Thursday, November 1, 2007

Summary of Thoughts (Thing #23)

Well, I have finally come to thing #23. There were many great things that I have learned. I really enjoyed Flickr and mashups. I have thought of some great ideas of things that I can do with photos that I can use for Christmas gifts. I am not sure if this had really changed my lifelong learning goals; however, it has given me some insight to what is out there.

I was definitely surprised to see that so many people are out there doing a lot of these "new" technologies. Also, I was very suprised at how much of their own work people are willing to share with the general public.

I liked the way that the program was presented. Self paced learning is great for an organization like ours. We were all able to do a "thing" or two whenever our busy schedules will allow.

Downloadable Audio (Thing #22)

Downloadable Audio is such a great idea for people that like to listen to books on CD. I had no idea that a lot of these items were out there. I took a look at overdrive and net library. Overdrive seemed to have more of the popular fiction titles. Net library seemed to have a lot of non fiction items that could be used for teachers and military employees. I could not understand the idea of being on a hold list for a item. If the item is available in a digital format, then why would there be a wait period for it?

I might be able to use some of the titles for information. However, I do not think that I would be able to read a whole book from my computer screen. I very much prefer to curl up with a good book. There is just something comfortable about being able to flip through a real book. I do think that I would use an audio format. I already like to listen to music and/or books in the evening when I am unwinding. I do wish that they had more of a selection of non-fiction titles.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Locating Podcasts (Thing #21)

Since I received my ipod last Christmas, I have regularly used itunes to search and podcasts. I find it amazing that there are so many different podcasts out there. There really is something for everyone. I think that using podcasts for storytimes and booktalks is really cool. It enables libraries to reach an audience that they might not be able to reach otherwise.

Discover YouTube (Thing #20)

I think that YouTube has some incredibly funny things. It is great for entertainment. It is also a bit scary. I think that the scarriness and entertainment part overshadows what could be the possible educational side.

Yahoo Answers (Thing #19)

What amazed me from the web 2.0 awards list was how many different catagories there were. I remember back in the forth grade playing the first version of Oregon Trail on the old Apple IIc. It was mostly text and mechanical bleeping sounds. Now, there are so many different things that you can do. It is amazing. I took a look at yahoo answers. Although I would not seek medical or personal advise in this way, I still found it very interesting. People can ask any question and then wait for someone to answer.

Online Productivity (Thing #18)

I have previously used google's spreadsheet productivity program for a collaborative genealogy project that I had worked on. It was very user friendly. I liked how I could do my work and then send it on to the next person to work on. Everyone that was working on this project could participate even though we used a variety of productivity packages.

I was thinking that google's online productivity program might also be useful to me to use for my schoolwork. I normally bring in my flash drive so that I can work on my school homework during my breaks or lunches. Instead, I could set up my homework and work on it from both home and work.

Sandbox Wiki (Thing #17)

The Maryland Libraries Sandbox wiki is a nice idea. It is another way to get suggestions and recommendations. However, I did not really care for the format. It would have been hard to find specific information is that was what I was looking for.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Wikis (Thing #16)

I really found the idea of wikis to be interesting. I took a look at several library wikis and can see the use for them. It is a great way for people to share their own wealth of information. I like the thought that anyone can add to the information alrealdy in place.

I did a search for genealogy wikis and have already found a few that I have bookmarked. I plan on using them to share information and to provide stories about my ancestors.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 (Thing #15)

I really like the thought of web and library 2.0. Being able to share and collaborate information and ideas has many implications. To tell you the truth, I am a little bit leary of putting to much of myself onto the internet. I think that while the sharing is expanding, sometimes people forget the privacy implications. There are way to many scary people out there.

Technorati (Thing #14)

I am not to sure that I completly get the idea of this site. The way I understand it is that it will place HTML code inside of your blog so that web searches will be more likely to pick it up. Will it also create "hot links" (like I have seen in other blogs) that will lead me to other websites for more information on that subject?

I don't think that I will use this much because I have not become interested in the whole idea of blogging and reading other people's blogs.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Tagging (Thing #13)

Maybe I just do not get it, but other than accessing your favorites from any computer, I really do not see the point of tagging. I do not really see this being used for research assistance.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Rollyo (Thing #12)

I set up a rollyo search for some of my favorite genealogy sites. Although I can see the use in rollyo, I was not very impressed with the results. I can run a similar search at google or yahoo. Also, with a mass search engine, the results might come from sites that I might not have thought about putting into my rollyo. I do not think that I will be spending any more time there.

Library Thing (Thing #11)

When I first took a look at library thing, my initial impression was that it was similar to Amazon's rating system. As I looked further, I found that it had many more useful tools. I really liked the list of tags that it placed on the books that I added. This gave me some good ideas for other books that I might be intersted in reading. Also, I liked to see the list of books that other people have. With this information, I have made a list of other books that I would like to read.

Online Generator (Thing #10)





I had fun playing with this image generator at DoppleMe. I could not figure out how to make my image bigger in my blog. I made a figure for each member of my family. I think that they turned out kind of cute. I do like that I can take any of these images and use them as an avatar.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

My Meez (Thing #9)



I had fun looling at all of the things out there. Creating my meez was fun. I had never heard of Merlin. I think that I might take a look at Merlin from time to time to take a look at some trainings.

I took a seminar at the MLA conference in May about virtual libraries. I tried to join second life, but I did not have the right graphics card to participate.

I did not look much into the searches for RSS feeds. Again, I did not feel that I was going to find much of a use for them.

RSS Feeds (Thing #8)

I have to say that I do not find that RSS feeds would be particularly useful to me. I understand the thought wanting to have the information sent to you quickly and as soon as it is available. However, I still find enjoyment by browsing the web for information.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Technology (Thing #7)

Everyone that knows me already knows that I am a genealogy nerd. In my spare time (when I have any), I love to weed through and transcribe old records.

Anyway, something that I find really cool in the genealogy world in www.familysearchindexing.com. As you already might know, the mormons are the keepers of millions and millions of old records. They have already indexed the 1880 US census and are now starting on the 1900 census.

What is really cool is that people from around the world can go the the above site and volunteer to transcribe. When you sign up, you are immediately sent a batch of records and a template. This is a great way to give back to the genealogy community.

Mashups (Things #6)


I really like playing with my boys photos. I made a photo cube, an Andy Warhol type picture (isn't it neat),and a big picture made of dots.

My boys loved creating the trading cards with their own pictures on them.

I did not know that so many things could be done with your own photos. I think that I will use the calender creater to make some Christmas gifts for family members.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Exploring Flickr (Thing #5)

I have used photo sharing sites before so that friends and relatives could easily view newer pictures of the boys.

I enjoyed Flickr because it had photos of all different subjects from all over the world. It is very easily searchable. I really liked that I could view photos from a certain location. For instance, I clicked Denmark on the map and viewed some beautiful pictures from Copenhagen. I also did a search of my hometown and saw photos of some landmarks there. I had a lot of fun searching photos.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Lifelong Learning Habits

I returned to college in February. During my first class, I spent time thinking about what traits a non-traditional student should have. I now find that many of the traits that I had thought about were similar to the lifelong learning habits.

The one trait that I think is the hardest for me is to view problems as a challenge. I sometimes have the ability to make problems a lot bigger than they are. I am learning to budget my time better so that I am not as stressed out.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Blog set up...

This is the second blog that I have created. The first blog was set up to show my online genealogy friends and family what recent resources and cool items that I had found.

However, this blog is being written to share my thoughts and experiences during the time that I am completing 23 things.

I'll keep you posted.