LOVE Delicious.
Love it love it love it.
I had an account back when you had to find it by gong to www.del.ici.ous-- or something like that! Anyways, I lost the user id and password and started over! My current one is http://delicious.com/ajensen08
Although I love having my bookmarks available anywhere I go and I like using it for sharing with others, the newest way I have used Delicious is to show it my husband who is in IT and business. I showed him how we can search the bookmarked sites for info. For example, I searched Visual Studio 2008 and it came up with LOTS of great sites and blogs for him to check out while he looks for info on Visual Studio.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thing 13: Tagging
I think tagging is wonderful in the library. Since many middle school and high school kids (and adults too) already understand tagging, using it is helpful to them. It can also be used as a bridge to teach them about subject headings, which are really just controlled-vocabulary tags, anyways. Tagging applications on library OPACs are just another way to help patrons find what they are looking for in the library. I think an investment in tagging is worth the time it takes! I thnk we can even trust patrons to tag for us in some cases--although we may have to have editing rights in case someone tags something in a negative manner like "Mrs. Cope's stupid novel circle book.") :-)
I use tagging now on Delicious and in my blogs mostly to help me find something (by searching) if I have to go back and find it.
I use tagging now on Delicious and in my blogs mostly to help me find something (by searching) if I have to go back and find it.
Thing 12: Twitter
Twitter is fun to follow, but can certainly become TMI (too much information) quickly. I am really not interested in where my friends are having lunch, for example, or that they are working out and have just spent 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. When I see those tweets it makes me nuts because I think people spend so much time in the media already-- can’t you just stay in the moment throughout your workout or your lunch? Do you have to be connected to your electronic devices through every stage of your day? Really?
On the other hand, I do like to see photos of their kids, or cool stuff they encountered, of pics of relatives, etc. Like on FB many pastors use twitter to keep their peeps up to date with their tweets.
I joined twitter a while ago actually, to follow a pastor who was doing an activity that caused him to be in a place that might have been dangerous. I wanted to make sure he was okay, so signed up to follow him. I followed him by logging in to Twitter-- not on my phone. Because I have a twitter account, random people have also tried to follow me, but since I didn’t know, them, I blocked them. I think it's creepy to follow people you do not know. I also think it’s creepy to follow celebrities (although to others that may be the same as following a pastor!) Since I do not receive email or tweets on my phone (too much involvement for me--email and FB are enough social networking for me...if someone needs me badly enough they already have my cell phone number). I have seen many people mash up FB and twitter, and I have enjoyed that. But is gets me wondering: are we spreading ourselves too thin? How much info is too much? How many platforms are too many? How much do we really need to know through twitter? What about face to face meetings?
In fact, I saw an advertisement in a magazine (a tech magazine called Wired, actually) for American Airlines. It talked about doing business in person and how more business can get done that way. The power of face to face meetings and conversations cannot be discounted. Although all this electronic media and networking is helpful and useful, at what point will it become ANTI-SOCIAL networking because it removes the human touch, the human voice, and the human reaction?
p.s. the last time I saw Twitter referred to what in my email inbox when a friend decided to follow me, even though I do not tweet!
On the other hand, I do like to see photos of their kids, or cool stuff they encountered, of pics of relatives, etc. Like on FB many pastors use twitter to keep their peeps up to date with their tweets.
I joined twitter a while ago actually, to follow a pastor who was doing an activity that caused him to be in a place that might have been dangerous. I wanted to make sure he was okay, so signed up to follow him. I followed him by logging in to Twitter-- not on my phone. Because I have a twitter account, random people have also tried to follow me, but since I didn’t know, them, I blocked them. I think it's creepy to follow people you do not know. I also think it’s creepy to follow celebrities (although to others that may be the same as following a pastor!) Since I do not receive email or tweets on my phone (too much involvement for me--email and FB are enough social networking for me...if someone needs me badly enough they already have my cell phone number). I have seen many people mash up FB and twitter, and I have enjoyed that. But is gets me wondering: are we spreading ourselves too thin? How much info is too much? How many platforms are too many? How much do we really need to know through twitter? What about face to face meetings?
