Bonus Activity!!!

How do I spell relief? I-P-O-D! What a great reward that will be for challenging myself to try so many new technology and communication applications! Some of these exercises are things my children are used to; now I can not only speak in their language, but I can enjoy an iPod like they do, too!


Some of my favorite discoveries were Animoto, YouTube, flowcharts/mind maps, online productivity sites, LibraryThing, and the ever-popular avatar. The first day we all worked together at MMS, I really thought I was flying since I completed the first four exercises in one day (with lots of help). I immediately hit a road block with Flikr because I am a little camera-shy when it comes to uploading pictures and saving them properly. Since several applications built on that skill, I bogged down and resorted to my girls for help.

As for Take-aways, I was able to utilize the mind map and create a sample one for a teacher the day after she mentioned needing a way to organize research topics. I also filled a library need by creating a floor plan on Gliffy. It was fun, relatively easy, and I've used the product since completion of that activity. Of course, the blog and avatar (which has changed clothes twice!) have been ongoing useful and fun tools. I haven't added to my LibraryThing yet, but I did sell a teacher on it, and she's having a ball creating an account for the books she allows her students to check out from her classroom.

I knew my life long learning as a librarian would be just that--an ongoing process. I never dreamed it would take such curves, leaps, and bridges that would urge me into such advanced forms of communication. Reading about Library 2.0 made me realize that sitting still in my learning would make me obsolete and in need of weeding. I am thankful for this gentle challenge that let me dabble in new areas before having grand expecations put on me.

I think this program's format is perfect. It is flexible and self-paced. I wouldn't change anything (except maybe to get rid of that countdown clock. It raised my blood pressure! LOL I would definitely be interested in another discovery program of this sort. If not for this one, I would be in the dark in soooooo many areas.

When I struggled with certain exercises, I would ask myself if I would ever use these applications. At the time, the answer was NO. Now I'm seeing ways to use these collaborate and exciting tools to make my job easier and to make my library webpage and program more appealing to the technology savvy kids we have today. I hope to take some of the summer staff development offerings to brush up on the skills I DID master and to get schooled on the ones I didn't. Using these skills regularly will make it easier for me to get on board and stay there. I think I knocked a few bunnies off this Dustyshelf since October. Thanks!

Thing #23

The Big C (copywrite) basically means "all rights reserved" and "ask permission." CC (Creative Commons) means "some rights reserved" and "go ahead and use it creatively." Creative Commons compliments copywrite, and allows it to be refined to the artist's decision. Hmmmmm.

Creative Commons seems to be the answer for this and future generations who find entertainment and enterprise in using other people's works. I think it is great that so many people are willing to put their creations out in public for others to use. I just hope the responsibility for changes made to the original are never placed on the originator of the book, photo, video, etc.

I enjoyed the Get Creative and Wanna Work Together videos because they put the information in that human-readable language that I need so desperately when it comes to technology and certainly legal issues. The comic book was a neat idea, but by page 26 I found it tedious and quit it.

This is an example I found of someone being really mad for having his image taken from Flikr and put into a YouTube video. He makes a good point, and he also seems set on getting paid for it. He probably wouldn't be thrilled to know I'm furthering its viewage by posting it on my blog. Did I violate here as well? If so, sorry Dude. I'm on your side.

In middle school, we try to urge our students to use data bases and approved websites so they won't have to deal with copywrite issues among other things. I have had students try to get pictures off website that couldn't be printed. I told them they were copywrite protected. I'm not even sure if that's the real reason, but they bought it! I think I need more education on this and will then have to provide some for our teachers before approaching the students with it. There are a lot of questions still for which I need answers.

Thing #22

Whoopee! Thanks for winding saving one of the best challenges for last! Using Animoto ended up being a very rewarding task. It took lots of steps and a little waiting, but the end result is so worth the wait.

I tried this exercise at school and was disappointed because every video I tried to preview, including the sample one in the lesson and the videos our librarians who have completed Thing #22 made, would not load. I watched the little dial go around for up to 10 minutes on several videos and finally gave up. I guess it had something to do with the district filter (once again). When I tried at home, it was a breeze. My daughter helped choose the photos from our family vacation to put together my video. She wasn't excited about the music choices, but I think it's neat how Animoto promotes up-and-coming artists this way. Hey, why not! Also, the distraction videos were fun to watch while my video was processed. (Be sure to notice me in the cruise ship's library!)

I think short Animoto videos will be fun to have on my library webpage. The most recent pictures I have from school are the spelling bee pics, so maybe I'll try to put one together since I have a speller advancing to the county bee. I need to double check on the permission guidelines to use student photos first, though. Animoto definitely has a place in the library. It would be great to promote Lone Star books and our Celebration Station field trip, Caught Reading photos for Teen Read Week, student presentations over library research units, and much more. Fun stuff!

