The good news is that we are doing another session of 23 Things on a Stick. I didn't mind not finishing the first time around, but now I can begin again with a bit of a head start. I always wanted to finish all 23 Things anyway. And besides, I like actually spending the time trying these services out more. Still, 23 Things is about introducing us to them, and so it has served and will continue to serve its purpose well.
Del.icio.us is something I had heard about but never used. I guess I didn't see where it would be especially useful to me, but the ability to find links easily by a keyword is really quite nice. I have not done much with it yet, but searched on some recipe links, put a couple of icons on my toolbar, and added a link. When I got around to checking if the link was actually on other people's list, I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was! I was also able to find one other person's comments about the site I added. So that was kind of cool! I added comments about another link I added, and found out that, although others had that link listed, no one else had commented, so that felt kind of good too!
I would very much like to add my other bookmarks to my del,icio.us account, but didn't have a lot of time to work with it as of this posting. Hopefully over time I can do this. I have experienced the loss of a bookmark list in my browser perhaps 2 or 3 times in my life and found it extremely upsetting until I could recreate the bookmarks. But it was time consuming to find sites again and I am sure, even to this day, I have never recovered all the sites I had listed at one time or another. Having this kind of backup is a great idea, plus it can put you in touch with similar links that others already use and you haven't discovered yet. I think it could be an interesting way to search out links of interest.
I also think this could be somewhat useful for research, but one does have to be careful about the authenticity of the information used for such pursuits. And where some schools outlaw using Wikipedia for class research, I can see where one has to really be on one's guard using links shared here as well. Still, it might make it easier to find items on a topic you want to research in this manner. It could save a lot of searching and you can read a link and then decide if it fits your needs before adding it to your own link collection. I like the overall idea behind it and may even use it as part of my reference work at the library! In fact, one of my co-workers asked me the other day if I had sites for beginners learning to make web pages, and I had one to give him that I use, but it was more geared to learn to use html and not for using a web design program that keeps the code in the background for non-techies. In this kind of case, if I had already been using del.icio.us, I should have taken him to that web site and used it to research good sites that others have found before us!
I do think this will be very helpful for some of my personal searches for information as well, so I look forward to learning more about it and really getting into using it. I'm sure I will find more value and ideas about HOW to use it as I go forward.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thing 10: Wikis
While I love Wikipedia for quick information, I can see why some schools ban the use of it for research. I have seen organizations that posted pages, edited their colleagues' posts and information, and got downright misleading to the point where they were banned from posting on Wikipedia at all! Not all the information is scholarly in nature there, and while it's a good start, especially for an introduction to a topic, what I really like is when sources are listed at the end of an article that can lead you to more scholarly research on your own.
In terms of getting people to participate in the sharing of information and knowledge, I think the wiki concept is a great one. But even people that I know have been in technology for a long time and use wikis (myself included) have often never edited anything on one. My experience just adding a quick comment to the 23 Things on a Stick wiki was just such an event for me. However, considering it wasn't unlike editing a blog post and saving or changing a Word document and saving the changes, I think this exercise was a great introduction.
I would love to see a wiki just to post policies and procedures for our library staff. We are undergoing so many changes, and have been doing so for the last year (and more coming into summer and early fall), that it might be an interesting way to keep everyone informed and updated (and involved, too)! And that involvement is what all the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 hubbub is all about!
In terms of getting people to participate in the sharing of information and knowledge, I think the wiki concept is a great one. But even people that I know have been in technology for a long time and use wikis (myself included) have often never edited anything on one. My experience just adding a quick comment to the 23 Things on a Stick wiki was just such an event for me. However, considering it wasn't unlike editing a blog post and saving or changing a Word document and saving the changes, I think this exercise was a great introduction.
I would love to see a wiki just to post policies and procedures for our library staff. We are undergoing so many changes, and have been doing so for the last year (and more coming into summer and early fall), that it might be an interesting way to keep everyone informed and updated (and involved, too)! And that involvement is what all the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 hubbub is all about!
