PowerPoint Presentations from Hell

Here is a great article on what presenters do wrong when using PowerPoint in their presentations. Click Here.

Adjunct Faculty - the Sideshow's Constant Target

Below is a link to interesting article about the way one community college is trying to change the status of teaching adjuncts. What is most interesting is that the college is looking for ways to cut costs now and in the future. Adjuncts are paid little enough as it is, and are excluded from the receiving insitutional benefits that full-time faculty are entitled.

As colleges reduce full-time faculty positions - to save money - it is fairly safe to assume that adjunct rolls will grow. Therefore, will higher education one day be a place where all faculty are part-time with no benefits? Interesting future! This trend of part-time faculty stripped of benefits will drive more good brains away from academe, similar to the process that classroom regulations have done to drive devoted folks out of teaching in public schools.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/08/11/adjuncts

Read, Think and Share - Everywhere!!!!

Main Street Bridge Before Dawn

Main Street Bridge Before Dawn
Originally uploaded by librarywriter23

Photo taken spring 2009 by Judy Stephenson. took 25th place in International Photo Content at Digital Photo Review.

Three Bridges Before DAwn

Three Bridges Before DAwn
Originally uploaded by librarywriter23

A photo taken near dawn in spring 2009 in Jacksonville on the St. Johns by Judy Stephenson

College Databases for Position Papers

The following databases contain detailed information on the history and current situation with many social and political issues.

CQ Researcher - has supplied Congress and government with reports and studies for over 90 years

Issues and Controversies

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center

Other good resources:

• SIRS Researcher
• Social Science Databases

General Research Tips

1. When doing research in any kind of Database or Search Engine look for and use:

Advanced Search

Full-Text


2. BEFORE you start create a list of the Elements of your topic.

Topic: (Drug abuse) among (high school students)


3. Next BEFORE you start create a list of "Similar Terms" to the elements of your topic

Example: teens = teenagers = youth = adolescents = high school students

4. TIP: journal = periodical = magazine (roughly speaking)

5. TIP: scholarly journal or article = peer-reviewed (roughly speaking)

6. Borrowers ID is your social security number and the PIN is the last four digits of the same.

So You Want to Be a College Professor - commentary

A recent Wall Street Journal article is a must read for every existing full-time and adjunct faculty in the US. Also, any current undergraduate student who longs to be a college professor needs to understand what is happening to their dreams. The former ivory-covered halls ain't what they used to be.

The last two sentences of this opinion piece sums up the results of the changes I have seen in my 25 years in higher education, working at a major research university, a small private university and one of the largest community colleges in the country. It all boils down to these two sentences directly quoted from the piece entitled So You Want to Be a Professor by By Naomi Schaefer Riley:

"Higher education has gone so far off the rails in recent years that parents and students hardly know what they are supposed to have learned in a freshman composition course or in Sociology 101. And as long as there is a degree waiting at the other end, they hardly care."

While there are several societal trends behind the dumbing down of America which also infects the highest rung of our education ladder, this piece does begin to speak to one, so give it 60 seconds . . . http://tinyurl.com/dkyjou

Thing 23: Final Survey

I have completed the final survey.

Thanks you again, NEFLIN staff, for creating this wonderful opportunity. It took a great deal of my time - more than I thought at the beginning - but in return for the time I invested, I learned a great deal. I doubt that I would have encountered many of the Web 2.0 tools introduced through the "23 Things" without this experience.

Thing 22: Staying Current

Keeping up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools.

I have been actively seeking out and finding training on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools since I started the NEFLIN 23 Things project. I have participated in several webinars that I could work in around my work schedule since I am a reference librarian. So far I have engaged in learning with Webjunction, NEFLIN, Solinet and LibraryJournal. I am now on their mailing lists and have links to their websites to check regularly for new offerings. I learn a great deal from online sessions and prefer them.

I plan to track trends and the latest online tools through my regular reading of news sources like Business Week and WIRED and the NYT, as well as the usual library news sources. The latest trends are often mentioned in the business and tech news sources before the library ones.

In visiting links in this Thing I have discovered several that I have added to my RSS aggregator so that news will come to me. 'Coming to me' is one of those things that makes my work life easier. I love RSS feeds for that reason.


Keeping up with What is Useful.

