Task 22 - Thoughts

It's great being given the chance to explore and play with these technologies at work. Looking through the task it's hard to choose a favourite and I have to admit some of the tools have slipped my mind already. Someone mentioned Techonorati the other day and I had to think. So you can see that I'm not making a huge use of Web 2 technologies. But that's the thing with all these tools and technologies - how necessary/useful/timesaving/beneficial.... are they? For the most part and for me and my personal/social life the answer is 'not much'. The thing that probably impressed me the most is how much a lot of these tools and technologies are being used by all kinds of people and I wonder how on earth they find the time to spend on blogs, uploading and tagging photos, adding books to LibraryThing, collating and subscribing to blogs and podcasts and then twittering .... personally I would rather catch up with a friend over a cup of tea and biscuits.

I use RSS feeds and try to log into my feedreader regularly. I would like to have a blog for my liaison work, but that needs some time and thought and I'm not sure what the policy is there. A fellow librarian at QUT has one and the blog address is part of their email signature. I think it would be a good way to present relevant services, resources and tools to the staff and students. I like the ECOB blog and they way they post the 'New books list' on it.

The task instructions and links need to be checked/updated regularly as a few of the tasks were a bit vague, and I've made a few comments in the posts about this. I think the time period could be a little longer - say 12 weeks, minimum, as some tasks take time to explore and some weeks are busier than others. It's important though to make time to do the tasks and to set a regular time aside and be disciplined about this, otherwise it just gets away from you.

This has been a good exercise and a good way to get an overview and some experience of what's out there. 23Things has given me a reason to explore and learn more and that's a good thing and what life-long learning is all about.

Task 21 - Social Networking

I've had a Facebook account for a while, though I must admit I rarely log in so I have lots of annoyed people asking why I haven't accepted their invite. I can see its advantages and it's a great way to keep in touch with lots of friends at the same time without much effort. Emails seem to have gone the way of letters so our personal communication seems to be shrinking in content (and depth) but widening in reach - interesting!

I don't have the internet at home so this means I don't get much chance to go on Facebook, and in a way I'm quite happy with that. I spend most of my working day in front of a screen so it's the last thing I want to do in my free time. ...

Task 20 - Podcasts

The link to the Yahoo tutorial on podcasts is a broken one but it took me to the Yahoo news site where I learned that new iPods were launched today.Then the only directory link that worked was 'Podcast Alley'. I did a bit of searching and exploring. I used the word "library" for a search and got 167 results-though how many are library related is doubtful.

This one from Woodruff Library at Emory University in the US is quite good. It even has EndNote podcasts. I'm listening to the one on searching discoverE, their version of UQuicksearch. Emory also have their podcasts available in iTunesU.

I watched some of the tutorials on using Audacity to create a podcast. They seem quite good, so I know that they exist when I need them.

I've subscribed to a few podcasts from ABC radio national but still don't know how to transfer them to my ipod, - hopeless.

Task 19 - YouTube

Some great stuff on YouTube, but also so much rubbish. I had fun exploring and watching some interesting things.

Mostly it's a case of one thing leading you to another or people sending me links. I have never thought "I'll search YouTube for this". I'm not sure how it could be used in libraries, these are probably the obvious uses: "Tours", "How-to" kind of videos, librarians reviewing books...not very exciting.

I was sent this one yesterday, Conversations with History - Craig Calhoun, a very senior US 'social scientist' who has some very interesting things to say about social science, its research and its importance.

On a lighter note this is a favourite Women, Know your Place

Task 17 - GoogleMAPS

I often use Google Maps, I'd never used the "Get directions" feature so that was good to try out and it was pretty good.

I really don't think many people would like to learn that their house can be seen by the world (Street view feature). I'm sure my mother wouldn't. One has to question aspects of privacy but then we are all being watched and listened to in so many ways that we know nothing of.

My post below is my Google docs page. I created a document and then followed the prompts to publish/post it to my blog, and hey presto, there it is - amazing.

Hi

 

 Welcome to my Google docs page.

 

so far so good.

 

I've just read the instructions and it seems like a great tool. Very versatile and one great feature is the collaboration that can take place. I can see its use in many situations in not only the world of research, teaching and learning but also in creative and business projects.

 

I'm not sure I would use it but it's a great discovery for me. I'd heard about Google docs but had never explored it.

 

Task 21 - Twitter

A friend who works at QUT library was raving about Twitter last year but mostly from a social point of view but that's something I can live without.

I can see it has its uses, especially with breaking news events, eg the protests against the election results in Iran. I don't know about the technicality of blocking tweets but at least it cuts out barriers such as having to have access to a computer and web browser.

This Guardian article is a good one - Making the Most of Twitter

It would be interesting to see how libraries are using Twitter and the take up of library tweets.

Task 18 - iGoogle

I set up an iGoogle page and find it very similar to Netvibes which I already use.
I have something against monopolies so I'm going to stick with Netvibes, plus I'm happy with what it does and how it looks. I haven't looked at Google docs yet.

Tasks 15/16 - Wikis

Wikis have so much use in any field that is about collaborating and sharing information-so many uses for libraries. I really like Meredith Farkas' blog and her post on using a wiki for Subject Guides.

Some nice quotes on the LIBNET wiki.

Task 14 - Technorati

I really like the Technorati tour. It makes it look so easy to use and like a great tool if you are into blogs.

I'm now ready to do the task but I'm confused; the Technorati page doesn't look like the page on the video tour so I've gone to "Advanced search" (I wonder - do only librarians use 'Advanced Search' function?)to find out how many posts/tags/blogs there are on "Learning 2.0".

Looking at the 'Popular' blogs/tags/posts whatever... is interesting, but I'm not finding much useful stuff. I don't fully understand tags and how to use them for effective searching - all I can conclude is that they don't find me what I'm looking for.

