Thoughts on Learning 2.0

I thought this was an amazing exercise. The Internet has changed so much over the years. In general I have always used the Web as a tool to get something accomplished - find a location at Mapquest, pay bills using online banking, research medical issues, email, whatever. Using the Web in a social networking context is new to me. This exercise has introduced me to a number of new sites. I had fun at Flickr exploring the collections of others as well as posting some of my own family photos. However, I had mega fun playing around with the fun programs, the mashups. I loved the calendar, created a magazine cover highlighting our fearless library leaders, created trading cards, and played with the mapping utility. I will continue to use delicious and bloglines and podcasts - great tools all. Don't know yet whether I will continue with my blog; not sure anyone would read it.

This has been a good exercise; however, the biggest challenge has been finding the time to do it. But I did. And after finishing it, I feel that I'm a more knowledgeable librarian - better able to assist the public, better able to stay abreast of the evolving field of librarianship. I would love to see more exploratory opportunities like this. Bring 'em on (and bring on that MP3 player too while you're at it).

NetLibrary

I set up an account at this site years ago when we first got this service so that I could answer patron questions about it. I guess they closed it for lack of use. Oh my! So... I created another account. However, the instructions on the L 2.0 blog clearly stipulate that we are NOT to download files to our library computers. Although I have definitely found a few that I want to "check out," I guess I'll have to wait for the MP3 player. Shouldn't be long now. Right, Helene?

Podcasting

I found Yahoo's Podcast site most informative. However, I found the podcasts that I added to my bloglines account at Podcast Alley.

Lots to explore with podcasting. I like this exercise and I like the currency of podcasts but alas I will have to explore it in depth at a later time.

Youtube

I don't know what to think of this site. I have found myself spending hours exploring this site, then wondering why on earth I wasted my time. Interesting site but the funny stuff is few and far between. I'm not a big Youtube fan. Maybe I'm missing something. Somebody point me to a funny one so I can appreciate this site more!

As far as how we could use this service, I can see the library setting up a fun teen program in connection with uploading videos to Youtube.

At any rate, here's one that I thought was fun. Love the music and the dog really know how to move.

Discovering Web Based Tools

I created an account at Wayfaring:
This was kind of a fun little utility. You can make customized maps here, then share with the public. I can envision many uses for this. If you were going on a trip, you could keep track of places you visit, hotels you stay in, restaurants you liked, attractions that were of interest, etc. Personally I didn't have any use in mind at the time, so I created a map of the places that I've lived. The link to my account is as follows:

http://www.wayfaring.com/maps/show/24863


And here's a picture of the map I made:

Zoho Writer

Don't know much about this service, so at this point I don't have much to say about it. So.... I decided to find a few recipes online for content, then export to my blog account. Let's see if this works.

OK I tried to "publish" to my blog, but that didn't work. So here's the "doc role" option. Let's see if it works.

It worked ok. The link to my recipes are over in the Navigation Bar on the right - just under the Zoho Writer Documents heading. I thought I saved the document as "quiche recipes" but somehow it is listed as "Welcome." I think I still have some learning to do to get the hang of the fine points.

Like this service though.

Playing around with PBWiki

Paid a visit to the Favorites Wiki at: http://plcmclearning.pbwiki.com/

It was way easier than I thought to get in there and add entries. Fun exercise and good ideas on local restaurants!

Wikis

Wikis are not new to me as we have had one in Virtual Village which is affectionately named Viki. Viki contains useful information for staff at the service desk - passwords, what software is installed on which computers, frequently requested links, a calendar of events in downtown Charlotte, etc.

But then writing about Viki was not the request was it. Thoughts on other wikis that I visited...

Princeton's Book Lovers Wiki - Really liked the book reviews. Made me want to read them. I can see this is a dynamic way to get the public involved. Everyone likes to be published!

ALA's New Orleans Wiki - Great idea. A one stop place to find out what was going on inside the convention center as well as outside in the city of New Orleans. We should have had this when PLA came to Charlotte back a few years ago.

St. Joseph County PL Subject Guide - Interested mishmash of information. I think I like the wikis that had a little more focus. This one had a little info about this and a little about that without a clear mission. On the other hand, I guess it did have a mission - pathfinders to various topics.

