Monday, August 31, 2009

Exploration 9 (This Part Last): What's Next and Looking Back

Well, I guess this means I have finished the Web 2.0 exploration though I certainly have not finished exploring Web 2.0. I have been introduced to a lot of different resources that are available on the internet. Some I already knew a little bit about and others I had heard about but really knew nothing about. It was good to be able to learn more about them and to be given the resources that will let me go back and learn more until I really understand it completely. Somehow, I don't think I will ever really understand it completely as things are forever changing and evolving but now I have the basics to build upon.
After I watched the video the again I realized that I did learn something and the video did make more sense to me the second time around. I also looked at the list of the Web 2.0 award winners from 2008 and though many I had heard about there were some that I want to look into further. I wonder how the list for 2009 will be different.
Since there is a Web 2.0 I wondered about what Web 3.0 would be like so I searched for it and found a very interesting article on How Stuff Works http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-30.htm which explains how Web 3.0 will work. So from this article this is what I learned.
Think of Web 1.0 as a library which you can use to get information from but you can't contribute to it. Then comes along Web 2.0 which is more like a big group of friends. You can still use it to gather information but you can also contribute to the conversation to make it a richer experience. Internet experts think that Web 3.0 will be like having a personal assistant who knows all about you and what you want.
Web 3.0 is explained like this: " Many compare Web 3.0 to a giant database. While Web 2.0 uses the internet to make connections between people, Web 3.0 will use the internet to make connections with information. Some experts see Web 3.0 replacing the current web while others believe it will exist as a separate network."
Well, I certainly hope that I understand Web 2.0 better before Web 3.0 comes along. I will, however, promise to tackle the Web 3.0 exploration as soon as it appears and not wait until almost the last minute because this has been a most valuable learning experience for me.
So here it is August 31 and I said I would be done with this task before August ends and I made it with 12 whole hours to spare.
I could say that this is The End but it appears like it is really The Beginning to me.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Facebook

Before I go to Exploration 9 I thought I would share my thoughts about Facebook. My daughter in law invited me to be her friend on Facebook several months ago I began my experience with Facebook. At first I used it to see what she was doing or what she was thinking. Then someone else found out that I had a Facebook account and I became their friend and friends of some of their friends (and now even her mother). So here I am with 67 friends (some of my friends have many hundreds- whew!). I have been discovered by former neighbors, former students and many others. One person who shares my last name asked me to be her friend but I had no idea who she is so I declined.
A day doesn't go by that I don't check in on my friends. Some post often and some never do. I post once in a while when I really want to share and I am more likely to comment on someone elses post. I have even posted a picture from my iphone (how techno-smart I felt then).
I am still learning the ins and outs of Facebook and I am enjoying the adventure. I thank my daughter in law for inviting me into her world (and now the world of her sister, mother, father and sister in law) and giving me the opportunity to be able experience the joy of Facebook. How else could I have seen my granddaughter on her first day of middle school only minutes after she left the house. What a great communication tool it is.

Exploration 8: Social Bookmarking Sites and Folksonomies

Now this is an idea that is worth learning about. I had heard about del.icio.us (I never realized that it had all those periods in it) but I wasn't really sure what it was about. I can see this site being useful for the very reasons that were explained. I liked being able to use it to share information that someone already found on a homework assignment. This seems to be a great way to save your time when someone has already begun the process. Then you could add your own information and you can help a patron in minutes when if you didn't have help from others would take much longer.
I think that I kind of understand the term folksonomy and how it is related to tagging. It seems to be another way to connect to people who share your interests and talents. I am going to look into this more so I really understand what it is and what it does.
The other explorations I had had some knowledge and experience with but this I will definitely have to look into social bookmarking sites more to understand them enough to be able to explain it to others.

