Here I go with Week 3 - RSS.....
Which five blogs did you subscribe to?
For the LA Times, I subscribed to: California - Local News and Showtracker (TV news).
The other blogs were:
Webware.com, a site where computer users can learn about really cool new and useful Web applications. Among the goodies I have found so far is information about Picnik, an online photo-editing site (you don't need Photoshop, shiny, no?); Tripit, which is for travel geeks, and can aggregate all your travel info (airlines, hotel, rental car, etc.) onto one page; and SlideFlickr, which can help you make slideshows from your Flickr photos and embed them into your blog or other application. Lots of nifty tech stuff here.
LibraryStream : watching the flow of the social networking library, is chock full of information about web 2.0 applications and tips and tricks for using them. It's not just dry, informational stuff, either. There is some humor as well. Here is a sample of one entry:
To the tune of “The Major-General’s Song.” With apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan… and you…
I advocate creation of a social network library,
Dispense with thoughts a-plenty in my blog much like a diary,
And show how common MySpace is, it dominates the territ’ry
‘Cuz people like to share their lives;
it’s really quite extraordin’ry.
I upload pix of our events on a communal Flickr page,
And make it easy to YouTube; that latest clip is all the rage.
Encourage interaction for our young and old of any age,
Makes working here as fun as anything they do at Cam-ba-ridge.
I recommend Delicious, Facebook, wikis, Ning, and R-S-S,
Use tag clouds, gaming, apps and widgets, and I twitter to excess.
It matters that our patrons are involved with our transparency.
I advocate creation of a social network library.
Props to anyone who can actually sing the above!!
Virtual Hosting Blog is another tech-related blog. Can you tell I am kind getting into this?
Lifehacker has lots of tech stuff too, but it's not just computer stuff. There are tools for DIY wedding planning, a guide to finding better prices for digital photos, and how to get started with stock investing.
And just for fun (because everyone needs to laugh now and then, I subscribed to:
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette, which is a tongue-firmly-in-cheek guide to various workplace issues such as: Containers, Approving; Climate, Controlling the (particularly appropriate, dontcha think?); Up, Catching; and Library 2.0, Embracing. Perhaps not to everyone's taste, I still found myself cracking up, and there is actually some interesting and helpful information contained in readers' comments. And yes, I replied to the climate control entry. :-)
LOL Librarians, another lol site. Very funny!! However, please beware of the opening title on the LiveJournal site; it is very rude.
Which method of finding feeds did you find it easiest to use?
Personally, I didn't like Syndic8.com. I found blogs via Technorati and the search function on Google Reader and both were easy enough to use.
Do you think you will continue to use your Google Reader account to stay uo-to-date with information or news?
I have not yet decided. I will certainly drop the LA Times feeds. I actually read the Times every morning, so see no need for those. And I have a link to Google news feeds on my awesomestart.com homepage.
I have had a Bloglines account for months now. This is another RSS aggregator. My feeds are a combination of personal and professional blogs. I originally thought I would use the Google Reader account for my professional blogs, but I really like Bloglines features much better. The one that is particularly useful is being able to mark various blog posts as new, which saves them so you can go back and read or consult them later. Putting a star on a Google feed does something similar, but all starred items are lumped together, which means you have to scroll through lots of entries to find the one you are looking for. Bloglines' saved entries are within the actual feed subscriptions, so you can go right to slashdot or I Can Has Cheezburger and it is easier to find the posts you want.
How could the library make use of RSS feeds?
The main value of RSS aggregators is to bring the information quickly and directly to you without having to visit numerous sites individually. This would be invaluable to patrons who would not have to check back again and again to see if there was something new (of course, we do want patrons to visit our website again and again, so I suppose it is a two-edged sword, alas). If our blog (or blogs :-) ) were set up as RSS feeds, patrons could subscribe to those they found most interesting or helpful - new books, what the staff is reading, etc. Perhaps the most valuable might be program/event feeds. Patrons could then subscribe to Kids and Tweens, Teen, or Adult Programming feeds. Or, perhaps Friends or Museum events. The possibilities are almost endless.
Staff can also utilize RSS feeds to keep in touch with professional journals, blogs, news, technology information. Again limitless possibilities.
Monday, January 28, 2008
That Was Fun
OK, that was fun. I couldn't resist all of the kitty pics. They are mostly from a hilarious website called "I Can Has Cheezburger." This site posts funny photos of cats (and a few other animals as well) accompanied by silly captions featuring deliberate misspellings and fractured grammar.
It is part of the lol (laugh out loud) tradition, and there seems to be a lol site for just about every subject imaginable.
Great fun when you need a chuckle. If you want to check it out (and hey, you can even subscribe to it on your Google Reader!) : I Can Has Cheezburger
I am actually going to miss this blog when it goes after the Challenge. I have had such a blast personalizing it that I may change user pics and photos every week or so just for fun.
It is part of the lol (laugh out loud) tradition, and there seems to be a lol site for just about every subject imaginable.
Great fun when you need a chuckle. If you want to check it out (and hey, you can even subscribe to it on your Google Reader!) : I Can Has Cheezburger
I am actually going to miss this blog when it goes after the Challenge. I have had such a blast personalizing it that I may change user pics and photos every week or so just for fun.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Blogs and More
Well, we are at the end of Week 1 in the Library 2.0 Challenge, and one of the most interesting parts of this experience is reading everyone else's blogs. They are just as individual and unique as we all are. I love it that we have minimalists and wildly creative web artists, straightforward professionals and blog-like-you-talkers. From a people-watching standpoint it has been great so far, with more to come.
