Week 9: #23: Summarizing

Wow!!!! I'm done!!!! There were a few times there where I wasn't sure I would make it this far! I really will need to go back through most of the 23 Things again and spend more time with the "things" I think will be most useful for me. As a high school media specialist and a public librarian, I need to be on top of these different technologies and now I feel like I can at least speak intelligently about them. I know that there will be ways that I can use them but its a lot to digest even over a 9 week period. I had no idea how much information I would accumulate and much of it is just whirling around in my brain. I did learn a lot, I will be able to use a lot in my job and for the parts that I may not use, at least I understand what they are and how they are used to a certain extent. My favorite thing of all is Library Thing because I could see immediately how I could use that. Many of the other things were fun and I'm glad to know of their existence but I may never use them again. It has been quite an experience but one that I am glad I participated in and did not give up.

Week 9: #22: Audiobooks

I created an account and downloaded the software for Overdrive and then was able to download a YA novel Be More Chill by Vizzini. Unfortunately, it could not be burned to a cd so now its just sitting on my computer. Many of the titles that I would have liked were not available, I had to put a hold on them and many of them could not be burned to a cd. I am assuming that I would be able to put them on an MP3 player but I don't have one (yet ???!!!) but once I do I can see where I would use this quite a bit.

Week 9: #21 Podcasting

Having looked at the 3 suggested podcasts sites I preferred Yahoo!Podcasts. I was unable to use the PodcastAlley without doing a download aggregate which I didn't want to do and I didn't find Podcast.net as user friendly. It also seemed like the podcasts which were not very up to date. Everything I was looking at seemed to date back to 2006. Yahoo Podcast seemed to be more user friendly.

I subscribed to Merlin since it seemed to have so much that I would be able to use and great examples of how libraries are using podcasts. I listened and then watched the program with Elizabeth Berg- what a great way to share authors with the public. I can see spending a lot of time on Merlin when I am finished with 23 things.

Week 9: #20 YouTube

I can see where lots of time could be spent looking on this site. I did take the time to find the video on the Medieval helpdesk which had been e-mailed to me before and it really is quite funny! I didn't find anything else on books or libraries that I would be able to use but there are tons of funny things on YouTube- I could see where people could get addicted to it. I was able to embed a video into this blog-it was easy. I just couldn't find anything that I wanted to stay on the blog so I deleted it.

Week 8: #19 Web 2.0 Awards

So many sites to choose from but I followed the suggestion and chose a category which for me was books. I've already said how much I liked Library Thing so I went to Blue Rectangle and liked being able to watch video reviews of both current and classic books.

Week 8: #18 Online productivity tools

I was unable to get into Zohowriter but I did create a document on Google docs. I have been wanting to try this out and am pleased with it. We often have students who work on an assignment at home and then can not open it up at school because they have a different version of word or some other problem. Using Google docs would alleviate this problem.

Week 7 # 17: Add an entry into the Sandbox Wiki

I added my blog to the list of blogs and I added a comment to the Sandbox Wiki. It was easy to do and I would like to have more time to look at some of the other wikis on this site.

Week 7 : #16 Learn about wikis

I am still not sold on the advantages of using wikis. I can see where they would be useful when a group is collaborating on a particular project. My issue with them is the whole control or lack of control. I still don't see why one would use Wikipedia which can be edited rather than a standard credible encyclopedia although we have been referred to articles in Wikipedia frequently throughout these activities. I noticed that at St. Joseph County Public Library's subject guide wiki only librarians have the ability to edit the entries which I can agree with but than doesn't that defeat the purpose of having it as a wiki ??? I'm not ready to jump on the wiki train just yet.

Week 6: Activity 15 : Articles on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

I read several of the articles on Library 2.0. I agree that librarians need to be aware of the latest technologies and that we are working hard to keep up with the changes that our field has undergone so dramatically. I believe that libraries and librarians have and are doing a really good job in this area. Yes, there are some things that we continue to hold onto but rather than becoming dinosaurs I think libraries have managed to reinvent themselves to meet the needs of today's patrons and help them to have access to all the latest that is out there.

Week 6: # 14 Technorati and tagging

I can't believe that Boing Boing, "a weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It's the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com, and won the Lifetime Achievement and Best Group Blog awards at the 2006 Bloggies ceremony".
I guess I'm not geeky or techy enough to get this blog but I was not real impressed with Technorati and am not sure how I will be able to use it but maybe I'm just missing something.

Week 6: #13 Tagging and Del.icio.us

I registered for delicious and have already started adding sites to my page. I can see where this will be very useful when working on projects, pathfinders, etc. at school and then completing them at home. I have sent myself webpage addresses through my e-mail account to continue using the site at home and now I won't have too. I can see how working on a big project or with a group where being able to share bookmarklets will be very useful.

Week 5: #12 Roll your own search tool

I created a Rollyo of companies that I frequently order books from for the media center. I'm not sure yet if this is more helpful to me than bookmarks but since its new to me there is still that learning curve.

Select...Ordering ResourcesSearch The Web

Week 5: #11 Take a look at Library Thing and catalog some of your favorite books

I love Library Thing and will start using this to keep track of titles that I am reading this summer and use this for preparing my booktalks in the Fall. I see this as a great tool for our book club at Westminster High School as well. What a great tool !!!

Here's my Library Thing link: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jpyzik

Week 5 : #10 Play Week : Image Generators

I must admit that I have had some fun playing with the image generators. I uploaded a Meez to my blog ( maybe I was meant to be a Broadway Star-not!) . Since I don't chat online I don't see that I will be using the Yahoo avatar but the Generator Blog looks like it will come in handy and so I have added it to my bloglines.

Week 4: # 9 Merlin

I added Merlin to my list of feeds on Bloglines. I think that this will be a useful sight to have on my list to keep current with what's happening in the world of Maryland libraries. I think the easiest search tool to use fro finding feeds for me will be Topix.net. It seemed the most user friendly on first examination. I'm still not sure how much I will use feeds- it seems like information overload to me at this point.

Week 4: # 8 Rss Feeds

I now understand RSS and what those little orange icons on websites are all about. I have subscribed to several feeds, mostly librarian and book related feeds but there's a couple on shoes and such which should be fun. I'm afraid that this is one more place that will be filled with lots of good information but I won't have the time to really look at it. The concept is a good one but I'm not so sure that this will help me to be more organized and save time but I will give it a shot. At least I know what they are all about and will see how I can use them to my advantage as I get a better handle on them.

Week 3: # 7: Technology

I am really learning quite a bit about what different technologies are available and for free. That's really great! I particularly like the idea of using Flickr to share photos and I am looking forward to trying to use my vacation pictures and Mappr.com to create a journey to share with others.

Week 3 : # 6 Flickr Mash-ups

I started a trip planner for a cruise that we will be taking in July. I'm excited to be able to add pictures from our trip to the planner to share with others when we get back and put them on Mappr

Week 3: Activity #5: Exploring Flickr

I am a little behind in the activities but I am glad that I didn't get around to exploring Flickr until after July 4th so I could include some cool pictures of the fireworks.

Week 1,Thing 2: Being A Lifelong Learner

As a high school media specialist, I'm really anxious to get up to speed on the new technologies that are being introduced and explained in 23 Things. I know my students are already blogging and making wikis and all sorts of other things that I want to be able to do and help them with. In order to stay on top of things, I will always need to be learning and adding resources and things to my toolbox which I then will be able to share with my students and my colleagues. I hope that I will be able to view this whole program as Play because that is my favorite habit but right now I'm not there yet.

Week 2-Thing 3

Setting up the blog was very easy. I'm anxious to learn all about the new technologies.