Week 7, Thing

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

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

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

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

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.

Select...23librarythingsInformation IndexSearch The Web

Week 5, Thing 11

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 - - -