Firebird Chick's Ramblings

Week #10 Is it really the end? Or just the beginning.....

2007-08-22T12:57:00.002-04:00

Wow! How time flies when you're having fun. I've really enjoyed working with all the new applications in the Learning 2.0 exercises. Some I've used in the past or currently use, others are new discoveries for me. A few of the applications I'll probably never use again, but now I know they are out there if I ever have the need for them.

Thanks Whitney, Jo and all the Learning 2.0 members. Hope we can do this again soon!

Week #10 Face to Face Space

2007-08-22T12:57:00.001-04:00

I've had MySpace, Xanga, and Facebook accounts for a few years now. Facebook has quickly become my favorite Face to Face Space!

Within the last year or so, Facebook began adding tools to customize your Facebook account. You can now add all kinds of nifty applications to your Facebook. Like the looks of an aquarium? Just add the aquarium application and some fish. You can send your friends fishies too. Most of all, I enjoy reading comments and looking at pictures that my friends and family post to their accounts.

Week #9 Podcasts/Shmodcasts

2007-08-07T13:35:00.001-04:00

While searching for library news in Yahoo Podcasts I found the links to our OU Libraries News Podcasts so I took the time to listen to a couple. Very imformative!

NPR Radio Podcasts. Wow....They have 490 podcasts on all types of subjects and this number seems to change on a daily basis.

Week #9 You too can YouTube

2007-08-07T13:34:00.001-04:00

Wow........ So many videos to choose from! Here's one of my many favorites.

The OU Marching 110.....

Week #8 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

2007-07-31T14:49:00.001-04:00

I'd have to say I have a lot of favorite Web 2.0 tools!

Here's my list of favorites. These are clearly other folks favorites too. They are all 1st place winners on the Web 2.0 List.

Facebook
YouTube
Del.icio.us
Craigs List
Digg
Flickr
and last but not least my all time favorite is the entire Google collection i.e. Google Maps/Docs/Calendar/Mail.

Week #8 Web-Based Applications

2007-07-31T11:48:00.000-04:00

I use iGoogle for many of my online activities.

I have 2 iGoogle calendars. One I use for my personal schedule and one that I publish for my husbands Boy Scout troop. I placed a link on our scout web page for that calendar. Here's a link to our public Scout Calendar. When I update the calendar it automatically updates on the web page saving me lots of time.

I have also used Google documents for troop activity note made with Google Documents. I also update these documents and re-publish the link. Pretty easy to use.

Here's a test spreadsheet created with Google Docs.

Week #7 Playing around with Wiki's

2007-07-27T13:04:00.000-04:00

I like using Wikihow to find out how to do things!

I learned how to make my "new" favorite game. Ladder Golf.

I created a sidebar link on the OULibraries Learn PBWiki for my Favorite Sports. Feel free to add your sport link too...

Week #7 Wiki?

2007-07-25T15:50:00.001-04:00

I've used WikiHow and Wikipedia many times. Didn't really give them much thought.....until now.

What if OU Libraries created a WikiHow such as "How to locate books in Alden Library" linked on our home page? I've seen many students wandering around looking for books in the Stacks. They seem intimidated with call numbers. Not sure if they are afraid to ask staff or just want to find their books themselves. Maybe this wiki could include a more detailed map than we have on our libraries website now with call number locations matched to the corresponding location on the shelving units?

Week #6 Learning 2.0/Web 2.0

2007-07-25T15:48:00.001-04:00

As I am reading these articles about the future of libraries, many questions come to my mind. Will we still need libraries if most research documents are available online? Will people use online version opposed to the print copy? Will the younger generation of library users continue to physically visit libraries?

Some of my random thoughts...........

Libraries have no choice, they have to move toward digital/online collections or get lost completely in the migration, or do they? I believe they do. Constant decisions will have to be made regarding each collection. Do we keep a paper copy or publish online? Where do we store the paper copy? Where do we store the digital format? Do we spend more money, time and effort building storage facilities for our collection or do we buy large server farms with mega hard drives to store our online collections? Hard questions with no easy answers!

Even in this world of modern technology, not everyone has access to the Internet. There is still many households without a computer. If they do have a computer, most rural areas still do not have access to high speed Internet services. At dial-up speeds, even basic Internet surfing can be painful. Doing large database searches is an impossible feat. Digital collections are useless to these folks. Their only choice is to physically visit a library. Even if it is to use the online collections on computer workstations available at the libraries.

Week #6 Technorati

2007-07-19T13:37:00.001-04:00

Technorati

Haven't found it very useful yet............ I'm a Google kinda girl. I did the search for Learning 2.0. On the "exact" search I found 4, 022 results for Learning 2.0. I searched the Tags and Blogs searches. Each gave a different result. Interesting............hmmmm.

