#21 (Week 9). Podcasts (You don’t need an iPod!)

I have iTunes installed in my laptop and my desktop at home. I like the fact that I can purchase a song for 99 cents if I only want a particular song and not the entire cd. I've also subscribed to some podcasts on my laptop.

Yahoo Podcasts collects a great variety of podcasts. I typed library in the search box, and 191 items were retrieved. I decided to subscribe to Collected Comics Library. I was able to save it to iTunes. How convenient! I also subscribed to the Book Voyages podcast and the Sunnyvale Public Library podcast. Yahoo Podcasts is as easy to use as iTunes, and I can save anything to iTunes. I can search by Series, Series and Episodes, or Episodes. I added the RSS feed for Collected Comics Library in my bloglines account and placed it on the left side of this blog.

Finding Empowerment on YouTube

This video can be very empowering for women who struggle with body image issues, and it can open the eyes of people who are prejudiced.

#20 (Week 9). Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.

I listened to the podcast. I'm surprised at how much content there is on YouTube. Of course, some content is better than other content. I already embedded some YouTube videos in some earlier posts. I looked at some other YouTube videos. Oddly enough, there are several videos of cats flushing toilets with their paws, and cats sleeping. Here is a cute video of a sleeping cat.

#19 (Week 8). Take a Look at LibraryThing

LibraryThing is quite useful. I created an account and added a few of my books to my list. I don't have time or energy to catalog all of my books at home; however, it's good to know that I can do this if I choose to. I might also use LibraryThing to catalog the books at my church library.

#18 (Week 8). Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

I created an account with Zoho Writer. I created two new documents and imported one document from my files.

Sometimes, I get weird [JavaScript Application] grey boxes. I was using Zoho Writer with Netscape. I wonder if it will work better with Firefox or Internet Explorer.

The document created by Helene Blowers and edited by Jean has useful information.

Zoho Writer is pretty useful. If I don't have my flash drive with me, I can write something in Zoho Writer instead of emailing myself.

#17 (Week 7). Add an entry to the SJLibrary Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki.

I added a link to my blog and I added my tv viewing schedule (well, for part of the year). I have enjoyed so many books throughout the years, it is very difficult to pick favorites!

#16 (Week 7). Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them.

Wikis are interesting. The English version of Wikipedia was my first wiki experience. I started two Wikipedia pages that have continued to grow and evolve without me. These pages are List of superhero debuts and List of supervillain debuts. I started these pages in order to help me prepare for a speech about superheroes that I presented at a branch library during the summer of 2005. I contributed some content to these pages while several other people contributed much more content than I had time and energy to contribute. I really appreciate the collaboration that Wikipedia encourages.

I have also contributed to other Wikipedia articles in English, French and Spanish. I haven’t yet contributed to any Wikipedia articles in German, although my written German is about the same as my written French. I also have three Wikipedia user pages in three languages. They are:

User Page at English Wikipedia
User Page at Spanish Wikipedia
User Page at French Wikipedia
I haven’t made a German page yet; however, I suppose I should.

I’ve dabbled in other languages; however, I don’t know enough of those to contribute to any Wikipedia articles.

Wikipages is pretty interesting. Currently it only covers New York City; however, it may eventually spread to other U.S. cities.

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki is very useful and has a lot of potential.

The ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki Main Page looks like it was very useful for the folks that attended ALA 2006 Conference in New Orleans. A wiki like this can be useful for just about any medium to large conference.

The sjplyouthservices wiki is very useful. I haven’t added anything yet; however, I probably will one of these days.

#15 (Week 6). Read a few Perspectives on Web 2.0. Future of Libraries

The articles and essays are interesting. I’ve considered setting up some sort of an informal opportunity to teach teens how to use some of the web sites that I learned how to use Learning 2.0. Perhaps my co-workers can help me teach the teens (hint hint!)

This last paragraph from Away from the “icebergs” is quite powerful.

“No profession can survive if it throws its core principles and values overboard in response to every shift in the zeitgeist. However, it can be equally disastrous when a profession fails to acknowledge and adapt to radical, fundamental change in the marketplace it serves. At this point in time, our profession is far closer to the latter type of disaster than it is to the former. We need to shift direction, and we can’t wait for the big ship of our profession to change course first. It’s going to have to happen one library—one little boat—at a time.”

Into a new world of librarianship also lists many excellent points. I especially like the last paragraph:

“Librarian 2.0 also listens to staff and users when planning, tells the stories of successes and failures, learns from both, celebrates those successes, allows staff time to play and learn, and never stops dreaming about the best library services.”

