Wikis...
I know this Thing!!! I became familiar with wikis through a few different sources. The first was Marie Slim's wiki that she put together as part of her TA quasi-curriculum concurrent session at CSLA. Then, I checked out Heather Gruenthal's wiki after the conference that she put together about book genre displays. Then, Jane Lofton created a wiki that I got to use for the Southern Section Workshop.
I felt pretty good two weeks ago when the five high school librarians in my district were given the assignment of rewriting our library handbook. I offered to set up a wiki to help get our project started. Everyone has had a chance to work on their sections and they all seem to really like that we can add information at our convenience instead of trying to schedule a time for all of us to meet. Each of them have told me that they really like using the wiki, that it is very user friendly, and that it was a great idea to approach our handbook in this manner. Right now we are just compiling information for the handbook, but in a few weeks we will decide what we want in it. When that time comes, we can just print out the pages and go from there.
I love wikis!! Check mine out at http://libraryhandbook.pbwiki.com/ (password/key: cnusd).
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thing #15, Week 6
The Future of Libraries...
I read three articles, and found the "Away from the 'iceberg'" article the most interesting and relevent to my library. I agree wholeheartedly that we need to reconsider the need for a huge print library. I have this problem now! It is impossible to plan and purchase books for student research when teacher assignments and standards change at the drop of a hat. I spend so much money on books that often just sit on the shelf because students would rather do their research using the Internet. That money would be better invested in purchasing technology that would support student learning in other areas.
I also agree that we need to focus our energy on showing patrons how to use information wisely and not spend so much time teaching research skills. The more savvy patrons are at navagating through technology, the easier it is for them to find the information they need. Over the years, I have taught students again and again how to open and use OPAC in the library. It seemed like they could never remember, or care to for that matter. We switched over to Destiny last year and the students seem to be able to use it so much easier. The interface resembles a webpage and it is web based, so it is in a format that they are comfortable with and want to use. The program is basically the same, but it is presented in a way that they prefer. Funny, huh.
The article ends with stating that we need to find ways to make our services more appealing to patrons so that they will want to visit the library. One of the other articles talked about making the library a place for people to come and be comfortable, and I have found that that is the biggest draw for my library. Students know that they can come in and have down time. They can put their heads down on a table and escape all of the noise and busy-ness of the school, or they can use computers to email friends or post on their blogs. They can come in and chat with me, pick up a magazine, or just listen to their ipods. It can be a techy place or a carefree place. I think the environment is so important for patrons, and the more comfortable they are in the library, the more that they will want to visit in their spare time.
The articles were interesting, although some were still over my head!! I am trying to become more adept at the 2.0 lingo, but I know there is still soooo much more for me to learn. I've added the website to my deli.cio.us so I can check back at a later date and reread some of the articles to see if they make more sense as learn more.
I read three articles, and found the "Away from the 'iceberg'" article the most interesting and relevent to my library. I agree wholeheartedly that we need to reconsider the need for a huge print library. I have this problem now! It is impossible to plan and purchase books for student research when teacher assignments and standards change at the drop of a hat. I spend so much money on books that often just sit on the shelf because students would rather do their research using the Internet. That money would be better invested in purchasing technology that would support student learning in other areas.
I also agree that we need to focus our energy on showing patrons how to use information wisely and not spend so much time teaching research skills. The more savvy patrons are at navagating through technology, the easier it is for them to find the information they need. Over the years, I have taught students again and again how to open and use OPAC in the library. It seemed like they could never remember, or care to for that matter. We switched over to Destiny last year and the students seem to be able to use it so much easier. The interface resembles a webpage and it is web based, so it is in a format that they are comfortable with and want to use. The program is basically the same, but it is presented in a way that they prefer. Funny, huh.
The article ends with stating that we need to find ways to make our services more appealing to patrons so that they will want to visit the library. One of the other articles talked about making the library a place for people to come and be comfortable, and I have found that that is the biggest draw for my library. Students know that they can come in and have down time. They can put their heads down on a table and escape all of the noise and busy-ness of the school, or they can use computers to email friends or post on their blogs. They can come in and chat with me, pick up a magazine, or just listen to their ipods. It can be a techy place or a carefree place. I think the environment is so important for patrons, and the more comfortable they are in the library, the more that they will want to visit in their spare time.
The articles were interesting, although some were still over my head!! I am trying to become more adept at the 2.0 lingo, but I know there is still soooo much more for me to learn. I've added the website to my deli.cio.us so I can check back at a later date and reread some of the articles to see if they make more sense as learn more.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Thing #14, Week 6
Technorati...