I have found that best way to retain and use what I have learned is to begin teaching it to others. I have decided to pick three or four Web 2.0 tools that I think would be helpful to our English faculty and create a workshop around how they can integrate them into their classes. I'll test out the ones I picked with a couple of faculty and if the 'test' class goes well, I'll see about offering it to a much larger audience of faculty. No one is currently taking this type of approach with our faculty. One training session focusing on one tool is the rule of the day. I think integrating a few useful tools might be a better way to go as the package will offer more functions and be more useful overall and might encourage our faculty to adapt some of the Web 2.0 opportunities into their teaching.

Thing 21: Student 2.0 Tools

The Assignment Calculator

The Assignment Calculator is a great student-tool and can see our students using this more quickly than the RPC. Time is such a major constraint for our students, since many of them work and then go to school. The Assignment Calculator can really help them stay on target. FCCJ students may see the RPC as taking more time to read and incorporate than their time will allow, even though their results would be better.

The RPC and Teacher's Guide

I love these tools. I am going to add them to our library blog to both the faculty and student sections. I plan to create an email to send out general to our faculty at the beginning of next term about these tools.

In the Teacher's Guide there were several very useful documents. I'm going to print out and keep a couple handy. Narrowing the topic down is a problem I see often. Students have a general topic like the Civil War and do not know how to narrow it down. One of the handouts covered this beautifully and gave a concrete example that could be adapted to most any topic.

The RPC would need a faculty introduction in class for students to use it. I think I'll explore working with a faculty member to do a joint project in the fall as a beta test of using it. I think the Assignment Calculator and some of the handouts will be adapted immediately.

Thank to the Golden Gophers' faculty for the tools and to NEFLIN for the introduction!!!!!

I have been thinking so much about the students that I have not had time to think about library projects specifically and these tools. Helping faculty and students is our primary job.

Thing 20: Books 2.0

Q.1. What are you observing in your library about books and reading?

In the library I notice that the fiction readers most often come in looking for works by a specific author either because they have read one book before or because the author was recommended by a friend. This is definitely more predominant than looking for a genre.

Q.2. Do you think these Book 2.0 tools hamper or enhance one's reading experience?
I think the Web2.0 tools are great for:

-- Individuals who do a lot of reading and want to research on their own for new titles to get;

-- Teachers looking for books reviewed by others to use in the classroom or to recommend to students;
-- Librarians exploring how to expand their collections in new directions; and
-- Authors, present and future, researching what avid readers find interesting.

Once a reader finds an appealing tool that is easy to use, it can only enhance their experience as a reader.

Q.3.Which of the sites/tools did you visit? What are they appealing features? Any features seem unnecessary or just there "because"?


I explored most of the sites listed in Thing 20 which took quite a lot of time. Personally, I liked Overbooked and Wired for Books and plan to return to those sites frequently, and also to keep exploring the Internet for more. I will use these two sites not only for my personal reading but for the library.


Bookbrowse, while great for every reader, has a “children's and teens” section which is great for schools for both teachers and media specialists. I also like the the following features: tag cloud, geographical setting and time period. Those are very helpful when trying to help a reader find exactly what they are seeking when they do not have a title or author in mind.


Booksprouts seems to be a great resource for teachers who want to start book clubs in schools for students. The feature that makes this most appealing to a school is once the club is set up it can a be 'private,' making it safe for school-age children and only the moderator can select the book for the group.


BookGlutton has an online reader which I thought would be great for those who are home bound for a time due to illness or an injury. You can read with a group which could make the home bound feel less isolated. Plus all you need is a computer and the Internet – no Kindle required.


I found Booklamp a very creative concept, but would have to explore it further to be able to use it effectively with our readers. I may experiment with this and a couple of English teachers to see how they could use it in their classes.


Among the book swap sites I like SwapTree and may get involved this summer. Bookcrossing I have known about for some time and have shared the idea with others as well as participated.

Thing 19: Other Social Networks

I liked the article Building a Social Networking Environment at the Library by Steve Campion, he writes about some of the real problems we encounter in our system. We can create new content using the Web 2.0 the tools but getting the attention the appropriate administrators is very difficult. Since we are understaffed, everything extra we do comes out of our own time. If administration is not willing to grant us a few extra hours a month to create and update content, it is not to our advantage to add extra services, like Web 2.0 services. If we proceed and create new services on our own time, then in a few months it is interpreted as already a part of our job duties. It is a real Catch-22 in a system where libraries are tcurrently near he bottom of the priorities for services because of serious, system-wide budget constraints.

