Personally I don't find tagging that...innovative. Tagging is sort of every day. Take our library catalogs for example. They use tagging in their own way to create connects between books by the same author, and books with a similar subject.
Allowing users to tagg their own whatever it is your tagging is all well and good except that every little difference (like misspelling or capitalization) can create a new tag categories. So if one person types tomato and another person types Tomato than there is a disconnect. So in this way, user tagging is much less effective than when their is a set category list that is used to tag an item.
On the other hand, tagging does provide a much wider range of possibilities for users.
It is useful for entertainment purposes, or following one kind of news post, but over all, besides all our mucking about the Internet it don't seem like a powerful tool in the same way RSS feeds are.
-M
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Thing 10
So I skipped this one while I was working on things during down time at work because I had no images to play with.
I like this site Dumpr.net site where you can change a photo into a sketch! That's a picture from the wedding I was in a while ago!
And here is the avatar. I advocate strongly against these avatars. They are addictive! I spent way too much time picking out cloths. Give me my life back!
I like this site Dumpr.net site where you can change a photo into a sketch! That's a picture from the wedding I was in a while ago!
And here is the avatar. I advocate strongly against these avatars. They are addictive! I spent way too much time picking out cloths. Give me my life back!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Week Thing 12
I enjoy Rollyo quite a bit. The system is very easy to navigate and the search rolls are very very simple to do.
For those of us working the reference desk this could be a very powerful, time saving tool.
I'm interested in exploring if you could add your own rollyo search to firefox and the new I-explorer's feature which enables searching different sites from the top right of your browser. That would be even more useful on the desk.
-M
Friday, June 8, 2007
Week 5 Thing 11 Library Thing
This whole LibraryThing is addictive.
That's about all I've got to say about it really.
Except...this could be a good way to recommend to patrons who read many books and tend to lose track, to keep a list of the books they have read (as apposed to own). It would also work as a readers advisory tool for patrons that do use it as a reading log of sorts.
This might be a good resource to recommend to teens who love to read as well.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Lessa_Winters
That's about all I've got to say about it really.
Except...this could be a good way to recommend to patrons who read many books and tend to lose track, to keep a list of the books they have read (as apposed to own). It would also work as a readers advisory tool for patrons that do use it as a reading log of sorts.
This might be a good resource to recommend to teens who love to read as well.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Lessa_Winters
Week 4 Thing 9 searching for feeds
I found that blogglines.com had many good ways to search for feeds and that just poking around some of the sites I regularly visit provided me with more than enough feeds coming in. Personally I think that having too many feeds going into an organizer like bloglines would reduce it's usefulness for me and start to overload me with more information or news articles than I am interested in.
Searching for blogs was not that important to me.
Also, Google naturally has a search tool for finding blogs. I found this site much more easy to navigate than some of the other recommended sites like syndic8.com but that may just be because I am familiar with working with Google searches and I am used to how the format results etc.
So far I have found news feeds about actual news most useful to me but I have come across some useful links and information from library blogs as I use and check my news feeds.
Searching for blogs was not that important to me.
Also, Google naturally has a search tool for finding blogs. I found this site much more easy to navigate than some of the other recommended sites like syndic8.com but that may just be because I am familiar with working with Google searches and I am used to how the format results etc.
So far I have found news feeds about actual news most useful to me but I have come across some useful links and information from library blogs as I use and check my news feeds.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Week 4 Thing 8 Rss Feeds
Concerning RSS newsreaders, I kind of like the live bookmarks you can use with firefox better than bloglines. I mean you have to go to bloglines and sign in and all but with the live bookmarks on firefox you just go to your bookmarks, find the rss and the arrow shows you the new info.
Although I think I would like bloglines better for more text heavy feeds like news reports but for things that I just want to see what's new, the live bookmarks work better. And they don't disappear if your forget to check them(yes I could mess with the features I'm sure but with the live bookmarks I don't HAVE to).
http://www.bloglines.com/public/mithgarthrmeg
I win. That link was way too hard to find.
-M
Although I think I would like bloglines better for more text heavy feeds like news reports but for things that I just want to see what's new, the live bookmarks work better. And they don't disappear if your forget to check them(yes I could mess with the features I'm sure but with the live bookmarks I don't HAVE to).
http://www.bloglines.com/public/mithgarthrmeg
I win. That link was way too hard to find.
-M
Week 3 Thing 7 anything technology related
So since we have to think of something technology related I was thinking about how we could incorporate some of these little gems of technology with our current library system.
I was thinking that we could use a blog to post fun, informal staff book reviews on the web site. Staff members could take turns writing up a short synopsis and review of a book that they are reading for themselves that they enjoy. I was thinking that this would be interesting for patrons who are looking for something to read, and useful for other librarians who might be exposed to other writers or genras they are not familiar with or in which they have no personal interest. It could also be a fun way to personalize the staff to the public. One of the reasons we can often offer such great customer service to our regular patrons is because we have personal connections to them.
Or we could just create a blog for the reviews that are already being written for the paper ( If I remember from training Morgan was writing reviews for the whig?). This would require little extra effort for staff (Set up blog and integrate it w/ website, copy and past review) , but would make the website more technologically edgy.
