Week 9, Thing 23

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? Flickr (Week 3, Thing 5) was a visually inspiring website. The sunset mashup I found for Week 3, Thing 6 was really amazing--one little website could put everything in perspective for me.
I enjoyed the variety of the generators on Week 5, Thing 10.
Finding free movies and TV online in Week 6, Thing 13 was amazing!
Google docs in Week 8, Thing 18 definitely were a way to make distanced business, schools, people, whatever connect and be able to look at the same thing and share items in a convenient, painless way avoiding the faults of formatting issues.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This program has definitely greatly improved my technology literacy and I feel more comfortable with all the technological lingo that is thrown around nowadays that I had no clue the meaning of previously. My lifelong learning goals have been affected in that I now know my learning must include technology, whether I like it or not.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I guess that overall I was surprised by the number of reading tools available online and through technology. With the increasing popularity of the internet and other "e" materials, it seems that books are of no exception to the rule--they must be allowed to evolve technologically as well.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
The biggest issue I had was having to join/register a bunch of different websites--it's just more to remember and some of the items would have been more convenient if we just had one user name and password as employees of the library--like a group password and user name.

Thank you so much for the opportunity and I'm glad I completed the 23 Things--it was a long but rewarding journey! Definitely worth it... :)

Week 9, Thing 22

So this week was not so successful for me...I tried the MyLibraryDV first, but the computer would not finish the installation because I was not logged on as an administrator. Next, I tried the OverDrive and thought that I had downloaded The Alchemist by Coehlo and The Pillars of Creation by Goodkind. However, the first was not yet available and even though the Goodkind novel was, the computer needed to install Overdrive software. I tried doing this, but the installation process kept being "interrupted" by a pop-up screen that said I needed Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Even after I downloaded Windows Media Player 11, the pop-up screen still came up and installation would not complete. So...I next turned to Tumblebooks and started a free trial. I'm not sure if it was my internet connection, or the site, but everything was very sloooowwww. What I found of interest was Grimm's Fairy Tales in audiobook form, which was played on the Tumblebook Audio Player--or so I was lead to believe...it did not play! This was pretty much par for the course, so I am going to stop while I'm ahead...of nothing...for the day. I'll try the Overdrive things on my home computer because maybe then I won't have the administrator and media player problems as on this library computer. At the moment, I wouldn't feel comfortable with patrons trying to use these applications because none of them worked correctly!

Week 9, Thing 21

First of all, I didn't create a Bloglines account, I just used Google Reader. I searched for podcasts using PodcastDirectory.com and decided to search for Alaska. I found an Iditarod Podcast, and I added the subscription to Google Reader--here's the website: http://www.digitalpodcast.com/podcastnews/, which is actually not about the Iditarod at all. Thus, there's not really an Iditarod Podcast website even though the directory website said so. The website I was sent to originally was actually just another directory site. Therefore, I'm not sure I would endorse PodcastDirectory.com as very reliable. So, I then went to podcastalley.com and searched for Jane Eyre, where I didn't find a lot of related materials, but I found one of interest. "The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Geek" podcast is now in my subscriptions. (http://recordings.talkshoe.com/rss22770.xml)

In conclusion, I didn't have a lot of luck finding library-related literary podcasts, but maybe you just need to know the right kind of thing to search for.

Week 9, Thing 20

Being given free license to explore YouTube is a pretty wonderful thing haha. I, like most people, could get lost for days searching and viewing videos on the site. There's truly something for everyone and even though I know people who are not technologically saavy, I bet they still have seen a YouTube video through emails or other family members showing them the latest YouTube fad video. And the amazing this is that while there are plenty of funny, fan-related, or outrageous videos, there are still serious videos--like religious-themed, politically-inspired, or philosophical in nature.

On that note...the video I am choosing to upload is a beagle howling video because we have a beagle at home and I am partial to their wonderful bugle barking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeYnX9NwB1k

What I like about the site is the accessibility to all types of videos, and when you're searching a search history box comes up that helps with things you are unsure of the titles for.

As far as library use, book club discussions or author interview videos to me seem to be the most applicable, and something that libraries could utilize to introduce media into their resources. Also, book recommendations would have a greater personal appeal if librarians were in person recommending a book on a YouTube that could be linked to the library's website. Or, librarians could have personal staff pages on each library's website where their own linked YouTube recommendations are found.

