Week 10: #23 Is this really the end? Or just the beginning...

Ta...Da....I am finished.
I made many discoveries along the way. My favorites I would say were creating a blog, library elf (most used as of now), Flickr, Avatars and Downloadable Media...then Podcasting.

I hope to remember everything I learned so I can continue using these or find time to delve deeper into the topics where time limited me.

This program fit right into my career goals and at the perfect time.

The only take away --- time. It was difficult to always find time to do the exercises. I found myself 2-6 exercises behind at times which left me a little panicky since I'd come so far and didn't want to lose out on the lessons or the training hours. As it turns out, I am finishing on time. I do like having the option of gaining some training hours online. I don't know if I'd want it to totally replace other in person training but I definitley think it has its place.

Merry Christmas!

Week 9: #22 Downloadable Media

I had looked at the library digital site once just out of curiosity and thought it looked very interesting. Unfortunatley, I actually forgot about it since it is not my current practice to get books that way.

For this exercise, I found several books I wish I'd realized were downloadable. I requested several Thanksgiving and Christmas craft books and could have just downloaded the "All New Crafts for Thanksgiving" and "All New Christmas Crafts" by Kathy Ross.

I homeschool my daughter and several of the titles she has or will read this year are on the digital media site including Anne of Green Gables, Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing and Cricket in Times Square.

I found the library to have a much greater selection than Wowio. I also thought it was easier to use than both Wowia and Librivox. I did not compare exact selection titles. It would be nice if Wowio has some the library doesn't so I can take advantage of those as well.

Working at the library my 5 yr old son expects me to bring a book home every night. Now I can just hop on the computer and download one if I forget.

Week 9: #21 Podcasts, Smodcasts!

I am excited to learn podcasting. I don't know that I have enough time to really delve into making my own podcast now....but I think I have learned the basics to know where to begin. I had no idea how to make my own MP3 file. I don't own an ipod or MP3 player so my knowledge on podcasts and mp3's was very limited. (it took me a long time to give up cassettes for CD's too). My husband and daughter are now interested in it as well.

I checked out several podcasts including movie/book reviews, homeschool, news and bible study. I found one homeschool site that will be a great addition to our homeschool lessons. I added several podcasts to my bloglines account.

I do wonder about the authority of some of the podcasts. But it is an interesting way to get information and put information out.

I don't know if I used the directories right or not. I wish some gave more information. But all in all, using a search I found podcasts that were interesting, informative, entertaining etc.

Week 9: #20 Discover YouTube and other video sharing sites

I enjoy YouTube. There's always something interesting to watch. My kids love the Banana Phone videos. My daughter watches Hannah Montana clips. My husband, daughter and I look up videos of people playing various piano versions of songs--particularly Simon and Garfunkel songs. It is a great way to send video for friends to see across the country or world. I've used it to look up movie previews, watch a comedian act. You can even get how to videos for home repair.

As for library use, the videos used in this exercise have either been entertaining or informative or both. I can see the library using it to train employees, teach patrons to use the library catalog etc.

Week 8: #19 Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

Zoho writer seems to offer a lot of great features. For the most part it seems fairly easy changing text background, adding in photos etc. Not sure how to use them all. Just doing trial and error mostly. Publishing this to my blog is a breeze. I can see several benefits especially where I'd like to share info. but not sure about security. How safe is it? If I create a phone list or important document is it out there for anyone to grab?? For casual communications I could blog or email with similar features.

Week 8: #18 Social Networking: Making friends in the comfort of your own home

I am familiar with the social networking sites though I don't use most of them. The only one I take part in is LinkedIn. It is one of the few ways I keep up with people from my previous career News/Broadcast and my PR contacts since I still freelance producer/write.

I have several friends who use MySpace. Interestingly, most of them have teens. I think their teens actually got them hooked. It scares me to put info out their like they do even if I can keep my info on private. Not to mention, it seem like just one more thing to keep up with since I already use email and the telephone to talk to people. I don't know how people find the time.

I'd just recently been introduced to Facebook by coworkers before this exercise came up. Again, not sure if it is something I'd ever do but it is fun, interesting and even scary reading some of the sites on both My Space and Facebook. Lets you see who's loose in this world. HA.

I thought the ratemyspace site was interesting. Don't know that I'd participate myself but I enjoyed looking through the SPACES to see how people decorated, what their gardens looked like etc.

Week 7: #17 Blog About Technology

I love that this activity came up about the time the server went down. What are the odds? When it comes to technology, I'd describe it as something you can't live with and you can't live without. Without technology we wouldn't have so many things (e-mail, HD tvs, digital cameras, cell phones, CD's just to name a few more recent techno advances.) But with technological advances come growing pains(and shelling out more money).

