Monday, January 18, 2010
Thing 15
As it turns out, Library 2.0 is not a new thing, or a new definition. It's really only the last year I've been hearing about this concept, so I was a little surprised to notice that quite a few of the Library 2.0 articles were dated 2007 or earlier. Library 2.0 is now, huh? It's happening! Which I think is great. I've kind of always thought of Library 2.0 in terms of Web 2.0 and technology. Online library services, etc. I read quite a bit more than 2 or 3 articles for this, as it peaked my interest, and yes, Web 2.0, technology, online services, they're all related to Library 2.0. Overall I like how Michael Stephens describes the goal of Library 2.0 - "better library services for more people." Yes, it means change, but that's also a great thing. Doing new or different things to interest and entice new or different people to the Library; but also updating our services to best serve the needs of currect patrons. I noticed that collaboration between libraries and their patrons was also mentioned a lot - that interaction is key. I know I'm willing and eager to make these sorts of things happen. There were also some articles mentioning grabbing the attention of teens, as the "next generation", as it were. We're certainly giving that a go here. Now to think of the many, many other things we can begin to do, for everyone...
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thing 14
So, Technorati went through a major redesign in October last year, and now none of the exercises we were meant to do are relevant. All those headings we were to click on don't exist. Somewhat frustrating, as I was looking forward to having a go at them all. And the thing is, the new design seems NOTHING like what it used to be. I can't even find an Advanced Search, which seems to me plain weird. So unless I'm blind...
Anyway, I had a browse of Technorati, and honestly, that seems to be all you can do now. Sure, they have lists of the "Top 5", "Top 10", "Top 100" which is somewhat interesting. You can do a keyword search for blogs or posts. There doesn't seem to be any Tag search tool...I could only find a list of the most popular tags for the last month. Technorati is most certainly all about the most "popular". I did like the whole Authority bit though - so when you browse the blog directory (broken into broad catergories), it lists the blogs by their "authority" (a number out of 1000, with 1000 the best you can get), which is a measure of the blog's standing and influence in the blogosphere. At least this way you know which blog might be more relevant to what you're looking for.
As for the last exercise to "claim" my blog through Technorati, I think I'll wait until I have my new review blog up and running. It's been created, and looks pretty, I just have to start posting. Maybe in a few weeks I'll claim it.
Anyway, I had a browse of Technorati, and honestly, that seems to be all you can do now. Sure, they have lists of the "Top 5", "Top 10", "Top 100" which is somewhat interesting. You can do a keyword search for blogs or posts. There doesn't seem to be any Tag search tool...I could only find a list of the most popular tags for the last month. Technorati is most certainly all about the most "popular". I did like the whole Authority bit though - so when you browse the blog directory (broken into broad catergories), it lists the blogs by their "authority" (a number out of 1000, with 1000 the best you can get), which is a measure of the blog's standing and influence in the blogosphere. At least this way you know which blog might be more relevant to what you're looking for.
As for the last exercise to "claim" my blog through Technorati, I think I'll wait until I have my new review blog up and running. It's been created, and looks pretty, I just have to start posting. Maybe in a few weeks I'll claim it.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Thing 13
Okay, so I'm just going to admit it straight out - I'm not a big fan of Delicious. I've used it before in that I've created an account and imported bookmarks from my computer. I've also used it to tag those pages. But other than being useful in the sense that you can access your bookmarks from any computer, I don't really like it. I listened to the 8 minute podcast about using Delicious, and during it I thought maybe there is more to it that I'm just not getting, but I went exploring and found myself back at my initial impression. The podcast talks about using a unique tag that a group chooses so that they can share the sites they find, etc, and I think that's useful. But it also mentions using Delicious as a research tool, rather than internet search engines like Google and whatnot. Less sites to trawl through? I don't think so. I think Delicious is just as bogged down with so many sites, that you still have to sift through a good amount of irrelevant links, no matter that their tags are meant to group them for easier searchability. Which when it comes to anything on the internet, isn't all that unusual, I know.
