Thing 23 is a "reflection paper," as a middle school teacher might say.
I don't think much as changed about how I think about 2.0, since I use many of the tools or have researched them before. But for a newcomer, I think the 23 Things is a great environment in which to learn what the heck delicious really is.
If 23 Things were starting today, I think there would be more of the LinkedIn/Facebook kind of thing, some Twitter. The nature of Web 2.0 is that it is ever-changing, ever-evolving, and there's always something new.
I enjoyed the photo thing most. I like tinkering, and creating a gadget for this blog was fun. I didn't have too many pictures to work with (see, still behind in getting the photos in Flickr), but I just might do that holiday card using an online service.
I talked with other staff members about their experiences with 23 Things, and it did seem like everyone was learning something. And that's what's important.
Monday, December 15, 2008
eBooks, etc.
The debate when I was in library school was access vs. ownership. We've moved way beyond that now. Seems that very smart people have made many resources available online in some form (free, not free, searchable, enhanced). I love that we have come this far.
But what about holding it in your hand? Sometimes, getting the information is more important than feeling it. A print book is not searchable. Flip side: what about browsing the shelves for information discovery? Not quite the same when you have an eBook.
I'd heard of NetLibrary, from OCLC, but haven't used it (to my recent recollection). Gary Price is a huge proponent of using the resources of your local public library...many of which are available through the library's website. Logging in with your library card account information may provide access to databases that you thought you could only access from the library itself. You can't always get to the library, but it's more likely you can get to a computer.
In the "how to use NetLibrary" demo, I noticed that the interface was similar to that of ebrary, with which I am familiar. Hope it works better than that one, and it seems to. It is possible to add your own notes, use a dictionary or thesaurus, search, and navigate page by page (or to a particular page).
My own public library has access to NetLibrary. So glad to see that. According to the instructions, I can read, but not download the material in e-books. Audio books can be downloaded. They also offer ebooks, etc., through other databases; OverDrive, LearningExpress Library, and Gale are other sources.
There are a lot of mysteries in the e-audio collection through my library (over 500 choices). I can browse by category, search, or see the whole list (about 2,200 total). Maybe I could download to listen to while driving (maybe I'll get that iPod for Christmas). In the e-books tab, there are over 53,000 books available! I'm sure I won't have a need or interest in most, but there are plenty of cookbooks in there! I'm impressed. So easy...but you have to know it's there.
But what about holding it in your hand? Sometimes, getting the information is more important than feeling it. A print book is not searchable. Flip side: what about browsing the shelves for information discovery? Not quite the same when you have an eBook.
I'd heard of NetLibrary, from OCLC, but haven't used it (to my recent recollection). Gary Price is a huge proponent of using the resources of your local public library...many of which are available through the library's website. Logging in with your library card account information may provide access to databases that you thought you could only access from the library itself. You can't always get to the library, but it's more likely you can get to a computer.
In the "how to use NetLibrary" demo, I noticed that the interface was similar to that of ebrary, with which I am familiar. Hope it works better than that one, and it seems to. It is possible to add your own notes, use a dictionary or thesaurus, search, and navigate page by page (or to a particular page).
My own public library has access to NetLibrary. So glad to see that. According to the instructions, I can read, but not download the material in e-books. Audio books can be downloaded. They also offer ebooks, etc., through other databases; OverDrive, LearningExpress Library, and Gale are other sources.
There are a lot of mysteries in the e-audio collection through my library (over 500 choices). I can browse by category, search, or see the whole list (about 2,200 total). Maybe I could download to listen to while driving (maybe I'll get that iPod for Christmas). In the e-books tab, there are over 53,000 books available! I'm sure I won't have a need or interest in most, but there are plenty of cookbooks in there! I'm impressed. So easy...but you have to know it's there.
Sound check
Podcasting. I get it, but it seems so "out there" sometimes. I'd almost rather read about something (or a read a magazine column, for example) or watch a video than just listen to it. Maybe I don't spend enough time in my car.
I'm aware of EveryZing (was Podzinger), so wanted to look at a few different tools mentioned in 23 Things.
Odeo is audio and video (and ads, by the way), which just seconds my feelings about video being more of interest. Apparently, Disneyland has regular podcasts! I did listen to the NPR food podcast (from the "Hobbies" category). Odeo makes it easy to embed podcasts into your site or blog, and make a playlist for yourself (once you log in). The search works pretty well. Once you get your results, you can just view results from a certain category. I like how those two functions work together.
