Week 7: Wikis #16 Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them

Definition from week 16-
"A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content".

Library applications

• pathfinder
• subject guide (e.g. St. Joseph County PL - Antiques & Collectibles) - How wonderfully complete. It is so clean & simple, yet comprehensive. I wonder how they divided the developmental work...one person...two people...all staff?) MEDIAWIKI
• book review (e.g. Princeton PL - Book Lovers Wiki) - Nicely formatted, like the link to write a review. Question - no posts since 2006? Why not? PBWIKI
• conference posts - Great interactive way to share posts, get people to learn about how to use a wiki. Thought - once the event is over...should there be some closure to the creation? My point is that often these things are created with great enthusiasm in anticipation for the event and then left floating...adrift... I'm guessing it's a "labor/time" thing and we all experience this type of crunch. Is follow-up just as vital as initiation?
• best practices - Policies and Procedures (e.g. Albany PL) - Great way to share/collaborate an typically internal document PBWIKI
• best practices - this Westwood Schools wiki beside being the home base for course information...also evolved into a "ning" called The Horizon Project to connect, communicate, collaborate Question...how did you design your project? around what theme? How did you find your social network participants? Another answered question to Who can join this space? If you're not a student of Mrs. Davis, please do not ask to join, although this space is publicly viewable it is only editable by the teacher and students at Westwood Schools.** Shouldn't this ease the concern many at our schools worry about posting to "the big world"? WIKISPACES
• This quote is taken from the header to Mr. Miller's "English 10 classroom blog

"We read, we think, we discuss... we post.

• So COOL! Questions...can your students access this from school? What was it that helped you to create this...a personal interest in emerging technology, a graduate course, etc... Do you mind having your course info posted for the world to see? Any challenges with either you or your students posting? It seems to me as if you have taken theory and put it into practice. Any "learned the hard way tips" to share? How much time to develop/maintain? I would love to sit down and have a conversation with you. I may just email... WIKISPACES

Final thoughts...great links showing the varied uses of wikis...I like some layouts better than others. I'll have to go back and check if it's the hosting site or simply the use of the tools. It still jumps out at me when something doesn't show an update in a two year span. I have a few blogs floating out there that I developed for various graduate courses that are just languishing too. Who houses these orphans? Should I clean them up? Can I? Another thing to check into.

FOLLOW-UP - blogs can be deleted under settings...and I think I like media wiki best, then wikispaces and finally pbwiki...

Week 6 follow-up...

Hello world!
I just checked my Technorati site where I've claimed my blog.
My rank is 4,580,432 and has no authority or fans...YET...

After searching Technorati for School Library 2.0, this link jumped out at me from page 16!!
Here we go Off the shelf librarian...I hope this give you the bitty jump start you need to get recognized in that big blog world out there...

http://offtheshelflibrarian.blogspot.com/

All the way from Texas? What a small world after all,
jane

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati #15 Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries

#15 asks us to write about our perspective regarding web 2.0 and its impact on our services.

The following quotes are taken from Web 2.0 Where will it take libraries? and written by Michael Stephens for a page entitled...Into a new world of librarianship.

"This librarian bases all planning and proposals for services, materials and outreach on user needs and wants". I might also add user preferred formats. For those of us targeting young adults...we need to learn both with and from them. Challenging...yes, but professionally necessary and often rewarding too.

"This librarian recognizes how services might be enhanced by the Read/Write web and how new services might be born in a climate of collaboration".
Someone replied to me from Texas...Texas. Here I am sitting in Lancaster, PA and get to hear what someone thinks half way across the United States! It still amazes me how easy and seamless this technology lets us interact with the WORLD!

"This librarian creates and nurtures a living, breathing technology plan".
Sticky...safety and expense are two hot topics when planning for technology integration. I'm all for purposeful purchases...team brainstorming/team vision/team commitment...ALL stakeholders. Sometimes, I believe we get too hung up on what might happen...we need to open Web 2.0 opportunities to communicate from school.

"This librarian recognizes how quickly the world and library users change with advancing technology".

I often felt overwhelmed that I would not be able to keep up with what's out there...until I finally accepted that I can't stay ahead of it. But, I can stay with it. Open confidence, open mind. What is truly important in not that I can teach each new technology innovation, but rather teach my students how to think...how to problem-solve...how to be comfortable with innovation. These skills will translate into any world yet to be.

"This librarian reads outside the profession and watches for the impact of technology on users and new thinking on business, because it is, in fact, related".

It's what we are preparing our students for... It's what will be expected...

"This librarian understands that the future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content".

As librarians, we should all be part of this forward flow. It' always been part of our nature...what we thrive on...

Finally, what does Library 2.0 mean to me...

Well, really it's just a stop along the way. It will be amazing to be a part of what's going on in 5 years from now...imagine...

jane

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati #14 Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts

Earlier in the week I did the search for "School Library Learning 2.0”. I found a few links to folks who took this class!