If I were to create a profile for career purposes based on what I saw in this exercise I would choose Ning. I am in fact planning on setting up an account during the summer when my work schedule is not as intense. I take my presence on the web seriously. It is my face to the world and I wish to spend time designing my site content before I get started. Thanks for alerting me to Ning. I did not know about Ning before the 23 Things.

Gather was very interesting and I am intending pursue it also because we have several students who are writers. I am thinking of developing something describing Gather to distribute to our English faculty and they will then further disperse the information out to students. In addition, I am planning on developing information to readily hand to students who come to reference desk and identify themselves as present or future writers. I did not know about Gather either before the 23 Things.

I believe that these are the social networks for our library to explore rather than Facebook and MySpace. Thanks again !!!!

Thing 18: Facebook

I have had a Facebook account for about two years. I have found it useful for finding old friends I have not heard from in years and discovering what they are doing now. With what people write on their walls I do not see it as a good tool for promoting your career. If I were some of the folks I know using Facebook, I would not want perspective employers to see what I had written on a bad day. I know that some employers do check Facebook at job interview time. Facebook is not appealing to me personally.

While I looked at several libraries’ Facebook pages, I would choose on other social networks to accomplish the same things. I would only use a Facebook presence to direct those interested to over places. It has only been in the last two months that our top administrator has done anything with Web 2.0. There is now a Facebook page for the college. So there is some merit to establishing at presence. I will be talking to colleagues about this soon.

MySpace is blocked at my library. I was unable to view the suggested MySpace Web sites except at home. That will not be of much help to me for creating a presence at work. I do not intend to create a MySpace page for myself and there is no possibility for the library. I will pursue a more focus social media network for both.

From all of the other wonderful resources in Web 2.0 being explored through the NEFLIN 23 Things, I think we will be able to find other, more acceptable resources to use for our library’s web presence than Facebook and MySpace.

Thing 17: Podcasts

Podcasts have been one of my favorite things in Web 2.0 since I discovered them about two years ago. My favorite place to find them is iTunesU. So I decided to spend more time of the other suggested sites for this 'thing.'

I did not care much for Yahoo Podcasts since the only way to find podcasts is to use audio search which also includes music which means you have to type in the word “podcast” each time. I like browsing lists, but I did find a series entitled "Coffee Break Spanish" that I thought was very useful. It is recorded in Scotland so the Scottish accent you hear when they are speaking English made it more fun for me, but might be disconcerting to others. If you click on the menu choice 'other language' you will find other languages in addition to Spanish including “One-Minute Danish.” Go to website and check out the Lesson Library: http://www.radiolinguamedia.com/cbs/www/index.html

At the Educational Podcast Directory I found that a quite a few of the podcasters had not posted for up to four years. So it is possible to waste time on this site looking for current information. I love the concept of podcasts tailored to different public school student levels. You would not have to worry about INTERNET safety using this website for those under 18 years.

Podcastalley was not a site I plan to use in the future. No directory immediately evident. Search features of selecting the 'genre' and then typing in keywords in the next box would not work for me. When I picked a 'genre' and went to that section the podcast list was numbered, but there was no apparent reasoning for the numbering. Was #1 the most downloaded? Or was it the most recent posting? Also, most of the podcasts I did find had to be downloaded. There was no feature that allowed you to listen to them online. I downloaded one file.

Podcast.Com. On the home page was the Coffee Break Spanish that I first found on Yahoo. I like this site best because I can either download the episode or play it online. Also, I found “Episode Info” button very helpful for an overview of episode-content. I listened to an episode on “ Don't Ruin the Vacation” from “This Week in Photography.” The link is readily available in its own box for easy cut and paste. Catch this episode: http://podcast.com/episode/36267670/55150/

There are so many podcasts available on the Web. I usually find podcasts on the topics I am researching and so do not see myself starting podcasting at this point in time. I'd like to have something uniques to contribute.