It would also be interesting if we could find a way to inform patrons when we have gotten a new book in by the author they select or in a particular item type (large print, DVD, etc. ) (although we do have the new materials section). I know that at some websites you can request e-mail updates about a brand or news topic. I don't know what kind of technology is required for that or if you could somehow use an RSS feed to the same end but it would be an interesting service to offer patrons. (It will be less and less feasible to do this personal for our patrons as the system grows.
There I think I earned my gold star for that 'thing'.
-M
I was thinking that we could use a blog to post fun, informal staff book reviews on the web site. Staff members could take turns writing up a short synopsis and review of a book that they are reading for themselves that they enjoy. I was thinking that this would be interesting for patrons who are looking for something to read, and useful for other librarians who might be exposed to other writers or genras they are not familiar with or in which they have no personal interest. It could also be a fun way to personalize the staff to the public. One of the reasons we can often offer such great customer service to our regular patrons is because we have personal connections to them.
Or we could just create a blog for the reviews that are already being written for the paper ( If I remember from training Morgan was writing reviews for the whig?). This would require little extra effort for staff (Set up blog and integrate it w/ website, copy and past review) , but would make the website more technologically edgy.
It would also be interesting if we could find a way to inform patrons when we have gotten a new book in by the author they select or in a particular item type (large print, DVD, etc. ) (although we do have the new materials section). I know that at some websites you can request e-mail updates about a brand or news topic. I don't know what kind of technology is required for that or if you could somehow use an RSS feed to the same end but it would be an interesting service to offer patrons. (It will be less and less feasible to do this personal for our patrons as the system grows.
There I think I earned my gold star for that 'thing'.
-M
Friday, June 1, 2007
Week 3 Thing 6 Explor Flickr mashups
I found this image by using one of the flikcr services. With the retriever tool by system one labs you can draw a rough outline into a box and the program comes up with flickr images that match the color and shape. By drawing a blue circular swirl, I found this picture by Xip, from Dec. 22 2005. This particular add on to flickr is an addictive little tool that was a ton of fun to play with.
-M
Week 2 Thing 3 -Setting up your blog
I am very(x100) happy to see spell check on this.
The option to view and edit the HTML is also interesting but the few things I tried didn't work very well. Although I have to admit I am not a master coder of the HTML.
I also like the option to change fonts.
The auto save also seems like a very nice feature.
And now I have run out of things to say.
-M
The option to view and edit the HTML is also interesting but the few things I tried didn't work very well. Although I have to admit I am not a master coder of the HTML.
I also like the option to change fonts.
The auto save also seems like a very nice feature.
And now I have run out of things to say.
-M
Week 1 Thing 2 - Pointers from Life Long Learners
I would say the easiest of the 7 1/2 life long learning habbits for me is play. After all that is how I have learned most of what I know about computers. The real trick is to just sit down and give it a shot and see what you can figure out.
I am most challenged by viewing problems as learning opportunities. I mean, after I'm done with the problem I might think that, but not during the solving stage. Although that depends on the type of problem I suppose.
I also dislike setting goals. I like working with a vague idea and letting things develop as they may. Which is probably why I so intensely disliked that whole 'Learning Contract' business.
And I am sorry to whoever wrote the program...but that whole mono log about giving one's self one's signature is cheesy(in a bad way) and teetering on the line between the acceptable and motivational speaking (please read as a synonym for unacceptable). Can we just get on with the learning things?
-M
I am most challenged by viewing problems as learning opportunities. I mean, after I'm done with the problem I might think that, but not during the solving stage. Although that depends on the type of problem I suppose.
I also dislike setting goals. I like working with a vague idea and letting things develop as they may. Which is probably why I so intensely disliked that whole 'Learning Contract' business.
And I am sorry to whoever wrote the program...but that whole mono log about giving one's self one's signature is cheesy(in a bad way) and teetering on the line between the acceptable and motivational speaking (please read as a synonym for unacceptable). Can we just get on with the learning things?
-M
Week 1 Thing 1 - About This Program
I feel somewhat paranoid about this step.
I feel like I missed something...I mean all I did was read a couple pages on the site. I hope that was all I was supposed to do.
Does something like that merit -Thingmanship-? (I believe I just might trademark that word).
I also wonder about labeling those sound files as pod-casts. I was under the assumption that pod-casts were something that one subscribed to that were supposed to eventually end up on one's I-pod(hence the name). They are supposed to be like radio programs that are regularly published or newsletters that are periodically published. What we have on that site is...well it's a sound file on a web site.
-M
I feel like I missed something...I mean all I did was read a couple pages on the site. I hope that was all I was supposed to do.
Does something like that merit -Thingmanship-? (I believe I just might trademark that word).
I also wonder about labeling those sound files as pod-casts. I was under the assumption that pod-casts were something that one subscribed to that were supposed to eventually end up on one's I-pod(hence the name). They are supposed to be like radio programs that are regularly published or newsletters that are periodically published. What we have on that site is...well it's a sound file on a web site.
-M
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