Thing #21

This podcasting exercise is one I'd like to retake during the summer staff development sessions. I like the idea, but I couldn't really find anything useful to put in a school-related blog. I DID find a cute "morning radio show-type" team called 2 Guys Named Joe, and their segment on The Joy of Flikr was really funny and useful. They talked about how much more beneficial and space saving it was than sending multiple emails with tons of pictures to family and friends. They also talked about setting some pictures to private, the commenting option, the ability to resize images and order prints, creating groups, etc. The trouble was that it was really long--I mean reaaaaaaaaally long. I was afraid it would take up too much bandwidth or whatever. (Did I actually use that word?) I couldn't get Podcast.net to open, and I liked Podcast Alley's sections like Top 10 for January, 5 Newest Podcasts, and 5 Featured Podcasts to give someone new like me a place to start. It just seemed like there was more musical content than anything else. I added a podcast to this post just to see if I could. It's not something I'm in love with, though. I whole-heartedly admit, I need much more work in this area.

Thing #20

I chose this YouTube video after an English teacher at my school told me about it. Quite clever to connect Harry Potter with The Giver! It was really easy to apply to my blog, too. I expected it to be more complicated.

Some features on YouTube I like are the star ratings, the counter showing the number of viewings, the What's Showing Now feature, and the comments opportunity. There's a lot of information on this site, and I think you can find a video on just about anything! The search was easy and gave me more than I could ever imagine about any subject I typed in. The "librarians" search proved to be quite interesting--ranging from educational to silly to very raunchy! Those were NOT filmed in MY library!

I can see where movie trailers, author interviews and readings, library facility tours, and literacy promotions can be used constructively on a library website. Students would love this technology, especially since they are so familiar with it. I've seen quite a bit on several kids' My Space pages.

Thing #19

I like to have things organized, and I see many ways the sites in this exercise could have benefitted me when I was teaching in a classroom. Still, there are many benefits to me as a librarian in the mind maps and flowcharts presented. I found bubbl.us very easy to use and think students would find it appealing also. It is cute (technology language) how subtopic bubbles are called babies and fun to see the small explosions with fire that come up when a user X's out of a bubble. Color options also make this process fun, but how many schools allow printing in color? Not mine. I thought it was interesting how the creators of the site included the "team's" professional information, including credentials and college degree info. I had a reading teacher ask me yesterday how she could streamline the brainstorming for a research project over the 1960s that just seemed too broad. I was excited to tell her I'd make a mind map online from her general ideas that she could then edit and tailor to her specific needs. I finished it this morning, and she was thrilled!

I also found great benefit in playing with Gliffy. I used the floorplan feature because, sadly, I have used a hand-drawn seating chart for the library for seven years now. I was impressed with the variety of symbols one can use to create various floorplans. The only trouble I had with it was getting the width small enough to fit on a standard sheet of paper. I made adjustments in the width column, but it never changed. I'll play with it some more, but until then, I did the old manual job of copying and taping it together and shrinking it on the Xerox machine. Still, it looks much more professional than the sketch I've been using for so long. Gliffy is a site to remember, to share, and to use.

Thing #18

I spent three different days looking at some of the fun and useful (or not) sites. I was familiar with craigslist because my husband had used it before. It is a good tool to use for buying and selling just about anything! It's a much easier way to find common and not-so-common items than ebay. I tried to peek at Cocktailbuilder, from home of course, but I kept getting the "cannot connect to the server" error. Maybe later. I found listdump very interesting and easy to navigate. One list focused on the most beautiful moutains in the U.S. It was interesting because it provided pictures and information for potential travelers. The site also provided the opportunity to comment and save the info. The tags on the sidebar were helpful as well. I saw one list, though, that made me think this is something to be careful about using at school. It was a list of douchebags: a classy online way of bashing people! The list (of course I looked at it!) ranged from Pres. George W. Bush (not a surprise) to Jesus Christ!!! I was thinking about lists of favorite books in varying genres, but I can just see my middle school students getting on the douchebag list instead! Hey, it was on the Top Lists section...I didn't go searching for it! :0

I am still trying to work out an online collection development list for the middle school librarians and got stuck again on thinkfree. It seemed easy enough, except I cannot figure out how to make the columns on the spreadsheet long enough to accomodate book titles, author's names, etc. The tool bar is very minimal, and I can't find any help sections. This was my second attempt to make an editable, online spreadsheet. It will happen, ladies. If you give it a try and succeed, let me know!

Think #17

I really like the SOHO Writer idea. It seems like a mini-wiki that gets right to the meat of a project without all the bells and whistles. In my previous posts, I found ways the middle school librarians could collaborate on collection development lists. Now, I think this would be one of the fastest. I tried working at school and had problems, though, because a server error came up each time I moved from one cell to another. I wasn't sure if it was our district server having "after hours" issues or what!? I came home and tried it again and had no problems with the spreadsheet at all. I tried to link it to my blog, however, and it wouldn't work.