Thing 9: Online Collaboration Tools
The online collaboration tools are really quite interesting. I have known about Google Docs for a while now, but have never used it. I am very impressed by the list of tools in Zoho, and plan to try some of them out more thoroughly in the future. The non-profit organization that I do work for does a fair amount of document generation for which there are copious editing passes by up to 4 individuals and this might be something we could use. Right now, we rely on the Tracking Changes feature in Word to keep our various edits separated.
I love that there's a planner component to Zoho as well. I can see uses for that.
In our particular library, I have done some editing on some brochures we use that might have seen benefits from a shared editing environment like this, but for the most part with the work I have done in the last year, I am not getting a lot of ideas on how it might be used in our setting.
The first time around 23 Things, I was not able to edit the Google Docs item, even though I have a gmail account and was logged into it at the time. This time I requested access and did make some changes to the document. It was pretty neat to be able to see all the edits. It was quite entertaining reading the commentary added to the Declaration of Independence and even more fun to try a comment or two myself. Such serious librarians with such delicious senses of humor!
:-)
Obviously, for 23 Things, we are doing non-serious editing here, but one of the things I like about Word's "track changes" feature is that I can look at the document with all of the changes incorporated so I can read it without all the markup. Believe me, when the changes to a real document get that busy, it's can be handy to be able to edit it like it was a clean document to begin with. So, this might be a good way to do some editing, but I can see cases where I'd still rather do it the way I've done it in the past. Maybe that is just my lack of experience talking. I also have some questions I'd need to research when it comes to confidential documents and how secure they are when on a public site like Zoho or Google Docs.
I love that there's a planner component to Zoho as well. I can see uses for that.
In our particular library, I have done some editing on some brochures we use that might have seen benefits from a shared editing environment like this, but for the most part with the work I have done in the last year, I am not getting a lot of ideas on how it might be used in our setting.
The first time around 23 Things, I was not able to edit the Google Docs item, even though I have a gmail account and was logged into it at the time. This time I requested access and did make some changes to the document. It was pretty neat to be able to see all the edits. It was quite entertaining reading the commentary added to the Declaration of Independence and even more fun to try a comment or two myself. Such serious librarians with such delicious senses of humor!
:-)
Obviously, for 23 Things, we are doing non-serious editing here, but one of the things I like about Word's "track changes" feature is that I can look at the document with all of the changes incorporated so I can read it without all the markup. Believe me, when the changes to a real document get that busy, it's can be handy to be able to edit it like it was a clean document to begin with. So, this might be a good way to do some editing, but I can see cases where I'd still rather do it the way I've done it in the past. Maybe that is just my lack of experience talking. I also have some questions I'd need to research when it comes to confidential documents and how secure they are when on a public site like Zoho or Google Docs.
Thing 8: Share your creations
I really like the Flicks at PictureTrail.com. Here's the Kaleidoscope Flick with my Flickr pictures of the Red Wing Public Library that I've used in previous posts.
I can see these getting really creative. My husband recently did a slideshow presentation and I think he will really enjoy using some of these resources to post it on the web. I have a niece who is big into scrapbooking who would love the Bling options here. I'm not crazy about flashing things on a web site, so I will spare us all an example.
I would love to see an attractively planned slideshow on our library web site to show what the inside of the library looks like (a sort of virtual tour), or perhaps to feature new books just released on our shelves--whether that be new books that can be requested or our Best-Sellers display that has first-come-first-served (non-requestable) choices.
I can see these getting really creative. My husband recently did a slideshow presentation and I think he will really enjoy using some of these resources to post it on the web. I have a niece who is big into scrapbooking who would love the Bling options here. I'm not crazy about flashing things on a web site, so I will spare us all an example.
I would love to see an attractively planned slideshow on our library web site to show what the inside of the library looks like (a sort of virtual tour), or perhaps to feature new books just released on our shelves--whether that be new books that can be requested or our Best-Sellers display that has first-come-first-served (non-requestable) choices.
