oh, delicious!! yum yum!!

this is one of the sites that i really like and can see some useful applications for, however i never really use my account or get around to setting one up for my frequently used reference links. oh well.

i like the portability factor. and often i will save something and remember one or two of the keywords. del.icio.us would make it easy to find it! del.icio.us could also be used an index for any training tools or documents, internal staff information. links would be easily organized and sortable using tags they are provided.

i enjoy clicking along from link to link to profile to see who else has tagged the same thing i have, and what else they have tagged.

ferguson wiki

this exercise was interesting from the other side. i had set up the wiki, created a few of the sample pages, and otherwise watched as people added information to the wiki.

as this group is filled with high achievers, some had created new pages, but grew frustrated when they were not appearing on the main page of the wiki. i quickly understood that a link had to be made to the new page, but i can understand that this isn't immediately clear. if you scroll down and look at the bottom of the page, you should see a link for show all pages. and this will shoe all the wiki pages that have been created. say you want to link to the newly created page, first edit the main page, type in the text and click on the link button. all the wiki pages are automatically populated and can be linked in just two seconds.

a bit tricky at first, but give it a shot... see if you can get it. and as i tell folks all the time, i know what i know from playing!

wild world of wikis

So I forgot to define wiki for the Learning 2.0 participants! I am not at all surprised that this group of librarians sought out the meaning on their own. Kudos to you high achievers.

whoa! what a wacky world!

okay. i might be running out of ws. i am a fan of the library success wiki and i use this tool quite frequently. i use it for ideas for services and implementation of things, as well as to catch up on what libraries are doing. it is a great way of putting yourself out there and sharing the great things you have been doing.

a new wiki i learned about is the library instruction wiki, a tool i am sure to use in the future. i am not a fan of reinventing the wheel and pick up great ideas from here and there. wikis are great tools that people can use for sharing and editing documents, internally and externally.
i use a wiki for my class instruction. it is an easy quick way to update pages and content, and then it is accessible to the public.

library = beta

I talk about Library 2.0 all the time. Heck, I am trying to create a Library 2.0 environment here. Having read some of the blog posts from IL 2007,my mantra has become Library 2.0 is user centered, not technology centered. Not only are we meeting our users in the spaces they inhabit (which could be Facebook or the local senior center), we are providing services that they are requesting. I think sometimes (and this is something I am interested in) is anticipating needs. For example, libraries started offering wifi before the trend caught on! Now even McDs has wifi! This service was available before the public could request it in droves. I went to a workshop at a library a few weeks ago and was shocked to learn they didn't have wifi. Perhaps there isn't a need within their community for wireless access. I see many business people using our wireless during the day, perhaps out of town visitors.

I also like to think of Library 2.0 in the backend of library services. There are many applications for staff use, such as podcasting staff meetings (which always are scheduled on my days off or mornings off), guest lectures, training sessions, etc. I am excited to see that wikis are being used to collect feedback on documents and share information with others.

I came into librarianship with the spirit of a constant beta, and do not accept traditionas a valid reason for continuing a service. As librarians, educators of a community we are to be evaluating, changing, evolving our services. Sometimes to adapt to the needs of our users, and sometimes out of a need. I think there is this fear of the technology, as it might render our positions useless in due time. Wasn't this the same argument for online catalogs? Is there a changing information culture? Oh yes, and we are part of it. We are in a unique position to understand how information needs exist in a rapidly changing world and witness the digital divide increasing.

Oh oh oh oh oh... LibraryThing!!

Sung to the tune of I will Survive...

at first i was afraid, i was overwhelmed
thinking 'bout how i could organize my library at home
but i spent many a saturday night alone trying to catalog
but i went online, and learned how to librarything

and so you see, you can too
organize your collection out of a zoo
i should've signed up many years ago, and saved myself some time
and so now i am going to sign up for a lifetime subscription....

- - - -

Song and dance aside, I really dig librarything. I have been using it for a while now, both personally and professionally. For my tech blog, I use librarything as a way of promoting some of the new computer book titles. It is very easy for me to add the titles and the little widget automatically updates. And who doesn't like to look at the covers, right?
One thing I struggle with is the updating my librarything. In the past few years, I have cut down on my book buying. I tend to buy more art books and coffee table books rather than the latest nonfiction. I try to use it as a tool for books that I would like to read, but sometimes that is a lost cause...

- - - -

Rollyo, not a fan

I found rollyo (which I thought was pronounced rolly-o) two thumbs down. I had to play with it when writing the learning 2.0 exercises and wanted to throw it against the floor, as if it was a consumer good in impossible packaging. I attempted to add the search bar to my blog, and it just does not look pretty. A few of my fellow L2 participants found it to be easy as pie and quick (so we can get the heck out of dodge to someplace warm).