I tried the next day at school, and got the notice that I still needed to complete my email verification. I never received it. When I went back into SOHO, my list was gone! I'll have to start over to make it actually a useful tool. I think I'll also use a different email address. I wonder if anyone else had this problem.

Thing #16

I liked everything about this exercise! I finally got the answer to a question I was unable to verbalize until today. What's the difference between a blog and a wiki and which is better? When the tutorial explained that the difference is communication vs. collaboration, it was like a lightbulb coming on. As far as one being better than the other??? It just depends on the situation and the need.

The tutorials and videos were simple to follow but not made in a condescending tone. I copied and pasted three of my ideas in the sandbox and didn't even have to pay my children to help me do it! When technology is this doable for a technofobe like me, it makes it so much easier to try new things! I can see a middle school library wiki in our future, ladies! Think about comparing and creating lists for book orders, changes in periodicals subscriptions, and a graphic novel must-have list before our summer book order is due!

Thing #15

I was really surprised to find out wikis have been around since 1995, and we're just now hearing about them! I first thought this was something "other people" would find useful, but I'm seeing so many neat applications for wikis. I think it would be fun to have collaborative projects occuring on wikis, ranging from collection development lists, alert lists of series & sequel books coming out, creation of pathfinders between the librarian and teacher or interdisciplinary groups, warnings of books with complaints or challenges, manga and other book clubs, book reviews, and so on. The possiblities are endless. (I think our middle school group could do this so our "new mommy" can keep up with, and contribute to, the big jobs that will await her upon her return from maternity leave.)

At first, I was one of those who were afraid and distrusting of Wikipedia because of the editing opportunities. Now I just use it as a springboard for general background information and keep the author possibilities in mind. Most teachers still don't allow Wikipedia to be used as a formal source in research projects but they DO encourage students to peruse it.

I was pleased and not surprised to see our district's policies and procedures manual for library services in the sources to review. Perhaps my library pamphlet can be done in wiki form as well. I don't think I'd want it edited, but I would appreciate suggestions and comments about policies and programs in my library. The visually pleasing images that can be added to wikis will make it more stimulating and interesting for my students, too. That would be an engaging way to take care of library orientation at the school year's beginning. Language arts teachers (or the librarian) could review this wiki in the classroom and then bring the students to the library for the physical tour.

Wikis....so many options!

Thing #14

I was thankful this assignment didn't involve any new skills, thinking I would fly through without increasing my blood pressure. Well, reading all the new expectations of librarians in the 2.0 era and those to come didn't put me at ease! I realize, though, that old school ideas are best left for cheesy t-shirt lines and that librarians have to really work hard to keep up with the ever-changing information needs of the technology savvy and techno-hungry patrons of today.

I liked the article that called patrons "active and empowered users" because so many of our students and members of the community help challenge libaries with more sophisticated needs and requests, which we should accept as gentle demands. Library 2.0 to me means that there is no resting, no settling, and no acceptance of complacency. I wouldn't like to see it in my childrens' teachers' attitudes, and librarians should be held to that standard of excellence (if not a higher one). The school librarian of the future will have to be a constant student him/herself. He/she cannot be the keeper of the goods, but a risk taker with an attitude that 24/7 is not just a catchy buzz phrase to put in a mission statement but a reminder that the information world is in a constant state of change. Avoid the icebergs and get that boat rowing! Those who choose otherwise need to abandon ship and let someone else take the oars.

Thing #13

What a great idea to have a way to find your favorite bookmarked websites anywhere and any time! A very frustrated researcher must have thought of this! I loved the layout of Ma.gnolia better than Furl just because I'm a visual person who likes order and a little white space when I read. Also, Ma.gnolia's option to keep bookmarks private is nice, although I can't think of a reason educators would want to hide their great finds! I saw some neat video interview sites on Del.icio.us and thought it would be a fun thing to have potential library aides submit their own. That would sure let a librarian know who was technology savvy! I don't think teachers could submit their recommendations under comments, though, since those are usually submitted separately to encourage candor and ensure confidentiality.

I tried to think of ways to incorporate this bookmarking into research lessons for students, but I think my students are better suited for the school's databases. Frankly, so am I! Right now I'm just exploring the options. Once proficiency occurs, then I'll see about sharing it with students.

Thing #12

This assignment took me a couple of days and lots of outside help to get accomplished! I definitely was more familiar with My Space than Facebook because my girls are on it all the time. I'm having trouble with my links right now. Here's my address until I can get it to work: myspace.com/dusty_shelf .


The Ning social network was easier than all the options on My Space. I think I like it better for that simple reason: too many choices! Ditto on my linking issues for Ning. My address is mesquitelibrarians.ning.com/profile/Brenda .


