LibraryThing
I could spend way too much time on this thing. We have a Facebook page at our library and I wonder if we could link LibraryThing there? This would be a great way to inform our students about new books. Instructors could use this tool for their class reading list. There could be a campus group. I liked the social data link. This is a great way to find book suggestions from other members. If you look to the right you can see I added a LibraryThing Widget. It was really easy to do. While I was on the LibraryThing website I clicked on the Blog Widgets link (there is also a link on the Thing 13 lesson) and I copied the HTML, clicked on the cutsomize link in my blog and created a new gadget and selected HTML style. I then pasted the code into the box. Easy as pie!
Friday, February 27, 2009
12th Thing
Wikis
Hey, today I contributed to a Wiki! YooHoo! It was much easier than I thought it would be. I signed up for the NEFLIN Wiki and posted a comment and a link to my blog. It will be interesting to see if I get a visitor from it. I liked the interaction between the users. One person would ask a question and then another person would supply an answer. I like to inform my students that Wikis are malleable and can be changed by people who may not have correct information. I like to encourage them to use Wikipedia as a way to start finding information, but that they need other sources to validate it. Most of my students do not know that there are "vandals". I checked out the other Wikis and I am glad to know about them. I don't see me making changes to them, but they had some good information on them.
Hey, today I contributed to a Wiki! YooHoo! It was much easier than I thought it would be. I signed up for the NEFLIN Wiki and posted a comment and a link to my blog. It will be interesting to see if I get a visitor from it. I liked the interaction between the users. One person would ask a question and then another person would supply an answer. I like to inform my students that Wikis are malleable and can be changed by people who may not have correct information. I like to encourage them to use Wikipedia as a way to start finding information, but that they need other sources to validate it. Most of my students do not know that there are "vandals". I checked out the other Wikis and I am glad to know about them. I don't see me making changes to them, but they had some good information on them.
Friday, February 20, 2009
11th Thing
Social Media
Okay, I get the idea of these sites, but I really don't see me signing up for them. I have my favorite news sources and I prefer to visit them directly. What I do find interesting is what others think is the top stories. I can see where this would be a sociologists dream to study. My psychology and sociology background does find it interesting. I like to ability to "share" an article. I found a book review on The New York Times site and sent it to my cousin, a writer, on her facebook page. I have emailed links to people before, but this was the first time I shared one. 23 Things has opened my eyes to the whole social networking side of life and I am shocked to admit that I am hooked!
Okay, I get the idea of these sites, but I really don't see me signing up for them. I have my favorite news sources and I prefer to visit them directly. What I do find interesting is what others think is the top stories. I can see where this would be a sociologists dream to study. My psychology and sociology background does find it interesting. I like to ability to "share" an article. I found a book review on The New York Times site and sent it to my cousin, a writer, on her facebook page. I have emailed links to people before, but this was the first time I shared one. 23 Things has opened my eyes to the whole social networking side of life and I am shocked to admit that I am hooked!
10th Thing
Tagging
I signed up for a Delicious account. This was very easy to do. I was relieved that I could use my current email account and did not have to sign up for a Yahoo account. I already have 3 accounts, so I really did not want to add another. This tool seems like a dream for anyone in technical services. Was Delicious started by a librarian? Hmmm.....
I think that this would be a very useful tool for instructors on our campus. So many of the instructors move from classroom to classroom. I also like the ability to add tags and to add notes. The tags remind me of searching the databases. I can see where this could translate to our students. We could also use the tagging in our library by having a shared Delicious account that would tag our favorite Websites we use to help students with research or formatting.
I signed up for a Delicious account. This was very easy to do. I was relieved that I could use my current email account and did not have to sign up for a Yahoo account. I already have 3 accounts, so I really did not want to add another. This tool seems like a dream for anyone in technical services. Was Delicious started by a librarian? Hmmm.....
I think that this would be a very useful tool for instructors on our campus. So many of the instructors move from classroom to classroom. I also like the ability to add tags and to add notes. The tags remind me of searching the databases. I can see where this could translate to our students. We could also use the tagging in our library by having a shared Delicious account that would tag our favorite Websites we use to help students with research or formatting.
Friday, February 13, 2009
9th Thing
This was a fun little project. I used PictureTrail.com to compose this image using their templates. The picture is an image I downloaded from Microsoft's Image Gallery. It was very easy to generate the image. I used to Auto Post option to download it into my blog. One of the options was Blogger and all you have to do is put in your username, password, and a post title. Easy as 1,2,3!
