Week 10 #23

My favorite exercise (most fun) was using online image generators, in particular, Meez.
The exercise that I have personally found the most useful so far is bloglines – being able to efficiently keep up with different websites is a real time saver. There are many other exercises I was really impressed with, such as Flickr, Library Thing, Library Elf, and Zoho.

This program reinforced what I always knew – that you should never stop learning. When library work is your profession, this is especially true. It is so important that we are familiar with coming technology. If we are not expert at it, at least we should be aware of the basics.

I came away with unexpected outcomes – I was really expecting just to learn about things like My Space and You Tube, sites which I really didn’t anticipate using much, if at all. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn so much more, such as the sites mentioned above, which I think are immensely useful.

As far using these technologies at HCPL, as a reference librarian I can readily see suggesting a source such as Zoho to patrons working on documents on our pcs. Also suggesting sites such as Library Thing, Library Elf, and Flickr. The system is already using Biblioicious and Flickr and there’s an ebranch blog. There’s a possibility we could have more blogs, but monitoring and time can be issues.

What else do I want to learn about? Everything! You don’t know what you don’t know, and just as I was not aware of many of these sites and technologies, I’m sure there are many more out there and many more to come. Bring them on!

Week 9 #22

OverDrive has alot to offer. Much of the value lies in being able to access new materials. I looked up a current bestseller, The Almost Moon, by Alice Seibold, which is available on OverDrive. Not the case in the other 2 sites, Librivox and Wowio. OverDrive is also a source for videos - I looked John Wayne up and found 3 titles available.

I did find Librivox's premise interesting, where volunteers record books in the public domain. Wowio is interesting, too, and can appeal to different audiences (offers comic books in ebook form, for instance.)

Week 9 #21

I looked at a couple of the podcast directories and chose "libVibe". I would have liked more of a description on the page of what this podcast site was about - I wasn't sure at first if it was a local thing or national in scope. I did listen to a session on it about a patron's complaint about porn being viewed by another patron in the library and the director's response and found the report interesting. I saved the rss feed to my bloglines account.

Personally, I prefer to read news, so would not be real likely to use this particular podcast site often, but can again see the value of podcasts, especially if you find a podcast site of real interest and want to keep up with it. It is so handy to be able to save such a site on bloglines!

Week 9 #20

I couldn't resist watching the librarian video from 1946. What a hoot! It was interesting to note how things in the field have remained the same (reference questions, customer service, etc.,) yet have also changed (with technology, etc.)

My comments on the YouTube site - I can see the value because of the vast assortment of topics, many of them informative and informational. Obviously, these sort of videos could be of assistance/interest to patrons if added to library websites, or even original library-created videos that provide instructions for sources, databases, etc.

However, just a quick glance of the viewing options (for instance most viewed) told me this site has much questionable or even possibly x rated material, so it is definitely something to be wary of. I wasn't even sure if I could trust the categories as being "safe" as to content.

Week 8 #19

Success! As you can see below, I was able to post my document from Zoho. The site overall looks very handy and I found it easy to follow. I also used the "share" option via email. Wow!!

zohotest

Boy, have I been out of the loop!  I never realized services like this existed!  Maybe this is something we can suggest to patrons who don't like to keep up with a disc but want to continue working on their documents at the library.

Week 8 #18

In spite of hearing constantly about My Space and Facebook, up until now, I never took the time to take a look at them. Interesting! I also took a look at 360.yahoo, linkedin, and being a dog lover, dogster.

I can certainly understand the attraction these networks have, especially with those people keeping up with "friends" or looking for new ones. I can see potential with linkedin as far as perhaps being able to dig up a former business reference or contact or trying to find a former classmate. And I guess, being able to find out "inside" information about job openings. I was surprised to see company pages already set up for places like Dell and Pfizer.

As much as I love my dog, I just can't see taking the time to register her on dogster, much less read other entries.

Week 7 #17

Technology is amazing, wonderful, and scary. It has become an integral part of our lives. I remember many years ago, my techie father talking about how people would have home computers and I thought, "Why in the world would I want a computer in my home?" Little did I foresee our computerized world.

Cellphones, digital camerias, the internet - all so common today and there is more to come. We must learn about emerging technology or we will be left behind, both as libraries and individuals.
For those of us not born in the computer age, learning new technology can be intimidating but oh, so rewarding!

Week 7 #16 Wikis

I logged into the IHCPL wiki and added posts to the favorite movies and animals pages. So easy!

I have consulted Wikipedia so wikis are not completely new to me. Obviously, its important to consider the source to be aware of what sort of restrictions are in force in terms of adding to the wiki, and therefore, how reliable each wiki is.

I found it interesting to note the similarity between a blog and a wiki - both let people contribute.

