Sidelines2

Thing 23: Summarizing thoughts about this program

2007-07-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

Reflecting on my learning journey: a few thoughts:

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I enjoyed learning how to create and maintain a blog. (All of this was new to me!) Of course, the "play" items were fun--I created a MEEZ and learned to upload photos and YouTube videos.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

It has given me confidence that, yes, I can do techy things--even when they seem really hard. That confidence will give me encouragement to continue to use these 23 Things and to try more new things.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I was pleasantly surprised that I could accomplish the learning outcomes without becoming "lost" in the technology. Each new Thing came with its own challenges. I was always delighted when the Thing worked!

Another great outcome was the sense of camaraderie that our staff has felt in working through the Things together. There has been great sharing of ideas and tips and of basking in the glow of each other's successes. I think that it has provided a real sense of "community"--first with our branch staff, then also with CCPL staff -- and finally with staff members of other systems.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I think that if we had had even just a brief overview of what Learning 2.0 was all about before we started the program, it might have put us off to a better start. I really had no clue until about Thing 15 when I read the perspectives on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. Then it all began to make sense. But, just like jumping into the lake and having to swim to survive--we all did jump right into this project. (CCPL is great about enthusiastically committing to a project!) I have not only survived, but have learned and grown immensely!!

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate? YES!
How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?

The process had many benefits. I learned about technology that I otherwise would not have. Many of the items that we learned were things that I didn't even know that I didn't know. (When I first looked at the list of topics we were going to learn about, it was like reading another language.) Another benefit was the collaboration that comes with social networking. The sharing of ideas and the ability to gain and distribute information has increased and will continue to increase. I am very appreciative that CCPL has encouraged all staff to be a part of this project.

CCPL is envisioning the future in libraries and preparing staff members to be a part of that future.

Thanks for this learning journey!

Thing #22: Learning about Audiobooks

2007-07-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Overdrive Digital Media Guided Tour - covering how to select and download Overdrive audiobooks - was very helpful. CCPL has been offering Overdrive to patrons for a while now, but it was very useful to go through the podcast (there it is again!) tour. I'm looking forward to using my MP3 player to download books.

Project Gutenberg has been around for a long time, and its good to know that audio-books are available here. On the day that I looked at the list of top 100 picks the Manual of Surgery by Alexander Miles and Alexis Thomson was #1 with 649 downloads the day before. Another interesting one was #5 on that list: Jokes For All Occasions by Anonymous with 365 downloads. A co-worker commented that maybe since it's summertime, kids are downloading jokes. If so, kids know about Project Gutenberg as well as YouTube! I also found video clips (see pictures, moving). I looked at a clip of the tests done by the Manhattan Project and a clip of the landing of Apollo 11.

Id like to come back to both sites and find some good books to listen to.

Thing 21: Discovering some useful search tools for locating podcasts.

2007-07-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

"In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last 24 months, it's easy to see why."
"The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS."

I learned alot about podcasting by looking around at the sites that were given us. I've enjoyed learning some of the 23 Things through listening to podcasts. I'd like to see some added to our CCPL website.

I also learned that there are podcast consultants. (I'm always learning something new!) Jason VanOrden"s tutorial and "definitive step-by-step guide" were informative and offered helpful information for those wanting to create a podcast. This might be something to come back to at another time!

I also was able to send a podcast of book reviews to my RSS feed. The URL is http://rachelsreviews.libsyn.com/rss

Fly, Robin, Fly - 10,000 AMERICAN ROBINS!

2007-07-12T16:05:00.001-07:00

What was just "23 Things" several weeks ago, is taking flight. Fledgling thoughts and ideas are growing and beginning to spread their wings and soar.

Thing #20: Discovering YouTube and a few sites that allow you to upload video

2007-07-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

YouTube has lots of facinating stuff!
What did you like?
++ I liked that you can search by topic, that you can see the time length of the video and that you can see the titles of the music. Setting up a YouTube account and sending a video to a blog was really easy.

What did you dislike about the site?
-- I found a video I really liked, and as I was trying to send it to my blog, I lost it:( After trying again several times, I wasn't able to locate it again. Finally... I did find that video again, but I found one that I liked even better. I was able to create an account with YouTube and send it to my blog.

