Week 12 IM Instant Messaging

I created an account with Yahoo Messenger with the address jaluddy@yahoo.com I played around with adding addresses of family and school colleagues. It wasn't as easy as I had thought. I need to go back and work with it again. With schools on vacation, it will take a while to connect with colleagues.
Then I established an account using Meebo. I found this process much easier to navigate. I used Meebo to link to the Yahoo account and my new Facebook page.
I used the help pages to learn about widgets. I created one but have had problems working with it. For both Yahoo Messenger and meebo, my computer blocks pop-ups which I find out later were important. This is the link to meebo but I am guessing that it is not the widget. http://www.meebo.com/ Something else that I will need to play with.
I thought that the articles about IMing and texting as tools for reference services expanded my awareness of how these new applications can be used. I was suprised that public libraries tell email reference patrons that they have to wait 24-48 hours for an answer. Back in the Dark Ages when I did telephone reference, we had to reply to the patron before the end of the day, even if to say that we were working on the question. I guess that with email the number of questions per day has greatly increased. With that situation, using meebo to manage questions from many patron IM formats makes sense. Libraries need to stay current with the information seeking styles of younger patrons.
I shall keep checking my blog and the other 23 to see if IM communications occur. In the meantime I will keep playing with Yahoo Messenger and meebo.

Week 11 Social networking

I have been meaning to establish an account on Facebook so this unit has been a motivator. Creating the account was easy. I invited some friends and family and looked at lists from college and high school. It was interesting to see additional suggestions for new "friends" pop up on the site as I added people that I know to my list.
Since I am new at using Facebook as a connection building tool, I am not sure how libraries would use this as compared to some of the other Web 2.0 applications we have learned about. Perhaps book clubs from different public libraries could easily share recommendations or establish cooperative meeting times. Certainly an important consideration in establishing social networking sites is the use of them to connect with teen and young adult users. So many students at my high school have accounts in MySpace, Facebook, and others.
I did a search for "libraries". Many of the libraries that I found use Facebook to promote programs, get feedback from attendees and gather suggestions for new activities. At this point I can see Facebook, MySpace, etc. being more useful to public libraries. Many schools, including my own have blocked social networking sites from computers. In addition to students tying up computers for too much time on personal networking to incidents of cyberbullying, we have not evolved to where these sites can be accessed within the building.
The decision to invest in maintenance time is major factor when deciding to go with these innovative Web 2.0 applications. Having someone on staff dedicated and comfortable with keeping the site current will make a library's social networking site successful.
So much to learn. Well, I am going to go check on my Facebook page. Maybe someone has "friended" me.

Week 10 Podcasts and Video

I explored several of the podcasts directories and was dazzled by the array of interests. Since we already have an ITunes account, I decided to use this service to select some podcasts. Again, so many topics areas to choose from. I found the Book Lover's section and subscribed to Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac". Then I found the podcast for the NPR book review site and also one for podcasts on young people's books featuring one of my favorite authors.
Without the list of podcasts directories, it would have been harder to find a catagorized list of podcasts. I am sure that on YouTube or Google, I would have found some, but it would have been very scattered without the organization and annotations that the directories supply.
I can see using podcasts in school libraries as book promotion tools. Individuals, clubs or classes could use podcasts for book reviews or to present projects based on books. As a media specialist, I can see using podcasts for instruction on research procedures, as well as for library operations. My natural instinct would be to use my student library aides, but I would have to check on the policies for using student faces online.
At the moment, we have a love/hate relationship with YouTube in the media center. A number of teachers use the clips for classroom projects and we have seen students add good video clips to powerpoint projects. We also see lots of students using YouTube to view videos with dubious content. Like any new technology, we have to work out the best ways to gain the most benefits from this new application- teachable moments.
As librarians and teachers, the more ways we can show students and the public effective and creative ways to use these new tools, the more discerning they will be in their use and evaluation of potential applications in their own lives.

Week 9 Online Collaboration

Most of the online collaboration tools were new to me. The Commoncraft video helped to explain the concept to me. Previously, I had experienced the problem with managing multiple emails while working with a committee to produce a report. I can see now how these online collaboration tools would have made things much easier.
I already had a Google account but had not explored the Docs option. When school starts next fall, I will be joining a group that has developed e-Porfolios for students. The Doc. application will be very useful for students working on group projects. This year, we had a public folder on our school server where students posted collaborative work. After someone tampered with many files, extra steps to protect student work had to be put in place. Using the GoogleDoc feature, access to student work can be limited to only those who need to see it.
Our students don't have too many projects where they use flow charts. I loved the mind mapping tools. I had fun creating topics and subtopics lists; then seeing them change into a visual depiction. These will be especially useful for students who are visual learners or reluctant readers. The ability to make connections in a visual form can apply to many disciplines. In the past, some English teachers have had students draw story webs. History and science teachers can use these tools to show cause and effects or relationships between events/concepts.
The Web 2.0 Awards allow novices to see the best new sites. I probably never would have found these on my own. I explored the best sites for books and genealogy.
It seems like many of these applications that we have been learning about started out as business oriented ones. In time, education and library/information science professionals have adapted them to their needs. There is a lot of reciprocity among these disciplines as teachers and librarians prepare students to use skills and technologies in the business world. Schools and public libraries need to be familiar with the web 2.0 tools as they work with students and the public. Schools are starting to include these tools in various courses. Public libraries may use these applications in house or in contact with other libraries, but offering courses in these applications to the general public can be another way that public libraries reach out to their communities.

