Have a great break everybody!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Week 9 - Twitter
Thing 15 - Exploring Twitter - Tweet!
Twitter, according to the website, "is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People write short updates, often called "tweets" of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search". The frequently asked questions about Twitter explain the process in more detail. Basically it is an easy way to follow people and for you to let people know what you are doing without having to read an entire blog. The short messages are 140 characters or shorter and are called tweets. Twitter is also called micro blogging where each tweet is considered a micro or mini blog post. As a School Librarian (ha!) you can use Twitter to send tweets about library events to keep your users in the loop and make them feel connected. Check out this list of twittering librarians and libraries.
There is a way in Twitter to add tags (keywords) to your tweets by using the hash # sign which makes it easier to track certain topics. This tag feature is used in the TwHistory project which uses twitter to teach history. The idea is to create twitter accounts for key figures in an historical event and create time line tweets for each character so you can watch the events unfold. The people behind this project are at Utah State University.
Thing 15 Learning2.0 Tasks
1. Read the newbies guide to twitter to get yourself up to speed on this micro blogging phenomenon.
2. Go to Twitter and see what people are saying about library or libraries.
3. Read about twitter for libraries and librarians.
3. Create a free Twitter account and find some people and libraries you want to follow.
4. Integrate your tweets into your blog (see bottom right of this blog) by adding a twitter gadget that posts your tweets.
5. Blog about your Twitter experience and whether you can see a use for it in your current or future school library.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Week 8 - RSS & Newsreaders
Thing 13 - RSS Feeds and Newsreaders
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. You may have seen the little orange RSS icon on a blog you were reading. This icon shows that you can easily keep track of that particular web page by subscribing to it. This is really handy for websites such as blogs and newsfeeds that get updated with new content regularly. Instead of checking back to see if anything new has been posted the new content will be sent to you just like the paper magazines or newspapers you subscribe to. The only thing you need is a place for your subscriptions to come in like a virtual mailbox. While some email programs will allow you to manage your subscriptions a more advanced option is offered through Bloglines.
Thing 13 Learning 2.0 Tasks
1. Read so you will understand what Bloglines is.
2. Create a Bloglines account.
3. Add our learning 2.0 blog as a feed. Note that there is no RSS icon but all the way at the bottom you'll find a subscribe link. Click that and change the subscribe to this feed to Bloglines.
4. You can also subscribe to news about specific topics. Go to Google news and create a search on something you find interesting. For example ~library. At the bottom of your results you'll find the RSS icon. Click that to make this query into a so called standing query and receive news items on this topic whenever they come up. Add a news feed to your Bloglines account. This might take a few tries to work in some cases.
5. Remember Flickr? You can also subscribe to people's photographs so every time they post new photos you'll get them automatically! Add a photo feed to your Bloglines account.
Thing 14 - Finding library blogs and news feeds
Blogs and news feeds are a great way to stay up to date professionally without doing any of the legwork yourself. There are good librarians out there who will blog about issues pertinent to our profession or point you to technology to try or articles you simply must read. Blogs are a great way to stay in touch with the profession and you can count reading them as working on your professional development. A great blog to subscribe to for this class would be Points of Reference which is a blog about reference sources and trends in reference (thanks Tammy!).
Now that you have created a single place to check your news and (professional) blogs (i.e. your Bloglines account) it is time to learn where to find good blogs so you can add them to your list. There are three easy ways to find additional blogs: 1) look at the blog rolls of your favorite blogs to see if there are any blogs among the list of blogs that your blogger is following; 2) use a blog search engine; or 3) find lists of top blogs on a certain topics.
Here I'll provide you with a list of blog search engines and a few lists for you to peruse.
Blog search engines
Perhaps the best known among the blog search engines and my favorite is Technorati which allows you to search for blogs (feeds) on certain topics as well as specific blog posts. You already met Technorati during week 7 of learning 2.0 of course. Bloglines also offers a blog search with those features. Google has a blog search as well but only the advanced blog search lets you specify exactly what you are looking for. Syndic8.com and topix.net are search engines for user submitted RSS feeds and news feeds respectively.
