Exercise #23 - The 23 Things

Done at last. Nothing motivates like a deadline. Ahh the questions:

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on the learning journey?
I like using the blog stuff. Blogspot, Bloglines. I want to explore Flickr a little more. I've never been a big picture person, but it was fun doing a mashup.
2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Having Bloglines is helping me keep up with events and subjects I find interesting. I like it.
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Unexpected outcomes. I did not expect to sign up for so many new accounts. Now the challenge is now keeping up with all the names and passwords.
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program's format or concept?
Good job PLAN. The play days were helpful and needed. Thanks.
5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
YES!

Exercise #22 - NetLibrary

Our library uses NetLibrary and it has helped our students. When all the physical books on a subject are checked out because of the titles we selected from NetLibrary the students still have access to the content they need for their papers from NetLibrary. In talking to students they have used our NetLibrary collection from home to complete their papers. NetLibrary won't let you print the whole book, but you can print a limited number of pages from the book. There have been times when we have selected a physical title on a needed topic and then selected the same title in NetLibrary so our students will have the access they need. The Gutenberg Project started in 1971 and is still going. Very neat. The movie makers say they are losing their audiences and the news says the Americans are getting fatter very year. That's because people are sitting in front of their computers using all these new technologies. We are all watching YouTube, blogging, podding casting, wiki and more.

Exercise #21 - Podcasting

My favorite podcast is RockBoom. I try to check it everyday. I have noticed that it's not updated everyday. Sometimes they miss a day or two, but every week there's something new about events that are happening in the world; some I could care less about and others every interesting. That's the world of podcasting. While looking around I noticed that some sites have not had a new post in over a year. You could spend alot of time podcasting. Just let the kids go hungry. Just kidding. Podcast responsibility is a must. Give yourself a 1/2 hour a day. :-0

Exercies #20 - YouTube

YouTube has the corner on the market of video shorts on the web. Here's a link on how to make a lemon battery. http://youtube.com/watch?v=AY9qcDCFeVI . YouTube is WOW. You can spend all your time crusing YouTube. Here's another on called Did you know; Shift happen - globalization ; Information Age. http://youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q . This stuff is neat. There is a product called Camtasia that our library uses to create online tutorials. It's neat too. I have seen a YouTube short on the Bay County Library. The possiblities are only limited by you.

Exercise # 19 - Web 2.0

I looked at the list of Web 2.0 Awards and in the category of Blog Guides I see Bloglines got 2nd place. Technorati got 1st. Hmmm. I have looked at both of these products and I like Bloglines better. Since signing up for a Blogline account as part of PLANs new technologies. I have used Blogline everyday. I'm finding that I'm getting the same news I find in the newspaper and on the TV news before the fact of reading the newspaper or watching the TV news. If this continues to happen it's going to change the way I keep up with what going on in the world. I recommend Bloglines.

Exercise #18 - Online Productivity

I have an account with Google Docs and I have used Google docs. This is a decent wordprocessing program and an alternative to MS Word. It offers the ability for collaboration on a document amoung mulitple users. Matt ( a fellow librarian) and I have experimented with this feature. Because you save your documents on their server you can get to your stuff on any computer with internet access. I recommend it.

Exercise # 17 - Sandbox

I like the PB Wiki Sandbox. It might be useful tool for keeping up with all the lists of thing I want to do, want to go, want to buy. I have these lists now but I keep misplacing them.

Exercise #16 - Wikis

Wikis are neat. They have great potential for sharing information about a great many things and this is how their being used. Wikis have made it so anyone who wants to can develope a web site without having knowledge of HTML. The playing field is leveled. Wiki are great for supporting a specific event, collaborative writing, pooling knowledge, and exchanging ideas.
I liked St. Joseph County Public Librarys subject guides http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page and
the BookLovers Wiki http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library
from Princeton Public Library.
The cons that stick out are no control, no editor a political Wiki could be rendered useless by opposing forces deleting each others postings. I've read that in fishing ten percent of the fishermen catch ninty percent of the fish. I wonder that how many potential authors will contribute to a Wiki if it's not part of their job?

Exercise #15 - Library 2.0

Where will the next generation Web take libraries?

By Tom Storey

"Remember when it was cool to surf the Web? Log on, type a few words, view a few pages, log off. As the latest technology tool, search was exhilarating, informative—and dramatically changed the way people looked for information. Just ask librarians! A record 6 billion searches were conducted on search engines in January 2006.

In Web 2.0, the Web becomes the center of a new digital lifestyle that changes our culture and touches every aspect of our lives. The Web moves from simply being sites and search engines to a shared network space that drives work, research, education, entertainment and social activities—essentially everything people do. You and your mobile and nonmobile devices—PDA, MP3, laptop, cell phone, camera, PC, TV, etc.—are always online, connected to one another and to the Web."

