Emergent Technologies and Services

Tolulope Folarin & Alliah HumberHoward University Libraries

HUL Emergent Services

Forms Course-Related Webpage Electronic Reserves

What’s New on the Web?

Blogs, RSS, Podcasts & Wikis

Our Program What are Blogs?

How can I start a Blog? What’s RSS?

How can I read RSS feeds? What are Podcasts?

How can I listen to a Podcast? What are Wikis?

Why would I create a wiki for my courses? What are PDAs?

Why would I use a PDA for my courses? What’s IM?

Why would I use IM in my courses?

All about Weblogs (Blogs)

A Brief History of Blogs

Began with hand coding Free blog sites in 1999: Blogger,

LiveJournal Diaries, journals, ramblings Definitions in media 1999, 2000

Blogs Take Off!

2000-2005 Easy publishing to Web No need to know HTML Add / edit content anywhere, anytime

Dozens of features – dynamic, quick and easy to develop

Millions worldwide

What’s a Blog?

“A Weblog can take the form of a diary, a news service (or summaries of and links to current news items on a topic), a collection of links to other Web sites, a series of book reviews, reports of activity on a project, a journal or diary, a photographic record of an event or activity, or any number of other forms. Most Weblogs display material for the current month or the current week, with older material being archived on the site for browsing and/or searching.”

(Prof Laurel Clyde, 2004)

CNN November 30, 2004

Merriam-Webster Inc. said that blog, defined as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks," was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/11/30/words.of.the.year.reut/index.html

Weblog features: Dated entries Mission or goal statement Categories for posts Archives Lists of other blogs the author(s) reads Navigational links Contact info

Blog Statistics Technorati now tracks over 27.2 Million blogs

On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day

13.7 million bloggers are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created

Basic Requirements to Blog

Blog software Movable Type, Blogger, TypePad, Word Press Other Web-based or client software

Server space & a bit of programming Entries can be pasted in from Word, etc.

(save as .txt to avoid formatting quirks) Time Something to say

Let’s make a blog together!

All About RSS

RSS Basics

Rich Site Summary “Really Simple Syndication” Automatic Web Browsing

Rich Site Summary Simple XML encoded information and news items from

Weblogs or news sites

Syndicated content includes such data as news feeds, events listings, news stories, headlines, project updates, excerpts from discussion forums or even corporate information.

ATOM feeds are a newer version of RSS

Aggregators read the “feeds” and

Provide current awareness delivered to one location

What to Look for:

Syndicate this Site

What is an Aggregator? Software

Client based Server based

Subscribe to sites by adding feeds Different aggregators that do basically the

same thing Saves time Content is syndicated into one place

http://www.cnn.com/services/rss/

An Aggregator reads RSS

Aggregators

PC: Amphetadesk, News Gator

Mac: NetNewsWire, iBlog

Web: Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)

Let’s Try Bloglines!

All About Podcasts

What is a Podcast? Podcasting is a method of publishing audio programs via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed of new files (usually MP3s). It became popular in late 2004, largely due to automatic downloading of audio onto portable players or personal computers. Podcasting is distinct from other types of online media delivery because of its subscription model, which uses a feed (such as RSS or Atom) to deliver an enclosed file.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

Podcasts:

Began as self-published “shows” Everyone can be a “radio star!” Business has jumped in as well:

Podcasts can generate interest and fuel advertising dollars

Launch of iTunes 4.9 with built in Podcast support brought it to mainsteam

Podcasts & iTunes

Ipodder.org Podcast Directory

http://www.ipodder.org/

How do I listen to Podcasts?

Needs: A computer or MP3 player A directory of podcasts to find content Time to listen Bonus idea: Burn Podcasts to CD for the

car!

All About Wikis

What are Wikis What is it?

Simple online database Allows user to create and edit web content Supports hyperlinks and simple text syntax for

creating new pages Allows you to search between internal pages Allows open-editing and collaboration

between subscribed users http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki

Creating Wikis

Software: Mediawiki free software originally written for Wikipedia

Content Commitment to learn a new

technology Community of participants

The Biz Wiki

http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/

Benefits of Wikis

Reduce redundancy of resources Encourages interlinking of concepts Allows multiple edits of the same

content Searchable Able to measure use Able to make timely updates

All About PDAs

Evolution of Personal Digital Assistants

Pocket PCs A hand held device that can do a lot of

the things a computer can do Smart Phones

A Pocket PC that has the capabilities a phone

Uses of PDAs Productivity tools

Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint Email and Internet

Built in Web browser WiFi and Bluetooth connections

Internal Memory and Expansion Slots Digital Camera and Multimedia Synchronizes with computer or

laptops

Examples of Pocket PCs

Palm Pilot HP Ipaq Toshiba Pocket PC Dell Axim PSP Zodiac

– hand held Sony Playstation gaming device

Examples of PDA Smart Phones

Blackberry Palm Treo Motorola Q T-Mobile MDA

All About Instant Messaging (IM)

Using IM in Academia Virtual Office Hours

Students can get help immediately Students can transfer files and vice versa Great for distance learning

Tools MSN Messenger Yahoo Messenger Aol Instant Messenger (AIM) Meebo

HU Reference department Chat http://

www.howard.edu/library/Reference/Faculty/RefChat.htm

Thank You! Questions?

tolufol@yahoo.comahumber@howard.edu