Thing 16: You Tube

On Google Video I looked for educational videos on endangered animals. I prefer looking for educational videos that faculty can use in the classroom. I settled on a video about tigers, as they, and all the big cats are in danger of disappearing. The Internet offers us the opportunity to see other cultures and what life is like now in another part of the world. The best thing the Internet can bring to all of us is the ability to share our heritage and life experiences in real time. THe next best thing to being there.

Tiger in Indian Park in Water


Tiger Laying in Grass in India

Thing 15: Rollyo

I read the article and explored Rollyo. I liked the existing public domain ebooks search and will add it to this blog. I could see use for it in assisting students at the college when they need to read a classic work and all of our copies are checked out.

I could see how teachers or faculty members could use Rollyo to create a searchroll to narrow search results for research papers to point students to just the web sites the teacher felt were valuable. In K-12 this could be particularly valuable. It adds a measure of security in keeping younger students off inappropriate web sites also.

After creating an account, I generated several searchrolls before I discovered that I could not delete any of the ones I no longer wanted. Perhaps the option to delete was there somewhere and I just never found it.

The link here is to my Rollyo to search for endangered animals. I added about 12 web sites that could be searched including three major news sites.

Endangered Animals SearchRoll:
http://rollyo.com/jstephen/endangered_animals_2/

Public Domain eBooks Search:
http://rollyo.com/onfire4jc/public_domain_ebooks/

Quick Quotes Search:
http://rollyo.com/kizuki-sama/quick_quotes_search/

Thing 14: Online Productivity Tools

Start page I choose and why: For a start page I choose My Yahoo. It was easy to tailor and I like the look. Adding RSS feeds was easy. I could see using the MY Yahoo page as a start page for myself and plan to try it for a while. I made the mistake of adding too many items to it at first. I will narrow the items down and see how much I come to rely on it. But I love the user-friendliness of it. For our library I see no use for a start page because at FCCJ the library has a web page with lots of helpful resources for students and faculty and secondly, our campus library has a blog too.

Online Calendars could be useful for some but not in my situation: The online calendars reviewed here are not very useful in my work environment. Personally, I do not need an online calendar because I carry a PDA so I have everything with me all of the time. Also, at FCCJ we can share our work calendar online through Outlook with anyone so there is no need for an additional online one. For the library, an online calendar is not needed because we have several was to advertise to our community. Events can be posted to large TV screens in the lobbies of our buildings, on FCCJ's TV channel, in the student newspaper and sent out in email. There are so many events at any given time that the best way to reach our students and faculty is to use the avenues already in place.

Online To Do Lists Were Not Helpful: Not helpful personally or for work. I could see if you worked in a situation where there was not much technology that they might be useful. Therefore I did not try the Stickie Notes.

Other tools in the list I used: I did not use the options that require a download because I cannot download and install any software on work computers at FCCJ . I did try the PDF converter and liked it very much and will be using it. Since I use Firefox as well as Internet Explorer, I have added the PDF converter add-on offered by Firefox.

Thing 13: LibraryThing

LibraryThing is new to me. I read the article on how libraries use LT and then created an account. Very quickly I was able to add 20 of our latest arrivals by entering the ISBN.

This week I will be adding a widget for LT to our library's official blog. I have added a search widget to the sidebar of this blog.

In our library we frequently have one of more display of books on hot topics. I want to explore how to use LT to create virtual displays. It appears that this could be done through the use of tags.

New Account on LibraryThing

Thing 12: Wikis

I used Zoho Wiki to create a wiki for a joint project with another librarian. The project focuses on creating a learning module to introduce students to electronic resources available to them when doing research. The object is to increase use of this resource.

Zoho Wiki was easy to use and I had the basic pages of the wiki created in no time. Once this project is done, I plan to consider other uses of wikis for future projects in the library.

Thing 11: Social Media

Comments after visiting the four suggested social media sites: DIGG, REDDIT, NEWSVINE & MIXX

DIGG. Tabbed sections with categories of news like "science" that are found a most online news sites. Advertisements on the right. DIGG offers the opportunity to add a profile of yourself and to find & connect with friends. In this regard, it appears to mimic Facebook presumably to catch some of the folks who like Facebook. The opportunity to read and share and comment on new stories on the same website are big bonuses to someone not wanting to maintain a full presence and constant attention that a Facebook account seems to demand if it is to be effective. May or may not be back.

