The 23rd Thing

I find that I am sad to come to the end of this program. I have enjoyed it so much. I found that even on the weeks when I was not very confident about the assignment I still walked away knowing more than I did before.

Learning about computer applications has been a new experience for me. I have discovered that this type of learning requires a certain level of patience. I have learned that approaching these excercises with a calm demeanor and to not give up too quickly. Hopefully, I will continue these practices as I continue learning.

I also learned that learning can really be a collaborative process. On many of these exercises we worked as a team. Whenever someone caught on more quickly, that person might serve as teacher to the rest of us. Either way, we all shared in the learning process.

As for takeaways and outcomes, I feel that I can surely blame the Learning 2.0 team for my new addiction to bloglines. It has become one of my alltime favorite things.

Also, because I feel much more comfortable with many of these new technologies, I am hoping that it will make me more competent at the reference desk.

I am very happy that I can now speak about Library 2.o and actually kind of know what I am talking about. Previously, the term seemed a little nebulous to me.

I have been so pleased with this program. I would love it if we were to have more programs like this.

Thank you all very much!

Overdrive

I have been anxious to get started on Overdrive ever since we got it. After I did the initial tutorial I went home and installed it on my computer. Unfortunately, since I have been so slack in getting an mp3 player, I have yet to have a chance to really try it out. However, I do know of people who have been using it all along and love it. I think that as the general public becomes more and more computer savvy, this will become an indespensible resource that the library offers.

Podcasts

I am wishing we had a little more time to spend on this one.

I went to ODEO and found a really neat podcast site called Filmspotting. I subscribed to it on my blogger account.

Not having a pod on which to cast these videoblogs, I am not sure how exciting this will be. Personally, I would just as soon read a blog than watch or listen to one. I am anxious to read other blogs about this topic to get some insight.

As far as library applications go, I am not sure. Maybe we could podcast meetings, media reviews, and other library news through our website.

You Tube-

So, there is a lot of silly stuff on You Tube. I have little patience for much of what is available. I have had to do a lot of looking beyond many extraordinarily vapid videos like finally make my peace with You Tube. I was beginning to think we have the technology to make and share videos with anyone all over the world and all we can come up with is the Grape Lady!?

Fortunately, I have discovered "how to" videos on You Tube. You can learn how to do almost anything on You Tube, from applying makeup guided by experienced drag queens to how to change a tire.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a link to a video about repairing CDs and DVDs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqnhHNu_ukU

I am told that there is a series of quantum physics class lectures videos from MIT that are very good. I have verified that they exist, but I am a little afraid to check them out.

Web 2.0 Tools

I have been playing with this list all week.

Pandora is one of my favorite websites, I have had so much fun making stations and learning about music I might not have explored otherwise.

I have also been playing with Urban Spoon, Going, and Yelp, which would all be very useful at the reference desk.

Some friends of mine have been collaborating on a project in Google docs for a while. This would be useful in a library setting as 1. you can work collaboratively with colleagues who are located closely and 2. you can save your work and pick it back up at a later time (in case you don't carry a floppy disk around with you).

I am really excited about this list. I am trying to visit every listing to learn about all of them. I still have many more to visit...

Zoho document by mia

This is my Zoho practice sheet.  

 

I think that there are many applications for a tool like this.  Currently, some friends of mine and I are jointly working on a project on Google docs (which is a lot like this) and it has been a fantastic way to collaborate even when we are miles apart. 

 

I also like the idea of showing this to patrons who do not want to lose their documents when their time is up on the computer.  This would save us having to scrounge around for floppy discs to hand out. 

Zoho document by mia

This is my Zoho practice sheet.  

 

I think that there are many applications for a tool like this.  Currently, some friends of mine and I are jointly working on a project on Google docs (which is a lot like this) and it has been a fantastic way to collaborate even when we are miles apart. 

 

I also like the idea of showing this to patrons who do not want to lose their documents when their time is up on the computer.  This would save us having to scrounge around for floppy discs to hand out. 

JPL Sandbox

So, after I found out that there is an invite keyword to do this, it was fun and relatively easy.

Until that point, not so much.

I am very anxious to continue playing with wikis and finding new applications for them.

Wiki's!

So, I love Wikipedia and other wiki's. Recognizing that they do have their limitations, they also have many great applications. Even though the information is subject to being edited by who knows, when researching should we not always read with a discerning eye? What a great way to create communal knowledge.

Wikipedia was not really highlighted in this week's discovery exercise, but I would like to take a minute to talk about why I really like it. I love that the interactive bibliographies are usually quite comprehensive and serve as a great starting point for more serious research. It is also a great tool on the reference desk for when customers have questions about television shows.

