23rd Thing

Yahoo!!! I am finished with 23 Things. Well not exactly I will keep my blog going and keep up with all the web 2.0 things I have learned both professionally and personally.
Survey Complete!!! It was simple and quick.

22nd Thing

Yessss! I have come a looong way. There are a lot of "Things" (Web 2.0) I have heard the students talk about and I had know idea what they were talking about. Now... I know. I agree we should keep up with all the "Things" we have read, explored and learned. I will keep my blog going. When I read my "1st Thing" again today I remembered the feeling of not being able to keep up or finishing these "Things" but, look at me now. I did it! This experience has taught me a lot: 1st - I am willing to try new things like blogs, text messaging, podcasting and facebook (I did and now I can), 2nd - I do like geeky things (webinars are in my future) and 3rd - I can create cool things (Flickr, Big Huge Labs).
I have enjoyed these"Things"! I am excited about all the Web 2.0 things I have learned and will learn with the help of NEFLIN, and http://www.webjunction.org/1 and other Web 2.0 courses.
Finally, I will ask myself "What did you learn Today, What will you learn Tomorrow and What did you learn Yesterday?"!

Thanks,
23 Things @ NEFLIN

21st Thing

I did like how the Assignment Calculator and Research Calculator timed the assignments so they wouldn't have to rush the assignments. When you are helping students with assignments, this is a great starting point for students so they won't expect for you to just finish the assignment for them. Each of the headings has a couple of resources that they can use like online and/or in-person help, Quick Studies, QuickStarts, Reference QuickStarts, and RefWorks. It's so much information when you use the assignment calculator. RPC and Teacher Guide to the RPC would be helpful to teachers as another resource. The media center could probably use this tool but I think it would be unlikely considering most of the time we can't work on assignments with the students due to the fact that we are too busy. I would make the time to help whenever possible. I will share these links with teachers and colleagues at my school.

20th Thing

I have observed that the students love the"Twilight" series and have begin to ask for other books that are similar to this series. So I looked at "Reading Trails" and I especially liked "What Should I Read Next?". We can now answer the question (What's similiar to the Twilight series" or whatever the title maybe) a little faster by looking at these sites instead of using our memory about books we have read in the past. Some of you might know what I'm talking about. All we need to do is type in the book titles and/or authors name and there it is...I also liked "BookBrowse" and "Tonight's Bedtime Story". I loved the illustrations on "Tonight's Bedtime Story". I do think these Book 2.0 tools will enhance the reading experience. I think all the features are necessary it depends on what your interests and needs are...

19th Thing

I was not a member of any online communities. I now belong to and enjoy my facebook community and mylife.com. I also participate in the ning in my school district set up by one of the districts media specialists. I have also joined Good Reads and TeacherLibrarian ning. I have enjoyed reading the postings. I think this ning will most likely be the one I visit and participate in...as for the ning platform I find it quite easy to navigate, set up and use.

18th Thing

First, I took the time to go back and read some of the other blogs and I noticed that quite a few had stopped blogging a while ago. Some people never made it to "Thing 2" I hope they will finish up later. I also took the time to add some other things to my blog and leave some comments.
Enough of that...

I must admit that I was very apprehensive about Facebook/My Space. I chose Facebook because I found out that I have family and friends who are already members. I like the fact that I decide who to let in...and who not to let in... Now...I can now say I don't know why I was apprehensive about this social network. I can connect with my friends and reconnect with my high school classmates that I have lost touch with to see what they have been up to lately. Hopefully I will find friends who have some of the same interests.
This site is blocked from use at my school.
Facebook here I come! http://www.facebook.com

17th Thing

I listened to Rock and Roll Librarian on Podcast Alley and Visibilty @ Your Library on Podcast.com. I think Podcast.com and Podcast Alley were easy to use and easy to navigate. I'm going to subscribe to Rock and Roll Librarian on Podcast Alley I really enjoyed listening to that particular podcast.

16th Thing

Oh! So much fun to watch. I enjoyed watching many of the videos on YouTube and google video. I liked the YouTube video "No Cookies in the Library". The video I chose was funny and I do love Sesame Street.
I do not like sharing personal information with others. So, I didn't register for these sites. I think that it would be a great resource for libraries to use for creating a commercial for new books, SSYRA books, tour of library, book reviews and create a video on the use of the Dewey Decimal System.

15th Thing

I don't know if our media center would have a use for this tool. Our school district already has a search tool that we use. I really didn't care for this site.
I did do a few searches on Travel and came with a few things I wasn't aware of but that was about it. I also searched homework like we were suppose too and narrowed it to crystals and it came up with a few interesting sites for students but nothing spectacular.

14th Thing

I chose igoogle as my start page. I was able to maneuver and add some things to make it my own. This site was very easy to navigate. It appealed to me because it was very user friendly. I checked out Remember the Milk and it would be the tool I would use for my personal needs. I can create lists, manage from anywhere, manage offline, and add things from igoogle which I like. Due to our school district web blocks we don't have access in the library. I could better prepare with the the calendar and set reminders for meetings and share with anyone. I think the to-da-lists would be helpful but I would use Remember the Milk at home instead. I did take a look at Backpack & 30 Boxes. But I thought 30 Boxes would be easy and useful. Overall I had fun with this "Thing".

13th Thing

Love It! LibraryThing is awesome. awesome to check your catalog on your cell phone to see if you have that book already. LibraryThing could be used on your cell phone or use one of our computer's to login to their account or place a widget on their blog, Facebbook, and/or My Space. I know I would use it to share with others as well as to see what others are reading. I added a LibraryThing widget on my blog and I love it. I like different genres so it would be a fantastic tool to use.

