I was pleasantly surprised with this site, although admittedly the theory I had seen about the site had been enough to pique my curiousity and raise my interest.
Once exploring, I was amazed at just how simple this process has been made to allow a complete novice to easily navigate around this site and be able to 'catalog' their own bookshelf or indeed, their reading history.
Loved the way that it is really just a case of putting in a title or author...and the rest is done for you....usually complete with picture. In other words...maximum effect for minimum effort!
Undoubtedly this site could be well used as a readers advisory amongst members and I would be keen to see what people with similar interests to my own have on their individual lists and I will choose some books to persue accordingly.
A straight forward excercise on a straight forward site....very refreshing!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Great times @ Generator
This was my sort of stop! I loved playing with all these different sites and seeing what they had to offer.
I visited the letterJames site and made the 'bus stop poster' below. There were many creative resources to experiment with here and one could have spent an insane amount of time exploring with various ideas.
I visited the letterJames site and made the 'bus stop poster' below. There were many creative resources to experiment with here and one could have spent an insane amount of time exploring with various ideas.
Finding your gangsta name had me in hysterics and I couldn't stop clicking the button to see the next one and the next one.... I found it hilarious, but maybe you had to be there at the time... The first name I generated was Jiggy Shizzle but I quite liked Foxxy Rascal and Hollywood Hoochie when going through the list!
I then moved on to the bar drink site where the names of cocktails were highly amusing. Amongst the better ones (and keeping this a 'family blog') were the following:-
Arrogant Dropkick
1 tsp Irish Cream
1 oz Beer
Shot of Dr. Pepper
Serve in a Soup Ladle. Add cinnamon stick
Holy Gutter Trash
Jigger of Blackberry Brandy
1 oz Apricot Brandy
1 oz Mello Yello Cherry
Serve in a Sherry glass. salt the rim.
Winking Priest
1 oz Brandy
1/2 oz Tequila Premium
4 oz Diet 7Up
1 tsp Irish Cream
1 oz Beer
Shot of Dr. Pepper
Serve in a Soup Ladle. Add cinnamon stick
Holy Gutter Trash
Jigger of Blackberry Brandy
1 oz Apricot Brandy
1 oz Mello Yello Cherry
Serve in a Sherry glass. salt the rim.
Winking Priest
1 oz Brandy
1/2 oz Tequila Premium
4 oz Diet 7Up
It makes me wonder if the names are given to the drink before or after it is consumed...!!
Also enjoyed the Whats your problem? site. I put in my blogging name of 'auntyof3' and it came back with the following"-
"I'm an unconventional control-freak with a dependent personality disorder!"
For anyone aware of my true identity and by my own self admission (see 'about me' on my blog page) they will know that this is somewhat accurate....!
I tried out all sorts of other sites too as my curiosity got the better of me when I saw the extensive list of them.
I then found I could make my own number plate (American of course!) and this is the result...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sussing out the Sandbox!
The sandbox was an interesting experience. While I understand the concept, I have to wonder when I would ever partake in this...particularly when there is so much more being offered on the world wide web that appeals to me more.
However, having said that, I will be interested to see what information is collected with other participants adding their 'favourite things'. Being 'nosey by nature' I am intrigued by what other people find enjoyable and take an interest in.
I got a little mixed up at first when trying to add to a favourite group and ended up adding a thread instead. However, I eventually figured out what I was meant to be doing and posted a few answers accordingly. Then I noticed a spelling mistake on one of my threads and couldn't find out how to edit it. When will the world wide web and all its content learn that I need a spell check automatically done on absolutely everything I do! Is this too much to ask...?
I found the recommended videos were helpful and offered a good overview. I agree with their message that Wetpaint is far more versatile than Wiki and is a lot more user friendly and simplistic.
However, having said that, I will be interested to see what information is collected with other participants adding their 'favourite things'. Being 'nosey by nature' I am intrigued by what other people find enjoyable and take an interest in.
I got a little mixed up at first when trying to add to a favourite group and ended up adding a thread instead. However, I eventually figured out what I was meant to be doing and posted a few answers accordingly. Then I noticed a spelling mistake on one of my threads and couldn't find out how to edit it. When will the world wide web and all its content learn that I need a spell check automatically done on absolutely everything I do! Is this too much to ask...?