Podshow has changed to Mevio. Seems there's a lot more going on than with Odeo. It's "your personal TV, music, and radio network." The content seems to be organized by channels and shows. "TV" is right. Pretty in-your-face.
I wonder if there is anything that I do that is podcastable. That makes sense...not just for podcast's sake? Some Information Center Connection posts? But does anyone really want to listen to my voice?
I'm aware of EveryZing (was Podzinger), so wanted to look at a few different tools mentioned in 23 Things.
Odeo is audio and video (and ads, by the way), which just seconds my feelings about video being more of interest. Apparently, Disneyland has regular podcasts! I did listen to the NPR food podcast (from the "Hobbies" category). Odeo makes it easy to embed podcasts into your site or blog, and make a playlist for yourself (once you log in). The search works pretty well. Once you get your results, you can just view results from a certain category. I like how those two functions work together.
Podshow has changed to Mevio. Seems there's a lot more going on than with Odeo. It's "your personal TV, music, and radio network." The content seems to be organized by channels and shows. "TV" is right. Pretty in-your-face.
I wonder if there is anything that I do that is podcastable. That makes sense...not just for podcast's sake? Some Information Center Connection posts? But does anyone really want to listen to my voice?
Video killed the radio star
Who knew there were so many video sharing sites? And, another question: Does Google own everything?
Since I'm familiar with YouTube, I decided to check out another one of the video sites mentioned on 23 Things. I chose VideoJug, which specializes in how-to. What was on the front page when I arrived? How about, for a few: Infidelity Basics, How to Change Your Air Filter (actually useful! over 26,000 people have viewed the 6 minute video), How to Deal with a Hangover, and Alternate Accomodations (can't tell from the title if that goes along with item number one or not). And there are discussions and competitions. Oh, right, this is 2.0. I forgot.
I have enjoyed several of the Common Craft videos (59 at last count) that are posted in YouTube. Quick overviews on different topics ("explanations in plain English"). Might be worth a look if you need to find out fast what one of these 2.0 applications does (but, with 23 Things, you know that already) or as a resource for someone asking you that question.
Since I'm familiar with YouTube, I decided to check out another one of the video sites mentioned on 23 Things. I chose VideoJug, which specializes in how-to. What was on the front page when I arrived? How about, for a few: Infidelity Basics, How to Change Your Air Filter (actually useful! over 26,000 people have viewed the 6 minute video), How to Deal with a Hangover, and Alternate Accomodations (can't tell from the title if that goes along with item number one or not). And there are discussions and competitions. Oh, right, this is 2.0. I forgot.
I have enjoyed several of the Common Craft videos (59 at last count) that are posted in YouTube. Quick overviews on different topics ("explanations in plain English"). Might be worth a look if you need to find out fast what one of these 2.0 applications does (but, with 23 Things, you know that already) or as a resource for someone asking you that question.
Awards and lists
I love lists. Lists of awards especially.
Because it's the end of the year, there have been many "best of" lists to close out 2008.
Here are a few book lists:
New York Times:
10 Best Books of 2008
100 Notable Books of 2008
Book critics' favorites for 2008
National Public Radio:
Booksellers' top books for 2008
Best Books of 2008
Time Magazine:
Top 10 Everything
Anyway, the SEOmoz top Web 2.0 applications is a great list to explore (Thing 19). I use lists like this to find content for my column...the best of the best. There are several sites mentioned on the list, updated in May, that I've put in my column.
Regarding the "start page" category: I'm curious to use a start page like Pageflakes or Netvibes to collect in one place blog feeds, weather, news. Better than going to my bookmarks to open up Bloglines, the SLA homepage, Typepad for work blogging. I know Phil Bradley likes Pageflakes, but also has used Netvibes to organize the information he has coming to him. (Check out his I want to blog, on which he writes about all sorts of tools to, well, do stuff (and GTD).)
Because it's the end of the year, there have been many "best of" lists to close out 2008.
Here are a few book lists:
New York Times:
10 Best Books of 2008
100 Notable Books of 2008
Book critics' favorites for 2008
National Public Radio:
Booksellers' top books for 2008
Best Books of 2008
Time Magazine:
Top 10 Everything
Anyway, the SEOmoz top Web 2.0 applications is a great list to explore (Thing 19). I use lists like this to find content for my column...the best of the best. There are several sites mentioned on the list, updated in May, that I've put in my column.
