I did it!!! With a few days (phew!) to spare! So, reflecting back on all of this, what can really be said is that there is so much out there to learn, and that I indeed don't know it all, but the best we can all do is to keep learning. Some of this stuff was a piece of cake to me, such as making a blog, discovering wikis, using Flickr and YouTube, etc. However, I am really grateful for the opportunity to learn about and use sites I was not familiar with, such as Bloglines, LibraryThing, Rollyo, podcast directories, etc. I think my very most favorite thing I discovered, and that I now use regularly, is de.licio.us. This is such an awesome way to keep track of all the cool and useful sites I stumble across, and I can access them from any computer!
I definately feel that this training has helped me in my lifelong learning goal of staying afloat in web technology. I started using the internet about 13 years ago when my parents got Prodigy dial-up service at a whopping 14.4k speed. Since then, I've learned various things about email, HTML, ftp, forums, chat, websites, file-sharing, blogs, etc. However, I did start to feel like I was falling behind when the buzz started about Web 2.0 in recent years. This training course has given me a much better understanding of what it all means, and it's now more than a buzz word to me. It's the changing face of the Internet, and as more and more people use it, it's up to us as information professionals to embrace these changes and use them as new and powerful tools in connecting people with information. This is how libraries are going to prove their relevance in the 21st century, because as the card-catalog-using generations get replaced by the Internet generations, we will need to know the technology that our patrons are using, or we will indeed become outdated and irrelevant to modern society.
I really enjoyed the format of this training course and found it to be very accessible and fair. Most of my MLIS instruction was done online, so maybe I'm just used to this format already, but I found it very worthwhile and effective. I liked that it was casual, and that we had the liberty to explore as much (or as little!) as we wanted for each "thing". I think it might've been neat to have a little more interaction with everyone else. I peeked in on some other blogs from the Participants list, but maybe we could've had a blog community where participants could introduce themselves and share their discoveries.
To sum all these 23 things up, I really enjoyed this training program. I even enjoyed helping my co-workers who were not as familiar with this stuff as I was. It was fun to see them get excited about the different tools, and there were plenty of new ones for me to get excited about too. I learned a lot and had fun, and I would definately do another! Thank You!!!
Monday, March 26, 2007
Thing #22
eBooks and Audiobooks are another thing that I'm still learning about, but I think they are an exciting thing, and I try to refer people to them when I can, in a way that won't scare them off. I've had experiences with patrons in which a print copy of a book is not available, but we'll have the ebook instead (I haven't noticed audiobooks so much in all of my searching, which I'm assuming is because we don't have that many of them). Usually people are apprehensive or totally confused when I say "Oh, we have it in eBook format", so I usually try to sell them on it by opening it for them, showing them what it looks like, and demonstrating how to do stuff like turn the pages and zoom in. As expected, some people are not into the idea of reading a book on their computer, but others get over their initial apprehension and say that they will give it a shot.
I looked around on our eBook search page and learned some more about this cool feature. We have a lot of stuff in netLibrary, and I was happy to see that we offer materials in different languages. We also offer the Pimsleur Language series in audiobook format, which is really awesome. It is an excellent yet really expensive series, so it's great that we can offer these materials free of charge on our websites as well as in our libraries for people. I'm excited about the idea of OverDrive audiobooks, but at this point the biggest issue is definately lack of materials! I could see teens potentially being interested in downloading books to their iPods, but with only 8 books under YA Fiction, that's some pretty slim pickings. I think this is a service that we should continue to promote and expand, and I feel that this will someday be a huge part of what we offer. In the meantime, as this technology develops, we as library staff need to keep learning more about it and then teaching it to our patrons.
I looked around on our eBook search page and learned some more about this cool feature. We have a lot of stuff in netLibrary, and I was happy to see that we offer materials in different languages. We also offer the Pimsleur Language series in audiobook format, which is really awesome. It is an excellent yet really expensive series, so it's great that we can offer these materials free of charge on our websites as well as in our libraries for people. I'm excited about the idea of OverDrive audiobooks, but at this point the biggest issue is definately lack of materials! I could see teens potentially being interested in downloading books to their iPods, but with only 8 books under YA Fiction, that's some pretty slim pickings. I think this is a service that we should continue to promote and expand, and I feel that this will someday be a huge part of what we offer. In the meantime, as this technology develops, we as library staff need to keep learning more about it and then teaching it to our patrons.
Thing #21
Podcasts are another thing I've been meaning to explore more. Thanks Learning 2.0! I looked around using podcastalley.com and Yahoo Podcasts, and I found a few to add to my Bloglines account, which I put in the Podcasts folder. I found a cool one that Sunnyvale Public Library does, with storytimes, local history storytellers, meeting recordings, etc. It's definately something we could think about over here! I also added two from NPR: weekly book reviews, and This American Life, which is my favorite radio program. It chronicles the lives of Americans from all walks of life, and I really like it. Now I can download and listen to different podcast episodes on my computer or MP3 player (btw, NOT an iPod, but a cool Archos), and periodically check my Bloglines for newly posted episodes. Podcasts are pretty awesome, especially when they're free...
Thing #20
Ah, YouTube. I've already spent countless hours, either alone or crowded around the monitor with friends, looking at random stuff like commercials from my youth, clips from TV shows, music videos, and all kinds of other ridiculous stuff. Millions of people are using it, and it's referenced on TV, radio, news, and in passing conversation all the time. It's here in a big way, and it's here to stay.
