Meg's Blog

Week 10, Thing #24 The End

2009-12-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Well, the journey is over and I have officially finished 25 things. I've learned a lot about different tools that I would not have taken the time to learn about if not for this course. A few of the tools I will use for my job, such as Delicious, YouTube, Flickr, and Netlibrary. I found the over all experience to be a positive one. I am still not crazy about blogging but at least I know how to use it and can do so if I have to. For me blogging is writing down personal thoughts and that is something I have never been comfortable doing.

One suggestion for the next session is to make the "thing" links open up in another window so you can still see what you need to complete for the "thing" and be able to view the websites listed on that page as well.

I would participate in another discovery exercise in the future even if I had to blog about it.

Week 10, Thing #23 Netlibrary

2009-12-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

I think Netlibrary is a great resource. I don't have an MP3 player to download on to but if I did I would use it all the time. It would be so much easier then lugging my CD player around for the talking books. I recommend Netlibrary all the time to patrons but have never seen a demo on how to download them. I found the one in 25 things very informative. I always thought the loan period for audio books was one week but now I know that it is the same as a regular book and you can also renew the item.

This is definitely a resource that would be beneficial to our patrons as well as staff members.

Week 10, Thing #22

2009-12-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

For this thing I had to take a look at Podcasts. I understand what podcasts are and how to use them but I did not find any using odeo.com that I wanted to subscribe too. CBC radio has a few that I chose but nothing that really grabbed my attention. I think I will need to spend a lot more time going through the sites to find some that would interest me.

Week 10, Thing #21

2009-12-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

I love looking at You Tube there are so many fun and interesting videos to watch. One that I looked at was an ad to support the New York Public Library Support of New York Public Library. They used many well known faces to gain support for the library.

You Tube is useful to libraries because you can find many online tutorials to look at such as learning how to use social networking sites or RSS feeds, etc. I have used a lot of them creating a Web 2.0 computer program for patrons.

Week 9, #20 PBwiki

2009-12-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I really enjoyed looking at the PBWiki this week. I found a post by a co-worker of a You Tube video to be hilarious. If I need a laugh I go and look at the video, Evolution of Dance. I also enjoyed reading about favourite vacations spots. It's always nice to get a few ideas of where to go with the family.

Week 9: Thing #19 Wikis

2009-12-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

I found wikis to be a great place where everyone can contribute and see all the information that others have contributed. I would use wikis as a place to share titles for patrons to read, etc. A good example of this is our WPL Reference Department wiki. If a patron is interested in reading about microhistories and doesn't know where to start I could look at our wiki and suggest a few titles to read.

A couple of problems with a wiki is (1) sometimes the information is old and out of date because it is not updated regularly (depending on what the wiki is about) and (2) remembering that there is a wiki to use for recommendations, etc.

Overall, wikis are great resources and are very beneficial to the library community.

Week 7: Thing 17 Library 2.0

2009-11-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

I have been hearing about Library 2.0 for a long time now. The idea of library users being able to be active participants in the library through our website and catalogue is a great idea. Through an interactive website, library users could write book reviews, tag books, and provide book recommendations that other library users could see. A library user may discover a new author he/she has never thought to read all because of a review that another library user has written.

Week 7, Thing #16 Technorati

2009-11-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

Well, Technorati was definitely something different to try. I had not heard of it before participating in this "Thing". Do I think I will use Technorati in the future? Probably not. The main thing I learned is what it is and how to use it. I did have some problems trying an advanced search. I could not find the advanced search tab or link.

If a patron asked what tool to use to find blogs I will mostly likely point them towards Google Blog Search. I found it much easier to use and it is likely a tool I will use in the future.

Week 7, thing #15 Delicious

2009-11-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

I have looked at Delicious before and thought it would be a useful tool to take your bookmarks with you where ever you go. Reference staff could use this tool to save all of the bookmarks we use out on the reference desk. Then no matter what computer we are on we are able to access those bookmarks. It would take some time to set up and maybe it is something we will do once everyone has participated in the 25 Things tutorial.