I found the recommended videos were helpful and offered a good overview. I agree with their message that Wetpaint is far more versatile than Wiki and is a lot more user friendly and simplistic.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Whistling through Wiki
With Wiki's being 'level playing fields' thus allowing anyone to add content and edit, this brings about both positive and negative aspects. As discussed in the papers however, it is a great way for everyone to be able to contribute and feel as if they can have a say, and a 'share of the power'.
I'm fairly new to Wiki's and must admit, am not completely sold on them yet. However, it is interesting to see many of the overseas public libraries using Wiki as a tool for book reviews and encouraging their youth to take part and contribute.
Through the article "Library Success: A best practices wiki" I browsed some of the teenage book reviews. Firstly I was amused by some of the names given to the sites...but taking first prize for me was "Booksnog". Then I noticed that many of the sites I looked at only consisted of reviews from the library staff and the youth had not participated as yet which was not very encouraging. However I was not disappointed when I found Homer Township Public Library and there were an array of book reviews to read that had been written by their teenage patrons. My personal favourite was this one:
Anonymous said...
Prom by Laurie Anderson.
I would not recommend this book. Laurie Anderson is usually a phenomenal writer. She was unable to capture emotion or feeling in this book.
I just love the candidacy of this review!!
Unfortunately the 'Using a wiki for information services: principles & practicalities' by Peter Blake was not working this morning, but I will go back to it for a quick squizz at a later date...
I'm fairly new to Wiki's and must admit, am not completely sold on them yet. However, it is interesting to see many of the overseas public libraries using Wiki as a tool for book reviews and encouraging their youth to take part and contribute.
Through the article "Library Success: A best practices wiki" I browsed some of the teenage book reviews. Firstly I was amused by some of the names given to the sites...but taking first prize for me was "Booksnog". Then I noticed that many of the sites I looked at only consisted of reviews from the library staff and the youth had not participated as yet which was not very encouraging. However I was not disappointed when I found Homer Township Public Library and there were an array of book reviews to read that had been written by their teenage patrons. My personal favourite was this one:
Anonymous said...
Prom by Laurie Anderson.
I would not recommend this book. Laurie Anderson is usually a phenomenal writer. She was unable to capture emotion or feeling in this book.
I just love the candidacy of this review!!
Unfortunately the 'Using a wiki for information services: principles & practicalities' by Peter Blake was not working this morning, but I will go back to it for a quick squizz at a later date...
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Full steam ahead to the future
Wow...the Web 2.0 phenomenon video is certainly thought provoking and something that you need to watch several times due to the impact. It is very clever and very true. Everything is changing. This is especially true with the web and all is contains.
It is also true for libraries. The way in which we do our jobs today is different in many ways from 10 years ago, different again from 15 years ago and so on. With the way technology is growing, changing and expanding, particularly on the world wide web, our industry has no choice but to go with it and adapt our roles within the community accordingly.
Two statements that stood out amongst the articles I read were: "In Web 2.0, the Web becomes the center of a new digital lifestyle that changes our culture and touches every aspect of our lives. The Web moves from simply being sites and search engines to a shared network space that drives work, research, education, entertainment and social activities—essentially everything people do". This was taken from Where will the next generation Web take libraries? By Tom Storey....and "In my library, we’ve seen a 55 percent drop in circulation rates over the past twelve years, making it harder and harder to justify the continued buildup of a large “just in case” print collection. As a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything – digital collections of journals, books, blogs, pod-casts, etc. You think they can’t have everything? Think again. This may be our great opportunity", taken from "Away from the 'Icebergs'" by Rick Anderson.
As mentioned, we are already seeing the impact within our libraries of the vast amount of information available on the world wide web and our customers requirements are increasingly more focused towards needing assistance with accessing databases and web-sites than with finding printed information. It has already transformed our lives in relatively short time it has been available...and we can only imagine how it will rapidly continue to do so...
It is also true for libraries. The way in which we do our jobs today is different in many ways from 10 years ago, different again from 15 years ago and so on. With the way technology is growing, changing and expanding, particularly on the world wide web, our industry has no choice but to go with it and adapt our roles within the community accordingly.
