Thing #23--Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable Audio

This online workshop has exposed me to so many new things. I feel like I've learned so much. I think my favorite exercise was creating the blog itself. I guess it's just something I hadn't imagined myself doing. This program has made me want to keep learning about all the tech tools available out there as well as incorporate them on my campus. I was a little surprised at how so much that I was introduced to here could also be used not just for my job as our school's librarian, but it can also be used by teachers and students in the classroom as well. I think the only thing that could be improved upon for this program is to publicize it more and encourage more people to take it. I would definitely take another discovery program like this. This program has really opened my eyes to what is available to help me meet users' needs and exceed their expectations.

Thing #22--Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable Audio

I was impressed by the World Book site. It says they have over 2 million free titles to choose from. I would be most intersted in their Classic Literature collection, which includes titles from Shakespeare, Melville and Poe. They also have a Poetry Collection with over a thousand poems which I found interesting as well.

Thing #21--Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable Audio

I found a podcast called Library Geeks through podcastalley. I also found many others on educational technology and libraries that were interesting as well. I added Library Geeks RSS feed to my google reader account. I found podcast alley useful in helping me find pertinent podcasts. However, I don't imagine that I would use it on a regular basis unless I was looking for something specific. There have been a few times at work when I've been asked to look for sound bites for specific topis, so this might be very useful in those kinds of situations.

Thing #20--Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable Audio

I visit youtube regularly, but I usually just find exactly what I'm looking for and don't stay to look around. I enjoyed watching the March of the Librarians--very funny. One feature I like on youtube is the related videos list on the side. They are usually right on in that they are related to what you are looking at.

Thing #19--Week 8: Online Applications & Tools

I enjoyed looking around Library Thing and creating my own library. Some of the books that I added were the Twilight series books by Stephenie Meyer, so they were very popular and it was fun to see the reviews and discussions available. One feature that I really liked is the recommendations feature.

Thing #18--Week 8 Online Applications & Tools

I was able to use my Yahoo ID to log on to Zoho Writer and I found that it offers some excellent tools for word processing. I also searched around the site and looked at their other tools and was impressed at everything that was available. They have tools for presentations, wiki publishing, a planner, and loads of other helpful things. I think the wiki publisher and presentation tools would be most useful to me.

Thing #17--Week 7 Wikis

I would definitely use wikis at my campus for collaborative book talks/book reviews. I think students would enjoy seeing their postings online, and it would also serve to help others decide if they want to read the books for themselves. It would also be interesting to see how several students respond to the same book and how their opinions differ or are similar.

Thing #16--Week 7 Wikis

After looking at some of the wikis listed, I thought the Library Success Best Practices wiki would be very helpful to me personally. I really liked the Book Lovers wiki at the Princeton Public Library. We're planning to do a book club at our campus next year, and I like their idea of book club members posting their reviews on the wiki. This could also be a good idea for teachers to use in their classrooms as well.

Thing #15--Week 6 Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati

After reading several of the perspectives from the OCLC newsletter, Library 2.0 means several things. It means that libraries need to let go of the past and focus on the present and try to prepare for the future. It also refers to having the kind of attitude that puts the user's needs at the forefront. Above all, I think it means that libraries need to embrace change and deal with it in order to provide the best services they can to their users. This is the same for any kind of library, be it a city public library or an elementary school library.

Thing #14--Week 6 Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati

I can't believe how big the blogosphere is. I feel like I'm finding out about really old news that everyone else already knows, but better late than never, I guess.
I did a search on Technorati for "School Library Learning 2.0" and only 7 matches came up when searching blog posts. I had zero results when searching blogs and tags for this.
I think this Technorati can be a useful tool if you are looking for information from blogs. The tagging aspect can also be helpful in helping find pertinent information. I don't imagine I would personally have much use for Technorati since I don't really read blogs. Maybe in the future, but it's just not where I'm at right now.