This is a good goal for me to strive for.

The Wikipedia Library 2.0 article is also informative, and includes this handy Library 2.0 meme map.

There are many different types of communities, including families, friends, schools, faith communities, clubs, and of course, libraries. Physical libraries are great places for people to learn new things and explore new ideas. Library 2.0 is an expansion of this, and is available 24 hours a day, where ever computers and internet connections are found. We librarians are not becoming obsolete; rather, we are continuing to change and evolve.

#14 (Week 6). Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.

Technorati is pretty useful and fun.

I typed "Learning 2.0" in the search box and searched in blog posts. Each time I searched, the numbers changed somewhat. There were 30,793 (or 29,499) results when I searched without quotation marks and 51 (or 2,631) results when I searched with quotation marks. The third entry of the fifty one was from the Minerva Shelved blog written by Minerva8843, my mysterious co-worker whom I finally met in person today. Four other blogs link to her blog.

I typed "Learning 2.0" in the search box and searched in blog directories. There were 75 results when I searched without quotation marks and no results when I searched with quotation marks.
I’ve added tags to most of my blog posts. Sometimes I change the tags.

I typed "Learning 2.0" in the search box and searched in tags. There were 283 results when I searched without quotation marks and 247 results when I searched with quotation marks. A blog entry from another mysterious co-worker, Ain't ain't a word was number one out of the 247 results. Our Library system rocks!

I also added two blogs to my Technorati favorites. I’ll add some more later.

#13 (Week 6). Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmaking site)

The del.icio.us / SJLibraryLearning2 / collection of links is pretty good. I added some of those links to my own del.icio.us page. I had fun choosing tags for the various sites that I added to my list of links.

I also added my delicious tags near the bottom of this blog. I changed the size of the font so that the tags don't take up too much room.

I made it past the halfway point. I believe that I can finish on or before March 30. Yay!

#12 (Week 5). Roll your own search tool with Rollyo.

I created two search tools with Rollyo. At first, I felt a bit like a klutz, then I figured it out. I placed one of the Rollyo search tools on my blog, near the bottom of the page.

#11 (Week 5). Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.

I experimented with http://liveplasma.com/ I typed "Duran Duran" in the search box and the names of many other music groups appeared. the left side of the screen showed some of Duran Duran's album covers. I clicked on "Pet Shop Boys," and the map changed. I clicked on "The Beatles," and the map changed again.

I tried a new search. I typed "Marilyn Monroe," and a new map appeared. I clicked on "Bette Middler" and the map changed again. This is pretty fun!

#10 (Week 5). Play around with an online image generator.

This is the book that I need to read in order to understand what my dear husband is talking about.



txt2pic.com/signs/books/dummies/cover.asp?pic=pointing&title=read+al

#9 (Week 4). Locate a few useful library related blogs and/or news feeds.

I listened to the podcast and I added some more items to my bloglines feed, including some more graphic novel review sites and blogs. I also experimented with Technorati. Bloglines and Technorati are both useful. I submitted two of my blogspot blogs to Technorati and I added the Technorati icons to each of those blogs. I was unable to add my MySpace blog to Technorati. I’ll try again later. Sometimes I feel like a klutz when I am working with new and unfamiliar things; however, I’m catching on.

Employee Recognition

Today, several library employees received 20-year pins/charms and 10-year pins/charms. My supervisor gave a nice speech before presenting me with my 10-year charm. After all the supervisors gave their speeches, everyone ate burnt almond cake. Yum!

I would like to thank all of my supervisors, co-workers, and library customers, past and present. I have learned from all of them.

Flower in the Pool

Flower in the Pool
Originally uploaded by John Martinez.

Water is the source
of life
and transformation.

#8 (Week 4). Learn about RSS feeds and set up a Bloglines account.

I listened to the podcast, I viewed the C|NET video, and I created a bloglines account. I subscribed to several feeds and three of my co-worker's blogs. I subscribed to the SJLibrary Learning 2.0 blog feed, the San Jose Mercury News: Fashion feed, the Reader's Club: TeenGraphicNovels feed, and the Unshelved and Dilbert comic strips.

Bloglines is quite useful. I am able to gather news and information sources that interest me and put them together in one place so I can view them at my leisure. This can save me a lot of time.

Central selectors can subscribe to review sites and other literature or media related sites in order to gather information quickly.

Here is my feed

http://rpc.bloglines.com/blogroll?html=1&id=dawn22

Shall We Dance? March 24, 2007