The End of the Wild Ride of 2.0

Whew! I have finally reached Thing #23 - the end of Learning 2.0. It has been 10 long weeks, and I can honestly say I'm glad it's over.

When I started this program, I was excited and very enthusiastic about learning new things I didn't know how to do (but envied those who did). I enjoyed setting up a Blog and learning how to add pictures, videos, and posts. I enjoyed learning about what the Web has to offer to help create images for those of us that are creativity-challenged. I liked the ease of RSS feeds.

I accomplished Learning 2.0 by keeping to my learning goals:

1. Begin with the end in mind. From the start, I knew I had to keep plugging away at this in order to earn the prize at the end. Earning a prize is a good motivational tool.

2. Accept responsibility for my own learning. No one else was going to be able to do these tasks for me; I had to be responsible for completing them on my own, and in my own time. I worked hard to keep up and not get behind. I did, however, get behind by 2 weeks during surgery, and I have to tell you, that getting behind and trying to catch up is not a good time. It's exhausting to get back on track.

What will I take away from this? Technology is easier than I thought. Time-consuming, but do-able.

Would I participate in another Discovery Program? I would make that decision after learning what it would involve and how much time would be needed to devote to the assignments.

In closing, I want to thank The Learning 2.0 Team for putting this together. I do think it was worthwhile.

Facebook & MySpace

I'm not sure about social networking over the Internet. Isn't social networking about face-to-face interaction? I don't understand how social networking can be accomplished successfully through cyberspace. Where's the "social" in posting pictures of yourself and making up stories about yourself while sitting alone on your couch tapping on your laptop? Social? I don't think so.

After reviewing Facebook and MySpace, I realize I'm in the minority of people who don't buy into this craze. Yes, it's nice to have your own "page" complete with photo and every boring detail of your life. But, do I really want strangers to know everything about me? Not really. I'm too private for that. In fact, I'm too private to have an "All About Me" page on these social sites. I think it's way too scary to put all my guarded information out there for some stalker to find me and make my life miserable. No thanks.

Social networking for libraries? I don't know. If we all had accounts, we would spend all our working hours updating our pages only to start over the next day. We could become consumed with chatting that our "real" work could be put on the back burner. However, if it was used as a way to stay in contact with what other libraries were doing in terms of innovation, and sharing ideas of what does or doesn't work, then perhaps it would benefit all.

Thoughts from others?

You Tube & Podcasts

You Tube is fun. One could spend endless (and mindless) hours perusing these videos. Some are good, some are goofy, and some are plain bad. GAWD AWFUL in fact. Obviously, people have too much time on their hands.

I did find one that I enjoyed, and I was able to add it to this blog. It's short, involves cats doing stupid things, and music. If you have time to read my entries, you have time to watch this video.

As for Podcasts, I can see where these would benefit almost everyone. Everyone who spends a lot of time glued to their computers. I think podcasting might take the place of TV-viewing. Anything to stay indoors and not exercise.

I was able to view a couple of podcasts related to fitness and running in Podcastalley.com and Yahoo Podcasts. Podcast.net wouldn't open on my PC, and created an IE error shutting down all my open browsers. So much for that.

Web 2.0 Awards

I perused the Short List. This list is good because it lists everything in one place. If I would ever want to use any of these tools, I could scan the short list for what I needed. I was proud of myself for recognizing names in this list. At least I've retained something from these exercises! Woo hoo.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

By now you've probably read my first letter created by Google Docs & Spreadsheets. I found this exercise to be easier than previous exercises, but still time-consuming. While it's nice to know how to use GD&S's, I'm not sure it's something I would use on a regular basis. I don't find it any different than email, where I have lists already created. I suppose GD&S's would be good for attaching letters to blogs, but then I wouldn't need to use this "create" box, would I?

Greetings to all -

I'm experimenting here. This is my first document using Google Docs & Spreadsheets. I hope it works.

Since I'm not creative enough to think of something unique to discuss, I'll talk about Longaberger's Spirit Basket that is available in August. Afterall, I am the crazy basket lady of Alden.