YouTube is designed in a way that is effective at keeping you browsing. You can browse the categories, or you can look at the related videos shown with a selected video. I know I've spent plenty of time hopping from video to video. For this exercise, I looked around for library-related videos, and I came across this one, which I had seen linked several months ago in a library blog. It's so cute! This library system made it for an in-service, and I think it's such a great example of all the different types of library staff and the different things they do.
It's hard to say where YouTube will go. It began as a way for average people to easily share their videos, but it's getting so huge that I predict commercial interests will increasingly interfere with the DIY community aspect of it. There is also of course the heated issue of copyrighted material. I actually know a friend who works for a company that pays him and others to scour YouTube and send take-down notices for copyrighted material. As we've seen with the older issue of MP3 file-sharing, people can and will share their files, whether its copyrighted or not, so it will be interesting to see how these types of sites struggle to be user-friendly while at the same time restrictive of what goes up.
YouTube is designed in a way that is effective at keeping you browsing. You can browse the categories, or you can look at the related videos shown with a selected video. I know I've spent plenty of time hopping from video to video. For this exercise, I looked around for library-related videos, and I came across this one, which I had seen linked several months ago in a library blog. It's so cute! This library system made it for an in-service, and I think it's such a great example of all the different types of library staff and the different things they do.
It's hard to say where YouTube will go. It began as a way for average people to easily share their videos, but it's getting so huge that I predict commercial interests will increasingly interfere with the DIY community aspect of it. There is also of course the heated issue of copyrighted material. I actually know a friend who works for a company that pays him and others to scour YouTube and send take-down notices for copyrighted material. As we've seen with the older issue of MP3 file-sharing, people can and will share their files, whether its copyrighted or not, so it will be interesting to see how these types of sites struggle to be user-friendly while at the same time restrictive of what goes up.
Thing #19
LibraryThing is a lot of fun! I first heard about it a year or so ago in a librarian-related blog, and I know it's just the type of web 2.0 tool that us library folks love to play with, although I can see now that plenty of other people are playing with it too. Tools like these make it easy for people to share their opinions about books and find recommendations. It's like browsing through your friend's bookshelf, but now you can do it from across the globe, and with anyone willing to share. This should clue us in libraries in that people want more than just a catalog. People want tags, ratings, reviews, images,, recommendations, etc. along with just the MARC info. I like the way that libraries are using it to highlight books on their webpages. A very cool idea! We could do this on our main page or for our individual branch blogs, Myspaces, etc.
I added several books to my LibraryThing. I also added a neat widget to my sidebar that shows the random covers of some of the books in my catalog.
I added several books to my LibraryThing. I also added a neat widget to my sidebar that shows the random covers of some of the books in my catalog.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Thing #18
This is an awesome thing for libraries to encourage. It's a great resource for our Internet users. I played around with Zoho and Google Docs. Zoho offers some neat options, like making your own slide show, in addition to word processing and spreadsheets, but it seemed a little buggy. I tried to save one of my test documents, and the page kept loading and loading, and when I went back, the data I had typed was gone. I also kept getting a weird error message when trying to format my text. I had better luck with Google Docs. With an easy set-up, it can post info right to my Blogger blog, and as someone pointed out in the Learning 2.0 post comments, this way you can spellcheck your entry before you send it off into the world. The text below was written in Google Docs and imported here as a post. (I then edited it to include this other stuff.)
Hello. I am writing this in Google Docs. I think this is a great thing to tell patrons about. We often get people working on word documents on our public computers that end up having various issues, such as software incompatibility, nowhere to save, etc. This is a way for people to work on their word documents, such as resumes, assignments, etc., and be able to save and go back to them later. This is especially helpful for our library users who do not have computers of their own. This site can help someone without a personal computer to create and manage multiple files from our public PCs.
Hello. I am writing this in Google Docs. I think this is a great thing to tell patrons about. We often get people working on word documents on our public computers that end up having various issues, such as software incompatibility, nowhere to save, etc. This is a way for people to work on their word documents, such as resumes, assignments, etc., and be able to save and go back to them later. This is especially helpful for our library users who do not have computers of their own. This site can help someone without a personal computer to create and manage multiple files from our public PCs.
Thing #17
Ok, so I played around with the sjlibrarylearning2 wiki. I added my blog to the list, and I added a restaurant recommendation under "Favorite Restaurant" and a cute picture of my dog under "Favorite Animal".
I touched on this a little bit in the last entry in terms of how we can use wikis as library staff and for our public, but to reiterate, I think we can do all kinds of stuff with wikis in our libraries. For staff, whether its fun stuff like staff sharing our favorite things, or more professional like having an editable place to post policies, memos, meeting agendas, program info, etc., it can be a great way beyond email to share ideas. As for our public, we can provide spaces in the form of library-hosted wikis for people to share information, reviews, etc. I think the library should play some role in moderating that information for quality control, but wikis can easily allow for that type of thing.
