Here are a few interesting clips I found on YouTube. A series called "Library Ninja".
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Thing 23. Final Thoughts
Well, I made it!
Probably my favorite thing I learned about was RSS feeds, I had always heard stuff about them, but never actually used them before now. Because of this project I now have them on our libraries blog, as well as my own blog that I created. Plus, now I have my own blog I can write stuff about. Hopefully it will be interesting enough that someone will actually read it!
I would definitely participate again, as long as the Things were different enough that I could still learn something from them. That would probably be the only change I could suggest, but since technology is changing at such a fast rate, I'm sure it would be easy to come up with a completely different set of 23 Things for next year. Hears hoping!
If I had to describe my experience in one word, it would be: Experimenting.
I think my only regret in this program is that I didn't come up with a more original name for my blog than "My 23 Things on a Stick"!
Thing 22. What Did I Learn Today?
I make a resolution, to maintain my blog, and keep it up to date. To try new types of technology, and not be left behind! I will keep up with RSS feeds, YouTube videos, with Flickr photos, and many other of the new things I learned about while doing these Things.
I think the best way to keep up with the new technology, and the blog, is to just do it. No excuses, just do it. Just set aside 15 minutes a day to try and do something or learn something new about technology. We are all busy I know, but I work two jobs, plus am going to graduate school, so if I made time, so can you!
I think the best way to keep up with the new technology, and the blog, is to just do it. No excuses, just do it. Just set aside 15 minutes a day to try and do something or learn something new about technology. We are all busy I know, but I work two jobs, plus am going to graduate school, so if I made time, so can you!
Thing 21. Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks
Here is a badge I picked out from the 23 Things on a Stick Ning,
Visit 23 Things on a Stick
I also added a few videos I have taken of various things. Here is a video of a truck "burning out" at the 2007 Grand Rapids Car Show. Not library related, but its the only video I have.
Find more videos like this on 23 Things on a Stick
I'm now a member of MySpace, but I probably won't have time until the summer to keep up with it. We will see. As far as finding a new social network with this Thing, I looked at the Gather page. It looks promising, I will also start using the WebJunction page too. I liked how easy it was to share photos and movies, sort of like Flikr.
Visit 23 Things on a Stick
I also added a few videos I have taken of various things. Here is a video of a truck "burning out" at the 2007 Grand Rapids Car Show. Not library related, but its the only video I have.
Find more videos like this on 23 Things on a Stick
I'm now a member of MySpace, but I probably won't have time until the summer to keep up with it. We will see. As far as finding a new social network with this Thing, I looked at the Gather page. It looks promising, I will also start using the WebJunction page too. I liked how easy it was to share photos and movies, sort of like Flikr.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Thing 20. Libraries and Social Networks
I tried out using MySpace as I know a few people who have sites on there. I never knew libraries were using them, but I guess that is part of the reason I'm doing the 23 Things on a Stick project, in order to learn more information about technology.
Anyway, creating your own page for your library would allow you to share the different types of music, movies, and books your library has. Or even new materials your library has just gotten in the last month. It shows people that you are still concentrating on being up to date on technology. It also allows you to post events to your page, the otherwise patrons might miss if they weren't in the library that much, or didn't look at your libraries homepage or blog.
Even ALA, has their own MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/atyourlibrary.
Anyway, creating your own page for your library would allow you to share the different types of music, movies, and books your library has. Or even new materials your library has just gotten in the last month. It shows people that you are still concentrating on being up to date on technology. It also allows you to post events to your page, the otherwise patrons might miss if they weren't in the library that much, or didn't look at your libraries homepage or blog.
Even ALA, has their own MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/atyourlibrary.
Thing 19. Podcasts
I listened to two podcasts, both from the Library Survival Guide. One was about Google Scholar, and the other was about EndNote. I will try out this EndNote software the next time I write a paper for school, it sounds like it would save me a lot of time and hassle. Going around trying to remember which facts came from what sources sure takes up a lot of time, but this would probably help. Episode 4: EndNote and Citation Managers. Unfortunately, it sounds like you can only download this for free at the specific university they are talking about, but I looked it up and you can download a free trial version. But, as mentioned there is another one called Zotero, for the web browser Firefox. So, I will try both.
I liked the Podcastalley site the best, as it seemed to work fine. As far as making my own podcast, maybe someday I will, when I feel I have something relevant to contribute to society, but not right now.
iTunes itself is a great tool itself, even if you don't want to buy any music. It can organize all of your video clips, and music. It also allows you to listen to the radio online, as well as podcasts. So, with all the podcasting tools I just looked at, this is probably the best one for me, as I use iTunes all the time, so its just easy to have all of your multimedia access in one place.
I liked the Podcastalley site the best, as it seemed to work fine. As far as making my own podcast, maybe someday I will, when I feel I have something relevant to contribute to society, but not right now.
iTunes itself is a great tool itself, even if you don't want to buy any music. It can organize all of your video clips, and music. It also allows you to listen to the radio online, as well as podcasts. So, with all the podcasting tools I just looked at, this is probably the best one for me, as I use iTunes all the time, so its just easy to have all of your multimedia access in one place.