Here are a few fun lists for you to check out: 100 Best Blogs for School Librarians, Top 25 Librarian Bloggers, Top 10 Non-Librarian Blogs To Read in 2008 (and probably still in 2010), and 10 librarian blogs to read in 2010. It is probably a good sign for a blog to appear on multiple lists!
Thing 14 Learning 2.0 Tasks
1. Try out a blog or feed search engine or two and find additional blogs to subscribe to.
2. Explore one of the lists to see if they point you to additional blogs.
3. Create a blog post on your personal blog about your RSS feed search and subscription experience. Be specific about what you tried to find blogs. What did you like, what didn't you like. Also describe two blogs that you plan on following. Describe the blogs and share why you think they are important.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Week 7 - Folksonomies and social bookmarking
Thing 10 - Tagging with Del.icio.us
Contrary to the more formal ways of describing content (e.g. by using Sears Subject Headings) user tagging doesn't have formal rules nor a controlled vocabulary. This is where the term folksonomy comes in. Just like a folks song a folksonomy is created for the people by the people whereas the more formal taxonomy is created by scientists and subject matter experts. Tagging content such as photos (recall Flickr), books you have read (LibraryThing) or blogs (see the tags I've added to this post) is typical for Web 2.0. because tags facilitate information sharing, social networking, and collaboration between users.
You can also tag and share the bookmarks you create on the Web. Imagine you are really interested in reading programs in school libraries. Wouldn't it be nice to see whether anybody has already found good websites on that topic? It would be even nice to see websites that a lot of people have tagged "reading programs"? This week we explore a social bookmarking website called del.icio.us. To learn more about del.icio.us read information shared in learn more.
Once you join del.icio.us you can create bookmarks and tag them with your very own tags (subjects) to categorize your bookmarks. You can also search all tags people have used to find more interesting bookmarks. Another benefit of having your bookmarks with del.icio.us is that if you move computers, you can still get to all your bookmarks! Del.icio.us is not the only social bookmarking site. Some people prefer to use diigo.
Thing 10 Learning 2.0 Tasks
1. Check out this great 8 minute video on del.icio.us. It shows how to traverse del.iciou.us and find good stuff.
2. Go to del.icio.us and explore what you can do there. Think about uses of del.icio.us for your library. One obvious use would be to create lists of links on certain topics and make them available to your users on your blog or wiki.
3. Find a popular bookmark and read the tags and sometimes comments people have added.
4. Write a blog post about your del.icio.us experience and how you might want to use it for your research or in your library.
Thing 11 - Exploring Technorati
We have added several blogs to the blogosphere joining the millions of blogs already out there. Technorati is a search tool especially tailored to blogs. It can help you find blogs on particular topics and even individual blog postings. In addition to the search function Technorati also has a blog directory organized by topic where you can browse for blogs of interest.
Technorati also keeps track of the top 100 most influential blogs and calculates an authority number based on the number of people linking to a particular blog. A blog with a high authority number is considered more trustworthy than the average blog.
Once you create your own blog (not as a class asignment) and you have something to say that might interest others you can tell technorati about your blog so it will be indexed. This is called claiming your blog.
Thing 11 Learning 2.0 Tasks
1. Go to Technorati's blog directory and study the different categories. What categories are very well represented? What categories are lacking?
2. Try out the two different search options (blogs versus blog postings) to find blogs and blog postings on a topic of interest. Did you get different results?
3. Write a blog post about your Technorati experience.
Thing 12 - Web 2.0 and Library 2.0
Just like Web 2.0 where users are more involved in the creation and sharing of content Library 2.0 tries to do the same thing by changing library services. What does this mean for the School Library Media Center?