Week 8, Thing 19

I chose to search the Recipe for Success site, which seemed mainly including blogging or other library/technology websites. One caught my attention, however, called "Literature-Map." It is a website where you enter the author's name and a conglomerate of related authors come up. Obviously, this has great applications to the library for people who are seeking similar authors. I searched Charlotte Bronte, and then clicked on Wilkie Collins from there since I am writing a paper incorporating his work. I then searched for a relatively unknown fantasy author that I like, Kristen Britain, and yet there were still relevant authors attributed to her ilk of writing. It would be difficult to do a search like this for book titles, as the floating nature of the results would be obscured with long titles. I suppose that is why the creators of this website chose to do author searches instead of book searches. Here's a link if you're interested:

http://www.literature-map.com/

Week 8, Thing 18

So this week I became familiar with Google Docs (since I have other google accounts it was simple to set-up). At first I was skeptical, but I became a believer with the ease of publishing and sharing documents/presentations/forms, etc. As you can see, I published both a test document and a test presentation in posts previous to this one. The presentation I had to manually enter the code in the "Edit Html" section of posting--but since the code was provided for me by Google, it was pretty easy. I can see where this would eliminate the different formatting errors that occur with differing editions of Word, Powerpoint, etc. But, I did notice that the document application didn't allow me to use accents which are often the cause of formatting errors, so that should be resolved for it to be truly internationally relevant.

This is a test document in Google Doc...

This is a test document in Google Docs as part of Week 18, Thing 18.

 

Blach dkljfeiold, slkfdmawoiefpawo,f sdf;las,fd;asl,df;sl,df;,s;fl,s

 

f

dfasdfmopsmf eesldkfsj;kfd

 

faslkdjf;slkdjf;lskmfdl;akmsf

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L;W;FML;WMLEF;WMWE

Week 7, Thing 17

Well, once I got set up in a wiki and signed up I was able to attempt to log in to plcmclearning, but they required a password or invite code. Luckily, the password is at the bottom of the screen which was a little puzzling and funny to me... Anyway, I added my blog to the list of general blogs and I also added my thoughts to "Favorite Sports Stars" and "Favorite TV Shows." To fully read all the entries would take a good amount of time, and I'm not sure I would have the patience to do so. Also, it is apparent that people just add one after the other instead of reading what has gone on before. If they would read, it would eliminate a lot of repetition and unnecessary entries that could instead be responses to previous entries.

Week 7, Thing 16

This week we were to learn about wikis--which allow groups of people to set up webpages without the knowledge to do so. Thus, it sounds like a short-cut to get people not technologically saavy at least participating in the internet. After surveying the linked wikis, I found the following to be the most interesting: http://bullrunlibrary.pbwiki.com/ and http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/. The Bull Run Library wiki had a lot of information for the library itself as well as the library's greater community. In addition, the site also had supplementary information on things of interest like the DTV transition and genealogy. Overall, this site is convenient for both users and creators. As far as the book lovers site, book lovers are known typically not to be the best techno wizards so it's nice this site plays to this stereotype a little (since they are using wiki to create the site). On the site are reviews and links to other libraries, so it is useful on a more specific, minimized level. Another site that provided good information on wikis is: http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Wikis#Examples_and_Information, where I learned that wikis are also used for conference sites, community info, and subject guides.

Week 6, Thing 15

I understand the philosophy of Library 2.0--how do we keep libraries (as information providers) relevant in an age when so many people have access to the internet and the resources related to technology? It's so much more convenient to research/find information at home--in a comfortable, private setting. Libraries, in order to combat this, must somehow incorporate the technology that is partly responsible for creating its irrelevancy. In other words, libraries almost need to go above and beyond other resource outlets on the internet in order to provide a better, faster, or more efficient way to find and sort through information. This seems to be the point of Library 2.0--to incorporate all types of web information in easy-to-use multi-sourced databases by using tags, bookmarks, etc. While for these reasons I find Library 2.0 to be necessary, there is a great inherent risk involved in that in the library's attempt to remain relevant, the out-dated reading form (books) will be ignored and abandoned in favor of things like e-books and audiobooks. Books, therefore, must somehow remain viable in a time when everything else is telling people material, physical books are a way of the past.

Week 6, Thing 14

This Technorati activity was not my favorite. First of all, when attempting to search for certain keywords of interest, most of the blogs that came up in the search results barely mentioned the phrase or word I was looking for. It was more interesting to see the different blogs people were interested in in addtion to their own, which gave a better perspective of their interests and philosophies. However, I find the idea of a "watchlist" and tagging my blog so that it purposely brings more people to my personal site a little sketchy. My own use of a blog, if I choose to keep one, will be intended for friends and family only, but obviously this is all personal preference and some people only blog in order that other people can read and see their thoughts. The only real surprising things that I found in the popular blogs/searches is that some of the things people were searching for seemed to be old news--but, without TV or cable, I may myself be behind in the times as far as knowing what interests are coming back in vogue again.

Week 6, Thing 13

I chose to explore the bookmark titled "Eazy Cheezy 20+ Sites to Watch Movies & TV Online." This is relevant to me because I've recently moved and do not yet have cable. Researching cable prices makes this website even more appealing. Many of the comments are very appreciative and grateful for the work the manager of the site is doing to help others find viable resources for online entertainment. Also, Brian, the manager, comments to the comments and thus makes it a user-friendly site where you can be assured you will receive an answer to questions and queries. Some of the tags used are "online," "free," and "movies." It seems that the main challenge for this resource is finding the right tags/keywords you're looking for. What you're looking for may not be the best concept to be reduced to one word--so exploring with a variety of tags may be required.

