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.