I've really learned a lot more than I thought I would through this blog. Granted, some of the things (Facebook, Youtube) I already knew and used daily, and others... let's face it, there are some things that just didn't grab my attention. Maybe I'll find them more interesting and useful in the future, but for the time being, I'm not likely to switch from trawling news sites to trawling RSS feeds, and Flickr just isn't my thing. The third category, though - things I'd never known about, and now find incredibly useful - takes up the majority of the list, so I would consider that a success. Picasa, especially, has become one of my favorite programs (I know it has nothing to do with libraries, but still!), but I've found lots of other interesting sites and features as well.
I'm not sure that I'll really go on using this blog very much once I've finished this class - I'm still not really interested in blogging, and I don't feel like I would ever really post any updates or anything - but this, and the 23 Things list, are definitely good resources to refer back to. And, who knows, maybe in the future I'll have a great idea and start a blog, or will find a new-and-improved 23 Things list to work through. Though, I suppose I'm not technically done with this one yet... I still have to do Things 15 and 23... I guess they're up next!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Thing #21 - Student 2.0
This seems to be one of the smaller "Things" on the list, but I think it's also a hidden gem that has flown under the radar. By "Student 2.0", it means programs that help students plan and coordinate their schoolwork, especially undergrad students working on specific assignments. There are two resources for this: the Research Project Calculator and the Assignment Calculator. I've never heard of either of these, but there are a lot of undergrads out there who could benefit from using something like this. You just enter your assignment and get out an itinerary of which steps should be done by when, including specific walkthrough tips to better explain each step. The Assignment Calculator uses a 12-step program, and assembles the timeline from a start date, end date, and subject area for the assignment. The RPC, on the other hand, uses a more general 5-step program, with more specific instructions and tips for each step, and lets you choose the type of assignment (research paper, presentation, or video). The RPC also has support material for teachers and librarians to help them explain the research process to their students.
While all of this is novel and helpful, I think it has to be used in the right time and place. This kind of thing is something that you have to get undergrad students using right away when they start college; otherwise, a lot of them will just fall into bad patterns and never work their way out. I've always been meticulously, if not obsessively, organized about my assignments, and even though I never laid out schedules on paper, I've always had a clock ticking in my head, counting down to when the assignments are due, and I've known whether I've been on track or not. At the same time, I know most of the rest of the world isn't naturally that way, and getting into the habit of researching, writing, and re-writing early, or at the very least sticking to a schedule, can save a lot of time and stress, both for the students themselves, and for the teachers and librarians that they turn to at the last minute, trying to scrape together an assignment.
While all of this is novel and helpful, I think it has to be used in the right time and place. This kind of thing is something that you have to get undergrad students using right away when they start college; otherwise, a lot of them will just fall into bad patterns and never work their way out. I've always been meticulously, if not obsessively, organized about my assignments, and even though I never laid out schedules on paper, I've always had a clock ticking in my head, counting down to when the assignments are due, and I've known whether I've been on track or not. At the same time, I know most of the rest of the world isn't naturally that way, and getting into the habit of researching, writing, and re-writing early, or at the very least sticking to a schedule, can save a lot of time and stress, both for the students themselves, and for the teachers and librarians that they turn to at the last minute, trying to scrape together an assignment.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Thing #20 - Books 2.0
Reading and literacy certainly have changed since the advent of the internet, and even more since e-Books like Kindle and Nook have been developed. I have to admit, I've never had a smartphone or an e-reader, so I don't really know what it's like to read off of such a tiny screen, but seeing as computers in general are going more and more mobile, and books are becoming more and more closely tied to computers, it stands to reason that the wave of the future is portable, electronic books.
Reading through the recommended articles, I came across some conflicting information. "Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?" argues that kids are reading less and less books, and the debate grows as to whether this is increasing their adaptability for living in a digital world, or is merely destroying their attention spans and understanding of literature. On the other hand, "Fiction Reading Increases for Adults" claims that reading levels have increased pretty much across the board, especially for the 18 to 24 year old group, so I don't really know what to think. I don't own a whole lot of books, but I always have an assortment of books to read for fun, either from friends or the library, and I don't really enjoy flipping around in online books, which I've had to do for some classes. I know search features and readability are improving, but I find it much easier to locate information that I know I saw a ways back in a physical book than in an electronic one.