I touched on this a little bit in the last entry in terms of how we can use wikis as library staff and for our public, but to reiterate, I think we can do all kinds of stuff with wikis in our libraries. For staff, whether its fun stuff like staff sharing our favorite things, or more professional like having an editable place to post policies, memos, meeting agendas, program info, etc., it can be a great way beyond email to share ideas. As for our public, we can provide spaces in the form of library-hosted wikis for people to share information, reviews, etc. I think the library should play some role in moderating that information for quality control, but wikis can easily allow for that type of thing.
Thing #16
I have been using Wikipedia for awhile now, and I had to contribute to a wiki when I took a Web class last year, but it was interesting to learn more about what makes up a wiki and the issues surrounding them. I took a look at the Wikipedia FAQ, and I got some clarification on accountability issues I had been curious about. A wiki is a double-edged sword: Anyone can add to it, meaning you get the collective intelligence of a global community. Unfortunately, the flipside is that indeed anyone can add to it, meaning you'll get your occasional share of weirdos, bigots, pranksters, etc., which makes things difficult if you're trying to rely on a wiki for authoritative information. However, one thing all of this Web 2.0 stuff seems to imply to me is learning to trust in collaboration, especially in the strength in numbers. Open source software is an ongoing example of a successful collaborative project in which peers create and revise each others work, so we know it's possible. According to Wikipedia: "As anyone can edit any article, it is of course possible for biased, out of date, or incorrect information to be posted. However, because there are so many other people reading the articles and monitoring contributions using the Recent Changes page, incorrect information is usually corrected quickly. Thus, the overall accuracy of the encyclopedia is improving all the time as it attracts more and more contributors." That seems fairly reassuring to me, particularly in reference to something as huge and well-known as Wikipedia. I think librarians can safely refer patrons to info from Wikipedia as long as they give them a bit of a "trust-at-your-own-risk" disclaimer, although pretty much all of the information I have found on there has seemed pretty thorough and genuine to me.
I really enjoyed looking at the different types of library wikis, both for public use and for staff development. Our staff has a growing little wiki for youth services (which by the way, I should do my part and add to), but I wonder what we could do for the public. I was very interested in the ones like the Book Lovers wiki of the Princeton Public Library, where patrons can add their own reviews, or the SJCPL Subject Guides, which was an awesome collection of resources, including books (w/ OPAC links), website links, online database links, local listings, etc., pertaining to various subjects. The Library Success- Best Practices wiki is also a wonderful resource for professional development that I plan on reading through more thoroughly. (Gotta add it to my de.licio.us!).
I think libraries can continue to use wikis for various things, such as creating an ongoing body of work to help staff (ie sharing storytime ideas, policies and procedures, meeting minutes, contacts, etc), but I really like the idea of providing tools to the public so they can participate in the sharing of information. A local resources wiki could be a really good way to get input from the community about local organizations, classes, small businesses, etc. And creating a more Amazon-like catalog with item reviews and recommended reading lists seems like another neat way to involve the individual user. Web 2.0 is "user-centric", which means we need to provide opportunities for our library users to participate.
I really enjoyed looking at the different types of library wikis, both for public use and for staff development. Our staff has a growing little wiki for youth services (which by the way, I should do my part and add to), but I wonder what we could do for the public. I was very interested in the ones like the Book Lovers wiki of the Princeton Public Library, where patrons can add their own reviews, or the SJCPL Subject Guides, which was an awesome collection of resources, including books (w/ OPAC links), website links, online database links, local listings, etc., pertaining to various subjects. The Library Success- Best Practices wiki is also a wonderful resource for professional development that I plan on reading through more thoroughly. (Gotta add it to my de.licio.us!).
I think libraries can continue to use wikis for various things, such as creating an ongoing body of work to help staff (ie sharing storytime ideas, policies and procedures, meeting minutes, contacts, etc), but I really like the idea of providing tools to the public so they can participate in the sharing of information. A local resources wiki could be a really good way to get input from the community about local organizations, classes, small businesses, etc. And creating a more Amazon-like catalog with item reviews and recommended reading lists seems like another neat way to involve the individual user. Web 2.0 is "user-centric", which means we need to provide opportunities for our library users to participate.
Thing #15
I enjoyed reading different perspectives about all of the positive potential that Web 2.0 tools have to offer the global community and the ways that libraries can provide and help people use these tools. The article "To More Powerful Way to Cooperate" in particular got me excited, particularly when I read: "Our next major effort in this area will be the release, this spring, of a search box that will allow anyone with a Web browser to search all of WorldCat, no authentication required." Awesome! I love collaboration between libraries, and this is an excellent example of libraries all over the world sharing their resources on the web for free so that people can find materials. WorldCat.org is still in beta, but it is a pretty amazing tool. It uses the vast OCLC global catalog of materials and then searches nearby libraries for the item in question. We already offer great interlibrary loan services, but this is an additional resource to help people find materials, such as when a patron can't wait for an item and is willing to drive to a neighboring library to get it. Often websites will provide links to Amazon when talking about a book, movie, CD, etc so that people can see the Amazon summary and buy the item themselves. Wouldn't it be cool if everyone started linking to WorldCat too so that you could immediately see if your local library also has the item?
So what does Library 2.0 mean to me? In short, it's all about collaboration, creativity, and innovation. It's about re-inventing library services while at the same time doing what we do best, which is adeptly connecting people with information. While we must still focus on improving services and technology for our local communities, whether its improving our OPAC, adding helpful links and web tools to our website, installing wi-fi in all branches, etc., we can now also do our part to contribute and collaborate in a global community of libraries, working to improve library service as a whole, by sharing our resources online for all to use.
