Finally...The End!!

Finally finished!! Yippee!!! When did I start this.... it seems so long ago (some time mid -May I think). Definitely glad for the time extension. There was no way I was finishing this by June 30th. I had just about given up when the date was extended to August 31st. Three months, not too bad, right?? I am definitely giving myself a pat on the back. I am proud of myself for completing this assignment and for continuing my commitment to being a lifelong learner. The blog itself was a major accomplishment for me. I had heard of blogs but was not familiar with what they truly were. My favorite exercises were Flickr, the Image Generators, Youtube, Podcast, Librarything and the Web Based Apps--(Zoho). I see myself continuing to use these. My least favorite were del.icio.us, Technorati, Rollyo and RSS feeds. I do not see myself using these again anytime soon. I also disliked having to create accounts for almost every exercise (especially the ones I did not see myself using again). Wonder if there is a way around that if there is a next time. I would definitely participate in an assignment like this again. Just need some time to re-group. At least as long as it took me to complete the assignment , 3 months :)

SuffolkWave

Really liked SuffolkWave's down loadable e-media site. You can chose from audio books, videos, and music. Took a look at the Children's Collection under fiction and found popular titles such as Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and Because of Winn Dixie. Most of the nonfiction offerings were foreign language material. Under video holdings found titles such as Bear Snores On (can't wait to preview) and Teacher from the Black Lagoon.
Liked that an account was not needed for this exercise--unlike many of the others. But, I still needed to install Overdrive Media Console. Had some difficulty downloading Overdrive. It required that I update and download Windows Media Player 11. When I tried to do that my home computer wouldn't support it (I didn't have a Pac 2, not sure what this is). Finally downloaded Media Player 10 (that worked) and went back and finished installing Overdrive. So, although I didn't need an account, still wasn't as easy as I hoped.
Believe it will be a great service , I feel patrons will find it to be user friendly. It is a great way to serve our patrons from home. It is set up like many online services with a shopping cart and checkout. No credit card needed, just need your library card. :)

podcast

Checked out podcast and Yahoo podcast directories. I liked the looks of Book Voyages on Yahoo, but the newest posting was from Oct. 2006. I did subscribe to A Story for Bedtime by Kiddiecast (listed 533 episodes). I found it easier to just go to the site and register. I had some difficulty getting the podcast to play by simply clicking on "play". Instead I found it easier to download it off the site and play it through Windows Media Player. Also, gave me the opportunity to read up a bit more on Story for Bedtime. The podcasts are of real people reading children's stories and books. As a Children's Librarian and parent, I see many possibilities for the use of this. Children love being read to and this is an interesting way to have someone read to them. Listening to the storytelling will spark their imagination and creativity. They can also follow along with a book. Some of the stories being used were "I Want My Potty", "Smelly Bill", "Mess Monsters" and "Tiny Rannosaurus".

www.podcast.net/show/1357

YouTube

One more down, three more to go!!! Checked out YouTube. I had heard of it, had an idea what it was, but never checked it out. Found it to be interesting and fun. Although, some videos are just strange and make you wonder why. Found the way the videos are broken down into categories helpful. Especially for someone like myself, who is not searching for anything in particular. Started by looking at pets, then funny kids. Found a lot of the videos to be similar to what you may find on America's Funniest Home Videos. Then I did a search for "Library" and found a great video from the St. Joseph's County Public Library. It was a day in the life of a library set to Madonna's "Ray of Light". The credits rolled to the tune of " All that Glitters". Show this video to anyone who thinks work in a library is slow and boring. I think we should have one of these.
So proud of myself that I was able to post the video on my blog.

Library Ray of Light

Loved this!!! Have to check it out.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Took a look at a few sites. Some appear to be more user friendly than others. I was familiar with a few of the sites (like Bloglines, Technorati, Flicka) from this assignment. Used the short list, it was easier to search by categories that were of interest. I liked biblio.com. With this site you are able to search for used and out of print books. This is something that may come in handy some day. It was user friendly and was set up similar to amazon. Liked the "books under $2"section of this site. Also took a look at Farecast, which offers free airfare predictions. Reminded me of Expedia.com. Really enjoyed Picnik, similar to Flicka. Plan to "play" with this one a bit more.

