No More Things (for now)

The 25 Things experience was an excellent way to create awareness of some of the Web 2.0 technologies currently available. I liked the collaborative projects and mashups on Flickr, browsing around YouTube, following a few people on Twitter, and having fun with image generators. I was surprised by how easy it was to create a blog, and I will probably go back to investigate Delicious in greater depth. I would definitely be interested in another similar program in the future.

NetLibrary

NetLibrary wasn't as interesting as many of the other “Things” we’ve explored, because I'm already familiar with it, and I can't get excited about audio books. I understand their popularity, and the public loves the opportunity to download titles, but I still prefer reading books to listening to them. Because I don’t have a portable device to listen on, and I’m unlikely to listen to a book at my computer, downloadable audio doesn't hold much appeal for me. The possibilities for reading books on devices like the Kindle or Sony Reader interest me far more, but for now regular paper is fine.

Podcasts

I’ve enjoyed the Common Craft podcasts we’ve viewed throughout 25 Things. They were all short, clear, and easy to follow. I went to their website and discovered that all of their videos can be viewed there. When looking for helpful directories of podcasts, I found most of them disappointing, and cluttered with too much information. My favourite was Mediafly. http://mediafly.com/welcome It was clearly arranged by topic, without overloading each page. For Canadian content I liked Canada Podcasts. http://canadapodcasts.ca/

YouTube

I’d never paid much attention to YouTube, because enough videos turn up in e-mails or on websites I visit without having to search for more. I watched the library videos, and then began searching for music videos. I’m attaching two that I enjoyed. The first is Detroit ’67 by Sam Roberts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62YumTk349M
and the second is We Will Fall Together by Streetlight Manifesto. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YUtZ5y13o4

WPL Fun with 2.0

I added my blog to the Favourite Blogs page of the Fun with 2.0 Wiki, and then added links to a favourite restaurant, a favourite vacation spot, and a favourite website. It was all quite simple, and it would be a great way for a group to plan a project or event together

Wikis

I found the information on the creation of wikis interesting, especially the ease with which it can be done. I liked the idea of using them for small group collaboration, as we did for last year’s OLA summaries. I’ve never taken an overly critical view of Wikipedia. It’s not a place to go for serious research, but it’s excellent on topics not generally considered important enough for other reference sources. I experimented with searching for information on German style board games, which my children love. I looked up Reiner Knizia, the creator and designer of many enormously popular games. Wikipedia contained a lengthy article, including a complete list of his games and links to other sites. 360 Search led to three mentions and no real information, Grolier had nothing and Biography Reference Centre had nothing. Despite its limitations, Wikipedia is a useful source for a wide variety of information.

Web 2.0 and Libraries

Rick Anderson’s views in Away from the Icebergs are completely at odds with my own. He feels that library collections are a thing of the past, of little interest to current library users. Fortunately Michael Stephens takes a more balanced approach in Into a New World of Librarianship. He views technological change as positive, but not an end in itself. He talks about looking at the needs of users, building connections through Web 2.0 tools, avoiding “Techno-worship,” and looking for trends that might impact future services. Taking advantage of new technologies, but not letting these technologies set priorities, allows libraries to offer new services to the public, while retaining the best of their traditional role.

Technorati

I had already explored Technorati when looking for interesting RSS feeds, and I found it very easy to use. I enjoyed browsing through the blogging statistics to see which blogs and topics were rising and falling. It’s a good way to find blogs of interest I might never have discovered otherwise. Unfortunately it’s apparent that Technorati is in a transitional state, since the links to many of the blogs I tried didn’t work. I also had a look at the Twitterati section of the site, which links to tweets from high ranking bloggers. The whole process can become an endless loop, and I’m not obsessive enough to need that much information.

Social Bookmarking

Because I have been using Library Thing for quite a while, I'm familiar with tagging, but I had never really explored Delicious. Since I already have a Yahoo account, I was able to simply extend that to Delicious and then add the link to my browser. I played around with genre fiction and librarian bookmarks, starting with some of those I had already marked and looking for new ones by searching related tags. My search didn’t really lead to too much that was new, but it would definitely be helpful when looking for information on less familiar topics. I am more likely to use social bookmarking sites than RSS feeds, because I can determine exactly how much material I want to receive. I also like the idea of accessing my bookmarks from any computer.