Two statements that stood out amongst the articles I read were: "In Web 2.0, the Web becomes the center of a new digital lifestyle that changes our culture and touches every aspect of our lives. The Web moves from simply being sites and search engines to a shared network space that drives work, research, education, entertainment and social activities—essentially everything people do". This was taken from Where will the next generation Web take libraries? By Tom Storey....and "In my library, we’ve seen a 55 percent drop in circulation rates over the past twelve years, making it harder and harder to justify the continued buildup of a large “just in case” print collection. As a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything – digital collections of journals, books, blogs, pod-casts, etc. You think they can’t have everything? Think again. This may be our great opportunity", taken from "Away from the 'Icebergs'" by Rick Anderson.
As mentioned, we are already seeing the impact within our libraries of the vast amount of information available on the world wide web and our customers requirements are increasingly more focused towards needing assistance with accessing databases and web-sites than with finding printed information. It has already transformed our lives in relatively short time it has been available...and we can only imagine how it will rapidly continue to do so...
Toilet stop at Technorati!
Technorati... First and foremost...not my type of site! Too boring in presentation and not particularly easy to navigate in my view. I like a site to 'speak to me' upon loading with eye catching headlines, great use of colour, interesting graphics, a good sized font and the impression that I can easily find what I am looking for...
Unfortunately the Technorati Tour video cast was not working all day today which I thought may have sparked some interest in me by telling me about all the amazing things I could discover if only I could get past the initial 'blah' feeling about the site....but it was not to be. Will check back another day to see if it has come right.
Using the search for "Learning 2.0" bought up a few hits, but nothing of significant interest. However, I did notice that our own "QuizzyLizzy" made an appearance here which eventually led back to the NSL blog they have created.
However, Technorati's use of tiny font did not inspire me to keep looking, or delve further, or 'experiment' with the site and it would not be a site I would bookmark for future use. Too much competition out there for that!
Using the Learning 2.0 search resulted in the same amount of hits in the block directory and blog posts but using the same keyword in tags almost doubled the result. This leaves me wondering about which search would prove to be more useful if one was really seeking some information. At the end of the day, any information we find depends to a large extent on how the contributor has set it up and how accessible they have made it with using relevant tags, titles, common buzzwords within their content etc.
In comparison, the same can be said for trying to sell an item on Trade Me. A seller who describes their item for example as being: "a pair of jeans" has little chance of selling them without the potential buyer having to ask for a lot more additional information. The seller who describes the same pair of jeans as "Ladies Levi jeans, size 12, light ice washed denim, dome fly, boot legged, triple stitched, great condition" will be perceived as more genuine and will probably sell the item without more information being required. Not rocket science is it!?
Overall, Technorati was a 'toilet stop' town for me and not one that I would
choose to stop at again...
Unfortunately the Technorati Tour video cast was not working all day today which I thought may have sparked some interest in me by telling me about all the amazing things I could discover if only I could get past the initial 'blah' feeling about the site....but it was not to be. Will check back another day to see if it has come right.
Using the search for "Learning 2.0" bought up a few hits, but nothing of significant interest. However, I did notice that our own "QuizzyLizzy" made an appearance here which eventually led back to the NSL blog they have created.
However, Technorati's use of tiny font did not inspire me to keep looking, or delve further, or 'experiment' with the site and it would not be a site I would bookmark for future use. Too much competition out there for that!
Using the Learning 2.0 search resulted in the same amount of hits in the block directory and blog posts but using the same keyword in tags almost doubled the result. This leaves me wondering about which search would prove to be more useful if one was really seeking some information. At the end of the day, any information we find depends to a large extent on how the contributor has set it up and how accessible they have made it with using relevant tags, titles, common buzzwords within their content etc.
In comparison, the same can be said for trying to sell an item on Trade Me. A seller who describes their item for example as being: "a pair of jeans" has little chance of selling them without the potential buyer having to ask for a lot more additional information. The seller who describes the same pair of jeans as "Ladies Levi jeans, size 12, light ice washed denim, dome fly, boot legged, triple stitched, great condition" will be perceived as more genuine and will probably sell the item without more information being required. Not rocket science is it!?
