Exercise 23

I did it! Having started a month late and being somewhat technological impaired, I'm amazed I got through. Even if mostly on my own time (and probably over the 10 hours timewise), I am glad I was exposed to so much stuff out there on the WEB, although now the biggest challenge will be to go back and practice and actually use some of the stuff.

I liked most Flickr, image generators, WIKIS, ZOHO, and feeling connected to co-workers through the Library Thing.

Re lifelong learning goals- I know I have a lot of catching up and keeping up to do; it is just so hard when you come home exhausted from giving so much at work. I am inspired to try to take a little more time out - both at work and at home- to keep working on this. I must say, though, that although in general I consider myself a confident and competent person (habit #4), I was often frustrated doing the exercises when they didn't work (not always my fault.) I learn much more by being shown and then doing and practicing. Help wasn't always available at the time I was feeling challenged and/or I kept getting interrupted while trying to concentrate on the program.

There were lots of surprises, just because I was exposed to so much, and as mentioned, the challenge is to keep at it, keep practicing, and keep working through it. I do believe there is so much potential, not just for me personally in terms of communicating with friends and family through some of these tools, but there are so many good library applications for now and for the future. Maybe we could do some practice at service level meetings or branch/unit meetings.

In terms of the program concept, I would like more drop in sessions (someone was out sick the one time I was going to come, and maybe on Thurs, Fri, or Sat first hour or two , so less imnpact on the schedule). Myabe have multiple sites at the same time on the same session. Since I started late due to other work projects, I felt helplessly behind from the beginning. Repeating sessions (like another week 3 session, even if it was week 6 or 7) would be helpful (the reminders that there was still time to start was encouraging, but we never went back to offering a previous session.) Or just being on week 1 for three weeks, then moving to week 2 for three weeks might give more opportunity for people to keep up as it goes along. Or, actually classes covering some of the major topics and then practice time would be helpful for my learning style.

And finally, yes, I would particpate in another learning program because it is important and I want to keep up and continue my lifelong learning.

Exercise #22 EBooks

Started this discovery at work and am finishing here at home without my original notes. Since we can't download on the OPACs, I had never really explored this. Here are some random comments and thoughts:
Found it interesting, although neither in the net library or the Gutenberg Project did I find titles such as the Color Purple (SJPL had cliffnotes)of the House of the Spirits. So am a little puzzled about what makes it as an ebook, since I would consider these pretty popular and standard multicultural literature.

Another thing that surprised me, was that you could read books on line without downloading; I had always assumed that books downloaded to the computer. While I prefer reading actual books and newpapers, having access to table of contents or a general summary on line would be beneficial in deciding if you wanted to read something.

Saw that in netlibrary, an e-audio book would take 4 1/2 hours to download for cd, but only 38 minutes in radio format on a dial up computer like mine. I did check out a book, (although it didn't show im my record), but didn't download the software which all seemed difficult and scary. Maybe I'll try it sometime (just not when I'm trying to finish these 23 things by today's deadline). Nice to know there are no overdue fines and that the items just disappear at the appropiate due date. Was successful in listening to a 2 min reading of the book, which worked just fine and was interesing, since I've never listened to an audio book either.

noticed the difeerrence in access bethween SJSU and SJPL, since the first few things that peaked my interest were university only items.

and finally, had to turn off the pop-up blocker to Gutenberg, which has free months in July and October. Did look at some of the top 100 lists.

Exercise 21

I found this a little frustrating because I was unable to open many of the podcasts and it probably will be more frustrating from home since I only have dial up; I am going to try it though. The Yahoo Podcasts was the only one that I could immediately open- the podcast.net asked for an x activation and never started; the podcastalley.com required downloading software. I did however, find more library hits, in the podcast alley and listened to a few minutes of several. Created an RSS link to a health show from a radio station; it appears there is no rss to the news show that I had wanted to download.
Again, this has lots of potential for staff training and promoting the library on line- could do mini tours, etc. or create modules for the public.

Exercise #20-You Tube

This was an interesting site. Another anything goes website. Clicked on all of the categories just to get an idea of what was out there. Not as organized as I would like in terms of easily finding stuff, but if people use among friends or know what to look for it can work. Interesting to see how many hits many of the videos rec'd.

I chose the two sea otter sites, since they are one of my favorite animals. I love to watch them eat, play, and swim. The first time, I was not successful - I registered for youtube, but it would not accept my site/password. Then, I got help copying the imbedded code, so I am hoping it will work. Another one of the sea otter videos made me dizzy. Was looking for short and sweet.

Did see the video the library school students did and for outreach, a unit could put together a little you tube blurb about the library services and programming or this could be a project/program as well.

