Thing 23

Reflect on my learning journey and post a few thoughts about my journey through this programme? I have absolutely thoroughly enjoyed it and I am sorry that it is at an end...but as ACL Learning 2.0 says "Is this really the end? Or just the beginning?" I think it IS the beginning...it is the start of my learning journey with all things web 2.0....there are so many things I want to go back and explore in more depth now that I know of their existence. I think this programme is brilliant...I enjoyed being able to do things at my own pace, work things out myself and create things...like this blog...a few weeks ago I had no idea that all of this web 2.0 technology existed...I had heard of podcasts and had no idea what they were (and neither did my kids so I was able to teach them something new :), I'd heard of Flickr because my cousin had sent me an invite to look at photos they posted on a trip to America, but I had no idea about how to add photos myself etc...I didn't know that Wikipedia was a wiki and what exactly a wiki was (although I knew that anyone could edit Wikipedia)...never heard of Technorati or Rollyo or Bloglines or Zoho Writer...so I knew bits and pieces...but really rather an ignoramus :-) Now I still know bits and pieces...I doubt that I could call myself an expert on web 2.0 technology...but I am a lot more educated and I am pretty confident helping others use this technology...so many many thanks to Elgar and Learning 2.0...it's been a great journey, very worthwhile...AND it's been a LOT of FUN :-)...and I am looking forward to the next such-like course..

Week 9/Thing 22

I looked at NetLibrary, created an account and added 4 titles to my favourites. One book that I particularly want to read is Africa on Six Wheels: A Semester on Safari. I read the preface and it sounds like it would be interesting...I enjoy reading books about Africa as one of my goals/dreams is to go on safari there. The other titles I added to my Favourites were 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving; Adobe Photoshop; and Advertising on the Internet....some very interesting titles on NetLibrary. I didn't look through the lot but now that I know they're there, I will be back to look at them in more depth etc. I am particularly excited by the thought of possibly and hopefully being able to download audiobooks from NetLibrary to the new MP3 player that I am going to earn in a very short time :-) And the MP3 player will be another new bit of technology to master because I've never had one or used one...my kids have them but I do not have a clue about how to use them...yet :-) I most definitely think I will be using NetLibrary in the future....have to get used to reading from a computer and I think that's a very different thing from reading a book in hardcopy...and I think it would be great if I could download an audiobook to my MP3 player and listen to it while walking/driving long distances etc....And lastly I like the fact that you can choose your "interface language" from several languages...I'm sure that will be a very useful feature for many customers...

Week 9/Thing 21

I looked at podcast.net and did a search for author interviews. Added Authorlink Audio Interviews to my Bloglines account and then went back to look at a podcast. I tried to access a podcast on James Mitchener Remembered...and found that you had to pay...oops...not really wanting to pay at the moment but I may look at that in the future beacause it looked like a good site to listen to author interviews. Next I did a search for "libraries" and came up with Talking with Talis... and a podcast called Introducing the Future Librarians Gang....this time I did things in the right order and actually listened to the podcast before adding it to my Bloglines feeds. It was really interesting...interview with a group of librarians in the UK who had been nominated as some of the top librarians of the future... and they discussed all sorts of things from salaries to the stereotypes of librarians etc. I will be listening to other conversations on Talking with Talis. Also looked at podcastalley.com but much preferred podcast.net. I didn't like the thought of having to download yet more software on my home computer (and I wouldn't even consider it at all on my work computer) to be able to listen to podcasts...my computer is already straining under all the software I throw at it :) So the outcome of that visit was that I didn't listen to any podcasts from podcastalley.com even though I found some interesting library ones that would have been good to listen to...I found listening to the podcast very much like listening to a radio interview...and I'll be listening to more in the future, whether work related or not..and I also added all those sites re how to publish podcasts etc to my Favourites...and I just very well might try making my own one later on ...gotta think of something to talk about first...maybe linedancing dogs.. :-)

Week9 /Thing 20

I explored You Tube and searched under linedancing...and I chose that topic because I am a linedancer...looked at a video of Billy Ray Cyrus singing Achy Breaky Heart as this was one of the very first songs that a line dance was choreographed to and one of the first dances I learnt. Got a bit sidetracked after that by first watching a clip of linedancing dogs...and I have posted that clip on my blog. It is under this post... And after I watched the linedancing dogs, well I got sidetracked even further and it was dancing dogs of all sorts...Potential for use of You Tube clips on library websites? Instructional videos on how to use various types of library equipment/maybe a staff only area where staff can watch training videos or watch a message from say the Head Librarian. Interviews with visiting authors? Special announcements via video rather than the usual email/posters etc? I am sure there would be many many possible uses and that the inclusion of You Tube-like technology would appeal to many people and not just the younger generation..

