sunny face

week nine; thing 23: summary

This was a very worthwhile learning experience. I enjoyed my discoveries, particularly flickr, youtube, and online image generators.

In my opinion, the "discoveries" took more time than I expected. It probably varies from person to person, depending on their nature. I like to explore things, and so I went down many side-tracks along the way...some more time-consuming than others. Which accounts for why I did not get my name in the drawing for the ipod!

So, yes... I am definitely going to do something like this again...this time, my goal is to finish with the group and get my name in the ipod drawing.

(this is the sentence you can use for promotions:)
23things is a very rewarding and positive learning experience.

week nine; thing 22: downloadable audio books

This is going to change copyright laws and their meaning.

It's true, you can download audio books, music, and videos. Some digital libraries require that you have the license to do so, others do not. On netlibrary you can create an account (free) and access the materials online, download to your computer, and open it through windows media player. There is a license number required to open the audio book on your media player, which you obtain when you register with netlibrary, but other than that, the audio book is yours for the listening. You have 3 weeks with the license number. In that time, you can burn a CD or put it on a portable device, but not an ipod (bummer!)

I liked overdrive better than netlibrary, because you can put the material on your ipod.

week nine; thing 21: podcasts

I thought I knew. I thought I knew what a podcast was. And then I watched one. It was a ninja explaining podcast in a way I had not seen or heard of before. And I was captured by his imagination.

It went like this: A podcast is like an apple pie factory that keeps making apple pies and putting them out for sharks to eat. The sharks line up and wait for the apple pies. And the pies keep coming at the sharks; more and more---- fresh and new--- delicious apple pies! That was his metaphor for podcast feeds: Information coming to you, non-musical, (though can contain music) audio and/or video broadcasts delivered regularly over the internet through RSS.

My search for a podcast of interest began at Yahoopodcasts and ended at podcastalley. I subscribed to thisone through bloglines. Now, I can listen to it on my computer, or download it to my mp3player and take it on-the-go! Pretty cool.

week nine; thing 20: youtube

Ok, confessions of a newbie-blogger: this was my first visit to YouTube. I had viewed the site, once or twice, from afar, over someone's shoulder. I had imagined the way to Youtube, but had not been before now. Wow! You can search under countless categories for the video clip that will suit you to a T, but it may take some time...you'll find clips that are boring, slow, and obviously made with someone else in mind. And, you'll find clips that entertain and instruct, home-videos, music videos, and current-event video clips, and much more!

The site has an aura of "you-can-too!" That's how I feel when I'm youtubing: You can too. You can see what others see....you can make what others make....you can do what others do (like watch youtube!)

Posting the video-clip to my blog was not a problem...just followed the directions and ta-da! But, selecting the clip was time consuming because there were quite a few good ones. I was torn between and comedy and a dance clip. In the end, I chose this one on Alan Alda because I like the way he pronounces "Chile." The whole library setting, book discussion-thing, did not influence my decision at all.

week eight; thing 19: Web 2.0 awards

With so many Web 2.0 winners to choose from, that I made it this far in 24 hours was no small feat! I ended up choosing something that appealed to me: 43 Things. It appealed to me for two reasons. First, it offered a continuation of something familiar, (23 Things) and secondly, I like lists. Actually, I spent so much time yesterday discovering my site of choice, that over the course of the day I began to muse over two speculations: "Do 'I want to' lists evoke dreams, or the other way around?..." and "...Maybe list-makers are procrastinators in disquise." (I'm still musing over the latter thought, because it disturbs me to think that all my list-making over the years might really be in fact the very thing I have been trying to avoid by making the lists: ...the p-word!) The number of people wanting to do the same thing in staggering figures led me to conclude that list-making is very popular and people always want to do something. Part of our humanity, I guess.

This site has some nice features for those of us who like to organize and share our dreams of doing something. You can offer and receive encouragement (called "cheers" on this site) as well as reminders of your goal. You can make journal entries about your goals, achievements and/or struggles. And, as with so many social-networking sites, you can get ideas by reading what other people want to do or have done. If you are new to 43 things...don't despair when you look at your profile and it reads: "(your name) has done 0 things, gone 0 places and has 0 cheers." Just keep plugging away and you'll get ....somewhere.... eventually, and if not, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you're not the only dreamer!