Web Based Apps

I was interested to discover that there is such a thing as Web based Apps. I like the idea of having the ability to create and share documents without having to purchase or install desktop applications. I can definitely see it's use in the workplace. Although I am not sure how comfortable I would feel sharing (or having all) my documents online. I do like the idea of not having to buy expensive software and then installing it on my desktop. I loved the template library. There were some interesting templates. I like fact sheets, speech outline, multiple choice test, vehicle bill of sale. I am currently just playing around with the resume template. It has been awhile since I last updated my resume (not that I expect needing it anytime soon), but I thought it would be an interesting document to create. Have not gotten as far as saving it yet. Hope that doesn't pose any problems. There are things I would not use Zoho for, anything I did not feel comfortable sharing with others (such as bills or pricing I do for my husband's business). Interesting to know what's out there.

New Addition

Reluctantly, the newest "four legged" addition to the family! I fell for the old "mommy can we please keep it". That black furball is a kitten.

Playing Around with PBwiki

Played around with PBwiki and finally added my favorite vacation spot, Disney. Hit a couple of "bumps" along the way. I did create my own account with PBwiki, although I am not sure why. Once I was in the SPL 23 PBwiki, I just needed to use that password. I also had to use two different e-mail addresses before my account went through. I don't see myself using the account I created for myself, but, I guess it is there if I need it. My second "bump" was I had some difficulty adding my fave vacation spot. When I clicked on edit and saw the page, I got scared and thought this can't be right. Then I clicked on new page. But, that didn't add my vacation to the right place. So there might be other Disney vacation info floating around in there somewhere. :) I luckily got help from a co-worker, and discovered that yes, I was suppose to add on to the page in the edit area. Knowing that made adding to the favorite blog page easier.

So, What's In a Wiki?

Before beginning this exercise, I had some knowledge of Wikipedia. I knew it was an online encyclopedia that was created by it's users. But, for obvious reasons, I never used it. It was difficult for me to get use to the idea that "anyone" can add, edit, or delete. I did not/do not feel it is as reliable as the "real thing". After exploring for this exercise, I was surprised by the extend of wikis. I had only thought of it in the encyclopedia sense. I never thought of it in terms of other uses, especially not for libraries. But, libraries all of the country are beginning to wiki. I learned it could be used as a pathfinder (I remember doing that dreaded assignment in library school :) ) and with subject guides, book reviews and community activities.
I liked the Princeton Public Library's Book Lovers Wiki. I think this a good application of wiki for libraries. Like Amazon, users can post synopses and reviews for books they have read. This gives the user more info and allows other users to make more informed decisions on selection. I believe that there needs to be some librarian moderating. A librarian would need to be in control of what stays and what may need to be deleted (if inappropriate to the wikis purpose). I found it interesting how Princeton Library also informed users if they did not own a book. But, let users know it could be ILLed. Also liked the staff reviews. St. Joseph's County Library Pathfinders explored topics of interest such as crafts, travel and pets. For each topic, a list of books, magazines, online resources, and even an upcoming library program connected to the topic was offered. I thought this was a great collaboration among users, librarians, etc. It could only be beneficial to the library wiki user. In conclusion, I believe wiki's present some interesting ideas to be explored by libraries.

