Thing 23 - Reflect

Here are the questions from 23 Things for the final exercise:

-What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

The photos.

-How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?


-Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?


-What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…

-If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

-How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?

Podcasting

Thing 21 - Podcasts

Listened to a few. In general I have little interest in digging through the podcasts of the masses. I like the technology, and it is very useful in the right environment. Merlin, for example, uses them well! Maybe this exercise could look to introducing 23thing'ers to the merlin podcasts? This would seem a more focused and useful view of the technology for people who are unfamiliar with podcasts. I can see how learning to subscribe to a podcast and get it into your bloglines account is a good thing, but I really think the better introduction is to lead to a podcast the has valuable info and just get the trainee used to playing them.

Greyhound falls but wins the race

Also known as the "greyhound who cheats."

Thing 20 - The Tube

YouTube is way too addictive for me. I've just spent the past hour looking at greyhound movies! How silly!

Thing 19

Thing 19

Well, I had to do it. I had to look at the 43 Things website for my "Thing 19" discovery exercise. I think the site is fantastic, and I was enjoying tooling around the place. However, I wanted to come up for air before I got stuck. It seems like the site might be a great big time user! Especially for the always-curious information professional set!

How would this be used in a library setting? Good question. Clearly, you could stop by the 43 Things site to see how others do things - find a fellow artist or writer or bicycle enthusiast who can share tips, ideas, and information. So patrons might actually benefit from it. After only a moderate exploration, it seems to be a nice, organic knowledge base that is constantly fluctuating. There may be great things to find and explore in this site. I also like the currency of the site. You know that trends and popular culture will be prevalent in such a space. I may find my way back, both for personal and professional reasons, in the near future.

Addendum to Thing 18

Addendum to Thing 18

Okay - I'm going to try the blog posting thing one more time. Drumroll . . .

The 18th Thing - the Thing that Almost Got Away.

Well, I have tried my very best - including the technique of typing on the keys with a little more force and pressure, but I can't get Google Docs to recognize this blog. It keeps defaulting back to my other blogger blog - and my nice little Thing 18 post is being added / deleted / added / deleted to that blog instead of this one. That's a bit frustrating. But - I'm going to stop tying and just cut and paste the text from my google doc:
--

And can I get rid of comments? -Bookgal145 8/15/07 8:18 PM This Will Be My Title. Oh Yes It Will.

Here I am experimenting with web apps. I'm wondering if I can format this document like I would non-web-based word processing software. And I'm frightened of what it may be keeping track of up there in that revisions tab. Because, you see, I type speedily and make many embarrassing mistakes. And do I get spell-checking software. Because I'm certain I just misspelled "embarrassed." And you will all know that because:

1. I do not have spell check

and

2. The revisions tab is playing big-brother on me!

Well, let's check it out, shall we?

--Sandy
Hmm. Wonder what a comment looks like? -Bookgal145 8/15/07 8:18 PM
Good news! There is a spell-check. I see it at the bottom of the screen. Also, I do like that I'm not being auto-formatted.

After having read the zoho document that was posted in our lesson - I have to agree that the portability of web apps is a great feature. I do not have Microsoft Word at home, so I cannot access documents (such as emergency contact lists if we have a building closing) from my home. I have to rely on printed versions - and those become outdated quickly. I may have to make a Google docs version! I could read it from anywhere!

Okay, I'm going to attempt to post this to my blog and see what happens. Right after I run that spell check.

Thing 17

Well - I added my blog to the Maryland Libraries Sandbox. As the site is a little unorganized and large - I'm not too certain what I was looking at or where I really was supposed to post a favorite. My concern is that this wiki might be a little confusing for those new to the experience.

Thing 16 - Wiki

My thoughts on a wiki in a library setting can be found here : http://newtechaacpl.pbwiki.com/ .

In my opinion, the absolute best aspect of using a wiki in a large system is the ability to share the responsibility for keeping the information up to date. A wiki tracks work that has been added and changed and is one centralized depository, so multiple people can manage and work on one information source. It allows work and upkeep to be spread throughout our branches - regardless of the size of our system or the actual size of our county! I say seize the wiki power!

Thing 15

I thought the movie was great – though I don’t think we need to rethink “family” and “love” because of Web 2.0! J A bit of hyperbole, I suppose.