Exercise 19-LibraryThing

Very interesting site. Still need to explore some more. Picked five of my favorite novels. In the social list, on two of them, I had read 9/10 recommendations; however, on one of the lesser known novels, I was only familiar with one or two of titles. A few of the covers didn't print, so I am going to get help with that part. OK. Just hadn't clicked on one little button. Now done. Three of the books had under 400 hits, and two had 1500 ish. Interesting comments and a good place to look for referrals.

Exercise 18 - Zoho

Exercise #18 Zoho Write
I don't see a Zoho Publish, but I am going to write for my blog here and then export to my blog. I like this. The word processing document was straightforward; I had a little more trobule with the show, but I am also not as familiar with that creation anyway. I did some text and will try to go back and add pictures and additional commentary. The templates were also very helpful; several easy suggestions to plug in. Will be important to see how much leeway there is in editing, which is my typical frustration with templates. I had heard of this type of web-based application (like when someone doesn't have a disk to save their work to, but now understand the concept and again will need to practice. Overall, I like these applications and see lots of uses! draft by elbee 3:38:00 PM Delete

I did type this is Zoho, found publish and sent to blog successfully as draft. Then, I was unable to edit it. All I could figure out was copying and pasting, which is what I did here.
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Exercise #17 -sjpl;favorites wiki

I still like wikis! A lot! I added comments on my favorite restaurants, movies, and music. I saw some similar favorites out there and emjoyed reading the comments. And, I did add my blog to the list.

Exercise #16 - WIKIS

Yes! this really excites me. Certainly I understand the negatives (when looking for information and verifying sources); however, in terms of the library (internal for staff) and for library related programs, events, clsses, etc, it has lots of potential. It reminds me of our "g" grive, where all staff can edit and update files, and have access to the collective forms, procedures, etc. For staff, I can see it as a more visual way to share procedures, develop classes, and work on projects together. I think it could be a great project for teens, or even for evaluating summer reading programs (have kids make comments on line); and certainly for the book reviews, reader's recommendations, etc. Not sure about the graphics part or layout, but I guess that's why I'll have to keep practicing and exploring. Thumbs up for this one!

Exercise #15- Web 2.0

I read "Away from the Icebergs," "To More Powerful Ways to Cooperate" and "To a Temporary Place in Time." I am always drawn to the ideas of cooperation and community which is why I especially enjoyed the article by Wendy Schultz. What I have always enjoyed the most about my library experience is the interaction with the customer - remembering them from a previous conversation, knowing who the kids are, and seeing them grow. And in terms of reference work, having the connections to outside agencies, social service support people, cultural events and being able to make and use those connections. I do love the San José Way view of the library as a focal point of the community, people hanging out, and programming and parternships. Clearly, as society changes we need to change too (and yes, I'm behind in the technology world), but balance is also important. In the article, Dr. Schultz talks about Library 4.0 absorbing Library 1.0-3.0 and as long as we remember that not everyone has tech gadgets, that not everyone speaks the same language, that economic circumstances drastically limit or enhance options and we continue to find ways and make efforts to be inclusive, count me in! Hoever, this tour guide needs lots of practice.

Exercise 14- Technorati

Couldn't get the Technorati Tour- didn't have necessary permission to enable auto update. Checked with other staff, and they just read it, too. Will call IT tomorrow, but too bad all this wasn't enabled for us to be more successful. Learned from popular features just how not popular/"in" I am - since I never heard of so much. so many people, etc. Did see the different results for Learning 2.0 in blog posts, in tags, and in the blog directory. Tags have the most features, being able to link to posts, videso, photos, music, people. and events where authority and relevance and newness were the keys in the blog directories and posts. However, blog posts just had to combine words and blog directories more on the theme. Unfortunately not going to have time to try the tagging, but there is always more to do after the 30th. Hopefully, there will be changes to go back and get more support/help/ and practice.

#13- del.icio.us

Ok. I understand now why the social bookmarking works better, since you can use it from any computer rather than just one. It is amazing to me the topics that people link and the number of hits. People can connect anywhere and add/edit/discuss and they sure do. It does seem overwhelming and it would take time to figure out how to narrow down a focus. I do like the "folksanomy" nature, rather than library or educational jargon.Something to definitely explore more in the future- not going to creat account now in an effort to finish by Friday, which may not be possible anyway.

Exercise 12-rollyo

Don't think mine worked. Created a list of 10 sites regarding education with tags on ed, bilingual education, and literacy. Clicked on create, but then couldn't go back to find it; maybe because I didn't register, but it still gave me the option to post. Am going to write some of the sites here, to not recreate: education-world.com; eduplace.com, sjusd.k12.ca; nabe.org, cabe.org; multilingual-matters.com; rethinkschools.org; teachingtolerance,org; famlit,org.
In general, I found the rollyo's interesting, but not necessarily quick or easy. I suppose if there was a real need for great detail, or frequent references to similar sites, it might be more helpful; otherwise bookmarking seems easier. Did enjoy seeing, though, some of the options for searching topics.

