Is this really the end? (sob!) …or, just the beginning?

If I could change anything about Learn & Play it would be to go at a slower pace. As a part-time person (10 hours a week), I didn't have much time to adequately go through the steps and thoroughly learn all the features and web 2.0 tools. I would definitely participate in any other activities CML might offer.


I found rss feeds, Flickr, Podcasts, YouTube, and Google Documents to be very useful and plan to continue to use them in the future. Actually, all 23 things were very interesting.


I hope Learn & Play @ CML will remain online so that I may go back and revisit some of the "things" I didn't get a chance to completely investigate. I would like to review each thing I don't feel comfortable with and try to master them.

Podcasts

Podcasts can be a good thing. I examined Google Podcast Directory and Podcast Alley and found many podcasts I would not use. Vegan Freak Radio and Nobody Likes Onions are two of the podcasts I examined. Vegan Freak Radio was just chit-chat and nothing with substance and Nobody Likes Onions was offensive. These two were on Podcast Alley's top podcast list. I enjoyed Coffee Break Spanish and would recommend it and use it. I also like NPR's Grammar Grater. Here are the links for the two I will use.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/coffeebreakspanish

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510272

MOLDI

I like the concept of an online library. I looked through the collection and found a few books I would like to listen to or view online. There were a few books that didn't have the complete series. The first of a series is usually the best. The books I found that did have the first of the series, didn't have many of the others in the series.

I was surprised to see that there were books about Microsoft Office 2007. It's always nice to see that we are current with the nonfiction.

There were a lot of older movies listed. Most people are not interested. Fortunately I am a person who likes old movies. Dinosaurus! is a movie I watched as a little girl. That is a movie I will try to download.

You too can YouTube!

YouTube is a tool that I like. Individuals, companies, anyone and everyone seems to post their videos on YouTube. No matter the topic, there should be a clip on YouTube about it. The entire Barack Obama interview from 60 Minutes is on YouTube. Any type of instructional, educational, funny, or embarassing video can be found there.
I have chosen an instructional video on installing a retaining wall. This is a task I must do and I will review the video several times before Spring and then make an attempt at building the wall.

Explore CML’s own Tool Box of great Web 2.0 tools

I elected to explore Gmail and some of the features I have never used. I am amazed at the search capabilities in Gmail. I performed a search using two keywords and it searched back to 2006 with emails related to the subject.

I don't normally chat on the Internet, so I won't have a reason to use Google Talk. It does amaze me as to how much space I am allocated and I have been using Gmail since it first began.

Discovering Web 2.0 tools

There are so many web tools out there, it is difficult to pick ones to consider my favorites. Many of them, I chose not to try because they require a login and a password. I still feel uncomfortable putting my information on the Internet. I thought I would like to try MyHeritage.com, Shoeboxed, Hordit, ClutterMe, and Scrumy; but, many of them require my information.

I found one sight I truly like. It is called iSpeech. iSpeech converts text to audio. I tried it and it seems to work perfectly. One thing I noticed on their sight is that they included a blog that has the audio of whatever is typed playing in the background. I can see a use for that if you have an really great blog and a lot of people want audio available while traveling or exercising. The web link for iSpeech is: http://www.ispeech.org/. Try it, it's great fun and another of my favorite things.

Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations -- OH MY!

Similar to wikis, I believe Google Documents is a very worthwile tool. You can work with people from different branches and everyone will be on the same page (document). There is no confusion about which is the latest document and each document can be accessed from any where. I have a full-time job with another company and the individuals I work with are located in Seattle. As you may know this will be a tremendous benefit to me when collaborating on projects. I also created a document and then saved it as a PDF.

Playing Around With Wikis

Wikis can be a very important tool in libraries. I saw different ways some libraries are using wikis, such as book discussions, community events, etc... I believe they could also be used by committees. Time spent scheduling meetings would be reduced by posting the information on a wiki and having committee members input their information as they had time.

Wikis

I can see many uses for Wikis. The two I use on a regular basis are Wikipedia and WikiHow. Most people know about Wikipedia, however, I'm not sure if most know about WikiHow. WikiHow instructs you on how to do just about anything and everything. You can learn to lay brick or knit a plastic bag made of plastic grocery bags. There are even instructions on how to cut the bags to prepare them for knitting. Here is the link for preparing the bags for knitting or crocheting http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-Plastic-Bags-for-Knitting-or-Crochet and the link to actually knit the bag. http://www.wikihow.com/Knit-a-Bag-from-Plastic-Bags

Some of the instructions even include a video to assist you.

As far as libraries are concerned, I noticed using wikis were great for book discussions, current events, community activities, etc... I am interested in wikis and will create one some day.

Library 2.0

Library 2.0 does not come as a surprise to me. I have always believed that the focus should be on the user and how we can enhance the library experience for them. It is surprising how many useful tools we have access to that greatly improves the quality of service provided to the customer. By using services like blogs, flickr, wikis, etc., the number of customers is not limited to those in our locale. We can easily serve users in California or another country.


Library 2.0 is just the beginning of many new possibilities.

