Weeks 11 & 12: Social Networking

I like these last activities! For the first one I created a MySpace account. I have experience with Facebook, but I had yet to join the MySpace scene. Now I have. Once I get into it I will see how it compares to Facebook. Here is what I have so far:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=366354570

Facebook is something I have enjoyed for a few years now. I originally joined when it was for college students exclusively. It has undergone several changes and additions, but for the most part I am happy with it. I know that social networking can be good for libraries to connect with its patrons, but it is something I just do for fun and I want to keep it that way. Here is a link to it:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=71500656 but I think I have the privacy settings so that there won’t be much to see!
In the past I created a LinkedIn account, but I don’t check it very much. The purpose is for people to network for professional reasons, which was why I joined. I can see this becoming a popular site and hope to use it more in the future.

Weeks Nine and Ten Photos, Images, Podcasting, Video

So I am a little behind but I would like to have this finished by the deadline, although the staff has been kind enough to extend it. Nevertheless I will be blogging my experiences while I am actually experiencing them! Basically, I am blogging while doing the activities instead of after having completed them because I have two sets to conquer. It should be noted that I have enjoyed what I have completed so far. The Flickr activity was simple since I had a Yahoo account. I uploaded a picture of “pineapple literature” that was taken while on vacation in Hawaii a few years back. Obviously it is not a great photo but I am not a great photographer, so bear with me. Here is where that can be found:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25257238@N02/2383215230/

I have a relative who uses one of these services to send pictures of her kids, so I do have some familiarity with it and perhaps will continue posting pictures. I just don’t take photos that often so I imagine I will forget that I have Flickr before the next round of pictures is taken. But you never know!
The next activity is Podcasting. This is such a complicated procedure! Of the three activities given this time, this is the one of which I have the least knowledge. However, I have enjoyed listening to the podcasts and learning more about them. I have listened to some of the ones people in the Blue 2.0 program have posted and I must say I am impressed! I have also looked on the Internet and it’s amazing how much stuff is out there.
I do enjoy Youtube so I found this activity to be enjoyable. I used “libraries” as a search term and found a wide variety of material. I saw how libraries are using this popular medium to promote and explain its services, as well as for other purposes. I saw demonstrations of “chat reference” as well as promotions for ALA. I was pleased with what I found. Yet for mine I am choosing a Sesame Street clip about libraries only because it amuses me. I can sympathize with the librarian and the lack of communication between him and the “patron.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlkplvYdgA

Weeks 7 & 8: Play Week

These two weeks we are presented with a bunch of activities and are allowed to pick two of them. The first one I selected was the fourth activity, which requires us to check out Encore, the new catalog. I must admit I am not a huge fan, mainly because I am familiar and comfortable with InfoKat so it isn’t convenient for me to use this one, especially since I am in need of a catalog for many of my tasks. I can see Encore being successful for non-specific, general searching needs. In fact, Encore reminds me of the catalog from the local public library. As I usually have certain information and certain ways of performing searches, I prefer something where I can have limits and specifications in order to retrieve what I need. In a formatting sense, I don’t find is as useful since some items only have pop-up window options, and the window opens up to the original InfoKat record. Therefore, I’d rather use InfoKat so I don’t have more windows open on my computer.

The second activity I ended up selecting accidentally. A link was posted for Web 2.0 Winners. I started perusing through it and found many fun things! There are many categories ranging from “Digital Storage and Remote Access” to “Social Networking”. I enjoyed the “Fun Stuff” category. One in particular is a site where “true stories are told in one sentence.” It was amusing to read through the creative postings. I imagine I will continue looking through the links on this page since so far I have only viewed a few.

Activity 1: Create a del.icio.us account

Okay, I am doing this a bit backwards since my Google docs activity is already posted. I enjoy the concept of del.icio.us. It is a smart way to organize as well as make access easy and available for use at any time.

Here is mine: http://del.icio.us/CCUKBlue

Activity 2: Google Docs

These activitivies are very interesting. I had heard of the sites but have never used them nor really understood their purposes. They are worthy sites to havefor use on a public computer. Of course, the organizational aspects are appreciated too.

RSS, newsreaders and wikis

The third and fourth activities involve RSS and wikis. We created Bloglines accounts and added feeds. I found this one to be slightly more confusing than creating a wiki, but I think I figured it out and it didn’t take too much time. Perhaps since I was more familiar with wikis, that activity seemed easier. Wikis could be practical for use within an institution, since the editing features could be handy for updates, etc.

Here is a link to my wiki: http://ccandukblue.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

Instant Messaging

The next activity involves using IM. As I have been it using for years, I find this activity to be more fun than anything else. However, I know it can be a useful professional tool. I am most familiar with how it can be used for Chat Reference, which I think is a great library service. Nevertheless, I am sure there are many other ways it can be useful in the workplace and I look forward to learning more about them.