Library 2.0

I read all 5 perspectives under the discovery resources. But the two that stuck in my mind the most were "Away from Icebergs" by Rick Anderson and "To a Temporary Place in Time" by Dr. Wendy Schultz. I found Anderson's analogies interesting. He compared the librarian profession to a boat with three icebergs that threatened it. The three icebergs being the "just in case collection", "reliance on user education" and the"come to us". Anderson states we must eliminate barriers and find new ways to bring services to patrons without insisting they come to us (us being the physical place, the library). He believes we need to find ways to service them outside the physical library. I agree, we need to find new ways to service users and eliminate any barriers. As librarians, we need to embrace change. But I also agree with Dr. Wendy Schultz philosophy that we must have a library renewal within current trends. We need to "re-package" some ideas and ways. Not necessarily re-invent them. As stated by Schultz, libraries are not just documents and books, they are conversations, people, ideas. I believe we need to find a happy medium that will mold the two perspectives. Whatever way we go I do agree that all this new info in print and online will put a premium on service, tailoring information to the needs of a patron/user. Our relationships with users should not change, maybe just the way we go about it.

Del.icio.us

For this assignment, we needed to view a 12 minute tutorial on del.icio.us and then take a look around (using the sachblog account that was created for this purpose). As with some of the previous assignments, I found this one a bit confusing.
From the tutorial and my del.icio.us exploration, I learned that del.icio.us allows you to bookmark a web page and then add tags to categorize them. You bookmark something you will want to use again someday. The analogy I created for myself to understand this concept is: I am reading a cookbook, and I find a recipe I like, so I fold the page over (don't worry it's my own book :) ) or I stick a post it on the page. I then write "dessert" on the post it. Dessert would be the tag. I tag it knowing I will want to use this recipe someday. My "tag" in my recipe book is private, it's my book. But, if I was on del.icio.us, it is social bookmarking and anyone can see it.
When exploring with the sachblog account, I discovered that articles were on the left of the page (these were the articles that were tagged) and the actually tags (words) were listed on the right. I liked how it let you know how many people tagged the article. Could definitely see the potential use of tagging. Reminds me of a very unstructured type of cataloging. Can see the use in the academic world, best suited for those who work intensively with computers. Was not up for the challenge of creating my own account. I feel like I have created so many accounts as it is that I will probably never use again.

Technorati

So, for this exercise, I explored, Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs. I was surprised to discover that Technorati is only three years old, or should I say young. "Young" is what keeps popping into my head as I explored this site. I feel Technorati is geared toward the younger set. Most of the popular blogs dealt with music, movies and making money.
I did a keyword search for "Learning 2.0" in the three areas and came up with very different results in each. I explored popular blogs and took a look at Boing Boing (found it very strange), Techcrunch and youtube. Did not find much that interested me. The most interesting article I found was in a popular blog called Thinking Blog. The title of the article was "Being a Good Parent". The article was well written and interesting, but after reading the article, I wondered, does the writer have children. Since most of Technorati and the popular blogs are geared to the young, who besides me is reading this article. In summary, Technorati did not interest me , I was not interested in the optional task and I felt "old" after this assignment.

Rollyo---now I think I got it!!!

Thanks to Laura, I think I have the current link to my Rollyo account!



http://rollyo.com/littlemonstermom/scrap_happy/

Rollyo

I think I completed this task, but I am really not sure. I found the idea of Rollyo and creating your own search tool interesting. But, acutally doing it, another story. I went into the link for creating a searchroll and did it. I think it was successful, but it is not appearing on my post as others have. Somehow I managed to do the optional part of adding your searchroll to your blog uisng a searchbox tool. But, that wasn't really what I was trying to do.

I guess the whole idea of having all your websites in one place to search may be interesting concept for some. But I think, do I really need my own search engine? I don't think I am advanced enough for this. Nor do I spent that amount of time on the computer for it to be useful on a personal level.

See above post for correct link to my Rollyo account.

LibraryThing

Enjoyed checking out LibraryThing. I started a list of books. Most are books I have read recently. You will notice most are romance or childrens books. I will add more as I go. I liked the book suggester and non-suggester. You type in a book you enjoyed and it will suggest a book you might like or not like. I thought the non-suggester was quite original.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kdesimone71

Image Generator

Loved this assignment the best. It was so much fun playing around with the different generators. This one is from the sketch generator. Also played around with the Romance Novel Cover.