REDDIT. Tabbed sections with categories of news like "technology" that are found a most online news sites. And then some not so common like "atheism" and "WTF." You can make your own guess as to what that last category stands for. Advertisements on the right. Focus: REDDIT seems to target a younger audience than DIGG and MIXX. A another target audience may simply be the not-to-smart set. Rude, crude and unattractive. No one less than a "mature" audience member should go to this Web site. Graphic and distasteful content. It is a definitely "living out loud" site. I'll not be back.

NEWSVINE. Professional appearance. Advertisements on the right. Liked: Categories like most websites. Loved the fact that they offered one for "ART" which I did not see on the other sites. Would highly recommend this site. Plan to link it to our library blog. Will definitely use this site again

MIXX. Not as professional looking as Newsvine. Content is valuable. Liked the two menus at the top: categories of news and media types like 'photos' and .videos.' Did not like that it took two clicks to get to the actual story to view it. Advertisements in right menu. Will use this site again.

General Comment About Thing 11: A person with an information addiction could spend quite a lot of time blissfully on any of these sites - depending upon individual taste for different types of 'news.'

Library Use: 1. Create a profile for the library and use one of these site to identify news stories of particular interest to faculty and students, or that are timely and relevant to major events. 2. Look for webistes mentioned in news stories with useful information for students & faculty.

Thing #10: Delicious

Created a Delicious account and plan to use it from now on instead of the bookmarks on the computers I use. I went through the creating a badge process and had code generated that I tried to add to this blog. I could not get it to work after several attempts.

This is a great resource!!! Thanks, NEFLIN

I could see setting up an account for a class of students working on the same project to use as they do their research.

Thing 9: Sharing Slides & Photos

ZOHO SLIDES

I sent up a Zoho account and have been using more than just the slide show feature. I found that I had trouble importing slides made in Powerpoint 2007, but slides created in earlier versions of Powerpoint. I have started creating a slide show directly online using the Zoho features.

One negative is that I uploaded one slide show with great sound when it was played. The audio did not migrate up to the Zoho site. I assume it is not a feature they can offer.

Slide How I created two years ago for a high school class on Art History:
http://show.zoho.com/public/librarywriter23/pompeii4-ppt

Thing 8: Communication

Web Conferencing
I have been using web conferencing for meetings and training for at least a year. The webinars have included ones sponsored by federal agencies about grant programs, Adobe regarding their new products and how to use them, and NEFLIN about UF's digital collection to name a few. They have all been free and have afforded me on opportunity to participate in a meeting or training that otherwise I would have not participated. I am very happy the technology has progressed to the point of providing this great way to share information.

Instant Messaging
Have not done this yet. I'm not at my computer long enough to have it seem like something I could use on a regualr basis. I move among work stations that are shared. I am away from the desk often helping folks with reference questions. I read the articles suggested and found good ideas for libraries but not ones that are very busy and understaffed.

Text Messaging
I personally do not use my phone for text messaging. I think if I were someone working away from the office I would use it a great deal. I do like Twitter and think that is the service I would use to post information from my phone, as well as text messages instead of calling back to someone in the office.

Twitter
Feb. 19, 2009
The second Twitter account I created is for the 23 Things project. I have embedded it my 23 Things blogs. Click Here to view it. You should also see it in the sidebar on this page. As to its purpose, I have not decided as yet.

Reaction: I like it. It was easy to figure out how to use for the English Class in which I am embedded. It is not as easy to figure out how to use it with our college library. I have to decide the audience first before I can decide the content. I would think there is a need for a separate account for each audience.

Feb. 05, 2009
Have spent the past two days learning how to use Twitter. I become obsessive about a new thing to learn and tend to get stuck in and let other things drop.

I have created a Twitter account to accompany the blog I started for the ENC 1101 Blog . . . discussed in another post. The Twitter account is now linked to that blog so you can see it there. I'm using Twitter to augment the info. posted to blog. . . like current news stories.

Thing 7: Image Generators

Used Image Chef to create this flash image. Could create and use a sign like this on blog for the library announceing newly books or services in the library, or a psecial event.