During the e-learning training I took part in however, the idea to use Delicious for gaming sites the kids play was brought up, which I think is a great idea, seeing as none of us can ever remember which sites they go to!
During the e-learning training I took part in however, the idea to use Delicious for gaming sites the kids play was brought up, which I think is a great idea, seeing as none of us can ever remember which sites they go to!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Thing 12
This Thing threw me for a bit of a loop at first. I'm the first to admit that I suck at making any sort of decision, and now I had to pick a technology to talk about?! Which one? My awesome iPhone I'm so very much in love with? Podcasting, the e-tool I'm both interested in learning more about and yet too nervous to make use of?
In the end I went with Second Life. You won't be able to follow this link at work however - tis blocked. Which isn't overly surprising, but gave me a laugh. See, I first heard about Second Life years ago. I remember 60 Minutes did a piece on it, and while it looked interesting, it wasn't my thing. Recently, it was brought up again at the e-Mentoring workshop I attended - the trainer even uses it as part of her teaching and whatnot...but it is blocked. I only hope she doesn't want to make use of it again in her online workshops! ;-P
Now, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Seeing as you can't follow the link, I'll explain the whole thing a bit - but seriously, you need to have look at the website when you can because I know I won't do it justice.
Second Life is an online 3D virtual world. You create an account and an avatar - which here is a 3D representation of yourself (or fantasy self, as is usually the case), and give yourself a name. You choose your first name, and Second Life generates a list of last names for you to choose from. It's truly that simple - you download the software, log in, and BAM! You're transported to a whole new world.
Now, this place is HUGE! I am not kidding. Second Life is bigger than you can even imagine - it's not just a game, but a life. You can shop, meet people, join book clubs, visit places you can only ever dream about (the Milky Way, for example) and places that maybe you just don't have the chance to visit yet in real life (or as it's known in Second Life, First Life). People literally replicate real places for you to explore - including Mexico, castles in France, and world renowned art galleries. But it's also a world of fantasy and gaming - you can join in futuristic role playing games; or go back in time and visit the Victorian era.
You can buy or rent land so that you can build a home or something else. People actually even work in Second Life. You can purchase "Linden Dollars" to spend within the world, which has a USD equivalent, so people design things for others to buy, and in doing so earn real money. Pretty cool.
Everything Second Life is pretty cool to me - it is both awe inspiring and terrifying! So, after all of this, just how hooked am I? Well, I'm on my way to addicted I think.
My Second Life name is Jinx Celestalis. My avatar has long black hair (for now) and wears a gorgeous black dress (also for now). I don't find it easy to use at all, but I'm getting there. I first explored the place on Saturday night, and met Larry, who took me shopping for the dress, jewellery and hair. Once Jinx was all dolled up, we went dancing! That was beyond fantastic - turns out I'm a great dancer! ;-) According to Larry it takes over a week just to learn the basics of Second Life! Boy, is he right. This morning I ventured out on my own, did some "freebie" shopping (as in for items that don't cost any money), and flew for the first time. Oh, you read that right - in Second Life you can fly, and to get from one place to another you teleport. Which is awesome but scary - last time I teleported I materialised smack bang in front of a huge dude. Freaky! I also met a lovely lady this morning who is part of a vampire/lycan/angel clan, and who has friended me so that she can invite me to future clan events...now you understand why I'm on my way to addicted, right? ;-P
I truly look forward to getting more involved in Second Life - I plan to visit those French castles, and I so look forward to experiencing the Victorian Era!! The only problem is that I am truly terrified by it. Weird, I know. You'd think it'd be easier over the computer, but the whole idea makes me nervous - I can't start conversations, and I actually try to avoid people. But that is just for now. At the moment I'm completely a fish out of water, but I think the more I use it, the better I'll get at it, and feel more in my element. Besides, I've already made 2 friends who have gone out of their way to teach me and make me feel welcome, so I know I'll get there.