Thing 18. YouTube & Other Online Video
Poor Cookie Monster! He just wants cookies! You have to love the innocence that this show has shown over the years. I loved watching it while growing up, and when I saw this clip about a library I had to post it!
If we had the proper equipment, our library could make a short video about our library and how to use it. Sort of like a commercial that promotes our library. It would be a good way to show the community what we are all about, as well as show them that we are interested in technology, and know how to use it.
Thing 17. ELM Productivity Tools
As far as these tools go, the entire ELM web page is kind of an unknown source for information. We as librarians must be charged with telling people about it, especially students. Anyway, I really liked the RSS feed option for Student Infotrac, because if you are given an assignment early enough in the semester/quarter you can go to the search page, search for your topic, then subscribe to the RSS feed and get updates whenever a new article is posted about your topic. The information will be very current, and fresh. Thus eliminating the need to use very old sources, with very old statistics.
I also liked the ability to be able to share documents with other peers and co-workers. It makes online collaboration a simple possibility for most people. This way you don't have to rely on a single aspect of the digital age all the time, like e-mail, or chat. Its good to use all parts of the Internet, not just a few of them.
I also liked the ability to be able to share documents with other peers and co-workers. It makes online collaboration a simple possibility for most people. This way you don't have to rely on a single aspect of the digital age all the time, like e-mail, or chat. Its good to use all parts of the Internet, not just a few of them.
Thing 16. Student 2.0 Tools
First of all since it is electronic in nature, I think most students today would enjoy using it, just for the fact that they could be online while they are filing it out, and looking over the steps they need to complete in order to finish their assignment.
The RPC breaks down into 5 different areas, with each area even being broken down further. It really helps the student understand what they have to do, and really defines each area for them. It even has a sense of humor. I told the calculator that my assignment was due the next day, and it states that "You have 0 days to finish. You have less than one day to get this done. I hope you're just playing with this thing." Pretty funny!
I suppose you could use it for a project you are working at in the library, especially if it was for a presentation you were giving to a group of people. There are options for a slide presentation, essay, and video. But, for the "slide presentation", I'm sure that they mean powerpoint, as I don't think a lot of people still use actual slides anymore.
The RPC breaks down into 5 different areas, with each area even being broken down further. It really helps the student understand what they have to do, and really defines each area for them. It even has a sense of humor. I told the calculator that my assignment was due the next day, and it states that "You have 0 days to finish. You have less than one day to get this done. I hope you're just playing with this thing." Pretty funny!
I suppose you could use it for a project you are working at in the library, especially if it was for a presentation you were giving to a group of people. There are options for a slide presentation, essay, and video. But, for the "slide presentation", I'm sure that they mean powerpoint, as I don't think a lot of people still use actual slides anymore.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Thing 15. Online Games and Libraries
I tried out puzzle pirates, since I had heard of Second Life before, I wanted to try out this new game.
It sure takes a long time to load, about 5 - 10 minutes, and I was using high speed Internet!
As for the game itself it was okay, definitely for kids. But it seemed like a safe environment for them to play in, and learn puzzle solving skills. It also involves chatting with other players, and this helps kids with their conversation skills as well. It was hard to get used to playing at first, but I asked a few questions, and the other players helped me. The kids playing generally like it when you ask them questions, it makes them feel part of something, and it makes them happy to help you.
Some other good games in this MMORPG genre include Diablo (classic, but still great), RuneScape (if you work in a library I'm sure you have seen/heard the kids playing it), and World of Warcraft (probably the most popular game in the world right now, it is good, but they charge you to play it, so...).
It sure takes a long time to load, about 5 - 10 minutes, and I was using high speed Internet!
As for the game itself it was okay, definitely for kids. But it seemed like a safe environment for them to play in, and learn puzzle solving skills. It also involves chatting with other players, and this helps kids with their conversation skills as well. It was hard to get used to playing at first, but I asked a few questions, and the other players helped me. The kids playing generally like it when you ask them questions, it makes them feel part of something, and it makes them happy to help you.
Some other good games in this MMORPG genre include Diablo (classic, but still great), RuneScape (if you work in a library I'm sure you have seen/heard the kids playing it), and World of Warcraft (probably the most popular game in the world right now, it is good, but they charge you to play it, so...).
Thing 14. LibraryThing
Here is my link to my library at LibraryThing:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=knightsoftheround&shelf=list
Most of my books were pretty popular, but all I have added so far are all of the books in the Redwall series. They are pretty popular among all ages, I have lots of people asking about them, even in the small library that I work at.
This would work well with sharing book lists, and series with patrons who are interested in the same types of materials. All you would have to do is add some books, and either print them off, or give the person the link to your library collection so that they could see some of the titles you liked, as you may enjoy the same genre, or even the author of the books.
Right now we just share print outs of book lists with our patrons, this would offer an electronic format for those who are interested in trying out new types of technology.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=knightsoftheround&shelf=list
Most of my books were pretty popular, but all I have added so far are all of the books in the Redwall series. They are pretty popular among all ages, I have lots of people asking about them, even in the small library that I work at.