I think I might have been one of the last to switch from cassettes to CD's. While sound quality may be better on CD's, they can get scratched easily and if you step on one ... you'll probably get two shiny half circles you can't use. And, what do you do about your investment in cassettes?
Now there's IPODS/MP3s--I haven't ventured there yet.
Cell phones...where's the signal? But I know people who look like they have a phone growing out of their ear.
Computers...is your server working? dial up or cable. How fast is fast? I find myself getting impatient with my computer because it isn't "thinking" fast enough.
DVD's--Love them...hate them. Rent one or check one out after 100 other people have and you may or may not get to actually watch it.
And, what about my investment in VHS tapes? My kids could open their own store.
Plus, buy one DVD player and a few weeks later new DVD's come out that your DVD player can't read. Myself, I have a VHS/DVD recorder combo that quit working exactly 1 yr after I paid $300 for it. Never got to dub the VHS to DVD like I'd wanted.
Now people even scrapbook onto DVD's and CD's and store their photos...still scares me some. What if the DVD gets scratched or broken...then you have no photos.
I think to some degree technology has just helped us live FASTER. Do everything faster.
Now we are about to be forced practically to switch to digital TV by 2009. Again, what about the tv's I have..that still work??

But I'd have withdrawals if I couldn't e-mail. I enjoy shopping online from time to time. I do research via the internet. I like being able to see the picture I just took on my digital camera...and delete those that didn't turn out. ETC. ETC.

So again, can't live with it...can't live without it.

--Left comment on BareFootBloggers Blog

Week 7: #16 So what's in a wiki?

I felt really silly after reading this weeks activity. When I read we were learning about wiki's I thought it meant Wikipedia. I didn't realize wiki was an actual word with a meaning. You learn something new everyday. As for the value of wikis, I like the idea of a favorite book wiki to get someone else's viewpoint before you try a book. I can see a product review wiki being useful. I didn't realize information on Wikipedia could be changed. I don't use it regularly but I know people who do use it for information. I'm just not sure now about the trust worthiness of the information.

Week 6 #15 Library 2.0 and Web 2.0

I like the idea of the library keeping up with the times. I believe it will be a great help to patrons--especially adults and college students. I know I personally search for my books via the libary's website and often place holds before coming in, I try to take advantage of e-book downloads and search other libraries. However, I will say I like the "old fashioned" library as well. My kids love coming in to search through the books. It's like a trip to the candy store. Plus, I know a lot of patrons come in just to use our computers. So, I guess I like the additional services it provides but wouldn't want to see the physical libary disappear.

Week 6: #14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

Searching "Learning 2.0" on Technorati I came up with 545 posts, 342 hits in the Directory and 125 tags. When I narrowed the search to high authority the list narrowed to 102.

I read through several of the posts. Some were not well organized and difficult to understand. Others seemed like they'd be beneficial in some way.

I searched "freelance writing" and found nearly 3000 posts with some authority. I also searched "blogging for money" and came up with 995 posts with some authority. There seemed to be less ads and more info or job opps searching through Technorati blog posts.

I do believe there is a benefit to this search tool. But, I must admit the amount of information still seems overwhelming at times.

I did claim my blog. It was given an importance level of 4 million+...I just can't believe it is so low on the popularity list...HA HA!

Week 6: #13 Tagging makes the web 2.0 world go round

I don't do much research in my position now but in my former career I spent hours on the internet (especially Lexis Nexis) or at the library. I can definitely see how Del.icio.us could be helpful for research assistants.

At the present, I am particularly interested in the ability to retrieve favorite bookmarks from other locales. Both my husband and I have often found ourselves in other places at work or the home of family and friends and wished we'd been able to access our favorite bookmarks.

Unfortunately, when I signed up for my own account with Del.icio.us I had trouble with the tool bar. I couldn't get the yahoo toolbar to load or the quick tool bar for internet explorer. So, it is hard to tag and save without that. I'll spend more time on it later...for now on to Week 6 #14...still hoping to catch up.

Week 5: #12 The "Library" Elf will remind you!

I use and rely on HCPL's email reminder service and it has seemed adequate (until now). Of course, actually getting the books/dvd's etc into the car and then into the drop slot at the library on time is an entirely different issue. I haven't rec'd an email from Library Elf just yet.

As for the page layout, I like Library Elf's display is better. The two small calendars and then the different sections all on one page is very helpful to me and more appealing. Also, the calendars allow you to see what's due in DATE order. HCPL's list of items is in alphabetical order by title not by due date. I am not sure HCPL's site allows patrons to customize their own page. If so, I didn't see it. I believe it is easier to MISS when an item is due on HCPL's site since the items aren't in order by due date.

I also like that I can put my entire family's cards on one page on Library Elf. I have small children and we end up with a ton of books all at the same time. Checking each account, especially when books aren't in order by due date, leaves a greater chance than an item will be missed and turned in late.

So I'd give the Library Elf pretty high ratings! Glad this was one of our exercises.