The idea of Library 2.0 is such a good one. I like to use the phrase “power to the patron.” People are empowered throughout society today to do more things on their own, and libraries can and should use this potential of the masses. We check out our own groceries at the store, do research remotely, telecommute, etc.

I’d like to comment on the OCLC article about Chip Nilges. Actually, I like the way the article describes the purpose of Open World Cat – which is to move library into the consumer realm and to reach out further in order to ‘touch the entire web.’ This is a great soundbite, actually. Also – the concept of “users add value” is such an important one for libraries to keep in mind. In addition, users expect to add value in the web 2.0 world.

Technorati Tagging

Okay - here is my attempt to tag a post. Followed by my rambling thoughts as I worked through Thing 14.

I have to say, I started last night on this “thing.” I searched the "mdlearn2" tag that was suggested, and I had a great time reading through the results. It works! I received a lot of relevant results, all from Marylanders blogging about their 23 Things experience. The returns were fun to read. I’m sure I would not have gotten these results with a straight google-type search, but I must admit I haven’t tried it . . .

Today I sat down to begin the “Thing” in earnest. When it came time, I typed in all of the information i needed to “claim” my blog. I then pressed “claim.” The page was hung up for a while, and eventually I received this message: “Doh! The Technorati Monster escaped again. We're scouring the blogosphere attempting to find it. Back in a flash!” I wonder if this is what I’m supposed to see. I'll tell you what. I’ll wait a flash and see what happens.

Well, after a few flashes I went back to Technorati and refreshed the page with the text about the monster. Apparently it is still “borked.” I’m still trying to figure out what a bork is and what the page is trying to tell me . . . Also, I’m unable to get the video to play for me. I wonder if this is a result of the borking.

Okay. Now that a few more flashes have gone by, all is well. Everything worked out and I am officially claimed. (I ended up backing up the pages and starting anew). Now to tagging . . .

I think perhaps the process of tagging in html needs to be spelled out a little. I was initially a bit uncertain as to what I was being asked to do – I wonder if others might be so, as well. (I did add the code to the html page - but I didn't realize I should delete the brackets around tagname). Maybe a little further clarification in the “Thing 14” would be useful?

I’m a little on-the-fence about this module. I can see that Technorati can be useful, but I think it may be a bit of a tough concept for a quick online lesson. I also apologize to anyone reading for this very long ramble!

Btw – I went back to my delicious account and I have about 12 new sites in my subscriptions tab. How exciting!

mdlearn2

For Technorati

Technorati Profile

Thing Lucky 13

I can definitely see where I would have benefited greatly from a del.icio.us account when I was in grad school. I had an extensive list of bookmarks - and to see where the "social" aspect of a delicious bookmark would have taken me would not only be interesting - but very useful. I could have seen where in the world sites that were relevant to my work were also permeating. Was only the library world interested in the things I was, or was the art world more interested? Did it spill over into pop culture? Presumably this tool would have given me a bit more insight into my specialization at the time. Plus - and this is a great thing - it is portable, so to speak.

It would be terribly useful today, too, if I were involved in research. ESPECIALLY because it is portable. I don't have anything useful to bookmark at the moment. But one day I may, so I've re-discovered my old delicious account, which had a total of one entire bookmark. One. Now it has three!

I find the various library delicious accounts intriguing. Mostly that they are so different, and you can tell they are used for different purposes. When I have more time, I'd like to explore these more extensively.

See my very exciting 3 bookmark account at http://del.icio.us/bookgal145

Thoughts on Thing 12, yo

It took me lots of exploring to find this page - http://rollyo.com/about.html - which is JUST what I wanted see. Could there be a way to link to this from the lesson? This seems like the least confusing way to start.

Also – once I decided to create a roll, I kept getting redirected to their home page. I found it tough to locate where I should click & go to register for a profile.

I liked the Public Domain books search – but it basically just searches project Gutenburg. Could be a good one to edit. I couldn’t think of a rare enough book to search – but once I do I would love the rare book rollyo!

The PLCMC’s use of Rollyo gives me an idea . . . could this be used for a site search within the new AACPL website?

I must admit, I am having the hardest time thinking of a search to create for myself. However – now that I know about the existence of Rollyo, I bet I think of lots of uses for it in the near future!!

