisor. I stopped her.
I probably will only use this feature to contact my daughter who lives in NY in case of emergency since connecting with too many people using IM can be annoying.
RCPL can use this for reference service to the public. I believe that our 24/7 reference service has already used this technology.
Caroline probably can also IM me when she needs a quick reply from me .

Podcasting

1. Yes, I have already signed up for the Author on Tour podcasting site. I think that I will enjoy it.
2. Library can at least podcast author's talk, Howard Burnham's performance and music programs. Our goal is to create a friendly environment for tech-savvy users.

Downloadable media

1. I will certainly download books and music to my MP3 player in the future since it is so convenient to use once file is downloaded.

2. Advantage: so easy to manage the security, the checking-in, the checking-out, and the damaged or missing component issues.
Disadvantage: This digital media is targeting at younger generation. The seniors and commuters are still more comfortable with books on CD or playaways. Library needs to offer demonstration workshop to patron in order to fully utilize this new media.

Tagging

1. It is fun to do the tagging on flickr and librarything.com!

2. Yes, tagging on flickr helps to save time in searching for relevant photos on line.
Tagging on libraryThing.com can help in book searching on specific subjects in natural language.

3. I can tag my posted pictures to increase the frequncy of viewing. I can also use tagging to find books of my interest.

4. Library can tag photos of our programs and give users easy access to them. Library can also let patron tag books on our our catalog. The tagging could increase the ease of searching our online catalog since LCSH are too starnge and rigid to the general public.

Social software

I have joined http://eons.com to share my interest in healthy life style with members. This is one example to show the utilization of social software for personal interest. However, I choose not to release most items in my personal profile. I also signed up the My SC Library Community for state-wide library news updates.

Library can centrainly use social software to attract more young users to use our facility, either online or onsite. We can also let patron voice their concerns and interest about library service, collection and programs. We can also follow Hennepin County Library's step to offer a teenlinks myspace blog for a sense of belonging to teens.

Photo and Video sharing

I did find RCPL's pictures in www.flickr.com.
I can post my flower arrangment photos with Ikebana members. I can also post my family photos with family members in USA and Taiwan. It saves time and money.

RCPL can use www.flickr.com and www.youtube.com to braodcast our storytime and segments of programs. For instance, many patrons asked if I could post pictures of sushi making steps online for those who missed the program or those who want to review some destails after the program. I think these two tool would be useful to meet the demain. Library's special programs should go online for accessibility in this busy world.