As for the wide variety of suggested tools, I looked at a few. DailyLit looks like fun (if you have a phone that can download RSS feeds), since you can choose which book to receive installments of, the times and days you want the installments (like, if you read on your way to work), and how large of chunks you want to get at a time. It's a good way to read books for people who feel like they don't actually have time to read, and lots of the books are free. What Should I Read Next? was fun, also, and gave rather good results for me; searching any given one of my favorite books usually brought up a slew of other books that I'd read and enjoyed, but a few searches also gave me a bunch of authors I've never heard of before, so I'll have to do more cross-checking and look into them. For "Online Book Communities," Book Glutton was interesting in that many of the recommended books seemed to be manuals, especially computer-programming manuals, while Overbooked was rather difficult to navigate... I mean, what's the difference between "Genre" and "Nonfiction" and "Lit Styles"? It seems like the kind of thing where any given book or subject could fall under a multitude of headings, and you really have to guess as to where it is. LitLovers seemed like a very good place to go if you're trying to put together book groups or discussions; it has discussion guides for tons of popular books, as well as advice for how to put together and run a club and even offers short online courses for self-study. LibriVox uses volunteers to read and record books as audiobooks, which they then post free online; I've never been an audiobook fan, but I know they can come in handy, especially for long trips, and this seems like a good project. BookBrowse offers book reviews and excerpts from just about everywhere for just about everything - a lot of the other recommended book review sites didn't have a lot of obscure titles that I checked for, but BookBrowse seemed to have nearly all of them. They have good Find-A-Book features, Author searches, and Readalike categories, so it's a very well-rounded site.
What does this all mean for libraries? I'm really not sure... except that there are a lot more options available than regular print books. I think it's important for librarians, especially public librarians, to look more into these kinds of sites, pick out some favorites, learn how to use them, and start promoting them. If the world is going digital, librarians can try to keep up. And, just because someone prefers looking online through Readers Advisory sites rather than talking to librarians in hopes of coming up with a good book doesn't mean that they won't still wind up at the library looking to actually find and read it in the end.
Reading through the recommended articles, I came across some conflicting information. "Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?" argues that kids are reading less and less books, and the debate grows as to whether this is increasing their adaptability for living in a digital world, or is merely destroying their attention spans and understanding of literature. On the other hand, "Fiction Reading Increases for Adults" claims that reading levels have increased pretty much across the board, especially for the 18 to 24 year old group, so I don't really know what to think. I don't own a whole lot of books, but I always have an assortment of books to read for fun, either from friends or the library, and I don't really enjoy flipping around in online books, which I've had to do for some classes. I know search features and readability are improving, but I find it much easier to locate information that I know I saw a ways back in a physical book than in an electronic one.
As for the wide variety of suggested tools, I looked at a few. DailyLit looks like fun (if you have a phone that can download RSS feeds), since you can choose which book to receive installments of, the times and days you want the installments (like, if you read on your way to work), and how large of chunks you want to get at a time. It's a good way to read books for people who feel like they don't actually have time to read, and lots of the books are free. What Should I Read Next? was fun, also, and gave rather good results for me; searching any given one of my favorite books usually brought up a slew of other books that I'd read and enjoyed, but a few searches also gave me a bunch of authors I've never heard of before, so I'll have to do more cross-checking and look into them. For "Online Book Communities," Book Glutton was interesting in that many of the recommended books seemed to be manuals, especially computer-programming manuals, while Overbooked was rather difficult to navigate... I mean, what's the difference between "Genre" and "Nonfiction" and "Lit Styles"? It seems like the kind of thing where any given book or subject could fall under a multitude of headings, and you really have to guess as to where it is. LitLovers seemed like a very good place to go if you're trying to put together book groups or discussions; it has discussion guides for tons of popular books, as well as advice for how to put together and run a club and even offers short online courses for self-study. LibriVox uses volunteers to read and record books as audiobooks, which they then post free online; I've never been an audiobook fan, but I know they can come in handy, especially for long trips, and this seems like a good project. BookBrowse offers book reviews and excerpts from just about everywhere for just about everything - a lot of the other recommended book review sites didn't have a lot of obscure titles that I checked for, but BookBrowse seemed to have nearly all of them. They have good Find-A-Book features, Author searches, and Readalike categories, so it's a very well-rounded site.
