Using Web 2.0 for Research

If you are looking for hard to find information particularly on recent topics then this excellent presentation from Lissa Lord at the University of Kansas provides ideas for non-print sources to retrieve relevant and up-to-date information

An Introduction to Google’s Search Engine

This article on About.com covers all you need to know to make the most of your Google search, so if you can’t get along to the Library session have a look at this.

Introducing Web 2.0 : Blogs

What is a blog? The word Blog is a contraction of the term web log and is a personal or corporate website in the form of an online journal, with new entries appearing in sequence as they are written. Some blogs such as this library blog are “read only” while others provide an open forum for discussion.

As with Podcasts viewers are often able to sign up for continuous email alerts or for RSS feeds.

It is one of the many ways to keep up to date with developments in your field and to communicate with others.

Here is a selection of environmental Blogs (in alphabetical order):

Climate Debate Daily, named by Times of London as one of the 5 top eco-sites

Climate Ethics Blog is a commentary site on climate change science and policymaking by those working on climate change ethics. The site is intended for policymakers, interested public, and journalists.

ResearchBlogging which accesses blogs maintained by writers producing pee-reviewed material. This is the site to catch up on what is going on in academic research world wide.

Reuters Environment Blog

ScienceBlogs

Short Sharp Science: Environment posts. This blog is maintained by New Scientist.

The Environmental Blog maintained by John Tarantino who founded the non-profit organization to lobby congress to support hybrid vehicles.

The Green Blog with Graham Readfern which is maintained by the Courier Mail.

The Guardian Environmental Blog

While there are indexes to Blogs such as, Technorati,
and Blogcatalog you can also locate Blogs of interest simply by including the word blog in your Google search query.

If you want to set up your own Blog these will help you to start

How to set up a Blog for Beginners

How to set up a science Blog

Introducing Web 2.0 : Podcasts.

Over the coming weeks I plan to introduce some of the tools available out there on the Web which can help keep you up to date and in touch with developments in Environmental affairs. This week we will look at Podcasts.

These are a great way for getting information on a wide range of topics and with the new generation of hand held devices it is now possible to download some items to view at your leisure. However you don’t have to have an Ipod or MP3 player to view them you can use them an ordinary PC with headphones or speaker.

They can range from short presentations of 1 -10 minutes to long discussions and presentations.

These are just a few of the many sites available:-

CSIRO pod

Environment and Green Podcasts maintained by the Environment Society of Australia.

The Environment Show features important current environment issues, interviews with leading campaigners and experts, best practice and solutions to our big environmental challenges. It was established and is maintained by Phil Stubbs, environment reporter for radio2ser Sydney. The site also provides links to a wealth of other Web 2.0 resources.

Podcast Blaster Directory: Environment

If you wish to extend your knowledge in other fields many universities and colleges now offer their courses and talk online.

MIT podcasts

Open Culture: University and College Podcasts

Podcasts from the University of Oxford

University of Melbourne Up Close Podcasts

University of Sydney Podcasts

If you are interested in creating your own podcasts then this will help start you up:

The Beginner’s guide to podcasts and podcasting. This is a comprehensive and easy to follow guide which includes excellent tips.

You may also be interested in Creating a Podcast with Blogger

RSS in Plain English

Are you still wondering what RSS is and how is can help you?

This short and simple video explains the whole thing and will have you started on keeping up to date quickly and easily.