Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Thing # 23

Hooray for me!

There are so many exciting and useful Library 2.0 technologies and tools! To attempt to master them all at once is overwhelming - and unnecessary! Select the 3 - 5 Library 2.0 skills you feel will benefit you most personally and professionally, and master those first! Then you can move on to the ingest 1, 3 or 5!

Someone kick me and remind me not to do this again while undertaking two graduate level classes and working on a Masters.

However, I met the challenge and I learned a lot! and i met the deadline! THANKS team!

Thing # 12 other people's blogs

I left comments on the five blogs below!

1. Reading Thoughfully - I saw this in the window and just had to have it! That would be the gas saving, enviromentally green car on the right! I saw it on a colleagues blog and snatched it! Thanks Debbi! (Reading Thoughfully).

2. Lilypad Plalyground - kept looking for the FROG! Appreciated her photo story screen shots!

3. Gotbooks? - I must have missed the lesson on adding mp3 files! Yo go Kelli!

4. Infinite Planes - commented on Bruce's Rollyo video!

5. My Masters - one of the coolest looking blogs I have seen! I liked it!

Thing # 21 Video Podcasts

This is the rescued yellow labrador, Jack. I added music to the slide show, but alas no voice over. I hate the sound of my own voice, and no microphone\! Along with creating booktalks, students and teachers can use photostory for just abput anything. This year's PYP 5th grade exhibition is How We Express Ourselves. I am sure students will be creating PowerPoints, podcasts and using Flip minicams alot this coming year!

Thing # 20 You Tube and Teacher Tube Videos

The availability of videos on the net is amazing! I guess it was Andy Warhol who said everyone would have 15 minutes of fame! Is this what he meant?

Along with all the stuff we can't talk about and probably shouldn't be watching anyway, there is an enormus amount of educatioinal and "how to" videos about Library 2.0 Tools and Technology, a few that are featured on 23 Things.

I really liked the video about using wikis created by Vickie Davis, a computer science instructor in a K - 8 middle school, I believe in Atlanta. Ms. Davis uses wikis in her classes in a very effective and exciting way! Her video is one of the motivations I have for completing 23 Things! It is very worthwhile!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3429997833514823728

Thing # 19 Web 2.0 Awards

Writeboard is a great tool! Less cumbersome than a wiki - and less functionality. However there is less of a learning curve, so you ca get wight to the project without making a lot of newbie errors. Great for a collaborative proposal memo (which is what i worked on for a smartboard)! I am sure it can easily be used or a group or class project. It is a keeper!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Thing # 18 Open Office & Google Docs

I said somewhere earlier that software i.e., MS Office etc., who needs it anymore? These programs are awesome! This must work especially well for people who buy laptops and computers without pre-loaded software. It certainly would make them less expensive. The one thing I noticed on google docs there were fewer fonts, so your documents are going to look more generic and homogenized. For a lot of people with whom personality is a part of self-expression, they will prefer an MS Office package. Publisher software!

Thing # 22 Nings

I am all ready a member of a couple of Nings including http://libsfellows.ning.com/ and I joined one this morning (http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/)

I think one could use a ning to as school library site as opposed to some of those static, canned sites (http://www.schoolnotes.com/ ). You could customize it to suit our needs for teachers, students, parents and volunteers.

Nings could be used to set up class discussions are for grade level curriculum planners. Nings are limited only by the creativity of the uses!

OBSERVATION

In trying to work on Thing # 12 - seems as though several people started and stopped!

Thing # 17 Rollyo

Persistance - if first you don't succeed! And the videio sealed the deal! I played around with creating a search for this years PP Exhibition, but I can easily plan one for each of my schools planners! (We are an IB PYP) schook and we deliver our curicullum through planners! Having a specialiez search engine for each planner would be huge - there are 36 planners!

Great & ambitious!

Thing # 16 WIKI

WIKI WIKI WIKI

I have a little more experience with wikis! Last spring for a group project in grad school, the group had a wiki! Barbara set it up while Lori, Theresa, Kelli and I chatted, uploaded PowerPoint's and edited them and uploaded the latest corrections - several times. I had a less successful go at setting one up for myself over the summer for yet another class! But every time I learn something new. My slis_5720 class at UNT set up a couple of wikis for class, and I just played in the Spring Branch sandbox! Pretty clever, huh?

