Week 9 Thing 23

At long last, I have arrived at Thing 23 in my journey through MD 23 Things! It has been a long journey but has been meaningful. I have become aware of various 2.0 technologies that I never knew existed and learned how they work and how I can use them. I feel I will be able to help our customers with the new 2.0 technologies.

There were several of the 2.0 tecnologies that I liked discovering. I especially enjoyed the online image generators. Making an avatar was fun and reminded me of playing with paper dolls. I liked using the Library Thing to catalog some of our books at home. I think my husband could benefit from using it to catalog his extensive collection of Titanic books. Sounds like a project for the winter. Maybe he won't end up buying duplicate titles anymore if he has a catalog of what he owns. Shortly after I began the 23 Things, my sister-in-law who is a librarian in a library in Long Island, NY, was visiting and mentioned using the Library Thing to catalog her daughters college books and using tags. Because of the 23 Things I knew exactly what she was talking about. Before the 23 Things I would have been in the dark. I also was glad to find out about Del.icio.us. Now I can access my favorites without having to be on my home computer. Google Docs is another useful find for me. You tube was fun. I now know more about downloadable audiobooks and will be more knowledgeable when customers ask about them at the Information Desk.

Overall I enjoyed learning about the 2.o technologies. But there were some problems that lead to lots of frustrations. Some of the links from the program would not work or the sites had changed and did not look like the tutorials. So I spent lots of time trying to figure them out. Other times the instructions weren't quite right on how to do something and I ended up asking another librarian how to do it. The biggest frustration was that it took longer to go through each week's activities than the 30-60 mintues that we were told. Because of my other jobs at the library, I usually did not have time to do the activities at work and ended up doing most of the 23 Things at home. Sometimes when I did have time to work on it at the library, I could not find a free computer.

Overall, this was an excellent learning experience. I learned a lot that I will be able to use in my job and at home. I had never done an online course before and enjoyed it. I found that I really liked the self pacing aspect. If I had a chance I would do another program like this.

Week 9 Thing 22

I learned all about downloadable audiobooks. I started by reviewing the information on the BCPL website. Then I went through the Overdrive Digital Media Guided tour. I found it to be helpful. I was surprised by the number of titles available and the breadth of the collection of audiobooks. All genres of fiction, including new and classic titles, non-fiction titles, children's titles, Young Adult titles, and reference books are available. I liked the features in the What's New section that allowed you to sort by release date, title, creator or by most popular. It was also interesting to see what titles were in the Recently Returned section. The site was easy to navigate. I liked being able to browse the collections or to use the search box and search for a specific title or author. It was really simple to add titles to My Book bag to be checked out for download or to reserve books not currently available. This is another option for our customers to use to obtain their books. I would think that those customers who already use the Books on cassette or Books on CD might like to use downloadable audiobooks. Downloadable audiobooks, as well as e-books, would also be an option for homebound customers.

Week 9 Thing 21

I spent some time this afternoon exploring Yahoo Podcasts and Podcastalley. I found Yahoo Podcasts a little easier to use. You simply click on the Listen button next to the podcast title to listen to the podcast. I also like the way they use a star system to rate the podcasts. There are podcasts on every subject or topic imagineable. In browsing around, I found a podcast of "Lib vibe" where you can listen to headline news from libraries. I added a feed to my bloglines account so I can keep up with Library news. Since my daughter is thinking about taking a trip to Italy through her college in January, I tried searching for podcasts about traveling to Italy. I found two really good podcasts on sightseeing in Italy: http://podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=19637 and http://unabellavista.com/podcast/audio/podcast3.m4a.

I also looked at the Merlin podcasting learning links to several library systems that are using podcasts. At Denver Public Library they have podcasts of children's stories. This is like our story line but through the computer. In today's technological age this is a great use of 2.0 technology. Kids love using the computer and other electronic devices. So listening to stories via podcasts would be a natural thing for them. Kankakee Public Library has podcasts of author programs or interviews that have been held at their library. This is another great idea. People who could not get to the program could listen to it later. Podcasts could be used in BCPL in many ways. BCPL could do a podcast of the speaker at Great Books and that way librarians who were unable to go to the workshop could hear the speaker. Also, podcasts of author programs would be useful. Links could be placed on our web page where customers who did not go to the program could listen to it later.

