Thing 18 Online Applications

Online applications have several advantages over proprietary software. Many quality programs are free, resulting in an impressive cost savings for institutions and individuals. Teachers would no longer be denied an application due to a lack of licenses.  At first I thought security would be a problem, but from all my readings, I don't feel the risk is any greater than licensed software.  How many security patches have you downloaded for your purchased software?  If you're like me, it is a common occurrence.  The ease of collaboration would also be a reason to use one of these programs rather than emailing documents to a committee members and comparing contributions and corrections.  This led me to wonder if these programs would be more useful than a wiki for collaborative projects.  

                

We were asked to compare Open Office and Google Docs.  One difference is that Open Office requires a download, and Google docs does not. Another important difference concerns the compatibility of these programs with my operating system and browser, Mac OS 10.4.11 and Safari 3.1.1.  While Google Docs works in Safari, the Presentation piece does not, and I would be required to use Firefox to create a presentation.  Open Office has developed NeoOffice for Mac users. Google Docs seems to be a little more "bare bones" than Open Office, but I 

thought one of the advantages of these programs was to escape the clutter of features in Microsoft Office. 

          

 I still wanted to explore more alternatives and I found Abiword and    Zoho.  They are both downloads, and Abiword can be used with Mac, but at this point, it is just a word processor.  Zoho seems to have as many components as Google  and they introduced Mac capability to their word processor in March 2008.

At this point, I do not have a clear preference for any of these programs.  I definitely would be interested in something easy, something that could be used for collaboration, and something that works easily on Mac. For now, that leads me back to Google Docs, but I am going to stay tuned for new apps.

(Neon question mark uploaded to Flickr, February 1, 2007 by Xurble; Google logo uploaded to Flickr, Oct. 11, 2006 by dannysullivan; Open Office logo uploaded to Flickr, Nov. 19, 2006 by Noticias-TIC; Zoho logo uploaded to Flickr, Dec. 3, 2006 by Robert Sanzalone )

Thing 17 Rollyo

From start to finish, Rollyo was mesmerizing and the hardest part was coming up with a topic to "roll." Since I have been worrying about loosing all these tools, or not revisiting the ones I wanted to spend more time on, I decided to "roll" them! Like the cinnamon rolls, I collected the ingredients, rolled and cut, baked, and frosted. Here's my "roll."

(photo courtesy of votrobeck, uploaded to Flickr on June 25, 2006)

Thing 16 Wikis

I have been trying to respond to Thing 16 for a few days now, and it has been the most difficult "thing" for me to wrap myself around.  The wiki is the perfect tool for groups to collaborative on projects because the site allows editing and additions by all registered participants and Common Craft had a great explanation of how they work. Librarians would be able to collaborate with teachers and all could participate whenever convenient for each individual. For students, a wiki could be used for all types of book discussion, book clubs and group research projects.

However of the two wikis I am a member of, I can not say I would recommend either platform.  I find working one is a little confusing, but understandable, and the other is just plain confusing and I do not participate. I still had this impression when I studied the wikis suggested in Thing 16 hosted by these sites.  However, a third platform, Wikispaces, seems better than the other two and if I use a wiki at school, I would explore it as the platform. (Photo downloaded from Flickr, and uploaded by  blogefl on Sept. 2, 2006)

Thing 15 Web/Library 2.0 and the Future

All of these perspectives are from an OCLC Newletter published in 2006, yet they are still appropriate today. They serve as a definition of our professional code.  For concrete tools to implement these standards, visit Donna Baumbach's wiki.

 

In "Away From the Icebergs" Rick Anderson stresses  "placing the library services and content in the user's preferred environment (i.e., the Web); even better, it means integrating our services into their daily patterns of work study and play."

"Into a New World of Librarianship"  by Michael Stephens defines Librarian 2.o as the ability of the patron to access from wherever they are, asking the patron what technologies they need and use, creating no policies to impede access,  and avoiding techno-lust and techno-worship. He does not refer to "Web 2.0", but  uses the term "Librarians 2.0."

"To a temporary Space in Time" by Dr. Wendy Schulz defines the library of the future as "Library 4.0" and it will encompass, but not replace Library 1.0 (commodity), Library 2.0 (product), Library 3.0 ( 3d). She describes Library 4.0 as a mind spa, a "space for all the library's incarnations: storage (archives, treasures); data retrieval (networks-reference rooms); and commentary and annotation (salon). Of note, the author replaces the term "web" with "library. "

Thing 14 Technorati and Tags

I confess--I was never good at putting labels on things, and I don't use the tag enough. You can see that by my lack of tags on most of my posts and the limited number of tags I use in my del.icio.us.  However, in the 21st century, the tag, rather than keywords or LOC/Sears subject headings,  might make a lot of sense, and it has made me reassess my views. 