Now, in response to the final question of this nineteenth thing, "How could this site be useful in a library setting?" Hmm.... Besides the fact that it has already been useful b/c Maryland Libraries Learning 2.0 is loosely based on the website 43 things...besides that, I thought more specifically about applications...day-to-day. For instance, maybe there is someone else who has done/wants to do some library-related skill. So I entered a new want on my list of things to do. I had to talk myself into it because it wasn't a sincere want ...and I really don't like fabricating, ...but I rationalized it away and continued...anyway...and it looked like this: "Conduct a power-point presentation." You can imagine my dismay to find out that on this site, this very popular website where thousands of people want to do similar things, I am the only one who wants to do that! And I'm only wanting to do it insincerely, as part of a learning experience!

In conclusion, I think this site is great for personal growth and development (nice cliche words for getting-your-act-together) and that is a worthy application in any setting, including the library.

week 8; thing 18: online productivity tools

If someone told me I'd be using a web-based application today, I would have said, "What is that!!!?"..and now I'm really liking the one I'm using. I am typing this document from Zoho Writer where you can do everything Microsoft Word does and more. Not only that, you can publish your documents to your blog, (as will be the case with this when I am finished,) and share your documents with others over the internet. And I found out about more cool features from reading a zoho document that was created by Helene Blowers and edited by Jean Herriges and revised by me with the handy cut-and-paste feature I love so well

1) Your documents can be saved online, so you can access them anywhere and you don't have to carry your USB drive or a diskette around.

2) You can export this file as a Word or .txt file document, which makes it easy to use inside Word.

3) The email feature is easy to use also. It allows you to email this document as a Word file, .pdf document, HTML and many other options.

4) I like that you can publish documents as a public file so anyone (like you right now) can read it as a web page.

5) I also like that you can export a file as a .pdf document or HTML (this is very cool!!)

6) And if you like, you can also use Zoho as a text editor and then publish your document as a post on your Blogger blog.

How To

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HOW TO PUBLISH FROM ZOHO WRITER TO YOUR BLOG:

1. Create a document in Zoho Writer


2. Save it (as you would in Microsoft Word)


3. Click on PUBLISH (top menu bar)


4. Select "Post to Blog"


5. Follow the prompts. (FYI, username is email address)


6. Select "tag" or "draft"


7. View Blog now...you will find in it your draft if you selected that one...not sure what happens with tag...must try that later!

p.s you can edit your draft when you are in the edit mode of your blog, (as I am doing now,) but all the cool stuff, (smileys, colors, and odd symbols) are back in ZOHO...

http://www.writer.zoho.com/

week seven; thing 17: sandbox wiki

I love sand, the warmer the better. It's the perfect medium for burying things, (your brother's flip-flops, the rest of your pb & j, and definitely your heels, but not pretty toes) and making things, (castles, animals, tunnels, signs,)

This virtual sandbox has many of the same qualities.
The Maryland Libraries Sandbox is a wiki where you can play at creating a wiki. You can bury your mistakes and make new ones!

pool

undercover

grapefruit

week seven; thing 16: wikis

Here is my neat-o caption encapsuling the wiki idea. (I really like the word!) "Wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki", which is commonly used to indicate something fast. It is a quick-to-build, easy-to-edit website on which all information can be edited, changed, or rewritten by the users or members of the site.

Guess what? There is a neatly-organized wiki just for me! It is called: Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day. No joke! This means I still have hope of winning the coveted ipod! See for yourself, (the site, not the ipod.) http://instructionwiki.org/Library_2.0_in_15_minutes_a_day

And then I came to http://www.wetpaint.com/. I am going back there as soon as I can! I wanted to make a wiki on-the-spot! The home page said in big letters: PLEASE TOUCH. That's just what I wanted to do. But a wiki is a collaborative effort, I told myself. It begged the question: A wiki with whom; A wiki for whom?

Libraries can use wikis in many ways. We could have a community wiki where people post the latest and the greatest information that they already seek, such as: "Do you know of a good place to eat seafood?" Or "Where is the county fair?" Or, you could have a book-review wiki with some interested patrons, or a readers' advisory wiki. You could even have a wiki for staff development or maryland askusnow. Endless wikis!

week six; thing 15: web 2.0, library 2.0, and us

What does Libaray 2.0 mean to me? OK, this is a set-up. Library 2.0 either has meaning, apart from my understanding of it, or it has no meaning, or worse, (and this is what I fear and dread,) it has an evolving meaning depending on what people think and say about it. Hence, the set-up. Which is it?

