Honey Gram

Thing #23 - Wrapping Up

2008-05-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

Before I wrap up, I want to give a big THANKS to the Ocean County Library Web Things Committee for making this challenge possible and spending what I know must have been many hours of preparation and hours and hours of reviewing our blogs.
KUDOS TO ALL OF YOU!!!

In my first blog I mentioned that lacking confidence in myself as an effective learner was going to be most challenging for me. Well, here I am - at the finish line. I did it!!!! I am proud of myself for what I have learned and accomplished. When I first started blogging, I was intimidated by other bloggers and thought that my writing skills where not as good as theirs. After a number of people told me that my blogs were just fine, I started believing in myself and yes, I have more confidence. I "got by with a little help from my friends". Thank you to those friends; you know who you are.

As far as what Web 2.0 Thing that I liked the best, that's a hard one. I enjoyed a number of them....YouTube, LibraryThing, Google Docs, Wikis and Finding and Listening to Podcasts to name a few. I did not particularly like NetLibrary. I shared Del.icio.us and Wikis with friends and family members. My daughter and son-in-law are teachers and I thought that those web applications would be useful to them in their careers. As it turned out, my son-in-law has already used wikis. I explained Google Docs to my husband and our friend because I thought that it may be useful to them in a business venture of theirs.

I think that our branches that hold computer classes should start thinking about teaching Web 2.0 technologies to our customers. I am sure that many of them have heard the terminologies but have no idea what they are - wikis and podcasts for example. After checking out the Birmingham Public Library's wiki, I noticed that they do a "Tech Tuesday". We should consider something along that line.

Welllllll, you asked that we make our last blog a good one. I hope that this entry has met that challenge. I have such mixed feelings at the moment. I am so excited to have completed the challenge but at the same time I am sad that this is my last official blog for the challenge. My congratulations to all of you that have finished. I bid you adieu.

The End
Actually, Just the Beginning of Life Long Learning

Thing #22 - ListenNJ

2008-05-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

Did you hear it? I just made a deep sigh of relief. It feels like I have rounded third base and am just a step away from home plate - almost there!
I installed OverDrive Media Console on my laptop at home and performed the security update to Windows Media Player (with some help from my husband). Checking out a book on ListenNJ was pretty straight forward. I listened to a book that I checked out to make sure that everything was done correctly. Listening to audio books in my car is something that I enjoy and burning them to a CD is an option to consider.
On to Thing #23!!!

Thing #21 - Finding and Listening to Podcasts

2008-05-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed finding and listening to podcasts. I was amazed that elementary school children were making their own podcasts in the classroom. Where have I been?
After browsing Podcast.com and Odeo.com, I chose a podcast from the Science section from Odeo.com and listened to a Nova podcast about "Finding Lost Memories". It was an interesting presentation from two researchers from MIT about new experiments that are exploring whether "lost" memories can be regained. Since this was such a technical podcast, I need to go back and listen to it a few more times to absorb the information that is being presented. Listen to the link below.

http://odeo.com/audio/18606393/view

Thing #20 - YouTube

2008-05-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

My husband watches YouTube quite often and will call me over to the computer to "watch this". I never initiated a search. I was impressed with the history of YouTube and told a few of my coworkers to watch the video even if they never make it to Thing #20. The article was quite interesting. It's amazing how fast YouTube took off. I didn't realize how young this site is. I was impressed with the numbers. Google bought YouTube for billions!!
I look forward to going on vacation every year and therefore looked up travel videos. I came across a quick video of "Secret Seats on Airlines" by Peter Greenberg. I know that I will not remember the secret seats when I book my next vacation, but I will have this link posted to my blog and can always come back to this post and I'll have the link below. I think that I found a new pastime!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guvJHKZhUv8

Thing #19 - Web 2.0 Awards

2008-04-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

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.........

Thing #6 - More Photo Fun (Again)

2008-03-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Fall Day

I am enjoying sharing photos that I have taken. I love the color against the clear blue sky.

Thing #7 - The Scanner and You

2008-03-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Christopher Being Knighted at Medieval Times

Here is a close up of Christopher. He was so nervous. Can you tell? A great time was had by all. We had to "boo" the bad green knight and Christopher got so into it that at one point after the green knight had injured a number of knights, he yelled out "You bad knight- God is watching you and he is going to put a spell on you!!!"

Thing #7 - The Scanner and You

2008-03-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

Christopher Being Knighted at Medieval Times

For my grandson Christopher's 5th birthday, we went to Medievil Times. For an extra fee, he went through a knighting ceremony. Isn't he just adorable!!!!

Thing #6 - More Photo Fun

2008-03-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sunset on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas

I love this picture! My husband and I were just strolling on the deck and I looked up and saw this beautiful image. The colors and shapes are eye catching.

Thing #5 - Flickr Photo Fun

2008-03-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

Alaska Trip

My Sister (who lives in Alaska, my two daughers and I took a fantastic trip with K2 Aviation leaving out of Talkeetna Alaska.

We flew around Mount McKinley and landed on a glacier. These pictures are from Flickr but represent what our trip was like- AWESOME!!!!!!!

OCL Web Things Challenge

2008-03-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

I am finally posting my first blog! I am not by nature a very confident learner. You would think that at my age (which I will not divulge) I would have more confidence in myself. Alas, that is not the case. Therefore, having confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner will be the most challenging for me. Thank you Sue for your help!! As John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote: "I'll get by with a little help from my friends".