Overall, Technorati was a 'toilet stop' town for me and not one that I would
choose to stop at again...
Friday, August 1, 2008
Back on track and discovering bacon ice-cream!
Well, after a bit of a hiatus due to a number of factors, I am back on track! The del.icio.us site delivered more than I had anticipated and I spent quite some time exploring it. It was with much reluctance and the constant repitition of the catch phrase 'stick to the program', that I managed to tear myself away to write the required blog! As with many others sites we discover in our travels, I felt that one could just sit and 'discover' for the rest of the day without consciously being aware of where the time was going. Definitely a case of 'the more you look...the more you want to keep on looking'...
Found a wicked link to "Wordle" which allows you to make word cloud art with words of your choosing. To demonstrate...I made one as an example with words associated with the web. View it at:
http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/99666/WebWords
I am particularly impressed with the idea of having a site that will save all your bookmarks/favourites to a place where you can access from any PC, anywhere, as opposed to only being accessible from the computer to which you have originally saved them. There is nothing more frustrating than being on the front desk and knowing you have a web-site bookmarked on your PC out the back that would be perfect for an enquiry, but being unable to remember the specific site address off the top of your head. With del.icio.us, your answer would only be a click or two away... This idea is simply brilliant and I can certainly understand it's popularity!!
Thinking from a professional point of view...I'd like to see this site replace the "Fitch" which I have never personally warmed to and believe could be a lot more user friendly and useful... By introducing the concept of del.icio.us...we could open up our saved links to the general public as our resources hardly need to be kept confidential and then the link would become more like a living document.
I can definitely see myself using this site in my own life and discovering all sorts of sites that will be useful both personally and professionally.
I 'tagged' several sites for further exploration later and noted, (but did not tag!), a recipe for 'bacon ice-cream' and 'chocolate coated bacon'. Interesting...but not something that I'll personally be choosing to experience...! What will I discover next?
Found a wicked link to "Wordle" which allows you to make word cloud art with words of your choosing. To demonstrate...I made one as an example with words associated with the web. View it at:
http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/99666/WebWords
I am particularly impressed with the idea of having a site that will save all your bookmarks/favourites to a place where you can access from any PC, anywhere, as opposed to only being accessible from the computer to which you have originally saved them. There is nothing more frustrating than being on the front desk and knowing you have a web-site bookmarked on your PC out the back that would be perfect for an enquiry, but being unable to remember the specific site address off the top of your head. With del.icio.us, your answer would only be a click or two away... This idea is simply brilliant and I can certainly understand it's popularity!!
Thinking from a professional point of view...I'd like to see this site replace the "Fitch" which I have never personally warmed to and believe could be a lot more user friendly and useful... By introducing the concept of del.icio.us...we could open up our saved links to the general public as our resources hardly need to be kept confidential and then the link would become more like a living document.
I can definitely see myself using this site in my own life and discovering all sorts of sites that will be useful both personally and professionally.
I 'tagged' several sites for further exploration later and noted, (but did not tag!), a recipe for 'bacon ice-cream' and 'chocolate coated bacon'. Interesting...but not something that I'll personally be choosing to experience...! What will I discover next?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
RSS & Newsreaders!?
Apart from having no idea what these were until reading the exercise and doing the assigned work...I'm not really that interested!
Perhaps this is a quick judgement after a busy week, but I don't see that they have much benefit to me personally other than collating all my chosen data in one place:- ie: the news headlines, the latest gossip, literature interest information etc. While these will all be sorted and delivered to me for my reading pleasure...it is unlikely that I will ever make the time to go in once a day and read it all.
Therefore, am I not better off how I currently am with bookmarks of the nz herald, stuff etc that I then slip in to when I do have the time and the inclination to persue it.
On a positive note, it is great to be able to individualise what you get sent and specify your own interests etc to only 'get what you want' to a certain extent so you are not wasting more time sifting through information you are not interested in to find/read what you want.
Maybe I'm missing the point somewhere and not understanding the full potential of what RSS and Newsreader can offer. Will follow up by reading colleagues blogs with interest to their views on these resources.
In our professional capacity however, they may be more beneficial. In a 'fitch' type of way, maybe we could collect and archive news headlines, or entertainment news, specialist news, collate information for popular enquiries etc for quick and easy retrieval...
