Librarytoys

Under the Wire?

2007-11-29T17:07:00.000-05:00

Though I am quite comfortable with technology, there were quite a number of "things" I hadn't explored much. Now I have. (...and I have plenty more to look forward to. I hope the 23 things blog stays up for a while) I tried a few things that I am not likely to adopt personally, but there were certainly others that I might use occasionally or more frequently. I will certainly play around more with various photo-sharing sites, especially since most of my family lives far away. I'll give LibraryThing (or one of the other similar sites) another fling. My blog will probably die, as I never have been able to keep up a diary. I intend to use Rollyo, RSS feeds and some online productivity tools (I'll probably go with the Google ones, if only because I have a Google account that I actually use). I'll continue to download audiobooks, especially when I am going on a trip (and I'll keep my eyes our for an e-book reader that can deal with DRM). I might use wikis for group projects (well, I will use them for 2 current projects and after that I might use them). All in all, this was a valuable project that was immensely educational. I would definitely participate in a similar program in the future.

Library 2.0

2007-11-29T16:40:00.001-05:00

Library 2.0 essentially refers to moving in the direction of interactivity of library services. Libraries will be redefining themselves as they redefine services from the traditional model to an interactive, reciprocal relationship with our customers. The customers will presumably develop feelings of ownership, and .... change is constant.

[If customers feel empowered, have that feeling of ownership, are they still customers?]

I would like to think, as some do argue, that the ideals of Libraries 2.0 have been part of the public library ethos for a long time. It is true that only recently have we had some of the incredible tools available to us. It is also true that we have people in our profession who embrace change and constant reevaluation and we also have people for whom change is anathema and reevaluation is redundant.

Ultimately, we have to use our critical thinking skills and selection skills whether the issue is library policy or which technologies to adopt.

Craigslist

2007-11-29T16:17:00.000-05:00

I have, in the course of 23 Things, already visited & played with several of the Web 2.0 award winners: Technorati, Bloglines, Library Thing, Wetpaint, PBwiki, Flickr, Del.icio.us, YouTube. A few others I have been to before: Etsy, Picasa, Google maps, 43 Things, Craigslist…..

Although I have nosed around Craigslist from time to time, I haven’t actually used it myself. Not so my daughter. She has found all sorts of things, from places to live to a bicycle to … did she really find her husband there, too? She’s not telling.

Craigslist is searchable local classified advertisements [and forums] for hundreds of cities around the world. Craigslist says they are “community moderated and largely free.”

So if I want to look for a job, I can choose my location (Washington DC), find the “Jobs” heading, try to decide on a category …. or just do a search and limit by jobs. When I used “librarian” as my search term, I got 8 results. One of them was for a General Office Clerk. I probably won’t apply for that one.

Or I could take a look at what people are giving away, by looking under the "Free" heading.

Zoho Writer - Week 8, Thing 18

2007-11-29T13:56:00.001-05:00

Here I am am Zoho Writer, an online productivity tool, or perhaps I should say toolbox. Once I had created an account, I was able to complete my sign-in, and here I am. There was a set of information and instructions as soon as I got there, but I decided to jump right in and create a document. I plan to see if I can post this directly to my blog.

This is pretty easy to use for someone familiar with WYSIWYG editors, and I think it would be great to be able to use this when I need a word processor when i am at my sister's house where word processing programs do not exist (but a computer with an internet connection does).

Look	I can insert	a table	right
into	my	document	!

I can insert a picture, and even put in alternate text and resize.

*** I was able to post this directly to my blog from Zoho. ***

Podcasts

2007-11-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

Normally, I run across podcasts serendipitously. It never occurred to me that I would want to search for a podcast. For example, Knitpicks, an online knitting supply store (and catalog), does knitting-related podcasts periodically, and you can find them on their website. Book Expo and MLA had event-related podcasts this year. In fact Monica did one and Valerie did another. I contributed in my own small way by supplying the voice recorder for Valerie's and converting the sound file to an appropriate format.

Podcast.net has a directory-style listing of podcasts. You can drill down in the category listings, but you can also search by keyword and other criteria.

I looked at Hobbies & Recreation and found the listing (by newest to oldest, though you could re-sort alphabetically). Kind of overwhelming. But you can browse by initial letter, too, so maybe I’ll see if I can get to knitting. 19 podcasts were tagged with the word “knitting,” though another few were tagged with such tags as “knit,” “kniting,” “knitter,” “knitters,” “knitty.”

I decided to add a button to link to the Knitpicks podcasts. Here it is:

Technorati

2007-11-28T15:48:00.000-05:00

I tried to look at the Technorati screencast, but it seemed to get stuck while downloading.
So I read the extensive birthday update at the bottom of the page.

I tried some searches.

First I searched for tarastotle. This is the name my daughter Tara uses for her blog and email. There were no results for tarastotle, but the blog tab did have one result: the right one.
When I did a search on “the other elizabeth,” there were zillions of results. Librarytoys, the name of my blog, was much more productive.