So, I decided to make a technology themed blog entry. Helpful when I am looking for a blog entry I am trying to recall, or something on a specific topic. I enter in my websites, and say 'create' and then I am taken to a screen that looks exactly like the screen I saw before I started. Upon closer inspection, I realize that my newly created search engine is there, in tiny print. So easy you could miss it, and let me tell you, I did. And then the results took for-ever... I am STILL waiting.

I will have to visit Rollyo sometime in the future. For now, I will leave it. And guess what? Thats okay! I don't have to love every tool we learn about, and certainly wouldn't be able to find an application for each one. And thats okay! Library 2.0 is about responding for patron needs, not using all the myriad bits of technology that come along.

We Tube! You Tube!

Ooh, YouTube. Many a evenings have been spent exploring your offerings, laughing at the content, amazed at what people will share. I am so glad you were not around when I was in college; I would not have gotten a thing done.

However, I am adult now and much better at time management. There are lots of great videos on youtube related to libraries. Some possible applications: updates on renovation projects, or a monthly newsletter with book reviews and clips from programs, author talks and story times, tutorials for using databases, library tours, marketings and recruiting... and on and on!

I really like this video. It is a great little overview about web 2.0. And it was created by an anthropology department! So cool!

Podcasts are for everyone!

I love podcasts.
(Do you see a trend here? Maura is a technology geek.)

I have been wanting to learn more about wine, so I used Podcast Alley to look for wine related podcasts. There was a category called Food and Drink with a few wine related titles. I like that I can listen before I subscribe. I listened to a few of the podcasts that seemed interesting enough.

I did a keyword search for "library technology" to see what I could see, er listen to. I found one called Library Geeks, but the last episode was on May 2007. I probably won't be subscribing to that one, as I want something to be current, talking about what is happening right now this very moment!!

I found a community college that has podcasts available of events that took place at the library. Super cool! If people are unable to attend a reading or talk, they can still have access to the information. And thinking about statistics, would we count the number of views as participants?
My coffee is starting to wear off, and I think I met my threshold for blogging this evening!

But before I go, let me share with you a few of my favorite podcasts:

• Grey's Anatomy Podcast
• This American Life and Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me (not sure these count as podcasts, but I can listen to them on my own schedule which is the cool thing)

AudioBooks!

Okay. Despite that fact that my ipod has totally died, I am a loyalist and I am really sad that these vendors do not provide content that is compatible with ipods (one of the most popular mp3 players!) And yes, I get that digital rights management and blah blah, more than meets the eye. But, I would be someone who would use this service more if I could get it onto my iPod.

That said, I love audiobooks. I have a lengthy drive to see my family and audiobooks are a great way to "read" those books I have been meaning to catch up on.

I think ebooks are a great reference source. It is really helpful when looking for a line of code of how to do something in PhotoShop without having to leave your computer! I think NetLibrary is a bit more user friendly when looking at ebooks, and I like that I can burn some titles to a cd, which would allow me to use them in the car.

"Yes, I love technology, but not as much as you, you see"

Ahh. Napoleon Dynamite. What a great unexpected movie. I couldn't stop laughing at Kip's song at the end of the movie, and how technology brought him and his wife together. And just over the weekend a friend and I were musing about the number of engaged couples we know who met over Match.com.

One of the things I most appreciate about technology and the internet is the way it connects communities that otherwise might not be able to connect. There are online support groups for parent's of children with Asperger's or for young women with melanoma. Flickr creates community of expert and amateur photographers and provides a environment to receive feedback. I also appreciate the ways it allows me to stay in touch with my friends, family and colleagues in a variety of formats. I have found a knitting group and running group in my community with the health of Yahoo!. I can watch a video of a friend's baby over YouTube, and Facebook provides daily updates about my high school friends comings and goings.

Though, increasingly I am seeing that people are addicted to these communication tools, and admittedly I am someone to checks her email obsessively and dislikes being without her cell phone. Sign of the times? Nothing is better than a good old fashioned sit down face to face. I much rather drive an hour to visit a friend for a few hours than have a phone conversation. That personal interaction is emotionally satisfying and heartwarming. In the meantime, I'll use Flickr and Facebook fill in the gaps. But you can't replicate a hug and a laugh with HTML and API.

I am a superhero!!

I have ALWAYS wanted my own trading card! How cool! Like a business card, but with more personality and sass. (Two things I am in short supply of...)