In the end I went with Second Life. You won't be able to follow this link at work however - tis blocked. Which isn't overly surprising, but gave me a laugh. See, I first heard about Second Life years ago. I remember 60 Minutes did a piece on it, and while it looked interesting, it wasn't my thing. Recently, it was brought up again at the e-Mentoring workshop I attended - the trainer even uses it as part of her teaching and whatnot...but it is blocked. I only hope she doesn't want to make use of it again in her online workshops! ;-P
Now, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Seeing as you can't follow the link, I'll explain the whole thing a bit - but seriously, you need to have look at the website when you can because I know I won't do it justice.
Second Life is an online 3D virtual world. You create an account and an avatar - which here is a 3D representation of yourself (or fantasy self, as is usually the case), and give yourself a name. You choose your first name, and Second Life generates a list of last names for you to choose from. It's truly that simple - you download the software, log in, and BAM! You're transported to a whole new world.
Now, this place is HUGE! I am not kidding. Second Life is bigger than you can even imagine - it's not just a game, but a life. You can shop, meet people, join book clubs, visit places you can only ever dream about (the Milky Way, for example) and places that maybe you just don't have the chance to visit yet in real life (or as it's known in Second Life, First Life). People literally replicate real places for you to explore - including Mexico, castles in France, and world renowned art galleries. But it's also a world of fantasy and gaming - you can join in futuristic role playing games; or go back in time and visit the Victorian era.
You can buy or rent land so that you can build a home or something else. People actually even work in Second Life. You can purchase "Linden Dollars" to spend within the world, which has a USD equivalent, so people design things for others to buy, and in doing so earn real money. Pretty cool.
Everything Second Life is pretty cool to me - it is both awe inspiring and terrifying! So, after all of this, just how hooked am I? Well, I'm on my way to addicted I think.
My Second Life name is Jinx Celestalis. My avatar has long black hair (for now) and wears a gorgeous black dress (also for now). I don't find it easy to use at all, but I'm getting there. I first explored the place on Saturday night, and met Larry, who took me shopping for the dress, jewellery and hair. Once Jinx was all dolled up, we went dancing! That was beyond fantastic - turns out I'm a great dancer! ;-) According to Larry it takes over a week just to learn the basics of Second Life! Boy, is he right. This morning I ventured out on my own, did some "freebie" shopping (as in for items that don't cost any money), and flew for the first time. Oh, you read that right - in Second Life you can fly, and to get from one place to another you teleport. Which is awesome but scary - last time I teleported I materialised smack bang in front of a huge dude. Freaky! I also met a lovely lady this morning who is part of a vampire/lycan/angel clan, and who has friended me so that she can invite me to future clan events...now you understand why I'm on my way to addicted, right? ;-P
I truly look forward to getting more involved in Second Life - I plan to visit those French castles, and I so look forward to experiencing the Victorian Era!! The only problem is that I am truly terrified by it. Weird, I know. You'd think it'd be easier over the computer, but the whole idea makes me nervous - I can't start conversations, and I actually try to avoid people. But that is just for now. At the moment I'm completely a fish out of water, but I think the more I use it, the better I'll get at it, and feel more in my element. Besides, I've already made 2 friends who have gone out of their way to teach me and make me feel welcome, so I know I'll get there.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thing 11
Ta da! Check out my very own search engine - So much Supernatural!
I was thinking about doing one on books, or anime/manga, but decided to focus on my other love instead - the tv show Supernatural! It's a Friday, ok? It's on my mind! ;-P
I've never heard of Rollyo before, and the idea is certainly a great one. However, sometimes it was temperamental - it wouldn't connect properly, and kept showing up with a "didn't connect - too many connections" error message. Really frustrating. In all honestly, this is a "Thing" that's really quite simple enough to speed through, but it took much longer than I anticipated.