In fact, I saw an advertisement in a magazine (a tech magazine called Wired, actually) for American Airlines. It talked about doing business in person and how more business can get done that way. The power of face to face meetings and conversations cannot be discounted. Although all this electronic media and networking is helpful and useful, at what point will it become ANTI-SOCIAL networking because it removes the human touch, the human voice, and the human reaction?
p.s. the last time I saw Twitter referred to what in my email inbox when a friend decided to follow me, even though I do not tweet!
Thing 11: IMing
IMing is a lot of fun. I have IM contacts already and use IMing to "talk" to family and friends while watching tv or sitting quietly listening to the computer keys clcking. My user name is Amy Jensen amy_jensen08@yahoo.com and NT23 folks can IM me at yahoo.
The very best thing I can think of for my new library job is for the five of use to be able to IM each other during the day-- faster than email since it is in real time. The only problem is that we cannot chat with all 5 of us at the same time, but we could all email each other (using reply to all) and keep in the loop. Of course IM is used to chat with librarians for reference questions and could also be used for reader's advisory-- really anything that a phone could used for. Not being able to see body language or facial expressions may hamper the conversation, but as an electronic alternative, I think it's good. IMing is also more private than district email, although I think Big Brother can get a copy if he wants one since if you are chatting on company time--even to another company employee about company topics--you have no expectation of privacy. (So keep your personal business and personal IMing for later!)
The very best thing I can think of for my new library job is for the five of use to be able to IM each other during the day-- faster than email since it is in real time. The only problem is that we cannot chat with all 5 of us at the same time, but we could all email each other (using reply to all) and keep in the loop. Of course IM is used to chat with librarians for reference questions and could also be used for reader's advisory-- really anything that a phone could used for. Not being able to see body language or facial expressions may hamper the conversation, but as an electronic alternative, I think it's good. IMing is also more private than district email, although I think Big Brother can get a copy if he wants one since if you are chatting on company time--even to another company employee about company topics--you have no expectation of privacy. (So keep your personal business and personal IMing for later!)
Thing 10: Ning
Ning is not a place I will return to often--okay...possibly never. It was a waste of time for me. I looked around at library sites, yoga sites, gardening sites, religious sites, and cooking sites. I saw nothing that I could not have seen elsewhere with less time and searching.
I think this may be more of a reflection of my personal style. I am not a big "discussion board" person. Although my graduate school used them a lot for assignments, and I understand how they work and I do participate; however, I do not have the time or inclination to search through or follow a group on Ning. Zero interest here for me.
I see the draw for those who do have the time or inclination, however, as there is a plethora of information and people willing to talk bout their experiences. It is way to much personal info and personal opinion for me. I'll be just fine with the blogs and Rss feeds I have already.
I think this may be more of a reflection of my personal style. I am not a big "discussion board" person. Although my graduate school used them a lot for assignments, and I understand how they work and I do participate; however, I do not have the time or inclination to search through or follow a group on Ning. Zero interest here for me.
I see the draw for those who do have the time or inclination, however, as there is a plethora of information and people willing to talk bout their experiences. It is way to much personal info and personal opinion for me. I'll be just fine with the blogs and Rss feeds I have already.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thing 9: Facebook 2
I like FB for keeping up with family and friends. I have had great success n finding family and frineds and have many "friends" who are close relatives or close friends or co-workiers wiht whom I wna to remain close. I found the greatest majority of them by looking at other relatives/friends/coworker's frinds lists and adding those people.
I do not want to mix my personal life with my business life, so I will not join work relates things on my personal FB. It is possible to have more than one FB account, and I may consider joining one for professional business, but not at this time. There re many ohter ways to network professionally. I do not think using FB for it is a good choice for me right now.
