A few thoughts at the end....

Well, we are asked to make a few comments at the end of all of these discovery exercises. So here goes.

I learned a lot, all-in-all. Some of the exercised were fun and interesting and there were several "I didn't know you could do that!" moments. I enjoyed exploring flickr type sites and podcast-but these I am already familiar with which made it easier to navigate through to new aspects. The one "new" one for me is Del.icio.us and I use it ALL THE TIME, for all kinds of things.

Many of the exercises asked to think about how these new technologies would be/could be useful for library users. Well, as I said before, I don't think about libraries much and here in preservation we don't really deal with many or most of these technologies, so it is hard to speak to that.

I would probably do this type of thing again, as I really enjoyed being able to learn and play a bit with them. All in all it's been a good experience.

And I am done!

22 Social Networking

well, a short while back (several months ago maybe) a friend of mine sent me some images that he posted on myspace and I joined it in order to view them. I really have not done a whole lot with it since then. I think I am a generation or two removed from this type of social networking, as most people I know are not involved with these types of sites.
A fellow colleague here at the library sent me an invite to Linkedin and I joined that, but haven't had the time to really explore. I think that type of site might be more useful to me and those I know.

As for Myspace or Friendster or Facebook--it really is the thing right now and there are many uses of the sites for education purposes as well as for social purposes. Honestly , I don't spend much of my time thinking how this can be related to libraries because I don't think about libraries much.

Podcasts

I like them--I like them very much! I have I-tunes and enjoy browsing through the different types of podcasts available. I recently discovered a site called LibriVox http://librivox.org/ where you can podcast books that are in the public domain. Very cool! I just listed to E.F. Foresters "A Room with a View" and am going to start another soon.

You tube

Well I search around on YouTube for a while and did not really find anything worth adding to my site. While I find this interesting and all, there is a bit of " I am wasting my time with this" going on

web 2.0

Looked at the short list of winners and recognized one of the music ones mentioned by one of our past student workers

http://www.pandora.com/

I really like this site--you enter the type of music you like and the site helps you find other artist similar to it. Good way to find new music.

How related to library--don't know really.

#18 and #19

Web-based apps--seems like they could be very useful. Checked out Thinkfree from Google Docs and Spreadsheets and also browsed around Zoho a bit. Think they would be great for collaboration and to get away from individual computer based applications.

Added to OULibrariesLearn WIKI

okay, think I finally go that right.

16 and 17 WIKIS

Wikis--they seem to be everywhere and for everything!

#15 Library 2.0

1. Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list above.

2. Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these?

I read several of these and decided to comment on the first one: Away from the “icebergs”. I was struck by this important fact 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.

Many libraries, including OU Libraries are still stuck in the just-in-case mode of collection development. I know that things are changing and we are trying to move to a more technologically-friendly and easy-access collection. However, we also need to work on building the infrastructure before we can really offer our patron access to many of our amazing (and not so amazing) collections. Yes, we have some amazing collections that we can and should be putting out there in many forms that the whole Web 2.0/Library 2.0 are trying to promote, but we need support--from the ground up. I do hope that we can move from the just-in-case type of library into the new digital ages sometime soon.

#14 Technorati

Well I did a keyword search in the exact phrase for all Blog and one of the first items to come up for me was this one

http://joblogment.blogspot.com/2007/07/library-20-whats-next.html

which is believe is one of Alden library users blog (Jo's I think).

Honestly, I am not sure how useful this type of searching is for me, in either my professional or personal life. I am not all that interested in reading running commentary on subjects I find interesting. I think there is a lot of reading about irrelevant stuff, just to get to the one thing you might find interesting, know what I mean.

Maybe I am just not getting this one...............

#13 Del.icio.us and tagging

Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

Del.icio.us--seems like a great tool. I set up an account and have put a few personal posts into it. I think this would be a great research tool--whether doing research myself of if I was helping someone. Seems like a better tool than bookmarking and creating folders. The tagging is very helpful. I have done some tagging in the past on Flickr, but not spent a lot of time on it.

# 12 Rollyo

You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.

Saint Bernard (1090 - 1153), Epistle

http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/trees/

Found this on the Quick Quotes link from the exercise--kind of fun to play around with.