It seems that experienced "taggers" provide several points of access (tags, keywords, subject headings) and they reflect the current jargon of one's field.   Tags seem like they would be easier to maintain than the subject heading. I think it  would be fun to compare  the banned word list  or the newly minted words from  Merriam Webster online see if their appearance on these lists had any correlation to Technorati Top Tags  .  What do you think...can you see tag clouds replacing keywords and subject headings in the patron catalog? I wouldn't doubt it!

I've been looking at the Technorati results for  "school library learning 2.0" for a few days, and  because there are so many blogs, they change--a lot.  This morning's offerings are completely different from last night, and included some familiar names, like Doug Johnson and Cynthia Leitich Smith.  I was also introduced to a blog I found very informative, Speed of Creativity.  I think the more I play with Technorati, the more useful it will become. (photo courtesy of Mara.Luna, posted on Flickr, June 3, 2008)

Thing 13 Tagging and Del.icio.us

Over the past 2 years I have experimented with 3 online bookmarking systems. It was necessitated by the fact that I kept bookmarks on 3 computers ( not counting the 14 student computers) and a flash drive. They were only synched once a year, and it never was a satisfactory process. The system was inefficient and messy, so something had to be done. I never spent enough time on Furl to "make it work", and "I Keep Bookmarks" was a favorite simply because I did not understand "tags." However, IKB tended to run slow, and it wasn't as social as del.icio.us or Furl. This spring I accessed my del.icio.us account and the proverbial light bulb went on--I understood what to do!! I guess I just needed to sleep on it for a very long while. Here are my del.icio.us bookmarks .

Thing 12 Creating Community By Commenting and Sharing

From Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk I enjoyed the definition, via the wikipedia hyperlink, of an internet "troll". Email has made us all  experienced in being flamed, and the blogger is no different.  As I read through Cool Cat by Vicki Davis, she had a hyperlink to Kathi Sierra's Creating Passionate Users, which is no longer updated due to anonymous threats in 2007 from a "troll".

Doug also mentions thanking those that comment, if possible, while Vicki says that if you are writing about another blogger's column in your own blog, provide the hyperlink to the original blog. She provided directions, but since the column was from 2006, the process may have been simplified. 

I would like to keep track of the comments I have made to my "playmates", and both Vicki and Doug suggest Cocomment.  I don't think I'll sign up for it at this time--my head is about to explode with everything I've signed  up for.  

And last of all,  after reading Blogging Basics 101, I felt better about using my name in the blog. 

The two blogs I discovered pertain to my personal interests yoga and the low carb lifestyle.

Thing 11 Library Thing

I have posted access to my Library Thing account in the blog.  I have experimented with Shelfari and Goodreads, but for various reasons, I prefer Library Thing.  Although I chose to display 5 random covers, you can access my library by clicking on the words "my library". I have written a few reviews but they are in the Shelfari and Goodreads accounts.  Library thing is going to hold all my books, but for usage by the students, I will use Shelfari.

Thing 10 OnIine Image Generators

Thing 10 was a nice break from the last few tasks.  I found my graphic on Photobucket, and I transferred it to the Trading Card Maker, where  I added the text.

Thing 9 Useful Blogs and Feeds

Easiest method to find a feed was to use the advanced search option and refine the query. Of the tools to find RSS feeds I found Technorati the most efficient.  Goggle Blog was easy but the search produced too many borderline blogs. Edublog was too narrow. 

Which was more confusing?I did not care for either Topix or Syndic8.  Topix reminded me of a wiki, and Syndic8 loaded too slowly

Useful or unusual feeds found? Not really unusual, but Becky of Becky's Book Reviews has several blogs--with lots of blogging.  I liked all her "challenge" communities.

What other way did you locate feeds?

Checking out what other people have in their blog rolls.

Without the SBISD passwords, I could not look beyond the index at Atomic Learning.  I liked the way they had the videos split up so you could easily view the piece you needed.  The content seemed similar to yesterday's Common Craft video about RSS.

Thing 8 RSS Feeds

I have used an email notification system for a few years to let me know when one or more of my blogs had changed. However, by setting up a Google Reader account, I can click and see the first line or two.  I also like being able to see the feeds to which I am subscribed.  I have several blogs in my delicious account, but I only transferred a few to see how the process worked and if I liked it. I think it is a good deal.

The blogs in my delicious account would definitely be more useful if they were listed in Reader. Initially I had one of my favorite news feeds listed, but I removed it. Since it was news, there were new posts all day long, and I would rather keep this reader just for  my professional interests and I would create a different account for my personal interests.

