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Web 2.0 in Forestry: a practical overview
Eugene BarskyScience and Engineering Librarian,
University of British Columbia
October 20, 2008
(Email/MSN Messenger) eugene.barsky@ubc.ca
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Goals of this session
Introduce social software to forestry and wood science information professionals
Provide and share personal experiences
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Social software - definition
My definition: “social-software refers to web-based software tools that support or foster group interaction”
Social software is mostly about interaction
Web 2.0 creates conversations
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Social tools to be covered today
Blogs
RSS feeds
Podcasting
Wikis
Instant messaging
Social networking
Anything else?
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What is a blog?
A frequent, chronological, and personalized publication of web content
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI
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Why use a blog?
Pros of blogs:No need to know html codingNo need to find server spaceUsually freeAllow interactivity and sharing
Cons of blogs:Too many – hard to selectIt takes time to read and write
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Blogs in forestry
Examples:
Forester blog by Robert Borhi, BC Registered Professional Forester -http://foresterblog.blogspot.com/
UBC Science and Engineering Blog has a section for wood sciences -http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/scienglib/
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Searching blogs
Searching blogs:
Technorati - http://technorati.com/
Google blog search - http://blogsearch.google.com/
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What is RSS?
Pushed vs. pulled content from blogs and websites
Instead of you going to check for new info – the info comes to you
Video - http://www.blip.tv/file/205570/
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Why use RSS?
Blogs - RSS feeds let readers know when a blog has been updated.
News – stories are published, and users are alerted via the feed. Examples: Google News, CBC, newspaper sites
Press releases and announcements - RSS is a useful tool for formal announcements (http://www.news.gov.bc.ca/rss/).
Scientific literature – Many e-journals and databases (e.g. Compendex or Web of Science) provide search results and updates in RSS format.
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Reading RSS
You need a free reader:
Web-based – Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) or Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader)
Standalone clients - SharpReader (http://www.sharpreader.net/)
Plugins – are integrated into software packages like Microsoft Outlook, and downloaded to your desktop or browser
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Finding forestry-related RSS feeds
Use Bloglines.com search option for feeds
Use LibWorm search options - http://www.libworm.com/
Example – FAO Forestry news - http://www.fao.org/forestry/home/en/
Example - NYTimes feed on forests and forestry -http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/forests_and_forestry/index.html?rss=1
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What is podcasting?
Audio files, thrown on RSS feed
Download themselves to the subscribers’ machines
Don’t need iPod
http://www.vimeo.com/926896
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Why use podcasts?
Current awareness alternative for busy forestry professionals
Portable, cheap to produce,
Easy to find and use (listen on the go and at your convenience)
Perfect for auditory learners (some 30% of learners)
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Forestry related podcasts
Forestry and Environment podcasts:
Forests and Oceans for the Future (UBC seminar series) -http://www.ecoknow.ca/seminars.html
Environment@Yale podcasts -http://environment.yale.edu/multimedia/EnvironmentYale-Podcast/
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Science podcasts
Eugene’s favorites:
BBC Naked Scientists podcasts -http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/listen/
Science Magazine podcasts -http://www.sciencemag.org/about/podcast.dtl
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Searching podcasts
Directories:
Podcast.net - http://www.podcast.net
Apple iTunes - http://www.apple.com/find/searchtips.html
Search tools:
Podscope - http://podscope.com/
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Recording podcasts
Easy to do with free (or almost free) tools
We use Audacity to record - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
1 min. of recording is roughly 1MB
All files live on UBC Institutional Repository -https://circle.ubc.ca/dspace/
Subscribe to our podcasts -http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/scienglib/podcasts/index.xml
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What is a wiki?
An online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively
Wikis are participative and allow many people to work together
Software is usually free and easy-to-learn and use
Video - http://blip.tv/file/246821
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Where to use a wiki?
A conference planning committee needs a Web-based tool to keep track of their activities and who is doing what (Canadian Health Library Association, 2005-08)
An executive committee is looking for an easy way to create and maintain its documents (Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Partnership 2005-07)
A company would like any authorized staff member to be able to update content on its intranet as necessary, without needing to use specialist software (British Columbia Securities Commission, 2006-07)
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Examples of wikis
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org
Wikis in Forestry:
Nepalese Forestry Wiki - http://www.forestrynepal.org/wiki with authors from Canada and even UBC ☺
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Software for wikis
Examples of wiki software:
PBwiki – http://pbwiki.com/
MediaWiki – http://www.mediawiki.org - package used by Wikipedia and our own UBC Health Library Wiki
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Problems with wikis
Wikis are sometimes prone to vandalism (wiki-spam)
Quality issues – since everybody can edit
Can be time consuming
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What is Instant Messaging (IM)?
A system which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network
Very popular with NextGens, Generations Y and X (young professionals)
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Example of Instant Messaging (IM)
Using IM to provide reference services to our users
IM on our subject guides and contact pages -http://toby.library.ubc.ca/libstaff/showperson.cfm?PID=622
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What are social networks?
My definition: “Virtual communities that are structured to delineate and build on relationships that members have with each other by virtue of their being part of that community.”
Video - http://blip.tv/file/282928
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Examples of general social networks
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com - world's sixth most popular English-language site.
Facebook - http://facebook.com - Users join one or more participating networks, such as a high school, place of employment, or geographic region.
Linked-In - http://www.linkedin.com/ - LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site, mainly used for and by professionals.
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Example of social networks in forestry
Facebook has dozens of forestry interest groups with some of them counting hundreds of members:
1. UNB Forestry Alumni
2. Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources
3. UBC Forestry Alumni
4. U of A Forestry
5. Future of Forestry
6. World wide group of forestry and enviroment and natural resources
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Summary and brainstorm
Socialization is the dominant feature of Web 2.0
Web should remain an open and optimal learning space
More productive? Careful thinking is needed!
Your ideas?
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References:
Barsky E., & Giustini D. Web 2.0 in Physical Therapy: A Practical Overview. Physiotherapy Canada, 60(3): 207-210. Barsky E., & Giustini D. Introducing Web 2.0: wikis for health librarians. J Can Health Libr Assoc 2007; 28(4): 147-150 Barsky E, Cho A. Introducing web 2.0: Social search for health librarians. J Can Health Libr Assoc. 2007;28:58-61. Barsky E. Introducing web 2.0: RSS trends for health librarians. J CAN HEALTH LIBR ASSOC. 2006;27:7-8. Barsky E. Introducing web 2.0: Weblogs and podcasting for health librarians. J CAN HEALTH LIBR ASSOC. 2006;27:33-34. Barsky E, Purdon M. Introducing web 2.0: Social networking and social bookmarking for health librarians. J CAN HEALTH LIBR ASSOC. 2006;27:65-67. Boulos MN, Maramba I, Wheeler S. Wikis, blogs and podcasts: A new generation of web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Med Educ. 2006;6:41. Boulos MN, Wheeler S. The emerging web 2.0 social software: An enabling suite of sociable technologies in health and health care education. HEALTH INF LIBR J. 2007;24:2-23.
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