What does this all mean for libraries? I'm really not sure... except that there are a lot more options available than regular print books. I think it's important for librarians, especially public librarians, to look more into these kinds of sites, pick out some favorites, learn how to use them, and start promoting them. If the world is going digital, librarians can try to keep up. And, just because someone prefers looking online through Readers Advisory sites rather than talking to librarians in hopes of coming up with a good book doesn't mean that they won't still wind up at the library looking to actually find and read it in the end.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Thing #19 - Other Social Networking Sites
Well, I always thought Facebook was enough for me, but then I started browsing lists of other networking sites, and I came across BakeSpace (http://www.bakespace.com/). It sounds like the kind of thing I'd go for, so I signed right up. I'm really not sure how many users it has, but it has over 45,000 recipes, is very well done and is easy to navigate. It also starts off with zero information about you (all you need is an e-mail address and a username, and you're signed up) so you can pick and choose what you fill in. Right when I signed up, I was a little disconcerted to find I already had a "friend" on my wall... until I clicked on her profile and it explained she was the founder of BakeSpace and is automatically added to all new members' profiles. It's easy to add and remove people as friends, though.
Recipe swapping is super-easy, too. Whenever you come across a recipe you like, there's a button to add it to your "Recipe Box", and then it goes into your profile, along with any tags you choose to add to it. You can also upload any recipes you may have, which then become searchable and usable by other members. I came across recipes that I liked really quickly, and started tossing things into my Recipe Box. Now, of course, I want to go back through the family cookbooks and start adding recipes of my own, as well, which will take quite a while! But, it looks like a really fun site, a good way to organize recipes (for which I've been searching for a long time) and an easy way to find, rate, and comment on other recipes. I have to say, I'm not very far into it, but I'd have to recommend it.
Recipe swapping is super-easy, too. Whenever you come across a recipe you like, there's a button to add it to your "Recipe Box", and then it goes into your profile, along with any tags you choose to add to it. You can also upload any recipes you may have, which then become searchable and usable by other members. I came across recipes that I liked really quickly, and started tossing things into my Recipe Box. Now, of course, I want to go back through the family cookbooks and start adding recipes of my own, as well, which will take quite a while! But, it looks like a really fun site, a good way to organize recipes (for which I've been searching for a long time) and an easy way to find, rate, and comment on other recipes. I have to say, I'm not very far into it, but I'd have to recommend it.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thing #18 - Facebook & MySpace
This is hardly anything revolutionary for me, since I joined Facebook several years ago. I actually really didn't want to, at the time, but with all of my cousins splitting up and heading off to college around the same time as me, I got pressured into it. I know a lot of people use it obsessively, but I really don't see the appeal. I mean, it's useful, and fun, and I like seeing the things that other people link to their accounts, including the innumerable pictures of cute kittens. It could be the fact that I've steered far clear of Farmville that I can say that, but I think it's better to not have to run to your Facebook account every few hours. I feel bad enough having to run to check my e-mail several times a day!
I know there's been a big hullabaloo recently about Facebook and privacy issues, and I understand that it's a very real concern.... but, at the same time, I've tried friending people who have their security set to the absolute maximum. Let me tell you, they become hard to track down, much less friend. In one case, I actually had to contact my friend in person and ask her to add me, because her account wouldn't let people solicit friend requests. I prefer to have middle-of-the-road security settings: there are some things (especially e-mail addresses) that shouldn't necessarily be given away on the open internet, but at the same time, you should leave up enough information so that people trying to find you can ascertain that you are, indeed, the one they're looking for.
Many of the Facebook groups suggested by the 23 Things guide hadn't even occurred to me, so I quickly hopped onto FB and added myself to the American Library Association Members list and Library 2.0 Interest Group, and "liked" the Wisconsin Library Association page (still very small - I suspect it was created by members, and not the WLA itself) and the Jail Library Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (I'm a member of JLG, and I remember there being discussions about choosing a name for a Facebook page, but I don't remember a decision having been made!).
As for libraries... it's definitely a good thing to have a page. While people may not check it constantly, if people just "join" or "like" it, they'll get the updates for new posts on their wall, so it's a free and automated way to get the word out about programs, updates, and general library news. It's also a good way to display general information, including library contact information and photos and/or video of the library, its resources, some of its latest programs, etc. It costs nothing, doesn't take much time, and has a virtually limitless potential audience: what's not to like?
