#15 Library 2.0

I have to say I didn't really pay too much attention in the past to Library 2.0, but I guess now after reading a few of the discussion resources on 23 Things that Library 2.0 has been happening around me anyway. Many libraries are transitioning from tons of print resources to more digital/electronic resources. I work in a specialized academic library, our curriculum is so specialized that we can't or don't treat things that a normal academic library would. I find that we don't go out of our way to advertise what resources we have available...where in a more traditional academic library that is done. My library is working on going more to electronic journals and less to print. Our budget isn't feasible anymore to a large print journal collection and I guess we feel we better serve our particular students by making those journals available online. I know that each year we go to renew our Ebsco subscriptions, the more journals we cancel and add online only to.

The one thing I feel my library can work on to integrate even more into Library 2.0 world is to be more out there for our specialized students. I don't think that many of our students even grasp what their library has available to them. I don't agree with less interaction with our students, they don't utilize our library like they could, if we were more out there for them.

#23 Thing...Summarized

I found these 23 Things insightful and fun. There were things on this list that I had never even heard of...EVER. Some I knew quite a bit about and didn't feel I needed to explore it at great lengths. I don't plan on keeping Twitter and really haven't checked it since I signed up way back when. I already have Facebook and Myspace and I rarely get on Myspace but only keep it because of a few family members that have it and not Facebook. I plan on using LibraryThing more often. I'd like to put all the books that me and my son own on there, I think that will help us keep track of what we have exactly. I can say I didn't really care for Del.ci.ouis or Technorati. I just don't feel those things are necessary for me. I bookmark my websites and need them only for myself. I don't feel the need to share them. I did get a Bloglines account with the RSS Feeds and I check that on a daily basis. I really didn't know anything about RSS Feeds till doing the 23 Things. I feel I have grown a bit more in the technology age.

I felt this was an enlightening "assignment" and enjoyed it very much.

#22 Netlibrary

When I saw what the #22 Thing was I chuckled. One of my projects for my LIS 620 Practicum was I had to take Bettendorf Public Library's 2 pamphlets for Netlibrary and for Wilbor (Overdrive) and combine them. This required me to go in and see exactly how each worked now as opposed to 2 years ago when the last pamphlets were done. NetLibrary has changed A LOT since I last used it. After navigating through it a few times, I downloaded the NetLibrary Media Console. I found using this from the desktop was much easier than using it from NetLibrary's website. Downloading from the Media Console allows no interference when it comes to downloading to a portable device or to the PC. You are leaving out the step with Windows Media Player, which I liked as there was no extra steps. Netlibrary had more titles available than what I can remember but I still think they could use more as I couldn't find some authors or titles in their catalog. One thing I have found doing my practicum is that not a lot of people really know what an eAudiobook is or even how to access it. I think it is something worthwhile to advertise.

#21 Podcasts

So I've heard of Podcasts but have never bothered to view them or whatever it is you do with them. So I went to Podcastalley.com that 23 Things had suggested to look at. I found one called Book Review Noise that I thought was cool. I added it to my bloglines and I'm excited to see what I get each day. I plan on going in and finding more podcasts of things I like. I might even subscribe to some sports ones...Len and Bob the commentators for the Cubs have a podcast that they do...I might see what theirs is all about.

#20 YouTube

I have done much searching on YouTube prior to this course. I use it to listen to songs I've heard on the radio but may have forgotten the tune. For instance, last year I went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert (just went on 11/13/09 for the 4th time) and there was this song they did that was just awesome. The next day I wanted to know the name of it so I first called a former music professor and sang the tune to him. He recognized it as O, Fortuna Carmina Burana by Orff. After talking to him, I got on YouTube and typed that in and did Trans Siberian Orchestra and found the video of the song they had done at other concerts. I've used it to send songs to friends that are Christian songs by groups I hear on KLOVE. I have seen other videos but don't care to look at just regular videos, when I use YouTube I use it for musical purposes. I think it can be a bad thing to have but also a good thing. In past courses, we have been given a youtube video to go to on how to do things in the library realm. I would use it more for those purposes that I have stated.