Exploration 7: Wonderful World of Wikis

The Wiki is a wonderful thing. I like that wiki means quick in Hawaiian because this is exactly what it is - a quick and very easy way to communicate and give information on the web. The video explains it very well and makes me want to start a Wiki of my own (about what I do not know). In the beginning I was concerned about just anyone being able to post information. What if it was wrong or what if it was posted in a way that would offend someone. But, it appears, that the Wiki was created to deal with this problem. Other people who read it and know that certain information is wrong can fix it right away and explain their source as they do it. The Wiki enforces behavioral norms so that offensive material will not be posted.
I looked at The Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki and it seems to me that it is a good idea that has possibilities. I went searching for posts about storytime and there were a few but many of the subheadings had no posts yet. So, I guess a Wiki is only as good as the community that uses and contributes to it.
Wikipedia is the certainly the leader in Wikis. It gives people who are passionate about a subject a way to give their knowledge to the world. I have found the information on Wikipedia to be very informative. I feel as long as they cite their sources it can be as reliable as any other source and more reliable than many.
I can see Wikis being very valuable in the library especially as a way to share information among staff who are often separated at many branches and the only way they communicate is by computer. Wikis for the public could be created to ask for input about events or programs or perhaps even to post storytime rhymes, fingerplays, books and other ideas.
So I do believe Wikis are here to stay and will only get better as more people realize how easy they are to use and how much they have to offer.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

learning about ZOHO writer

Janet

August 26, 2009

 

Here I am learning all about ZOHO writer. I wonder what I will learn and if I will understand it. Right now I have 97 characters and 23 words. I guess I have to save again to get a new count. No, I did not. It automatically saved and gave me a new count.

 

 

  1. This is the first thing on my list.
  2. This is the second thing on my list.
  3. This is the third thing on my list.
  4. This is the fourth thing on my list.
  5. I am now done with my list. Will I be able to get rid of the bullets?

First boxSecond BoxThird box
Fourth boxFifth boxSixth box
Seventh boxeighth boxnineth box

 

This is very cool and it seems to be a very easy way to make a table.

It just requires me to learn a new set up since I am used to word but it seems very user friendly.

Exploration 6: Online Office Tools

Learning about Zoho was very interesting. I had to forget what I knew about Word at times to figure out how to do the same thing in Zoho writer. Once I did it seemed very user friendly to me. If you did not have any or little experience with Word this would be a very easy word processor to use. I especially liked how easy it was to make a table and to enter things in the table. I will certainly use this again. Later I will use it to make a spread sheet when I actually need to make one. I am hoping it will be as easy to understand.
I did try to post it to my blog but for some reason it did not let me do it. But of course it is saved so I can try again later or ask someone for help.
I think this would be very useful for patrons who never bring anything to save their documents on as it would be saved in their Zoho account.
I can certainly see me delving deeper into Zoho and see what else I can do with it.

Exploration 5 - It's a Library Thing

Library Thing is certainly a good way to keep track of the books you have read. Since I like to read series I made sure that I put which book in the series it is in the tag. I have just started inputting my books from the paper list that I keep but it will be nice not to have to refer to the paper list (as in find where I hid it) when I am recommending one of my series to a patron.
I am still trying to figure out if I can create another folder so I can list the books that I listen to in a separate folder. There is a place called collections but none of those mentioned mention audio books. Perhaps I will check into some of the other online places to catalog my books and see if they offer this option. I will keep looking but if anyone has an idea on how to do this could you let me know.
Here is the link to my Library Thing http://www.librarything.com/home/hokeypokey3501.
Personally, I see that it can have many uses as a way to keep the books you have read organized. It can also be used as a way to recommend books that you like to other patrons with your same tastes in books. System wide I am not sure how it could be used since it would require someone to keep it updated with whatever information you wanted to put in it.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Exploration 4 - RSS Feeds and Feed Readers

