Week 6 - Item 15 Library 2.0 and Beyond

I often have debates with myself or others as to the look of the library and the services we need to be providing for students. Currently I am weeding a collection with an average age in the 70's. My expression is we will see if there is something that isn't as old as dirt when looking for information in print. I am also questioning the budgeting for magazines.

This does not mean I am ready to give up the library as it exists currently. No matter what happens in the Web 2.0 World we will still need fiction books for patrons. There is nothing better than curling up with a good book on a rainy day. I computer screen or an e-reader etc. . . can not take that place.

Other forms of information may take other turns. My concern more often is not that students find information but what type of information they find. The teaching of evaluation and searching skills are paramount. Today students just type a sentence into Google, take the first site they find and believe it as gospel. We have a role in the library, computer lab, and in classrooms with laptops.

The format of information may change but the need to help patrons locate and use accurate and valid information is still paramount.

Week 6 - Item 14 Technorati

After looking at Technorati I am still not really convinced as to it's usefulness for my life. I am not overly interested in reading Blogs nor do I see much use for blogs in library settings. That kind of makes Technorati of little use in my life. It is interesting to know that it exists and that I can find things if needed but I don't see me using it often.

I really like tagging for it's organizational structure. I can see uses and how it helps locate needed sites and photos. The problem can come into play when you structure things and then eventually you need to go back and change the structure. That type of activity can become overwhelming.

Week 6 - Item 13 Delicious

Earlier in the adventure of Web 2.0 exploration I decided to start a Delicious account. At that time I imported the bookmarks to Delicious but I really did not understand tags and how to use the site.

After going through the tutorials I have more of an understanding of what is going on. I went through the sites I added earlier and established tags. After a bit of tagging and re-tagging I got the hang of things. So currently my bookmarks in Delicious are tagged.

I can see lots of uses but a couple of problems for me to overcome. First I have to keep the sign in to Delicious and the password with me so that I can use it at school. Once I get it in my notebook I will be set. Second I have to develop the habit of using Delicious. Currently I bookmark at home and school. Things are fine at home but at school we often have the bookmarks disappear over the summer. That makes Delicious all the more appealing.

I also love looking at the tags when they are listed by font size that shows the tags with the most sites listed. As a visual person it stand out where I have the most sites tagged.

Like any good thing if you develop the habit and you will benefit. I will work on using Delicious in the next several weeks and see where it goes.

Week 5 - Item 12 Rollyo

Since the district installed Destiny as our operating system I have used the Home Page as a place to list links for specific searches. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years we have been working to limit the searches. I know it is hard to believe (lol) but the kids do not know as much about searching as they think they do. They are also clueless as to means to evaluate sources they find on the Internet. It is on the Internet so it is true!

Rollyo is somewhat similar in function with the exception that it does a federated search of all of the sources. There may be times it could be of benefit to arrange a search in this format for students. The only thing I really did not care for was that, while the Sponsor Links were a different color, they were embedded within the search results at various places. Students might not have the sophistication to recognize the difference between results and Sponsor Links.

I can see some possible uses personally or with students. It is an item to keep in mind for possible use.

Select...Libraryland Goes Web 2.0My HealthReferenceTop NewsTech NewsSearch The Web

Week 5 - Item 11 Web 2.0 Award List

I started by looking over the short list and was amazed to see how many things were listed so I went back to the whole award list and read through items. Some things I knew about such as Facebook, Del.icio.us, and Lulu. Others I had never heard of and can't even imagine how to use them.

I specifically looked at LibraryThing. It took a bit to understand what to do but the idea is that you enter books you have read or would like to read. Then you can enter discussion groups that focus on various topics. The interesting this was as you added titles and then went back home other books appeared that might interest you. I can see some use for this in helping to determine what to read next. For me I have too many things to read already and would prefer face to face discussions rather than online interactions.

One feature of LibraryThing is that you can enter your home and search for book related events, book stores and libraries in the area. This is an interesting feature for both libraries and for patrons.

Week 5 - Item 10 Image Generators

I had a busy week and had not started the Week 5's activities until Thursday night. At school on Thursday afternoon I had the 7th grade Reading teacher in and she was very frustrated with a lower Reading Class. She just could not find anything to inspire them and most of the group just hates to read.

This is the first year for me in this building so the collection needs lots of help. The kids can legitimately say that I do not have a lot of new Fiction they would enjoy. Well the conversation was left that she might want to try some type of research. I had no clue what to tell her but she wanted me to think of something.

That night I started with the Image Generators and got to thinking. I love Magazine Cover from Flickr Toys! It seems easy to fill in a couple of things the Magazine Cover asks for but to do it well would take thought and background knowledge. You can see one I created at the left. This is my husband who dresses as characters from the Bible and tells stories.

I can see having students:

• Select a topic of personal interest, research, create their own magazine cover and write an article that would appear in the magazine.
• Make a cover that would represent a period in history they researched.
• Make a travel magazine cover for a country they researched.
• The possibilities are endless.

