Slideshare

Boosting Creativity

I liked this slideshare power point well enough to post it to my blog. The problem with really great power points is that they are and should be bullets/shorthand for the discussion or "lecture" that goes with the slides.....so many great ideas and background info are missing from the slides I watched.  Unlike many others in Nebraska Learns, I did not find myself infatuated with all I saw.  I might return now and again just to see what was out there. Some of the Social Media predictions were quite the downers!!

Library 2.0

In each of the articles I read, one thing keeps jumping out at me; it is the idea that we have to change the SYSTEMS in order to make them as easy as possible for our users to interact with. We have to stop thinking of ourselves as being able to reach and teach all of our users - it just can't be done. Instead, we need to set things up so that our users can be successful when they interact and access information. That sounds like a great goal but, honestly, I need a lot more time, thought, advice and information in order for me to do this successfully at the elementary level. If anyone out there has any ideas, feel free to jump in.


And my early frustration with this reminds me of the view of the one librarian in these articles; that we would move from Library 1.0 where librarians were the keeper of information to Library 4.0 where LIBRARIANS would be in demand - at least those who could sift through and make easily understandable this vast world of new ever-changing information. Sounds like a good goal.

Delicious

Delicious was another site I had used during my summer class at Doane and while I liked it, I had not been back to it since June. I had forgotten how much fun it was as well as how useful it could be. I like the new look of the site and found it easier to use than it was this summer. It is one of the few places where I really enjoy the social aspect of the we.

The tagging is an awesome feature and I added the Holdrege Library bookmarks page to my network as it is outstanding. Each time I see the "clouds" of tags, I fall in love with them all over again and wonder why I don't use them more. I may find a way to add them to a page for my school.

Library Thing

Well, it's the end of a long week; my book fair went well considering the economy, but my brain is exhausted. Still I wanted to make sure I was caught up and so played on Library Thing. While I liked the access and easy ability to make lists, I don't know that I want to use it a lot. I have other tools that serve me almost as well.
I know I should try to put a widget on this page for it but for now I am just going to add the link: http://www.librarything.com/

Thoughts on Technology

Technology: I can't live without it, yet I feel like I am running to stay up on it. I realize I have been a computer user for 15 years - where does the time go?  I thought I was really on top of things and I still do many things well. But I have to say, the WEB 2.0 stuff has really been an uphill curve. It is a different mindset. My life already seems full and as to this new social aspect of the web, well, I can barely keep up.  

I do love it, though. My son and I just practiced using the google chats as we talked with each other on our cell phones. We just tried out some new things and laughed as we went. I adore the features of Flickr and as I was talking with my son, I was busy uploading photos so I could make prints as a going away gift for a friend. My son was also trying to help me with the features of Facebook that I can't seem to get around.

Upon reflection, I know I am pretty good at these things; there is just so much to do and so little time!!  I want to know how everyone else keeps up!!

I really thinkSunday evening is NOT a good time to blog. This is 2 Sundays in a row that I feel tired and frustrated....by tomorrow, I will be rejuvenated and ready to try new things.

I LOVE this week of just catching up. I am looking forward to retrying some of the activities we have done the last few weeks.

FlickR

I have been on Flickr once or twice before and find that I have to set a timer in order not to lose an entire evening just looking at photos. I found a neat one today at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnson7/3009885557/: I am trying to upload it now. 

Okay, I give up: I tried the automatic upload a few times and that failed so I went with the tried and true download to my desktop and upload from there.

Anyway....I loved the contrast of the flaming leaf and snow.  The weather turned so cold and grey today that I needed the reminder of how beautfiul winter can be.

Back to the subject of FlickR, I am not sure I want to upload all my photos to a site, but I realize I should add tags to my photos in iPhoto and on our home computer.

While taking the FlickR tour, I found that it was connected to Picnik...my students have LOVED that site and I have a lot of fun with it, too. 

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

Sometimes sequels don't live up to the original book but this is NOT the case. In just a few pages, i was plunged back into the timeless world of the Penderwick sisters and their everyday exploits that the author makes seems so lively. This time, the girls' father is being pushed to enter the world of dating and they want to foil any chance of having a stepmother. While somewhat predictable (at least to an adult), the book is charming, entertaining and a great way to while away a few hours. The kids in my media center will love it!

Google's Instant Messaging

I realize I forgot to add my comments about Instant messaging; I liked the Google widget for this; it was much clearer to me than the old AOL messenger account that I once had. I loved that you could see that the other people were typing so you could just sit and wait. I have to admit though that I am impatient; I would much prefer to call someone on the phone rather than IM. The idea of using it for reference questions and customer service functions is fantastic though. In my media center tho??? No, not yet

RSS feeds

Wow, I am exhausted after looking at RSS feeds and trying to add them to my blogline accounts. I don't know why I found this so difficult. This summer I had a taste of this with Google and I think there is an easier way to do it than what I was trying this evening. I will try again tomorrow but feel so overwhelmed by it. Maybe it just needs to sink in.

Twenty three things

I have let too much time go between the first time I set this up and now so I thought it was best to start again. One of my goals for this class is to have a better understanding of RSS feeds and how to use them. My ipod is not the center of my life and I think if I knew more about the feeds, I would be a better user of them and my ipod.

Starting now

This is certainly a stab in the dark. Who knows what this will look like when it is posted. I wonder how others are doing. I think kids might have a much easier time plunging into this than a non-native of the digital land.