Britains got talent - line dancing dogs

As a linedancing fanatic, I love this clip of dogs linedancing. I have seen a dog linedance in real life myself and I can tell you that you need a good memory to remember the steps :-)

Week 8/Thing 19

Web 2.0 tools are great! I looked at One Sentence (www.onesentence.org) which was listed under Fun Stuff. I really enjoyed this...the idea is to write a story in 1 sentence....so I wrote one and submitted it and hopefully it will be published. Also added this website to my Favourites. Also looked at Lulu where you can publish your own manuscript...but no luck there. The screen froze and is still frozen as I type this post. Also looked at iGoogle and have to admit that I went slightly crazy there :-) Added heaps of widgets to my iGoogle home page (Garfield of the day, To Do, Things to Ponder among a few...the full list of what I added is too long for me to type out here :-) All I can say is that I am gonna have a lot of fun with it... oh and I also added Hangman, played a game and narrowly avoided being hung! Favourite quote in Quote of the Day today was "Not a shred of evidence exists in favour of the idea that life is serious" - Brendan Gill...love that quote. I have added the page of Web 2.0 tools etc to my Favourites as well and I'll be looking through more sites later. And lastly, I should say that I added all this to my home computer so I can play at home and not at work when I should be working :-) Workwise I can see some of the widgets on iGoogle as being useful e.g This Day in History - this could be used to find out what happened on a particular day in history and create a display around it. I intend to do that. Top 5 movies at the box Office...good for answering customer queries on this topic and I don't have to search Google for the info - I can just go to my iGoogle homepage. And that's just a couple...there were too many for me to look through at the moment...but I'm sure I'll find more that would be useful in a library.

Well I did it....yippee! Posted documents from both Zoho Writer and Google Docs. The pic in my Google Docs posting takes a while to upload when you first enter my blog (is that the correct computer terminology?)......but please wait for it...it's worth it (well I think so anyway) :-) And I hope you have a great Christmas :-)

And couldn't resist trying out Google Docs too. Above is a message my daughter wrote and saved on my computer...it's a bit early to be saying that, I know, but never mind..

Week 8/Thing 18

Wow! I am definitely impressed with Zoho Writer. I like the fact that you have access to any documents you create, from any computer. That must beat having to save it on a floppy or CD etc and then carry the floppy or CD around so that you can use it on a different computer and hope it doesn't get damaged and having to have backup floppies if the document is something important... And I am thinking that if your computer crashes and you lose what's on your hard drive and you hadn't backed your document up on floppy/CD, you would still be able to access it from Zoho Writer...brilliant! I have added Zoho Writer to my Favourites and will definitely be using it in future.  I've saved this document and now I'm going to ty and publish it through Zoho to my blog...here goes... And sorry about the emoticon...just couldn't resist.

Week 7/Thing 17

Played around with the Learning 2.0 Favourites wiki and added my favs to some of the lists...that's me whose fav books are The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, by the way... I'm a great Dan Brown fan. I found the wiki easy to use and very user friendly...and I liked the way you just had to type in your blog URL and it provided a link to your blog. I also added the PB Wiki Tour to my Favourites because I want to go back and create a family wiki sometime... not much else to add...I love wikis :-)

Thing 16/Week7

I looked at the SJCPL subject pathfinder wiki and within that I clicked on "edit" under several of the subject headings, only to come across the message "You have to login to edit pages". And at the top of the page there is a button that says Edit (librarians only). This is obviously then a wiki controlled by authorised librarians. I am sure that we could use the same sort of system at ACL (and please excuse my ignorance if we already are :-) but I don't think so because I haven't seen anything on our website that says "Edit", which seems to be a wiki hallmark. Also looked at Princeton Public Library Book Lovers wiki and passwords are needed there as well to be able to edit etc...members of the Book Lovers Summer Reading club can have their book reviews posted and also respond to others' reviews. I found this interesting because although the wikis are subject and open to editing, there are still controls on them...you have to register (i.e. be authorised) and have a password to edit...it is not necessarily a matter of just anyone stumbling upon a particular wiki who can edit and change them etc. The Library Success wiki was interesting too and its wording "because of vandalism problems, e-mail confirmation is now required..." - that confirms what I read previously, that wikis are vulnerable to being vandalised. From Library Success, I linked to the Help pages at Wikipedia with a lot of information on wikis, including editing. I can see those files being useful at some point. Also found the Library Technology Training wiki interesting...looked informative and easy to understand and I am actually thinking about creating a wiki for use within my extended family...not sure for what purpose yet though :-)Ideas as to what types of applications within libraries might work well with wiki? Well, I was thinking Millenium help files....easy to update? (by the experts) and us ordinary staff members could just add our tips and things that worked for us on there :-)...and I reckon lots of other training could go on a wiki too. Libraries are constantly changing in terms of rules and software etc so I think it would be great to have something that is easily and quickly updateable. I like the Book Lovers wiki at Princeton Public Library...and booklists, like recommended authors in different genres would work well on wikis (I think)...I am sure there are more because from what I have learnt about wiki, they work well with constantly changing information etc and in libraries we have a lot of constantly changing information...

