Assignment #10 Final Thoughts

Kiera,
Thank you so much for putting this together for us to do. I know it took a lot of effort on your part, and yes…it took a lot of effort on our part as well. This really was an excellent assignment.

In my opinion, this activity was well worth the effort. I have learned a great deal about 2.0 Technology and yet I know it is just the tip of the iceberg—even though I have been accessing the internet for years.
I am reminded of what my older brother told me years ago when I was debating as to whether I wanted to spend the money on a newer , better computer and to pay for internet access each month; I had been using the public and/or academic library computers for my internet access.
My brother said, “Sis, if you don’t have internet access in your home to use all the time, you will be left behind in this world. You need access all the time and anytime.” Yes, just a couple of simple statements that I really took to heart and I am so glad I did. Our world has changed dramatically from the time of my birth and will continue to change dramatically throughout my life. I can only imagine what my two great-nephews will be experiencing when they are my age; they are now 2 ½ and 18 months.

What is difficult is that once you learn one technology skill and feel like you are totally in the know…it changes and something new/better replaces it. Case in point: Social Bookmarking. We (and I do mean all of us collectively not just librarians) will need to continually learn and re-learn in order to survive and function successfully in this world.

Assignment #9 Podcasts, Videos, Audio DL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr2x3MFjtUc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgVAU6P9vlo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awKfM5YWgCc

Never thought discovering all the pups on You Tube could be so much fun; took me a long time to decide which ones to post. Can you guess what all three videos have in common! Doxies!!!! :-)
You Tube is great--for all ages.

Podcasting is a whole inservice in itself. This deserves much more time than I have right now to give it. Creating small podcasts could be a way to give students mini library lessons when coming as a class, or letting kids know what homework assignments they missed. Many uses.
One site I found and really liked is...
http://education.podcast.com/show/5025/Learn-Spanish-Survival-Guide/
115 Teaching Episodes....FREE!

Joined and now have a membership to NetLibrary.
Liked viewing (through Bell): Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish and The Scarlet Letter (which took me back to my late High School years and early College days). I will use this membership.
http://heb23-9c.blogspot.com/2010/01/9c-audiobooks-or-end-is-in-sight.html
http://www.netlibrary.com/

Assignment #8 Online Apps and Tools

Zoho Acct:
http://writer.zoho.com/home?serviceurl=%2Findex.do
Used Zoho word processing to write a short summary about Precious; saved under name of Precious. Software was easily used, just as any other word processing document.

Google Docs:
Templates liked:
http://docs.google.com/templates?q=last+will+and+testament&sort=hottest&view=public
Simple Legal Will
Last Will and Testament

http://docs.google.com/templates?q=texas+living+will+&sort=hottest&view=public
Texas Living Will

Question: Will these templates (filled-out) stand up in court?

Assignment #7 WIKIS

Signed up for a WIKI account.
Added Entries to: Favorite Animal; Favorite Vacation Spot; Favorite Book
http://heb23-favoritethings.wikispaces.com/

WIKIS are a lot of fun. Wikipedia is a cool site to introduce to kids. Just make sure they understand the concept of a WIKI.
*Interesting assignment would be to have kids compare/contrast Wikipedia to WorldBook.

Continous Improvement: Library Mission; could open a WIKI for generated responses from kids. Wonder how that would go? It's an idea.

Assignment #6 Social Bookmarking

Just love it! Absolutely love it! I have used the traditional (out of date) Favorites on my web browser for years and it is so exhausting when you have 246 sites marked. I am constantly moving things around to organize the list, deleting to make some stand out more readily--but then adding more to the list because I have found another site that JUST HAS TO BECOME part of my list. Who knows, I may read them all some day.
It is like becoming a hoarder but with websites not physical items. :-)

This is a great tool for teaching and sharing with others. I like the fact you can come up with your own verbage for tags too. A very useful site.

Specifically: Del.icio.us
Like that you do not have to have an account; it's a choice.
Went to the site; scrolled down to find an interesting piece "Volcano That Shut Down Europe"; clicked on this a couple times; found 3 tags: volcano, saved, history. History was the best tag; history took me to some awesome pics of the volcano billowing smoke and I watched a video on You Tube available through another site that I accessed directly from the delicious site. Read some comments made by others and was able to reply to their comments too. Neat stuff!
http://delicious.com/
Direct Access to the Volcano:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/18/volcano-shut-down-europe-pics/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
Created my own Del.icio.us account and added 2 urls. Find me at...
http://delicious.com/yelp.ette1965
My Tag: dachshund;
Tags from others who access my chosen site: dachshund; pet; dog; dallas

Technorati:
Blogs relating to “icelandic volcano” (0 blogs found out of 1186673)
Posts relating to “icelandic volcano” (123)
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/04/iceland-volcano-eruption-forces.html
Great pics, You Tube and basic info.
Popular Tags: Interesting to note that volcano and iceland (ic) were not in the list for the month.