Why did you chose the video that you did?
This past spring a robin laid 4 beautiful blue eggs in a nest under our deck. Shortly after that I began working on 23 Things. I thought of the eggs as being ideas waiting to hatch, so I took a photo of the nest and posted it to my blog. I thought of the little robins growing--from hatchlings to fledglings to young birds ready to take flight--as being similar to ideas that take time to grow, "stretch their wings" in my mind, and finally fly. I have posted photos of growiing robins all through my blog. I was delighted to find the YouTube video of a whole flock of robins (...think ideas!...) taking flight. It was the perfect culmination for this learning activity. "Fly, Robin, Fly" !

Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?
Oh, yes. How about YouTube videos on our library website? Or using them in Pipeline?

Thing #19: Discovering any site from the Web 2.0 awards list

2007-07-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Google Maps

What did you like or dislike about the tool? These are interactive maps--You can search for and display user created content to your maps. When traveling, you can locate hotels, restaurants, and multiple points of interest.
What were the site’s useful features? Easy to add personalized items to maps.
Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting? Google Maps would be useful for people traveling to library conferences, for staff who are on vacation and want to visit the local library ( I often do this!).
I'd like to play with this one more.

Picnik

What did you like? This is a fun way to edit photos and email them.
What were the useful features? Very easy to use
Applications in library setting? Yes. Easy to edit photos of programs to send to Pipeline, etc.

Thing #18: Taking a look at some online productivity tools

2007-07-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

I tried out Google Docs. It was easy to create an account. Next, I tried the spreadsheet app. It was as easy to use as Excel, except that I had trouble using the sum feature---I'll just have to play with it more later. I was able to send my spreadsheet directly to by blog.

I can see useful things coming out of these shared apps. I would be great to collaborate on projects using these tools.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

2007-07-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Thing #17: Adding an entry into the Sandbox Wiki created with PB Wiki

2007-07-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! This Thing was fun. It was easy to add my blog to the Maryland Libraries Sandbox. I also listed the book that I have just finished reading: The Glass Castle by Jannette Walls.
The PBWiki was fast and easy to use.

Thing #16: Learning about wikis and discovering some innovative ways that libraries are using them

2007-07-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

What is a Wiki? (From the Hawaiian word for "quick")
A wiki allows a group of people to collaboratively develop a Web site with no knowledge of HTML or other markup languages. Anyone can add to or edit pages in a wiki.
It seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes.
From: Leuf, Bo and Ward Cunningham. The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web
What did you find interesting?
Right now, OCLC is working on putting wiki functionality into Open WorldCat http://www.oclc.org/productworks/wcwiki.htm, so that people can add reviews to book entries. The results of this test case will give us some idea about the power of allowing users to annotate the catalog.
From: Using Wikis to Create Online Communities by Meredith Farkas.
What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

What about making the library’s website the online hub of the community? Libraries could create a community wiki that would be a one-stop-shop for community information.
Opening up a community guide to the public allows a wealth of information to flow in that can make the library’s website a true community resource.

If a group is working on a document, it can be edited in the wiki rather than having different versions of a word processing file going back and forth through email. It’s simply a better way of organizing the group’s efforts and keeping track of where everyone is in the process.

Wikis may be used to provide an open forum for tips on conference information in a distant city.

From: Using Wikis to Create Online Communities by Meredith Farkas

Other uses of wikis:

Conference planning
Collaborative editing of documents
Meetings (posting agendas, discussion prior to meeting, etc.)
Project space
In place of structured courseware
Presentation medium
Web-based notebook to organize your thoughts

From: Wikis: A Beginner’s Look: Harnessing the Collective Intelligence by Meredith Gorran Farkas

Thing #15: Perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 & the future of libraries

2007-07-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Library 2.0 is a shift from static, print only based libraries to very interactive, fluid and Web driven services. Rather than sitting stationary on the shelf, Library 2.0 is taking flight into the digital world.
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After looking at another blog from someone doing 23 Things in Cecil County here is an interesting perspective: http://www.xanga.com/mme_jesonis/602335713/week-6-thing-15.html She is concerned that as librarians increase tech learning, the gap between haves and have-nots is widening The have-nots may feel threatened by "those who know" what they do not. Take a look at her blog.

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From Wikipedia: "The key principles of Library 2.0 are not just about access to books and information. It is about innovation, about people, and about community building, enabled through the participation that social computing brings."