So what does Library 2.0 mean to me? In short, it's all about collaboration, creativity, and innovation. It's about re-inventing library services while at the same time doing what we do best, which is adeptly connecting people with information. While we must still focus on improving services and technology for our local communities, whether its improving our OPAC, adding helpful links and web tools to our website, installing wi-fi in all branches, etc., we can now also do our part to contribute and collaborate in a global community of libraries, working to improve library service as a whole, by sharing our resources online for all to use.
Thing #14
Oops, I kinda slacked these past few weeks, but I WILL get this Learning 2.0 done by next Friday! Anyways, on to Thing #14.
The beauty of Web 2.0 is that anyone with a computer (and who knows a bit about how to use it) can publish their own content, whether it's a silly video, political blog, cooking podcast, etc. However, while there is certainly no lack of information out there, it can easily get overwhelming to even find the type of thing we're looking for. With 62.5 million blogs out there, we need tools like Technorati to sift through and make sense of it all. I watched the Technorati tour, and I appreciate the fact that Technorati is striving to make the site more accessible to the average user, not just avid bloggers.
Searching for Learning 2.0 in the blog posts proved to be pretty inefficient because it just scans the text of the entry for either Learning or 2.0, and not necessarily even together as a phrase, even with "Learning 2.0" with quotations. I'm guessing the search algorithims aren't very advanced. However, I quickly saw the importance of thorough and descriptive tagging, because when I did a Learning 2.0 search in tags, while it brought up much fewer results, overall they seemed much more relevant. This is because an actual person has actually taken the time to "catalog" their post so that others can find it. The problem I see with this, due to my librarianey background, is the lack of a controlled vocabulary. Someone might tag something as one thing while the other person might search for it under another thing. I suppose we gotta cut the average person some slack, though, and just let them do the best they can with tagging. I think that inconsistent tagging is better than no tagging at all, because it provides yet another method to find what we're looking for. The search in the blog directory also yielded some pretty good results as well. I even found some SJPL blogs in there.
While poking around at other stuff in the popular blogs, I came across a few that I like, such as PostSecret, where people can anonymously post any secret, and Make Magazine, which is a cool DIY magazine (and blog!) with ideas for all kinds of neat gadgets and projects. Technorati still seems mostly dominated by the techie crowd, since most of the "Top Favorited" blogs were tech-related.
I took the challenge and tagged this entry as "SJLibrary2.0" with Technorati. I also tagged this entry within Blogger, which I've been lazy about.
SJLibrary2.0
The beauty of Web 2.0 is that anyone with a computer (and who knows a bit about how to use it) can publish their own content, whether it's a silly video, political blog, cooking podcast, etc. However, while there is certainly no lack of information out there, it can easily get overwhelming to even find the type of thing we're looking for. With 62.5 million blogs out there, we need tools like Technorati to sift through and make sense of it all. I watched the Technorati tour, and I appreciate the fact that Technorati is striving to make the site more accessible to the average user, not just avid bloggers.
Searching for Learning 2.0 in the blog posts proved to be pretty inefficient because it just scans the text of the entry for either Learning or 2.0, and not necessarily even together as a phrase, even with "Learning 2.0" with quotations. I'm guessing the search algorithims aren't very advanced. However, I quickly saw the importance of thorough and descriptive tagging, because when I did a Learning 2.0 search in tags, while it brought up much fewer results, overall they seemed much more relevant. This is because an actual person has actually taken the time to "catalog" their post so that others can find it. The problem I see with this, due to my librarianey background, is the lack of a controlled vocabulary. Someone might tag something as one thing while the other person might search for it under another thing. I suppose we gotta cut the average person some slack, though, and just let them do the best they can with tagging. I think that inconsistent tagging is better than no tagging at all, because it provides yet another method to find what we're looking for. The search in the blog directory also yielded some pretty good results as well. I even found some SJPL blogs in there.
While poking around at other stuff in the popular blogs, I came across a few that I like, such as PostSecret, where people can anonymously post any secret, and Make Magazine, which is a cool DIY magazine (and blog!) with ideas for all kinds of neat gadgets and projects. Technorati still seems mostly dominated by the techie crowd, since most of the "Top Favorited" blogs were tech-related.
I took the challenge and tagged this entry as "SJLibrary2.0" with Technorati. I also tagged this entry within Blogger, which I've been lazy about.
SJLibrary2.0
Monday, March 12, 2007
Thing #13
This activity really made me appreciate the things we are learning in this training course. del.icio.us is exactly the type of thing that makes me realize that despite what I feel like I "already know" in terms of the web, there is so much more out there yet to be discovered. I've been hearing about de.licio.us for awhile now and have been meaning to check it out, and now I'm really glad that I did. There have been some Web 2.0 things out there that have struck me as neat or fun, but this is the type of functional tool that I really could see myself using all the time, for work and for personal organization. Right after doing the discovery exercises and creating my account, I downloaded the Mozilla add-on at work and at home so that I can use it for all of my bookmarking.