I'm not particularly surprised to find the popular choices revolve around technology, politics, and current culture. This new realm really does bring "voice" to your fingertips. As they state in their "about us" page...it's about what's happening now.

I may be a bit slow on the uptake with this one...and may have even "realized" this earlier, but Technorati is like a melting pot for interests and ideas. It's a technological innovation that as it "crawls" through the vast web creates linked connections based on language (tagging choices). Getting Technorati to notice you is one of the purposes of week 6.

Whoa! I've just claimed ownership of my blog! Go School Library 2.0...let's get those favorites numbers up!!

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati #13 Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)

Another adventure...

I helps me to define the things I look at, so here's what I found at the Technorati site:

"Technorati is the recognized authority on what's happening on the World Live Web, right now. The Live Web is the dynamic and always-updating portion of the Web. We search, surface, and organize blogs and the other forms of independent, user-generated content (photos, videos, voting, etc.) increasingly referred to as “citizen media". We rapidly index tens of thousands of updates every hour..."

So from a tagging perspective, technorati is a melting pot of sorts.

As for Library Thing...again individually selected tags that make sense to the contributor...rather than following a standard method as in more traditional settings. I guess what is fabulous about this is at least it does organize the wealth of data linked/accessible via the web. Not for the purist mind you, but definitely functional. Onward...

I just recently started a del.icio.us site. It's a life-saver. For so long I've stumbled through trying to keep track of the various sites that cross my path on a regular basis. It's overwhelming. I had to give up a bit worrying that I was "tagging" things well. The bottom line is that it needs to make sense to me...it needs to reflect the content in a way that will make it accessible in the future when I need it.

I could see this tool being used by anyone doing research over a period of time...personal or academic. It's a way to make some sense out of the chaos. Libraries can use this to make their web presence unique to their patrons. I could see it developed into a reflection of the community interests. Lots of potential for this one.

Week 5: Play Week #12 Roll your own search tool with Rollyo

The final portion of week 5 deals with a online tool called Rollyo. Rollyo lets you "create your own personal search engines" by "picking the sites you want to search. There are options to search "searchrolls" developed by others interested in whatever topic you select. I don't lnow that I have my arms wrapped around this yet, but my instinct tells me as time goes on, this may be a valuable tool in a library setting.

So often our searches revolve around either topics of curricular importance or of personal interest to our students. I could see searchrolls developed around the content that naturally happens in our libraries.

My first searchroll creation is centered around the PA Young Reader's Choice YA authors. I'm not sure how I will use this yet...but at least the framework is in place. I'll add the link tomorrow.

FOLLOW-UP - I've been back into Rollyo and so far have not found the path to add the link to my blog. The directions say "Add your searchroll to your blog using the "Create a Searchbox" tool.Select...Reference. Search The Web". I get so far, but don't know what code to copy or how to migrate what I need here. Anyone else having the same trouble?
jane

Week 5: Play Week #11 Join a Ning network & play Traveler IQ

Well, I'm member #1841 of TeacherLibrarian Network!
I've joined two groups - YA Lit in School Libraries and High School Teacher Librarians.
I think I will add these via RSS to my Google Reader...I need someplace to manage my library subscriptions. This makes sense to me...but any practical advice on how to manage/navigate in this "new web 2.0 world" would be appreciated.

And this is just plain fun...
Traveler IQ Challenge
I always have students who want to play in the MC.
I think I'll recommend this!
jane

Week 5: Play Week #11 Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list

Wow! The assessment of the various Web 2.0 tools was right-on...

"With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you

(like Books or Personal Organization) and then select a tool/site to explore"...

I looked at a few. Under Books LuLu has potential in our school setting for our budding authors. The Demo is well done and easy to understand what the product has to offer. It seems as if you can use the service for free to upload your creative work. One thing that I would want to be more comfortable with before I'd recommend this as an educator in a high school setting is copyright. Are any rights transferred? I would want to be clear on this issue. Maybe the best way to understand would be to pilot a project. I truly like the concept though. We've had students who self publish...so this may be a great opportunity for them.

Under Organization, I really like Zoho. It took me a few minutes to find out what a CRM is...CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. Three users can access the product for free. The web site states...

"Zoho CRM Free Edition is the starting point for Zoho's full-featured on-demand CRM services. Ideal for entrepreneurs, consultants, and small businesses who need an immediate solution for day-to-day organization management. Free Edition is a no cost investment with big returns to help you better track prospects, contacts, accounts, business opportunities and inventory control".

From this perspective, this might be a valuable tool for our business classes to use. Possibly they could find a way to incorporate this into instruction. My instinct is that students who plan to go into business will often find their work environment online. Talk about practical experience...

What attracted me to Zoho first was the online meeting option for web-conferencing, then Zoho writer, sheet, note-book, planner, chat...really a one-stop shop...VERY comprehensive. A district could choose to use this for their communication bundle. I'm sure the issue of security would be of concern. I'd be interested to hear a computer network/technician's perspective on the idea. I'll have to ask.