It is great learning new stuff, but I do not see having the time at my job to integrate new stuff into interesting things there. All this reminds of the teachers in K-12 I have worked with in the past who spend hours of their personal time preparing for class and setting up extra fun things for their students to benefit from. They worked and nights and weekends on their own time because there was no time during the school day. It is one of the reasons I decided to leave the K-12 experience behind.

You have to use a new resource often to be able to use it efficiently. When you have to re-acquaint yourself with a resource after several weeks absence, you reinvest precious time that you may not have to give.

We are asked to do more in the workplace with fewer resources with each passing year. I have come to the point where I give my best at work during my work time, but not beyond. I reserve the rest of the best for me and my own projects. When we have more resources and staff at work, fun things, like this, may return.

Thing 6: Mashups

Something from Flickr Photos



Made with Spell with Flickr. This could be used on any blog or web page for the library to draw attention to a particular topic or post. It could easily be over-used, and then the effect would be lost. I need to learn more about how to control the size first though. It was fun.

Sharing Photographs Online

I think it is wonderful that so many people from all over the world share their images online. Unfortunately, most are readily available for capturing. Why do I say "unfortunately?" Because most people who take an image from the web do not know that the image is not free for the taking; and they do not know how to properly credit the image, even if they know that they should.

Some web sites and some image makers have learned how to protect their images from being captured. Since a link to a web page with an image can be put into your blog or web page, you can still provide access for viewing by others when you share your work.

Being an amateur photographer I have lots of personal photographs, but have been hesitant to put them online. When services like Flickr first came about they did not offer ways to protect your photographs from being copied, now they do. So I am planning on exploring various services like Flickr to use personally.

Photographs taken for work related projects would be fine to post online, because no one would care about protecting them.

Thing 5: Flickr

This image is called "Clearing Fog" and was posted to Flickr by Matt1962. Matt's profile indicates that he is male and lives in London. The URL for the original image is at the bottom of this post.

Slideshow feature of Flickr was great. The Clemens and Alcuin libraries dislay to highlight books in their collections is something our library could do. Currently, we put together collections and display them in various sections of the library. I like the idea of the virutal collection because onse the collection created, it could be permanent and could be displayed regularly - meaning annually if it focused on a annual theme. The one thing I like better about the actualy physical display is that students can just pick up a book in a display and check it out immediately. Both have advantages. The Flickr virutal display has the advantaged of being seen by many more people because of its virtual access which may draw more students into the library.

Option A
I was most surprised by the Make Stuff feature of Flickr. I will need some time to explore how to use it in our library.

In using the tags and exploring Flickr I discovered amazing graphic images in addition to the standard digital pics that folks post to share with friends and family. I had not realized that Flickr is used by amateur and professional digital artists and graphic designers to display their work. I was amazed at what I found. I'll be hanging around Flickr for weeks to come.

I discovered that you can post an image and then others can add comments in the form of pop-up tags to various sections of the image. Look at this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulobrandao/2740345393/ Run you cursor over the images. That means the one posting the image must be able to do the same thing to his/her own images, which allows for detailed explanation for what the viewer is seeing.

Love it.

Image URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt1962/1545689387/

Thing 4: RSS and Newsreaders

I have always had a trouble limiting my time reading the news. When the Internet first appeared and I had an old slow dial-up connections I would spend 6-8 hours on the weekend reading papers - international ones. News addiction? Maybe. I like to know what other people are thinking and experiencing in other parts of the world.

RSS and newsreaders just make things worse for me. Now I love to spend 6-8 hours a day just reading . . . but I can't. So I have avoided them until this project came along. It took me days to get through this thing, because I kept exploring more and more.

I did use both Bloglines' search tool and Google's. I liked Google's "advanced" search feature best for searching, and Bloglines for displaying my selected feeds.

The one thing I found disconcerting was that the link provided for looking at at this sites for library blogs worldwide which went 'libdex' had one dead link after another. The first three blogs I selected on the list all were dead. I did not try a 4th. I have learned in the past that when I find three dead links on a site, there are probably a good many more and the site is not being updated. I do not return. You will do better using one of the search engines.

I have not added RSS feeders to this blog. I think they distract viewers and lead them away from the blog. I think using a Twitter account where I can add the news stories and other links related to me blog's theme is a better option. so unless an RSS feed is focused completely to my blog's subject, I will not add it.