Why would you use the tag "life"? What does it mean? There are 775,496 blogs with this tag. Oh well I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Task 13 - Del.icio.us

I can see the benefit of using this if you're using multiple computers - good idea.
I tried searching but found it difficult, the results were more interesting than useful. I found lots of blogs and this one - it's amazing - the absolute ultimate example of abandoned infrastructure that you can find all over Japan. I found this using the tags 'japan', 'architecture' - "Battleship Island".

Yay, finally I have an image on my blog; sourced from Skaddi on Flickr Flickr.


Berlin State Library-I think this is the one that features in the Wim Wenders' movie Wings of Desire. There are some scenes of the angels hanging out in the library.

Task 12 - LibriVox

It's a great idea and I like what they are doing.

I chose a couple to listen to but I was interested in listening to each of the versions available for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - a total of 3 and a fourth in progress.

The American accents are a bit much and one would put me to sleep but it's not fair to be overly critical, it's not easy to read aloud and make it sound good. It's interesting that one book can have several readers. It can be both good and bad as some of those voices could become quite boring after a while.

I also liked that the first version of Huck Finn had a pdf cd case cover you can print off.

Task 11 - Google Books

I like Google Books and to eventually have a tool to access the world's books is quite amazing. I've found some interesting and recently published books that are available full view. I'm not sure what Google mean that libraries will be able to 'subscribe' to the collection on Google. Well, of course it means money, but there I was thinking Google were doing this out of the goodness of their heart.

"My library" of books on Venice and its architecture is available for viewing.

Task 10 - LibraryThing

I like the way it recommends books and definitely they are ones that I've put on my 'to read' list. Of the 5 books I chose, I've only read 2. The problem with this list is accessing it when I'm actually standing in front of the library shelves. I rarely remember a title, so I end up browsing and choosing some obscure and random titles.

I don't see myself as a regular user of LibraryThing but it's fun to play with. My profile is rather bare but you can view my book selections.

Tasks 8 and 9 - RSS Feeds

This is my third feed reader account now and I've had a bit of fun, but too much time searching for some interesting blogs to subscribe to. Subscribing to feeds is definitely useful-there's so much interesting stuff out there. I've got feeds to a couple of fashion sites and librarian blogs. I'm not sure about subscribing to so many news sites as the feeds just come pouring in, and how much news does one really want to/need to keep up with?

The thing is you need to log in to the feed reader each day to see what's new. I find this goes in waves of daily logging in and then weeks of not going near it.

In libraries and the research world RSS feeds are very useful-as you can get feeds of 'Table of contents' of latest issues of journals as well as feeds of new articles that match searches as well as citation feeds.

I've given up trying to put the link to share my feeds, the instructions on both the 23Things blog and blog lines aren't very clear.

Something technical

I've recently been playing with my ipod Touch. I've got some songs on there and I've subscribed to a podcast. I tried to put songs from a CD on it, but I'm stuck. The songs are in itunes but I can't figure how to get them onto the ipod.
I'm much better when someone shows me how to do these things - practical demonstration is my learning style. I'm not a big user of technology for entertainment, DVDs, CDs are my limit.

I do have a digital video cameral and my aim is to get some video editing software to edit recordings of my life and travels in Japan. I see myself as a mini documentary maker.

Blogging

It's been fun exploring others' blogs. Some are so attractive - with the images, fonts and colours - mine is so boring by comparison. I do think the Wordpress templates are much more attractive so perhaps next time I decide to have a blog I'll go with Wordpress, I think I chose Blogger because I have a Google account.

I find I like reading the comments and I tend to read them more than the actual posts. When I was posting on the SSAH blog I felt like I was writing into some great void as no one commented.

Task 6 - Picasa

I've had a quick browse of Picasa and I prefer the way the photos are displayed. A webpage of thumbnails makes it much easier to browse than Flickr.

I saw Italy as a tag and then chose a photo of Venice, the most beautiful city in the whole world. At least this one describes what it is and exactly where. So many photos on both Flickr and Picasa, especially photos of sites and places, don't have any details - that's disappointing. But then so many of these travel photos are disappointing and quite boring anyway.

Some of the arty and experimental shots are great, and some of the nature ones are quite stunning, especially in Flickr.

I'm not going to create an album in Picasa. I have very few digital photos and am not going to borrow a digital camera to take any. Maybe I'll get to it at some stage in the future. Though from others' comments it seems Flickr is the best option.

Flickr - Task 5

I've set up a Flickr account but I can't ever see myself using it to share photos, at least not until I get a digital camera. I'm still using a film camera-and post photos in letters to family or friends. I know there is a picture of me on Flickr-photos taken at the New Librarians' Symposium that was held a couple of years ago.

I can see how it's a useful tool for sharing photos with your friends or showcasing your photography talents but then these things all take time.

I browsed a bit and tried searching for photos using tags. I finally chose my photo by looking at all the photos for a specific date and found this beautiful owl from somewhere in South America- a sentinela. Athena is often depicted with an owl, so I thought it appropriate.

I can't work out how to add an image to my blog.

Tasks 1, 2 and 3

So far so good - I think the hardest thing so far has been thinking of a name for my blog. And the most time consuming has been deciding on a template for my blog. I'm still not happy with it but I've spent more than enough time on it. I'll pretty it up as I go.

My thoughts on life long learning. To me life is learning and every experience we have is an opportunity to learn - about ourselves, others and the world around us.

I have reservations about having to sign a contract, especially with myself, nevertheless I've created one as the tutorial instructed. oops - I forgot to sign it. I'll do that now.

Taking part in the 23 Things program should be good and I'm looking forward to learning more about some technologies that I've heard about but have never played with.