Week 9 Thing 20

Explored You Tube. You Tube is really neat. It has videos on every subject imagineable. Some are entertaining and some are informational. I found videos on pets, candlepin bowling, tennis racket stringing, gymnastic bloopers, library cart drill teams, news topics and beyond. The "Super Cute Puppy Morph" video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KzlWjQfLk-Q , a video with different breeds of barking dogs morphing into other breeds is very cute. Another video that I found, "Federer on a string"video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKITZ2061eU is very informational. Marisa Wong from Wall Street Journal is interviewing the head of the U.S. Open's string team about restringing the player's rackets at the U. S. Open. I never knew that the star players had their rackets restrung before matches. You Tube is easy to navigate. I liked being able to search You Tube in a variety of ways: by typing in keywords, clicking on the video or categories tabs and browisng, or using the menus on the side to browse the top Rated, Most recent, Top favorite videos. The Help page is very good. Libraries could use the same technology in their websites to provide tutorials on databases and the catalog and to promote programs or services. For instance, Sneaks promoted BCPL's Summer Reading Club on You tube this summer. The video could be used in our website to promote the SRC to everyone who uses our web page.

Week 8 Thing 19

Explored Ma.gnolia from the Web 2.0 Awards List. Ma.gnolia was first in the bookmarking category. Ma.gnolia is a social bookmarking site similar to Del.icio.us. I found the site to be relatively easy to use and navigate. The tutorial and the frequently asked questions are very clear and easy to understand. I had some difficulty adding a bookmarklet to my browser. I wanted to add a Pop-up book marklet but my browser blocked pop-ups. Even though I told it to always accept pop-ups fromMa.gnolia, it did not work. So I used another type of bookmarklet (Mark and Edit in Ma.gnolia) and added it to my favorites. Mark In Ma.gnolia installed without any problems. But I would prefer not to have to go to my Favorites folder and then to the Links folder to use the bookmarklet. Pages on the site have an "Add Bookmark "widget, making it easy to add bookmarks while in their site. You can also add any bookmark found on the site by clicking on an icon under the Details of that bookmark. Ma.gnolia uses a 5 star rating system to let you know what others think about the bookmarks. It also saves copies of the web pages you bookmark. This is an advantage because you will still be able to find the web page later even if it moves. As with other bookmarking sites you can add tags to the pages and search by tags. Ma.gnolia also gives you a way to share your bookmarks one on one or in special interest groups. You can subscribe to RSS and Atom RSS feeds from the site. Although Ma.gnolia 's instructions were clearer and the site easier to navigate, Del.icio.us is easier because I have the icon for it on the tool bar of my browser. So adding book marks should be quicker with Del.icio.us. I want to spend more time comparing the two sites before I decide which one I will use.

Week 8 Thing 18

Before exploring Google Docs, I had never used any web-based word processing applications. I found using Google Docs to create a document to be extremely easy. In fact, I would say it was almost easier than using Microsoft Word! I found it very easy to use the tools on the toolbar. I especially like how the spell check function works. It highlights the misspellings right in the text. Clicking on a highlighted word gives a drop down menu of spelling choices. Clicking on the spelling choice changes the spelling of the word in the text. Using web-based applications like Google docs would alleviate having to save things to a disk or flash drive
so you could take them to another computer to work with them. Also you would have access to your documents anywhere you happen to be as long as you have internet access. These are very useful tools. I can think of times when using web-based applictions would make life easier but I don't think they will cause the downfall of Microsoft Office applications.
After all, web-based applications rely on internet access and if that access is not available for one reason or another, you do not have access to your documents stored in your web account.

Week 7 Thing 17

I played in the Maryland Libraries Sandbox this afternoon. I added an entry to the Favorite Foods page. By simply clicking on edit this page, I could add my favorite food. I found adding my blog to the Favorite Blogs page a litttle more tricky. At first, I added it and it would not link to my blog. So I deleted my blog from the list and tried again. The second time it worked. It was fun looking at all of the "favorites" and adding mine.

