Thursday, October 11, 2007

The End.

I really enjoyed the format of this training. I prefer self-paced learning and it was nice that there was enough flexibility in the program for me to pursue what I found most interesting.

My favorite "Things" were:
  • RSS
  • Zoho
  • YouTube and Google Video
  • Downloadable audiobooks and ebooks
  • Meez
If a program like 23 Things was offered in the future I would definitely participate.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Podcasts

Another podcast directory worth mentioning is LearnOutLoud.com, a directory of educational audio books, podcasts and video. Warning: not all is free :(
I love the idea of using podcasts for booktalks. This could be another thing to get our teens involved in.

Glacier in Prince William Sound

This is a video I took in Alaska. It's not very exciting but it does prove I can embed a Google video! Now if only I could make the player purple like my YouTube player...

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learning

Oops...looks like I skipped this one.
The hardest habit for me:
#3 - View problems as challenges
The easiest habit for me:
#2 - Accept responsibility for your own learning

Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries

I think that Web 2.0 offers many exciting possibilities for libraries and the expansion of library services. It's relatively inexpensive, easy to learn, and because it is not all text-based it could be helpful to patrons with special needs, ESOL patrons, and those who cannot read.

Here are some of my favorite examples of Library 2.0 in action:
  • Central Rappahannock Regional Library has one of the best library web sites I've ever seen. Kids and teens can participate in polls, watch storytellers, read and/or submit book, movie and music reviews, submit their own creative writing, and keep online reading logs. This web site was cool before Web 2.0 became one of the biggest buzzwords around.
  • The Denver Public Library story podcasts for kids.
  • The Huntington Beach Public Library YouTube tutorial for logging in to the online catalog for the first time (you can watch the video in my wonderful customized purple YouTube player below!)

An idea to steal, perhaps?

Check out this video from the Huntington Beach Public Library about how to log in to their catalog for the first time. Anything look familiar???

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Digital Media

I have been trying so hard to become interested in audiobooks. I've discovered that I don't like listening to them in the car (and probably shouldn't for safety reasons), but I'm hoping that if I try listening to them on my MP3 player when I go walking I'll have better luck. Maybe if I get hooked it will motivate me to walk more!
Thanks to the wisdom of those who completed this "Thing" before me, I didn't have trouble transferring books to my new MP3 player.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Web 2.0 Awards List

Ok, so it's not an actual winner just an honorable mention...
http://www.fwditon.com is a site to share the funniest forwards you receive. Just forward your forward to submit@fwditon.com. Forwards can be annoying, and my mom sends me tons of them, so I'm thinking of telling her that I've changed my email address to submit@fwditon.com. Just kidding.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Wikis

My favorite library wiki was Princeton Public Library's Book Lovers wiki. It is much more aesthetically pleasing than the average wiki, and I think using a wiki as a reader's advisory tool is a great idea. Maybe we should create one for young adults since they are much more inclined to listen to their peers anyway (no offense to our very hard working and knowledgeable YA Specialists!)

I added my blog to the Maryland Libraries Sandbox. It was surprisingly easy!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Google Docs

I've been using Google Docs for several months. I love that I can access my documents from any computer with internet access, but my favorite feature of Google Docs is the ability to collaborate with other authors. I only wish I knew about it when I was going to school and had so many group projects. It would have made my life a lot easier! However, as far as word processing goes...I don't think Google Docs is up to par on formatting options. I hear Zoho is much better, so I think I'll give that a try.
Note: This entry was created in Google Docs.

Tagging

The You Tube video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" raised a very important question: Who will organize all of this data? The answer given was: we will all organize the data.

Ok, this is where I admit that there is a bit of a traditional librarian in me. Organizing tons of data with tags and no other parameters may not be the best idea. I agree that there are benefits to tagging (mainly flexibility). However, tagging presents a challenge because not all people call something by the same name. For example, if I'm using Delicious to look for information about cars, do I search for car, cars, automobile, auto, autos, or automotive?? Delicious does provide a list of related terms, but not all are listed. And when I click on each term, I get completely different results.

Methods of data organization are way behind this Web 2.0 phenomenon. What a great opportunity for those who are known for their love of organization - librarians!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Technorati

I have very little interest in reading blogs and seriously doubt that I will ever become a "blogger" . My opinion of the blogosphere is that there is lots of scrolling, skimming, and clicking for little return. I think I'll stick to reading journals, books, newspapers, newsletters, etc. It's much less time consuming and much more efficient.

As for Technorati....if one enjoys reading blogs, this is an excellent tool for finding interesting blogs and/or blog postings.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Del.icio.us

What I like about Del.icio.us is the prospect of finding good websites serendipitously. However, I won't be cataloging my own bookmarks because I find it (and many other sites) way too text heavy. How many links do we need on one page? I do, however, realize that many people are not as overwhelmed by chaotic web pages with 4 links per entry, word clouds, and an abundance of miscellaneous links. I'm sure many of those brave people would find a library's Del.icio.us page to be a useful resource. I don't think adding a small link to the library's home page that takes customers to the library's Del.icio.us page would be too obtrusive.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Library Thing

Like many other Web 2.0 phenomenons, I was addicted to Library Thing for a brief period. I spent a lot of time cataloging my books, but quickly lost interest and haven't touched it since. I think it's a great idea...I just see little use for it in my personal life.

Image Generators

I'm a little addicted to this Meez thing at the moment. To the right you will see my latest masterpiece...

Thursday, August 30, 2007

RSS

I already use Google Reader so I didn't sign up for a Bloglines account. I mainly use it for news but I do subscribe to some fun stuff like Colbert Report videos. I also have a feed for YouTube videos but I try to stay away from that one because one video will lead to another, and another, and another......My favorite library feed is the Librarians' Internet Index weekly list of web sites http://www.lii.org/pub/news/113.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Copyright Conundrums

With all the sharing brought on by Web 2.0 copyright issues are confusing me more than ever. I was glad to see that Flickr does a pretty good job of explaining the different types of restrictions applied to the photos.
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Flickr

Wow! There sure are some talented photographers out there! I could spend hours looking at pictures.
As for mashups....Retrievr is pretty cool. You create a sketch of anything you want and it matches it with images on Flickr. I wouldn't say it works well, but it is fun to play with.
Trippermap is a lot of fun (and more functional). You can put a world map on your blog or website and if your photos are tagged with place names they'll show up on the map. Check out Last Known Location to see how it works.