Interestingly, it says there are 2 blogs about librarytoys, even though there is just the one: mine. It shows my latest posts. How scary.

Of course, you don’t really want to search Technorati this way. If I want to get to Librarytoys or tarastotle, there are better ways.

I got results searching on the model name of my sewing machine, though. And searches on autoharp also brought up blog entries that mentioned autoharp.

I decided not to “claim” my blog or set up a watchlist. I see how it’s done, but … I did tag my Wiki Sandbox post with mdlearn2 and ping Technorati. When I did a search on mdlearn2 in technorati, I got only one result.
Was Erin in Carroll County the only other person to tag her blog?
Why didn’t my blog come up?
I had pinged Technorati, so it should have been aware of my blog, shouldn’t it?

PB Wiki: Playing in the Sandbox

2007-11-28T15:23:00.000-05:00

I added my blog to the list a favorite blogs. I did not have to create an account to do this, but Idid have to enter my name & email address.

I added an entry to the Learning 2.0 sandbox.

I have added entries to other wikis at other times, so my entry was brief:

Favorite things?

Interestingly, I almost never think of things in terms of "favorites."

Here are some things I like:

Celtic knotwork designs
William Morris designs
Pecan Pie
Crabcakes
Reading
Making things
Computers

mdlearn2

Discovering Wiki-world

2007-11-28T14:59:00.000-05:00

I first learned about wikis 5 years ago when I was in library school. I was taking a class that explored all manner of digital things. We dabbled in such things as perl, XML, and javascript, and all of our homework has to be posted on our own webpages. My partner & I won a departmental award for our final project, an implementation of DSpace. Ah, but that is another story.

Anyway, I had forgotten that I had played around with a wiki before. Recently I have had occasion to post to 2 wikis: one is for Learning Libraries 3 , and the other is for Project NOW. Everyone at PGCMLS know what that is, right? These 2 wikis are hosted by 2 different (free) services, and while I don’t plan to offer a comprehensive comparison here, I do have at least one observation.

The Learning Libraries wiki uses the PBwiki site, and the Project NOW wiki is hosted at Wetpaint. I am signed up for update notification of both wikis.

The PBwiki notification shows me --- in the body of the email the change that was made (including previous text) and who made the change. The Wetpaint notification tells me only that a change has been made. To see the change, I have to log into the wiki & find the change.

Guess which one I like better.

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

2007-11-28T14:20:00.001-05:00

There are many instances of this video posted on Youtube. This seems to be as good as any.

I posted a link yesterday to a different instance, but I went back and created a YouTube account so I could upload directly to Blogger. So her you are, the fruit of that labor. Have fun!

Downloadable Audio Books

2007-11-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

Downloadable audio and e-books - Thing 22
I have downloaded audiobooks and e-books from Net Library & Overdrive.
In fact, when people have trouble with Overdrive, they sometimes end up talking to me.
A very long time ago, I downloaded a book from Project Gutenberg. They were not called e-books in those days. I could read it only on my computer screen.

There are some really nice (albeit expensive) e-book readers out there. Sony has one and Amazon has one of their own. I would actually consider buying one if we could read our Overdrive e-books on them. Overdrive e-books have DRM [digital rights management] components that neither of these readers can deal with. I am not necessarily a fan of DRM, but you can appreciate that Overdrive would not be able to get the book rights from the publishers without it.

Yes, I know this picture has nothing to do with audiobooks or e-books. I just thought a picture would be nice. Wait --- maybe it is a leaf from a book!

You Tube - Thing #20

2007-11-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

I have been to YouTube a number of times because people have sent me links to specific videos. I am skipping ahead to Thing 20 in order to share this one with whoever finds themselves reading this blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W95Y8hNQiH8

I know I can post videos to YouTube (or could if I signed up for an account) .. or even directly to my blog. But I have no videos of my own.

2007-11-27T16:15:00.000-05:00

# 14 del.icio.us

Here’s another thing I looked at this summer, but didn’t post on the blog about. I have the icon on my toolbar already, but …this necessitates re-exploration. I wonder if it will also necessitate creating a new login… Yes, all right. One more account name when I already had one.

I created a couple of tag subscriptions, which is how you can “ keep track of all new bookmarks saved with tags that interest you.” I listened to the 12-minute podcast on Learning 2.0 and Del.icio.us.

But honestly, I don’t expect to use them. If I am subscribed to a number of topical listservs, I am likely to come across more websites (delivered to my e-mailbox) than I have the time to investigate anyway.

Rollyo - Thing #12

2007-11-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

I came, I listened, I looked and I rolled.

I listened to the podcast about Rollyo. (added “podcast” to my custom dictionary in Word).

I explored the Rollyo website …. Looking at the recently added category I noticed an inordinate number of Flagyl searchrolls added by MainCanadianPharmacy.com .

I didn’t go looking for Deborah Messing’s list, but there it was: Online Shopping.

I didn’t find a knitting machine searchroll, so I made one. It wasn’t comprehensive, but that’s ok, since it can be edited. By anyone, apparently. And since I don’t have a username, I was identified by an arcane number.