Blogger Template and Editing Issues

This isn't a required exercise but I wonder if anyone else is having problems with Blogger. I have edited a post, posted the new edit and gone back hours later to re-edit the post again only to find the text that pops up is my original text and not the text I'd edited an hour ago that is already showing up on my blog.

Template changes: Played around with template changes. Tried to change fonts and colors on several different templates. Get done, preview it and then save it but Blogger says it can't save the changes at this time..

Frustrating!

Week 5: #11 A Thing about Library Thing

I enjoyed surfing through Library Thing a lot. I wanted to order my bookshelf/booklist with the most recently read items first but I couldn't figure out how to do that. I put the Library Thing search widget on after a couple snags.

I tried to put the catalogue link but the Blogger screen keeps saying "Can't process your request. Please fix errors and try again." Guessing though...I think it has something to do with my JavaScript and maybe my Anti-virus software since I am doing this part from home.

UPDATE: Library Thing Bookshelf link added to "My Links" sidebar.

Week 5 #10 (cont) Image Generators

Avatar and Meez were fun--it was kind of like digital paperdolls. My daughter loved it too. We spent way too much time going through the different images to create my Avatar and Meez. (If only picking hair styles, clothing etc were so easy in real life.)

I exported my Meez using the blogger button but my background didn't export too...not sure why. It is saved with my image but Meez message said "unable to export at this time."

My Meez came with a link when I exported her to my blog...just double click on JournalGal OR check out "My Links" sidebar.

Week 5 #10 Image Generators

Spiderman Saves the Day
Originally uploaded by libraryfreelancemom

My Superhero

This was so easy. I had fun playing around the captioning on FDToys. And, I actually remembered how to upload the picture to my blog!
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/captioner.php Here's the link to the captioner or check out "My Links" sidebar.

Week 4: #9 Finding Feeds

Finding feeds was enjoyable though somewhat overwhelming. I am amazed at how much info is out there. I could have sat for hours just looking through things. I am sure I only glanced at a minute fraction. I
did find Topix and Technorati easier to use than Syndic8 and Feedster. When I searched topics on each site I didn't always get feeds or blogs I was expecting. Sydicat8 and Feedster seemed more confusing. I wasn't really sure what blogs to look up. I felt Technorati was easier to surf through to find things I might be interested in. Mostly, out of week 4 I like having all my favorite newsfeeds grouped together.

On to Week 5. I hope to catch up soon!

Week 4: #8 Make life "really simple" with RSS and...

Well....This proved to be more frustrating than I thought. "3g. on the tutorial shows a window for easy subscribing to Blogspot, Xanga or Live Journal." I never managed to pull up the window showing the easy subscribe icons. I was only given the spot to type in the url." Asked several others who'd finished the task and they couldn't figure out why the buttons weren't coming up either. Tried on two different days. In the end, I just typed in the URL's.

I do like subscribing and having all my favorites together on one page though.

Week 3 #6 continued

Thought I'd finished week three. Seems I forgot to blog about the mashups, tools etc. So....

Time permitting I thought some of the things looked interesting but overwhelming at the same time. I liked the tool that let you spell different words with letter blocks but no matter how many times I tried to add it to my html it wouldn't work. I even tried changing the /[img] as suggested but without success. The sites black background with blue letters didn't help me focus. I guess my favorite was trading cards. I haven't put one on my blog yet but I think I'll try that out in more detail.

Clowning Around at Epcot

NOTE TO IHCPL TRACKERS: Week 3-#6 & #7

This photo was edited using Pixer (brightness/contrast and saturation changed) then posted to blog using flickr. The original photo was very, very dark.

Clowning Around at Epcot
Originally uploaded by libraryfreelancemom

Older and Wiser

Happy Bday to me. Another year older, another year wiser? I am taking on Flickr today. I'll see just how wise I feel once I've accomplished the task. Hopefully, this old dog can learn a new trick:)

Safety Online

This discovery exercise was a good reminder of the dangers that can be associated with the internet. I try to be careful though I am sure someone can always point out ways to be safer. I produced newscast for years and identity theft was definitely a hot and all too common story topic. You'd be suprised the lengths people will go to to get your information.

IHCPL thanks for the reminder!

Learning to Blog

I did it! I am no stranger to computers but I hope ihcpl will help me venture into a new land of technology I have been fearful of for quite some time. I was a business analysis major in college before switching to journalism. I worked with computers daily in the television industry. And, I do freelance writing from time to time. But for the last few years, I have been less than eager to add to my knowledge of computers and the internet. It seemed easier to stay ignorant to all the technology changes. I mean how was this going to help me get the laundry done, the dishes washed, home school my daughter or take care of my son? All good excuses, right? I've read blogs. I did know what a "blog" was but it was just easier to be a "non-blogger." So I am excited today that I have accomplished something new for myself.