I think sites like de.licio.us have the potential for libraries to prove themselves as modern and valid research institutions of the 21st century. As social bookmarking increases in popularity, libraries can be at the forefront of the movement by lending their expertise when it comes to finding trusted sites and tagging them accordingly. This is what we've always done well, and we should continue to help people navigate the sea of information by using the new tools that people are now using to find information. We can use de.licio.us to help people in cyberspace by creating trustworthy directories of bookmarks, as well as using it in face-to-face interaction s at the reference desk in order to quickly pull up information.
I will definately continue to use my account...I added a network badge to my blog, over on the side here. Still so much more to learn!
I think sites like de.licio.us have the potential for libraries to prove themselves as modern and valid research institutions of the 21st century. As social bookmarking increases in popularity, libraries can be at the forefront of the movement by lending their expertise when it comes to finding trusted sites and tagging them accordingly. This is what we've always done well, and we should continue to help people navigate the sea of information by using the new tools that people are now using to find information. We can use de.licio.us to help people in cyberspace by creating trustworthy directories of bookmarks, as well as using it in face-to-face interaction s at the reference desk in order to quickly pull up information.
I will definately continue to use my account...I added a network badge to my blog, over on the side here. Still so much more to learn!
Friday, March 9, 2007
Thing #12
Ah, fun with Rollyo...This was an interesting site to play with. I looked around at the different search rolls, such as the Quick Quotes, Metal Music, Vegan Recipes, Public Domain E-Books, etc. Some were better than others, and I guess it really has to do with the quality and breadth of sites selected for the roll. For example, the Quote search roll worked very well, while the Recipe one did not. It seems to me that the point of this is to cut out all the random stuff you have to sift through when casting a net out into the vastness of a Google search, but sometimes you end up with a limited amount of results that still aren't very relevant. I think that this could be a really useful tool with a little bit of tweaking and fine-tuning along the way.
Here is my own Rollyo that searches English and Spanish sites for Latino Literature book reviews. We have a lot of Spanish/English speakers here at my library, and this tool would be helpful in searching for information about notable books in both languages. Try searching for a popular author like Isabel Allende or Carlos Fuentes.
Here is my own Rollyo that searches English and Spanish sites for Latino Literature book reviews. We have a lot of Spanish/English speakers here at my library, and this tool would be helpful in searching for information about notable books in both languages. Try searching for a popular author like Isabel Allende or Carlos Fuentes.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Thing #11
I chose to play with Wayfaring , a site selected from the Web 2.0 award winners. I recognized and have used a few others on the list, such as craigslist, Flickr, bloglines, pbwiki, MySpace, etc., so I thought I would play around with a mashup site that I had never seen before. Wayfaring is really cool! It uses Google Maps and allows users to then make their own customized maps with waypoints of interest. While browsing around, I saw maps of the mundane, such as "Tim's Life Locations", which chronicles all of the locations in where Tim lived in Oregon, as well as more interesting ones for those who wish to explore, such as the "Dirty Harry Bike Tour", where people can see various places in SF where the classic film was shot.
I liked browsing around this site. There were interesting historical walks, as well as city maps with local favorites marked, such as nightlife and places to eat. I tried my hand at making my own, and started creating a map of good vegetarian eats in San Jose. I found it fairly easy to create your own maps. You can just type in the address of the place if you know it, or you can zoom in and out of the map and mark it that way. Then you can add a title and description of the waypoint. The design of the site is nice and uncluttered. The search tool is a little clumsy...You usually have to do a combination of keyword search and dragging the mouse around the map to find things, which can be awkward when trying to zoom in and out of an area. Also, one thing I noticed was that it wasn't working properly in the edition of IE that I have running at work. The maps weren't displaying properly. I ran it in Mozilla Firefox (my browser of choice anyways), and it worked fine.
So how could the library use this thing? Well, people are obviously using it for personal stuff, but I think it could be a really neat tool for stuff like historical points of interest. The library could put together or post links to local self-guided tours in their area. The library could also have one that lists each branch as a waypoint. Since Wayfaring uses Google Maps, you can select to see a satellite image of your map, so then people could see what the location of each branch looks like from space!
I liked browsing around this site. There were interesting historical walks, as well as city maps with local favorites marked, such as nightlife and places to eat. I tried my hand at making my own, and started creating a map of good vegetarian eats in San Jose. I found it fairly easy to create your own maps. You can just type in the address of the place if you know it, or you can zoom in and out of the map and mark it that way. Then you can add a title and description of the waypoint. The design of the site is nice and uncluttered. The search tool is a little clumsy...You usually have to do a combination of keyword search and dragging the mouse around the map to find things, which can be awkward when trying to zoom in and out of an area. Also, one thing I noticed was that it wasn't working properly in the edition of IE that I have running at work. The maps weren't displaying properly. I ran it in Mozilla Firefox (my browser of choice anyways), and it worked fine.
