I started working with 23 Things early this year with the Washington County pilot group and have since worked with Allegany, Garrett, and Washington county library staff on their Web 2.0 journeys. What an experience it has been!
This experience has been much more than just doing 23 Things in 9 weeks. In my role, I've had the opportunity to become better acquainted with the library staff in my region and to develop closer relationships with the wonderful librarians that work in Western Maryland! I have been continually amazed at the willingness of these hard-working staffers to learn despite very little time to do so. Many who have completed the program have put in overtime and worked on the program in their personal time. Supervisors have been gracious and accommodating to let their staff have time to work on this program.
On a personal level, I've gotten a better idea of how library staff learn in their working environments here in Western Maryland and I how I might be able to better put together a similar type of program in the future. Online learning is great, but it needs to be well-organized with clear and concise instructions. Face-to-face time with the trainer or coordinator is also a significant factor in the success of the learning program. And finally, the support of administration and supervisors is key - if their backing is lacking, the chances of participants' success is greatly lessened.
Thanks to all in the region for participating in the program and for supporting their employees! I'm so proud of everyone!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Week 6, Thing 15 - Where Do We Go From Here?
As the 23 Things coordinator for my region, I feel as if I've spent much of the past few months enmeshed in Web 2.0 technologies. I've had the incredible opportunity to get out to the branches and see real learning about these technologies in action. My mind has already taken the turn from learning and teaching others about these tools to if and how we might integrate them into our libraries' toolkits. I've seen a few bits and pieces of Web 2.0 integrated into library websites, but we still have a long way to go (if we decide that that's the direction that we indeed wish to take) to get to the level of sites like flickr. But is that where we want to go? It seems as if that is the direction that the current is taking us, whether we like it or not.
These articles bring up many interesting points and they are mostly coming from an upper-level viewpoint. Do these viewpoints actually represent the library community and the folks that are actually on the front lines? We still have a long way to go and I wonder whether we will like our destination once we get there...
These articles bring up many interesting points and they are mostly coming from an upper-level viewpoint. Do these viewpoints actually represent the library community and the folks that are actually on the front lines? We still have a long way to go and I wonder whether we will like our destination once we get there...
Week 6, Thing #14 - Trash or Treasure?
As may of the 23 Things participants in my region have created their blogs, I've joking sent them emails to welcome them to the "blogosphere." Until looking at Technorati I was not aware of just how huge this blogosphere has become. It seems that everyone and their dog have their own blog these days! I can see some value to this tool - it's interesting to see what people are saying out there on a particular issue or topic, and you can easily find people with similar or dissimilar interests, as desired. But as information professionals, do we really care about all of these opinions freely floating around on the web? Just like websites, how reliable is this information? Is the web just becoming one big op-ed?
The popular sites weren't really of much interest to me - very pop-culture-like and overexposed in my opinion.
On my search for PLCMCL2 I was able to immediately retrieve one of the Garrett county participant's blogs, who had referenced that term in one of her posts. Still seems a little loose and irrelevant to me...
The popular sites weren't really of much interest to me - very pop-culture-like and overexposed in my opinion.
On my search for PLCMCL2 I was able to immediately retrieve one of the Garrett county participant's blogs, who had referenced that term in one of her posts. Still seems a little loose and irrelevant to me...
Week 6, Thing 13 - Not so delicious...
I think that tagging of resources by end-users is useful, but also a messy way of organizing information. This all seems to be in an early stage, so it'll be interesting to see how this actually evolves and how libraries and other information organizations integrate this type of self-cataloging into their internal and external tools.
I think that del.icio.us is interesting, but not something that I will use on a regular basis. I have my own set of personal bookmarks that I've organized into folders on my work and home computers. At this point, I don't have too many bookmarks and I wouldn't be willing to share all of them with others - some of them are personal and some just probably wouldn't be too useful for others besides myself.
I think that del.icio.us is interesting, but not something that I will use on a regular basis. I have my own set of personal bookmarks that I've organized into folders on my work and home computers. At this point, I don't have too many bookmarks and I wouldn't be willing to share all of them with others - some of them are personal and some just probably wouldn't be too useful for others besides myself.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Week 7, Thing #16 - I've Seen the Queen of All Wikis
I'd been using Wikipedia for some time before I actually understood or realized just exactly what a wiki is. Once the buzz started growing about wikis last year I decided to learn a little more about them by taking the SirsiDynix webinar on wikis, 'Wiki: The Ultimate Tool for Online Collaboration', presented by Meredith Farkas, a.k.a. the Queen of Wikis. I'd highly recommend this archived presentation:
http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=66
Wikis differ from websites in that they put the power into the hands of the people. Instead of having to go through one technical gatekeeper at your organization to get something added to the website, you or your co-worker can simply make the post yourselves. This allows you to post information in more timely, effective manner. This is also one of the dangers of a wiki - depending on the type of wiki you choose (and there are many to choose from!), unknown persons can post just about anything they'd like to your site. It seems a lot of libraries are finding inventive ways to use them - staff intranets are a particularly good way to use them, in my opinion. The Allegany County Library System created a wiki to help coordinate one of its grants and could be easily accessed and used by all members of the grant team.