Thing 3: Blog Search Engines & Directories

I explored all of the links provided in the Resources list in Thing 3. I like SearchEngineJournal and subscribed to the feed. I spent a lot of time on this site, reading former posts and checking out blogs that the site suggested. I could spend a week just on this site.

Technorati has so much to offer that I would need a month of spending one hour a day to really get a feel for the best way to use it.

Like Technorati and SearchEngineJournal very much. I'll be visiting them often.

Did not like the two About.Com offerings. About.Com seemed to follow me wherever I went. Technorati seems to have more and is structured in a way that makes sense to me.

Thing 2: Reflecting on Learning

Watched the Abram video. Like the concept that reflection helps as you learn new skills to see the impact and change just learning new things brings to your own work and perspective about your work.

Thing 1: Updated: Photo and Blog List

Today I did several things to my blog:
1. added a photo of me and my wonderful book-reading granddaughter;
2. explored some of the blogs of others in the 23 Things project and started following about ten;
3. started a blog list and added two blogs;
4. added a couple of news feeds; and
5. signed up at Sitemeter for stats.

One of the other blogs I read today talked about how much time all of this takes. I agree! I can't agree more. I'm a reference librarian and on the desk most of my work time in a busy college library. As soon as I start to write anything, even a short email, I am interrupted. All of my activity on this blog has been done on my own time from home.

I am attracted to all of the Web 2.0 possibilities, but it does not seem to be a priority where I work. In fact, there have been few comments from co-workers to whom I have send the link to my blogs - I have two now - and one Twitter account. In fact, one colleague criticized my English class blog by saying I had done all of the work for the students, implying that they need do nothing now. That is not the point, I replied. The object is to provide current content to keep the students coming back - to see the blog as a resource - and to use the links to do a better job with their research efforts.

If employers do not see this Web 2.0 communication, then they will not provide time for staff to focus on product development and content creation. All of this takes thought and time to do a good job, and I do not do something that is not a good job. The point: if my efforts are not appreciated and I am not given time at work to do creative things that add value to the services provided, after a while the question arises: "Why do it?" If I do it at all - at the point - I'll do it for myself and not for work. I believe that is why some people do not indulge in efforts like this. They know not to begin, because of the lack of support they will get where they work.

I am not as pessimist, but a realist. I know that after years of working and being a hard-working optimist, a person gets tired. As time gets precious, you give more thought to how you spend it.

Thing 1: Revisited: Second Blog for English Class

After creating this blog for the NEFLIN 23 Things Project, I created a blog for an ENC 1101 class at FCCJ. In fact, it has taken most of the time I would have devoted to this blog.

The faculty member, Amy Baskin, had asked me in December to do a series of presentations to her students around research skills. As I jumped into the NEFLIN 23 blog, I realized instantly how I could use the new tools for this class collaboration.

ENC 1101 Blog

The result is that I have not paid attention to the things I need to be doing here, but hope to soon. However, I never would have done the ENC 1101 blog, if NEFLIN had not lured me in! Thanks!!!!

Thing 1: Extended - Publishing Using ScribeFire

I decided to be real adventurous and try an add-on to Firefox that lets you edit a blog entry and post it without logging in online to your blog. It is called ScribeFire. This is a test. It worked fine. Great for quick posting.

Thing 1: Setting Up this Blog

Setting up this blog was interesting but time consuming. I would advise any other 'newbies' to blogging to set aside a 2-3 hours and good bit a patience when starting a new blog. You have to be willing to come to a page with little information to guide and guess at what you do next. But that seems to be all right. My impression is that most things can be undone or redone.

I am impressed by the editing tools I found when I clicked on the tab to add my first post. I have not explored them yet, but can see by the familiar symbols that there are formatting options to hang things around my words and add color and emphasis to them . . . should I choose to do so.

The problems I see looming for me include the fact that I love to write and have avoided doing a blog in the past because I can't stop the words sometimes. Once I start writing, I find more of my time occupied with thinking about writing the next piece. Add to that the tasks of the NEFLIN 23 challenge and I see time being chomped out of already busy life like the little bits gobbled up by PackWoman in the old but wonderful console games on20 years ago.

But it seemed worth it, so here I go.

Come back to see if I can restrain the words while putting in the time for this worthwhile dive into Web 2.0