8th Thing
Communication Web 2.0
I tried out IM with one of my coworkers and it is a really nice tool. I can see being able to use this when we are on a reference call and need to ask a coworker for assistance. I also enjoyed using IM with my students on D2L. Students were able to see if I was online and could IM questions to me. They were able to get instant feedback to questions this way. The IM function has been disabled and I really miss it. Our library is moving towards emailing overdue notices. We are still in the early stages of this, but it seems to be a good way to communicate with students about overdue items. I have attended several Webinars in the past with mixed results. Most of the time if the technology is working it is a wonderful and cost effective way to meet. Some problems arise when participants have connection problems or they are not familiar with Webinars and have problems joining discussions, ect. I think that this is a very important tool right now for libraries due to all of the budgets cuts that libraries are currently experiencing.
I tried out IM with one of my coworkers and it is a really nice tool. I can see being able to use this when we are on a reference call and need to ask a coworker for assistance. I also enjoyed using IM with my students on D2L. Students were able to see if I was online and could IM questions to me. They were able to get instant feedback to questions this way. The IM function has been disabled and I really miss it. Our library is moving towards emailing overdue notices. We are still in the early stages of this, but it seems to be a good way to communicate with students about overdue items. I have attended several Webinars in the past with mixed results. Most of the time if the technology is working it is a wonderful and cost effective way to meet. Some problems arise when participants have connection problems or they are not familiar with Webinars and have problems joining discussions, ect. I think that this is a very important tool right now for libraries due to all of the budgets cuts that libraries are currently experiencing.
Monday, February 9, 2009
7th Thing
This is one of my favorite things! I think this would be a great tool to advertise events at the library. I think that students would really respond to this. I plan on using this in my LIS class. I can't wait to show this to my son. I was able to make this cartoon at http://www.toondoo.com.
Friday, February 6, 2009
6th Thing
Flickr Mashups
I did it! I added a Mashup to my blog! I was beginning to think that I was not going to be successful with this task. I explored several of the mashups and wanted to add one to my blog. At first, I wanted to add the clock. I was able to view but I did not figure out how to add to my blog. I finally added the Spell mashup as a gadget. I went to the site, spelled my name, and copied and pasted the code into a gadget. Success! I thought the color wheel was interesting, but I am not sure how it could be used in the library. I like the Spell mashup and could see how that could be used for library graphics.
I did it! I added a Mashup to my blog! I was beginning to think that I was not going to be successful with this task. I explored several of the mashups and wanted to add one to my blog. At first, I wanted to add the clock. I was able to view but I did not figure out how to add to my blog. I finally added the Spell mashup as a gadget. I went to the site, spelled my name, and copied and pasted the code into a gadget. Success! I thought the color wheel was interesting, but I am not sure how it could be used in the library. I like the Spell mashup and could see how that could be used for library graphics.
Monday, February 2, 2009
5th Thing
Flickr
Now, this was a really interesting "thing". I could sit for hours and look at photos. I chose this photo after searching beaches because it reminded me of when I was a little girl and we would go to the beach before a storm. I loved the beach at this time because it was usually deserted (for good reason), wild, and beautiful. I think this photo captures this feeling. Thanks to hawleyjr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawleyjr/ for uploading this image.
4th Thing
RSS feeds and Readers
I am truly warming up to the RSS feeds! I can see where this would be addictive (not as addictive as Guitar Hero!). I started by signing up with Bloglines. I liked it okay, but I was not very impressed with the results of my searches when trying to add a blog. I was chatting with my work neighbor and fellow 23 Things participant and she was bragging about the Google Reader. Well, I thought, maybe I should try the Google Reader! Confusion ensued! I have a Gmail account and logged in to add the reader. Google Reader wanted an 8 character password and my Gmail was only 6 characters! I tried to change my password and it would not accept the change. Thirty minutes later I decided that Bloglines would work just fine! It is kind of like the Sheryl Crowe song..."It's not having what you want, but wanting what you have....I'm gonna soak up the sun!"
I am truly warming up to the RSS feeds! I can see where this would be addictive (not as addictive as Guitar Hero!). I started by signing up with Bloglines. I liked it okay, but I was not very impressed with the results of my searches when trying to add a blog. I was chatting with my work neighbor and fellow 23 Things participant and she was bragging about the Google Reader. Well, I thought, maybe I should try the Google Reader! Confusion ensued! I have a Gmail account and logged in to add the reader. Google Reader wanted an 8 character password and my Gmail was only 6 characters! I tried to change my password and it would not accept the change. Thirty minutes later I decided that Bloglines would work just fine! It is kind of like the Sheryl Crowe song..."It's not having what you want, but wanting what you have....I'm gonna soak up the sun!"
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