#19 Web 2.0

So I looked over the choices of the award winners and decided to check out imcooked.com since I like food and cooking, although while being in grad school I haven't done much of. :)

This site is basically a type of social networking site but you only share recipes. You can take a video of yourself making something and then upload it to imcooked.com. You need a username and password in order to view other recipes and submit your own. There is a My Friends tab, a groups tab, creating (which shows you how to create and upload a video), there is also a channels tab. The channels tab gives you different food genre choices. It separates the videos to the topic of food. For instance, I clicked on Kids and a number of videos came up directly for kids recipe videos. The founder of imcooked.com is Joseph Liebovic and was started in May 2007. Joseph has a love for food, cooking and recipes and after searching the internet for recipes discovered the large vast amount of recipes out on the internet. He weeded them out so they were only related directly towards recipes and imcooking.com began.

If I didn't already have enough on my plate (pardon the pun) I would join this group. But as I see it right now, I don't have time to cook for my family, I'm sure not going to post videos or recipes on this new social networking site.

#18 Web based apps

I have already had some experience with this type of application. We used Google Docs in my LIS 651 class for one our group projects. One of the girls in my group suggested we use it to do a powerpoint presentation. She created it and then we each were able to go in and edit the slides we chose to work on. All of us could be in there editing at once. It was actually easy to use and it was much easier for us to send to Deb when it came time to turn the project in. Zoho looked exactly like MS Word and it looked easy to use. I didn't create an account but looked over the information on their page. I decided since I had gotten some experience in Google Docs for the first time that I'd comment on it instead.

#17 PB Wiki

Okay...call me bad once again. I looked at the description of PB Wiki and then tried to do the discovery resources and was unable, pages were not there. I then looked at Learning 2.0 Wiki's just to see what it was all about. I didn't really want to create yet another account, I have too many already that I can't keep track of. But I do want to add that I learned how to add into a wiki last night during my practicum at Bettendorf Public Library. As part of my practicum there, one of my duties is to update their Wiki with troubleshooting information, such as How to do a PC Reservation, how to use the fax machine, how to print, etc. So, I started this last night and found it totally awesome! :) First thing I said was that I would've never learned this in my current job!!! I found it really neat how editing a Wiki worked. I had to figure out on my own how to center my title and just how to edit all together. It was super cool and can't wait to do more in it. I sure hope this counts! :)

Wiki Wiki Wiki

I found this one insightful. As part of my practicum duties at Bettendorf Public Library, I am to help organize and add more information to their Wiki. They use this Wiki to put information in it for the reference staff and other staff to use. Currently, I've only been shown what it looks like, I have yet to begin work on it. After seeing some of the Wikis from other libraries, I'm looking forward to working on this project. Hopefully I will get it started before my practicum is over with. For library staff purposes, I think it is good to have a Wiki that is secure to refer to. I have used Wikipedia for many things and have often wondered how accurate the information in a Wiki is.

Technorati #14

Okay so I looked at Technorati, which is something I've never seen nor heard of before. I did a search like 23 Things said to do, do a searching for Learning 2.0 as a browse search and then in the Blog Directory. I found the results list to be very different. As just a regular search several hits came up but as a Blog Directory search only 1 came up. This seems interesting enough but nothing I need to use as I am only blogging for my classes. I'm not a normal blogger and I don't feel I'll be blogging after I am done with school. What I am learning is that there is much more out there than what meets the eye and I'm thankful for these 23 Things, I'd still be out of the loop if it wasn't for this. :)

Del.icio.us #13

Well to be honest, I don't find Del.icio.us fascinating at all. I'm just fine with bookmarking my things in Firefox or IE the old fashion way. I don't believe I need to have a site that will function the same way but with the ability to tag and view everyone else's tags. I was confused by the look of it really. Maybe I'm being too critical but I just don't see all the hub bub.

Rollyo

Okay...so I'm probably being bad here. I didn't try and create a search roll nor did I create an account on Rollyo. I looked at the other search rolls and I didn't really find it would be necessary for me. I'm not a huge searcher on the net and I don't have tons of sights I go to that I need to put in a search roll. I looked at the ones listed on the 23 Things site and just found it confusing and unnecessary. I use the bookmark option in my internet toolbar, I don't need to put them in a search roll or publish them for others to see and use. I did find that Rollyo was very slow, some pages didn't even open. I think something like this is good for libraries to use and to have available for their patrons.