Bring on week 4....hopefully something more to my taste and addictive personality!
Perhaps this is a quick judgement after a busy week, but I don't see that they have much benefit to me personally other than collating all my chosen data in one place:- ie: the news headlines, the latest gossip, literature interest information etc. While these will all be sorted and delivered to me for my reading pleasure...it is unlikely that I will ever make the time to go in once a day and read it all.
Therefore, am I not better off how I currently am with bookmarks of the nz herald, stuff etc that I then slip in to when I do have the time and the inclination to persue it.
On a positive note, it is great to be able to individualise what you get sent and specify your own interests etc to only 'get what you want' to a certain extent so you are not wasting more time sifting through information you are not interested in to find/read what you want.
Maybe I'm missing the point somewhere and not understanding the full potential of what RSS and Newsreader can offer. Will follow up by reading colleagues blogs with interest to their views on these resources.
In our professional capacity however, they may be more beneficial. In a 'fitch' type of way, maybe we could collect and archive news headlines, or entertainment news, specialist news, collate information for popular enquiries etc for quick and easy retrieval...
Bring on week 4....hopefully something more to my taste and addictive personality!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Technology Train
Well...I've come to a conclusion...and me being me...I'll share what that is!! The technology train is moving way too fast. There's just so much to do, see, look at, discover and try out on the internet that we could never do it all...even if we were given and infinite amount of time. It is just impossible which is a very overwhelming and surreal thought. It's the same as knowing in 'library land' just how impossible it is to live long enough to read every book we would like to!
When I think of my mere 40 years of life on this earth and the incredible things we have in our lives that I have seen introduced:- colour tv, microwaves, walkmans, portable telephones, cd's, dvd's, ipods, mobile phones, digital cameras, personal computers, lap-tops, Playstation, X-Box, Wii, MP3 players, flash drives etc etc...and yes...lo and behold...the internet and world wide web! We really are living in a very privileged society with an incredible amount of entertainment and exciting technology all around us for the taking.
One always is inclined to think that the latest 'thing' will be difficult, expensive, hard to use etc...and then months later...we are all using it regularly and in fact, can hardly remember a life without it.
As overwhelming as it is...we must embrace it all and look at it as positive enhancement and opportunity for all.
I look around my own home and take for granted the multiple tv's, stereo, mobile phones, microwave, Playstation, internet access, home alarm, digital cameras etc and I then think of my two nieces and nephew who, at ages 1, 4 and 6 know no different...
It is with both trepidation and excitement that I try to imagine just what the future holds...
When I think of my mere 40 years of life on this earth and the incredible things we have in our lives that I have seen introduced:- colour tv, microwaves, walkmans, portable telephones, cd's, dvd's, ipods, mobile phones, digital cameras, personal computers, lap-tops, Playstation, X-Box, Wii, MP3 players, flash drives etc etc...and yes...lo and behold...the internet and world wide web! We really are living in a very privileged society with an incredible amount of entertainment and exciting technology all around us for the taking.
One always is inclined to think that the latest 'thing' will be difficult, expensive, hard to use etc...and then months later...we are all using it regularly and in fact, can hardly remember a life without it.
As overwhelming as it is...we must embrace it all and look at it as positive enhancement and opportunity for all.
I look around my own home and take for granted the multiple tv's, stereo, mobile phones, microwave, Playstation, internet access, home alarm, digital cameras etc and I then think of my two nieces and nephew who, at ages 1, 4 and 6 know no different...
It is with both trepidation and excitement that I try to imagine just what the future holds...
I'm not trading this!
Okay, I admit it...I can't stop 'playing' in this site. So many new toys, and so little time... I think I need to quit my job and just spend all my time on these new sites:-learning....researching...playing...exploring...discovering!
I've made up a Library Trading Card....although I'm not trading this beautiful commodity....as tempting as it is sometimes when I have to get up and down ten times a night to let this little creature "in-and-out"! I sometimes have to console myself, that it could be worse. I could have children of my own who could refuse to leave home until they're 40!
Anyway take a browse at my cute little furry friend if you wish...although no bribery, corruption or offers of fame or fortune will even be considered for trading purposes!
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