Week 6/Thing 15

What does Library 2.0 mean to me? Well...I say forget Library 2.0...I love the idea of Library 4.0 :-) ....."knowledge spa; meditation, relaxation, immersion in a luxury of ideas and thought," as Dr Wendy Schultz says in "To a Temporary Place in time." I like the thought of libraries as "mind gyms, idea labs and art salons." It is fascinating how libraries are evolving along with the development of new technology. Reminds me of some papers I did for my library diploma where the concept of a virtual library was discussed. But while I am all for the inclusion of all this new technolgy in libraries, I think we need to remember that there are many people out there who are not comfortable with technology and computers and who prefer the paper version of books to digital forms of information and ebooks etc. These are people who have not grown up with computers and are computer illiterate. They might not know, and they might not even want to learn, how to use a mouse. I believe that there will always be a need to have some form of the traditional library for the sake of these people. We need to cater to customer demand and give customers what they want, and many customers do not want to go anywhere near anything remotely technological. Obviously this will change with future generations as they grow up immersed in technology. I like what Rick Anderson said as well, in "Away from the Icebergs" ..."We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need, so they can spend as little time as possible wrestling with lousy search interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning....But if our services can't be used without training, then it's the services that need to be fixed - not our patrions." It's like that saying KISS (keep it simple, stupid.) And as Dr Schultz says, "What are libraries? Libraries are not just collections of documents and books, they are conversations, they are conconvocations of people, ideas and artifacts in dynamic exchange." A library with a collection of books or information and no people? To me...that is not a real library, with the heart and soul that a good library should have...that is a database :-) And gosh...looking back at all that...it's more like a book than a blog :-) Sorry...got carried away...

On the subject of tags

I guess, upon reflection, that maybe "merrylegs" wasn't a good tag for my post...maybe I should have tagged it web 2 or ACL Learning 2.0 or something...but hey...I've just got my learner's licence here...got a long way to go before getting my full web 2 licence :-)

Week 6: Technorati

Well it looks like my html did work so I tagged that last post. I also pinged (love that word :-) Technorati which means they will now be checking my blog for new content. I guess the next challenge sometime will be to set my blog up to "ping" automatically. In the meantime I'd better try this html-ing as much as possible to get used to it.

Week 6/Thing 14: Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

Amazing! Can't quite believe that I am about to try and use html when attempting this week's challenge to add tags to my posts! I have no knowledge whatsoever of html, so this is gonna be interesting :-) I enjoyed looking through Technorati and set up my own account. I searched for "Learning 2.0" in entire post and came up with 5383 entries. Then I did a tag search for "Learning 2.0" and came up with 103 posts. Lastly I searched for "Learning 2.0" in Blog Directory search and came up with 328 blogs. Very interestingly the Blog Directory search showed our very own ACL Learning 2.0 as an entry on the first page. I added this to My Favorites on Technorati and added tags. Then I claimed my blog using Post Claim, added a "Technorati button" to my blog and was told that my blog claim had been "successfully configured." Also added http://elgar-acllearn.blogspot.com/ to my watchlist. The last part of the challenge is to see whether my attempts at "html-ing" are successful. So here goes... :-)

Technorati tag: merrylegs

Thing 13/ Week 6: Del.icio.us

And it was delicious too :-) I enjoyed looking around Del.icio.us and it is easy to use. I set up an account and added some bookmarks. I like the fact that as well as just bookmarking a webpage etc, you can tag it and add notes so that you can instantly see what the webpage is about when you open "Your Bookmarks." I looked at Network Badges and that is something I might set myself up with as well later on, although I can see myself having so many of my own bookmarks that it might be a bit of a worry trying to keep track of anyone else's as well :-) The best thing is coming across some great websites that I would never otherwise have come across if I hadn't been looking on Del.icio.us. And that goes for the whole of my Web 2 training so far - I've come across the most interesting, fantastic things that I would never have known were there otherwise.