In Rick Anderson's article Away from the “icebergs”, he says that remnants of a bygone information age are threats to our future success. We may have difficulty letting go, but our patrons have no such qualms. He says that "as a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything – digital collections of journals, books, blogs, podcasts, etc. You think they can’t have everything? Think again. This may be our great opportunity."
He also says that we need to eliminate "the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need, so they can spend as little time as possible wrestling with lousy search interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning. One-button commands, such as Flickr’s “Blog This,” and easy-to-use programs like Google Page Creator, offer promising models for this kind of user-centric service."

"We need to shift direction, and we can’t wait for the big ship of our profession to change course first. It’s going to have to happen one library—one little boat—at a time."

Web 2.0 Where will the next generation Web take libraries? by Tom Storey states that Web 2.0 is "the open, programmable Web, and quite a change from monolithic, proprietary operating systems and programs of the past characterized by long development times and software release cycles. Consider the roaring success of sites that embody Web 2.0 principles of simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, collective intelligence, self-service, novel and remixed content—Flickr, MySpace, FaceBook, del.icio.us, YouTube, LibraryThing—to name a few. The potential network effects of Web 2.0 have not gone unnoticed in the library community."

Michael Stephens comments in his article Into a new world of librarianship: One of the principles I would add to the Library 2.0 meme is that “the Library is human” because it makes the library a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience.

Dr. Wendy Schultz's perspectives on the future of libraries are fascinating and far reaching. "What are libraries? Libraries are not just collections of documents and books, they are conversations, they are convocations of people, ideas, and artifacts in dynamic exchange. Libraries are not merely in communities, they are communities..." She looks into the future and sees virtual librarian avatars. She sees "the library as aesthetic experience will have space for all the library’s incarnations: storage (archives, treasures); data retrieval (networks—reference rooms); and commentary and annotation (salon)." She sees the library as a "knowledge spa".

I appreciate CCPL as being one of the library systems that is on the forefront --- teaching staff about Web 2.0 and Libraries 2.0. Giving us time to explore and try out new technologies. We as a system are envisioning the future in libraries and preparing staff members to be a part of that future.

Thing 14: Discovering Technorati and Learning How Tags Work with Blogs

2007-07-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Technorati is a type of search engine that searches for keywords in blogs. The blogosphere currently has about 51 million blogs and it is doubling every 6 months! That is "astounding"! Technorati is a publishing tool that is being taken advantage of by almost every industry, including libraries. Technorati will pick up tags when it crawls the web. A blogger must "claim" their blog, thereby establishing authorship of the blog. Then set up a Technorati account and increase visibility of the blog. A Watchlist creates a customized report about the topics you care about and is available via a RSS feed.

Discovery Exercise:
1.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?
24,088 blog posts about learning 2.0
813 blog posts about learning2.0 (no space)
481 blogs about learning 2.0
68 blogs about learning2.0 (no space)
Even videos on learning 2.0

2.Explore top favorited blog, top searches and top blogs. Is anything interesting or surprising?
1. Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things
2,245 members have made this a Favorite
2. Make Money Online ProBlogger Blog Tips
1,734 members have made this a Favorite
Surprising: There are people who are full time bloggers. There are those who sell their blogs. Someone made $155,000 selling his!
3. Techcrunch
1,637 members have made this a Favorite

Thing13: Learning about tagging and discovering Del.icio.us

2007-07-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

I watched the Otter Group Del.icio.us tutorial twice. Here is a "folksonomy" approach to creating shared reading lists ( a collection of URL's) and syllabus building. Of special interest was being able to select a unique tag for a group to post shared items. The "magic middle" helps manage mega-information by listing blogs that recieve many hits--showing what other people think are good articles. This enables a researcher to find the newest information quickly and to link from article to article, saving them to the RSS feed if desired. Del.icio.us is a "powerful tool".

From: Us.ef.ul A beginner's guide to The Next Big Thing
"If you use computers in multiple locations, say one at home and one at work, delicious can synchronize your bookmarks." This is a terrific plus to us at CCPL, since we are often using various computers around the branch and system, as well as at home.

From: The Several Habits of Wildly Successful del.icio.us Users
There are lots of good tips here similar to the Otter Group podcast, but in a list form.
Habit Eight: Explore more
"Now that Yahoo! owns del.icio.us, we can be pretty confident that more features will be rolling down the line, not to mention a little better documentation. Be sure to check out the help section–it’s got good links to various parts of the del.icio.us system."

