WebJunction

Rob, it's great to have you here!

The topic of Web applications is taking a whole new turn, with more applications available online as an alternative to client-based software confined to a computer or network. Since the buzz about this is fairly new, I wonder if you could give us your brief definition of what qualifies as a Web app.

I like the personlization option for Google News, but I'm not sure that you would call that a Web app. I added a category for "libraries OR librarians" so I can get the latest mainstream news stories about library happenings.

There was a mention of http://www.writely.com over in the [url /forums/thread.jspa?threadID=3973&tstart=0&messageID=32404#32404 ]Social Software forum[/url]. That definitely qualifies. Have you used it?

Thanks for the reminder! I agree with the Wikipedia definition of a web app as "an application that's accessed with a Web browser over a network...." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebApp) That definition would encompass a great deal of the web as we know it now. I would also think that the application could be accessed from any point on the web, and that you could save any information you created with the application on the application's own server. So all that a person would need to use the application would be any computer and an internet connection.

On my personal Google homepage, I have collected 4 mini-applications (Google refers to them as "gadgets") which allow me to see my calendar, email, todo list, and a control panel for my gadgets.

As luck would have it, I have worked with three patrons today, introducing them to Writely.com. Our system doesn't offer word processing, so they were thrilled that there was an option available to them. We did have a few problems, though. The first patron was not able to save the document to her disc as a Word document (problem with the computer, not writely). The second patron just wanted to email the document to someone and we couldn't find a simple 'send as email' option within the program. We ended up saving it to a disc, then opening up her email application and attaching it to an outgoing message. I think that I'll suggest to Writely that they tweak this "feature".

I second the endorsement of Bloglines. So far it has worked very well for me, introducing me to what an aggregator can do.

I also enjoy Pandora, in a purely this-is-not-necessary-for-work capacity :-) This has been discussed in a few threads, like [url http://webjunction.org/forums/click.jspa?messageID=29534#29534]Favorite Web 2.0 sites[/url]. While I can't use it at work since my desk is out among the patrons, I do enjoy having it in the background while I email check or use Bloglines to catch up on blogs at home.

This is great! I didn't know about Pandora--now I have another toy to play with.

I hadn't looked at Netvibes for awhile and yes, it does seem to be like the Google homepage. I have to admit, though that Netvibes appears to be more robust. I may switch.

I don't think anyone's mentioned [url http://www.librarycrunch.com/2006/11/gliffy_webbased_visiolike_draw.html ]Gliffy[/url]. I just saw this Library Crunch post about it. It's a visio-like drawing application and it's free.

Has anyone used it?

That's nifty! I need to set aside some time to play with it.

Have you used Google's [url http://www.sketchup.com/ ]SketchUp[/url]? It's fun too.

lol!

When are you going to post that picture of whatnot? ;)

Thanks for posting this Rob. This article has some good stuff (even though it's really poorly organized/formatted -- somewhat typical for WWD :-(

I love articles like this because even if I'm not going to try all the apps, it's fun to see what's coming down the pipes...

Dee,

Thanks for exploring Webjunction and posting to the forum. I will post a response to you in the forum section at Webjunction so that others might have the opportunity to help you out as well. I would also suggest introducing yourself in the 'Introduce Yourself' thread of the 'Getting Started' forum at Webjunction.

In the meantime, here is my response to you:

Webjunction has allowed me to network with librarians all over the country. It has also been a good source of discussion about current topics and new technology. Members of Webjunction also have access to a collection of tips, documents and advice that librarians around the country have assembled for training, policy development, and planning. There is also a collection of online library courses for professional development purposes.

I hope that this helps. In the meantime, go ahead and explore the Webjunction site and subscribe to a couple of forum topics.

Welcome to Webjunction!

Yeah, message boards are pretty old as a technology -- but (and its an odd thing) they do seem to be somewhat new for many librarians.

William Gibson opined that "The future is here but it is unevenly distributed." (or something more or less like that)

It may be that for many librarians this is, indeed, the future.