Bookmarked site I chose: http://www.eazycheezy.net/2008/09/watch-tv-and-movies-online.html .

Week 5, Thing 12

This assignment is helpful in a similar manner to RSS feeds in that you can search/obtain information quickly in a convenient manner that doesn't require a lot of personal searching work. The biggest thing is to make sure you have different Rollyo-titled searches for specific things (you don't want your entertainment sites mixed in with research sites because the information you receive will not be appropriate for what you're looking for.)

Here's the link to my Rollyo search page: http://rollyo.com/rollyoacc/reference_rollyo/

Week 5, Thing 11

When I read this assignment I knew it would be fun!--can't work at a library without loving books! I added a little more than the required 5 because it was hard to stop when you're trying to consider all of your favorite books :) Here's a link to my catalog: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/engmaj .

Week 5, Thing 10

This has been my favorite thing to do thus far--I went specifically to The Generator Blog and there were so many interesting and creative generators to choose from! The one that I chose was a site where you can make a (family) coat of arms: http://www.makeyourcoatofarms.com/app.asp. Unfortunately, I got all the way through and then to print it out I had to give them my email address which I didn't want to do. So, I have no finished product, but learning about generators was definitely a fun thing!

Week 4, Thing 9

I preferred using Syndic8.com for searching, and it was a fairly simple process to search for what I wanted and add it to my Google Reader for subscriptions. One feed offered specifically the choice to add it to my Google Reader, another one simply added to Internet Explorer feeds and to add it to Google Reader I just searched for it in Google Reader and then added it from there. I didn't really understand Topix.net as far as how to add feeds, it seemed to be simply news stories. Technorati was more stories and it seemed to be mostly blogs, which I am not particularly interested in.

Week 4, Thing 8

Because I didn't want to set up more usernames and passwords, I used Google Reader to explore the world of RSS Feeds. As far as I understand it, RSS allows you to keep track of updated subscriptions/feeds in a much more convenient way than checking the websites everyday on your own. Some of my feeds are:

youtube--most viewed videos,
my own blog,
Omaha World-Herald,
and Scientific American.

If I have time, I will definitely keep up with Google Reader because it contains a lot of new information that I would be both interested in and learn important things from that I don't n0rmally encounter in everyday life.

Libraries could use this RSS feature for book sites that update based on new books being available--it would be an easy way to discover new trends or new bestsellers in a simple fashion.

Week 3, Thing 7

Technology...the word is so overused today that when you actually stop to think about it, what does it actually mean? How was it first used? Interestingly enough, using Omaha Public Library's databases to find the good ol' Oxford English Dictionary, technology means: "discourse or treatise on an art or arts; the scientific study of the practical or industrial arts." The denotative meaning discussed here is definitely not the connotative meaning we have today--when people automatically jump to talk about computers, cell phones, the internet, surveillance methods, robots, etc. The OED definition, however, provides a much broader idea--in this sense, technology could apparently apply to anything that involves practicality or industrial methods. I also think that the designation as "technical nomenclature" is illuminating, since it means something that requires a technique or technical skill. At any rate, this post is basically showing that technology is much more than we think--and the greater issue here is what happens when words become overused and land far from the path of the original intent of meaning.

Week 3, Thing 6

The mashup I'm choosing to blog about this week is called "Constant Setting" and is a project by D'Arcy Saum, Nick Land, and Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino. The philosophy behind the website is: "Simply because the sun is always setting." Essentially, the site is a slideshow of photos that show the sun setting...as if this isn't already implied in the title. The site is interesting in that it shows many landscapes or seascapes that aren't always available to people--for instance, living in the midwest we are allowed to see how the sunset appears from the UK and all over the world. And for many people, a sunset is something that puts everything into perspective, and may even make us contemplate our place in the universe. The fact that a website can do this--and people can access it from anywhere in the world, anytime--is a very valuable thing. As they say, a picture's worth a thousand words...

Here's a link: http://www.constantsetting.com/

Week 3 #5 Flickr post

I decided to search for "Tolkien" in Flickr just to see how varied the tags really were (expecting to get no results) and I actually got 8,789 results!! Shows how little I know about photo-taking opportunities that deal with Tolkien...but it also shows the resources available on Flickr and the creative inspiration that can result from the site.

The photo I particularly noticed is located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/silvr/524997257/in/set-72157600295331793/

The owner of the photograph took it on a 2007 Vietnam/Cambodia trip and refers to the location as Ta Prohm and titles it, "And now we pause for a Tolkien moment"--which was definitely true. It looks like the opening to the Mines of Moria, especially akin to the film's depiction.

2nd post re: Lifelong Learning

To me, Lifelong Learning means always being willing to question/challenge what you think you believe or know about reality and truth. Discovering truth and gaining knowledge doesn't happen over night--it is a process that occurs over time and by accumulation of ideas and thoughts. From this program, I expect to train myself so that I can more effectively help others in their search for knowledge (or whatever it may be) and possibly inspire them to become lifelong learners themselves!

Test Post 1

This is a test post for my first blog as part of the O! What a Geek training.