Thing 19--Discovering Web 2.0 tools

OK, it's raining this evening, there are no TV shows I care to see except The Closer, my ironing is done, and that gives me time to work on Thing 19. I looked at several of the Web 2.0 Awards nominees and played around with several. This exercise gave me the opportunity to play around on sites I knew existed but I had not looked at before. One of these was Google stuff like the maps. I plugged in addresses of out of town family and WOW, maps popped up quickly and they were correct too. Then I recognized some of the sites we had an exercise for (Technorati was one of those). I played around a site about widgets. Love those widgets. Since Hurricane Dean is ready to hit Mexico as a category 5, I created a Weather Channel widget. I am going to go back to that site again someday. I finally settled on Peertrainer. It was in the group with the health/medicine nominees. This is a site for weight loss and fitness support. It is free; it includes daily logs for meals and exercise, calorie charts, blogs of others with the same goals as one's own, success stories (good motivation), and good solid, information. I think this site would be helpful for those staff members at YPL who are participating in the health risk assessments.

More Thing 18

I examined Google Docs and found a lot of useful information; the spreadsheet looked easy to use and FREE; the calendars were appealing--think scheduling for agencies, meeting room calendars, social calendars (lots of interaction with invitations). Since Fall is a busy time for me I created a calendar to show what's going on for me outside of work (birthdays, football games, concerts, holiday planning, and appointments).

Thing 18-Productivity Tools

I just started with Zoho Writer and created a document. The site was very easy to use and I had no trouble saving the document. I may try to email it to several staff members if I cannot post it to this blog. Despite following all of the directions, Zoho would not recognize my blog username and ID. I did create the HTML and post the Zoho link but I won't be satisfied until I play with this some more. I also want to look at some other productivity tools.

Thing 17 pbwiki.com

I did my "peanut butter" wiki and it's linked over to the right. It was fairly simple to navigate and the video instructions were easy to follow. I also added the wiki to the favorite blogs site of Library 2.0. I am ready to move on. Hmmm- and it might be time to look at some more image generators. Everyone seems to be having fun with those.

More thoughts on Wikis

I have been reading some other blogs for our Library 2.0 and see there are concerns that editing is a big part of Wikis. Some of you don't want any tampering of your Wiki entry. On my Wiki page referred to in a previous post, it's interesting that no one has edited it in the way one thinks. However, whenever I have been "stuck" with an editing problem or post, one of the other users have gone to my Wiki and fixed it for me because I noted I was having a problem. I can look at their entries and see how they have entered information. It is different from blogging in that individuals can comment on your blog but not add content. I will definitely keep up with this as we go beyond the 23 Things.

On another note, I am finding that I have to look back as I move forward in these exercises because it takes practice and review to keep building (and not forgetting!) what we are learning here.

Thing 16--Wikis

I am familiar with Wikis and have a Wiki page on another site not relating to libraries but supporting some of my outside interests. I created that Wiki last spring and it has been useful for me in understanding this exercise and the applications of Wikis in the Library setting. The users of Wikis (i.e. contributors) are very knowledgeable in their field; it is important when creating a profile to have some qualifications/knowledge about the content since it is important to link your Wiki page to other sites, organizations, people with similar concerns. It's another way to interconnect with the world outside your own. I particularly found the Wiki Library Success: a best practices Wiki very informative and it has potential for me in my job here at the Library. Before I sign on and create a profile, however, I need time to read the entire Wiki, look at the links more extensively, and see what others are contributing. This is a great site:
http://www.libsuccess.org

Library Thing 13, 14, 15

I set up an account with del.icio.us and linked to only several things at this point. I will add things as I go along with these exercises. I discovered that one of my interests--vintage fabrics-- linked to a lot of others who like the same thing. The connectiveness of all this is amazing to me. I put a link on my blog. I can see how this can become addicting especially if you are like me: I want to learn and discover new things all the time. I would like to link to more library related stuff but right now am just having fun learning the technology. I don't want this to be just a literary blog.

Technorati-- Wow! When I looked at this site several weeks ago I was "OK, will I ever need/use this site"? As I explored in this site, I decided to set up an account. I found a friend's blog that I've read for several years now, added him to my favorites. I did a search of Library 2.0. As of today there were over 25,500 posts about Library 2.0 and 544 blogs about it. I read some of the entries and found a blogger who is doing the 23 things. Added her to my favorites and will need to check out her blog--she has a cat mashup that I would like to see. She is not one of us. It looks like a lot of libraries are doing Library 2.0. I'm glad we didn't wait. Thanks Louisa, Mr. Sears, MP, et al for getting us going. I didn't claim my blog (too timid, I guess) and feel a little unsure--it's like a Big Brother thing. This site knows what we search, are interested in; not sure if I want to be on someone's watchlist at this point. But apparently thousands of bloggers do.

Reading about Library 2.0-- I found a good article about publicity and marketing using Library 2.0 tools--using You Tube and MySpace for programming and promotional tools, podcasts to advertise programs or do book reviews, and much more. And then there is this tagging thing; ever since our Aquabrowser demo, I can see more and more how frustrated patrons must be using our subject headings.

This has been a long post but then I've covered three things and am ready to move on.

Thing 12 Rollyo

I played around with Rollyo, created an account, created a search roll, and placed a search box on the right hand side of my blog. This has been fun and addicting to say the least. I named my search roll Lifelong Learning and included some other categories like Health and my own blog title in the drop down menu. I try to learn about new subjects all of the time so I use internet websites frequently to read news stories, check on my favorite horses and dogs who are competing, get new recipes, try to learn a healthier lifestyle to name a few. What I find so interesting about some of these exercises is that Library 2.0 is showing us new ways to gather information that is useful to us.

My library of recent favorites for Thing 11

I am always reading a mixture of things: good mysteries, stories with historical characters, nonfiction. I also listen to Books on CD that are separate from what I am reading. I read several books at a time; it depends upon my mood what book I pick up each evening. I enjoyed this exercise because it relates to one of my favorite activities--reading. Hope others enjoy these books.