Week 8 Presentations

So there is a world beyond PowerPoint. I looked at the examples of online presentations by CT Library staff. Then I explored the various types of presentation web sites. Amazing what options are out there. I also viewed the presentation by Cliff Landis. Very effective use of visuals and humor to get his message across. His advice about short term action planning and setting realistic goals could be used in business and education, as well as in libraries.
One of the presentations in Slide Rocket gave an overview of genealogy sites-informative but the slides moved too quickly. http://slides.diigo.com/list/moultriecreek/genealogy20 The same techniques that make a PowerPoint presentation effective with a live speaker are necessary with an online one.
I liked the presentations that Kris created using Animoto. I created an account and downloaded about 15 pictures of activities from the Historical Society that I belong to. I was trying to transfer music from my iPod when my computer freaked, but I got the idea. Over the summer I will try again, either with Animoto or another presentation site.
Public libraries could use these sites to instruct patrons on research skills for the online databases, to promote upcoming or completed library programing, to explain projects for yearly fund raising, and other ways of communicating with the public. These presentations could be linked from the library's webpage for patrons to view at home or when using the computers in the library.

Week 7 Photos and Images

I had created an account in Flickr several years ago, but was never sure what to do with it. The additional readings gave me some good ideas for the future.

For this week's assignment, I searched the Flickr archive for pictures from my hometown. I found an interesting assortment, but chose one of the park near my home. http://www.flickr.com/photos/junie_moon_photoshare/2967825484/ The range of tags that one can assign are more informal that library subject headings. The photographers select the tags and images based on whatever topics appeal to them. As a searcher, the casualness of the phrases makes searching for images a little more complex. Photographs of empty mills in my town had the phrase "run down" used as a tag, not a standard term. Some of the photographers added notes about how the picture was composed, techniques used to "tweak" the images, and who the subjects of the pictures were. I think that I have only seen a tiny bit of the vastness of Flickr and just touched on the uses that this site offers.

I decided to add some images to my Flickr account to practice uploading and tagging. I work for a high school library and do not want to put student photos on this site. I am active in the local historical society, so I took pictures of the building. I added some picture of our different activities. We don't have a web site yet, but this will be good experience in working with images.

I uploaded 10 photographs on the Vernon Historical Society building and Myrtle's garden. I assigned tags. After I saved everything, I went to search for them on Everybody's Uploads, but couldn't find them. I found a statement that said that the uploading process to the whole Flickr archive will take several days if the account is new. I haven't used it in quite a while so that may be why. I will check back in a few days. Tags to search for vernon historical society and myrtle's garden.

I enjoyed playing with Lunapic and Picnik. Amazing effects! Public libraries could use these mashups to spice up their webpages or add dazzle to any RSS feeds. Like any new application, it has to become part of the routine for it to be used a lot.

Week 6 Organize your books

I had heard of Library Thing, but I didn't realize that there were other sites out there to help readers or book clubs to develop lists and get ideas for future reads. When I first looked at Library Thing, it seemed a bit overwhelming, but the short introduction helped. I added titles from two fiction bibliographies that I had created for students: Voices from Beyond the Grave and Alternative Fairy Tales.
My Library Thing page: http://www.librarything.com/home/swhsMC
I showed one of our English teachers what I had input and we looked at some of the features that Library Things offers such as reviews, talk and groups. I liked the ability to search by tags which means that I could input several fiction bibs and tag them by subject.
I also looked at LitLover. I think that site would work very well for book clubs and I will suggest this site to members of my neighborhood club.
Public library uses: lists of new books, special collections, themed display books, book lists that align with library programs or author visits. The group feature would be the place for a library sponsored book club/s. "Talk" and "Groups" would help with Reader's Advisory suggestions.
Optional librarian blogs: Lots to read! I looked at several of the blogs and recognized some leading names whose websites I had already bookmarked. Nice to have a list of all these to bookmark.
PS. In one blog site, I found a YouTube video: Medieval help desk. Good laugh for a Friday!