Week #6 Del.icio.us

2007-07-19T10:41:00.000-04:00

Del.icio.us

So....... I setup a Del.icio.us account imported all of my favorites into it. I logged into my account last night from home. Pretty cool tool...... I'm sure I'll use it regularly.

It's interesting to see how many other folks have the same websites bookmarked/favorites and share the same interests. My largest bookmarks "saved by ## other people" is Youtube.com with 25,196 and Yahoo.com with a setting of 11,707.

Week # 5 Rollyo

2007-07-12T11:03:00.002-04:00

I set my Rollyo to seach sites that I normally use when I'm looking for new toys! Computer gadgets, parts and pieces and such.

Click on My Rollyo button to check out my search tools.

Week #5 LibraryThing

2007-07-12T11:03:00.001-04:00

I consider myself the typical romance novel reader. After a long day of banging at the ol' keyboard, it's off to a quiet spot in the house or to bed with a good romance story. I was a faithful Harlequin Romance reader for many years of my youth. Stumbled onto a Nora Roberts book...........didn't have to look any further for my favorite author ;-)

Week #5 Image Generators

2007-07-11T15:58:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite image generators is the Sketch Generator. I took some of my photos and converted them using the Sketch Generator. Really amazing results. Here's one of our scout troop pictures from a recent canoe trip.

Sketch Generator give it try!

Week #4 RSS

2007-07-11T15:56:00.000-04:00

I remember some time ago when I setup my iGoogle account I had the option of adding RSS feeds to my homepage with Google Reader. Didn't think much about it, just added some and went on. With this exercise I spent some time looking at the available feeds and I am finally beginning to understand what RSS is all about. I added and changed some of the feeds on my iGoogle homepage to match my interests and not what Google thought I was interested in reading. If you have some time on your hands, setup a Google account. I use it for my calendar, email, weather, games and now RSS. Pretty cool!

Week #3 Flickr

2007-06-26T14:58:00.001-04:00

Canoe trip down the Hocking River
Photo collage created with Hockney, a Flickr tool.

Week #3 Warholized!

2007-06-26T14:55:00.001-04:00

Warholized!
Originally uploaded by firebirdchick_2

I've been warholized........

Week #3

2007-06-26T11:47:00.001-04:00

Our assignment this week is to photograph something from our library department and blog about technology. Technology certainly has changed over the years, especially the last couple of years. Who would have thought that you could surf the Internet on a cell phone or store gigabytes of data on hard disk drive small enough to fit in your pocket! Check out Microsoft's new venture called Surface. It's pretty cool!

I wonder if these monitors feel sad or a little obsolete just sitting around collecting dust?

Alden Systems
Originally uploaded by firebirdchick_2

Click on monitor photo to view other pictures from Alden's Systems Department.

Week #2

2007-06-26T11:34:00.001-04:00

Click on the photo to view Outer Banks Lighthouses!

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
Originally uploaded by firebirdchick_2

#5 Discover Flickr

I've had a flickr account for a few years now. I usually add photos here for my family and friends to view at their leisure. It's really been a great tool for me. My most recent pics on Flickr are from our travels to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. I really enjoy visiting and photographing lighthouses. I still have one lighthouse left to visit in the Outer Banks. That is my missison this summer vacation.

Week #2

2007-06-19T11:26:00.000-04:00

Blogging, blogging, blogging while working at Alden Library.

Week #1

2007-06-14T12:14:00.000-04:00

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners is this weeks lesson.
Let's see, hummmm..................

Habit#6: Use technology to your advantage, describes me pretty well. I find #6 the easiest of all 7 1/2's. I love technology. I read about it every day. I use it everyday! No joking.... Just ask my family. Heck, even when I go on vacation, camping with the boy scouts or with the family, I bring technology with me. A cell phone, Palm PDA and a laptop are my essentials. Sad, but true ;-)

Habit#4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. This habit is somewhat of an issue for me. I love to learn new things. I feel great when I accomplish learning something new. But.......I sometimes don't feel confident that I'm learning at a pace that I should be. Am I learning slow? Am I doing it correctly? How would someone else accomplish this task? I have so many questions that keep I running through my head.

Working out of my comfort zone :-)

2007-06-13T10:58:00.001-04:00

I'm not really new to blogging. I have a MySpace, Xanga and a Facebook account, but I still feel out of my comfort zone when my thoughts are "exposed" to the world. So here it goes. I hope I can overcome some of my insecurities.