Thing #19 - Web 2.0 Awards

This has been a fun week. I enjoyed using Pandora and had fun with the Color Blender. When I browsed the Web 2.0 Awards list, I was attracted to the Travel section and found farecast.com interesting. This is what they had to say about Farecast:

farecast.com
"Farecast predicts U.S. domestic price changes, lets users book airline tickets online and provides refunds if they get their predictions wrong! There’s absolutely nothing bad you can say about that!
Interview: “Farecast was created to answer the question "should you buy your airline ticket now or wait?" In the past few releases, we’ve expanded our offerings to answer questions like, "when is the best time to travel, and is this a good deal?"” Read our interview with David Shim, "

I love to travel and look forward to vacations each year. This will be a site, along with some others in the Travel section, that I will definitely spend some time visiting.

Thing #18 - Web Apps

I was impressed with Google Docs. What a great feature! I love the fact that you can access your documents from any computer that is hooked up to the Internet. I wish that I had this feature when I was in college (a long, long time ago - back in the typewriter era). Having the ability to collaborate with other people on a project and their being able to view and edit the document is awesome. I can see the programming committee using Google Docs.

Thing #17 - Play in the Sandbox

I was a few days late getting to play in the sandbox, so I had the opportunity to see what others had contributed to our wiki. It is turning out to be a pretty work of art. Is it possible to print out the final copy when we are finished with the challenge and have it displayed in all the libraries? I added my favorite food, favorite thing to do and favorite place. I was able to link my blog to the wiki. It is Monday, and I am ready to start Thing #18!

Thing #16 - Learn About Wikis

The video from Common Craft gave a simple explanation about wikis and I thought how useful it would be for us to use a wiki in the organization of staff parties at our branch or maybe organizing Staff Development Day. When I checked out the Public Libraries on the Blogging Libraries Wiki, I brought up the Birmingham Public Library's Latest News, Reviews & Info wiki and was impressed. One of their posts was for "Tech Tuesdays" for a "look at the technologies sweeping the Internet and see if you need to join the crowd!" I just had to add a comment on that post. I explained who I was and the challenge we were doing here at the Ocean County Library in New Jersey. I provided them with a link to plcmclearning 2.o and suggested that their staff may be interested in doing the challenge and how it is a great team building experience. I also gave them our Ocean County Library home page address. I am eagerly waiting to see if they respond! This is all brand new to me. I can't believe that I actually posted a comment on their page.
I visited Ocean County Library's article on Wikipedia and noticed that the "Awards" section needed to be updated to include our National Medal for Museum & Library Service award that we received.
As far as relying on the information on Wikipedia, I would be hesitant to trust everything that I read knowing that people can just change the information and that info may not be correct.

Thing #15 - On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

OK, I read all five perspectives on Web 2.o - "Where will the next generation web take libraries" before I realized that I only had to read two or three. My two favorite, though, where Rick Anderson's "Away from the icebergs" and Michael Stephens' "Into a new world of librarianship". In Michael Stephens' perspective, he states that the 2.0 Librarian "understands that the future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content". His final sentence brings the ball home. "Librarian 2.0 also listens to staff and users when planning, tells the stories of successes and failures, learns from both, celebrates those successes, allows staff time to play and learn, and never stops dreaming about the best library services."

I remember way back in 1996 or so when the Ocean County Library purchased new computers to make the Internet accessible to our customers and we were encouraged to learn and practice our searching skills. Wow, have we come a long way. Now we have been given the opportunity to learn so much more. It makes the 2.0 Web Challenge even more important to me!!

Thing #14 - Technorati

I had no idea how big the blogosphere was and to be able to track them is mind boggling!
After taking the Technorati tour, I did a keyword search for Learning 2.0. The video on YouTube of the MCL Director of Libraries, Molly Raphael, speaking on Learning 2.0 gave a good summary of what Learning 2.0 is all about. I also listened to Helene Blowers (PLCM).
I am somewhat intimidated by Technorati and do not want to claim my blog. I am not comfortable having others read my thoughts and words outside of our Ocean County Library staff circle.

Thing #13 - Tagging, Folksonomies & Social Bookmarking

After learning about tagging and viewing the del.icio.us tutorial, I thought about my daughter and son-in-law who are teachers. I would like to share this concept with them if they do not already know about del.icio.us. Doing this challenge has given me the opportunity to share what I am learning with others. I would use this social bookmarking for travel information. The idea that we can view our organized favorites on any computer makes it so much easier.

Thing #12 - WorldCat

I liked WorldCat much more than NetLibrary. It was fun looking up titles and seeing what libraries had them in their collection. I was amazed when I searched "The Education of Little Tree" and saw that it was published in so many languages!!! I was surprized to discover that the book "A history of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, embracing a genealogical record of earliest settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their descendant the indians, their language, manner and customs" was in Microform in the British Library in London. This is also a good site to get the information needed to fill out the Request for Materials form. I definitely will be spending more time with WorldCat!

Thing #12 - NetLibrary

I signed up for an account with NetLibrary. I like the web site but I probably would not use it. I work in the circulation department and would have no need for helping patrons with signing up and navigating this site. On a personal level, I probably would not use it because the NetLibrary collection from the New Jersey State Library is heavy on business and computers. After this challenge is over, I would like to spend more time browsing and may change my mind.

Thing #11 - LibraryThing

Love it!!
It is easy to use. The hardest part that I found was linking it to my blog. Due to a limited amount of time that I can spend on Thing #11, I will continue the challenge with Thing #12 and come back in the future to explore and peruse to my hearts content.
The first book that I entered in my library was "The Education of Little Tree" by Forrest Carter.
It was a youth services librarian that recommended it back in 1990. I went to the Social Data for that book and read the reviews. They used some of the same words that I use when I recommend the book - "It made me laugh and cry". Whether it is autobiographical or not, (the Ocean County Library still has it cataloged as a biography), I love the book.
When I entered "The Kite Runner" and again went to Social Data, LibraryThing recommended that I read "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan". Sooooo I added that title to my "Books to Read".
I can't wait to share this with my friends outside of our library community!!!

Thing #10 - Technology Blogging

I am excited to blog about my Archos 504 Personal Media Player!!!
I enjoy taking pictures and sharing them with friends and relatives. I would tend to leave the pictures in my camera and carry the camera around to show them as needed. My husband bought me for Christmas 2006 the Archos 504 Personal Media Player that not only stores my pictures but also shows them as a slide show with music if I choose. It also is a video player. I can record shows from the TV directly or schedule a recording. It came in handy when one of our staff members was on the Rachel Ray show. I brought the Archos to work and was able to show everyone the TV show. The Archos also is an MP3 player. Check out the link below.

http://www.archos.com/products/video/archos_504/features.html?country=global&lang=en

Thing #8 and #9 - RSS and Finding Feeds

OK, I learned about RSS Feeds and created a Bloglines account. I have at the moment 11 feeds on my account. I found that the easiest way of adding feeds to my account was by going to websites that I liked. I copied and pasted their URL's to subscribe to them. I found it more confusing using search tools. I need to practice more.........