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!!!!