Week 5/Thing 12

I have to say that I didn't find Rollyo a particularly easy tool to navigate around, and I wouldn't call it user-friendly. I think it was very much a matter of trial and error when I was creating my searchroll and even then I am not sure if my searchroll is sufficient because it doesn't look anything like the Quick Quotes searchroll, for example. I guess that later on I could somehow add more details re what the different linedancing websites contain. I definitely missed having a Help file to look at as there seemed to be no help files on Rollyo. On the plus side, it is very helpful to be able to look at the searchrolls that others have created and I will be using Rollyo mostly to find useful websites on different subjects. I liked the Quick Quotes searchroll because it gave me some good websites to look for quotes.

Week 5/Library Thing

I love it! For a self-confessed book hoarder like me, the LibraryThing catalogue is gonna be absolutely fantastic! I have thought about cataloguing my books quite a few times over the years but...well...the thought was too daunting :-) This is such a quick easy way to catalogue that I will be using it. I found it interesting that some of the entries came up with book covers and others didn't, and I also found the manual adding of books very easy and straightforward as well. And there is a lot of interesting-looking library stuff that I will be delving into later. I like the idea that LibraryThing can "analyse your entire catalog and come up with 100 or so books you might want to check out." That's your very own personalised Reader's Advisory service :-) And I like the sort of tongue-in-cheek Unsuggester which will "give you humorous recommendations of books you probably wouldn't enjoy."

Thing 9/Week 4

I've had a look at Feedster, Topix, Syndic8 and Technorati and the 2 search tools I prefer are Syndic8 and Technorati. I added a couple of feeds to my Bloglines account from Feedster and Topix, and added Syndic8 and Technorati to my Favorites so that I can go back and have a better look sometime. I did a search for "libraries" on each search tool and from what I have seen so far, I think the quality of the results were better on Syndic8 and Technorati. But I think I would need a lot more time to look at the different search tools to be sure about that. Also had some strange results - things you wouldn't think could be connected to libraries ....just like searching on Google really...you do come up with strange things if your search isn't narrow enough..the one complaint I have about Bloglines and all these search tools is that you could spend hours and hours searching and browsing and having fun finding new things on them and filling up your computer with newsfeeds etc...and you could forget about everything else. Rather addictive. But very enlightening, educational, and fun :-)

That's interesting. My public Bloglines account should be http://www.bloglines.com/public/merrylegs (well I think it should anyway) but I tried that and tried http://www.bloglines.com/public/merrylegs@clear.net.nz and neither worked. I am therefore wondering where I am going wrong. Time to ask the Elgar team for help. In the meantime, please don't take any notice of anything I've said about it :-)

Thing 8/Week 4

Well I think I went a bit overboard this time. I have 33 feeds on my Bloglines account at the moment and will probably end up with more - it's so easy to subscribe. I have just been doing a lot of copying and pasting of URLs. What do I like about RSS and newsreaders? I guess the fact that the feeds are just there in my Bloglines account and I just have to click on them. I have Quotes of the Day and Word of the Day, for example, and for someone who likes that sorta stuff, it is great to just be able to click on the feed instead of the usual seach on Google etc and then having to look around the websites that come up (although I could add the websites to my favourites.) It saves time. I can see myself using Word of the Day at work because I do a Word of the Week at our library. Quotes of the Day? Good for finding inspiration when things aren't going so well. Other sites like the Readers' Club will be great for keeping up to date on what books are out there. How can libraries take advantage of this technology? Great way of keeping up to date on different things for a start...I'm sure there are many other advantages but I just haven't thought of them yet :-) I feel like I'm just starting to learn about Bloglines and that there is a lot more to learn when I have more time to fully explore it. As for my public Bloglines account, this should be http://www.bloglines.com/public/merrylegs

Thing 7/Week 3

Technology...I love it when it works (and hate it when it doesn't. Doesn't everyone? :-) I have been really enjoying doing this web2 training because I'm learning stuff I always wanted to know but didn't know where to start. I enjoyed the social networking exercises and I'll continue with my accounts on My Space, Bebo and Facebook once I've finished this training (although I will probably change things around or start new accounts etc because they won't be work-related then.) I will keep my Flickr account and any other accounts I will have opened by the time I finish this course. I have especially been enjoying Flickr and I'm totally amazed by all the different applications. Love that Color Fields Color Pickr. I haven't looked at all the mashups and web applications in depth but now I know they're there and I know where to go so I'll be back to try them later on when I have more time. Another thing on my list will be to learn more about digital cameras...missed the training ACL had on downloading etc a few years ago and only just bought my own digital camera...so I can't wait to play around and put my own photos on Flickr etc. The other thing I wanted to say to anyone else who might be reading this and who is daunted by all this technology...give it a go, play around with it...read the instructions first...look up the help files at whatever website you're on...but don't be scared of making mistakes because that is how you will learn...you can delete stuff you create that you don't like...and you can start again...and lastly....remember that a computer is still only a computer..it won't always do what it is supposed to do! :-)