This trading card was also very easy to make. I also really like the Colr Pickr. I enjoyed seeing how quickly the program worked at retrieving photographs that matched the colors I was looking for! How does that work! It also was a great chance to explore Flickr photographs... there are SO many out there, and so many bad ones. These photographs were outside the mainstay of family portraits and macro flower shots. I particularly like this one and this one.

I am a little disappointed that the Montagr is being so temperamental, and I hope some of my colleagues have had better luck. I liked Flickeur, which takes photographs and combines them with some cool effects to look like a movie.

oh my love affair with flickr.

oh flickr.
let me count the ways i love you.

you have clean minimal design.
your uploading tools are easy and fast.
for $24.95 a year, i get unlimited storage and sets.
your partners are wonderful, and it is easy to buy prints of my photographs.

oh flickr. we are going to have such a happy life together.

so this photograph, i just love. this sign is by an entrance ramp to 91South in springfield, mass. so this is part of my history, always seeing this sign soaring high above the one story buildings at her feet.
however, while driving that way a few weeks ago, i couldn't find the sign. and i questioned whether it was even there! i was driving with my mom and she couldn't recall a sign even being there.
so... i hope this sign is in a good place. it is just so fantastic and wonderful, a guidepost in the constant movement of my life.

Oh where oh where is my new favorite blog?

Similar to library school, when I was learning to evaluate results from different databases and search engines, I used the same subject term in each of the search tools: productivity.

Some of the things that initially stand out: Feedster tells you how many words a particular blog entry is, Technorati allows you to search in other languages, and Bloglines has a nice easy subscribe link.

One of things I found confusing is searching for feeds and searching through posts. My sense is that searching through the feeds will allow me to thematically find a blog in which the focus is productivity, and searching through posts will highlight individual postings in which the word productivity is used in the text or tag. The theme of the blog may be a personal journal or a blog that reviews hand lotions, but if the keyword areas it will be returned. This would be a high recall, but low relevance.

I found Productivity Cafe through Bloglines. I scanned the first page, and saw that a few of the blog posts interested me, especially one on increasing effectiveness by using names and virtual assistants.

I really like Technorati, and have my photo blog registered with them. With the cooler weather, I find myself in the kitchen more trying new recipes and baking. Using Technorati, I found a few cupcake and baking blogs, with recipes and suggestions. One that I am definitely subscribing to is Cupcakes Take the Cake.

Another way that I find blogs and feeds is similar to the technique pearl growing. I find a blog that I like, and take a look at the blogroll the author has listed. A blogroll is a list of blogs that the owner of the web pages follows and reads. (Check out my blogroll on the right hand side of the page.) By clicking through to other blogs, I will eventually find some that interest me.

RSS-Mania!!

This week is RSS feed week in Learning 2.0. I have been devoted to RSS feeds for over a year now. I first learned about Bloglines from a professor of mine in library school, and instantly I was in love! All the information I wanted, delivered to a centralized location, automatically updated, ability to save posts and share them with friends. Swoon!

I follow many blogs, from librarian colleagues to library news to technology news and trends to shoe blogs to the New York Times. It is quite efficient to subscribe to these feeds and read them in a centralized location. Bloglines also makes it easy to share with my friends and colleagues. I can email them an abstract or the full entry with my own comments. This makes it very easy and efficient to share things with either coworkers, colleagues, family and friends.

There are so many applications for RSS in libraries! We can push out new books and new dvds through RSS. Allow patrons to customize RSS feeds from the catalog based on subject headings or keywords to receive the latest materials that fall under the established search parameters. Or even displaying the latest DVDs or cooking books on the website. This would automate the updating process, and would be seamless. As soon as materials are received in our catalog, BANG! updated on the web page.

Out of the gate

We are off to a great start with Learning 2.0. There is definite excitement in the air, blogs a flying, registrations bumps in the road, and new passwords to be remembered.
We are just laying the groundwork for what I hope will be an action packed 10 weeks of learning, playing, and exploring.

My goals are

• to introduce Library Staff members to these technologies and build their confidence in playing and exploring.
• to learn more about programs and "things" I am not too familiar with
• to explore how Ferguson staff can use these tools for internal communication and promotion of services.

Though we are just in the early stages of the program, I hope that this sets the tone for exploration and play in the future. Librarians are life-long learners, either through workshops, conferences, or working at a public service desk.
Okay! Time to head out and spend time with a 1.0 technology, my knitting needles!

Wooo!!

So much excitement today around Learning 2.0!! It is only part of the first week, and already people are creating blogs!

These upcoming weeks are going to be very exciting!!