12th Thing

I just finishing reading and exploring about Wikis. It was very interesting. It's almost like IM. I tried to edit a wiki but I couldn't and so after several tries I gave up. I will try again.
I do understand wikis by thinking of Wikipedia, I can see how wikis can turn into something much bigger and beneficial as time goes by and content grows. I didn't like the fact that you could be registered or unregistered. I think, like all other websites, you should be registered or have an account at least where you can have your account suspended, privileges taken, or expelled from the website if you're using the wiki as a sick sense of humor or just plain mean.
I do think that wikis are relevant, helpful,in libraries, schools, or comunicating with others with the same interests. I like Book Lovers Wiki and you can pick the genres of your book reviews from fantasy to the classics. Wikis like this would be helpful to students as well as media specialists who just want a good book. Another good wiki idea would be "If you enjoyed reading this you would also like reading this". I joined Library Thing "Reading YA Literature" where I can find people with similar tastes in YA books.

10th Thing

I registered for a Delicious account and added some bookmarks that I frequently visit at work, as well as at home. I don't see my use for one because it would take me more time to go on the Delicious site, and then search for a desired website. It might be more useful to bookmark my school websites that I need for work. It would be easier for me to just save them to my favorites on Safari or Internet Explorer.
I do see where Delicious might benefit a library website or classroom websites. In addition, the library could add lots of different websites that our students would appreciate. I do like the website http://www.furl.net/.

11th Thing

I explored Digg, Reddit, Newsvine, and Mixx and they were pretty interesting. From there, you can find a plethora of different subjects of legitaimint websites if you are not sure. The students wouldn't benefit because they don't have access to social media due to the fact that our school district has Web Sense. I could use them at home for relevant content and news. I love Newsvine. They seem to be productive.
I read on Newsvine the story about the "Pentagon Lifts Ban on Coffins".

9th Thing

It could be used for a photography club, TV Production, SSYRA book covers on Power Point slides. I could personally use it for sharing photos with family and friends. These tools were fun, much like the other tools I have used so far. You could even upload the images in emails. Using the image generators was very easy making it a perfect tool to add something personable to any project. I will share this with others. I love FLICKr and Flicks as a sharing tool for photos and other creations.

8th Thing

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! I am not an active user when it comes to text messaging. I do IM with my best friend and we use AIM. I do e-mail though, all the time including work which is the communication tool of chose at my workplace. The media center use email because we definitely get our memos as long as we check them on a daily basis. Administration does not have to give us handouts or reminders which saves time and paper. I am enrolled in Web 2.0: Social Software Applications for Libraries web conference on February 25th. I will return later and let you know what I think of this tool.

7th Thing

I chose Big Huge Labs because I didn't get a chance to use it on Thing 6. I created a puzzle using a picture from our library. I think image and text generators can be used for book clubs, tech clubs, photography clubs, summer reading lists, Facebook, and My Space.

6th Thing

That was alot of fun. And yes ADDICTIVE!!! I used Spell with Flickr to create a word but I could not figure out why I couldn't get the image on to my blog. I tried using puzzles, but no such luck. I did not find accessible instructions on how to use. I checked out Flickr Color Pickr, but I didn't get into that one.
I can see our media center using these tools to create a cool website. I would use it to share photos with my family and friends. It was fun!

5th Thing

I did it... I created a Flickr account and posted a few photos on flickr. It was hard giving private information... it makes me queazy. I chose to make my photos public. They are from my trip to Washington, D.C. to witness the historical inauguration of President Barack Obama and a couple of pictures of the media center. Maybe I'll add some more to my page later to improve the look of my page. But for now I just wanted to show myself I could do it. The students in my school do not have access to flickr. Maybe I can discuss this site with the students to see who is already familiar with it and who is not.

4th Thing

I signed up with Bloglines. I was not sure if I was going to make it through this "Thing". At first, I found subscribing to feeds confusing. I manually entered all my URLs into my Bloglines account. I know it had to work another way but I'm not familiar with this yet. I'm probably missing something. Blogline's search tool allowed me to search for other feeds and add new ones I'd like to keep up with. I will add more. I liked google also. This is all new to me but I am enjoying every single "Thing" I am doing.

3rd Thing

I explored Technorati and the Sphere blog search, I found that while searching these blogs that featured information about the Twilight series, that the Technorati blog generated just 23 results and Sphere generated 2,150. So yes, I think the results are different in comparison. However, I was surprised that Technorati showed few results but it had more revelance. Maybe only a few bloggers are aware of Technorati and more are aware of Sphere personally I'm unsure of the reason. I know it's not because of the "Twilight Series" which is very popular. However, there were some interesting blogs on Technorati that I enjoyed.

2nd Thing

Wow! This is alot of information about Web 2.0. I was not sure if I was going to make it through it all. But, yes I did finish reading it all even some of the links. I found the time to read all that information and I'll find the time to complete the other 21 things...Some way---Some how! I actually have have a little time in the mornings and evenings that I will use for these learning projects. Mr. Stephen Abram did make some really good points about why we need to keep up with technology in a new world of libraries.
The next generation will be WEB REVOLUTIONARIES!!!

1st Thing

This is my first blog and let me tell you I am excited about the 23 new things that I am about to read, learn and explore. Check my blog later to see if I am still excited.