Reflection

Looking back on this program, my favorite things were the FlickR Mashups and Image Generators. My least favorite was Twitter. I just didn't get into Twitter, even though I know that a lot of people love it. I feel like I learned a lot, especially about blog readers, RSS feeds, and the section that covered more on Facebook. I didn't find too much challenging, except for Twitter. I just don't feel like I "got" it. As for use in my library, I would love to show my teachers how to use some of this technology. I think my elementary students would love to use Flickr, if access is available at our school. I also think they would love to make a podcast, and that is one goal that I hope to do this school year.

This has been a great learning experience, and it has helped me to see the social aspects of technology!

My Own 23 Things

I think that 23 Things is a great program. While I am the only one working in my library at the elementary school, I think this would be a great program for the teachers and staff at my school. If (I mean when) I create a 23 Things program, I would try to center the program to make teachers aware of the technology that is available to them like the online databases, video streaming, online library catalog, eBooks, delicious, and Flickr. With the program online and at their disposal at any hour, it negates the excuses of timing that comes into play, and even if the teachers learn only one new thing, that is still a step forward. Plus, I think a program like this that is adapted to the needs of the staff is a great form of positive PR for the library.

Podcasts

I looked at several podcast sites. The first one was Worthington's site that had several readings of different picture books. I listened to The Mitten. It had very poor sound quality, but then I listend to The Night Before Christmas. It was much better. This just goes to show that not all podcasts at the same site are of the best or worst quality.

I also tried to go to the Thomas Ford Library Click a Story because I thought that would be great for using at my elementary school, but the link was broken.

I also went to Denver Public Library's site and listened to the bookIt's Quacking Time. I was interested in this because this past spring I read that book to my Kindergarten classes. After listening to this, I think the younger children would need the book with the pictures. Although, this could be useful in a center where students could listen to the audio while looking at the book themselves. I also liked this site because it stated that they had permission to post the podcast from the specific copyright holders.

There was another site that I saw. It was a site that did book talks. I listend to Skulduggery Pleasant. This book talk seemed more interesting than the others because the audio quality was good and because they also provided short clips of music used in transitioning the sections of the podcast.

I don't see elementary students using podcasts too much, other than what I mentioned above. It also seemed evident that many elementary school librarians had not ventured to using podcasts, as all the school podcasts listed on the wiki were high schools. I think the book talks would be good for patrons, but I am not sold on if they would be interesting enough to hold their attention. I got the following idea from another librarian in my district, but I might try this year to work with a teacher that does biography projects to have her students create a podcast talking about their person. Then, when parents come to Open House, a highlight of Open House is walking into the classroom and hearing their child's report.

YouTube

I had fun with YouTube. I just wanted to see what it had to offer, in terms of library stuff. I watched a Dewey Decimal Rap. It was very entertaining and informative. Instead of my fourth graders watching my PowerPoint presentation, I might use this instead to reinforce what the Dewey Decimal system is. I just have to get the IT people in my district to unblock YouTube for me.

I also saw a librarian give a tour of an elementary library. Wow! I would love to forward this video to one of my superiors. She had a lot of space in her library. I wish I could have that kind of space. This was a good idea though! It was a quick way to show the different areas of the library. This would take very little time to make, and it would help me not to have to walk around the library at least 18 times in one week when we discuss the different areas. Plus, think of how much it would save my voice from repeating it. Instead, it would be taped once and shown to the kiddos.

Then, I looked at the 2007 ALA book cart competition. This is great entertainment, and it also provides an idea of what a book cart competition is for anybody who has not seen one before. I participated in the TLA book cart competition in 2008, and I wish that I had gotten on to YouTube to see one of these done before I did it.

I think videos to teach library skills are great. Instead of hearing my voice, the children get a different format to teach the same thing. I also think that these are great to use in staff development. In the past, I have watched the copyright video that uses the Disney clips to explain copyright, and I have always wanted to use it. The only thing that has held me back is that it is a little hard to hear, especially if you are hearing the information for the first time.

I'm not sure of other uses for videos in the library except those mentioned above. It is hard to tape a large group of kids and show it on YouTube with making sure that all kids have permission to be taped.

Google Docs

I had fun exploring Google Docs. I had always heard of Google Docs, but I really didn't know exactly what it could or could not do. The tools seem like they are between a mix of web pages and MicroSoft Office documents. They seem like a great collaborative tool to use with others, especially since you can send them to others. I also thought it was neat that you could send them as a PDF file. Thanks for pointing that out. I also liked the forms. I didn't know what to expect until I played with it. I would love to use this to send out a library survey to the teachers at my campus. Also, from reading the blog posts, it seems like they are trying to improve GoogleDocs with added features, like tables. (I remember a long time ago that adding tables to some webpages was not an easy task either).