I know there's been a big hullabaloo recently about Facebook and privacy issues, and I understand that it's a very real concern.... but, at the same time, I've tried friending people who have their security set to the absolute maximum. Let me tell you, they become hard to track down, much less friend. In one case, I actually had to contact my friend in person and ask her to add me, because her account wouldn't let people solicit friend requests. I prefer to have middle-of-the-road security settings: there are some things (especially e-mail addresses) that shouldn't necessarily be given away on the open internet, but at the same time, you should leave up enough information so that people trying to find you can ascertain that you are, indeed, the one they're looking for.
Many of the Facebook groups suggested by the 23 Things guide hadn't even occurred to me, so I quickly hopped onto FB and added myself to the American Library Association Members list and Library 2.0 Interest Group, and "liked" the Wisconsin Library Association page (still very small - I suspect it was created by members, and not the WLA itself) and the Jail Library Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (I'm a member of JLG, and I remember there being discussions about choosing a name for a Facebook page, but I don't remember a decision having been made!).
As for libraries... it's definitely a good thing to have a page. While people may not check it constantly, if people just "join" or "like" it, they'll get the updates for new posts on their wall, so it's a free and automated way to get the word out about programs, updates, and general library news. It's also a good way to display general information, including library contact information and photos and/or video of the library, its resources, some of its latest programs, etc. It costs nothing, doesn't take much time, and has a virtually limitless potential audience: what's not to like?
Monday, November 1, 2010
Thing #17 - Podcasts
I have to admit, I was never into the whole "podcasting" thing. I don't own an iPod, so I've never downloaded anything from the iTunes store, which is where a lot of people get their podcasts, I know. Nor do I have a smartphone, or even a laptop, so I'm hardly able to access podcasts on the go... but, considering how short, sweet, and succinct they can be, it may be interesting to keep a few around, anyway.
I went to podcast.com to learn more about podcasting. I had to register to access their content, but after some browsing around, I stumbled across Discovery News podcasts. I've always liked Discovery, as well as Discovery News, and their short and sweet podcasts are really cute. The most recent one is an (animated) history of Halloween, but they also have specials on breakthroughs in robots and engineering, a longer (3-minute) segment on a pumpkin farmer and aficionado, and a short video on climate change and tigers, to name a few of the videos from the past week. After subscribing via RSS to MyYahoo! (Bloglines and Google are also options), I should get regular updates from Discovery News on their most recent posts; I have to say, I'm looking forward to it. Here's a link for the Discovery News podcasts page: http://podcast.com/show/95955/Discovery-News-%28Video%29/.
Podcasting could definitely be a good thing for a library, too. If you can get patrons to subscribe via RSS, you can get news out about events, programs, new materials, and just general library tips and info very quickly and easily. On the other hand, if a library created a podcasting account, they could subscribe to podcasts from various other sources that the librarians considered useful, helpful, or particularly interesting, so that librarians could share favorite podcasts among themselves and encourage each other to get into watching, listening to, and possibly creating podcasts more, as well.
I went to podcast.com to learn more about podcasting. I had to register to access their content, but after some browsing around, I stumbled across Discovery News podcasts. I've always liked Discovery, as well as Discovery News, and their short and sweet podcasts are really cute. The most recent one is an (animated) history of Halloween, but they also have specials on breakthroughs in robots and engineering, a longer (3-minute) segment on a pumpkin farmer and aficionado, and a short video on climate change and tigers, to name a few of the videos from the past week. After subscribing via RSS to MyYahoo! (Bloglines and Google are also options), I should get regular updates from Discovery News on their most recent posts; I have to say, I'm looking forward to it. Here's a link for the Discovery News podcasts page: http://podcast.com/show/95955/Discovery-News-%28Video%29/.
Podcasting could definitely be a good thing for a library, too. If you can get patrons to subscribe via RSS, you can get news out about events, programs, new materials, and just general library tips and info very quickly and easily. On the other hand, if a library created a podcasting account, they could subscribe to podcasts from various other sources that the librarians considered useful, helpful, or particularly interesting, so that librarians could share favorite podcasts among themselves and encourage each other to get into watching, listening to, and possibly creating podcasts more, as well.
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