So how could the library use this thing? Well, people are obviously using it for personal stuff, but I think it could be a really neat tool for stuff like historical points of interest. The library could put together or post links to local self-guided tours in their area. The library could also have one that lists each branch as a waypoint. Since Wayfaring uses Google Maps, you can select to see a satellite image of your map, so then people could see what the location of each branch looks like from space!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Cool YouTube Video about Web 2.0
I found this video while cruising around YouTube this morning and had to post it here. It's a really neat little visual introduction to Web 2.0 for anyone who might still be a little confused about what it really means.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Thing #10
Here is my image made with an online image generator. I liked it because it represents a combination of the history of libraries with the future of libraries. I found it on the Generator Blog, and the actual page where you can make your own is here, at blyberg.net.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Thing #9
RSS Discovery Exercise
I played with Bloglines a little more and added some more feeds, as well as organized my feeds into folders. I was pretty happy with the search function within Bloglines, which I used to find some library-related feeds. I also tried Feedster, Topix, and Technorati. I wasn't as satisfied with Feedster...I don't know if I'm using the search function correctly, but it seemed like my search results weren't very relevant. I tried some keyword searches like "public library" and "dogs" under the blog category, and the results were all over the place, such as the Sherwood Gazette, New Media Business Blog, Harvard School of Public Health, etc. It locates blog entries containing these keywords, not the actual blog itself, so I'm guessing that Feedster is where you can go if you just want to browse what bloggers are saying about a certain topic, such as Barack Obama, the Oscars, Iraq, etc. Topix was pretty cool. You can type in your zipcode and get current news stories within your area from various feeds, like San Jose Mercury, SiliconValley.com, and local news channels. Users can then post their reactions to stories in various forums on the site. Technorati seems similar to Feedster, but I found it easier to use. Their search allows for searching within posts, entry tags, and a blog directory.
Check out my updated bloglines page here. I will probably keep playing with it and adding more feeds and folders.
I played with Bloglines a little more and added some more feeds, as well as organized my feeds into folders. I was pretty happy with the search function within Bloglines, which I used to find some library-related feeds. I also tried Feedster, Topix, and Technorati. I wasn't as satisfied with Feedster...I don't know if I'm using the search function correctly, but it seemed like my search results weren't very relevant. I tried some keyword searches like "public library" and "dogs" under the blog category, and the results were all over the place, such as the Sherwood Gazette, New Media Business Blog, Harvard School of Public Health, etc. It locates blog entries containing these keywords, not the actual blog itself, so I'm guessing that Feedster is where you can go if you just want to browse what bloggers are saying about a certain topic, such as Barack Obama, the Oscars, Iraq, etc. Topix was pretty cool. You can type in your zipcode and get current news stories within your area from various feeds, like San Jose Mercury, SiliconValley.com, and local news channels. Users can then post their reactions to stories in various forums on the site. Technorati seems similar to Feedster, but I found it easier to use. Their search allows for searching within posts, entry tags, and a blog directory.
Check out my updated bloglines page here. I will probably keep playing with it and adding more feeds and folders.
Thing #8
RSS is Fun!
RSS is really neat...I first learned about it in a web class I took back in college. It's a really neat way to filter the infinite wealth of information out there on the net into digestible chunks that you can actually read. There are definately tons of feeds out there for fun and amusement, but they are also really great professional tools. If there's one thing I've found, it's that there are plenty of librarians out there who love to blog, so keeping tabs on library-related feeds is an excellent way to stay current with what's going on in the field. There are tons of interesting things to read about, whether it's book reviews, current legislation pertaining to libraries, new software that people are using, innovative program ideas, etc.
I picked a few feeds for now but I will probably go back and add some more, and group them into categories. I really will use this!
My Blogline Account
RSS is really neat...I first learned about it in a web class I took back in college. It's a really neat way to filter the infinite wealth of information out there on the net into digestible chunks that you can actually read. There are definately tons of feeds out there for fun and amusement, but they are also really great professional tools. If there's one thing I've found, it's that there are plenty of librarians out there who love to blog, so keeping tabs on library-related feeds is an excellent way to stay current with what's going on in the field. There are tons of interesting things to read about, whether it's book reviews, current legislation pertaining to libraries, new software that people are using, innovative program ideas, etc.
I picked a few feeds for now but I will probably go back and add some more, and group them into categories. I really will use this!
My Blogline Account
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Thing #7
My Post About Technology
Being the Young Adult Librarian that I am, I was reading the current issue of Young Adult Library Services, the journal of YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) the other day, and a particular article caught my eye. This edition's theme is "Get Connected @ Your Library" in honor of YALSA's 1st Teen Tech Week celebration this March, and the article that struck me was "Cyberbullying: From Playground to Computer", by Tara Anderson and Brian Sturm.
Yes, we've been hearing over and over again about teens and MySpace. We know that it's here to stay (for now), and that as professionals working with youth, we need to accept that it is a major form of communication for today's teens. However, it is nice to see that people are starting to take notice of the social implications of this new form of technology. I have a B.A. in Sociology, and combined with my interest in technology and my career as a librarian working with youth, I find it fascinating and important to consider just how different technology has made the lives of today's teens, even compared to someone like me who was still a teen just a decade ago.
The article addresses the problem of "cyberbullying", which is defined as "the use of information and communication technologies such as email, text messaging, instant messaging, defamatory personal websites, and defamatory online personal polling websites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others". To put it into real-life perspective, take MySpace. Almost every teen has one. With each profile customized to represent what that teen is all about, along with all of their "friends" and their comments on display to see, it has become an extremely important part of a teen's reputation and image. Just like nasty messages scribbled on a locker or a bathroom stall at school, trash-talking about others on MySpace can be devastating for a teen. What's worse is that technology-savvy teens can use embarassing pictures, audio, videos, etc. to further humiliate others, all while remaining anonymous to their victim, and they can spread it like wildfire to everyone they know through text messages, IMs, emails, social network sites, message boards, etc. There have even been a few tragic cases where cyberbullying has led to teen suicide. Adolescence is such a fragile stage of life, and this persistent form of bullying can sometimes be one extra push over the edge for troubled teens.