Week 6, Thing #14 Image Generator

2009-11-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

I didn't have too much time to fiddle with the image generator so I found one where I could create a tatoo. It took a few minutes to figure out what exactly to do. The main problem for me was trying to post it in blogger.

The image generator I used was:

Shoulder Tatoo

Week 6, Thing #13 LibraryThing

2009-11-24T07:44:00.001-08:00

Well I just signed up for a LibraryThing account - Megan's bookshelf. I like the idea of having a place to store all the books that I have read. I just need to find the time to put them all in. Using a tool like this is not new for me. I use Shelfari to do the same thing but Shelfari does not cost money to use.

I find LibraryThing easy to use and would suggest this to a patron. We have a lot of patrons asking us the history of what the have read. Since we are not able to do this for them, suggesting that they use LibraryThing to catalogue what they have read would be benefifical to them.

Week 6, Thing #12 Twitter

2009-11-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

Well I signed up for a Twitter account today. Here is the link:
Refassist Home Page
I am not sure if I will use my Twitter account. Again, I am familiar with what Twitter is but I don't feel I will use it. The interesting thing that I found out was that I had quite a few friends that tweet (although some haven't done it in awhile).
From some of the articles I have read I find it interesting on how people use Twitter. Maybe I will follow some of those.

Week 5, Thing 11 Finding Feeds

2009-11-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

I previously took a webinar about Web 2.0 and the focus was on blogging and RSS feeds. The instructor was great and I subscribed to a lot of her suggestions. I currently follow a number of the Library Journal blogs. One of their new blogs ShelfRenewal is very interesting. Two Librarians in the U.S. use "best seller buzz" to create interest is older books that may have been over looked.

The keyword search in Google Reader was easy to use to feeds that I might be interested in subscribing to. My main problem is remembering to use my Google Reader to follow my blogs. Sometimes I am overwhelmed when I look at the number of new posts there are to read!

Week 5, Thing 10 RSS

2009-11-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Well, it took me a few tries but I finally was able to figure out how to subscribe to different blogs through the google reader. I tried through bloglines but I couldn't remember how. I think RSS readers are great, it is nice to find out update information without having to read pages and pages to find current information.

Libraries could take advantage of this technology as a way to stay up to date on current information in the library world. They could have an RSS icon on their website to keep patrons current about upcoming programs, new releases and new happenings around the library.

Week 3, Thing 8, anything technology related

2009-11-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

This week we can talk about anything technology related. I guess I will talk about cellphones and people driving. This is my pet peeve. While I think cellphones are great to communicate with one another I don't think people should be talking on their cellphones and driving or even texting and driving. This week, after the cellphone law went into effect, I was caught off by a woman driving her huge suburban and talking on her cellphone! GRRRRR! If you need to talk to someone on your cellphone pull over! That is my rant for today.

Week 3, Thing 7: Flickr Mashups

2009-10-26T13:27:00.001-07:00

There are so many applications you can use with Flickr you could spend hours looking. I explored a few but the two that I found especially interesting were Retirevr and Montagr.

For Montagr I choose to use the term "flower" to create a mosaic and I believe the end result looks like a gigantic flower. It was neat to explore using different terms and to see what was created.

http://www.deviousgelatin.com/montager/image.php#

When I have more time I will definitely go back and create more.

Week 3, Thing 6: Flickr

2009-10-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

This week we explored Flickr which was not entirely new to me. I use Flickr in Creative Commons to find photographs for posters for the Library. I could spend hours going through all of the different photos found on this website.

Please click on the link to see the photo that I choose to post:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftcreativity/3539093117/
Taken from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftcreativity/

I thought I had a lot of books but wow! She has organized them by paperbacks, cookbooks, and non-fiction. Makes me think I should really organize my bookshelves but really who has the time?!

Week 2, Thing 5: What I Learned This Week.

2009-10-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would ever complete a blog so here is my first attempt at a blog post.

I found the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners to be very interesting. The easiest step for me will be step #1 - begin with the end in mind. I am a planner and I like to develop plans to get things done. I feel that the hardest step for me will be step #3 - view problems as challenges. I do not always view problems as challenges so during this course I will definitely give it a try.

I am looking forward to learning and trying new things in Web 2.0.