Library Thing document

Cozy Mysteries logged on Library Thing

One of the Web 2.0 tools that we explored was Library Thing. I liked the ability to search books by subject/interest area in order to find out what other people liked in that same area.  The one that I found was Cozy Mysteries, which are basically mysteries where the 'sleuth' is an amateur and usually not in the detective business but does something else, such as being a caterer, running a bookstore, owning a bakery, running a coffee house, or a tea shop, etc.  However, it seems as though they have a 'habit' of finding mysteries where they least expect them, and naturally, have to get into the solving of whatever they have stumbled upon.  By reading the postings and reviews by other people, I was able to gain some new authors to explore.  I've listed a couple authors and titles below in order to use the table feature of this word processing program

 

Author	Title
Diane Mott Davidson	Fatally Flaky:  A Novel (Goldy Schulz Culinary Mysteries)
Carolyn G. Hart	Death on Demand (death on Demand Mysteries, No. 1)

Week 8 -- #18 Online Productivity Tools

This exploration into the Online Productivity Tools was very interesting. I was surprised at how easy they were to use and how it was just like using the regular program. I had previously seen Google Docs so decided to go to Soho Writer. I think the hardest part was thinking what to write about! I played with the word processing 'regulars' such as color, size, font, etc. and the inserted a table so that I could work with the formatting, which worked very well. I did use their "publish" option and the document I created is above this blog entry. I thought the publish option was quite user friendly and straight forward.

Week 7 -- #17 Sandbox Wiki

This was really a fun exercise and I didn't expect the LARGE amount of Favorite wikis that had already been posted. People thought of some really original things and someone was even brave enough to say that they didn't care for the Harry Potter series of books! Naturally, I had to go through the favorite cats and dogs but also saw some very unique ones that I want to go back and peruse later. Mine wasn't overly creative or original but the first thing that came to my mind with Favorites (especially during this time of the year when there's so much to do) was my favorite things to do if I happen to get that very scarce commodity called "1 Hour of Free Time". I have also added my blog to the list of Favorite blogs so I think I have this activity done. However, major WARNING!!!!---when I first went in it said on the right hand side that if I wanted to join the workspace, I needed to get permission. Naturally, I figured I had to do that so clicked on it & it must have sent out 6 zillion emails to EVERYONE who had posted on there, asking them if I could have permission to 'their' wiki....oh my gosh, what a mess. I had emails from people all over the place saying that they didn't remember their passwords, why did I want in their wiki, etc. etc. I wrote a 'this is what happened' email to each of them and they were all nice about it but wow, was that an interesting experience (and not one I want to repeat!).

Week 7 -- #16 Wikis

I am part of several educational wikis so was somewhat familiar with them but not in the public library aspect. The thing that, in my opinion, is important is deciding the use of the wiki and making sure that it is developed with that use in mind. For instance, I really liked the Book Lovers wiki because I knew it was going to be various peoples' opinions about books and the opinions could vary quite widely and I couldn't take any of them as being the 'right' one because they are opinions. It was very interesting to see how various people perceived the same book. However, I have seen students go to Wikipedia as an authoritative source and say that it is the absolute truth. Since anyone can alter a wiki, unless the settings prohibit it, it can't be said that Wikipedia is the absolute truth because the last entry could be from someone who doesn't know the subject matter and or has a 'cause' to promote. I can definitely see the "Book Lovers" type of wiki being used within the public library setting, as long as there is someone who monitors the postings. I also think it would be a nice way to announce library events/new books/items of interest but I would have that wiki as one that only the author can edit. It would also be a neat tool to use with people who are collaborating on the same project but live large distances apart so cannot have face to face meetings. I think they are very useful and allow for a great deal of interaction.

Week 6 -- #15 Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

I read several articles which centered on the future of libraries and librarians (media specialists) with regard to technology and the emphasis of Web 2.0 Of those that I read, I could relate more to the one titled "Into a New World of Librarianship" because he dealt with the traits of a librarian who deals with 2.0 Actually, what he stated as good traits for a librarian in the Web 2.0 field apply to being a good librarian/media specialist overall. For instance, he talks about planning for the users. I think we all try to plan for our users' needs by asking what they would like to see, keeping a log of things that are well received, not well received, etc. I particularly liked his point that a good librarian does not buy technology just for the sake of buying it. I've run into people who have 'this' gadget or program just because 'it's there' but don't really have a sound use for it and therefore, it largely goes unused and is a waste of money. Another article I read was "Away from the Icebergs" and while Mr. Anderson made some very good points, I'm not that I can fully agree (maybe it's the 'old' librarian in me) with getting rid of the 'just in case' collection. He talks at length about so much information being in digital form that we really don't 'need' the basic collection that encompasses many subject areas. I still believe that we need a basic, well-rounded collection of print materials. I know, myself, that I don't want to take my laptop or i-Touch with me everywhere I go just so I can read a book in digital form. For me, it's much easier to put a paperback in my purse or suitcase. I lastly read the Library 2.0 Theory: Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Libraries. this was a fairly comprehensive article dealing with a true definition of Library 2.0 and innumerates some essential elements that Library 2.0 would encompass.

Week 6 -- #14 Technorati

As I've discovered many times when using technology, it's not always dependable and Technorati was giving me a message that the "Technorati Monster" had escaped and they were having problems so I will return later for the assigned searches.

Try 2---I am still having difficulty with the site working properly, particularly on searches. However, I was able to compare the favorite blogs by fans, by authority, and the top search. Several, such as Boing Boing and TechCrunch were listed as top both by fans and authority. The searches were much more specific, and would be expected, were related to things that are 'of interest' today such as tv and movie stars, items from the news, etc. I find the site to be rather difficult to use and don't feel it's very user friendly. I think it would be fine to use with just a general term to find some blogs but am not sure I would use it with students. Also, it has all blogs on it, some of which are undoubtedly not done well or in good taste. This has probably been my least favorite Web 2.0 exploration thus far.

Week 6 -- #13 Del.icio.us

I had actually started my Delicious account before beginning this class as I had attended a session about it at a conference and liked the way I could access my favorites from various computers. However, I learned much more about it through this class. For instance, I didn't realize the meta-tags that I could put on my favorites, or that I could search for subject-area favorites from other Delicious lists that people have made public, or that Favorites can be listed as shared or private within the same account. I went to the PLCMCL2 Delicious account first and found several nice bookmarks, especially pertaining to students and the use of Web 2.0 I then started searching through tags that people have utilized in their accounts and found some that were educationally based, and then, of course, couldn't help myself from looking to see what neat sites had been bookmarked for quilting also. I can see where this would assist students with research in that they could type in the meta-tag to get information specific to their topic but it would also, in my opinion, require quite a bit of pre-planning on the teacher's part so that students do not get into peoples' favorites lists and access inappropriate material.