Wiki

I have used PB Wiki in the past, and I really liked it. One of the librarians in our district tried to get an elementary page started so that we could discuss items and collaborate more. Once I got the hang of it, I really liked it.
When I used the Wiki for this thing, it seemed very easy to use. I liked it a lot.

I know that a lot of librarians have issues with Wikipedia, but if it is used with your eyes being wide open to the fact that not all statements might be valid, it can be a great source for starting an information hunt. Wikipedia provides librarians with a great teachable moment in regards to sources, valid data, and research. From exploring this thing, it did make me aware that the site does try to provide some means of providing valid information. I was also very impressed with the comments of others on the site that I looked at. Several people commented that the information was wrong, and according to the history, it was either changed or removed.

LibWorm

I didn't feel very successful using LibWorm, but maybe I was being too specific in my search. Although I didn't find anything on lessons to use in an elementary library, I did find a lot of other information. I found a lot of book reviews. I also found some thoughts about Smartboards. I was surprised because I saw more interesting results when I searched by categories and subjects than by phrases. The tag search was interesting in that it allowed you to see which topics were popular. I did not get any results from typing in the name of my school as a phrase search.

LibraryThing

I liked LibraryThing. This might be nice to organize a small collection, if you had the time! I liked how I could see others that had the same books as me. I also liked the recommendations that are listed for a user based on his or her collection.
The tags are also a great way to organize a personal collection.

From reading ThingLang, ISBN Check, and MARCThing, I didn't quite understand the technical aspect of it, but it did make me realize that this site is always trying to upgrade itself and that the people at this site know their library lingo. Thus, I would say that this site is trying to prove their credibility.

I found the group, Librarians who LibraryThing, and I loved it. I read a couple of the posts, and I was laughing out loud. One discussion was about being able to call yourself a librarian, regarding do you have the degree. It was so funny. One person said that whether she has the title or not, her paycheck shows that she does not. Someone replied to it that while she has the title her paycheck does not show it! In the posts, you could tell there was some lightheartedness, but it also had some intellectual conversation as well. I had trouble finding the group, I See Dead People's Books. I looked at the different groups and even sorted them alphabetically.

Digg

I really liked looking at Digg. Automatically, I thought that this would be the perfect site for my husband. He likes to go to FARK and read about things. While I think this is great for my husband, I don't know if I will use it or not. I did like the site. While I was looking at the site, I came across the Diet Coke and Mentos "trick". I saw a short video of a kid trying it out, and someone had put up David Letterman putting Mentos in Diet Coke. It was interesting, as I did not know what it was really about. Now, I do, but did I really need to know this? :)
---Unfortunately, my nine year old saw it with me, and he now wants to do his own experiment!

Delicious

This was my first time to use delicious, but it was pretty easy considering that for years I have used another bookmarking site. Actually, I prefer delicious to the other site that I was using because of the organization of it that is provided by the tags. This is very nice. I looked at sites that had been bookmarked by others, and I added some of my favorite sites to delicious that pertained to library lessons.

The link to my site is http://delicious.com/DyannC

Tags

I think that tagging in the library is sort of like using Wikipedia. While some will say, "No way," others will say to use it, integrate it, but teach about authoritative sources. I think that tagging is similar. Anybody can pick the tag they want so it does not seem like there is a lot of consistency in this. On the other hand, if everybody is working on accessing information, maybe I might be able to find that elusive bit of information that I couldn't find before without that tag.

Today is about making sure that librarianship is not left behind as our users move forward into using new technologies. Thus, I don't think that tags can replace subject headings, but I do think they serve a purpose that can be helpful. . .just use them with the understanding that they are not always a sure thing.

Twitter

I thought Twitter was O.K. I think that I just need to get use to it, and find more friends and become a follower of more things. I did become a follower of E! My name is DyannC on Twitter. To get a little more accustom to it, I did watch the video on Twitter's help screen. I do agree with the description that it is a lot like Facebook. It just seems set up with more famous people, but I could be wrong.

The last time that I heard about Twitter was when Kevin Spacey was on the David Letterman Show the other night. He made a big production about his tweets, and he showed Dave how easy it was to use Twitter.

Instant Messaging

I'm using the http://webmessenger.msn.com/ for instant messaging, and my name is Dyann Campbell. I already had this account for years that I used for e-mail. What a surprise that I could also go through this to instant message. I didn't know that I could use this account for IM, so this "thing" has taught me to not get used to your accounts. Instead, grow with them as they grow. I think I get used to using something for just the purpose that I think that I need it for at that one particular time. I don't always force myself to see all the options something has to offer.

While I have not instant messaged a lot in the past, I have used IM two years ago when I was working on a grad. school assignment with a partner that was in a different city. Between e-mails and IM, our project turned out to be a true collaboration. I also have used IM inside of Facebook with one of my friends, before this module. I agree with others. It is nice, but I'm not on-line enough to make the most of it. It reminds me of Skype, where we are always calling my in-laws on the land line to tell them to get on their computer so they can talk and see their grandchildren.