For the faculty and administrators, this feature would be a dynamic tool for them to keep track of the trends and issues in their specific field of expertise.  I think it would also be a useful research tool for the college or high school students. I am in an elementary setting, and  I would need to examine any safety ramifications of using Reader with my students.

Thing 7 Google Tools-Calendar and Earth

I have been working on Google calendar for about an hour and when I compare it to the calendar options provided  in Microsoft IE and  Apple Ical, the winner is Google Calendar. First of all, I easily set up four different calendars, put in my summer activities, and never once did an event get stuck in the wrong calendar, which is my problem with Ical, my home calendar.  IE is ok, but the block for the  information seems too small and I end up using cryptic abbreviations, the meaning which sometimes is forgotten.  And by using two separate calendars I waste a lot of time.  I became a fan of Gmail when it first came out, and Google Calendar will now be my online companion.I wanted to post a calendar on my web, but I didn't think my professional and personal life would be very interesting or relevant to this blog, so I searched for a public calendar of author birthdays and posted it. If all goes according to plan, it should be the element under my blog posts.  

My second Google tool was Earth, which requires a download, and thankfully it worked the first time.  I enjoyed zooming in on literary places, for example the Mark Twain Home and Museum on Farmington Ave, Hartford CT.  I went back to google Maps through one of the icons on top, but Earth has more information immediately available.  There are links to the actual site, as well a useful trip information (weather, lodging, etc). 

Thing 6 Mashups

Mashups were very interesting and I have spent two evenings testing and exploring, sometimes successfully, and several times "not so much."  I really wanted to use mappr  to identify the  birthplaces of authors in the US by placing photos of their birthplaces on the map.  At this time, however, the process is above me, so I moved to a new "toy" and theme.  Springfield MA is the birthplace of Dr. Seuss, and they have created a sculpture garden to memorialize his characters.   Besides this picture, Flickr has many of the sculptures represented, and there is another picture of the chair in winter surrounded by melting snow. I chose the summer version.   I looked at the trading cards, but I finally settled on Motivator from Big Huge Labs and composed the message. The only problem I encountered is that I wanted the credit under the picture, and I could not get it to happen.  This picture was uploaded to Flickr on June 17, 2005, by Skmots.   The license also states no derivative works, and I feel I have followed that stipulation, too. 

Thing 5 Flickr and Creative Commons

This Boston Public Garden sculpture commemorates Robert McCullough's 1941 book, Make Way For Ducklings.  It is usually surrounded by fans of all ages, so this picture of the famous duck family is perfect for my discussion of this book.  Make Way for Ducklings, with its naming of the actual  streets surrounding the Garden, is ideal for projecting the area with the google maps with the labels.  According to the group of Flickr Creative Commons that this picture came from, I am supposed to give credit to the person that uploaded it to the Flickr.  Since I didn't see a citation format, I will simply put the info in parenthesis. 

(Photo courtesy of Shoothead, uploaded Jan. 24, 2007) 

Thing 4

 My blog has been registered!  Thank you, Captains!

Thing 3

 I am a very sequential learner, and the step by step instructions provided on the Library2Play blog worked flawlessly for me.  Saturday afternoon was spent toying with several titles before settling on "Blues Eyes Blogging."  Last night I  experimented with "skins", the elements,  and colors to create a space in which I could to grow.  This morning I bravely entered the strange world of avators.  I felt like I was in a comic book. First I made my face.  It took me a few tries to get what I needed-whitish hair with blue eyes, but it was fun.  I added glasses, and they do look like mine, but I usually wear my contacts. Maybe I'll take them out along the way!  For backgrounds I went through the 60's (my generation), Paris (my favorite city) and China ( a place I would like to visit), but I finally settled on the present and what my work spaces look like. I had the most fun with the clothes and accessories! Online paper dolls!

Thing 2

Of the 7 1/2 habits of successful lifelong learners,  I have always found it easiest to take responsibility for my own learning, whether it be fulfilling requirements for graduate degrees, adapting to the ever changing curriculum goals and technology tools, or meeting the certification standards of various states.  The individual is definitely the responsible party for these endeavors. 

The habit that comes hardest is to play.  It is probably a problem of semantics, where I equate "playing" with "wasting time."   If I readjust my definition of "play" to something like "down time", I have several activities which I pursue in my "down time" and some of them are listed in my profile. 

Thing 1

When I saw the post on tlc last week describing the new session, I was more than a little happy.   Summer is the best time for me to study new things, and the 23 Things was something I really wanted to explore. Best of all, I don't need to spend usurious amounts of money on gas, or waste time in traffic!  I am ready for the "games" to begin!