I decided to do some Rollyo searching on the things that interest me personally and professionally. I think it is good way to corral similar websites in one location, but I am not sure I would necessarily use it or create my own rollyo. At least not at this point it time. Since I use Foxfire, I bookmark and tab those sites most useful to me and them organize them. I find that sites often come and then go just as quickly and you end up with dead link, which is frustrating. If you created a list on Rollyo and then 1/2 are dead, it can be frustrating.

Library thing

The Library Thing is quite fun. I don't get much time to read for myself these days. I do read everyday to my son, though and want to instill in him a life-long love of reading. Maybe in few years I will get back to doing some reading for myself.....let's hope.

# 10 Image Playtime

Had fun the an image generator called

Captioner: Add captions to your digital photographs!

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/captioner.php

Fun!

If I had more time, I would probably play around with these more. Maybe as the kids get older we can play more. However, I am sure the technology with change even in the next few years and there will be a whole new crop (crap) of things to learn.

#9

Explore some of the search tools that can help you locate some news feeds.


Looked at some of the search tools listed in the exercise and found several of them useful. The best way for me to find a RSS feed is probably to just find a site a like or am interested in and subscribe to their feed. I have only subscribed to a few feeds that really interest me at the moment--that might be enough information on a daily basis :)

RSS feed--make life realy simple

Set up an account with Bloglines--pretty simple. Watched the first introduction video from CNET and had no problems with it. I think I will like it--keeps me connected to the things I enjoy most.

# 7 Blog about Technology

Technology--yeah I do love it. I, like many people I would guess, just don't seem to make the time to explore it enough. I am enjoying these little exercises because it gives me the time to play around a bit. It is also affording me the opportunity to stay connected to the field of archaeology. There are some amazing things that are now possible in archaeological research made possible through technology.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061107-archaeology.html

This is a link to an article which discusses how the use of Google Earth (one of my favs) and Satellite Maps are aiding in archaeological research.

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However, I am finding that technology is amazing in the library world as well with digital imaging of rare and unique collections. I find this one pretty amazing!

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/kislak/tortuguerobox/index.html

Claremont Colleges in California has some wonderful image in their online digital collections

http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/cyw

Title: #1 omi, Autumn Moon over Ishiyama, Murasaki Shikibu

Title-Alternative: Snow, Moon, Flowers; Setsu gekka: omi, Ishiyama, aki no tsuki, Murasaki Shikibu

Artist: Chikanobu, Yoshu

More fun with Flickr

I usually just use Flickr and other image storage/sharing sites for just that. As part of this assignment, looked around at the other cool things you can "play around" with related to Flickr, I came across this. Check it out! I am not so good at putting the puzzels together quickly, but I can do it eventually....

Following a fellow Alden bloggers link, I created this with Flickr Sign Generator

Brought to you by Andrea Micheloni.

Images from Flickr

What lies behind the gate

Another image I found on Flickr. I have used Flickr in the past to post images for friends and family to see.

This image is wonderful. Through the gate are the ruins of an old priory built in the 13-14th century. Located in a little village called Boxgrove.

What lies behind the gate
Originally uploaded by ghostfishdancer

Image

Halnaker Windmill IV

This is one of my favorite places in the world. It is located in southern England, on a hill overlooking the English countryside--what could be more beautiful! The windmill was built in the early 1900s.

Halnaker Windmill IV
Originally uploaded by Gorse Fox

7 1/2 Habits

Well, I listen to the session of 7 1/2 Habits last week and decided to give it some thought for a few days.
I think the hardest for me would be #3--View problems as challenges.

The easiest would be either #2--Accept responsibility for own learning OR #7--Teach/Mentor others.

I agree that the best way to learn is to teach others and I love the whole idea and practice of hands-on learning. I am at my best when in the field and teaching about what I love to do the most.

However, this said, the most important thing about lifelong learning (and we are learning every single day) is PLAY!!! This I am learning every day from watching and playing with my son. Amazing to watch the youngest of us learn and grow--we should all take example from them.

Let's begin

Here we go, should be fun!!!!