Regarding the "start page" category: I'm curious to use a start page like Pageflakes or Netvibes to collect in one place blog feeds, weather, news. Better than going to my bookmarks to open up Bloglines, the SLA homepage, Typepad for work blogging. I know Phil Bradley likes Pageflakes, but also has used Netvibes to organize the information he has coming to him. (Check out his I want to blog, on which he writes about all sorts of tools to, well, do stuff (and GTD).)
Productivity. Procrastination.
In my mind, they are related. Not always, but sometimes. I think feeling overwhelmed can certainly lead to procrastination.
Is it really possible to multi-task? I've read that it isn't...you can truly only do one thing at time, and if you overlap too much, the work and results suffer. So what's the point? Focus is important.
I wrote a blog post about this back in July. E-mail can really get out of hand, and slow us down.
In my January/February Information Outlook column (not yet published), I included the site 43 Folders. What started as a site about productivity has evolved into one that helps you find the "time and attention to do your best creative work." It's all related. You have to organize yourself.
One of the productivity sites mentioned on the 23 Things site I've already written about in my column (November). Lifehacker directs you to the technologies that can help you work better and more efficiently. I also like the Get-It-Done-Guy, Stever Robbins, whose blog (Work Less and Do More) I read. Here's an article from Scientific American (November 26th) on procrastination. Maybe now I don't feel so bad!
That there's an acronym for this stuff...GTD...is amazing. (I guess it's really an initialism.) I think it shows we are all trying and striving to do better. We are all busy and harried and overwhelmed.
But maybe the solution isn't getting things done...it's just doing less.
Speaking of getting things done...Thing 18 is done.
Is it really possible to multi-task? I've read that it isn't...you can truly only do one thing at time, and if you overlap too much, the work and results suffer. So what's the point? Focus is important.
I wrote a blog post about this back in July. E-mail can really get out of hand, and slow us down.
In my January/February Information Outlook column (not yet published), I included the site 43 Folders. What started as a site about productivity has evolved into one that helps you find the "time and attention to do your best creative work." It's all related. You have to organize yourself.
One of the productivity sites mentioned on the 23 Things site I've already written about in my column (November). Lifehacker directs you to the technologies that can help you work better and more efficiently. I also like the Get-It-Done-Guy, Stever Robbins, whose blog (Work Less and Do More) I read. Here's an article from Scientific American (November 26th) on procrastination. Maybe now I don't feel so bad!
That there's an acronym for this stuff...GTD...is amazing. (I guess it's really an initialism.) I think it shows we are all trying and striving to do better. We are all busy and harried and overwhelmed.
But maybe the solution isn't getting things done...it's just doing less.
Speaking of getting things done...Thing 18 is done.
Edit-Write-Save-Repeat
That's how to populate a wiki. Pretty simple.
I reviewed the slides on Organizational Wiki Adoption.
Great work uses:
As requested for Thing 17, I created a wiki page in the wiki sandbox. That was fun.
I reviewed the slides on Organizational Wiki Adoption.
Great work uses:
- blogs...internal, all housed in one place
- staff lists...you could have contact info, but expand to what everyone does, what their knowledge is, how long with the organization
- personal space
- calendaring...well, we have the Outlook calendar, but I guess you could jump in with that
- charts...here's a good place to put company info and intelligence
- intranets...you don't really hear much about them anymore, but I don't think they've disappeared
- knowledge management...I think they mean KM software, not the practice itself. Shifting that content to a wiki opens it up
- email...where does all the information communicated go? In sent-mail folders and, if a person's organized, subject folders...that are not shared.
- share drives
As requested for Thing 17, I created a wiki page in the wiki sandbox. That was fun.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Rollyo
Every time I hear the word Rollyo, I think of the word "yodel."
And when I see the Rollyo logo (say that 10 times fast), I think of candy. The red and white spiral roll reminds me of taffy.
I reviewed Rollyo back in June 2007 for my Information Outlook column. It's still around (you can never be too sure with search tools...remember Hotbot?).
This time around, I created a searchroll that combined ResourceShelf, LISNews, All Things Digital and the Blog Herald. I did a search for Flickr and came up with almost 4,500 hits. Not that practical. I don't think you can limit your search, but I'll have to do more investigating. Would be cool to set up a searchroll for the Information Center Connections blog.
And when I see the Rollyo logo (say that 10 times fast), I think of candy. The red and white spiral roll reminds me of taffy.