I think educators need to know about social networking for several reasons. They can learn from others in the field about current issues and events in the school arena. They can also learn a lot about their students' personal lives since they all have accounts (ha!). Just starting an account like this teaches so many technology lessons, such as uploading music, videos, layouts, etc. I like the way these networks can make work fun and put lots of visuals in it to keep it lively. The Ning network seems more professional, but maybe that's because I feel safer on it for some reason than on My Space. I think that's just because My Space has had so much bad press for being abused by bad people. A library application for a social network would include a book discussion and submissions for poetry contests.

Thing #11

LibraryThing has been one of my favorite challenges so far! Instead of adding five books, I listed 25 just off the top of my head! I wish I had made tags along the way because now it will be tedious to go back and do that (if I do). I can see this being a useful tool in a school library because so many students ask for recommendations. By clicking on my LibraryThing catalog, students can see book jackets, ratings, summaries and tags to help them find suitable materials. It could also help with collection development (personal or school) by looking at other librarians' catalogs!

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=dustyshelf&shelf=shelf

Thing #10

This exercise has many neat possibilities. I can see myself using it in the library for special promotions and programs such as spelling bees, the Lone Star Reading Program, poetry contests, book clubs, and more. Some cool posters can be made with these generators. I had fun making the signs, but I had a little trouble copying the codes. I kept getting them confused with the host codes!




This silly primate came from
big-smile comic strip.




www.CustomSignGenerator.com .

Thing #9

I'm proud to say I did this assignment all by myself. I'm not going to reveal how much time it took me, but let's say LOTS! I added two feeds to my RSS: Librarian's Internet Index: New This Week and Abby (the) Librarian. They seemed interesting at the time. The good thing about adding these feeds is the option to delete if I find them tedious or irrelevant.

I tried viewing Feedster, but it was changing and not up at the time. Google's Blog Search was really easy, I guess because it's format is so familiar anyway. I like how Google keeps a consistent look about its applications. It is less intimidating to me. When I searched Learning 2.0 in Google's Blog Search, I saw the coolest thing. Quintura for Kids has a search engine that changes when the cursor is placed on tags.It finds related topics and nonrelated ones disappear. Neat stuff!

Topix was too much for me. The links connected fast, but it was just overwhelming with so much stuff! I've learned that MORE is not always better. Plus, I read two stories that had sentence fragments in them. The old English teacher in me knocks it down in the reliability catagory right away!

Syndic8 was overloaded with statistics--more so than useful information to me. I found a dead link on it, and I got into a subscribing situation where they utilized Paypal and charged "a modest fee". I immediately exited Syndic8!

Suprglue was very useful and easy. I liked the Suprtags they provided for easy searching.

I was not very impressed with Technorati from a school librarian's perspective. Too much of what I looked at had really vulgar language and descriptions, but I was looking at some entertainment items at the time. Maybe it was my poor choice, but I could never have this available for middle school students to view--especially at MY school, if you know what I mean!

Thing #8

Wow. This assignment really took me a while. First I tried the Google route, but I got too lost and switched to Bloglines. The validation went quickly, and I found the search and subscribing options pretty easy to operate. What I like most about the newsreader is the fact that, like iGoogle, I can customize and choose the information coming to me instead of wading through random news that may not fall in my interest areas at all. In my personal life, the local news source will be most important. The DMN is not always known for its objectivity, but at least the perspectives are somewhat consistent for this locale. As a librarian, I can get cutting edge information from the library-related feeds that come to me instead of me trying to find what I don't know out in the vast information world. At school, the library can steer students in a direction that provides them with valid and relevant information sources instead of allowing them to go straight to the time-consuming web surfing with which teens are so comfortable. If this old dog can try it, I think middle school students can, too!

Thing #7

I had fun on the Google applications. I liked customizing my own iGoogle page so I can see information that interests me instead of random items someone else picked out. It was actually easy for me! I also made a little Picasa album of the beautiful sunrise at our lake house at Lake Palestine. Click on and enjoy.

Sunrise at Lake Palestine Album

Thing #6 - Mosaic

This is a mosaic of my third child, Bella. She's a Pekignese and Shih Tzu mix. I used the smallest photo size option, but it still seems really pixelated. (Is that even a word?!?!) It took lots of copying and pasting to get this done, but I can see some neat projects ahead with this tool.

Thing #5 Revisited

I'm attempting Exercise B this time with a picture of the Cougars at the Tournament of Champions! Yes, they won the city championship and went on to win their first 2 out of 3 games, losing the third by only one point! What a great season!

With the help of my youngest daughter, I found the secret to changing the size of the photos. (We hope!!) It is somewhat less frustrating doing this with a helper! We'll probably be up all night trying to catch me up. She HAS mentioned that Photobucket is easier than Flikr.