Del.icio.us

I can't believe how many useful websites I have found since I have started using Del.icio.us. This is definitely one of my favorite things. I am amazed at the number of educational websites that provide free information.

I had decided I wanted to reacquaint with the French language and found plenty of sites that I can use. Shorthand is another skill I have not used in years and I will pick that up as well.

The beauty of this is that when I am visiting my parents and am bored, I can simply go on the Internet and access those sites. I don't have to take my computer with me.

Explore Twitter

Twitter, what can I say? I don't think it will be a favorite. I am not the type of person to call someone to see what they are doing. I have never liked idle chit chat. I now have an account and sent a tweet. I will have to continue to investigate Twitter to see how I can best use it.

Once I began following CML's Twitter, I can now see a use for it. I saw the blurb about how read2akid resolved a problem by Tweeting to someone. I have reconsidered and will attempt to use Twitter. I hear it is addictive.

LibraryThing

What a great tool! I plan to add all of my books to LibraryThing. I have a book that is out-of-print and hard to find and I could not find it on LibraryThing. I will have to create a record for it. I like a lot of non-fiction and am hoping there will be others who share my interests.

I only have a few book cataloged, but, here's my link.



http://www.librarything.com/catalog/JessEd68

Image Generators

I selected Photofunia as my image generator because it seems to the easiest to use. I happened to have my camera here, too my picture, transfered it to my folder and converted it using Photofunia.
I can see many uses for this generator.

Below is my attempt to use Webfetti.com. BOOtylicious has nothing to do with me, but it is close to Halloween and BOOtylicious is a ghost.

Finding Feeds with Search Tools

I tried using Technorati, Topix.net, and Syndic8.com and did not like using any of them. If I had to choose, I would pick Topix.net. In my opinion, it was the easiest to use. My true preference is to go to my favorite sites and look for the RSS feed symbol. I also liked using Bloglines' Top 1000 to find RSS Feeds.

Finding Feeds

I found using Bloglines was a bit confusing. Once I started and successfully added my first feed, it was no problem. I began adding feeds that interest me and I also have added the required feeds. Since I have learned about RSS feeds, I am seeing them on web sites everywhere. There are even feeds on ProQuest!

It can be very useful in that you don't have to weed through the entire web site looking for the section you want. You avoid having to click on multiple screens on a site. You simply click and it takes you directly to the page you want.

I made Bloglines public to share with anyone who cares. Here is the link:

http://www.bloglines.com/public/Things-of-Interest

It is fast becoming a item that interests me.

RSS Feeds

My experience with RSS feeds was interesting. It took me a while to get used to it and its capabilities. I found a few feeds I know will interest me and added a few of the required feeds.



My Flickr feed is from the National Media Museum and it has many interesting pictures.



I can see this as a means for tracking the latest information on a topic. It can easily be used in reserch and can be aA very useful tool in library science.

Computer Technology

I am amazed how far computer technology has progressed in the last 30 to 40 years.


My first experience with computers was as a student employee at Ohio State's Health Sciences Library. In 1970 all library employees attended an instructional workshop to learn to use the new Library Circulation System (LCS). I remember in order to do an author/title search, you had to key in the first four letters of the author's last name and the first five letters of the first significant word in the title. There were many rules simply to perform a single query. But that was high living back then.


My first computer was an IBM PCjr. and it had 128K RAM and you made use of floppy disks. Here is a link listing its specifications http://www.brutman.com/PCjr/pcjr_hardware.html. The PCjr is also celebrating its 25th anniversary. It was amazing how much you could do with 128K. I eventually purchased my new computer which was 640K. How did I manage with only 128K-- will the wonders of modern science never cease.


Now you can get computers with 320GB hard drives and even higher. You can store your family photos, movies, music, etc... all on one computer and still have room for other things. If you use all of your space, you can upgrade or purchase an external hard drive. (I just saw an external hard drive with 1 terabyte (equals 1,000 GBs) hard drive and it was not terribly expensive.) You can even store certain items on someone else's computer. It truly is amazing how far we have advanced.

Swim

Swim
Originally uploaded by QsySue

Swim is my attempt to use Color Pickr through Flickr. I chose this color of green because it matches my background on my blog.

My 1987 Buick Grand National

I fell in love with the Buick Regal in the late 1970s. I purchased my first brand new Regal in 1981. One day I was watching Motorweek on PBS and they were reviewing the Regal Grand National. They said that it was the last year (1987) they were going to make the GN so I ordered one that October and received it April 30, 1987.

Today September 4, 2008, my 87GN has 58,000 miles on it. I put more mileage than I anticipated, but you can't help it -- you just want to drive it!

This is another of my favorite things.

Drop a Raspberry

Drop a Raspberry
Originally uploaded by inutopia

This image was uploaded to Flickr on my birthday. I liked it so I am adding it to this post. Inutopia the creator of this image said the following: "I'm proud to say no Phogoshop here, just lights!" I love raspberries, I think this is an amazing image, and it is one of the things that interests me.

My Favorite Things

This is my first attempt at blogging. I have always considered myself a life-long learner. My interests are wide and varied. I will attempt to list my interests one post at a time and hope someone may be interested.