This would work well with sharing book lists, and series with patrons who are interested in the same types of materials. All you would have to do is add some books, and either print them off, or give the person the link to your library collection so that they could see some of the titles you liked, as you may enjoy the same genre, or even the author of the books.
Right now we just share print outs of book lists with our patrons, this would offer an electronic format for those who are interested in trying out new types of technology.
Thing 13. Online Productivity Tools
I chose the MyYahoo! as my start page. I already have a yahoo mail account, so I figured I could use this in conjunction with my web mail. I really like the PDF converter, as it makes sending large file documents very easy, as it compresses space. So if you are sending a document with a lot of pictures, this makes it handy to send to someone who has a slow Internet connection. FYI, OpenOffice is a office suite similar to Microsoft Office, and one of their tools in their document program is a PDF converter! Very handy!
But, I also liked the calendar and the countdown tool. Now I know how much time I have left to finish my 23 things on a stick blog. Since I have two jobs, and go to school, the online calendar is essential of keeping track of when I work, as well as when my assignments are due.
But, I also liked the calendar and the countdown tool. Now I know how much time I have left to finish my 23 things on a stick blog. Since I have two jobs, and go to school, the online calendar is essential of keeping track of when I work, as well as when my assignments are due.
Thing 12. Do You Digg?
I "digged" this article http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/technology/22library.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
This would be a good way to share information with other people that have the same interests as you do.
As far as it being a detractor or enhancer for productivity, it all depends on what is shared. Although, in this day and age I find that more and more people are goofing off when they are supposed to be working, and one of the biggest culprits is the Internet. So, once again we are back to the debate about whether the Internet helps or hurts libraries. It seems like a little bit of both to me.
I have read a few stories because of these sharing tools, so they are useful if they are used properly.
This would be a good way to share information with other people that have the same interests as you do.
As far as it being a detractor or enhancer for productivity, it all depends on what is shared. Although, in this day and age I find that more and more people are goofing off when they are supposed to be working, and one of the biggest culprits is the Internet. So, once again we are back to the debate about whether the Internet helps or hurts libraries. It seems like a little bit of both to me.
I have read a few stories because of these sharing tools, so they are useful if they are used properly.
Thing 11. Tagging and Del.icio.us
I could see this as a tool for research. If a patron needed some links, you could search for some, tag them, and then the patron could have access to them. But, it is also a good way to have access to your bookmarks wherever you go.
Our library is gearing up for our cities 100th birthday this summer. We could post links to other cities that have had their centennial celebrations, and what they have done to celebrate them. We could also have a page for reference links, or even political links for the upcoming presidential election this fall in order to get people interested in voting again.
Our library is gearing up for our cities 100th birthday this summer. We could post links to other cities that have had their centennial celebrations, and what they have done to celebrate them. We could also have a page for reference links, or even political links for the upcoming presidential election this fall in order to get people interested in voting again.
Thing 10. Wikis
Probably the best thing I learned about wiki's is that they are so easy to use. I never knew much about them, except for using Wikipedia almost daily to find random facts I had questions about, I never had too much exposure to wiki's until now.
However, wikipedia should not be used as a scholarly source for a paper. It can however be used to look up quick questions you have about something, like how many books are in the Redwall series, and what order should they be read in, or which survivor was voted off last night. You know, trivial, stupid stuff like that, because if its wrong, it doesn't really matter that much.
Wikis might work good in the classroom, a teacher could set up a wiki where students could ask questions about homework and the teacher could answer them.
I edited the 23 Things On a Stick, and posted a few of my haiku's I have been writing lately.
However, wikipedia should not be used as a scholarly source for a paper. It can however be used to look up quick questions you have about something, like how many books are in the Redwall series, and what order should they be read in, or which survivor was voted off last night. You know, trivial, stupid stuff like that, because if its wrong, it doesn't really matter that much.
Wikis might work good in the classroom, a teacher could set up a wiki where students could ask questions about homework and the teacher could answer them.
I edited the 23 Things On a Stick, and posted a few of my haiku's I have been writing lately.
Thing 9. Online Collaboration Tools
This was a good exercise, as I got to learn about online document editing a little bit more. I have used Google Docs lately, mainly for my graduate courses I'm taking to earn my MLIS degree. We have a group of 5 people, so we enter into a chat, and then one person makes all the changes to the document, just so there aren't 5 different people making changes all at the same time. Then after the chat we add our parts to the paper, and make a final edit, and then post it so our professor and other fellow students can view it. Google Docs is a very valuable tool for online collaboration.
I guess I would stick with Google Docs over Zoho, but that is just because I had used Google Docs before this exercise, they both have good features. As far as the founding fathers, I think that they would probably be excited about the opportunity to share information globally, but they might be scared of the technology! I guess it's hard to say for sure.
I guess I would stick with Google Docs over Zoho, but that is just because I had used Google Docs before this exercise, they both have good features. As far as the founding fathers, I think that they would probably be excited about the opportunity to share information globally, but they might be scared of the technology! I guess it's hard to say for sure.
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