Image generators

Image generators were a lot of fun. I created this library sign using http://cooltext.com/
Cool Text lets you choose from a variety of logo styles, both static and animated, and then customize the colours and effects.

I also thought this site was entertaining:
http://www.addletters.com/
It lists a variety of image generators, including a Warning Sign Generator and a Theater Sign Generator.

Library Thing

I’ve had a Library Thing account for a couple of years, and I’ve been cataloguing all of my books. Adding books is simple, and adding tags makes it easy to search your books by subject or type. Once you’ve catalogued a large number of books the tag clouds are fascinating. It’s also fun to look at the clouds of other readers. Checking out the collections of readers with books and tags you share also leads to new authors and titles to try. I’ve started a separate account for 25 Things and listed a few books that I’ve recently enjoyed from the library.

http://www.librarything.com/home/w2wolfe

Twitter

I joined Twitter last year, just prior to the OLA Conference, because I had signed up to attend a Twitter workshop. The workshop was cancelled, and I never went back to my Twitter page. I’m staying with that same account, but I’ve been exploring ways in which I might want to use it. I found some friends on Twitter and began following them, which led me to interesting groups that they were following. I joined a twibes librarian group, and I’m waiting to see what tweets result.

http://twitter.com/cawm

Finding Feeds

I’ve been exploring a variety of tools for finding news feeds, and some are much better than others. My favourite is Technorati. http://technorati.com/ I’ve visited this site in the past, but it has recently been redesigned to make it even more useful. It is well organized, easy to search, contains a frequently updated Top 100 list, and unlike so many of these tools, it won’t hurt your eyes.
In searching Library Weblogs http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html I didn’t find too much that was new, but I did enjoy What I Learned Today http://www.web2learning.net/, which has interesting discussions of Web 2.0 issues in libraries.

RSS Feeds

I set up a Bloglines account and subscribed to both WPL blogger feeds and outside feeds. RSS feeds are seen as a cure for information overload, but I worry about RSS overload. Having everything in one place may make it too easy to get swamped by interesting new information. I used to visit far more websites that I do now and subscribe to lots of listservs, but I've gradually narrowed these down to those that I find most valuable. By subscribing to a variety of feeds, I would be faced with way more information than I need. The one exception is technology feeds, because they contain useful news that I wouldn't necessarily discover on my own.

Technology

In many ways, I prefer learning about new technologies to actually using them. I like to be aware that they exist and how they work, but I don’t then suddenly feel a need to make use of most of them. I’m finding the 25 Things process interesting, and I enjoy each element as I discover it, but I’m not sure how many I will return to on my own. Since I’m still near the beginning of the process, I hope to encounter technologies that will stand out as so useful that I will incorporate them into my everyday experience.

Flickr Photo

Looking around Flickr, I found this picture by Rachel Turley, called Hotel at Sunrise. I've always enjoyed photographs of urban architecture, whereas rural settings don't really interest me. I tried to save the picture, but discovered that this was not allowed, so here is a link to it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_turley/4008812733/in/set-72157622579352058/

I like the use of colour, pattern, light and shadow. Using a variety of search terms, I was able to find lots of photos of houses, street scenes, highrise buildings and cityscapes.

Geometric Patterns

I was fascinated by this peach poster, created by combining 2500 individual photographs of circles within squares. This image is a Flickr collaborative poster, with 542 photographers contributing images.
At http://www.krazydad.com/squaredcircle/ it is possible to click on the poster and see each of the circles enlarged. At the same site there are links to a spyrographer and a kaleidoscope maker, as well as other tools for creating geometric patterns. The Flash Bestiary section is also wonderful.

71/2 Lifelong Learning Habits

I would think that a tutorial on lifelong learning should be narrated by someone able to pronounce the word learning. Everytime I heard the narrator say,"learnin'", I was pulled away from the content of the tutorial. Apart from that issue, the easiest challenge for me is to accept responsibility for my own learning. I enjoy exploring new subjects and new technologies, and I don't require instructions or directions before venturing into these areas. Viewing problems as challenges is somewhat more difficult. In theory, I think this concept has merit, but in practise, each new problem is more likely to be seen as additional stress, requiring additional time, rather than as a positive challenge. Overall, lifelong learning has always been a core value of libraries, and creating opportunities for library staff to acquire new skills is always valuable.