The Last Thing

YAHOO! I can't believe I finished it. I'm glad that I went through this journey. I was exposed to so many technologies that I was in the dark about. It was truly a journey of delightful discoveries. I feel that as a result of this whole experience I am a more technologically informed individual and librarian. I'm excited about sharing these new technologies with others as well.

Things at a Glance:
Fun - Blogging, Flickr, Image Generators, Technorati, LibraryThing, YouTube, podcasts
Useful - Bloglines, RSS feeds [I check my Bloglines account daily. It's a great resource; a one-stop webpage where I have access to many of my Internet needs.], Rollyo - creating your own search engine, Delicious - tagging & bookmarking, wiki, web-based apps, NetLibrary

As far as extensions...it would be awesome if we created a LCPL wiki that becomes a tremendous community resource. I look forward to sharing these techonologies with patrons through workshops and one-on-one interactions. Yes, I would be willing to participate in another learning series like Learning 2.0!

NetLibrary

I am familiar with this service, but this "thing" afforded me a good opportunity to explore it further. The eBooks are mostly adult books and they tend to be reference materials. Nice that they have books in a variety of languages.

The eAudiobooks, on the other hand, have a greater selection to choose from. It was nice browsing by subject in the eAudiobooks. However, I found it inconvenient that there was not a sypnopsis or much info about the book aside from the basics. You can preview a clip, however. I found a few books by Gary Paulsen that were just added that I would be interested in listening to.

This thing reminded me of Overdrive eBooks accessible through the LCPL catalog directly. A great selection here as well.

Podcasts

Podcasts are almost like the audio counterpart of YouTube, although some have video components. There is an amazing variety of items with something for everyone. I subscribed to several different podcasts including stories, info, entertainment, and book news in my Bloglines account which, by the way, I check on a daily basis. I went a little overboard. It might be fun to have podcast advertisements for library programs including things such as snippets from the performer, music, etc...

I visited all 3 sites and liked Yahoo! Podcasts the best. The website's homepage is well-organized. You can see "What We Like This Week" (New and Noteworthy and Staff Picks), "What Other People Like" -- most popular and highly rated, "Explore on your Own" where you see main catagories as well as popular tags. Having had little experience with them, it was good to be given a nice overview from the start.

You Tube: Video Playground

Now, this is one resource I've known about but haven't explored a great deal. What an amazing variety of videos! The search tools are simple yet effective. You simply type in your search terms into the search box. There are many ways to sort or limit your results by time, most _____, category, language, category, type. Hours and hours of enjoyment! :)

The Library

"At the library knowledge is free. Just bring your own container." This hilarious vid sends a great message.

Web 2.0 Awards

Wow! I looked at a bunch of the award-winning sites and am impressed. I find the categories chosen to be very comprehensive. In fact, they're eye-opening. I have just learned about new kinds of sites that I had no idea existed such as Personal Organization and Start Pages. What great ideas! Also, the ratings are very relevant: usability, usefulness, social aspects, interface & design, content quality.

I don't think I would have been exposed to these great resources had we not done this whole Learning 2.0. I do remember coming across these awards in school but I had forgotten about them. And I think the categories have grown since I saw it last. It's nice to know what sites you can trust for quality. Another website that I trust is the Librarian's Internet Index(www.lii.org). This whole experience makes me think that we need to educate our patrons on these wonderful web tools after this is all over. I think they would respond with the same wonder and amazement that I have. As a result, they would become smarter web surfers.

Zoho Writer

I had some fun creating fictitious documents using this web-based app. It had features similar to Microsoft Word that I'm used to and had additional ones as well. It was nice that you could export your doc into different formats including pdf and word. Another nice feature is that once I've published something to a blog and made edits to it I could easily update my post with the changes.

A useful tool that I didn't know about until now...nice!

anne

Student ID Card

Anne Shirley ID #: AGGPEI

Green Gables School of Arts 4110 Avonlea Road Charlottetown, PE Canada C1A 7N8 In case of emergency call _________________________________ _________________________________ Signature

I used Zoho Writer to create this student id form. What fun!

PB Wiki

This thing was by far the easiest and least time-consuming but it was the least enjoyable. I looked at the various favorites listed and my curiosity wasn't peaked at the slightest. So, I didn't have much fun in the sandbox. The format was not very engaging. It fell flat for me.

Wiki: Quick in Hawaiian

WIKIS:
- Subject guides
- Annotating the catalog
- Community wiki
- Wikis for librarians


The SJCPL Subject Guides is awesome. It is also very much a community wiki, a one shop stop for community resources and information. It's a great resource that must've taken many hours and minds to put together. It's a wonderfully informative and organized resource. It would be incredible if LCPL had a wiki of the same calibur.


