Saturday, June 30, 2007

week five, things 10, 11 & 12

From the instructions: Week 5: Play Week
10. Play around with an online image generator.
11. Take a look at LibraryThing and catalog some of your favorite books.
12. Roll your own search tool with Rollyo.


10. online image generators:
I created an avatar at the simpson's movie site
http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html and here it is complete with an itchy (or it it scratchy? ) tee shirt.:




Then, I tried out the horoscope generator http://www.generatorland.com/generators/horoscope_gl.php
and it came up with this:


"Chewing gum will save your life this week. • Seriously? You're wearing that? • You need a pet. Go ask someone to pet you. • You are being watched but they're really bored."

11. Library thing:

I created an account and entered some books and then felt a kind of regret about all the books that I'll never remember to enter and which i wish i had a comprehensive record of. One thing i think is unuseful about it is that books come up in various editions and I was pretty much picking one randomly, which I think means that I am only "linking" to other members who selected taht same edition, but really, it might be more effective if there was an option to select all editions of a given book, or have them included as part of a master record.

Here's my (off the top of my head) library:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/23checkout


12. Rollyo:
here's my rollyo selected sites search engine called "baby bump & beyond" for folks looking for information on just that:

Powered by Rollyo


I like rollyo, I can definitely see using it for its intended purpose, a selected search engine. I also see its potential and would like to be able to use it as a collection of webologies. If I want to see the list of sites so eone else has collected on a given topic, can I look at the sites that way? It does look like they're listed as in "these sites were searched in putting together this results list", but it doesn't look like you can get the urls from that in a quick and easy way, you'd have to click on individual results in order to get the sourch URLS.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Week four, things 8 & 9

from the instructions: Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders8. Learn about RSS feeds and setup your own Bloglines newsreader account.9. Explore MERLIN and a few useful library related-blogs and/or news feeds.

RSS, really simple syndication.

8. Bloglines is neat. I like being able to collect a variety of things of interest in one place. I was a little disappointed at how the feeds don't look like the material at the source sites. Sometimes images that were associated with text at the home sites don't come along, and some of the feeds just have a blurb and a link. However, all in all, this is a really neat tool.

9.I added Merlin to my bloglines account.

I am looking at Feedster now. Trying to set up a widget to present RSS feeds at my blog (what am I saying?)

Saturday, June 16, 2007

week three, things 5, 6 & 7

From the instructions: "Week 3: Photos & Images5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites.7. Create a blog post about anything technology related that interests you this week. "

5. Here's the link to an image that I liked. I got to it by putting in the searchterm "booklove".: http://www.flickr.com/photos/doornail243/336621006/#comment72157600375235298 I do think it's adorable .

So, even though the above linked to photo is "public", I don't see any option to blog it using the blogging tool.

However, this flickr image has the "blog this" option:


kicks
Originally uploaded by 4ever30something



I wanted to try using the blogger upload tool, so I picked this second photo with the "blog this" option .


This photo appealed to me because I used to do Taekwondo and I really loved it. I remember being a yellow belt, the belt after white, and seeing these girls practicing makes me think about the exciting progress and achievement that lies ahead for them, as well as the value of the discipline that they're experiencing now. also, makes me think of how fun it was to watch the karate kid on tv the other night. And this photo coordinates well with my background.


6. I goofed around with some of the tools for playing with flickr images. Some of them were amusing, like the montagr, and the tools for making trading cards and calendars.


Here's an image i made with th warholizer:


7. ok, to post about anything technology related: Nedra introduced me to Pandora, the "music genome project" at www.pandora.com. Pandora is an internet radio site where you can create "stations" and learn about new music. Anyone who sees this reply and doesn't yet know about Pandora, check it out: It's easy,intuitive, rewarding and free to set up an account. I love it and recommend it to anyone who likes music.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

week two, things 3 & 4

From the instructions: "Week 2: Blogging3. Set up your own blog & add your first post. 4. Register your blog and Track your progress to journey into Learning 2.0 together. "

3 &4. ok, I have set up and registered my blog, so far so good.

week one, things 1 & 2

From the instructions: "Week 1: Introduction ( official start of week June 4th)1. Read this blog & find out about the program.2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process. As you watch and listen, write down which habit among the 7 & 1/2 that is easiest for you and which is hardest. You will use your personal blog (which you will set up next) to post your thoughts about lifelong learning. "

1.
I am excited about this training opportunity. It seems like it will be a nice way to get familiar with technological forums and mechanisms. This knowledge is important; particularly to us in the field of information literacy.

2.
Easiest habit for me: Create your own learning toolbox:

When I identify an information need I do tend to seek resources to fill it. I’m curious about things and want to learn. It’s been a lifelong habit, and it works well for me, especially as I become a more efficient and effective resource finder. The process of improving and honing my skills will, of course, be a lifelong endeavor.

I’m not always as organized as I’d like to be about it, but I do keep in mind useful resources, identify tools that will help me with a given task at hand, and access and utilize them to learn what I want to learn. This can run the gamet from a practical how-to question to a philosophical or artistic one, to finding a delicious read--to understanding those I care about. My ability and drive to do this has helped me throughout my academic career, as well as in my personal life. I believe that it is (in part) my ability to create my own learning toolbox that makes the field of librarianship, where I get to work in a giant learning toolbox, and help others use the tools and create learning toolboxes a good match for me.

Hardest habit for me: View problems as challenges:

Typically, I can view problems as challenges. If I don’t find information in the first places I look, I’ll widen and vary the scope of resources I look to, or try a different method to try and solve the problem at hand. However, when the stakes surrounding the information need are very high and if the first couple of likely sources don’t seem to lead to the necessary information, I sometimes find it difficult to view problems as challenges in the positive sense. I think that this is natural, but I’d like to be able to put my best foot forward consistently order to continue to work on a problem, even a difficult or frustrating one, because I think I can be most effective that way.

I think that this optimistic way of looking at problems ties into the attitudinal habit: have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. I think that if you have that confidence, the process of solving a problem is endowed with the peaceful notion that you are doing what you can.