I tried it out with a search for afghan, and the search did bring up relevant results from the sources I specified.

The idea here is to create searchrolls you would want to use again and again. But as easy as it is to roll your own, this could be very helpful even for one-time use.

The Library Thing

2007-11-26T16:31:00.000-05:00

The LibraryThing (Thing 11, Week 5)

It’s a great idea – makes it so easy to catalog your home library.
On the other hand, I tried this out a long time ago and just didn’t keep up with it.

I tried it again and cataloged a few of my books and I really liked how easy it was to do. Then there are the social networking aspects of the site ... take 'em or leave 'em (options are good).

Keeping track of the family music collection is even more of a problem than keeping track of our books: I need something like this for our record & CD collection. We’ve started an Access database, but this would be easier & more fun (not to mention accessible away from home). Hmmm maybe that would be the next great thing ….

Avatarette - or: Who Says She has to Look Like Me?

2007-11-26T16:01:00.000-05:00

Week 5 - Play week
What? Play?
Meez looked interesting, but I didn't create an account there.

Then I played around some with creating an avatar at Yahoo. Maybe I could have found the perfect one if I had worked at it longer, but there are a lot of options there.

I wasn't this cute even when I was 12... but she does have green eyes & long brown hair.

RSS & Newsreaders

2007-11-26T15:40:00.000-05:00

Things 8 & 9 - Week 4
I set up my Bloglines account months ago , but didn’t post about it then.
I had set up 9 feeds, mostly library and knitting related.
I confess, I haven’t been checking there (what, one more thing to log into?), though I have visited most of the sites directly since then. I read a few blogs on an occasional basis & that hasn't really changed. There are a number of them I enjoy, but I have not figured out how to get more hours in a day. Have you?

Here’s a factoid for you: Yarn Harlot has 9139 subscribers, but Wizards Wireless has only 12.

Today I went back and subscribed to the Merlin feed. I am reasonably familiar with Merlin, as it has been the jumping off point for online training.

Digital photography

2007-11-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when you let your blog slide. I KNOW I wrote my blog entry about “anything technology related that interests you” months ago! Probably I got interrupted before I actually posted it. Oh well.

One of the best things to come down the pike in recent years has been digital photography. We bought our first digital camera in 1999, the year we had one daughter graduating from high school and one graduating from college. That’s how we justified the purchase of what was then a $900 camera!

We are not great photographers, but we have taken some very special photographs in our time. It is possible that the pictures we took with our 35 mm camera were better overall quality than our digital pictures. But the digital pictures allow us to custom crop, and make other “fixes” ourselves. We can send digital pictures to friends and relatives easily via email or post them to a sharing site. We can FIND our pictures, because they are stored digitally in folders on the computer (and backed up on CD). They don’t take up a lot of space. Etc.

I have also been able to work wonders with old photographs that I have digitized, restoring pictures that were creased otherwise damaged.

Flickr & more flickr

2007-11-26T13:25:00.000-05:00

Notice that I posted a photograph of The Belles of Pt. Mugu below.
This was during the summer and was a result of my having exploired Flickr.
I uploaded some pictures to my flickr account, then posted one of them here.
I can use Fickr to find great picktures, to store my own, and to put them someplace where other people can access them (if Iwant them to). My daughter's wedding pictures will probaly be put up on a sharing site (probably not Flickr, though) where people can buy prints if they want to. (But I'll leave that to my son-in law.)
I have explored some mashups, such as Frappr, Warholizer and Mosaic Maker. I could spend a lot of time playing with these, but real life intrudes.

The Belles of Pt Mugu 1982

2007-07-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

Week 3

2007-07-03T10:19:00.000-04:00

You can skip reading this post; it exists for its own sake alone.
Posting shows that I am actively exploring and playing.
This playing stuff can be addictive. What part of my life should I give up in order to have the time to pursue blog-reading (never mind creating never-before-imagined things with various Flickr mashups)?

I have explored Flickr some .. and discovered some Flickr mashups and third-party sites. I'll have to post a picture and possibly a trading card to prove it, won't I?
I'll claim completion of Things Five and Six at this point.

Thoughts on the 7 1/2 Habits

2007-06-29T15:12:00.000-04:00

I have not really given much thought to whether I was lifelong learner until starting this program. After listening to the podcasts, watching the tutorial, and reading all about it, I suppose I am one.

Evaluating which of the 7 1/2 habits is hardest for me & which is easiest is harder than adopting all 7 1/2 habits. OK, I guess I don't always see problems as challenges. Depends on the problem, of course. It is much easier to see YOUR problem as a challenge than it is to see MY problem as a challenge. Hmmmmm. Maybe we should trade problems.

Week 1 & Week 2

2007-06-29T14:41:00.000-04:00

Now I have officially set up a blog. Why haven't I done it before? Maybe the same reasons I've never kept up a diary. Or maybe I had no reason to do one. This one is supposed to track my progress through a playful self-paced discovery of "23 things."

So on to tracking "Things."

Thing one
Thing two
Thing three
Thing four