What I think is especially useful about this type of exercise is the exposure to potential. For me applications need to be practical. Sometimes it isn't obvious on first glance how a product might best fit. Experience has taught me that storing these ideas and keeping up-to-date (as much as you can with these types of tools) can lend itself to opportunities not quite yet imagined. Truly...the web 2.0 sky is the limit.

jane

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

These two were found on the Image Chef site...banners and stickies...
Both fun and easy to use.
http://www.imagechef.com

I'm thinking about purpose for this one...
Hmmm...how about using these tools to add pizazz to the posts...always happy for aha's as they happen!

Another tool not mentioned in our list that I've used with great amusement is Blabberize . http://blabberize.com/
You upload a picture, place a "movable mouth" over your image and record.
We used this as an invitation for our students to attend an after school event involving Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Illych.
Tolstoy did all the talking! Definitely more interesting than me saying it...

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

Our library is undergoing some renovations this summer. I'm thinking of inviting this little guy to help with the re-shelving...

I found this in Comic Strip Generator. This seems like a fun way to develop web presence.

One thing that keeps crossing my mind is copyright. Do sites like this have permission to use Disney images?

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders - #9 Locate a few useful School Library related blogs and/or news feeds

Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use. etc...?

Feedster - wouldn't open

Topix.net was cool since it opened with news from Allentown, PA - my old hometown. I wonder how it knew that already? Wait, can it read my mind?

Syndic8.com and Technorati - to be honest give me twitches. The hardest part is to know when to stop. Searching can easily become overwhelming if you are not focused on a particular purpose. I feel claustrowebphobic. Aargh, no more...let me out.

Ok, here's the sane response. Should I need to find something specific, I'd probably check Technorati. It seems to be well respected. BUT, after viewing the video tutorial linked...do folks add their own blogs with related tags? It seems a little self-serving, but who am I to judge.

Better yet, I probably would use the Google Blog search option. It seems like Google has ALL the bases covered doesn't it? Should I worry about that? Will Google be involved in everything I do? They may not be too interested in "little ole' me", but it makes them pretty powerful...

I really like Blog Pulse too. How interesting to be able to track the travels of an interesting post.

Finally, what was exceptional this time...http://edublogawards.com/
This is one place I'd like to spend a bit of time browsing. These folks truly are the best of the best. Have to save this for later though...

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders - #8 Learn about RSS feeds and set up your own Bloglines newsreader account.

This week's discovery exercises focus on RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
I've had a Bloglines account for almost a year now. I cannot imagine how much time it would take to visit each of the sites for updates.
You really can't beat the convenience of this web innovation.
The Blogline account consists of some feeds from my old hometown newspaper, a google search feed created to push any web results for information literacy, a literary agent feed, School Library Journal feed, Joyce Valenza feed, Jim Gates feed, etc...

The initial question didn't ask what I don't particularly like...it's not so much a dislike really, but more reality observation.
Depending on how often you are able to visit your account, the posts can rack up tremendously. I try to check at least once a day just to keep it fluid, but let a week go by and skimming your lists can become quite a task.

For this exercise, I created a (new) Google Reader account and used the keyword option to locate feeds related to information literacy. I added several feeds including "Information Literacy meets Library 2.0, EDUCAUSE, AASL Blog, Library Webhead, some Big6 stuff...

Since I recently created an iGoogle page, I added the Reader.
I may be a bit biased at the moment, but I like the layout of the Bloglines account better. The page layout and organization of the content makes sense to me. Maybe it's a comfort level since I have more experience with Bloglines, but Bloglines seems to better fit my instincts.
It isn't difficult to figure "how to do" the Google stuff, but I don't really feel a mental connection to their design options/features. It seems busy to me. (Ha-Google busy!)
Not just Reader, but across the Google board. I also could not get the manage subscriptions in Reader to work today...frustrating...
I'll have to let it digest for a while. Maybe it will grow on me.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
As for personal, keeping in touch with the highlighted news from back home is comforting. If it wasn't this easy, I probably wouldn't visit (virtually) as often.
As for school...rolling it out to classroom teachers would be a step in the right direction. Current events, content specific sites, personal or professional interest...let's face it...it's all out there. Once the accounts are created and some feeds added...hopefully the time thing will work in their favor.

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
I haven't thought through this too much yet, but if you were trying to make your library web site a desired stop for your patrons...I wonder if you couldn't include a link to your feed(s). Information about events or initiatives could be shared. This one will require a bit more time.

Lastly...Google Gears...
I like the idea of being able to manage reading your feeds offline. The person in the example has the right scenario commuting on a train. I decided not to enable Google Gears to my Reader account yet. The "agree to" stuff was LONG. Someone spent a great deal of time on this. I appreciate knowing the option exists, but it doesn't fit my purpose as well...yet, anyway.