Away from the "icebergs" by Rick Anderson

"In particular, there are three “icebergs” that I believe pose significant threats to our future success. All are remnants of a bygone information age, practices and attitudes that no longer make sense but which we have difficulty letting go."

Ok, ok I'm a still in there with the "icebergs"and I'm not ready to let go. Not completely opposed, just not ready to let go. Learning these "new technologies" is helping. And Tom Storeys' comments, wow. If we ever lose power and the web will the world implode as people shut down because they're no longer connected to one another? I think building book collections is still important. These days most books publish once and once they are sold they don't get published again. So if libraries don't purchase they miss the boat and if no library purchases the title, good luck with inter-library loan. The words of Bob Dylans' song "The Times They Are A-Changin" come to mind, "Then you better start swimmin', Or you'll sink like a stone, For the times they are a-changin'." So I guess I better start swimmin'. Thanks PLAN for throwing me in the pool. :-)

Exercise #14 - Technorati

Technorati - Today they are tracking about 50 million blogs. Technorati says they are the leading search tool and authority for blogs. "Zillions of photos, videos, blogs and more (some of them have to be good)." ??? ok. Does quantity make quality? Technorati is not that well organized, searching is difficult and you can spend alot of time not getting exactly what you want. After playing for a while I finally realized the putting your search in quotations produces better results. So type "Learning 2.0" NOT Learning 2.0 . Technorati could use a cataloger and a controlled vocabulary.

Excercise #13 - Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us advertises itself as a social bookmarking place. Ok, that's what Rollyo does as well. So we have services competing out there in cyber space offering to give folks access to their bookmarks as long as they have an internet connection. You thought your minutes on your cell phone went quickly, just wait until your surfing the web on your phone looking at your Del.icio.us and Rollyo bookmarks. For some reason, to me, Del.icio.us is more eye appealing. Both services let you tag your bookmarks. Tags sound like free form subject headings, no controlled vocabulary. Hummmm. Are these tools useful for library work?? I think pathfinders created that point patrons to available library resources (those in the library and those on the web) are more useful. Since Del.icio.us is owned by Yahoo! I guess it will be around for a while, however to me these tools look like an easy way to create bookmarks and access them from anywhere.

Exercise #12 - Rollyo

Ok, I have created a Rollyo account and played just a little. At first I was not that thrilled with the look and feel of Rollyo. However, the more I worked with it I'm beginning to think it might be a useful tool for keeping up with my bookmarks which are scattered across several computers. Sometimes I go looking for a site I know I've bookmark but it turns out I didn't bookmark it on the computer I'm using. Rollyo looks like it might be my fix. Now I just have to gather up all my bookmarks from the different computers.

A link: http://rollyo.com/letterpress77/tryout

Exercise #11

I've been playing with Library Thing. I created an account, entered a few books, some I've read and some I intend to read. I played around with creating a widget and I've pasted the code that was created into this bottom of this posting. For me I can see Library Thing being useful for creating a list of books that I don't want to forget about, books I want to read but don't have the time or make the time to read. I do this now. It consist of little scraps of paper with titles and authors. The scraps of paper are in drawers, behind magnets on filing cabinets, left behind in pants pockets where they are occasionally rediscovered. Next time I come across one of these scraps of paper I'll use Library Thing to bring order to my must read list.

Excerise #10

Generators and mash-ups ... see excerise #6. :-)

Excerise #9

Blogs, blogs everywhere. Want to find a blog well go to Feedster, Topix.net, LisZen, Syndic8.com, Technorati. Ok, I did not find Syndic8.com that useful. The other tools were ok. Technorati says it has zillions of photos, videos, blogs and more. Who has time to look at them all ... nobody so just search the topics that interest you. On an old Star Trek episode 7 of 9 tried to keep up with everything on the ship by having information fed into her brain while she slept. She went psychotic. Lesson: don't try to know everything, just where to find it when you need it.

Excerise #8

Another account created. I'm so glad these are free accounts. The world of RSS feeds show promise for making keeping up with whats going on in the world a little easier. It turns out it's not that hard to do. Libraries might use RSS feeds to keep patrons up with new books in the library or other library current events.

Exercise # 7

Comments about technology. This technology is really neat and way cool, however you only learn to use this new technology by playing with it. I guess that's why we are instructed to "play" and "have fun". It is fun learning and playing with the new technologies. The scary thought is what next after the iphone. :-) The caveat is there's no time during the normal work day and when I get home I'm too tried to play. Thank you PLAN for play days.