I've never actually heard anyone speak about Library 2.0 in a conversation, in an actual live conversation that takes place in a particular place at a particular time with people you can touch. So, tonight, at the dinner table, I threw out the question:

"What is Library 2.0?" Blank faces stared back at me...five of them; four youthful, vibrant, computer-savvy faces and one tired, older-wiser face.

"How about Business 2.0 or Web 2.0, have you ever heard of those?"

No. Never heard of that. After a long pause, someone braved the question, "Isn't it some kind of computer software?"

To be honest, I think the name is all wrong. It does sound like computer software. You could buy it, install it and run it on your computer, and then I wouldn't have to define it!

Wikipedia says Library 2.0 is "a loosely defined model for blah, blah, blah..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_2.0) Loosely defined model? What is that?!!

So I did some research: I googled it.

I read some perspectives on the 2.0 concept. First I read about Business 2.0 and Chris Anderson's long tail meem. (see http://www.thelongtail.com/) Chris Anderson talks about a new economic day, in which the niche rules instead of the popular, due to the advent of the internet and the new consumer-driven power to buy in a new, diversified fashion. Then I read about Web 2.0 (websites that rely on user comments to be successful.) Lastly, I read all five suggested readings about Library 2.0. I read the discussions too. Bottom line: I wish it were a computer program!

And here is the point of this monologue...it's not really a monologue is it? But it feels that way--- sometimes. Other times it feels freaky. Freaky because I am writing and posting and who-knows-who is reading my thoughts. It wouldn't be so freaky if I weren't really writing my thoughts...if I were just writing fiction, or something, but I'm not. I digress. Back to Library 2.0 and what it means to me.

Basically, Library 2.0 means that instead of information collection and distribution being directed from librarians to the people of the community, in a one directional way, now information collection and distribution is a two-way street, where librarians and patrons interact on the same level platform.

But that's not what it means to me. That is the definition I coughed up as a summary of what I have read online. That's what I think everyone else means when they write about it.

So what does Library 2.0 mean to me? OK, here goes! It is a type of software program after all, but it operates inside a person, in their way of thinking, not in a computer. A computer scientist once told me: The computer is a tool. It does not think. It is only as useful as the person makes it. Library 2.0 is about people using the computer with Web 2.0 technology to converse and collaborate with other people in the pursuit of knowledge.

week six; thing 14: technorati and such

Technorati Profile
Virginia is for lovers and technorati is for bloggers. This is how you will know you are an all agog blogger: You need and ogle, have-to-have and rave about...technorati. It's just what it sounds like: the description of a person going neurotic over blog-tagging technology...in a word..."tech-neuroti."

week six; thing 13: tagging and del.icio.us

Here's how I define the word tag: (the real-thing, not the game.)

tag v. putting sticky notes on pages you want to look at again.

n. a piece of paper with a descriptive or defining note on it.

How I see it, del.icio.us enables you to bookmark webpages and make notes about them and share your collection of favorite webpages with other people, (if you so choose.) In addition to that, you can peruse a whole host of other peoples' favorite pages and satisfy your curiosity about the ones that intrigue you by visiting webpages that once remained unseen by you.

week five; thing 12: rollyo

Rollyo.com is an interesting alternative to google searching. You can customize your searches so that you gather infomation from the sites you choose, and you can search using other peoples' collection of websites from which to search.

week five; thing 11: librarything

I definitely like librarything! This is what I have been looking for---it's just what I need to keep track of books I read, what I think about them, books I want to read, old favorites, and I can even share all this info with other fabulous readers. Librarything is like a home library and a book club all-in-one ... online!
Link to my librarything: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lpowell

week five; thing 10: online image generator

Ta-da! I made an avatar! This took some time for me, and I tried a few different sites, yahoo avatar, for one, but I liked meez better because the options were more interesting. I also played around with webfetti and made some really fun word pictures in glitter and other shapes, but had trouble posting my creations. Mayber another time it will come together. I sent my husband all kinds of messages using generated photos, from tatoos on backs to words in a cup of coffee. That was really fun.

~just a friendly reminder!

week four; thing 9: merlin and library-related blogs/ newsfeeds

I got lost in social networking on the merlin site and ended up with a myspace account!

here.

As for blogs and newsfeeds, I had fun searching topics on feedster ( and still do in my spare time.) I subscribed to a couple news feeds as well as the pla blog...so I think I stand a good chance of spending more time blogging!