23LibraryThings

Week 9, Thing 23

2007-08-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

This is the final assignment and post for the 23Things. I think the best way to handle this without writing too much is to simply answer the 6 sample questions in the discovery exercise.
1. My favorite discoveries were Flickr, Delicious, and Zoho. These are "things" that I was not aware of and will use these the most.
2. This program has affected my lifelong learning goals by reaffirming the goal of taking responsiblity for my own learning. Even though this program was technical and somewhat fearful....I still had to be responsible to at least try. It is easier to take the challenges in small steps.
3. An unexpected surprise from the program was the ability to stay on track and actually take in this new knowledge. It was easier than I thought it would be.
4. The only thing I can recommend for this program is to slow it down a bit. This would allow more time for the participants to take in the information and retain it without rushing.
5. I would definitely take another discovery program like this one.
6. I would describe this learning experience by saying that it gave the participants an overview of some of the latest technology available, along with hands on experience. This will enable me to be more knowledgeable on the Reference Desk while working with patrons. I will be able to recommend some of this technology, and now be able to discuss it.

Week 9, Thing 22

2007-08-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

Net Library and Overdrive

This assignment was familiar to me, as I have to be familiar with downloadable audiobooks in order to help patrons with their questions about them. I personally do not download them, don't have a portable device and don't want to have to sit at the computer to listen to them.

I found the tutorials helpful - the Net Library one was easier to follow, not so many technical steps.

Project Gutenberg was interesting. There were many more titles and categories than I thought - I thought it was mainly classic literature only.

I had a journey with this assignment - First I watched the tutorials and did some searching by title and browsing around. I remembered the book titled "Beans" from the Net Library Tutorial. It looked interesting. I searched it in the Net Library Catalog and read the details on it. I then went to Amazon and found it in book format, offering an excerpt. This I read and liked, so I searched the FCPL Catalog by the author and found the book. We do own it. I had to place a hold on it, as it was checked out and has one person waiting for it. This sounds like a very interesting book, written in a down to earth fashion. Even though it is considered business subject, it reads in an easy to understand format.

This was an unexpected journey through the Net Library!

Can't wait to read the book!

Week 9, Thing 21

2007-08-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Podcasts

Spent some time exploring all of the links to this assignment. I had better success with the Yahoo Podcasts and the Podcast.net. When I tried to subscribe to some podcasts from the Yahoo site - it would not work. However, I switched to the Podcast.net and was able to subscribe to 2 more RSS feeds. One was with the Dog Whisperer (Cesar Milan, dog genius) and the other was a pshchology and self help book club. The link will be http://psychjourneybookclub.libsyn.com/rss. (I will need this after this week!!) Anyway, the assignment turned out to be successful and now I can enjoy the 2 more feeds.

Week 9, Thing 20

2007-08-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

You Tube

This was a fun assignment. I spent a lot of time looking around....mostly libraries and dogs. Some videos were really cute. The one I really liked and would like to post in the blog is a Library Book Cart Drill Team performance from the U. of Pitt. This was at the ALA Conference in Chicago. The link would be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=RFtjnxm_wiQ. It is really cute.

While I think this is a great tool - great technology for the younger people especially - I wouldn't want to spend too much time watching the videos. One can really loose time in this site.

Week 9, Thing 19

2007-07-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

For this exercise, I chose the "retail" category from the Web 2.0 Awards list. From that list, I chose to explore a site called "Etsy". It is referred to as "Your Place To Buy And Sell All Things Handmade". What luck - some on line shopping for an assignment! No problem navigating the site at all - it was very well constructed. Most of the work was to select a category, then click on the photo image. Product details displayed, along with price and payment methods accepted. Mostly point and click. The items for sale were quite nice - some very unique - and all handmade. There were a lot of categories - ranging from accessories to candles to handbags to ceramics and much more. I thought of going the extra mile for the assignment and ordering something, but decided not to.

The sad news is that I did not see any applications for its use in a library setting!

Week 8, Thing 18

2007-07-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

These free tools are amazing! I can see them being beneficial from an individual standpoint to a small business standpoint. I did create a simple document in Zoho - it was mainly playing around with the font size, different colors, and test driving some of the options...there was no official document created. I did look at the templates - I tried to download the recipe one to submit a recipe and upload it into this blog. Still need to work on this one - can't figure out how to get the template to open up. I will come back to this after week 9.