Exercise 11- 2.0

Well, I explored several of the 2.0 award sites. Took a look at The Library Thing.com and tried to look at reader2.com, but that site wouldn't open. then I looked at the 43things.com about setting goals, although 43 seemed like way too many to me- things ranged from the samll to personal to lifelong dreams/goals. Checked out the wayfaring.comn with personal maps- however, wasn't what I really expected it to be. There were comments, but no attached pictures or maps to make sense of things. Finally, I explores givemeaning,com which had some interesting world issues/problems and grant and philanthropy opportunities.

Week 5- #10

This is my first attempt at image generating. Following my beach motif, thought I'd try this wave. Let's see what happens when I post:


and another one:

these two come from the image generator;
and one more. So much to learn and so little time
http://atom.smasher.org/wof/?l1=Le_rni_g+2.0&l2=is+f_n&l3=&l4=&c=San+Jose+Public+Library - somehow am not able to get image on this one by coying. sent it to my email account, can't post it to flickr or here. don't know why. Will see who can help me tomorrow.

Week 4, #9

Been exploring the search tool sites. The news ones worked better than the general subject topics, because not all used the boolean terms. I typed in San Jose Public Library in several sites and very little came up. I also typed in public libraries and it was interesting to see which libraries came up and in what ways (grants, programs, positions, etc) I did find some interesting blog links where librarians were commenting on social justice issues vis a vis the libraries. Did not try the Syndic8.com because I didn't want to register somewhere else. Did check my newsfeeds from bloglines and will try to keep updated with those. And now I need to get ready to open the library!

my favorite flower -

Feelin' blue, -put a little Spring in your life-
Originally uploaded by tollen.

OK- success! Thanks to my co-worker, we figured out that the other iris picture was somehow blocked, but now have registered flickr "share" permission to post another photo.

Week 4, #8

I do like the RSS and newsreaders. So much information, though. After work, the thought of checking my email and reading all the stuff is overwhelming. I'd be up all night, which I can no longer do. Unfortunately, I could not find a RSS from some small alternatvie news outlets or my favorite radio station although there are podcasts available. However, a pop up to download from Microsoft came up and I figure that would be restricted on the work computer. In my 10 feeds, I did choose book reviews from the Reader's Club and also subscribed to a Librarians Internet site, which could be useful for the library. And just discovering and getting exposed to all this technology will undoubtedly help me serve customers better. I also decided to "go public" with the bloglines account, scary as that is, although there was no "share directory" I could find on the tabs. However, I think I did it through the home page.

I am going to go back to Flickr to post another image here, even if it isn't quite on topic, just to play with that, now that co-workers helped me insert my beach picture. Yes, wish I could be there today.

Am signing off, many hours later since I never finished. Could not get a picture from flickr (everyone's) from my favorites to post on the blog. May play around tomorrow (although I am always interrupted) and/or call for help.

Week 3, #7

Just wanted to post again re this session. Read yesterday's Tech Section in the Mercury News and found two articles that I understood a lot better. First was the issue of anonimity re Wikipedia, where if people are claiming to be "experts, " they now need to identify themselves. Yes, this goes back to the anyone can post anything on the internet which is why knowing your sources when doing research is so important and what re remind people in the library on a daily bais. Then, I read about all the new products being sold and turning pictures into merchandise. Just like we saw with flickr.

Tomorrow I start Week 4!

Week 3: Photos and Images #5 and #6

Flickr is amazing. There is so much out there. Lots of tools and fun stuff to play with. I created my first framed art with a beach photo, that maybe I'll figure out how to put on this blog page. Explored the travel blogs, thought the mosaics were interesting, but the photos did not seem to match the theme. That was surprising. And color match is great! Hard to keep all the passwords and user names straights-now I have so many accounts, but I am getting better. Might even try to send a card.

Just thought I'd go back since there was a question whether I did #6. My reference to travel blogs, mosaics, and color match were all mashups that I explored. Tried to email a mosaic, but it didn't take; although I am going to post the link here.
THIRDCHORD

montagerv1.0
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Flickr Montager was created by Billy Fowks | It makes use of the Flickr API and Macromedia Flash
Not sure that will work either, but I did look at several-

Starting again

Well, it has been two weeks since I created my blog and I just spent 20 minutes figuring out the correct log in and passwords. Since I wasn't able to register the blog from home, I am going to try the fast track to complete this new challenge. I just can't seem to get the quiet time to work on this and there is always something more important that comes up. However, one step at a time. Today is the day to register!

week 2, exercise 1

Welcome elbee to your first blog. This is a whole new world to explore and yes, it will take patience and time to understand all this stuff. Practice, practice, practice. I am going to see if I can edit the layout.