So what's to be done? We all know that new forms of technology like MySpace will only continue to expand the means of communication for teens. And we all know that teens need freedom and space for their voices to be heard, so censorship and excessive intervention are not the way. SO how do we get involved without getting too involved? According to the article, it's up to parents, educators, and technology experts to help raise awareness about the seriousness of cyberbullying, and to help kids cope depending on the situation, whether it's learning to ignore it, learning how to use functions to block this type of unwarranted behavior, or in some cases, taking it to the authorities.
Technology is power, and with power comes responsibility, so we are all responsible in making sure that the justice, freedom, and respect that we work towards in the real world extend to us in the virtual world as well.
Being the Young Adult Librarian that I am, I was reading the current issue of Young Adult Library Services, the journal of YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) the other day, and a particular article caught my eye. This edition's theme is "Get Connected @ Your Library" in honor of YALSA's 1st Teen Tech Week celebration this March, and the article that struck me was "Cyberbullying: From Playground to Computer", by Tara Anderson and Brian Sturm.
Yes, we've been hearing over and over again about teens and MySpace. We know that it's here to stay (for now), and that as professionals working with youth, we need to accept that it is a major form of communication for today's teens. However, it is nice to see that people are starting to take notice of the social implications of this new form of technology. I have a B.A. in Sociology, and combined with my interest in technology and my career as a librarian working with youth, I find it fascinating and important to consider just how different technology has made the lives of today's teens, even compared to someone like me who was still a teen just a decade ago.
The article addresses the problem of "cyberbullying", which is defined as "the use of information and communication technologies such as email, text messaging, instant messaging, defamatory personal websites, and defamatory online personal polling websites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others". To put it into real-life perspective, take MySpace. Almost every teen has one. With each profile customized to represent what that teen is all about, along with all of their "friends" and their comments on display to see, it has become an extremely important part of a teen's reputation and image. Just like nasty messages scribbled on a locker or a bathroom stall at school, trash-talking about others on MySpace can be devastating for a teen. What's worse is that technology-savvy teens can use embarassing pictures, audio, videos, etc. to further humiliate others, all while remaining anonymous to their victim, and they can spread it like wildfire to everyone they know through text messages, IMs, emails, social network sites, message boards, etc. There have even been a few tragic cases where cyberbullying has led to teen suicide. Adolescence is such a fragile stage of life, and this persistent form of bullying can sometimes be one extra push over the edge for troubled teens.
So what's to be done? We all know that new forms of technology like MySpace will only continue to expand the means of communication for teens. And we all know that teens need freedom and space for their voices to be heard, so censorship and excessive intervention are not the way. SO how do we get involved without getting too involved? According to the article, it's up to parents, educators, and technology experts to help raise awareness about the seriousness of cyberbullying, and to help kids cope depending on the situation, whether it's learning to ignore it, learning how to use functions to block this type of unwarranted behavior, or in some cases, taking it to the authorities.
Technology is power, and with power comes responsibility, so we are all responsible in making sure that the justice, freedom, and respect that we work towards in the real world extend to us in the virtual world as well.
Thing #6
Here is my flickr "mashup"! It is my "Librarian Trading Card", kind of like a Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh card that you can customize to have whatever you want on it. These types of things are always fun, such as avatars, memes, quizzes, etc. and these are the little things that really define Web 2.0, since they really involve the user in creating something that is truly customized to their experience. These kinds of things are always really popular on personal blogs and social networking profiles because they allow a person to easily show their humor and/or creativity.
Thing #5
I created a flickr account, and being the proud dog parent that I am, I had to share pictures of my baby.
This is my puppy, Basil! I got her last October when she was 9 weeks old. She looks like a chocolate lab, but she's not at all...she's a purebred mutt. I was told that she's got some Jack Russell, Cocker Spaniel, Pitbull, and Mastiff in her. Basil's an awesome dog. She was housebroken within a week, well-trained within a month, and she is sweet and cuddly. I love having her around!! She's about 7 months old now, and suprisingly, she has stayed really small, just around 25 pounds, despite having the pitbull and mastiff blood in her. I guess she'll always be my little puppy!
This is my puppy, Basil! I got her last October when she was 9 weeks old. She looks like a chocolate lab, but she's not at all...she's a purebred mutt. I was told that she's got some Jack Russell, Cocker Spaniel, Pitbull, and Mastiff in her. Basil's an awesome dog. She was housebroken within a week, well-trained within a month, and she is sweet and cuddly. I love having her around!! She's about 7 months old now, and suprisingly, she has stayed really small, just around 25 pounds, despite having the pitbull and mastiff blood in her. I guess she'll always be my little puppy!
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Thing #3 and Thing #4
Thing #3: Setting up this here blog. Done and done.
Thing #4: Registering this here blog. Right on top of that.
Over and out!
Thing #4: Registering this here blog. Right on top of that.
Over and out!