Thing #13--Week 6 Tagging, Folksonomies and Technorati

I think del.icio.us is a very helpful tool. My favorites list on my computers at work and at home don't match up, and it's annoying to use another computer and waste time searching for sites that you already have marked on your home/work computer. This lets you access your favorite sites from any computer and it also gives you easy access to sites or stories that are getting alot of attention. This would be really great for high school and college students doing research on specific topics. I think this will also be very useful in helping me keep up with new happenings in the field of library and information science, so I created my own account and added the SJLibrary's list to my network.

Thing #12--Week 5 Play Week

After looking around Rollyo, I created my own search roll to help me with something that I spend some time doing online--looking for affordable children's clothing. I called my roll "Kid's Clothes 4 Less" and I included the sites that I usually buy from, including Gap, Old Navy, and Gymboree. I like what this site does because it really personalizes searching the web for a user and it cuts down on a bunch of stuff that you don't want. I could see this being extremely useful in the classroom where teachers could specify a handful of sites that they want their students to use in searching for information. This would really narrow it down for them and they wouldn't be so inundated with useless information.

Thing #11--Week 5 Play Week

I enjoyed browsing through the sites from the list of Web 2.0 Award winners. I thought revolutionhealth.com was really useful and would have really been helpful during pregnancy. One site that I really loved was last.fm. It is really useful in finding music that is similar to what you already like but may not have been exposed to. You can also download and/or listen to music.

Thing #10--Week 5 Play Week

The image generators are a really fun tool. They allow you to do some really cool things with your own pictures. I especially liked Image Chef at http://www.imagechef.com/ . It was easy to use and there were so many options available to choose.

Thing #9--Week 4 RSS and Newsreaders

It was interesting to see how these search tools work. I found topix.net especially useful because it already had higlights of local news stories. Also, google blog search was easy to use. After viewing so many of these, however, I did feel a little overwhelmed with all the information out there. I see how an RSS aggregator would help lessen that, but I don't currently spend alot of time looking for news information.

Thing #8--Week 4 RSS and Newsreaders

RSS aggregators are completely new to me. I liked using Google Reader because it allows you to personalize the information that you want. I think it would definitely cut down on time spent searching for information for work and for fun.

Thing #7--Week 3 Photos and Images

Isn't it crazy how early kids are exposed to technology now? My 10 month old daughter took pictures using my cell phone the other day (she didn't really mean to, but she still did it!). And, my 3 year old loves her daddy's "ipot" and watching videos on you tube. I think it's great because they won't be hesitant when using new technology.

Thing #6--Week 3 Photos and Images

These apps are really clever. The trading card maker is cute, I think kids would especially like this. One that really caught my attention was the Montager, where an image is recreated to look like a mosaic, except the "tiles" are actually many other small pictures.

Thing #5--Week 3 Photos and Images

You can find photos about anything and everything on Flickr! One really beautiful one was taken by Jim Nix of the Littlefield Fountain at the University of Texas campus in Austin. The colors are really vibrant and it has a very calming feeling to it. When I used to pass by this fountain, it was usually in between classes and there were alot of people walking around. But in this picture, the area around the fountain is empty and tranquil. The direct link to this pic is http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimnix/3785308946/ . The guy who took this photo also has his own website with more photos at http://www.nomadicpursuits.com/ .

Thing #4--Week 2 Blogging

I feel like I'm way behind the rest of the world on this whole blogging thing. A friend of mine does one that's kind of like a scrapbook to keep family and friends updated on how she and her family are doing. I used to think that it would be difficult and time-consuming, but maybe it's not.

Thing #3--Week 2 Blogging

I enjoyed creating my avatar. I wasn't sure what an avatar was before today.

Thing #2--Week 1 Introduction

Of the 7 1/2 Habits, I think the hardest one is #3 "View problems as challenges". It can be difficult to see a problem in a positive manner because of the stress that might accompany it. I know you can learn from a problematic situation, but I think sometimes it happens well after you have had time to calm down, step back from the situation, and focus.

I think the easiest habit is the last one, "Play!". This is easy to do, especially with two little ones around.

Thing #1--Week 1 Introduction

I've been wanting to do the "23 Things" workshop for awhile now. I'm glad I'm finally getting around to doing it...should be interesting.