As far as my experience, I look around at my own efforts, which I thought were "not bad at all" when I made my first post, but now think need quite a bit of tweaking. So, thanks for the inspiration.
I see that debbieisbeingchallenged has posted a photo I had found for my blog. Great minds think alike! :-)
As far as my experience, I look around at my own efforts, which I thought were "not bad at all" when I made my first post, but now think need quite a bit of tweaking. So, thanks for the inspiration.
I see that debbieisbeingchallenged has posted a photo I had found for my blog. Great minds think alike! :-)
Monday, January 21, 2008
Weeks 1 and 2 - Orientation
Well, gang, off I go. It seems a bit odd to be talking to y'all this way, but hey, the whole point here is to take advantage of the new web technologies to find new ways to collaborate.
Why did I decide to take part in the Library 2.0 Challenge and what do I hope to learn?
Several reasons.....
Professional: As we are all discovering (if we didn't know already) the web is changing day by day, minute by minute. What was once an information source has become a way to keep in touch, collaborate, share ideas and content, and an integral part of our lives. Since our patrons are using these new tools, it behooves us to discover more about them and how we can utilize them in our library services, to learn how to use the various tools and be able to teach others, and be where our patrons are.
Personal: Some of the Web 2.0 tools I am familiar with and use either occasionally or even daily. Others are completely new to me. I believe in the quotation found in the instructions: "Nothing is a waste of time if it adds to the person you are." I really liked that; it matched my views. So, I want to add to my own personal skill set and discover additional tools and resources that I might like to use myself.
And then there are the incentives. Yeah, I can be "bought" it seems. I am all for collecting loot.
Was it difficult to set up a blog?
Nah, I thought it was easy. However, editing may be another matter. :-)
Would you become a regular blogger?
No. I have no illusions that the world is interested in anything I might have to say. And I really don't like sharing that much. I have had a LiveJournal account for nearly 3 years. And the vast majority of my posts (and I can count them on the fingers of both hands) are private - me talking to me. I have a very small flist with just a few posts that are friends only.
How can APL best take advantage of this tool?
We currently have a blog that is basically just another way to announce programs and services. OK as far as it goes. However, we could do so much more. Certainly we could have a Director's blog that would give the public the big picture viewpoint. Adult and Children's Services could blog about new acquisitions, databases, websites, storytime themes, authors, National Whatever Week, etc. YA services could be another blog. We could have blogs on technology, ESL, gov docs, local history, the Museum, etc. We could have a volunteer blog highlighting accomplishments of current volunteers, projects, volunteer opportunities. We could have book reviews or "what the staff is reading" blogs. We could have a Friends blog which could include projects, fund-raising opportunities, programs, newsletter. How about a Book Discussion blog to take the experience online and open it up to more people? Unfortunately, all of these would take a great deal of staff time - not to set up, but to maintain. Without additional staffing (yeah, right) something else would have to be eliminated. This is not to say we shouldn't be doing some of these things, but that something else would have to go to have the time to devote to blogging.
Well, that's it. First post. Whew!
Why did I decide to take part in the Library 2.0 Challenge and what do I hope to learn?
Several reasons.....
Professional: As we are all discovering (if we didn't know already) the web is changing day by day, minute by minute. What was once an information source has become a way to keep in touch, collaborate, share ideas and content, and an integral part of our lives. Since our patrons are using these new tools, it behooves us to discover more about them and how we can utilize them in our library services, to learn how to use the various tools and be able to teach others, and be where our patrons are.
Personal: Some of the Web 2.0 tools I am familiar with and use either occasionally or even daily. Others are completely new to me. I believe in the quotation found in the instructions: "Nothing is a waste of time if it adds to the person you are." I really liked that; it matched my views. So, I want to add to my own personal skill set and discover additional tools and resources that I might like to use myself.
And then there are the incentives. Yeah, I can be "bought" it seems. I am all for collecting loot.
Was it difficult to set up a blog?
Nah, I thought it was easy. However, editing may be another matter. :-)
Would you become a regular blogger?
No. I have no illusions that the world is interested in anything I might have to say. And I really don't like sharing that much. I have had a LiveJournal account for nearly 3 years. And the vast majority of my posts (and I can count them on the fingers of both hands) are private - me talking to me. I have a very small flist with just a few posts that are friends only.
How can APL best take advantage of this tool?
We currently have a blog that is basically just another way to announce programs and services. OK as far as it goes. However, we could do so much more. Certainly we could have a Director's blog that would give the public the big picture viewpoint. Adult and Children's Services could blog about new acquisitions, databases, websites, storytime themes, authors, National Whatever Week, etc. YA services could be another blog. We could have blogs on technology, ESL, gov docs, local history, the Museum, etc. We could have a volunteer blog highlighting accomplishments of current volunteers, projects, volunteer opportunities. We could have book reviews or "what the staff is reading" blogs. We could have a Friends blog which could include projects, fund-raising opportunities, programs, newsletter. How about a Book Discussion blog to take the experience online and open it up to more people? Unfortunately, all of these would take a great deal of staff time - not to set up, but to maintain. Without additional staffing (yeah, right) something else would have to be eliminated. This is not to say we shouldn't be doing some of these things, but that something else would have to go to have the time to devote to blogging.
Well, that's it. First post. Whew!
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