Thing 12 Learning 2.0 Tasks
1. Read the the article by Christopher Harris in School Library Journal and blog about your thought concerning library 2.0 for school libraries.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Week 6 - Play!
Thing 7 - Play with online image generator
Image generators are websites that allow you to generate fun images that capture peoples' attention. There are quite a number of sites out there. You can Google for "image generators" to find them or try the sign generator or the generator blog. Generate a fun image and post it to your blog by clicking on the little image icon (to the right of the check mark) above the box where you type your blog post text. Library nerds can check out the ALA image generator. Follow the instructions and off you go! Have fun!!
Thing 7 Learning2.0 Tasks
1. Find and explore an image generator.
2. Play and create fun images.
3. Save an image you really like to your hard drive.
4. Post this images on your blog.
Thing 8 - Library Thing
Library Thing is a website that allows you to catalog books online for free. You can create your own collection and see who else is reading the same books, read reviews, and get new book recommendations. Take the tour and sign up to create an account. Add five books and view your virtual book shelf. Finally, add a Library Thing widget to your blog and write a post about your Library Thing experience and possible uses of Library Thing for libraries.
Thing 8 Learning2.0 Tasks
1. Explore Library Thing
2. Register and create a free account.
3. Add at least five books to your collection.
4. Create a widget for your collection and add to your blog.
5. Blog about your Library Thing experience.
Thing 9 - Roll your own search engine
Rollyo is a great tool for school media specialists because it allows you to create a custom search engine. You specify which websites the search engine should use to search. You can add only those websites that you know are reliable and would be good for your students to use. This is called creating a search roll. Examples of search rolls can be found here.
Thing 9 Learning2.0 Tasks
1. Explore rollyo.
2. Register for a rollyo account and create a search roll of your own.
3. If you want to get really fancy (not required) you can add a search box for your search roll to your blog!
Week 5 - Skype
Thing 6 - Exploring Skype
Skype is free software that you can download to your computer. Once installed the software allows you to make calls over the internet. Calls to other computers are free. It is a great way to stay in touch with people who live far away, especially when you add a web cam. You can talk and see each other at the same time! You can also use Skype to hold conference calls with people in multiple locations.
Most laptops have built in speakers and microphones now. If you have a desktop you might need to invest in a headset to get the most out of Skype. Once you have installed the software you can make a test call to adjust your computer's settings and to see whether you need additional equipment.
Thing 6 Learning2.0 Tasks
1. Download and install Skype on your computer.
2. Post your Skype name to Blackboard so we can start calling to test our new skills. I've posted my Skype name to Blackboard in case you want to make a quick test call and nobody else has posted their name yet! If you don't have a mic you can send a text message through Skype.
Week 4 - Wikis
Thing 5 - What's a Wiki?
Wikis are communal web pages where people can add, edit, and delete information that is shared. The most famous Wiki is of course Wikepedia. It is easy to revert to a previous version of a page in case you do not like changes that were made. You can also require a login to make sure you control who adds to your Wiki if you get a lot of spam (junk information) on your Wiki. You can also determine which pages are editable and which ones are not. The available options depend on Wiki software that you are using.
Wikis are a great tool for libraries. For example, the Princeton Public Library created a Wiki for their Summer reading group and people added reviews of the books they read to the Wiki. It might be fun to create a space like that on your Library Wiki as well so students can share their likes and dislikes about books. You could also create pages where people can add cool web links for certain subject areas to share.
Thing 5 Learning2.0 Tasks
1. Watch this common craft video about the wiki phenomenon.
2. Create your own Wiki space and go to pbworks to sign up for free. You can watch a video and get more information on how to set up your wiki here. Check out topic relevant help in the right hand column. You'll be using this Wiki for your Library Wiki Assignment which comes in three parts.
3. Write down your username and password and wiki address (URL) in case you forget.
4. Write a blog post (using your very own blog created during week 2!) about what you learned and think about Wikis.
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