Monday, February 5, 2007
Thing #2
Lifelong Learning: The 7 1/2 Habits
I liked this presentation. Since finishing school last year, I have been thinking a lot lately about the idea of lifelong learning and how I will continue to challenge myself and learn new things without the formal confines of the classroom. The presentation defined learning as "acquiring a new skill or knowledge", and I liked how they used examples such as cooking and yoga, as well as learning computers or reading a book. Anything that we do that enriches our lives, broadens our horizons, and teaches us something new is a valid form of learning, and I feel like I will always be on the hunt to learn.
The 7 1/2 Habits are:
I think the habits that come easiest to me are #2 and #6. I accept responsibility that it's up to me to learn, and I have fun doing it! I enjoy seeking out new ways to learn, whether it's thumbing through all the books around me at the library, surfing the web, taking a class for fun, asking people questions, etc. I also think I use technology to my advantage, almost to the point where it's hard to imagine what I'd do without it! I definately use the internet for all sorts of things. Whether it's getting directions to a concert, looking up a good recipe for banana bread, checking out product reviews for a new digital camera, showing vacation pictures to my friends, using IMDB to find out what other movie that guy was in, etc... I'm also surrounded by various other forms of technology. I live with my long-time boyfriend, who happens to be a software engineer who loves playing with gadgets, which means we have laptops, digital cameras, PDAs, video game consoles, HDTV, mp3 players, you name it. (I also have the added perk of 24/7 tech support when I need it :) )
I guess the hardest habit for me is #3. When faced with obstacles, it's hard for me to not stress out and to learn to just go with it. I often feel stressed out and lost during the challenge, but it's not until afterwards that I've realized I've learned a great deal. That probably sums up my whole grad school experience. Each semester usually felt like a big burst of stress until I submitted that last paper and reflected on how much I accomplished. I guess I need to learn to de-stress and appreciate what I'm learning during the challenge, but that can definately be tricky sometimes.
I liked this presentation. Since finishing school last year, I have been thinking a lot lately about the idea of lifelong learning and how I will continue to challenge myself and learn new things without the formal confines of the classroom. The presentation defined learning as "acquiring a new skill or knowledge", and I liked how they used examples such as cooking and yoga, as well as learning computers or reading a book. Anything that we do that enriches our lives, broadens our horizons, and teaches us something new is a valid form of learning, and I feel like I will always be on the hunt to learn.
The 7 1/2 Habits are:
- Begin with the end in mind (set goals)
- Accept responsibility for your own learning
- View problems as challenges
- Have confidence in your learning abilities
- Create your own learning toolbox
- Use technology to your own advantage
- Teach/Mentor Others
I think the habits that come easiest to me are #2 and #6. I accept responsibility that it's up to me to learn, and I have fun doing it! I enjoy seeking out new ways to learn, whether it's thumbing through all the books around me at the library, surfing the web, taking a class for fun, asking people questions, etc. I also think I use technology to my advantage, almost to the point where it's hard to imagine what I'd do without it! I definately use the internet for all sorts of things. Whether it's getting directions to a concert, looking up a good recipe for banana bread, checking out product reviews for a new digital camera, showing vacation pictures to my friends, using IMDB to find out what other movie that guy was in, etc... I'm also surrounded by various other forms of technology. I live with my long-time boyfriend, who happens to be a software engineer who loves playing with gadgets, which means we have laptops, digital cameras, PDAs, video game consoles, HDTV, mp3 players, you name it. (I also have the added perk of 24/7 tech support when I need it :) )
I guess the hardest habit for me is #3. When faced with obstacles, it's hard for me to not stress out and to learn to just go with it. I often feel stressed out and lost during the challenge, but it's not until afterwards that I've realized I've learned a great deal. That probably sums up my whole grad school experience. Each semester usually felt like a big burst of stress until I submitted that last paper and reflected on how much I accomplished. I guess I need to learn to de-stress and appreciate what I'm learning during the challenge, but that can definately be tricky sometimes.
My First Post!
It's me! Here I am!
D'oh, sorry it's a little late. It's not exactly "Week 1" of the program anymore, but hey, I'm here now. That's what's important, right? I was away on vacation for a little while, plus I've been procrastinating. You see, I already kind of feel like I know some of this stuff. I've taken computer and internet courses, I've kept a personal blog for several years, and I consider myself to be a pretty web-savvy, hip, young librarian of the future.
But if there's one thing I know about "new technology", it's that there are always new things to be learned! I think that it's really great that I'm being encouraged on the job to explore "Web 2.0" and all of the things out there in internet-land that are becoming such a huge part of daily life, especially for the new generations of users out there. Seeing as how it is my job to connect young people with information, in all of its many tangible and digital forms, I am eager to learn as much as I can.
So let's learn us some Learning 2.0!
D'oh, sorry it's a little late. It's not exactly "Week 1" of the program anymore, but hey, I'm here now. That's what's important, right? I was away on vacation for a little while, plus I've been procrastinating. You see, I already kind of feel like I know some of this stuff. I've taken computer and internet courses, I've kept a personal blog for several years, and I consider myself to be a pretty web-savvy, hip, young librarian of the future.
But if there's one thing I know about "new technology", it's that there are always new things to be learned! I think that it's really great that I'm being encouraged on the job to explore "Web 2.0" and all of the things out there in internet-land that are becoming such a huge part of daily life, especially for the new generations of users out there. Seeing as how it is my job to connect young people with information, in all of its many tangible and digital forms, I am eager to learn as much as I can.
So let's learn us some Learning 2.0!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