I can see where libraries would use wikis to help connect people who are collaborating on an idea or plan, transportation to a workshop, etc.

Week 6 #15

"Away from the 'icebergs'"

I agree with the author about the 3 icebergs. We should steer away from the "just in case" collection. Patrons particularly seem to resent a reference collection, which cannot be checked out. In our 2.0 environment, where information is quickly retrieved electronically, these collections may become more and more difficult to justify.

Reliance on user education - the author is right, again - libraries do the best they can but cannot provide all the training requested by patrons so improving the online services themselves to become more user friendly.

The "come to us" model of library service - yes, this too, has changed. With the internet, the library is no longer just a physical place that people have to come to for informtion. It is expected that the library bring information to the people, wherever they are, especially through the internet.

Library 2.0 is all this and everything we are learning through the "23 things." It is a changing, evolving entity and an exciting and sometimes scary place to be.

Week 6 #14

1) I searched "learning 2.0" on Technorati and found vast differences in the number of results based on whether it was entered as a search term through keyword in blogposts (6,908 using "all words", 563 as "exact phrase"), tags (668), and blog directory (699).

2) I was confused as to the difference between "top favorited blogs" and "top blogs". By definition, top favorited blogs means they are measured by the number of people who have made them their favorite (I understand this) whereas top blogs are biggest by virtue of their unique links. Not really sure what "unique links" is referring to. I noticed there is some overlap between the two categories.

Something surprising? Yes, that "nuffnang" is one of the top searches. I found out it calls itself "Asia's first blog advertising community." Not sure I needed to know that...

As far as Technorati'susefulness?- I guess if you had a special interest or research project, it would be a good place to search for blogs that might pertain.

Week 6 #13

I checked out the LibraryThing listing on del.icio.us, which was saved by 13,430 people. Maybe the vast number of people who decided to save this site is an indicator of the usefulness of the site? I clicked on another site on the Ihcpl account which was just an individual blog saved by only one person, so maybe so. I wouldn't want to spend much, if any time, on the comments, especially when they number in the thousands! Tags could prove useful, if you were looking for similar sites.

Del.icio.us could certainly prove useful in research in being able to save useful sites that can be accessed from any computer and finding potential other sites through other people's tags.

Week 5 #12

I subscribed to Library Elf and am adding it as a feed. I can see how the feed option can be another way of keeping up with library business. I can also see how it can be very helpful in other ways with patrons who have multiple cards from a single family or cards from different libraries.

Week 5 #11

I created a Library Thing account and added 5 books with tags. I did some exploring and will try to do more exploring later. I can see how this site can have several uses - it could be a way to keep up with books one has read (since it is a pretty common thing for people to forget) an informal reader's advisory service, and an informal book club of sorts. One drawback I did notice - when I searched under one of the tags for "nonfiction" with the Library Suggester, there were several books which were fiction titles. I guess this is to be expected as anyone can add tags.

Week 5 #10

I love the word "avatar"! Just the sound of the word brings to mind something "other worldly", something fantastical. Here I play it safe with a slimmer, younger me with an image taken from Meez.

iHCPL for me

Week 4 #9

Ok, this is really getting exciting! The method I think I liked the best was being able to take a favorite website and being able to add the feed from it - I took one from Yahoo. I'll start looking at websites differently now!

I also tried Topix and used it to get regular news from a smaller town.

I think it is great that we are getting suggestions of different websites to try - it gets me out of my "box".

Week 4 #8

Okay, along with subscribing to several feeds, I subscribed to Grace's blog feed (I think) - do I get extra points for that? As usual for the 23 things exercises, I found this exercise at first to be quite daunting, since it is totally new for me. I can see how subscribing to feeds may save some time if you spend a large chunk of time doing individual searches for these things. However, since the information from these feeds can be so alluring, I can see how someone might actually spend more time on the internet reading them!

Week 3 #7

Week 3 #7
Originally uploaded by libtexlib

Tubing on the Guadalupe! Picture edited with color, sharpening, and marbling. Fun!

Week 3, #6 Triggermap

Triggermap seems very interesting! The fact that we can pinpoint on a map where a picture we posted came from is amazing!

Hill Country at Dawn

Hill Country at Dawn
Originally uploaded by libtexlib

This photo serves as a peaceful background to my first flickr exercise.

Internet safety

Internet safety and privacy are huge concerns. There seem to be more and more ways for users' information to be compromised. I really think one cannot be too cautious!

Learning styles

I really learn best by viewing and then actually putting a new concept into practice. Creating a blog is the best way to get the "gist" of the thing.

The biggest challenge will be, understandably, time. I can see how it would be fun to really embellish - spending alot of time to put in meaningful pics, etc., but... duty calls!

First post!

I can see why this blogging thing can become so compelling - from the theme, to the appearance of the page, information revealed, etc.