However, my pastor and several other pastors I know or am acquainted with are using FB and Twitter and blogging to keep in touch with their congregations. Because they do this for their congregations, they cannot also use it for family and friends (who are outside their congregations) much. I think the networking aspect of keeping close to your congregation and keeping them informed is great--but it is business. I can see how politicians and other causes (One of my fav's is I Am Second) use FB to keep themselves in the mid of their "fans." When I join these people/businesses as a friend, I am not vulnerable because I have my settings set to "only friends" so 0others cannot see my personal info.
Allowing too many people access to you or your friend's personal info is not a good idea. We must be careful to balance fun and prudence with our info.
I do not want to mix my personal life with my business life, so I will not join work relates things on my personal FB. It is possible to have more than one FB account, and I may consider joining one for professional business, but not at this time. There re many ohter ways to network professionally. I do not think using FB for it is a good choice for me right now.
However, my pastor and several other pastors I know or am acquainted with are using FB and Twitter and blogging to keep in touch with their congregations. Because they do this for their congregations, they cannot also use it for family and friends (who are outside their congregations) much. I think the networking aspect of keeping close to your congregation and keeping them informed is great--but it is business. I can see how politicians and other causes (One of my fav's is I Am Second) use FB to keep themselves in the mid of their "fans." When I join these people/businesses as a friend, I am not vulnerable because I have my settings set to "only friends" so 0others cannot see my personal info.
Allowing too many people access to you or your friend's personal info is not a good idea. We must be careful to balance fun and prudence with our info.
Thing 8: Facebook 1
I have just recently created a FB account after mercilessly teasing everyone I knew who already had one. What finally made me capitulate was my DAD saying he posted a wedding picture of him with me on HIS FB! Turns out all my cousins-- over 30 people-- and my aunts and uncles are on FB and have posted pics of the kids etc. That was it for me...we moved away a long time ago and I never felt like I could keep up with my whole big happy family.
When i started FB I stayed on for 3 hours!!! And I found my best friend from HS whom I have not spoken with in 25 years. And of course all the family. I have been enjoying all of that.
The biggest thing that is annoying me about FB right now is that they are about to change the privacy settings for all posts (that's ALL posts) so that they are automatically public unless you purposefully set each one to private. Prior to this change you could set your settings one time and it was done. Form more info on this go to http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/06/24/24readwriteweb-the-day-facebook-changed-messages-to-become-18772.html
In addition, as a victim of identity theft, I fear people place too much info on FB-- especially if it becomes even more public than it is. For example, when you post that you are out of town, propel know you are gone and may break into your house, etc---paranoid? Maybe. But the more we get into social networking, the more I feel Big Brother looking over us all, and I don;t think that is a good thing.
When i started FB I stayed on for 3 hours!!! And I found my best friend from HS whom I have not spoken with in 25 years. And of course all the family. I have been enjoying all of that.
The biggest thing that is annoying me about FB right now is that they are about to change the privacy settings for all posts (that's ALL posts) so that they are automatically public unless you purposefully set each one to private. Prior to this change you could set your settings one time and it was done. Form more info on this go to http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/06/24/24readwriteweb-the-day-facebook-changed-messages-to-become-18772.html
In addition, as a victim of identity theft, I fear people place too much info on FB-- especially if it becomes even more public than it is. For example, when you post that you are out of town, propel know you are gone and may break into your house, etc---paranoid? Maybe. But the more we get into social networking, the more I feel Big Brother looking over us all, and I don;t think that is a good thing.
Thing 7: RSS feeds
Nine (9)-- the number of RSS feeds I have added to my reader, not counting the folks I am following for fun on 23 Things....and not counting 23 Things (the blog) either. And I'm not finished.
I guess I can look at this one of two ways. Way #1 which is not at all helpful, but true to the way I feeling right this very minute (and isn't that the purpose of blogging/tweeting/self discovery writing...) is that there is more info out there that I am interested in than I will EVER, ever, ever be able to read. Even if I read every walking moment, I would never be able to read it all.
There. I said it. It's impossible.