Bull Run Library - Liked the fun page. That's were I found the aps that let me create maps on where I've been.

Countries That I've Visited

Had so much fun creating a map of the states I've visited that I decided to do the same with the countries I've visited. Here's that link: http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedcountries

and here's that map:

States That I've Visited

Found a fun site while exploring wikis. This mini ap lets you create a map of all the states you've visited. Interesting... On the one hand I guess I've been around the US more than I realized. On the other hand my visits have been pretty centered around one geographic area. Looks as if I need to explore the west a bit more.

The web address is here: http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedstates

Library 2.0

My understanding of Library 2.0... Public libraries in the traditional sense are quickly becoming dinosaurs. In order to survive as vital institutions, libraries need to shift the focus of services aware from the concept that patrons come to us because we have services they want to the concept that we go to them because we have services they want. A big chunk of this change involves providing information resources (as well as resources that maybe aren't informative but rather just plan fun!) that are easily accessible. I really liked the scenerio of doing a search through our future high tech catalog for an item and getting back meaningful information on how best to get that item. Meaning if we don't have it, we tell them how to get it whether that means buying it from Amazon or getting an electronic version from Guttenberg or some other online service or library. In other words, one huge universal library where we all share information and services. Wow, that's a paradigm shift. No longer just a local library but a global one? Hmmm... Now that's something to think about.

On the negative side, however, I found myself reading a lot of abstract ideas about where we should be heading without finding many concrete ideas about how to get there. Lots of vision without specifics. It sounds to me as if the librarian of the future needs to be a technological guru of the highest order. I don't see these changes coming quickly.

On the other hand I've always felt that PLCMC was special in that it has always tried very hard to keep pace with change. After all we were one of the first to have a "virtual library" shortly thereafter replaced with a virtual village! Our Web site is a model that others strive to replicate.

One more comment before I move on... After reading these articles, I couldn't help but feel the great divide is widening. Meaning, that on the one hand we are expected to provide services to the technologically savy while at the same time having to spoon feed the technologically clueless.

Technorati Thoughts

My exploration of this site yielded mixed results. Success here depends on the kind of information that you are looking for. Searching on one topic led me to commercial sites. I found that annoying. Companies have created blogs promoting their merchandise just so that a search will direct people to their commercial blog. I felt that I was being spammed.

I decided to shift gears and did a search on "Libraries." The results were much better. Found some good blogs on theory/future of libraries.

As usual, I created an account here too with the intention of coming back at a later date.

Del.icio.us 2

Loved this service. I'm all the time finding neat sites that I'd like to revisit. This is way better than bookmarks. Haven't had time to really explore the way I want to, however. Got to move on in order to finish this by next Friday!

Del.icio.us 1

It's late - way past time for me to leave - however, I did set up the del.icio.us account. Couldn't use the usual username. Just so's I don't fergit, here's the url:

http://del.icio.us/jhanson

I'll explore the delightfully delicious del.icio.us at a later time.

Rollyo

Played around with Rollyo this afternoon. Here's a link to my search engine on diabetes:

http://rollyo.com/jbhanson/diabetes/

Library Thing

Set up my account today and entered five books. I used to be a big P D James fan back when I had time to read. So, in order to get the proverbial ball rolling, I entered a few of her books.

Here is a photo of good ole P.D. Bless her heart, she's 86 now.

Image Generator

Great fun. I wish I had more time to play. Perhaps I can come back to this AFTER OCTOBER 9TH!!!!!

I created a fortune cookie with the goal of passing them out to the public computer users here in Virtual Village. Take a look...


The web address I used to do this work of art is: http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/

Finding RSS Feeds

Checked out a few of Helen's suggestions for finding feeds. In general I think they are a little confusing. However, I stumbled along and actually did find several that I added to my list in Bloglines. Topix was the most interesting and helpful. I liked the Local search option. There is a Charlotte classified section that looks a little like Craig's List but not as popular or extensive. I also liked the ability to Browse All. I found this more helpful than just searching as it gave me a sense of the depth of options.

RSS Feeds & Bloglines

OK, I'm a convert. I really love having stuff come to me rather than my having to go to it. I found out that Google allows you to capture RSS feeds as well and have started utilizing that feature of their service. Now if I can just find the time to read all this stuff...