The Team Spirit Basket is a customized basket designed and decorated for your favorite team. The Basket is actually the Lunch Box Basket, but what makes this basket unique is the trim strips and tack covers that you choose. Choose two colors for the double trim strip, say Gray in the background and red over-top and adding footballs as the tack cover - GO BUCKS! Or, White background and Green over-top with Volleyballs as tack covers - GO 'CATS! You get the idea. The possibilities are endless. Tack Strips are available in football, basketball, cheerleading, volleyball, Soccer, Musical Note, and Baseball. The Team Spirit Basket would make an excellent gift for any sports fan or musician in your family. Order now.... August will soon be over and these baskets will be a thing of the past.

Debi

All about Wikis

After reading the various explanations for Wikis, I find this feature isn't for everyone. I agree that there are some librarians that would find this a very helpful tool, especially for such things as Subject Guides. However, by using a Wiki for a Subject Guide, the librarian (or creator of the Wiki) would no longer hold the rights to that work, and I'm afraid eventually the Subject Guide would become it's own life form, and completely lose the original scope. I think I'm more in the mindset that if I'm creating a good research tool, then I want to be able to determine what gets added and when. If students or faculty want to chime in, fine. Let them contact me directly so I can research their suggestions and determine if it's legitimate. I wouldn't want bogus information typed in my Wiki. That would reflect bad on me.

The second part of this exercise was to add information on the OULibraries Wiki. I was determined to complete this exercise on my own, especially when I viewed the blogs already linked (I doubted ability of some of my colleagues). I figured if they could get this assignment done sucessfully, then so could I. And I did. It's nice to be able to link to another webpage without having the lengthy URL. This is very useful.

Musings on Web 2.0

For the exercise, I read OCLC's article on Web 2.0, "Where will the next generation Web take libraries?" (2006). This article discussed 5 perspectives on the impact of Web 2.0 in regards to libraries. The 5 perspectives are:

• Away from "icebergs"
• Into a new world of librarianship
• To more powerful ways to cooperate
• To better bibliographic services
• To a temporary place in time

I thought it ironic that these perspectives, while updated, sounded a bit like Ranganathan's five laws of library science that have remained the centerpiece of our professional values. I scrambled to find my old textbook to re-read these values and see how far from his laws we are. Far, but still within the realms of his convictions. Libraries are still dedicated to the service of people. They always will be.

Ranganathan's laws were written at the time when only a physical library was conceivable. In 1995 Michael Gorman authored "Five new laws of librarianship", (American Libraries 26, 1995:784-785). These laws work well for the physical and virtual library. So much in fact, that OCLC's 5 perspectives seem to further expand on Gorman's ideas. One such "Gormanism" is to "respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated". Today's library has many packages of knowledge, and each package is its own life-form. Library workers should not fear these new forms of communication, but rather embrace them to advance library service. In Anderson's manuscript, "Away from "icebergs"", he suggests we need to push away from traditional practices and attitudes, and row towards a more progressive ideal. Library patrons are expecting libraries to "keep up" with technology.

Library 2.0 is creating change within the library structure. While it's important to "collect" subjects for patron use and research, it's also important to include the patron and/or researcher in the dialogue as to what they are wanting or needing in their respective collections. This is what I find important to the future of Library 2.0: open communication with the community.

Technorati, etc

Ok, I've decided that trying to catch-up on homework from 2 weeks is a no-no. My mind has turned to mush. I have one more assignment (or "thing") to work on for this week. I may not get it done since I've put at least 6 hours into this "fun project" today.

On Technorati. There is a need to crawl all blogs in cyberspace or no one would ever find the blog that is interesting to them. If there wasn't a crawling service, no blogs would be read and bloggers would be out of business.

I like the search feature. However, I'm not going to add keywords to my blog just yet as I'm not sure I'll keep the "homework" blog up and running after this workshop is done. I may begin a new blog - with something way more interesting to read than my thoughts on homework.

To date, Technorati seems to be the most useful tool for a blogger.