I reviewed Rollyo back in June 2007 for my Information Outlook column. It's still around (you can never be too sure with search tools...remember Hotbot?).
This time around, I created a searchroll that combined ResourceShelf, LISNews, All Things Digital and the Blog Herald. I did a search for Flickr and came up with almost 4,500 hits. Not that practical. I don't think you can limit your search, but I'll have to do more investigating. Would be cool to set up a searchroll for the Information Center Connections blog.
The Thing
Sometimes, you have to use the word "thing" to make a point. It's general, but it's right. It can mean so many things. Like, The Thing (scary). Or "thingamajig" (very descriptive).
Now, there's Library Thing (Thing 14...I see a theme here), which people and libraries are using to catalog their books and share them with others. Before it, nobody thought much about organizing their books beyond grouping ficition together with fiction and non-fiction together with non-fiction. Then by author. But we were longing for something better, prettier to look at than a Word doc or an Access database.
I'll admit I haven't gotten around to cataloging my own books because, as the years go on and my house seems to get smaller and smaller, I have less room in which to keep them. So I weed. And donate. And weed and donate. I'm still clinging to some college textbooks until they are good and out of date (how many moon does Jupiter have now?), but they, too, will eventually go.
For this assignment, I've added five books to my account...some of my favorites: The Vampire Lestat (Anne Rice; I've read this book countless times), Gorky Park (Martin Cruz Smith; love the sequels), The Secret History (Donna Tartt), Naked, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames (both by David Sedaris).
I think I'd probably use LT mostly to find other books I might like to read and to read reviews. With such a small collection, I don't have much to put in...no need to keep track. But I guess the point is the sharing, isn't it?
Now, there's Library Thing (Thing 14...I see a theme here), which people and libraries are using to catalog their books and share them with others. Before it, nobody thought much about organizing their books beyond grouping ficition together with fiction and non-fiction together with non-fiction. Then by author. But we were longing for something better, prettier to look at than a Word doc or an Access database.
I'll admit I haven't gotten around to cataloging my own books because, as the years go on and my house seems to get smaller and smaller, I have less room in which to keep them. So I weed. And donate. And weed and donate. I'm still clinging to some college textbooks until they are good and out of date (how many moon does Jupiter have now?), but they, too, will eventually go.
For this assignment, I've added five books to my account...some of my favorites: The Vampire Lestat (Anne Rice; I've read this book countless times), Gorky Park (Martin Cruz Smith; love the sequels), The Secret History (Donna Tartt), Naked, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames (both by David Sedaris).
I think I'd probably use LT mostly to find other books I might like to read and to read reviews. With such a small collection, I don't have much to put in...no need to keep track. But I guess the point is the sharing, isn't it?
Mirror image
Well, not really.
This is a magazine cover I created using an image generator (Thing 13). You can find it at http://www.imagegenerator.org. I liked the magazine cover idea (I subscribe to enough of them) and decided to use a picture of my husband and brother and two friends for the cover.
Now, how about an avatar for me? I tried Mess Dudes! It worked okay. (Truthfully, the most trouble I had was getting the two images to position properly in this post.) I already have an avatar in Second Life. Nothing outlandish...kinda looks like me.
My reads and feeds (Things 11 and 12)
I've been using Bloglines for a few years now, and I love it. Well, I don't love Bloglines (lots of issues in the past month or so), but I love the ability it has to collect new stuff (mostly on time...see comment above about issues) and put it in one place for me.
It took a bit of habit development to actually go to Bloglines to see the new posts. In the beginning, I would forget for weeks to check it and then it was overwhelming. Now, I check it each day at least once. I subscribe to about 170 feeds in many different categories (which I've organized into folders...technology, LIS, association news, the list goes on). I love that I can save things to go back to later and easily send myself (and others) stuff to file away or forward.
On occasion, I've toyed with the idea of switching to Google Reader, but, really, I does Google need yet another user?
It took a bit of habit development to actually go to Bloglines to see the new posts. In the beginning, I would forget for weeks to check it and then it was overwhelming. Now, I check it each day at least once. I subscribe to about 170 feeds in many different categories (which I've organized into folders...technology, LIS, association news, the list goes on). I love that I can save things to go back to later and easily send myself (and others) stuff to file away or forward.
On occasion, I've toyed with the idea of switching to Google Reader, but, really, I does Google need yet another user?