Thing 7: Web 2.0 Communication Tools
I've been working with computers since college, so I've seen a lot of changes over the years. Even email has evolved a LOT and has become a mission-critical service in most businesses and organizations. And as prevalent as it is, I still work with patrons on a regular basis who are using a web site to register for something or contact someone and it needs an email address and they don't have a clue what to do. My favorite free email site has been gmail.com for a long time, but I have email addys on hotmail and yahoo, plus one for my job and several for a non-profit organization I'm part of. Most of the time, I check all my addresses at least once a day, but my gmail address, which is my primary personal one, I may have up and running in the background most of the time while I'm at home.
I've also used IM and chat clients for a lot of years too. I've used them in professional settings, to answer questions about as instantly as possible to just personal chats with friends and family. My current favorite there, too, is gmail, because while I have my email on in the background at home, I can show my status as available to any correspondent and we can chat at will.
We are not using IM at our library as yet, but we will be VERY soon! We are working on a new web page design that incorporates a Meebo chat window. To start, I believe only our director will be answering chat requests, so it's not going to be available even full time during our open hours. One of our concerns was answering chats and giving continuous and consistent response times to inquiries while manning the reference desk and dealing with phone calls and in-person requests. We are going to have to test this out and see how it works. One of my concerns, as listed in some of our reading for this Thing, include having someone who can type quickly and understands the abbreviations used. I know some of them, but not nearly enough to chat coherently with an experienced teen who is used to text messaging.
Speaking of text messaging, it's not something I use a lot, though I do have a personal cell phone. We've always watched the extraneous charges, like texting, because sometimes those costs can eat you alive if you don't have the right plan to cover them.
I took the MORE training as a webinar from MINITEX back in December 2007. It would have been nice to have had the audio along with the web connection, instead of by phone. I would use the speakerphone as much as possible in order to have my hands free for the keyboard, but in many cases, when the instructor asked for feedback from those of us attending, you couldn't really hear everyone unless you were using the phone's handset. Other than that, it was a great way to do the training, though I could see that preparing for the instructor job is probably pretty intense. As much computer background as I have, I'd want some time to really get up to speed with all the technological parts--the polls, changing from "slides" to showing a live web page, and so on. But it was a great way for a lot of people from very different sites to meet and greet and learn together. I highly recommend it!
Although I won't be at a MN library for too much longer, I am hoping the OPAL offerings aren't just for library staff! There were some great topics there and I hope they are repeated frequently, because there were a few I'd got to right away except the times or days are bad for my schedule.
I've also used IM and chat clients for a lot of years too. I've used them in professional settings, to answer questions about as instantly as possible to just personal chats with friends and family. My current favorite there, too, is gmail, because while I have my email on in the background at home, I can show my status as available to any correspondent and we can chat at will.
We are not using IM at our library as yet, but we will be VERY soon! We are working on a new web page design that incorporates a Meebo chat window. To start, I believe only our director will be answering chat requests, so it's not going to be available even full time during our open hours. One of our concerns was answering chats and giving continuous and consistent response times to inquiries while manning the reference desk and dealing with phone calls and in-person requests. We are going to have to test this out and see how it works. One of my concerns, as listed in some of our reading for this Thing, include having someone who can type quickly and understands the abbreviations used. I know some of them, but not nearly enough to chat coherently with an experienced teen who is used to text messaging.
Speaking of text messaging, it's not something I use a lot, though I do have a personal cell phone. We've always watched the extraneous charges, like texting, because sometimes those costs can eat you alive if you don't have the right plan to cover them.
I took the MORE training as a webinar from MINITEX back in December 2007. It would have been nice to have had the audio along with the web connection, instead of by phone. I would use the speakerphone as much as possible in order to have my hands free for the keyboard, but in many cases, when the instructor asked for feedback from those of us attending, you couldn't really hear everyone unless you were using the phone's handset. Other than that, it was a great way to do the training, though I could see that preparing for the instructor job is probably pretty intense. As much computer background as I have, I'd want some time to really get up to speed with all the technological parts--the polls, changing from "slides" to showing a live web page, and so on. But it was a great way for a lot of people from very different sites to meet and greet and learn together. I highly recommend it!
