Week 6-Things 13/14/15

OK. I've given up on weekly blogs- it's been so busy. Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is just two weeks away. I'm fitting my Web 2.0 explorations into a more realistic timeframe. Even though several weeks have gone by since my last post I will simply declare it week 6 and expound on things 13, 14, and 15. Tagging and the Del.icio.us bookmarking site are the first items on the agenda. Adding tags will simply categorize your info and help interested readers find your blogs. Knowing what tags to use is the key. Del.icio.us is a bookmarking site that will help you organize your bookmarks and which also features new sites of interest. I had opened a Del.icio.us account prior to this assignment but had never done much with it. It's a great organizational tool, and one of these days I'll transfer some of my many bookmarks into the site and use it more frequently. Honest. But right now the system I use on my computer works so well for me I haven't had time to change it over. Seriously though - it's a great site to know about and one of these days I'll find myself using it more. Technorati has become one of those bookmarks that I'll add to Del.icio.us someday. I found this site to be a great place to discover blogs of interest and to view breaking news stories. Another site to add to my growing list. The final task for this week was to read a few perspectives on Web 2.0. Several of them were already dated (from 2006). The Horizon Report of 2008 however was extremely informative. It spoke of current trends (grassroots video and collaboration webs, mobile broadband [one billion phones for 6 billion people!!] and data mashups. It also touched on coming trends - how technology is changing scholarship as we know it. It also proposed tha the gap between student and faculty understanding of technology is widening. Thus the need for endeavors such as this. Library 3.0 here we come!

Week 5- the next few things...

Well, it's really week 6 (or is it week 7 by now?). It's been very busy in my library- students researching non-stop and a fall book fair to boot. I've been playing with the Web 2.0 tools as directed- I checked out online image generators and Voice Thread. Both were things that might be useful for some future unspecified project. The bulk of my time this past week or two was spent exploring the Web 2.0 Awards sites. There are 174 sites in 41 categories!! I explored sites in Books, Music, Education, Travel, Video, Visual Arts, Bookmarking and more. In fact I find myself stopping by to check out different sites whenever I have a spare moment. There are so many sites...so little time! I'm fascinated by it all.
Of interest: The October School Library Journal has an article titled 10 Tips About 23 Things by Helene Blowers. It's interesting to learn the history of this endeavor. Although the article is aimed at those hoping to administer their own 2.0 program there were a few thoughts I took away from it. I like the suggestion that participants devote 15 minutes every day to "playtime". This is one way to learn about some of the tools while enjoying the journey. I also agreed with the thoughts expressed about encouraging group discovery. I'm alone in my journey- no one else is doing this tutorial at the moment. I'm the only one in my group. It would be more fun to have companions to discuss your discoveries with and to talk about what works and what doesn't. I'm hoping a Web 2.0 class will begin before I've finished this tutorial. Then at least there will be others in my group and I won't feel so forlorn.

Week Four- More Exploration

This past week I discovered RSS feeds. So much information- so little time. I can see the appeal- all the news you want at your fingertips. The fact that you can check at your convenience to see what has been updated is great. It's just that finding the time in our busy lives to visit these sites and read the posts can be a challenge. Much of my time at work is spent working on the computer. When I'm at home I prefer to be involved with other things. I did set up my bloglines newsreader account and I did subscribe to some library blogs and library related post though. I can make time at work to check in occasionally. At any rate- thing number 8 and thing number 9 have been explored. Speaking of checking in- I call every night to find out if the court needs jurors. So far I've only needed to report one day. Only two more weeks of uncertainty and then I've done my civic duty for the year. It will be a relief to be able to plan ahead and not have to worry about whether or not I'll be going to work.

Week Three- Things Explored

I've begun checking things off my list. Thing 1 and thing 2 (here's to Dr. Seuss) have been accomplished. Ditto thing 3 and 4. (although I'm still figuring out how to properly display my avatar). Thing 5 and 6- done. So on to thing 7- a blog about something technology related. Hmmm... Well, I recently acquired an iPod. It's loaded with some great music. But it has a mind of its own and I haven't quite figured out how to make it play the songs I want. I think I'd like to download a book on tape and some new music. Apparently I'm unable to load new items onto the iPod without losing the old. A bit of a dilemma. Still I'm having fun with it and can see why so many people enjoy having them. My next technological challenge is loading some computer files onto our new external hard drive. I'm sure it's not difficult- it just takes time to figure out the process. Time- such a precious commodity in our busy lives. I'll be spending more time indoors now that the cold weather has arrived. Only the beets and carrots remain to be harvested. Then I'll put the garden to bed until next spring.

Raven About Web 2.0

I've begun my journey of exploration into the Web 2.0 tools. I'll register this blog and create my avatar. The next nine weeks I hope to post weekly to this blog with my impressions and questions. I'm not able to plan my life more than a day in advance for the next month though. Tomorrow, for the very first time, I begin jury duty. I call each night to find out if I'm needed the next day. So, for the month of October, uncertainty reigns.

Autumn Has Arrived

Yesterday was the Autumnal Equinox. The snow is creeping down the mountains and the leaves of the birch trees have turned golden. Today we awoke to our first frost of the season. I'll have to go say goodbye to the garden. There's a sense of sadness in the air- the light is disappearing and winter will soon be upon us. Fall has arrived.