Also, I used a couple of Wikipedia pages as a source, but it ignored the specific address (if that makes sense!) and when I did a test search it searches ALL of Wikipedia. That's a little disappointing. I deleted them as sources because they were finding irrelevant results.
Just for fun, I also created a search box. Though I almost gave up it took so long to connect!
I was thinking about doing one on books, or anime/manga, but decided to focus on my other love instead - the tv show Supernatural! It's a Friday, ok? It's on my mind! ;-P
I've never heard of Rollyo before, and the idea is certainly a great one. However, sometimes it was temperamental - it wouldn't connect properly, and kept showing up with a "didn't connect - too many connections" error message. Really frustrating. In all honestly, this is a "Thing" that's really quite simple enough to speed through, but it took much longer than I anticipated.
Also, I used a couple of Wikipedia pages as a source, but it ignored the specific address (if that makes sense!) and when I did a test search it searches ALL of Wikipedia. That's a little disappointing. I deleted them as sources because they were finding irrelevant results.
Just for fun, I also created a search box. Though I almost gave up it took so long to connect!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thing 10
I've created a profile and catalogue with LibraryThing - you can check out my 'library' here! Note my awesome Warholized profile picture! \o/
There are so many more titles I could add, but when it comes to thinking of them, I draw a blank. So I have Nicholas Sparks under a "Favourite author" collection, and there are a few still "To read" (there are still heaps and heaps to be added here!). A lot of the books are those I've read recently, and youth fiction. I've added my own tags to some, and rated those that I've read.
I absolutely loved Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and am dying for its sequels, so I went looking for recommendations based on it. I found Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink, which I've heard a bit about - but what has grabbed me is that the audio version is narrated by Eliza Dushku, who is one of my fave actresses (Buffy and Dollhouse, etc). I've added this title to my "Wishlist" and I think I'll track that one down and give it a go. :-D
I've also joined the group Hogwarts Express...fitting, huh? I found another group that looked fantastic - they read a youth book a month and discuss - that I would've loved to join but there hasn't been any comments since about July, so I guess they've stopped. Maybe I can get it re-started, yeah? ;-)
Overall, LibraryThing has been easy to use and somewhat interesting...I look forward to investigating further!
There are so many more titles I could add, but when it comes to thinking of them, I draw a blank. So I have Nicholas Sparks under a "Favourite author" collection, and there are a few still "To read" (there are still heaps and heaps to be added here!). A lot of the books are those I've read recently, and youth fiction. I've added my own tags to some, and rated those that I've read.
I absolutely loved Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and am dying for its sequels, so I went looking for recommendations based on it. I found Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink, which I've heard a bit about - but what has grabbed me is that the audio version is narrated by Eliza Dushku, who is one of my fave actresses (Buffy and Dollhouse, etc). I've added this title to my "Wishlist" and I think I'll track that one down and give it a go. :-D
I've also joined the group Hogwarts Express...fitting, huh? I found another group that looked fantastic - they read a youth book a month and discuss - that I would've loved to join but there hasn't been any comments since about July, so I guess they've stopped. Maybe I can get it re-started, yeah? ;-)
Overall, LibraryThing has been easy to use and somewhat interesting...I look forward to investigating further!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thing 9
Online generators! \o/ I've wanted to Warholize myself ever since I saw that I could. It's a little faded looking because the photo wasn't great, but I love it!! If you go to my Flickr photostream, you'll see that I also turned myself into a trading card, and I am now officially a museum work of art! Wee!
I found these generators fun and easy to use, and I especially liked that they linked to Flickr. This way I didn't have to re-upload photos but could select from my photostream, and easily upload the finished product. I'm impressed and my mind is already tinkering with ways these could work with the teens and our monthly events...
I found these generators fun and easy to use, and I especially liked that they linked to Flickr. This way I didn't have to re-upload photos but could select from my photostream, and easily upload the finished product. I'm impressed and my mind is already tinkering with ways these could work with the teens and our monthly events...
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