Another great feature of wikis is that you don't really have to know code to post to a wiki. You can just use an interface that looks very similar to a word processing program to type in your information and post. In any case, this topic seems to be quite hot at the moment and a lot of conferences are using wikis for both pre- and post-conference information sharing. The recent MLA 2007 conference featured a wiki that included podcasts of conference attendees sharing their experiences after taking part in workshops. There seem to be so many creative uses for wikis in libraries and I'm sure we'll see even more clever ideas as time goes on - but they're definitely hot right now!
Oh, and I got to see the Queen of All Wikis, Meredith Farkas, at the Computers in Libraries Conference this past April in D.C....pretty neat.
http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=66
Wikis differ from websites in that they put the power into the hands of the people. Instead of having to go through one technical gatekeeper at your organization to get something added to the website, you or your co-worker can simply make the post yourselves. This allows you to post information in more timely, effective manner. This is also one of the dangers of a wiki - depending on the type of wiki you choose (and there are many to choose from!), unknown persons can post just about anything they'd like to your site. It seems a lot of libraries are finding inventive ways to use them - staff intranets are a particularly good way to use them, in my opinion. The Allegany County Library System created a wiki to help coordinate one of its grants and could be easily accessed and used by all members of the grant team.
Another great feature of wikis is that you don't really have to know code to post to a wiki. You can just use an interface that looks very similar to a word processing program to type in your information and post. In any case, this topic seems to be quite hot at the moment and a lot of conferences are using wikis for both pre- and post-conference information sharing. The recent MLA 2007 conference featured a wiki that included podcasts of conference attendees sharing their experiences after taking part in workshops. There seem to be so many creative uses for wikis in libraries and I'm sure we'll see even more clever ideas as time goes on - but they're definitely hot right now!
Oh, and I got to see the Queen of All Wikis, Meredith Farkas, at the Computers in Libraries Conference this past April in D.C....pretty neat.
Week 9, Thing #20 - All Eyes on YouTube
I've already posted a few videos from YouTube on my 23 Things blog, ranging from a non-pc Dumb Blonde in the Library video to the eye-opening 'Shift Happens' video. In my mind, all of these Web 2.0 tools share a lot in common - you can share your pictures, podcasts, videos, thoughts, etc., on a site, search for what other people are uploading, and then connect with others, if so desired.
YouTube is probably one of the most well-known Web 2.0 sites out there to the general public. I think they're even talking about letting voters pose questions to presidential candidates via YouTube. Then of course there's the ugly question of the digital divide - what about those voters who don't have access to the Internet or don't have the skills to navigate YouTube? These new technologies are certainly opening up a whole new can of worms.
YouTube is a great way for people to share their videos and to be entertained. But there's certainly a lot of trash on the site. I'd certainly also caution young adults and teens to be wary of putting themselves in situations where potentially embarrassing footage could be taken and posted on the Internet. Think Spring Break photos or pictures taken on a cell phone.
YouTube is probably one of the most well-known Web 2.0 sites out there to the general public. I think they're even talking about letting voters pose questions to presidential candidates via YouTube. Then of course there's the ugly question of the digital divide - what about those voters who don't have access to the Internet or don't have the skills to navigate YouTube? These new technologies are certainly opening up a whole new can of worms.
YouTube is a great way for people to share their videos and to be entertained. But there's certainly a lot of trash on the site. I'd certainly also caution young adults and teens to be wary of putting themselves in situations where potentially embarrassing footage could be taken and posted on the Internet. Think Spring Break photos or pictures taken on a cell phone.
Week 9, Thing #22 - Still Nothing Like a Good Old-Fashioned Book
The creation of the printing press/movable type printing was a revolutionary invention and helped to make the dissemination of information both easier and faster. That was an incredible and hugely significant milestone in the history of humankind and now look what has happened! You can now download books on the Internet with a few clicks of your mouse! We've become so used to all of this technology, but if you sit a moment and reflect on what this actually is, it seems like wizardry!
One of my favorite books, Pride and Prejudice, was available on Project Gutenberg, and I downloaded a portion of it in a pdf file. I don't think I'd ever really want to read this book online; rather I'd probably print it out and then read it at a later time. Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to read with the book in my hand - I find it difficult to fall asleep without a book!
One of my favorite books, Pride and Prejudice, was available on Project Gutenberg, and I downloaded a portion of it in a pdf file. I don't think I'd ever really want to read this book online; rather I'd probably print it out and then read it at a later time. Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to read with the book in my hand - I find it difficult to fall asleep without a book!