Revisited the recipe template today. Did get it uploaded into my document account, however it still had the sample recipe in it and I could not clear it out to put my own recipe in it. Came up with another idea. I created a simple document that is a list of all of the "23 Things" account user names and passwords. This is helpful and I will use it. I printed out 2 copies. Will not upload this into the blog because it is full of password information. I used the Zoho Writer Document with this - very similar to Microsoft Word. Easy to do. Will probable delete the document after this posting.

Week 7, Thing 17

2007-07-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

Sandbox Wiki -
Had no difficulties at all this week!! There was no problem creating an account or adding my blog to the Favorite Blogs page.

I also went into the pb wiki and added 2 items to the "favorites" lists - added "biscuits and sausage gravy!" to the favorite foods; and "puppies" to the favorite things list.

This week was not too difficult.

Week 7, Thing

2007-07-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

I spent time on and off during the day reading the full Wiki Assignment for the week. It was very interesting and full of information.
A few comments on Wiki's in general:
1) I think the community involvement of the Wiki provides for a broader scope of vision concerning the entries.
2) The Wiki provides a great opportunity for those of us (me) that have some form of Techno-fear.....it provides a gentle way to enter the world of web content design.
3) When libraries use Wiki, the edit function allows easier upkeep of changing information. The concept of change is built into the Wiki Design.
4) There is definitely pro and con with the Wiki. As with anything else in life, there are people with good intentions and bad intentions. While I would not depend on a Wiki for research, I do feel that they have instituted a good "watch dog" system for content.

A few comments on the readings about how libraries are using Wiki's:
I really liked the way that the SJCPL uses Wiki for subject Guides.
I looked under their "Health" Heading and found a large amount of valuable information in one spot. They had on one page:
1) Association and Organization Information
2) Local Hospital and Medical Facility information.
3) Holistic Care
4) Mental Health Facilities
5) Drugs and RX information
6) Special Needs information

All very helpful to their patrons.

Week 6, Thing 15

2007-07-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

Library 2.0 -
Very interesting reading for this thing. We are definitely in the age of technology and interactive technology at that. Libraries are dealing with ways to adapt as the patrons' needs adapt. I liked the video from Michael Wesch - neat presentation style - a little vertigo at times, and I think he does need to switch to decaf - but he has a unique style that is fun to watch.

"To A Temporary Place In Time" by Dr. Wendy Schultz - I liked her idea of Library 4.0, particularly the Knowledge Spa, where the luxuries of ideas and thought will be added. Maybe the technology will relax a litle. It sounds inspiring.

Week 6, Thing 14

2007-07-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Technorati -
Spent the morning going over all of the reading and exploring Technorati quite a bit. I tried searching for "Learning 2.0" and suprisingly found many blogs popping up and reading many entries similar to ours about the same assignments.....very interesting. Many opinions. I had less results by using tags, more from searching in the blog posts.

My brain is saturated with all of these postings and writings on these sites - I guess everyone has something to say!

One beneficial note - while reading the FNP on line - I went into their blog section and found some great blogs set up by the Frederick Chamber of Commerce with a lot of good, current political and business goings ons here in Maryland and Frederick. Will visit those on a regular basis now.

Week 6, Thing 13

2007-07-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

Del.icio.us -
Did a lot of exploring around the site - looking at tags and reading comments.
One needs to be careful about sources stored here for research purposes - I found at least one that had a correction on it from a commentor.(Wiki - esque) This would be great for research files and information, I also found a lot of fun stuff to sort through, too. This site is very packed with information.

Week 5, Thing 12

2007-07-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

Rollyo -
Glad to have a podcast on this thing - I find them helpful.

Did a lot of exploring around the site and did set up a search roll called "Information Index".
I included several sites that I use on the Ref Desk. This is a handy tool to have. When this course is over I will probably use this one.... just trying to keep up for now.

2007-07-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

Week 5, Thing 11

2007-07-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

Library Thing:
I created an account in Library Thing and created a library.
Mostly fiction that I have read, which include my favorite authors.
Slight Problem: Am having trouble getting the library into the blog!!