I would like to use a wiki for my motivational reading program this fall at school, as well as train all the willing teachers, and some of the unwilling ones - to use wikis in their classrooms this years!

Thing # 15 Part II

What does Library 2.0 mean to me?

For me Library 2.0 means, initially, being overwelmed all the time. Then I have to think about how I am going to overcome my steep learning curve.

In spite of my twenty plus years experience with a personal computer and Windows platform software, I am a digital immigrant: for someone with as much experience it seems there should be a better term than immigrant! Library 2.0 technology and tools means thar software is not all encompassing tool it once was. Library 2.0 tools and technology make so many things available online that used to require a specialized piece of software.

Two of my strengths are adaptability and a lack of fear to try new technology and tools. I believe that comes from being a life-long learner. I have overcome my intimidation factor and understand, hey, I can do this! I have learned about and had at least some experience with wikis, blogs, del.icio.us tagging and social bookmarking, podcasting, handheld devices, mashups and FLICKR. Things that I listed as weaknesses at the beginning of class I have at least had exposure to: using Library 2.0 technology and tools, creating wikis, blogs, preparing and editing audio files, video files and pod casts. I am now much more prepared to incorporating technology into library activities (book talks, book reviews) and to promote the use of Library 2.0 technology and tools to my school’s faculty and students.

I plan on continuing to learn new Library 2.0 tools and to increase my familiarity with wikis, blogs and tagging wit h del.icio.us social bookmarking. I would like to concentrate on solidifying my familiarity with these three tools until I reach a certain comfort level with them, and then add more tools to my belt. I also feel as though these are tools that I can best communicate to my teachers and get them interested in their use. If I am going to be a technology leader on campus, my teachers need to be able to rely on my new found “expertise”. I do not want to be perceived as a “Jack of all trades and master of none.”

Understanding my strengths are (1) adaptability and (2) a willingness to try new technology and tools will help me with my weaknesses. The desire to keep trying new things will help me face the ever-growing list of Library 2.0 technologies and skills. Because the innovation and the number of these technologies and tools can at times be overwhelming, it is hard to keep up. To guide me forward, I am going to use two principals. One is supply and demand. Which tools are being used and embraced? You need to know these and be aware of which ones have fallen on the wayside. And as important, collaborate with my colleagues. Which tools are they being successful with – what is working for them?

What does it mean for school libraries?

The advent of Library 2.0 technology and its impact on libraries is significant. In his blog Anderson indicates that librarians will have to become better teachers. We need to become a resource for our patron; students, faculty and parents. We need to identify which technologies we can embrace and learn them well. We need to be effective in the way we share these tools. At the same time we must ensure that patrons eye the Internet and Library 2.0 tools with suspicion. Verifying information and checking resources. These tools are only as good as we make them. So the challenge is to ensure these tools are used responsibly. Like Reagan said, "Trust but verify." Instilling a thorough and complete research dynamic is imperative to ensure the information is correct in order for the conclusions to be sound!

Thing # 15

The “just in case” collection - Gloom and Doom? Maybe not! Rick Anderson suggests that as librarians we cling to our print collections "just in case." He bemoans the librarians reluctance to change...it is hard to be a digital immigrant in a digital native world!

Reliance on user education - The Light at the End of the Tunnel? The librarian's role as teacher is often overlooked. Anderson emphasizes that the need for for teaching and an increase in the number of properly trained librarians is a necessity in the library of the future!

The “come to us” model of library service - I'll meet you in the wiki - Reversing the concept of librarians waiting for patrons. He feels for librarians to be viable in the future we need to find a way to go to the patrons and meet them in their own digital environment.

I don't necessarily agree with at least two of the three points, bu then, what do I know? I am new at this. However, what is the back-up system when the power goes out? There is an assumption that the lights and the Internet will always be available?

To a temporary place in time

I like Wendy Schultz! She has a sense of place and time! She has a positive approach to libraries and librarians. She has a sense of history and a sense of the library's position in the scheme of our society, and appreciates that position! Her descriptions of the history of libraries into categories Library 1.0 - Library 4.0 provides a n educated and resposible descritpion of what libraries were, what they are and what they will become! I will defintely TAG this site, refer to it often, and see how well the oracle does!