Del.icio.us

This is an interesting concept: bookmarking in categories. I can see some benefits to using this tool, especially if one is doing in-depth research or is in need of heavy-duty organization to simplify one's life. It would also be a good tool for the techno-geek; which I am not remotely close to becoming.

I do see the benefit if using PC's in more than one place. Add bookmarks on one computer, and voila! they are retrievable on all machines. Personally, I don't log on to my home computer enough to find del.icio.us something I can't live without, but it's nice to know I have options if and when I become a geek.

Exploring Rollyo

Ok, this just might be an item that would be used by me! It's nice to be able to type in a topic and only get information on that subject. However, I find that this is a lot like other search engines, so I'm not sure I would need another one. I would have to use it more to get a better idea of the quality of information obtained. I did think that it was slow in retrieving information, which can be bothersome.

Library Thing

I'm asked to create yet another account, which is getting to be a bit annoying. I'm also suppose to add 5 books to my list. Five books? I've posted three for now, and may add a few more titles later.

Here's the link to my personal library:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/debraorr

Image Generators

Well, this is my generated image. I would love to tell you where it came from, but I honestly cannot remember. I really do need to start taking notes so I can talk intelligently about this technology. Right now, I'm happy to be able to get the assignments done.

Finding Feeds

This exercise could be a bit time consuming if I searched for newsfeeds on my own. However, for this task, I clicked on the suggested sites to preview. I like Topix.net the best. It highlights local and State news, which is what interests me the most.

Making Life Simple with RSS and Newsreader

I have decided that RSS should be renamed to Really Simple Stupid. Seriously, this wasn't a bad exercise this week - unless I did something horribly wrong, I thought this task was by far the least time consuming.

What do I like about RSS and Newsfeeds? I can add my favorite newsfeeds to my bloglines account and read only those stories that I sign up for. No more scanning the pages of The Columbus Dispatch to look for articles that are of interest. No more annoying pop-up advertisements that don't alway have the "close" button. I'm able to pick and choose.

The only drawback I see with all of this is that I now have to remember more passwords. Ugh.

My 2 Cents on Technology

While technology is good and propels us forward, I'm not really sure I'm a good candidate for learning all this at once. I'm sure once I get the basics, I'll be able to continue, but right now, I'm finding technology hurts my brain.

Flickr Retrievr

This is hilarious! Retrievr is a tool where you "hand draw" an item and Flickr tries to match your creation with a photo. You have to try it... it's really bizarre.

I know I didn't inherit any drawing genes, but I thought I could draw a flower. I know the basic components - a stem and a few petals. I have to say my creation looked pretty good. Apparently, not, because one of the choices I was given as a Flickr match was an owl. I guess I better not quit my day job.

A Flickr Photo

Here I am for week 3 of the 2.0 challenge. This week I'm to discuss a photo I've enjoyed viewing. While perusing the endless photos in Flickr, I came across a bistro table that reminded me of my trip to Chartres, France. But wait! I continued looking, and came across photos of cats, then my favorite became this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ariffjrs/593902870/in/pool-kissablekats/

This kitty resembles Chloe, and I thought everyone would like to see my adorable furry companion.

The 7 1/2 Habits

In order to earn the MP3 player at the end of this program, I have to record my progress on my newly created blog (which was a task for week #2). So... with this statement, those of you reading my ramblings can surmise that the first "habit" on my list is "Begin with the End in Mind". I WANT the MP3 player, therefore I must work through all the "things" that need to be done in order to achieve my goal. Sounds a bit philosophical if you ask me.

The second habit would be "Accept responsibility for my own learning". Sure, I would love to have someone do the work for me, but how would I ever gain more knowledge if I had a stand-in? Being responsible for my own learning will keep me on task for prize at the end.

Oopsy.... I was suppose to discuss the habit that would be most difficult for me.... I think that's a toss up between #4 and #7. I say no more.

Greetings!

Greetings to all!

Welcome to Debi's Dialogue. At this point, I'm not quite sure where my ramblings will lead, but I'm sure it'll be an interesting journey.