Ning

While I like a few aspects of Ning, I prefer Facebook. At first, I felt like some of the Ning pages appeared to be just a hodge podge of things put on a page, but as I looked at it more, I got accustom to it. I do like the different tabs on the Ning pages, where one can share videos, blogs, pictures, etc... I did explore and become a member of Texas School Librarians, and I also looked at the ALA page. While I don't think that I will become someone who uses Ning that much, it is nice to know that it is a tool that is out there.

More Facebook

While I've been on Facebook for a while, I have not joined any groups so this "thing" got me to venture out more into Facebook. The three groups that I joined are Elmentary School Librarians, Twilight, and the American Association of School Librarians. I also joined an organization called Coupons because I like finding great deals, even though I don't always have the time to get to them!

In regards to Facebook and finding people, it has been a great experience. I got back in touch with one of my college roommates that I thought I would never hear from again. We even have plans to meet this summer! In regards to co-workers, I'm very surprised by the large number that are members of Facebook---young, old, and in between. It's not just the teachers that have graduated from college in the last 5 years that are on Facebook. One of my coworkers is on Facebook and has taught for over 30 years. Then, in regards to family, this weekend I found my dad's first cousin on Facebook. She is now my "friend", and it will be great getting to touch base with her. We even talked about the history of kidney stones in our family, as I just had an attack and her brother suffers from them. What a great way to keep in touch with people that we might only see every ten or twenty years at family reunions.

Facebook

I already had a Facebook account. When I first set it up, I thought it was very easy to do. At the time, I didn't realize why I might not want to give them your e-mail address. This "thing" has made me a little more informed. I've enjoyed using this to reconnect with some of my college friends. It is amazing! That has been a definite plus.

One thing that does worry me is the privacy issue. You can mark for only friends to see your profile and pictures, but I have found that if one of your friends views a picture of a person that is his or her friend but not a friend of yours, then you can indirectly, through a link that shows what your friends are looking at, go look at those pictures. I also think that people are too naive about what they post on Facebook. I'm an educator, and some of the people that I work with, post way too much about their drinking habits and school gossip. Fortunately, that is their right, but I wouldn't put myself out there like that.

RSS

This makes the Google Reader even better. The video was great on explaining what it is and what it does. I added the Pashley Library's blog to my blog reader. It looks like a mixture of things are discussed on their blog that could pertain to me.

Blog Readers

Wow! Just as I was thinking this week after going to several technology workshops that there would be no way for me to manage all the information and different websites, I find out about blog readers. This is a relief! Now, I just need a little more practice. I was able to add my blog and the 23 Things site to the reader, but I know that I also need to play with it. Since I want to try to lose some weight this summer, I might try to find a WW recipe site to add.

Image Generators

I loved this template that was available for me to add text, as well as my own picture. For the past two years, I have always used a wanted sign to try to get students to sign up for library helpers. I loved using this tool. The picture, by itself, was not a very great picture, but inside the sign, it is not too bad. It's nice to see a picture that I didn't care for being used.

I thought that this was easy to use, and fun. Once you know about the button to insert images on the blog tool, it becomes very easy to use.


I also liked this image.

How neat to virtually write in the cement!
Expressing yourself, but not damaging anybody's property.

Mashups

This was fun! I was not sure how to post this, but I saw questions that others had posted! Thank you! You made it a lot easier for me when I saw the response that I just had to cut and paste the code.



This is fun! Here is a pic. with a caption!

Flickr

I thought it was pretty easy to download the pictures. It looks like I have a lot to play with. This site seems packed with a lot. I want to learn more about the tags. That looks really neat, and I read a little about it. Here is the link to my photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/39038487@N05/ ----btw, photostream was a new word for me.

When I looked at Flickr, I wondered about copyright. It seems like this could be a problem. A lot of times when people create PowerPoints this would be a great site to get some nice pictures, but these are still the property of others. I read the statement by Flickr concerning copyright. They seem to address it, but this does make you think differently---like the video in the previous section pointed out.

Also, I've heard about Creative Commons on a listserve, but I don't know exactly what it is. Is it just pictures where permission is given to use them?

Web 2.0

I watched both of the videos. I was a little surprised that I knew a few things about what Stephen Abram was referring to. At the end of my library science program two years ago, I was just starting to use some of this technology. I'm glad that I'm going to make time for this so that I can keep up with the trends.

I liked the video from the Shifted Librarian site. It shows the big picture of how technology and people are connected. The point that was also driven home for me was that everything is now having to be considered in a different light as the Web 2.0 concept evolves. How are we going to respond to these changes?

Almost last

Hello everybody!

I almost forgot to join, but a good friend reminded me that we were going to begin this program together. Thank you for the reminder! I'm excited to learn more about what is out there that is captivating library patrons and how we can use these tools to get patrons excited about the library.