Thursday, July 26, 2007
Blog post order
I just learned that posts appear in order of when you started them and not when you "published" them. Does anyone know how to change that order? My Happy Trails post should be listed after my Ebooks comments since I finished and published it last.
Happy Trails to You.....
What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I liked exploring YouTube, Bloglines, and Blog search engines.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It has given me a short term goal to pursue.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Yes, I definitely would participate.
How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?
I found this program to be very beneficial. It gave me the push to try new technologies that I might not have tried otherwise. For example, I am not a fan of audiobooks. I now feel more equipped to assist patrons with their OverDrive and NetLibrary queries.
Finally, while I may have officially completed The 23 Things, there are a few applications/technologies which I want to explore further. Hopefully, I will be able to put them to use in the future.
I liked exploring YouTube, Bloglines, and Blog search engines.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It has given me a short term goal to pursue.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Yes, I definitely would participate.
How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?
I found this program to be very beneficial. It gave me the push to try new technologies that I might not have tried otherwise. For example, I am not a fan of audiobooks. I now feel more equipped to assist patrons with their OverDrive and NetLibrary queries.
Finally, while I may have officially completed The 23 Things, there are a few applications/technologies which I want to explore further. Hopefully, I will be able to put them to use in the future.
Ebooks
Project Gutenberg - This site provides a variety of ways to locate materials. One can search by author, title, subject, etc. Also, one can also browse by genre, author, title, etc. Project Gutenberg also allows one to view the "Top 100" and "Editor's Choice."
World ebook Fair - This site has 125 collections that one is able to browse. There is free access to the site for the month of July. So, I was able to view a .pdf version of the children's book A Visit from Santa Claus.
OverDrive and NetLibrary - I prefer OverDrive to NetLibrary. Finding material on OverDrive is easier than on NetLibrary in my opinion. With OverDrive, one is able to browse as well as search. In NetLibrary, browsing doesn't appear to be an option. Also, OverDrive also seems to have more of a selection from which to choose. I gave up trying to use NetLibrary as I couldn't find any of the authors or titles for which I was searching. Although one can check out more at one time on NetLibrary, I would still rather use OverDrive. I doubt that I'll ever want to exceed the checkout limit on OverDrive. Most of the books that I wanted to checkout in OverDrive were already checked out and my only option was to place a hold on them. Finally, I was able to download Anne of Green Gables. I had no problems with the download. I have not tried burning it to a CD or transferring it to an MP3 player.
World ebook Fair - This site has 125 collections that one is able to browse. There is free access to the site for the month of July. So, I was able to view a .pdf version of the children's book A Visit from Santa Claus.
OverDrive and NetLibrary - I prefer OverDrive to NetLibrary. Finding material on OverDrive is easier than on NetLibrary in my opinion. With OverDrive, one is able to browse as well as search. In NetLibrary, browsing doesn't appear to be an option. Also, OverDrive also seems to have more of a selection from which to choose. I gave up trying to use NetLibrary as I couldn't find any of the authors or titles for which I was searching. Although one can check out more at one time on NetLibrary, I would still rather use OverDrive. I doubt that I'll ever want to exceed the checkout limit on OverDrive. Most of the books that I wanted to checkout in OverDrive were already checked out and my only option was to place a hold on them. Finally, I was able to download Anne of Green Gables. I had no problems with the download. I have not tried burning it to a CD or transferring it to an MP3 player.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Podcasting
Phew, I have finally finished with Podcasting. There are a lot of interesting broadcasts out there. Listening to them on Podcast.net and Podcastalley.com was easy. However, I ran into problems when I tried to add the RSS feed from one of the book review podcasts to Bloglines. I tried first adding it from Podcastalley.com. I didn't realize at first that I wasn't the problem. It was only when I went back to Podcast.net, which is where I started, that I discovered it wasn't me causing the problem. The feed added without difficulty from Podcast.net. I am still not sure what the issue was when I tried from Podcastalley.com.
YouTube Pt 2
In a library setting, embedded YouTube videos could be used as training or promotional tools. Library staff could create videos of how to use the catalog, etc. and upload them to YouTube. The videos could then be embedded on the Library Web site. The same thing could be done for program promotion videos.
I wonder if story time videos would be popular?
I wonder if story time videos would be popular?
YouTube
YouTube can be a lot of fun. However, you do have to be careful because you never know what you might find while browsing. Quality of videos varied greatly as did blogs on Technorati. If you are just browsing, this site can be overwhelming. I had more luck with the search term "Scarecrow and Mrs King" than with "Westie" or "West Highland White Terriers." Results were returned for each of my searches but I found the SMK videos to be the most entertaining. Below is an example of one.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Web 2.0 Awards
Oh me, Oh my!!! It was a bit overwhelming looking at the Web 2.0 Awards list. There were so many things that I wanted to try (and I was looking at the "short" list). I took a very quick peek at a few different things (such as Yelp!, Meebo, and ThinkFree) before settling on Pandora.
Pandora allows you to create your own music station. You can select different artists, songs, etc and then it chooses others that you might like to add to the station that you have created. You can add, delete, edit, rename, etc. your station. You can also give a thumbs up or down to the songs that it chooses. If you give it a thumbs down, it stops playing the song immediately. According to the site FAQ, if an artist receives two thumbs down from you, he or she is permanently removed from playing on your station. I really like this premise of this site. The only "problem" that I had was that the songs kept cutting out at times....guess bandwith was an issue. The site let me listen for a while before I had to register.
Pandora allows you to create your own music station. You can select different artists, songs, etc and then it chooses others that you might like to add to the station that you have created. You can add, delete, edit, rename, etc. your station. You can also give a thumbs up or down to the songs that it chooses. If you give it a thumbs down, it stops playing the song immediately. According to the site FAQ, if an artist receives two thumbs down from you, he or she is permanently removed from playing on your station. I really like this premise of this site. The only "problem" that I had was that the songs kept cutting out at times....guess bandwith was an issue. The site let me listen for a while before I had to register.
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