Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Thing 23

I have gotten lots of great ideas from Library 2.0. I was lots of fun looking into all of these things and taking the time to do them. Life is going so fast, it's have to find the time to just learn something new. Like I said in Thing 22, I have made a resolution and I hope to continue learning. I would have to say the the image generators were the best fun. LibraryThing was something I had already used and I hope to have a teen review/blog section on the Teen Page sometime soon.

If you did something like this again, I would be happy to participate.

Thing 22

I found this YouTube video when I was l0oking at the LISNews site. This was under Cool Sites. I am one of those people that has strange dreams, so I found this interesting.

I am making my resolution now. I will continue my Web 2.0 education. I will revisit all the sites I used and see what's new and improved. I hope to be setting up a mini- book review blog like section on our teen.

As for "What did I learn today?" That isn't hard. I usually find out something new. If I don't my husband always has some new technology thingy to show me.

Thing 21

I found this section of the Webjunction article to be so helpful, I am going to paste it into my blog for everyone to read. During these Web 2.0, I have gotten some good ideas, but this was the most strait forward article I have read yet.

The next step in building an interactive library — the most difficult and frustrating part of the project for us —involves convincing a few key people in the organization to consider integrating social networking into existing library activities. This means adding endorsement and coordination to the social web work we've already set in motion.
Let's say, for instance, the library hosts an author visit. We already have a book blog, so we can review the author's latest book. We have podcasting abilities, so perhaps we can arrange a short telephone interview in advance. The same publicity that advertises the program can now mention the review and the podcast. That magnifies the vitality of the library: not only have we arranged for the author to visit, but we’re showcasing his work, linking to the catalog, and providing avenues for his readers to talk back, share their thoughts, and get excited about the upcoming program. The event host should mention the blog and podcast and announce that photographs from the evening will be available on the library's Flickr page. Patrons visiting those photos later in the week might leave their thoughts, discover pictures from other library programs, and partner with the site or subscribe to the blog so they don't miss the next event. Coordination helps every social web tool reinforce what we already do, and the tools themselves add an online interactive dynamic we've never had before.
Once patrons know we're sharing these tools and welcoming their participation, a host of additional opportunities will open up. Fun community events might spring from a social site geared toward seniors; an online teen photo project could ignite untapped creativity; monthly book clubs could add discussion opportunities between meetings; the library can spotlight its special collections or services; and social web workshops for the public could enrich the community and foster still more interest in the library's networks.




View my page on 23 Things on a Stick

Webjunction, Gather and Ning were fun to use. I loved the Library of the Month article on the Webjunction page. What a change in their childrens services. Bravo!!!

I also took a look at the Crafter website. Very cool. My sister is a big craft person. I will send her to this site.

Thing 20

Facebook, was interesting. I did join a couple groups from my high school in Adrian MN and my college, Northern State University. I found a couple people that I knew and added them to my group. I'll have to check the account later and see if anyone responds. I can see that this would be a great place to network with people you may not see or haven't seen since high school or college. You can find out info from their profiles and start a new social system online.

I can see why libraries would use MySpace as a communications tool. Althought the profiles are very oriented for individuals, not institutions. I didn't know that Hennepin County has a zodiac sign. I didn't create a page. Sarah, a coworker has created one for RPL and finds it hard to keep up with. From what I see of the teens using it here at the library, it's something that you can do constantly. Forget school, family and physical activities. I can relate with MySpace. Not. I don't think any online relationship will ever replace face to face communications.

Thing 19


I listened to a few podcasts, I don't know why but I got all these religious sermon like podcasts. One was trying to find religious symbolism in VanGogh's Potato Eaters painting.

I didn't listen to the whole thing, I was irked by the things the guy was saying, trying to making this into a peasant last supper. NOT.

I found that YahooPodcasts was very easy to use. I never did get a Podcastalley link to run. I got lost trying to figure out if I needed to create an account or not.

I was not inspired by this Podcast thing. I can see how some people would like it. Being able to search for specific topics to listen to can be good, but I guess I like to just listen to the radio talk shows and take my chances on what they are talking about today. My XM satelite radio in my car has a talk radio category that I enjoy.