Thing 6/Week 3

Well, I created a trading card on FD Toy's Trading Card Maker this week. I called it "Super Librarian", in the tradition of super heroes, and I uploaded an awful photo of myself (taken a few years ago on webcam by my daughter, and I have to say she took it sneakily :-) because I put my hands over my face at the last minute.) The subtitle was "Loses her book", and description was "Super Librarian has lost her book within a library of 20,000 books and must find it before her nemesis the evil Book Destroyer does." The trading card was very easy to make using the software provided, and I had a lot of fun making it, but I have to admit that it's not something I would want other people to see 'cos the photo is so bad :-) But I will try it again sometime, once I find a better pic to use....and maybe I'd better do some research on trading cards at the same time, just to check whether I'm on the right track and am including the right sorts of things....

Eric Clapton Aug. 15, 1975 - Green Flash!

Eric Clapton Aug. 15, 1975 - Green Flash!, originally uploaded by ultomatt.

Those were the days! Eric Clapton in 1975. You might notice that there are quite a few posts about Eric Clapton in my blog. I am a big fan of his music, and won a competition to attend a concert of his at The Royal Albert Hall in London in 1994.

Thing 4/Week2

What have I been doing this week? Having fun surfing between Blogger, Bebo, My Space and Facebook. I've also created profiles/accounts on Bebo, My Space and Facebook, and when I get time, I'll try to create links to them on my blog. I've set up links on my blog to an Eric Clapton webpage on My Space (and asked to be Eric's friend while I was at it....which reminds me that I need to check out whether I've received a response yet :-) Also set up a link to an Eric Clapton webpage on Bebo. Sent a request to be a friend of Auckland City Libraries on Bebo but still eagerly awaiting a reply...Tried to add images to my blog from My Space but that's still a work in progress aka asking the friendly ACL Learning 2.0 staff for some tips 'cos I keep getting "invalid URL" messages when I try to save images...maybe that's down to the type of image I am trying to add etc (mostly photos of gorgeous movie stars
:-) ....maybe that's not allowed...and lastly but not leastly, I joined the Auckland City Libraries, for Life! group on Facebook and added an old workmate (who knows who she is, if she is reading this) as a friend. Of the three "social networking services", I am enjoying My Space the most, then Facebook and lastly Bebo. What did I learn that most amazed me? That Bebo is designed for people over 13...food for thought....What frustrated me? Trying to get the right URL when attempting to create links etc...it often doesn't seem to work when you copy/paste the URL in the address bar...and then when you type in the URL that people quote on their webpage, that's no guarantee that it will work either (I was still getting invalid URL messages even then)! I have decided that it's probably all down to what type of file you are trying to link to etc...and that's my theory and I'm sticking to it. For now.. :-) Next stop the help files on Blogger and an email to the ACL Learning 2.0 staff...I'll let you know the outcome...watch this space...

I have also learnt that the time Blogger says my blog is posted is not correct (according to NZ time, that is.) It says that my first blog was sent at 1.14 am and it was definitely sent some time before 10pm on 3 October. Another thing I will avoid doing in future is saving my blog as a draft because it didn't seem to work when I tried to go back in and edit and publish it. I did look at the Help files and as far as I could see, I was doing everything right...but I still couldn't edit/publish it. I had to delete it and create a new post. I wonder if any other bloggers have had the same problem.....maybe some kind person will stumble upon my musings and enlighten me :-)

Blogging Away

I am actually blogging! I can't believe it! I have now joined the world of "those in the know" (well, sort of), and this is my first post. Haven't decided what on earth I'm gonna say yet, except that I'm glad I'm here; I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing (well, maybe a little bit of an idea); and many thanks to Auckland City Libraries for taking me outta my comfort zone and making me try this, beacuse it's something I've been wanting to learn how to do for a long time. What have I learnt so far? That I don't need to be a computer wizard to set up a blog because Blogger makes it easy. You just have to follow the steps. And it's fun. A blogging fanatic may have been unleashed! Watch this space :-)