Week 9, Thing #21 - So Many Podcasts, So Little Time
I've known about, used, recorded, and listened to podcasts for some time, but I wasn't aware that there were websites that aggregated them and let you easily search for topics or browse. I should have known...
As with taking advantage of all of these technologies, it's just a matter of finding the time to process them all. I did add a feed to my Bloglines account and now can easily go in and listen to the podcast, but it's a matter of me remembering to go in and finding the time to listen to it.
As with taking advantage of all of these technologies, it's just a matter of finding the time to process them all. I did add a feed to my Bloglines account and now can easily go in and listen to the podcast, but it's a matter of me remembering to go in and finding the time to listen to it.
Week 9, Thing #19 - I Opened Pandora's Box...
I selected to take a look at Pandora, which won the number one award in the Music Category. I'd heard a lot about this tool and know some people that use it, so I thought it would be a good time to take a look at it.
When I created my profile, I discovered that I'd actually already created a profile some time ago and added just one artist. Who knows how many accounts I have floating around out there... You're able to create your own radio station(s), which you can listen to from anywhere you have Internet access. Pandora is based on the Radio Genome Project - basically a group of musicians and techies came together to "analyze" music based on a specific criteria - genes of music.
You can search for songs, artists, stations, and listener profiles - so there is a social networking aspect to the site. I searched for Oasis' Wonderwall and its features were described as:
mellow rock instrumentationrepetitive melodic phrasingmixed acoustic and electric instrumentationminor key tonalitymelodic songwritinga dynamic male vocalistacoustic rhythm guitarssubtle use of stringssubtle use of acoustic piano
I can listen to a sample, bookmark it as a favorite, and buy it from iTunes or Amazon.
If you just click on 'Create a New Station', it asks you for one of your favorite songs or artists and it then creates your very own radio station.
This is such a cool tool for all music lovers and its such a cool concept to catalog music by its "genes"!
When I created my profile, I discovered that I'd actually already created a profile some time ago and added just one artist. Who knows how many accounts I have floating around out there... You're able to create your own radio station(s), which you can listen to from anywhere you have Internet access. Pandora is based on the Radio Genome Project - basically a group of musicians and techies came together to "analyze" music based on a specific criteria - genes of music.
You can search for songs, artists, stations, and listener profiles - so there is a social networking aspect to the site. I searched for Oasis' Wonderwall and its features were described as:
mellow rock instrumentationrepetitive melodic phrasingmixed acoustic and electric instrumentationminor key tonalitymelodic songwritinga dynamic male vocalistacoustic rhythm guitarssubtle use of stringssubtle use of acoustic piano
I can listen to a sample, bookmark it as a favorite, and buy it from iTunes or Amazon.
If you just click on 'Create a New Station', it asks you for one of your favorite songs or artists and it then creates your very own radio station.
This is such a cool tool for all music lovers and its such a cool concept to catalog music by its "genes"!
Thing #18 - Microsoft Beware!
This exercise completely blew me away. I had no idea that there were online applications of word processing tools. I feel that I'm pretty familiar with Microsoft Word and the ZohoWriter web-based tool does not pale in comparison to that 200 pound gorilla. There are many advantages to web-based applications - no need to download software, upgrades are done automatically, application can be accessed from any computer, etc.
I created a test document on Zoho Writer and found the interface to be user-friendly and clean. I'm guessing that it doesn't have all the power and bells/whistles of Word, but it had all the basics. I'm also wondering how it might interface with other applications, such as spreadsheets, databases, etc. But I'd definitely recommend this tool to anyone who needed a basic word processor.
I created a test document on Zoho Writer and found the interface to be user-friendly and clean. I'm guessing that it doesn't have all the power and bells/whistles of Word, but it had all the basics. I'm also wondering how it might interface with other applications, such as spreadsheets, databases, etc. But I'd definitely recommend this tool to anyone who needed a basic word processor.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Thing #17 - Playing in the Sandbox
Easy, easy, easy!
Wow - it was so easy to edit using the PB Wiki! I took a basic web skills class back in Library School (over 7 years ago) and had to learn actual html code. Things are so much easier now! What makes this tool so great is that it's collaborative - there's no need for a gatekeeper to control the page - all can add, as they like. Also, you can get information up and out to the world very quickly. It helps to contribute to a lateral organization.
On the sandbox I added the image logos for each county. You can do more than just add simple text in a wiki - you can insert hyperlinks, images, etc., with just a few clicks.
Wow - it was so easy to edit using the PB Wiki! I took a basic web skills class back in Library School (over 7 years ago) and had to learn actual html code. Things are so much easier now! What makes this tool so great is that it's collaborative - there's no need for a gatekeeper to control the page - all can add, as they like. Also, you can get information up and out to the world very quickly. It helps to contribute to a lateral organization.
On the sandbox I added the image logos for each county. You can do more than just add simple text in a wiki - you can insert hyperlinks, images, etc., with just a few clicks.
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