Thing 18

I found this video last week when I was looking at Rap videos. As part of our volunteer appreciation party in a couple weeks, I had somehow volunteers to do a 90's Rap skit with a co-worker. I was looking for some popular rap songs and ideas for clothes, slang sayings and dance moves. I have used YouTube a lot over the last year or so. My favorite YouTube post is the one for Don McClains - Vincent. It's a slide show of VanGohn paintings to the song. Very calming. I enjoy watching it on my break on those stressful/cranky days.

We currently have the winning films of our film contest posted on YouTube and linked to our web page.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Thing 17

OK, I went to the Gale InfoTrac search pages and I easily found the RSS feed. However when I repeatedly tried to post it on my blog I got an INVALID FEED URL message.

I can see where it would be nice to get updates on currently changing topics you may be researching or are interested in.

Thing 16

The RPC and the Assignment Calculator were very indepth. I was kind of puzzled as to why the Assignment Calculator even asked what topic they were research since everything it connected you to was the same. The examples weren't even topic related.

Both of these sites would be great online tools for teachers and school librarians to teach student research skills. I doubt however, that high school students would use these tools unless you required them too.

I don't see where I would use this for any kind of library project. It's more of a tool to refer people do if they want help organizing themselve for a big project or presentation. I guess if I ever had to do some sort of big presentation on a topic that was very indepth and I wanted to keep myself on track I would use these resources.

Thing 15

I took a look at the Second Life site. Its very interesting. At first I thought it would be a place were I could create my own virtual place. It would be fun to create a mini Rochester and our library, you could re-create all the different parts of the library and it could be a cool on-line tour of our library. Patrons could go to the reference desk and talk with a librarian or find out more about the nooks and cranies of the library.

I think that gaming for kids at home or at the library is good, as long as there is some balance. I don't think that people should spend their whole day or week playing games in a fantasy world and only talking to other people playing the virtual game. There is some much more to life that we need to experience that gaming can not do.

Thing 14

I used LibraryThing for quite a while last fall. Here is the link to my catalog:http://www.librarything.com/catalog/michaelynette I attempted to create a list of every book I have ever read, until I realized that if you added more that 500 titles you would need to start paying for the service, so I stopped. I loved the recommendation options. When my list was small and only included recent things I had read, it was really great for finding other things to read. I liked the comments that other could post about a particular book. Once I expanded my list to include things I might have read in High School or College, the recommendations became to broad and ineffective. As for a use as a tool for library patrons, I don't think it's for every user. However it is a great online place to keep track of what you have read and look at what others are reading and what they think of it. The site is well used by book lovers.

Thing 13

I took a look at PageFlakes. It seems to be a lot more work than I would want to do. If I have lots of time to waste I might want to us its cool layout system and templates.

My husband and I have been using 30Boxes as our shared calendar for the last year or so. Since we do not have access to each others electronic work calenders, its an easy way for us to let each other know about evening meetings, plans with friends & family, shared activites and appointments. My husband can sync it to his Iphone. Its very basic and no frills. I would recommend it to others.

I don't know that the t0-do-lists would be helpful. It might be good for a small business with 2-5 employees that could have access to the same lists. I might us it for keeping track of birthdays and anniversaries. I have a task list as part of my email program, that seems to work well for me. Backpack looked very extensive. It would be good if I did a lot of traveling and I wanted an online place to collect info on-line for easy access where ever I might be. I can't say that I was jumping up and down about any of them. I'm that type of person that doesn't us computers very much when I am not at work. At home its all about the piece of paper/list on the refrigerator.

Thing 12

I think that it would be good to have link to these website on our teen page, to give them a variety of viewpoints and outlets. I liked the Bury option on the DIGG site. The Reddit site was a bit text heavy. Teens would not find that appealing. Newsvine was my favorite. Topics are very extensive, loved the ODD NEWS category. It also have great tags/vines to follow. I didn't know that the Smithsonian has a furniture collection. MIXX was a big strange for me. The photo section was weird, categories very random and odd, Mixx was my least favorite.

I have read the NY times and BBC sites before. The NY site has some html issues with links that don't display well. BBC is great for that non-US perspective.

I think these sites are an enhancer. They are great if you have a certain interest or just want to see whats out there.