Finding Feeds

Loved the first line of assignment #8, "You've heard of RSS?".

Well, I hadn't, glad to hear that I was in the majority though. Made me feel a little better to know I wasn't the only one out there. So, now that I completed the assignment, am I in the minority since I know what it is now? Now I understand that it is a way of getting up to date info off the web. But, instead of looking all over for it, it can be found in one place. I had seen newsfeed icon before, but never knew what they were. I just figured they where another advertisement of some sort.

Checked out the search tools for finding feeds. Liked Feedster and Topix the best. They were the easiest to use and seemed to be more for a beginner or novice like myself. Did not care for Syndic8 or Technorati. I found them very confusing and were not as easy to use. They appeared to be much more technical. I enoyed Feedsters " Feed of the Day". The "Feed of the Day" was "One Sentence". Loved it, most were quite humorous. Liked how Topix could be modified to the area in which you live.

Technology Blog---Polaroid Camera Anyone?

So, does anyone remember what a Polaroid camera is or does anyone even have one? What about a camera that actually takes film. Well, I do!
But, children, specifically five-year olds have no idea what these antiquated items are. Recently, I was at my son's school for a special event and one of the parents showed up with a Polaroid camera. The camera was to be used so the children could go home with a photo that day. The children were amazed by this camera. When the little photo came out of the camera, every child was upset because their photo "was ruined". They didn't understand it takes a few moments for the photo to develop. They probably don't even know what "develop" means. All they saw was a cloudy white photo.
In addition, does anyone still has a camera that takes film, have you had a child ask to see the photo, seconds after you shot it? This happened with my in-laws when they were taking photos recently and my son asked to see the photo immediately after it was taken. When he was told it was not "that kind of camera", he didn't get it. He only knew digital cameras with a LCD screen.
Cameras with film, what are those? Anyone remember saying "I am waiting to finish a roll". Not anymore. My current memory card on my camera has over 300 photos on it. I don't even know when I would finish the roll on this camera (if it had one).
I wonder what the next generation of camera will be? What will my son remember as commonplace and what will be "new" to him.

Tiptoeing!

My creation
Originally uploaded by littlemonstersmoms

Wow!!!! Look at this! I am so impressed with myself. I hockneyized a photo I took. I can even add hockneyized to my vocabulary. :)


This is a photo I took at the New York Botanical Gardens in the beginning of May.

Since Any Good Concerts Lately?

wiggles
Originally uploaded by littlemonstersmoms

Well, I have!!!! Who says I haven't seen a good concert lately? Is this what my life has come to? The Wiggles being a good concert? :)
Well, at least I was with the kids and not seeing them on my own.
Last weekend we went to Great Adventure and saw a "Wiggles" concert. The quotes are because the kids thought they were "the" Wiggles. But,...........not really. The real Wiggles were there the next day. Missed them by a day. Great new Wiggles area at Great Adventure for the kids.

My Recent Disney Trip

We recently return from Disney!! Great time, sad to be home. Wonderful weather. We stayed in Disney and stayed at the Yatch Club. Wow, what a hotel!!! Had a minor incident checking in, they had a convention and tried to switch us to another hotel. But we stood our ground and refused to be switched. Although, they were telling us they were filled to capacity and were overbooked, they managed to find us a room and even upgraded us to a water view room. Great view from the balcony.

Kids had a ball!! Especially my six year old. He was very into the characters and had to get every one's autograph. My two year old, not as crazy about the characters. See was actually our character spotter. Every time she saw one, she would point, cringe and cry. But, it worked for my son, he then ran over to get their autograph.

The best ride for all of us, had to be Soarin at EPCOT (or apricot as my son called it). Wow, what a ride. Loved it!!! A must see. Didn't try Test Track, backed out when we saw how fast it went.

Also enjoyed, Turtle Talk with Crush, the Clam Mobile, and the Laugh Floor with Monsters Inc.