Week 7 Thing 16

Explored Wikis. I was familiar with Wikipedia but had no idea that there were other sites where anyone could add, remove or edit content on the site. I took a look at the library wikis listed in this weeks exercise.
I can see how libraries could use wikis both for collaboration among library staff and with their customers. Wikis are also good ways to share best practices. I can think of several times when each branch has been asked to submit best practices on a certain issue. It would have been easy for each branch to enter their best practices in a wiki instead of sending them in and having them compiled. Wikis could also be used to share program ideas. Out of the wikis on our list to look at, I particularly liked the Book Lovers wiki. It is a great reader's advisory tool. I also liked the ALA conference wiki. It is very informative and a good source of information for conference attendees since it covers not only the happenings in the conference but information about the area where the conference was being held. I can see positive uses of wikis in libraries. But I still do not trust using ones like Wikipedia as information sources. It is just too easy for anyone to edit the content and how can I be sure that the information is correct.

Week 6 Thing 15

I read through all of the perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and found them all interesting. The way libraries are being used is changing and what our customers want is changing. Libraries need to think about their servies and the ways they provide them. They need to adapt their services to Web 2.0 technology and the new digital lifestyle. Rick Anderson in his perspective "Away from the icebergs"relates 3 icebergs that are posing threat to the success of libraries today. 1.) Building the "Just In Case"collection where we try to anticipate our customers every need. Our customers expect to access everything that is out there from digital collections of journals, books, blogs, to podcasts. 2) Reliance on User Education. Instead we need to focus on eliminating barriers between our customers and the information they need. 3.) "Come to us" model of library service. We need to find ways to bring our services to the customer rather than insisting they come to us.

I also found Chip Nigles' perspective "To more powerful ways to cooperate" to be very informative. Web 2.0 technology is a key concept for OCLC and they are applying its principles to their product. Among the changes being considered (or already introduced) are: search box that allows anyone to search Open WorldCat without authentication, allowing anyone to contribute and share table of contents, notes and reviews, allowing non-catalogoing library professionals and customers to contribute to Open WorldCat, tagging, list creation and sharing, personal cataloging, and expanding coverage to e-journals and other digital content. OCLC aims to expand the database ensuring it keeps pace with the changing composition of library collections.

I thought Dr. Wendy Schultz's perspective, "To a temporary place in time..." to be thought provoking. She provides a view of Library 1.0-Library 4.0.

Week 6 Thing 14

Explored Technorati. At first I was confused when exploring Technorati because the site looked nothing like the site on the videocast. So it took me a while to figure out where to go to do a keyword search in blog posts, in tags and the Blog Directory. Finally figured out that you could do the keyword search in blog posts from the search box on the home page. But to search in tags or the Blog Directory you had to do an advanced search.
I thought it was neat that you can also search in videos and photos. Learning 2.0 did come up in some videos but not in photos (as one might expect). I found the Top favorited blogs, Top searches, Top tags, Top videos, movies, and news interesting. I thought it was clever for them to rename "What's the buzz" As WTF (Where's the Fire? What's Hot and Why.) Once I understood how to navigate the site, it was interesting.

Week 6 Thing 13

Spent lots of time exploring tagging and the Del.icio.us site this afternoon. It was really interesting to see the tags that have been used and the sites that others have bookmarked. It is certainly a benefit to be able to view your bookmarked sites from any computer. Using Del.icio.us while doing research would make it so easy to keep track of websites with pertinent information on your topic. Categorizing the sites with tags would help to organize your research sites. Also searching with tags would lead you to other sites on the same topic. While exploring, I found the unofficial tools (3rd party applications) in Del.icio.us. There are some really neat applications. I especially like Thumblicious. It shows thumbnail screenshots of popular bookmarks. I really enjoyed exploring Del.icio.us.

Week 5 Thing 12

Explored Rollyo and rolled my own search roll. After initially exploring Rollyo and creating my own search roll, I have had time to go back and work with it some more. You will find my Rollyo search box on the right side of the blog. Rollyo is really easy to use and I can see the benefit of using Rollyo.

Week 5 Thing 11

I took the tour of the LibraryThing and set up an account. I was amazed at the ease of adding books. Here is the link to my catalog of books at the LibraryThing:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lkclemen

Week 5 Thing 10

I explored online image generators and had lots of fun playing with several of the online image generators. I made Jack-0-Lanterns with scary faces with the Create Your Own Jack-O-Lantern generator. Since I love chocolate, I was excited about the Chocolate Bar Generator. Then one generator led me to another one on the same site (imagechef.com) and I found The Dog Ate My Homework generator! The dog was so cute that I had to put the image in my blog. The image is on the right side of my blog. I also found a Name In Lights generator. If you scroll to the bottom of my blog you will see my name in lights! The generators were really easy to use. I also explored Yahoo Avatars. It was fun creating my own avatar. I even got it to appear as a post in this blog! The difficult part when using the online image generators was getting them into my blog. But after several tries and some frustration, it finally worked.