I have used the ALA Conference wikis with success and I love playing around on the Open Library, which is a wiki of sorts. I think it would be fantastic if we had a library wiki maintained by the talented JPL staff. I would also like it if we had wikis specific to children's and teen services for JPL.

Library 2.0

What an exciting time to be a librarian. All of those who are in the profession now are in the unique position of shaping the library of the future. We are the ones who are laying the foundation of what librarianship will be for the next generation. All of these articles reinforced the idea that I am happy to be a part of this paradigm shift from the stuffy old library to the library with no barriers, a library that welcomes technology and uses that technology to further connect patrons to information.

technorati

Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for “Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different?

I thought that given the success of my adventures with delicious, I would have no trouble with Technorati. Not so much.

I played around with it enough to find out that:

1. I could find no keyword search for blog posts, in tags and Blog Directory. I did find one general keyword search, which gave me 6816 results.

2. I think this will be a very useful barometer for measuring collective reactions to any number of topics.

I will continue to play with Technorati. I have it book marked in delicious!

Eureka! it's delicious

Okay, so it took me a little while to figure delicious out. I have been playing with it all day and finally it occured to me why this could be a very useful tool. I am now imagining that libraries can create web path finders on any number of topics for a wide variety of patrons. Now that I have figured it out, I cannot wait to start building some del.ici.ous (sp) bookmark lists for teens.

LibraryThing- Play time for bibliophiles

I am having so much fun on LibraryThing. It so interesting to find people with the same books as you. I also love playing with the book tags. This is the perfect way to catalog a personal collection of books. If you would like to check out my Librarything catalog, this is the link:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/miabrack

Also, I highly recommed purchasing the Cue Cat book scanner from Librarything. It is a very cute scanner that allows you to enter your books via barcode. It is inexpensive and actually works!!! Now you can have all of the fun of scanning books at the library AND at home.

Exercise 10, Continued

Here is the link to the bead maker:

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/beads.php

This will be great for making patterns for beaded projects, cross stitch, coloring pages, etc.

Exercise 10

I am having fun playing with Big Huge Labs Bead Generator. This allows you to turn an image into a beaded image. This would be great for library craft programs.

Exercise 9

Curiouser and curiouser....

While I am still trying to unravel the whole bloglines thing, I have taken a break to investigate newsfeeds. I am now completely in love with Technorati, having just spent almost 1/2 an hour browsing it. Of the suggested newsfeeds this week, I thought this was the most user friendly.

Another site that I like (that is kind of similar, but not) is Digg.com. Digg is a lot of fun because it is a newsfeed that allows you to vote on whether or not you "dug" a story. The site keeps up with which stories people respond to the most and least. Digg also invites dialogue on the news stories.

RSS

Today I discovered Bloglines. I really like the concept of a site that allows you to aggregate and organize all of the blogs you like, but I am finding the site to be not terribly user friendly. While I am not a computer person by any means, I would like to think that I am a pretty smart cookie, capable of finding my way around a website. After many attempts at following the directions provided and exploring on my own, I finally had to resort to asking for help from Eric S., who is super terrific and completely explained it to me.

I am looking forward to further exploring the site, but I just wish it was a little less cumbersome.

Open Library

The thing that I am really interested in right now is the Open Library. Aaron Schwartz created this cataloging wiki in an effort to catalog every book. Because it is a wiki, it can be added to by virtually anyone. This is a fascinating concept and the possibilities for application in the library setting are astounding. I am eagerly watching this site and waiting to see what it does for our profession.

Here is a link to the Open Library: http://openlibrary.org/, if you would like to check it out.

Flickr applications

Here is a badge I made using Big Huge Labs Badgemaker and a photo from Flickr.

British Library Reading Room (from Flickr)

This is a picture of the British Library Reading Room. This picture could be titled Why I Became a Librarian. Visiting the British Library is one of the most exhilarating experiences you can imagine. For your visit, you must make an appointment with a counselor who will determine if your research needs are suitable for the library. Then, you must surrender your bags and backpacks. You are allowed a small, clear bag for small items, such as pens and notebooks. After perusing the catalog, if you find a book you want, you have to ask a librarian to retrieve it for you. I was amazed at the all of the measures taken by the library to ensure that the books were treated as they should be. This library seemed much like a temple dedicated to honoring the written word.

Hello,Wow!

This is great.So, I have to admit that new technologies are very intimidating to me. #6 is going to be a challenge for me. This is why I am so excited about this opportunity.

Habit #2 (accepting responsibility for your own learning) is the easiest habit for me. If there was such a thing, I would be a professional student.