Once again, I got caught up in the world of Web 2.0. It took me awhile to get used to the layout of Technorati for some reason. It didn't seem like a search engine for blogs to me but instead resembled some kind of corporate webpage, which I suppose it is. Once I found the search and advanced search options, I was able to complete the discovery exercises. I found that just searching for SLL2.0 in the search bar brought up blogs that had those words somewhere in the text, which wasn't what I wanted. Searching for SLL2.0 in the tags brought up all of the people who were blogging about the program and their Things. It seems that tags are the new search keywords.
Once I found my in, I started to read all of the blogs. It's so addictive that I think warning labels should be put in the SLL blog so people are forwarned! It's just neat to read what others think and what others find. I don't think I will do too much with Technorati as far as adding their tags to my blogs or their widget to my blog. It is once again a bombardment of information that I am not ready to put the time into yet! I saw at the bottom of the discovery exercises that a possible use of Technorati would be to search for election blogs. I'm not sure that my teachers are ready yet to accept blogs as sources of information in class. A starting point for discussions, maybe, but I don't think the kids will be searching blogs any time soon as part of a class assignment. I may be wrong, though!
Once again, I got caught up in the world of Web 2.0. It took me awhile to get used to the layout of Technorati for some reason. It didn't seem like a search engine for blogs to me but instead resembled some kind of corporate webpage, which I suppose it is. Once I found the search and advanced search options, I was able to complete the discovery exercises. I found that just searching for SLL2.0 in the search bar brought up blogs that had those words somewhere in the text, which wasn't what I wanted. Searching for SLL2.0 in the tags brought up all of the people who were blogging about the program and their Things. It seems that tags are the new search keywords.
Once I found my in, I started to read all of the blogs. It's so addictive that I think warning labels should be put in the SLL blog so people are forwarned! It's just neat to read what others think and what others find. I don't think I will do too much with Technorati as far as adding their tags to my blogs or their widget to my blog. It is once again a bombardment of information that I am not ready to put the time into yet! I saw at the bottom of the discovery exercises that a possible use of Technorati would be to search for election blogs. I'm not sure that my teachers are ready yet to accept blogs as sources of information in class. A starting point for discussions, maybe, but I don't think the kids will be searching blogs any time soon as part of a class assignment. I may be wrong, though!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Thing #13, Week 6
Tagging and Del.icio.us...
I love del.icio.us! I think it is probably the best site as far as productivity that I have learned about yet - or at least tied with my rss reader, which I love. I can see the benefits of having your bookmarks available at any computer that you use. I signed up to be part of a network, although I haven't joined any people yet. I plan to spend some time looking at what others are bookmarking and join their lead.
I have a very hard time with tagging still. Being a librarian, I need the rules and set words for a subject. I noticed that people had all sorts of crazy tags on the onesentence.com and it drove me crazy. Can't everyone just catalog with Sears? I need to learn to think outside of the box and learn ways to find what I'm looking for beyond the traditional search words. I also need to learn to tag with more than just one word to open up my posts as well.
I love del.icio.us! I think it is probably the best site as far as productivity that I have learned about yet - or at least tied with my rss reader, which I love. I can see the benefits of having your bookmarks available at any computer that you use. I signed up to be part of a network, although I haven't joined any people yet. I plan to spend some time looking at what others are bookmarking and join their lead.
I have a very hard time with tagging still. Being a librarian, I need the rules and set words for a subject. I noticed that people had all sorts of crazy tags on the onesentence.com and it drove me crazy. Can't everyone just catalog with Sears? I need to learn to think outside of the box and learn ways to find what I'm looking for beyond the traditional search words. I also need to learn to tag with more than just one word to open up my posts as well.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Thing #12, Week 5
Rollyo...
I set up my Rollyo account and tried to create a search roll for teen book reviews. There are several sites that I like to look at when I am working on book orders, such as teenreads.com, the Barnes and Noble teen page, YALSA, and a few others. I put them into a search roll, but it didn't quite work the way I wanted it to when I tested it out. It gave more information than I wanted really. I need to learn how to maybe narrow the search a bit. It definitely needs some tweaking. I found it to be very easy to set up and use though, and wonder how it compares to the Google Custom Search tool. I was really impressed with the Research Rollyo and would like to link that to my school webpage eventually (insert mental reminder here...).
I really like these applications for classes that come in to do research on a specific topic. It's a great way to focus their research to sites that are appproved by myself or their teacher as acceptable sources of information. On the other hand, it's just another way for us to do work for the students by previewing sites for them. We are involved in a huge debate at my site regarding how to teach students to examine websites for credibility. If we set up custom search engines, it will not require the students to use critical thinking skills and information literacy skills to evaluate websites. It is such an important skill for our kids to learn and I hate to send them out in the world lacking in yet another area!