Week 5 - RSS Feeds and Custom Homepages

For this unit I opened an account with Bloglines. I gathered a number of sites: library based blogs and newspaper sites. I got some additional ideas from the sites that I had bookmarked. I was intrigued by the list of favorite feeds prepared by Bloglines and the ways that this service makes it easy for subscribers to locate feeds of interest.
Public libraries could use RSS feeds on the library's homepage to help patrons access popular blogs and also to promote the use of blogs on topics that many patrons are interested in, such as financial or social based feeds. In this way patrons could become aware of new blogs and feeds, and patrons could also suggest to the libraries additional feeds to subscribe to. A public library or school library can use a place within the library's home page to host various feeds of interest that patrons can access from the library or from home.

Week 4 Social Bookmarking

Several years ago, I took a course on Web 2.0 applications. I opened a social bookmark account with Delicious, but wasn't sure where to go from there. This course has re-energized me to use Delicious again. I added a number of professional sites that I have gathered. I also sent out an email to some teachers whom I know collect special sites. I am hoping to gather a core collection of sites. Then I will have a link to Delicious established from the Media Center's homepage and promote this to the staff through my quarterly newsletter. http://delicious.com/swhsmc
I used to have a place on the Media Center's homepage for recommended websites which were listed by subject area. It quickly became difficult to manage as sites came and went. I will be interested to see how things go with Delicious.
Social bookmarking sites offer libraries, public and school, another way to get good information out to their patrons. I like the tagging concept because often a site has many possible subject headings. Now all facets of a site are searchable and a site's order in a list or group doesn't matter anymore.
I am still thinking about the benefits of wikis versus social bookmarking sites for class uses. Maybe the concept of "versus" is incorrect. A teacher could establish a wiki for a specific unit/project and tell students to look at web sites on a Delicious page as part of their research. As part of their project, students could post websites that they have found and annotated to the class wiki. The teacher could review these and add any excellent websites to the Delicious account. Hmmm. This has possiblilites.

Fun with Blogs

The results of the Typealyzer were interesting. My blog shows that I am a Mechanic type which would amuse my family because I am not quick to learn machines. I agree with some parts of the analysis, but must admit that I have never felt the desire to drive a race car. For fun, I used the Lovetypealyzer.
The Genderanalyzer guessed correctly.
As far as the Business Opportunities site is concerned, my blog is worth $0. Bummer.

I am going to forward the Typealyzer and Genderanalyzer sites to several teachers who use blogs. They and their students might enjoy playing with these site.
A good Friday activity.

Week 3- Wikis

I have had limited experience with wikis. A few of the teachers at my high school are starting to use them. Over a year ago, I read Joyce Valenza's article about converting pathfinders to wikis. This is something that I want to do at some point.
The "Wikis in Plain English" film provided an excellent introduction to the concept of wikis and explained the benefits of a wiki as compared to email.
I explored the wikis provided on the CT 23 Things site. I especially liked the Teen Lib Wiki. What a great way to share book lists. I am always looking for ideas for book displays. There were a number of good bibs assembled at this site. I can understand how the wiki format allows everyone to contribute to an existing list as well as adding one of their own.
Other uses for a wiki: As a media specialist, I could work to promote the use of wikis in the classroom. Starting with converted pathfinders, I could demonstrate to teachers how wikis can be used as a tool for collaborative learning.
For fun, I set up my own wiki to coordinate a trip this summer. Several of my college friends are planning to meet at another friend's house. With a wiki, we can decide who is bring what, where we will meet and what activities are available in the area. A good chance to play with the wiki concept.

Week 2 - Blogs

So far my experience with blogs has been that of an observer. As a media specialist in a high school, I have watched teachers set up blogs or assisted a teacher in getting started with class blogs.

I did establish a blog for the Media Center, but I need to promote it more. Class blogs by their nature mandate student participation. I need to work on getting voluntary participation for the Media Center blog

Recently I helped the Japanese Culture Club set-up a blog and offered to work with members to maintain their blog. We shall see how this goes.

Using the guidelines found in this wiki http://www.budtheteacher/.com/wiki/index I prepared a draft policy for using blogs.

In the meantime I was glad to explore the list of library blogs posted in the CT 23 Things site.

I particularly found the Loose Cannon Librarian to be a very rich site, with thoughtful postings and lots of links to other places via Delicious and Twitter. Definately will have to spend more time here.

The Connecticut Historical Society blog has a format that would work for a library or media center. Information on new acquisitions or background on specific collections alerts the reader and serves to publicize items in the collection. I like the functional format. As a first time blogger, this basic style would be one that I would feel comfortable using and maintaining.

The blogsphere is so vast and my ship is so small that it feels overwhelming at times. Knowing about the blog indexes helps.