Library Thing 11

I love Library Thing! How fun will this be to enter all of my books into my account??!! How librarian-ish of me is that? Here is the very, very start of My Library Thing, bookgal145 version: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/bookgal145

I looked at the Washington State Library's Library thing page. It is interesting - and I wonder how it is working for them. They have some very esoteric items in their listing. It seems they list new books in this forum. It would be interesting to see if this form of outreach generates any extra interest in these particular titles.

Avatar - Week 5 Thing 10

Okay - here is my yahoo avatar. This one is made specifically for the "librarians of the gridiron" fantasy football league. Hence the 'fiery pit.'

More RSS

I played around a bit with Technorati and Syndic8. I must admit, I doubt I will head back to those sites in the near future. Feedster, I felt, was a place I may go back to in the future, as well.

And of course I've explored Merlin! Several coworkers go to Merlin often for listening to little podcasts. I've used it to play around with OPAL several times. And now we are taking this class. I'm excited for its future!!

Internet Dining . . .

I have a bloglines account, but I will admit - I've stopped looking at it. So for thing 8 I decided I would go ahead and revisit the account and get it rolling again. I have, of course, signed up for about 80,000 feeds, so we'll see if I can weed a few out in the next day or so.

I do like having one spot to go to in order to obtain loads of different information. I'll keep everyone posted on how well I'm doing.

I tried to subscribe to relevant feeds, but I also had to get a greyhound blog or two in there. Surprise!!

My creation

My creation
Originally uploaded by bookgal145

And I can post this one through flickr as well . . .

My Warhol creation

My Warhol creation
Originally uploaded by bookgal145

Well, perhaps I should try to block my lovely picture this way . . .

Thing 7 Post - Stuck on Photos

I can't stop playing with all of these picture tools! They are very fun, and I can imagine I will spend a lot of time manipulating my photos with them. The two posts above contain a "Hockneyized" and "Warholized" version of Kammie's blog banner photo. I love it!

Retrievr is cool! (Thing 6)

I had fun with the flickr tools and things. I particularly like retrievr. At Severna Park, for some odd reason we have the image shown above saved to the desktop of one of our info desk pcs. The image is titled "West County Computer Lab." (Enlarge the image to get the full gist . . . .)

I put the image into retrievr, just for fun, and I got some intersting returns. If you click this link,
you'll see my retrievr results. It is a content based image search, and it appears it returns image results which match your original search "term" (image) by color content. Next I'll search with an image of Kammie . . . .

Flickr Photos - Thing 5

I transfered all of my yahoo Photos to flickr! (Yahoo Photos is going to disappear in September, so I accomplished a little personal work along with my library work!) However, I also uploaded a few photos from work and thought I would share this one, a personal favorite of our "work" here at the branch. It is 3/4 of the SPK LI's on an orientation tour of our service area (we didn't have the other 1/4 of the team on board at this time). What a team!!

Random Thoughts as I work Through Thing Three

Okay - I really enjoyed reading all of the blogs. Seriously. It is great to see how different they all look, too - being that we all used the same program.

Also - how exciting is it that flickr will let me upload my cell phone pictures?? How exciting is that?? It can't be too much more exciting, really. But then, I'm a simple gal.

As for the course, might it be possible that the links from the Merlin page open in a new window? I'd really like to not lose the table of contents so often. Of course, I could just make a shortcut to the web page . . . . (which would be impractical at the desk . . . but I'd never blog at the desk . . . )

23 Things Week 2

I would just like to note that the word "wysiwyg" (what you see is what you get) came up in the podcast. I do think this term is not familiar to many people who will be getting their introduction to blogging. Perhaps there is a way we can define it?

Also - the blogging is fun. I should post a picture of Kammie to share with all of the other AACPL users who may look at my blog!

More thoughts to come as I go through the week . . .

Hey . . . so that is what a "permalink" is for! Good to know! I had no idea.

23 Things Week One

The introductory lesson, or "7 and 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learning," is a nice, easy introduction for those who are taking an online class for the very first time. I do think the information contained within will apply to many, but not all. However - I do like the fact that the presentation is interactive. This will get learners who are "new" to online learning warmed up and ready to go!

Even though navigating through the world of the web is surely part of the lesson here, I do think it is a bit difficult to navigate the course, in general. I do think the email that was sent with the links for "Week One's Things" was a great tool, and that is how I found my way to both "Things."