Meanwhile, I can see us using wikis in various ways. Using it for online bookclubs or soliciting reviews about different media. It can be used internally as an avenue for more networking b/t branches, collaborating on ideas or issues, and much much more. It can be a way to open up communication b/t staff and patrons, thus getting more of their input in terms of their needs and wants. The possibilities are limitless.

Library 2.0

Reading the articles about Library 2.0 was enlightening. I gleaned some basic truths from them. Libraries must change with the times. Libraries must respond to the needs of the patrons they service. I would add that libraries are responsible for educating its patrons and giving them the tools to keep up with the times. These articles also reiterate the fact that librarians will never become obsolete as people need gatekeepers to the vast amounts of information on the web and elsewhere.

Technorati

Searching "Learning 2.0" in the various directories yielded different results.
Remember...
search "in blog posts" yields blogs that mention the term anywhere
search "in tags" yields blogs that have tagged blog posts about that term
search "in blog directory" yields blogs that are focused on that term

It was interesting to see the kinds of blogs that are linked to or favorited by so many. A lot of technology or news-related and others are just human-interest stuff. I looked at a few and was shocked and intrigued.

del.ici.ous

I can see how this can be very useful. By gleaning off of what others before me have discovered I myself can encounter new things. It's "delicious" to see how many others have saved the link as well as read their comments. This is a tool I will use from time to time. It's similar to storing Favorites but has many more features.

I'm rollin' with Rollyo

Now, here is something I can definitely use on a regular basis. I created a Preschool Crafts Rollyo. I can use this on a weekly basis when looking for crafts for storytime. Instead of searching each site one at a time, I can search all of them simultaneously. What a neat tool!
Check it out! http://rollyo.com/enna.eel/preschool_crafts/

LibraryThing

I'm not sure how useful this site is...I've put in a bunch of my favorite books. Frankly, I'm not that interested in finding out who else has those books in their collection as well. And if I wanted reader's advisory there are much better services.

So, while seeing my bookcovers listed was "pretty," it wasn't that beneficial. I don't see myself continuing to use this. Interesting though...

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=enna.eel

Winter Mosaic

I made this using mosaic maker and the fabulous photos taken by various flikr users. It's really easy; they do all the work for you!

Ready to be Pumped Up?

OR Deflated? Check out this hilarious site with Demotivator posters. You'll never look at those motivational posters the same way.

http://www.ropescorner.com/demotivate/index.html

Feed Me More

I've added more feeds to my bloglines account. I'm getting kinda addicted, in fact. My reviews as far as searching:
>Bloglines - EASIEST, simple to use
>Syndic8.com - directory is a good feature
>Feedster - search engine is not great, search yields a wide variety of results with no rhyme or reason for order, a lot of sorting through to find something I was looking for *LIKED LEAST*
>Topix.net - advanced search good feature
>Technorati - has a lot of good search features including degrees of authority and different languages

Bloglines

I've been checking my bloglines account two days now and I really recognize the convenience it provides. The fact that I can get all the info that I look at on a regular basis in one place saves me time. Instead of jumping from site to site and orienting myself, I can simply log into my bloglines account and see what's new.

As far as extensions for LCPL... It would be nice to get RSS feeds about the booknews and whenever books I've requested are available.

Check out my bloglines! http://www.bloglines.com/public/enna

Dial-up is Internet Purgatory!

I unfortunately have little choice but to have dial-up Internet connection at home. I live out where the horses neigh and cows moo; farmland where cable lines have not been layed down. The alternative is satellite connection which is highly costly.

Because I have high-speed Internet at work, I'm spoiled. I actually feel sorry for folks who have never experienced high-speed Internet. It's definitely a luxury that I'm thankful for. I'm reminded of it everytime I try to connect at home. :)

A Touch of Light

Here is a slideshow I created featuring photos from Flickr.
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/slideshow.php?id=21559

'tis the season...

'tis the season...
Originally uploaded by (nz)dave.

I believe in holding onto the Christmas spirit all throughout the year. I love Christmas lights and am going to sadly miss them when they all go out. I thought this was a neat photo. It takes you out of the frame and makes me think Christmas can go on and on...

7 1/2 Habits

The easiest habit for me to practice is creating my own learning toolbox. I am a detail-oriented person and am always looking for ways to do things better. So, I have a mental checklist of tools I think of for various tasks. I also like finding the tool that will get the job done the most efficiently and effectively so I have a collection of tools at hand. The hardest habit is viewing problems as challenges. There's the tendency to focus on the mistake that caused the problem. I've gotten better at coping with failure and focusing on moving forward though.