I'll stay on it and eventually will get it - - -

Week 5, Thing 10 Continued

2007-07-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

After almost 2 hours of trying to figure this out - and much help from Pat Anderson - the avatar got into the blog................twice.

Don't know how it finally worked! I will not even try to delete one of the avatars - might blow the whole thing.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun choosing the options!!

Week 5, Thing 10

2007-07-02T15:06:00.001-07:00

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Week 4, Thing 9

2007-06-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

After reviewing all of the search tools for finding feeds, I decided I liked Feedster the best. Probably because it was the simplest format. I am finding that there is so much layering and small tidbits of information packed into these tool sites. I also read Jenny Levines "The Shifted Librarian" and one of her statements is so true. She talked about how information is now coming to us - instead of us going out to find information. I need to get on board with this trend. Part of the trend is to handle or process this onslaught of information.

Was also able to subscribe to the Merlin feeds.

Week 4, Thing 8

2007-06-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

Finished the RSS assignment today! Subscribed to the required 10 RSS feeds on the bloglines account. Here are the feeds;
Accuweather - Boing Boing - CNN Dr. Gupta - CNN news - Discovery News - Shifted Librarian - Library Bytes - Market Watch - This Day In History - Unshelved.

Some of the trys did not take, I think it is because some of the sites are subscription. I kept playing around until they worked - the fear is diminishing.

I would think nothing of reading about all of this technology, but would not actually set up accounts and try them. This course is good - it makes me actually follow through and use the technology.

roses1

2007-06-25T12:22:00.001-07:00

roses1,
originally uploaded by shoot_me!!.

Needed to review and post another picture so I don't forget how!!
This will also brighten things up for the next RSS thing.

Week 3, Thing 7

2007-06-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on technology:

The assignments this week took us through Flickr in depth. Though this is high tech and can be overwhelming, it is a great tool for families and friends to stay connected and share family photos through one central source. It puts a human touch on the technology.

Now.......... onto RSS!

Week 3, Thing 6

2007-06-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Had a blast exploring the mashups and 3rd party tools - keeping in mind that is was way over my head - just window shopping today. I really enjoyed the Flickr Color Fields by Jum Bumgardner. It was almost a kalidescope of color - very entertaining.

I also browsed over some librarian trading cards - again, way over my head.

So far, lots of fun. I am still recovering from thing 5 yesterday!

Week 3, Thing 5

2007-06-19T10:44:00.003-07:00

Taylor Lips Stuck to Gums,
originally uploaded by sunjin76.

I spent an hour playing around with this blog thing and flickr....don't know how I did this, but it must have worked!! So much for just punching buttons. Anyway, here is thing 5 -- I got such a kick out of this picture. The entire group was hilarious. The dogs are so cute. Hope you enjoy this and it actually uploads onto the blog!!!

Week 3, Thing 5

2007-06-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

Taylor Lips Stuck to Gums,
originally uploaded by sunjin76.

Week 2, Thing 4 - Register Your Blog

2007-06-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

Blog was successfully registered today.

I made a note of the confirmation number.

Ready to blog on!

Week 2, Thing 3 - Set Up Your Own Blog

2007-06-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

My thoughts on the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners:

It reinforces the fact that not all learning is done in a formal "school" setting, nor does all learning occur only during "school age" years in a person's lifetime. It was refreshing to read that learning can be associated with playing and actually enjoying the learning process. Too many of us (including me) have a certain level of fear regarding new things.

One note that came to mind was: Once you have learned....you can help others by teaching.

The easiest habit for me was #2 - Accept responsibility for your learning.
This shows that you are doing your part to help the process and not waiting for someone else to do everything for you.

The hardest habit for me was #7 - Use technology to your advantage.
This is a good habit definitely, it's just conquering the knowledge of the technology that can be difficult.

Week 1 Continued

2007-06-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Success with the blog!!

I was able to create, post and search for the blog by title today.

Progress!!

Week 1

2007-06-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

Week 1 --

I really like the podcasts included in each weekly thing. It adds a touch of high tech to the program. Am still pondering the 7 1/2 Learning Habits, will post the easiest and hardest later in the week.

This whole program will be very beneficial.

The main goal of the program for me is to have a general overview of each of the things.