PODCASTS

I looked at both Podcastalley and Odeo. After choosing Odeo I did a search for a podcast related to Ireland, since I am planning a trip to Ireland and Scotland in August. Irish Fireside with 71 episodes appealed to me. After previewing the titles of all the episodes and listening to some of the first episode, I chose this podcast to add to my Bloglines account. I think it will be useful in providing me with some background and information related to Ireland.

Here is a link to my Bloglines account.

http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs

I found this to be an interesting exercise...it gave me a better understanding of podcasts, which could be useful to others who may also be looking for material related to travel and future trips/vacations. Now I will check out the beginner's guide to podcasts recommended as optional resources.

YOU TUBE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ1jIcJVu_4

I love to travel. This video brought back memories of my trip to Scandanavia last summer. The scenery is beautiful and the music is so peaceful and soothing. This one has a 5 star rating. Great job! I spent some time looking at other videos on YouTube. Some are worthwhile, like this one, and others are not worth the time it takes to view them. Libraries might use YouTube to broadcast virtual tours of their facilities and/or special events that have taken place to encourage users to visit. Possibly a video might be placed on the library's home page.

SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS

Social networking seems to be a new way for libraries to connect with all of their users. Teens are already familiar with MySpace and Facebook, so this might encourage them to connect with their libraries and become more involved. Microblogging is more topical than traditional blogging and is used to send brief text messages. Let's just hope that the "one on one, face to face" form of communication doesn't fade away.

DISCOVERING WEB 2.0 TOOLS

Wow! What a plethora of information! I clicked on the link to the shortlist and chose the topic FOOD. Not only can you find recipes but you also have videos to view...just like watching those cooking shows on TV...only you can view them when needed. I especially enjoyed some of the recipes for Christmas favorites. This could be useful in a library setting when someone is looking for some new and different recipes without perusing a cookbook. This is making me hungry!

WEB-BASED APPS

I created an account in Zoho Writer and explored the site. It would be a useful tool for writers to create and share documents over the internet. It's amazing to think that several users could collaborate and edit the same file.

PLAYING AROUND WITH PBWIKI

I was able to create an account and added my blog to the Favorite blogs page. Instructions were quite easy to follow. Then I added a favorite book and a favorite movie. This activity provided good practice.

WIKIS

I have heard of wikis before, but wasn't sure what they were. Today I discovered that wiki means "quick" in Hawaiian. After looking at some library wikis I can see that wikis give quick results when searching for information on a particular topic. SJCPL Subject Guides was fascinating. I was able to do some searching on 2 topics I have a passion for...travel and knitting. This type of wiki could certainly help library users "quickly" find the information they need.

LIBRARY 2.0

I found the article on Library 2.0 in Library Journal 9/1/2006 most interesting. Information in the article explains the new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. Library 2.0 is a new model for library services and an extension of Web 2.0. I agree that the model for each library system will be different and every library has a different starting point.

TECHNORATI

In Technorati a general search for "Library 2.0" comes up with 1,117 results with ANY AUTHORITY, 973 results with LITTLE AUTHORITY, 420 results with SOME AUTHORITY, and 219 results with A LOT OF AUTHORITY. I found the same results when I searched in Blog posts, tags, and the Blog Directory. It seems that you can use any of these to end up with the same results. It definitely shows that with more authority the results will be less and with less authority the results will be more. That makes sense to me!

DELICIOUS

I checked out DELICIOUS (a popular social bookmarking site) using the account that was made for this exercise and clicked on some of the bookmarks and tags. Using some of the resources available I now have a better understanding of Web 2.0. I believe that DELICIOUS could prove to be a valuable tool for assisting with research.

LIBRARY THING

Today I took a tour of Library Thing and created an account, which was quite easy to do. This is a great way to keep track of books you're reading or books to be read. I was so into this, that I actually added 6 books. It was enjoyable to read some of the reviews done by others who have read the same books.

Here's my link to my Library Thing catalog.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/barbiedoll

I LOVE NEW YORK

Radio City...great Christmas show! I saw it in November and loved it. I love NYC, especially during the holidays.

http://xerox.alphapicture.de/motivpopup.php?show=1&m=297&a=1&lang=0&kat=0&charset=0&extern=1

BLOGLINES SEARCH TOOL

I tried Bloglines Search tool to tap into TV guide RSS feeds for movies & top 50 TV shows. I found it to be easy to use and helpful if you are interested in the latest news about movies and favorite TV shows.

BLOGLINES

I now have my Bloglines account set up with 11 feeds including local & national news feeds, columnists, as well as library related feeds. Keeping up to date on all these feeds may prove to be a challenge.

Here is a link to my Bloglines account.

http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs

TECHNOLOGY

I enjoy learning about all the latest technology. The "23things" project has introduced me to "new things" that I did not know existed. Although I enjoy learning about these "new things", I may not always get involved with everything that comes along.

MONTAGER

Creating a mosaic from photos on montager is cleverly done; however it took a long time to upload mosaic in order to view the first time. Second time the image came up immediately.

HERE IT IS!

Here is a photo I thought was very cute. "TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN WITH FLICKR".
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81124164@N00/1159997874

WOW!

Wow! That was an adventure! I learned about the RSS icon (usually orange) and discovered that many news websites have them on their home page. Simply click on it, then copy & paste the URL into your News Reader. Once entered you are subscribed to that website's RSS feed & will begin to receive updates immediately.

I DID IT!

I did it! Setting up my blog was fun and easier than I thought. I think the easiest habit for me is "Begin with the end in mind" because I tend to be goal-oriented...once I begin I must finish. The hardest habit for me is "View problems as challenges" because I like to get the job done with the least bit of difficulty.