So, the first time I read through the information on RSS feeds I was confused and feeling like I would never get what is so great about the feeds or the feed readers. Then I read it again the next day (and went through the Palinet explanation more than once) and finally the fog lifted. I am sure that as I explore the world of feeds more I will be even more feed savvy. Subscribing to Bloglines was very easy and I even picked several of their recommended feeds. After I added Web 2.0 to my list I have 19 feeds that I will be able to look at. It will be most interesting to see if I go to bloglines and check out my recent feeds.
AACPL could certainly use RSS feeds to tell patrons about upcoming events that are happening in the library. Perhaps they could also be used to explain what is happening and why as it applies to the loss of library funds and certain materials etc.
A pro of RSS feeds is that you are able to visit many of your favorite web sites without having to go to each individual one separately. Then if you see a feed you are really interested in you can delve into it deeper. The only con I can think of would be one that I would have to deal with personally. I can see me spending a lot of time looking at my feeds since all of my interests are in one place. Before I would have to investigate them one at a time so one day I might go look at a site but the next day I might not. Now since they are all together it will be easier for me to stayed glued to the computer. I wonder could you group the feeds into folders. Then I could perhaps have a professional one, a personal one, some crafty ones etc.
So it looks like I will have to do a lot more investigating into the world of RSS feeds and perhaps even different feed readers before I know all the answers.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Exploration 3: Flickr

Is it just me showing my age or am I the only one who thinks of the TV show "My Friend Flicker" whenever I see the photo sharing site Flickr mentioned? I have not personally created a Flickr account but I certainly do have enough digital pictures floating around in various places and formats to make me seriously consider doing this. Maybe it will be one of those things I put on my 'things I do when I am snowed in' list.
The Library of Congress Flickr photos were intriguing. I could spend hours searching for pictures that interest me. I kept thinking I would see a long lost relative among the photos. The fact that anyone can add tags to further identify a person or place in the picture will ensure that such valuable historical images will not be lost in the years to come.
Perhaps the library could use Flickr with staff as a way to further explain something visually that they need to get across to the staff. Parts of a picture could be tagged and people could comment if they needed further explanation. I have not thought of a way to use Flickr with patrons yet but perhaps as I further explore the site and set up my own account an ideas will form.
The best part of Flickr is that you can stay in touch with people who are many miles away. I can type in the name of my friends son who lives in California and I can see pictures of his travels.
You no longer have to wait for the mailman to come to bring you the copies of pictures of your new grandson. Grandma can see pictures of her new grandchild minutes after he is born. Flickr has made this big world a cozy place to come home to.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Exploration 1: Intro to Web 2.0

Going backward a little bit I figure that I should comment about Exploration 1 before I move on to Exploration 3. The video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" is a quick and visual way to learn the basics of Web 2.0. I think that I have finally come to understand that Web 2.0's big plus is that it is all about participation. In Web 1.0 much fewer people could participate in the actual creation of web sites and much more "computer" knowledge was required. In Web 2.0 even semi literate computer people like myself can feel like they are making a contribution. In the article by Michael Stephens he mentions that "The future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content. The web 2.0 librarian will help users become their own programming director for all of the content available to them." The future of libraries and librarians will be greatly enchanced due to Web 2.0.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Exploration 2: Blogging

What I have learned so far about blogging:
A blog is like the diary I kept when I was much younger. Instead of using a key to open it up people who know my blog name can open my diary anytime. My childhood diary often said only "I woke up and I went to school". But since I was the only one to read it - it didn't matter. But now I feel like the words I post should be slightly more intelligent since many other people can read them.
In Exploration 2 I looked at many of the suggested blogs. I liked the YALSA Blog since it is a good resource for teens and for people who want to know what is available for teens to read.
The Library Lovers Community was full of good questions and answers ranging from the newest story about flooding in the Louisville Library to what classes to take in graduate school.
I think it will be a good idea for me to bookmark my favorite blogs or to put them in a folder since I don't think I will be able to them all.
Okay, so now I have let the rest of the world know where they can find me. Remembering my sign in name and password has been problematic but thanks to the other last minute web 2.0 person who is sitting next to me I figured it out. I also was reminded that you have to sign into your blog in order to post something. Right now we are pushing each other to complete this before August runs out of days. Will this happen? I hope so.