Thing 10...musings
When I learn something new, I am often struck by the power of these tools and how much they make sense. Okay, there are some things I've seen that I just don't get (I'm warming up to Twitter), but someone must be using them.
I think many of us have a fear that we won't be able to figure out something, that it is harder than it is. Many staff members were reluctant to blog--because it was new, because it was "different." Everyone learns in different ways, and through training and encouragement and trial and error we have lots of staff members who are now comfortable with blogging and are relieved to discover how intuitive it is. There are always questions, and we are always all learning, but the "aha!" moment is fab.
I think many of us have a fear that we won't be able to figure out something, that it is harder than it is. Many staff members were reluctant to blog--because it was new, because it was "different." Everyone learns in different ways, and through training and encouragement and trial and error we have lots of staff members who are now comfortable with blogging and are relieved to discover how intuitive it is. There are always questions, and we are always all learning, but the "aha!" moment is fab.
Do the mashed potato
Mashups (Thing 9) seems almost better described as collages. The ideas of mashups is no-brainer. Everything connects. Only connect. Only integrate! How did we live without them? There are some pretty smart people out there.
You can see some examples in this YouTube video.
You'll see the Flickr badge I created here in the left margin. (I had to make some of my photos public to do this, and I used a gadget within Blogger to create.)
Speaking of collages, I tried out the Flickr Colr Pickr (where are all the "e"s...with all those missing baby socks?). Find photos on Flickr by color. Neat. The colors are so vivid when presented this way. I first went for the purples. It's interesting to see what kinds of objects come up with the colors. With purple, flowers are expected, but photos of sky and a keyboard came up, too. Then I chose different categories...graffitti by color!
I think I might use Delivr, an photo e-card service, as a more fun way to send photos to friends. I like it! Use your photos or ones in the searchable database on the site.
Using tools like these would be a great way to keep friends and family in the loop with what's going on with family news. We could add pictures to some of the SLA blogs, too.
You can see some examples in this YouTube video.
You'll see the Flickr badge I created here in the left margin. (I had to make some of my photos public to do this, and I used a gadget within Blogger to create.)
Speaking of collages, I tried out the Flickr Colr Pickr (where are all the "e"s...with all those missing baby socks?). Find photos on Flickr by color. Neat. The colors are so vivid when presented this way. I first went for the purples. It's interesting to see what kinds of objects come up with the colors. With purple, flowers are expected, but photos of sky and a keyboard came up, too. Then I chose different categories...graffitti by color!
I think I might use Delivr, an photo e-card service, as a more fun way to send photos to friends. I like it! Use your photos or ones in the searchable database on the site.
Using tools like these would be a great way to keep friends and family in the loop with what's going on with family news. We could add pictures to some of the SLA blogs, too.
Flickr
I like Flickr. (Flickr happens to be Thing 8.)
I've used it to find photos to accompany staff event invitations (I'm quite skilled at searching for images of food...the advanced search is easy to use).
I created an account a while back for personal photos (I've kept the photos private (limited to friends and family), so no link), but I haven't really kept it up. It's hard enough to find the time to download the pictures from the camera (last time, I removed 600 pictures that were taken over a few months), much less name and upload and tag them. But, there are over 150 pictures in my account, and when I just visited there, I was reminded about how many things you can do with the photos...tag, edit, organize, comment, share, save to delicious.
My sister-in-law uses Shutterfly to post her pictures. She's got thousands of photos up there in a few different albums. We just got a holiday card from a child in Serena's class that was made through Shutterfly. Turned out really well.
SLA is planning to use Flickr to digitize photos in our archive so we can more easily access them and share them with members.
I've used it to find photos to accompany staff event invitations (I'm quite skilled at searching for images of food...the advanced search is easy to use).
I created an account a while back for personal photos (I've kept the photos private (limited to friends and family), so no link), but I haven't really kept it up. It's hard enough to find the time to download the pictures from the camera (last time, I removed 600 pictures that were taken over a few months), much less name and upload and tag them. But, there are over 150 pictures in my account, and when I just visited there, I was reminded about how many things you can do with the photos...tag, edit, organize, comment, share, save to delicious.
My sister-in-law uses Shutterfly to post her pictures. She's got thousands of photos up there in a few different albums. We just got a holiday card from a child in Serena's class that was made through Shutterfly. Turned out really well.
SLA is planning to use Flickr to digitize photos in our archive so we can more easily access them and share them with members.
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