Thing 12 Rollyo

2007-06-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here's my search roll. It will roll out all the search sites that I've chosen.

Thing 11 Library Thing

2007-06-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

This was one of the easiest Things ever! What a great way to track your favorites. I've added 6 titles to begin with. And ,of course, Marley and Me was one of them!
It will be a cinch to add more. I like that reviews are available, too.

Thing 10

2007-06-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Working with Meez is alot like old-fashioned paper dolls--except with a LOT more choices. It's fun to try an outfit, and then move on to try out another look.

Thing 10 Meez

2007-06-19T09:26:00.001-07:00

Thing 9: Explore MERLIN and useful library related blogs and news feeds

2007-06-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Thing 8b and Thing 9
I've successfully set up my bloglines account and subscribed to several on-line journals and blogs. Some are:
2 Cents Worth
Reader's Club: Historical Fiction
PLA Blog
Unshelved
Information Wants To Be Free
http://librarybytes.com/about.html

I particularly like Helene Blowers quote on the Socialization of Information:
“But with information these days being more time sensitive than ever and online networks providing the conduit to transform tiny social grapevines into full-fledged vineyards for mass media consumption, the need to figure out the means to authenticate and validate soft information will become more important.”

David Warlick added some additional thoughts to this observation on How Information is Changing worth noting. To summarize, his points are:
Information has become increasingly networked
Information is increasingly digital
We are overwhelmed by information
Learning 2.0 respects the reader by making learning participatory.
We learn by doing. RSS allows the reader to take charge of what is chosen to be read--It is participatory.

Thing 9 Merlin
Maryland Essential Resource for Library Information Networks
Of special interest were:
Sandbox--testing new technology
On-line Courses and Web Seminars

Thing 8: RSS Feeds

2007-06-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

"Fresh feeds served fast"

"Stuff yourself with Internet feeds. They're calorie-free... and information rich!" PALINET

"With feeds you can choose what information you want and decide where, when, and how to receive it." -- Laura A. Dixon MLS

The tutorials provided a very helpful overview of what RSS is, why feeds are useful and how to set up a Blogline and subscribe to news feeds. The video clips helped me visualize how the set up works. Learning 2.0 posted a very helpful screen shot. For someone who had never even heard of RSS before 23 Things, I feel that I've learned alot here.

I will be setting up my Blogline and will be adding other Carroll Participants' blogs to the feeds. This is also a good way to subscribe to a library related news items. I'm looking forward to trying some from the list.

Things 6 & 7: Flickr Mashups & 3rd Party Sites

2007-06-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

Creative is the word for these uses for Flickr! Here are ways of playing with technology to produce a whole new thing. I particularly liked the magazine covers, movie posters and the trading card maker. Mappr provided a great spin on photos and maps. Sharing ideas helps to create more ideas!
Technology: I am so glad that I have been encouraged to grow and learn new technology through working at CCPL. Way back when the Internet was a novelty, I remember our staff gathering 'round one terminal in the workroom and oohing and ahhing over a black screen with yellow letters that might--if dial-up was working--be able to bring up current weather in another state. Wow! We were impressed. Through the years we have been encouraged to take risks and learn new things, building piece by piece and byte by byte. 23 things is yet another step in that direction. The world has become accessible in many more ways than we ever dreamed, and "playing" with technology builds a strong base for growth. A caution in this tale: we need to keep technology as our servant, or it will quickly become a master--a fascinating one at that!

Thing 5: Explore Flickr

2007-06-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed exploring Flickr. The Qoop photo books and calendars would be fun to create and share. I especially like the Flickr maps. They would make a great addition to a vacation scrapbook. Zazzle stamps--cool.

Things 3 & 4: Set Up and Register a Blog

2007-06-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Creating a blog has given me an opportunity to expand my horizons--It's been fun learning new piece of technology! I'm looking forward to building on this base as I explore Flickr next.

Thing 2: Pointers from Lifelong Learners

2007-05-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

7 1/2 Things listed habits of highly successful learners.
One of my strenghts is Habit #2-- accepting responsibility for my own learning.
One of my challenges will be Habit # 6--using this new technology to the best advantage. I look forward to gaining confidence as I work through the 23 Things!

Thing 1 of 23 Things: Finding out about the program

2007-05-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

I've done it! My blog has been set up... now it's time to spread my wings and fly on to new technology!