That being said, it is cool that I can go to one place and find lots of cool stuff that I have chosen to keep up with. I am such a library geek-- I love the cataloging stuff, I love the LOC stuff, the international stuff, the teaching stuff, the school library stuff, the YA stuff....my tastes and interests are so varied that is is a very good thing that I like to read! Otherwise, my intellectual curiosity may never be satisfied!
So, the reader is a good thing for me, even though the enormity of the things I would like to read can be overwhelming, at least it's all in one place!
I guess I can look at this one of two ways. Way #1 which is not at all helpful, but true to the way I feeling right this very minute (and isn't that the purpose of blogging/tweeting/self discovery writing...) is that there is more info out there that I am interested in than I will EVER, ever, ever be able to read. Even if I read every walking moment, I would never be able to read it all.
There. I said it. It's impossible.
That being said, it is cool that I can go to one place and find lots of cool stuff that I have chosen to keep up with. I am such a library geek-- I love the cataloging stuff, I love the LOC stuff, the international stuff, the teaching stuff, the school library stuff, the YA stuff....my tastes and interests are so varied that is is a very good thing that I like to read! Otherwise, my intellectual curiosity may never be satisfied!
So, the reader is a good thing for me, even though the enormity of the things I would like to read can be overwhelming, at least it's all in one place!
Thing 6: Reader
Readers are a great way to save time and keep me updated on the blogs I love but have forgotten about! I had no trouble following the directions on the NT23 Blog, and when I opened Google Reader, it was already set up showing the blogs I was following within my NT23 things blog. I added some others I could remember liking, and I plan to add more as time goes by.
I used the file folders "Library Profession" for Doug Johnson's blog and for a school library blog conglomeration called SuprGlu. In addition I added one of my YA librarian favs-- Naomi Bates under YA reading.
I can see how I may add too many and spend way more time reading blogs than doing other productuve things, so I think I will keep the number of feeds I follow to a minimum. Or maybe I'll keep all the ones I like and just read them when I have time.
I used the file folders "Library Profession" for Doug Johnson's blog and for a school library blog conglomeration called SuprGlu. In addition I added one of my YA librarian favs-- Naomi Bates under YA reading.
I can see how I may add too many and spend way more time reading blogs than doing other productuve things, so I think I will keep the number of feeds I follow to a minimum. Or maybe I'll keep all the ones I like and just read them when I have time.
Thing 5: Image Generators
Working with the image generators is a lot of fun. I have to watch out because I can spend a lot of time playing around with them and look up to find it's an hour later and I haven't finished yet!
I made a little person with the blue words "read". I may use it as an avatar on future library projects, or as a symbol in my library for kids to find things0-- I don’t know what things yet---maybe I'll just turn it into a bookmark!
Regardless of what I do with it, I had fun exploring the tools available in the image generator section. I have even seen webpages that use these image generators on webpages. One library page that does is Mesquite School Libraries Policies and Procedures page at http://www.mesquiteisd.org/library/
I made a little person with the blue words "read". I may use it as an avatar on future library projects, or as a symbol in my library for kids to find things0-- I don’t know what things yet---maybe I'll just turn it into a bookmark!
Regardless of what I do with it, I had fun exploring the tools available in the image generator section. I have even seen webpages that use these image generators on webpages. One library page that does is Mesquite School Libraries Policies and Procedures page at http://www.mesquiteisd.org/library/
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thing 4 --Mashups #2
This mashup was easy and fun to use. I can see fun applications for school webpages, class projects, storybording, sequencing...the possibilities are endless!
Plan to post more mashups and reflection on same later.
Thing 3--Flickr
F un way to search lovely, high quality images
L aws keep you from using them, though, so be careful & respectful
I chose a lovely picture of dawn behind trees
C hose not to make my own account because I have other services to store & share my work
K now I can use this site in teaching and sharing with my new staff
R ecklessly spent lots of time searching and feeling like I had a littel art show on my lap!