Here's my Rollyo:
http://rollyo.com/norcohslibrary/teen_book_reviews/
If anyone can help me add the searchbar to my blog, I'd be grateful! :o)
I set up my Rollyo account and tried to create a search roll for teen book reviews. There are several sites that I like to look at when I am working on book orders, such as teenreads.com, the Barnes and Noble teen page, YALSA, and a few others. I put them into a search roll, but it didn't quite work the way I wanted it to when I tested it out. It gave more information than I wanted really. I need to learn how to maybe narrow the search a bit. It definitely needs some tweaking. I found it to be very easy to set up and use though, and wonder how it compares to the Google Custom Search tool. I was really impressed with the Research Rollyo and would like to link that to my school webpage eventually (insert mental reminder here...).
I really like these applications for classes that come in to do research on a specific topic. It's a great way to focus their research to sites that are appproved by myself or their teacher as acceptable sources of information. On the other hand, it's just another way for us to do work for the students by previewing sites for them. We are involved in a huge debate at my site regarding how to teach students to examine websites for credibility. If we set up custom search engines, it will not require the students to use critical thinking skills and information literacy skills to evaluate websites. It is such an important skill for our kids to learn and I hate to send them out in the world lacking in yet another area!
Here's my Rollyo:
http://rollyo.com/norcohslibrary/teen_book_reviews/
If anyone can help me add the searchbar to my blog, I'd be grateful! :o)
Thing #11, Week 5
Exploring Web 2.0 Award Winners...
I started with the short list of award winners, luckily, because I ended up spending way more time with this than I thought I would. Each site has so much to offer that it is hard to believe that most of them are free. I was familiar with several of the sites already, even before starting SLL 2.0. I didn't know before that they were considered tools as part of Web 2.0. I've used Craigslist before, I have used Flickr as part of SLL 2.0 and had heard of it before starting the Things, I of course had used Youtube, I have been a fan of zillow for quite awhile now, and I learned about Writeboard earlier this year at a workshop. It was neat to see how familiar with things I am - I felt smart and techy!
A new site that really sucked me in was Onesentence.com. I started with the first and couldn't stop myself! Instantly I thought this would be a great starting point for creative writing assignments or for reluctant readers who don't want to read a whole book (who has time for that!) but could get hooked on some of the one-liners.
I checked out Ning.com and found lots of communities for librarians - we sure are a social group! I am not able to join or look into communities from school, so this will be one that I explore more on my own. The TravelIQ site was down for maintenance, so I will also have to put that on my "to-do" list and revisit it at another time.
I've bookmarked to 2.0 Awards site so that I can spend more time checking out the winners at a later date (probably after April 1st!). Another fun learning experience that I plan on sharing with my colleagues.
I started with the short list of award winners, luckily, because I ended up spending way more time with this than I thought I would. Each site has so much to offer that it is hard to believe that most of them are free. I was familiar with several of the sites already, even before starting SLL 2.0. I didn't know before that they were considered tools as part of Web 2.0. I've used Craigslist before, I have used Flickr as part of SLL 2.0 and had heard of it before starting the Things, I of course had used Youtube, I have been a fan of zillow for quite awhile now, and I learned about Writeboard earlier this year at a workshop. It was neat to see how familiar with things I am - I felt smart and techy!
A new site that really sucked me in was Onesentence.com. I started with the first and couldn't stop myself! Instantly I thought this would be a great starting point for creative writing assignments or for reluctant readers who don't want to read a whole book (who has time for that!) but could get hooked on some of the one-liners.
I checked out Ning.com and found lots of communities for librarians - we sure are a social group! I am not able to join or look into communities from school, so this will be one that I explore more on my own. The TravelIQ site was down for maintenance, so I will also have to put that on my "to-do" list and revisit it at another time.
I've bookmarked to 2.0 Awards site so that I can spend more time checking out the winners at a later date (probably after April 1st!). Another fun learning experience that I plan on sharing with my colleagues.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Thing #10, Week 5
Online Image Generator...
These are soooo cool! I never knew that there was a way to edit text on images and that it was so easy. I have seen altered images but thought that people put them into a photoshop-type program and edited that way, which always seemed like a lot of work. Once I got onto imagechef.com I had a blast! It is incredibly easy and fun to alter images to use for other things. I created a pennant for my school's webpage and uploaded it within a minute. That's what I call being productive.
I also visited comicstripgenerator.com and was shocked at the number of images available. There really is every image you could imagine. So cool, so easy, so my style of doing things! :o)
Kids would love to create images with tools like these. There are limitless possibilites - which is good and bad! I could see them focusing more on the image and less on the assignment, which means a time limit on these sites might need to be implemented depending on the nature of the lesson. A great Thing to be sure, and I've already told any human within earshot about image chef and forced them to create an image of their own.
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