Back from Vancouver

June has been a lean month on his blog as I have been gadding around more than usual. Highlight and lifetime ambition was a visit to Vancouver for the Second International M-Libraries Conference. What a place with 2.3m living in Greater Vancouver in a stunning setting.I shall be posting fully about this Conference shortly. I gave a session on "Information Literacy gets mobile" and the slides are on Slideshare here.

Move on to Information Literacy meets Library 2.0 !

Thank you for reading this blog. Please move on and subscribe to my new blog Information Literacy meets Library 2.0 !
Bigger and better than this one, it will supplement my book "Information Literacy meets Library 2.0" (published by Facet) which Jo Parker (Open University) and I have just edited.
It was a brave and foolhardy thing to write a book on Web 2.0 (ugh) and we're going to use the new blog for the editors and contributors to update it and give you opportunities for comment.

The blurb about the book says

"This edited collection from an international team of experts provides a practically-based overview of emerging Library 2.0 tools and technologies for information literacy practitioners; addresses the impact of the adoption of these technologies on information literacy teaching; provides case study exemplars for practitioners to help inform their practice; and examines the implications of Library 2.0 for the training of information literacy professionals."

That's the last post on this blog!

Information Literacy meets Library 2.0

Visual Dictionary

Visuwords is an online graphical dictionary. As it says "Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.
Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections."
I tried my unfavourite word "pedagogy" and it exploded all over the screen....

25 super research tools from around the world

A collection of search tools for you to try out from one of these betas sponsored by world-class libraries around the world. As this post from College Degree Co. says "From academic libraries like that at MIT or renowned research centers like the Library of Congress, the following beta research tools feature innovative tricks to connect you with the most relevant, valid results on the Internet and in their card catalogs. Melvil Dewey would be proud."

LASSIE Literature review

In case you haven't yet seen the final outcome of the LASSIE project : Social Software, Libraries and distance learners: literature review by Jane Secker. I can firmly recommend this excellent resource.

Inspiration Matters

I know this isn't directly to do with IL and Web 2.0 but inspiring presentations can stem from enthusiasm. This is something which I've always prized. This post on Presentation Zen is a gem. Garr Reynolds says : "In Sum(1) Never apologize for your enthusiasm, passion, or vision.(2) Never apologize for being inspired by another human being.(3) Seek out inspiration (don't wait for it).(4) Inspire others by sharing your talents and time.(5) And no matter what: Don't let the bozos grind you down, ever."

Flickr images

Michael Stephens is in Australia and his presentation The Hyperlinked Library is on his blog Tame the Web. The images he uses in the prsentation are Creative Commons material from flickr and are a brilliant example of how flickr can be used creatively in presentations. I am highlighting these because the images he uses are so powerful.Wow!