Facebook

Facebook is a great social network. Over the last several weeks I have reconnected with friends from all over the world.

Exercise 23

The TLC 2.0 program was wonderful!!! I have learned so much and will continue to do so on my own after the progam is over. My favorite tool was del.icio.us. I use it all the time now. It really helps to be able keep all of my Websites organized in one location.

I would definitely participate if another discovery program like this was offered in the future. Thanks to the members of the committee for all of their hard work in creating the TLC 2.0 program.

Podcasting

Podcast Alley is a good site. I found an interesting podcast about technology and subscribed to it. It's called the Mike Tech Show and gives weekly updates on technology. It is in my Bloglines Feeds in the folder called Podcasts.
http://www.bloglines.com/public/triniuser

YouTube

I use YouTube quite a bit. Sometimes just for fun and other times for class assignments. In some of my courses I have had to create videos and we were required to post them on YouTube and send the link to the professor. Very convenient. I picked the video below because I love Sesame Street. It is also about the library.
No Cookies in the Library - Classic Sesame Street

Web 2.0 Awards

The site I selected was YourMinis. This is a great site. It lets you browse hundreds of widgets and copy, edit, and add them to your site for free. I copied the Sony Top 40 widget which you can see in the right margin of this blog page. The Sony Top 40 widget keeps me up to date on current hit songs. YourMinis also allows users to partner with them to build, distribute and analyze widgets that users create themselves. I'm not sure how useful these types of widgets would be in a library setting but the potential for personal use is limitless. I guess in a library you could use a widget like the Sony Top 40 to keep patrons informed of upcoming events, new resources, and other relevant news.

Zoho Writer

This is just a test document created in Zoho Writer. Pretty cool. The interface of Zoho Writer looks a lot like Word.Very easy to use tool. Even links are easy to create: http://www.nova.edu/. And it is soo easy to publish this document to my blog.

NSULibs Wiki

I added my blog to the favorite blogs section of the NSULibs Wiki. I also contributed to the favorite animals section by adding dolphins, and voting for cats, iguanas, and koalas. I also added a favorite TV show and movie. Editing a wiki is very easy!!! I like that.

Wikis

I like the pathfinder wiki developed by the St. Joseph County Public Library system. It is nicely organized and well-laid out. It is easy to use and find information. I think it is a great resource for their patrons. Aesthetically speaking, I prefer the look of a regular web page. I don't like the text-based look of most wikis. However, I appreciate the convenience wikis offer. Especially in situations where several people need to access and edit a page but not everyone possesses advanced web design skills.

Libraries can use wikis for a variety of purposes including book/movie recommendations, library clubs/groups, subject guides, special events and programs, and internal departmental uses.

2.0

Web 2.0 technologies are a way for libraries to keep up with current technologies and keep the interest of patrons. I agree with the perspectives presented in the articles "To more powerful ways to cooperate" and "Into a new world of librarianship".

Technorati

Technorati is an interesting tool but not one that I'll use very often. I don't spend a lot of time reading blogs. None of the sites I found during my exploration of Technorati were of interest to me.

Del.icio.us

I really like this tool. It is so convenient. I am saving a lot of sites that are useful to me for my dissertation research. Currently I have bookmarks on more than one computer. This will elliminate the frustration of trying to find sites that I have on one computer but not the other. It's interesting to see what kind of sites others are bookmarking and the comments/reviews they give of the sites. See my Del.icio.us network badge in the right margin.

Rollyo

I like the concept behind Rollyo. Very convenient to be able to place a customizable tool like this on your blog or Website. See my search roll in the right margin.

LibraryThing

I really like LibraryThing. What a great idea and so convenient. I can finally organize my books at home. Here is a link to my LibraryThing catalog:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/triniuser

Card Catalog Generator

This tool was interesting.

http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator

Image generators

The image generators were fun to play with. Made the above with the Spell with Flickr tool. http://metaatem.net/words/

Finding Feeds

I tried out all of the feed search tools listed on the TLC 2.0 website. The Bloglines Search Tool one was the most effective one I think. I also liked the layout of the Feedster search tool. The others were ok also but no one tool particulalry stood out. I think I'll use the Bloglines search tool mostly.

Bloglines/RSS Feeds

I have been using Bloglines for a couple of years now. It's convenient to have the feeds all in once place but my problem is that I don't check it regularly so sometimes when I sign on I have over 200 new feeds. Instead of reading them all I just delete them with a new resolve to check it more regularly. My Bloglines feed are at http://www.bloglines.com/public/triniuser

Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools

I think the flickr color pickr is pretty cool. I played around with different colors and found some pretty interesting pictures! I wanted to try out Mappr also but it just takes too long to load. Bubblr is cute for adding dialogue bubbles to photos. I looked at several of the others but didn't come across any one particular tool that really blew me away. But they are all cute.

Technology: Flickr

I noticed that some libraries are using Flickr to post historical photos. I just loved this one of a Harlem newsboy, circa 1943. The photo is by Gordon Parks and is credited to Parks/Library of Congress via pingnews. The link to the original photo is http://www.flickr.com/photos/pingnews/492507904/
Flickr is pretty cool. I probably won't use it much as I'm not really into taking photos. I'll mainly use it to view friends' photos. I sometimes use Google Picasa. It's not a community enivronment like Flickr but it allows you to create photo albums online. Academic libraries could probably use Flickr to post photos of the exterior and interior of their buildings for students to see what they look like and what is available. If the buildings look enticing in the photos, students might be encouraged to visit.

Flickr Image 2: Cuttlefish

(CRW_8650 Originally uploaded by aquanerds)

Cuttlefish fascinate me. They have amazing camouflage abilities. They can also change colors in rapid succession creating a mesmerizing undersea laser show.

Flickr Image 1: "Dumpster" voted

("Dumpster" voted
Originally uploaded by EcoSnake)

I just loooooveeee iguanas and I couldn't resist this little guy.

Onwards

I've finished the four things for weeks one and two and I'm looking forward to beginning thing five.

7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits

The hardest habit for me out of the 7 1/2 is no.4, Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. I have a hard time believing in my abilities to learn or do most things.

The easiest habit for me out of the 7 1/2 is no.2, Accept responsibility for your own learning. I have always done this and will continue to do so.

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