Week Nine - Thing #23

Yea! This has been so much fun - as fun as Dr. Lesene's classes reading all those books which gave me a legitimate excuse to do what I love: "Honest, honey, this really is part of my assignment." It is also fun to be part of this and read that SLJ is also offering a 23 Things, and realize we have been offered something very current and relevant to our jobs. We have been part of the thread in Creative Commons as this course continues to spread. Unlike the original program, we did not sign a learning contract. I am certain that 23 Things will continue to evolve - or perhaps there will be a sequel.


Favorite Exercise - It's hard to pick a favorite from all the activities because I enjoyed them all. If I have to pick, I will pick having a blog. I am going to maintain my blog but I will adapt it.

Unexpected Outcome - wikis are useful. Wikipedia had been my only impression of a wiki and even my opinion of Wikipedia has changed.

If you offered another discovery program like this would I participate? - Yes

One Word description - AWESOME!

Week Nine - Thing #22

Tonight I explored ebooks and Audio ebooks. I downloaded a reading of Elizabeth Barret Browning's 23 Sonnet from the Gutenburg project. It was read by a volunteer who did a good but not professional job of reading. The obvious uses of these free ebooks are mentioned in the notes: ESL and Special Education students would benefit from using these books.
I noticed that users are cautioned to check copyright status before downloading. Because this sonnet was listed as being read in English, I assume other works might be in other languages. Category and release dates are also noted.
This is a subject I will tuck away and explore later.

Week Nine - Thing #21

As a user of iTunes I already enjoy podcasts to which I subscribe; however, I never realized how many podcast directories were available. There are library-related podcasts and book review podcasts. All I need is time to explore.

I searched Podcastalley.com and looked at book reviews and library podcasts. There were so many ideas for the library. Our school already plans to have a podcast this year with school announcements. Book review podcasts would be a great project for our book club. It would also be interesting to make books being read aloud available on a podcast. This definitely has potential for use in a school setting.

Week Nine - Thing #20

Add YouTube to the list of sites that I have heard of but never tried until it was part of the assignment. The TV commercials were hilarious. Just a brief time exploring explains the concern that many parents and schools have about access to the site. Having said that, there is a lot of good with the bad. This is a proceed with caution site. Clicking on the "Education" tab, for example, took me to choices that would not be appropriate for school.

For my video, I selected a Sesame Street video entitled "No Cookies in the Library." This would be a good hook for a library lesson.

Week Eight - Thing #19

The next assignment was to explore LibraryThing, create an account and add 5 books to my library. I have to admit I have looked at this site before and wondered why anyone would want to use it. That is because I only glanced at it in passing. To be obedient :) and complete my assignment, I created an account. I am a cookbook collector with over 200 cookbooks so I decided that I would add these books to my virtual library. It was so easy - I wish adding books to our collection at school was this easy. I just typed in the ISBN number and all the cataloging information popped up on the screen. One click and the book is listed in my library. I discovered a cookbook collector group to watch, and I now receive suggestions for more cookbooks to collect - this could be dangerous. I have already had to build one cabinet to store all my cookbooks. As I have time I plan to enter all my cookbooks in my library.
Hopefully the link below will take you to my catalog. I had more trouble linking the site to my blog than I did cataloging the books. Perhaps this librarian needs 24 Things.

Week Eight - Thing # 18

This week is like playing hopscotch and landing on both feet. Finally we are studying something I am familiar with. I use Google documents all the time. When I was secretary of a committee I wrote my minutes in Google documents and e-mailed them to the chairman so that he could add changes. This application also works well with students. The documents are accessible on any computer. They are collaborative or can be set for viewing only. All that is needed is a Google account. From looking at Zoho I think they work the same way.

Last summer I lost everything saved on my computer at school. Now I save all my documents in Google documents and there are no more worries about losing valuable time reconstructing library documents. The documents are similar to Word and Excel. If you know how to use one you can use the other.

Week Seven - Thing # 17

Tonight I played in Region One's Sandbox. One of the things I have enjoyed about participating in 23 Things is how it is set up to make the activities painless. I want to set up a wiki this year for my book club and I want to show the possibilities to teachers. Since I have never used a wiki before, it was easier to post in the Sandbox. Step by step I have learned so much that I can use this year.

Week Seven - Thing # 16

Wikipedia was my first experience with wikis and I have to admit that I did not consider them a reliable library resource because of their capability to be edited by anyone. Next Shonda Brisco wrote about her experience in using one with her students. I didn't really understand the usefulness of what she was doing. Tonight this lesson "turned on the light bulb" on the value of wikis. This is a tool I will suggest for the history teachers because many of their projects lend themselves to a wiki format. Language Art teachers will also benefit from using wikis. Password protecting the site will prevent some of the problems wikis have with vandalism and will hold students accountable. It will also be useful with my bookclub. This year I plan to meet on a monthly basis but the wiki will keep us in touch as we read. We can share comments on books but it will also be a site for announcements. It should be an interesting year. Library 2.0, here I come!

Week Six - Thing # 15

Tonight I read about Library 2.0. This is basically a name for the library's emerging roll in web 2.0. In Away from the Icebergs Rick Anderson makes the point that libraries must move away from maintaining the "just in case" collection. I would argue that decreasing budgets made that a necessity before the web did. Reference material, which is now available online, makes more sense because it is cheaper, kept current more easily, and accessible by library patrons at their nearest computer (as long as they have the appropriate password.) Mr. Anderson also discusses that libraries have changed from a "come to us" monopolistic approach.
I also read Michael Stephens article Into a new World of Librarianship. In in he discusses the need for libraries to keep up with technology without pursuing technology for technology's sake. Librarians now need to build weblogs and wikis if they want to stay networked and current with the needs of today's patrons. John Reimer and Chip Nilges mention the need to add tagging to library collections.
I don't disagree with any of these gentlemen. Most of the librarians I know are trying to keep up with the technology and trying to take advantage of the web opportunities that are out there. But at the same time public schools, and probably private ones, battle with their districts over blocked sites. YouTube and blogs are great but not when you can't access them.This is challenging and exciting time to be a librarian. The way I see it, libraries have the best of both worlds - books AND technology.