My Avatar

Week 4 Thing 9

I have explored Merlin, signed up for an account and subscribed to their RSS feed. I also continued exploring Bloglines and the different search tools for finding feeds. Bloglines Search tool is very easy to use. I thought Topix was neat because you can search by city and get community news items. Feedsteer was more confusing for me, especially the mention of widgets. Widgets are a real mystery to me. What is a widget? I also found Technorati confusing. I went through the tutorial which seemed fairly stright forward. But when I went to the site it looked different from the tutorial. I need to pay around with it some more. Maybe I'll figure it out. I may have been confused by some of the search tools; but, at least I found out what search tools for finding feeds are out there.

Week4 Thing 8

I have spent a lot of time this week learning about RSS feeds and news readers. Read the discovery resources and now understand exactly what RSS feeds and newsreaders are all about. After reading Bloglines extensive tutorial, I signed up for an account. It was easy to get started with some RSS feeds by subscribing to some of Bloglines Top Picks. I have started noticing the RSS icon on many sites. It is so easy to subscribe to feeds by copying and pasting the URL/link into the subscribe field in Blogline's reader. I have subscribed to 10 or 12 news feeds. This is a real timesaver instead of going to each website. But I find that all of this Web 2.0 technology can be addictive and soon you find that time has gotten away from you.

Week 3 Thing 7

Since beginning the 23 Things I have become more aware of articles and news items on web 2.0 technologies. This week I have seen several news items relating to some of the new technologies that we are exploring: the Democratic canidates debate and You Tube, a new feature called Street Views in Google Maps and a column on Photo Sharing Sites. I found Mike Himowitz's "Plugged In" column in the Baltimore Sun on July 26th to be particularly noteworthy as I was finishing Week 3 on Photos & Images. The column related the writer's experiences with posting his photo collection on a photo sharing website. One day the site he had stored his photos on just disappeared from the Internet. This illustrated how sites can come and go without notice to the users. Users need to be prepared in case this happens to them. It is important to keep another copy of your photos elsewhere besides online storage. The writer suggests taking advantage of the photo sharing sites offers to put your digital images on CD for a small fee. I went back to Flickr to see if they offered anything like that. You can upgrade your account which would give you permanent archiving. But I could not find on their site what permanent archiving includes. This is certainly something to keep in mind when using the photo sharing websites.

Week 3 Thing 5 & 6

I have been exploring Flickr and having lots of fun with it. I finally got a picture of my dog, Montego, that I could post in my blog. It took some time to figure out how to do get it into my blog but I finally got it to work. I also got it to upload onto Flickr! My next step was to find a piciutre on Flickr and to post it to my blog. I was able to do that too! Ellen's tip on how to link your blog with your Flickr account (from her e-mail onWeek 3: Photos and images) was a big help. It is so easy to take a picture from Flickr and post to your blog. I found the mashups to be interesting. I especially liked color pickr. It is neat to search for photos by colors. In browsing through the 3rd party applications, I found a Postcard Browser. This was exciting for me since I had at one time collected antique postcards. So I searched to see if there were any postcards similar to the ones I had collected. I did find some antique postcards on it; but, it was not easy. I guess I was not searching with the correct tags. When I have more time I will do more exploring on the Postcard Browser.

pink dahlia

pink dahlia
Originally uploaded by bigmagpie

What a beautiful photo.

Week 2 Thing 4

My blog is set up and registered.

Week 1 Thing 1 & 2

Week 1 Thing 1 -
Began the journey in Learning 2.0 . Read the blog and learned all about the program.

Week 1 thing 2 -
Learned about the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly successful Lifelong Learners.
The hardest of the 7 1/2 habits for me would be to view problems as challenges and not to view them as crises. The easiest part would be to play. I think it will be fun to play with some of the new technologies and to be learning about them at the same time.

Week 2 Thing 3

Wow! It wasn't as hard to set up a blog as I anticipated. The hardest part and most time consuming part was finding a name to use. I really am on my way to learning about emerging technologies on the web.