Thing # 14

How bizarre! Congress, probably out of ignorance and their usual over-reaction to squash what they don't understand, wants to ban Face Book from school libraries! Seems the punisihment doesn't f'it the criime? I thought medipedia was exciting, but I hope those interns don't rely ono the information prior to treating me!

I am glad to see the Authoritiy rating, indicating some reasoning to the level of accuracy of the information, or is it the number of hits or comments. Back to the video!

I am afraid I feel about technorati much the wa I feel about delicious. Constructivism aside, ther ma be a lot of articial intelligence going on!

Thing # 13 del.icio.us

Over the past few days I have created a delicious account and dutifully bookmarked sites that relate to Librar 2.0 technology and a few miscellaneous library-related sites.

http://delicious.com/gdeering

I can certainly see the benefits to this concept of social networking/bookmarking. However I have some fundamental issues with the idea of sharing everything - both good and bad misinformation. I expressed my thoughts on this very subject in one of my classes this summer.

"In the Courtney says, "The power of great numbers of contributors keeps Wikipedia very current errors are fixed very quickly." Courtney cites the results of the NATURE study the compares errors noted in Britannica (3) with that of wikipedia (4). That appears insignificant - unless you are the one who cites the misinformation, or unless some contributor updates the information without you realizing it’s been changed. We need to ensure that our own research is authoritative and instill in our students and colleagues the necessity for being critical of resources, checking sources and using reliable resources.Constructivism asserts that people with different skills should collaborate together through tasks and discussion to arrive at a shared understanding (Duffy and Jonassen 1992). Remember Vgotsky’s ‘zone of proximal development? The idea being that group members with less knowledge and fewer skills will learn from members who have more knowledge and more skills. That is all well and good, except the person in the group with the most skills and knowledge may not have the best skills set to accomplish the task. The shared understanding may consequently not be the “correct” understanding. This has implications on several levels relating to competition and differences between cultures.My point is you should always verify the information, the source, for yourself, Think critically before you go with the “group think”; a society can get in trouble that way. Which is a very long-winded way of saying Wikipedia may be a great place to start, to get you going, but there are more reliable sources that will ensure the information is accurate and authoritative. Don’t drink the kool-aid! "

Courtney, N. (2007). Library 2.0 and Beyond. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Library Thing # 11

http://www.librarything.com/authorcloud/gdeering1

LibraryThing author cloud.Emily Bronte Robert A. Caro Ken Follett Thomas L. Friedman M. M. Kaye Karleen. Koen Colleen McCullough James A. Michener Margaret Mitchell Sharon Kay Penman Anne Rice
_uacct = "UA-1192086-1";
urchinTracker();

Well now you have found something I could do all night long!!!! This is fun! I am not a librarian for nothing!

Thing # 10

Well, I guess I am a humorless person! I tried the happy faces and the comic strip generators. Mildy cute but really, who has the time?!!

Thing # 9


I added a few more RSS Feeds as well as a picture of the yellow lab that came to live at my house in June! His name is JACK and he is recovering from a heart worm treatment, but is doing just fine!


Searching for blogs...who new there was a tool other than google search? I tried two blog searches - google blog search and bloglines search tool! When I have more time I will come back and review the serach results and other search tools more carefully. I did add the PROJECT LIBS rss feed...moving on!


Thing # 8

I have learned so much about Library 2.0 technology and tools this summer! However I knew nothing about RSS! I admit I was INTIMIDATED! Not sure why? Just the name should have assuaged my anxiety - -REALLY SIMPLE!

Finally I logged on to mym google account. signed up for the google reader and added several "feeds"! I am a Big Brother 10 addict - nut - crazy person! Which may be one of the reasons I am not further along with 23 Things! Those late ShowtimeToo live offerings!

I also added click2houston (after all we are abbout to have a visist from Edourado! And THIS WEEK for my political fix. A feed from my district and a coulple of Library 2.0 blogs!

A practical library application; how about for a class to follow the political process relating to the upcoming election - esepcially those kid-freindly feeds!

Jack

Jack
Rescued Yellow Lab