Library Thing

I had looked at Library Thing last year when I heard about it from some classmates of mine. I asked someone I worked with about it, I figured it was something he probably used. He went in and showed me his lists and what all you can do with it. I didn't join it back then because I didn't think I had a need for it. So, with doing these 23 Things, I joined Library Thing. I grabbed 5 books and added them to "My Library," my username is The Chief. I found it actually really neat and something I believe I will use not just for my books but for my son's books as well, he has a library himself. I've asked for a new bookshelf for Christmas, if I get one I am going to put all the books I own on there and then I will put them all in Library Thing.

Generators

Well I didn't find this one too exciting. Probably because I just didn't understand it. The more I tried them the less I liked them. I tried one called Cool Text, I liked it, however I couldn't seem to figure out how to get it to load onto my blog. I tried a few others but didn't bother to even acknowledge them since I couldn't figure them out either. I honestly don't have time to mess with something like this. Before now I had never heard of such a thing and can see now why. I don't need to spruce up my pages with anything. I think the most experience I might have with this is when I used to change the look of my Myspace page. Other than that, I don't mess with it. This gave me more of a headache than anything else.

RSS Feeds/Bloglines

So...today I discovered RSS Feed and I'm amazed and wondering why in the world I didn't discover this before. I had always wondered what in the world that little orange box that says RSS in it was. Now I know!!! Thanks to these 23 Things, I have discovered a whole new world of getting my news and information. I must have 25 things I'm following already. I'm ready to learn more about this. Hopefully I can keep up with it as I am already having a hard enough time keeping up with my practicum and my homework, plus all my outside of school duties, like being a parent, wife, employee, daughter, friend, etc.

Flickr

So...I finally got on to look at Flickr and figured the only way I was going to be able to explore it more was to create an account. Here's my URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/campbell_98/ I have it set to private...friends and family only...so if you want to see my photos you have to add me as a contact. I'm leery about letting just anyone see my photos. Anyway...I uploaded some photos from my trip to Florida back in March. I got to play around with picnickr(??? I think that is how it is spelled). I thought that was awesome to be able to put text on my photos and was glad I had created an account. I plan on using Flickr more often.

Tweet

So...now I'm a tweeter! I started a Twitter account this evening and I can say already I don't like it. The picture I put up on my profile I wanted to crop so it showed only myself in the picture. Well, it seems you can't do that on Twitter, unless you can and I don't know about it yet. I'll have to do even more investigating to this Tweeting. I found some people I knew and I am now following them. That sounds almost creepy! Anyway...got #4 down now...now onto #5 of the 23 things. Until next time...happy tweeting everyone! :)

First 3 Things...

This particular blog has been created for a class I am taking through UW-Madison. The class is LIS 635 Reference and User Services. I have accomplished the first 3 on the list of 23 Things. I viewed the introduction and the 7 1/2 Habits.

I feel since starting this graduate program I have had number 1 of the 7 1/2 habits already in mind...Begin with the end in mind. The end for me is getting my graduate degree in Library and Information Services. Right now, that end is August 2010.

Before 1995, I never really took responsibility for my own learning. I thought I could just get by. But in 1995 that all changed. I had finally found something that inspired me to take learning seriously...music. Music has always been something that interest me as I was in my high school choirs and church choir. With that focus I did well in all my classes but somewhere along the line when I transferred to a 4 year university, that idea of music being my inspiration had left. A part time job opened up for me at an academic library that I had already worked at as student worker. The longer I was there the more I knew I wanted to work in libraries the rest of my life. Long story short...when the moment was right, I went on to get my bachelors degree and now working on my masters. Only I can take the responsibility for what I have learned and continue to learn.

The one thing I am working on is using technology to my advantage, starting with this blog!!!

So, I am going to pat myself on the back for getting through the first 3 of the 23 Things and I cannot wait to move forward with this particular assignment.