Although I won't be at a MN library for too much longer, I am hoping the OPAL offerings aren't just for library staff! There were some great topics there and I hope they are repeated frequently, because there were a few I'd got to right away except the times or days are bad for my schedule.
Thing 6: Online Image Generators
Oh, I really like some of the online image generators I've been introduced to in this Thing. They are very creative and, yes, fun to play with.
This might have been a good place for my Simsonized photos (see an earlier blog post for the link), but I decided to do some trading cards with our family. For the people, I used our simpsonized versions (I never simsonized our cat photos). Anyway, after playing with the trading cards, I thought it would be easier to post a mosaic here, so I tracked that down on Big Huge Labs site (http://bighugelabs.com) and combined all the pictures into one convenient one. Here it is!
Also decided to do a license plate, so here's that from Image Chef (http://www.imagechef.com/):
Oh, but I'll be moving to a new state soon...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Thing 5: Mashups/More fun with Flickr
Mashups are kind of fun. But I suppose the real trick to understanding them is creating your own mashup. I know that's not the intent here, but just to play with existing ones, but I have a programming background and I have to admit it intrigues me...
This was created with fd's Flickr Toys.
And here is the Spell with Flickr:
This was created with fd's Flickr Toys.
And here is the Spell with Flickr:
Thing 4: Flickr
Wow! I've known about Flickr for a long time, but never tried it out. I plan to use it for some personal photos now, but really had fun taking a few shots of our library scenery and uploading them.
This picture shows one of the most popular of the changes our library has seen since our new director joined us in September 2007--our Best Seller's Display. It's very visible when you enter the library and extremely popular. You can see we have a lot of books on there now, but the first few weeks, when we only had a few copies of a few titles, we could hardly keep anything on the shelves!
I am hoping to share the photos I've uploaded with my colleagues in our library and see if they'd like any other shots. We have more changes coming in our library in the next few months, but the down side for me is that I will probably not see any of them! I'm moving out of state at the beginning of June to be with my husband at his new job location. I'm going to miss this place, but really hope I can find a job at another library at my new locale. At the very least, I will be looking into doing some volunteer work!
This picture shows one of the most popular of the changes our library has seen since our new director joined us in September 2007--our Best Seller's Display. It's very visible when you enter the library and extremely popular. You can see we have a lot of books on there now, but the first few weeks, when we only had a few copies of a few titles, we could hardly keep anything on the shelves!
I am hoping to share the photos I've uploaded with my colleagues in our library and see if they'd like any other shots. We have more changes coming in our library in the next few months, but the down side for me is that I will probably not see any of them! I'm moving out of state at the beginning of June to be with my husband at his new job location. I'm going to miss this place, but really hope I can find a job at another library at my new locale. At the very least, I will be looking into doing some volunteer work!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Thing 3 (RSS)
Wow! For as long as I've worked with computers and knew about RSS, I have NEVER tried it before. It's probably a good thing, though, because I can see where it could easily become addictive. After experiencing getting all my news and interests fed with bloglines, I think I might finally have to start routing all of the various email accounts I check on a daily basis to just one account. I'm going to get really spoiled having everything electronic in one place! I love it!
I still don't understand all of it, like adding blogs like this or from friends on LJ, but I'll keep on working on that aspect. Meanwhile, for news and science updates and some really cool library information, I can spend a good deal of time browsing in one spot. I might have to set time limits for myself! *laugh*
I am way behind on my 23 things, but even if I don't finish them all by the deadline, this is a wonderful program and way to get introduced to these technological wonders. Well done!
I still don't understand all of it, like adding blogs like this or from friends on LJ, but I'll keep on working on that aspect. Meanwhile, for news and science updates and some really cool library information, I can spend a good deal of time browsing in one spot. I might have to set time limits for myself! *laugh*
I am way behind on my 23 things, but even if I don't finish them all by the deadline, this is a wonderful program and way to get introduced to these technological wonders. Well done!
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