Link to great pic of dawn and trees http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim-ar/3212037541/
L aws keep you from using them, though, so be careful & respectful
I chose a lovely picture of dawn behind trees
C hose not to make my own account because I have other services to store & share my work
K now I can use this site in teaching and sharing with my new staff
R ecklessly spent lots of time searching and feeling like I had a littel art show on my lap!
Link to great pic of dawn and trees http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim-ar/3212037541/
Thing 2 --or Web 2.0 is Like Cereal
Five ways Web 2.0 is like cereal.
1. When it's time to buy cereal, it is possible to walk down the cereal aisle, never look left or right, choose what you have always chosen and leave the store with your purchase. No boat-rocking, no risk, and you get your cereal. When it's time to serve the patrons, you can do what you have always done and try nothing new and their is no boat-rocking, no risk, and you are still serving your patrons (or are you? more on that later.)
2. When you want to try a new cereal and you begin to pay attention to all the choices you have on the cereal aisle... it can be a little overwhelming. Web 2.0 has so many options and so many places to begin, it can feel a little overwhelming.
3. There are puffy, non-substantial sugar cereals, and there are fiber-rich, vitamin-enhanced, uber-cereals, just like there are quick and easy Web 2.0 applications and more complicated applications. You get what you give, and striking a balance is good. You do not want to eat fiber cereal everyday--bleeech. Have a little fun too!
4. Trying new cereal is fun, and can be addicting: you may eat the whole box in record time and have to go out and buy more. Trying new Web applications is fun and addicting too-- you may find yourself up till dawn fiddling with your new blog, or barraging your friends with your wiki, or tweets, or Facebook postings.
5. Cereal is just one part of a balanced breakfast, and Web 2.0 is just one part of your outreach.
-------
I have just left an environment very rich with technology and technology applications in the school and library. I am entering one a position with a district that wants very much to embrace technology even more than they are now. In a way, I'll be finding my way to do more with less, and I get to be the guide to many who are new to Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is such a valuable tool in the library because it is a way to reach patrons where they “live” and to show those who don’t “live” there yet what is available to them. Web 2.0 tools are great marketing tools, wonderful interest grabbers, and practical applications in the library world—can’t wait to start anew!
1. When it's time to buy cereal, it is possible to walk down the cereal aisle, never look left or right, choose what you have always chosen and leave the store with your purchase. No boat-rocking, no risk, and you get your cereal. When it's time to serve the patrons, you can do what you have always done and try nothing new and their is no boat-rocking, no risk, and you are still serving your patrons (or are you? more on that later.)
2. When you want to try a new cereal and you begin to pay attention to all the choices you have on the cereal aisle... it can be a little overwhelming. Web 2.0 has so many options and so many places to begin, it can feel a little overwhelming.
3. There are puffy, non-substantial sugar cereals, and there are fiber-rich, vitamin-enhanced, uber-cereals, just like there are quick and easy Web 2.0 applications and more complicated applications. You get what you give, and striking a balance is good. You do not want to eat fiber cereal everyday--bleeech. Have a little fun too!
4. Trying new cereal is fun, and can be addicting: you may eat the whole box in record time and have to go out and buy more. Trying new Web applications is fun and addicting too-- you may find yourself up till dawn fiddling with your new blog, or barraging your friends with your wiki, or tweets, or Facebook postings.
5. Cereal is just one part of a balanced breakfast, and Web 2.0 is just one part of your outreach.
-------
I have just left an environment very rich with technology and technology applications in the school and library. I am entering one a position with a district that wants very much to embrace technology even more than they are now. In a way, I'll be finding my way to do more with less, and I get to be the guide to many who are new to Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is such a valuable tool in the library because it is a way to reach patrons where they “live” and to show those who don’t “live” there yet what is available to them. Web 2.0 tools are great marketing tools, wonderful interest grabbers, and practical applications in the library world—can’t wait to start anew!
Thing 1
No-- not a Dr. Suess reference....I have completed Thing 1 for the North Texas 23 things. This was easy for me because I have several blogs--a few using this hosting site. I started a new one for this project and look forward to getting these 22 remaining things started--lots to learn this summer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