Boy was I excited when I got to school and found out that Flickr Toys is not blocked. I met with the teacher before school and she wanted immediate time in the library. She loved the idea! So later next week students are coming in just to read magazines and to discuss magazine covers. I also see this as a great in because of the fact that students may not like a book but they may feel more comfortable reading magazines. I am hopeful that it will work.

The timing could not have been better and I am excited to see how this all works out! I will let you know what happens.

Week 4 - Item 9 Searching for Feeds

I really liked but was a bit scared by Topix.net. When I clicked on the link it took me to our local paper. It made me wonder how did it know where I was and what I might want without entering any information.

That also brings up the other thing that has been bothering me about much I have been looking at. What does a person need to think about as they participate in Web 2.0 but still want to keep their privacy. As we look at each item I keep looking at and for the privacy capabilities. From lurking in My Space my students are terrible at keeping things private and may get into issues some day over what they have put on line. As a teacher and a librarian I also know that something on line can cause issue with your employment. Where is my private life vs my teacher life on line? Is it wise for me to participate in these forums?

Google Blog Search does help to put some organization to Blogs. I am not sure I would subscribe to blogs but it is interesting to know how to find things.

Week 4 - Item 8 RSS Feeds

I am so thankful to finally learn about RSS Feeds. I have been seeing the symbol and the initials all over the place so it is now good to understand what RSS is all about. I selected Bloglines to investigate and arranged an account. It took some tinkering and I am not really sure I found feeds I would want to continually read but the process is interesting.

Last week I installed Office 2007 so I was also able to set up RSS Feeds to open in Outlook. That seemed to be a more convenient process for me since it saves going to another place to look for information. I was also successful, after some play, in adding our district RSS feed to Bloglines. So now I can add an outside source that does not list Bloglines if I am interested.

One of the concerns I have is keeping up with everything. There is so much information out there and I can see it as hard to regularly follow the feeds.

An application I am thinking of for the library is for public access for students to find articles for Current Event class requirements. Students come to the library, waste all sorts of time and often miraculously find an article to print at the last second of the period. If feeds of science and news sources were available then the process might move more efficiently. It is something to look into.

Week 3 - Item 7 Technology

It is interesting how technology is to make our lives easier but it more often seems to take over our lives. When I started teaching I was excited to go home at the end of the day and not have ditto ink on my face. I taught prior to computer use in classrooms. When we started to use computers they were the Apple IIs and I taught BASIC Programming. In a couple of weeks we have a Computer Science Professor coming to instruct our 7th and 8th grade Enrichment students on Alice, a graphics computer program.

What a difference almost 30 years have made. Can you even think what you would do today without e-mail during the school day? I never even learned how to create catalogue cards. What would we do without Destiny? As I think of how things have changed over the last 30 years it is hard to even imagine where we will be in just another few years.

I have been looking into Twitter, Facebook, and registered for Delicious after finding all of these new places to visit. This week I downloaded Office 07 to my home computer so that I will be ready for our switch to it at the start of the next school year. While I am finishing this blog I am listening to political podcasts on my i-Pod. To keep up with a few of my younger friends I learned how to text.

Technology forces us to be life long learners.

Week 3 - Item 6 Trading Card Maker

It is amazing to see the different applications that have developed from Flickr. It is interesting that a person can search for pictures from specific places through searching tags. I can see using this prior to a vacation to get an idea of places you want to be sure to visit.

The Trading Card Maker is interesting and I do like the idea of using it with elementary students. I can see them having fun researching something and then creating a trading card about the topic. The librarian trading cards were also interesting.

I also found an application where you can have a picture made into a puzzle. How fun to look at all of the colors on Flickr Color Pickr and the creations on Montagr.

Who is the Famous person in the poster?

DSCN1382
Originally uploaded by Wall-e the Cat

I edited the first entry in Blogger now I want to try to create this entry in Flickr and then post it from the program. I am just experimenting to see how it all works. I am amazed at how smoothly the programs relate to each other and how easy it is to post a picture.

Having been excited many years ago to get a Brownie camera it is hard to believe where technology has gone and where it will go in just a few years.

Week 3 - Item 5 Picture from Flickr

DSCN1383
Originally uploaded by Wall-e the Cat

I sent this picture from Flikr and am composing in Blogger. I also want to try it the other way to see how it all works. If I were to upload many pictures into posts I would work from Flickr instead of Blogger. The picture comes in and the text is easily arranged around the picutre as set up in Flickr. With this I am playing and not quite happy with the results. The technology is still interesting to play with and find out how it works.

Week 3 - Item 5 Flickr

The first thing I enjoyed this week was when I was taking pictures of the library. A student was in the library and I told her if I got her in the picture I would edit her out since I needed to upload the pictures to Flickr. The look of surprise on her face when I said Flickr was worth a thousand words. The expression said. "How could some old person like you know about Flickr let alone be planning to upload to it?" We then had a discussion about the things I am learning and exploring like Twitter, Blogger, and Facebook. Now I appear to be a more knowledgeable person than she thought!

Flickr was really very user friendly. I was able to navigate and edit photos without much difficulty. There are just wonderful photos on Flickr that are easy to find by browsing through the tags and the most recent photos. I can really see a use for Flickr if you have a wedding or a baby. It is a great way to share photos with friends and family near and far.