Future of Libraries: Totally different from what we have always known.
If you don't keep up with the constant changes you will be lost in a society taken over by technology and technology users.

Assignment #5 OIG/LThing/Rollyo

This was a fun exercise with many images to choose from; easy to do. I can see where kids and adults could really get in to playing with them--a great tool to spur creativity for the up-coming artist, journalist, and advertiser.

http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/Lizmeister http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Lizmeister
Again, this was fun and easy to do.

Rollyo: Good site. I was afraid of this one; I heard it could be a bear to deal with but I guess I got lucky. No problems. Interesting too.
http://www.rollyo.com/index.html
http://www.rollyo.com/explore.html?rollterm=out+of+print

Out of Print Rolled by Lizmeister
Yep! I'm Blogging.

Assignment #4 RSS Feeds

http://www.bloglines.com/myblog

I had a lot of fun with this assignment--especially in the beginning. Some of the websites I usually read do not have any feeds; that was a surprise. However, I was pleased to find several feeds that I did want to add to my blog.

I became frustrated and disappointed that many URL Feeds which should take me directly to the site seem "broken." The information is given, but not in a format I would consider readable. I am keeping these URL's, so others can see what I am unhappy about. Why does this happen?

I have found some feeds that are perfect too. It was exciting to find School Library Journal feeds. After I finish this project, I do believe I will try to get these feeds on my email at school.

I like the search engine for feeds--very quick and useful.

Here are my feeds that I believe are "broken:"
NOTE: I have discovered now (upon revisiting this site)these feeds are working; they were not when I added them to my blog. ??????????

ALA Recent Press Releases
http://www.ala.org/apps/xml/pressreleases_top10.xml
Washington Office Press
http://www.ala.org/apps/xml/pressreleases_washoff.xml
B&N Top 10;
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/rss/rss_cds2.asp?pid=8400
B&N Review List;
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/bn-review/rss_cds2.asp?PID=22472
B&N Author Audio Interviews
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/rss/mtw.xml
Instructional Technology Update
http://www.esc11.net/82395117104216/Lib/82395117104216/_RSS/Blog53024.xm Bloglines/News
http://www.bloglines.com/rss/about/news

Here are my feeds that work perfectly:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/DilbertDailyStrip
http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibraryJournal-BestBooks
http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibraryJournal-Casey/stephensTheTransparentLibrary
http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibraryJournal-BookReviews
http://feeds.feedburner.com/PublishersWeekly-ChildrensBooksNews
http://feeds.feedburner.com/PublishersWeekly-TrendsInBooksNews

Assignment #3 Photos and Images; Peaceful World

While searching for a black and tan Miniature Dachsund, I was totally disappointed. I could not find a suitable image to represent my amazing little girl in all her glory. Not one picture showed the quintessential beauty and elegance of my special pup.

So, I decided to search "travel" and found some beautiful photos of Alaska.

It was in my mind to blog about my desire to take an Alaskan trip some day. I have thought about this for years now, but it is a rather expensive trip no matter how you go about it. I need to save up the funds, and with great thought choose my time so that I may get the fullest delight from the trip.

Serendipitiously, I came across this photo--which steared me in a whole different direction of the globe. Look at the glory, peace and beauty God has created for us to enjoy. This to me is an absolutely stunning picture of the heavens and sea. My words fail me to express the feelings evoked upon seeing this picture. Surely, God willing, another trip awaits me.

Assignment #1&2;Just Another Day in the Life of Me

Well fellow librarians,


Today, I am actually Blogging! This is something I have never done before and actually find it to be rather exciting. Upon completion of our 23 activities, I will have a better understanding of the technology world. For this assignment, we are supposed to tell about ourselves. So, I will jump right in to talking about me.


I am basically a happy person; I like to smile and have a hard time not smiling. Smiles are catching and actually a gift one can give to another--to help make one's day a little bit brighter and better. As I grow older and go through the many experiences life brings, I find that putting on a smile does wonders.


In my younger years (20's and 30's) I used to be very extroverted; I was talkative to anyone who would listen and was always wanting to share my life stories and events. However, as I get older (now 45) I find myself to be more like my Father and Mother--quieter and not as talkative. Enjoyment and peace are found in the quiet, as well as listening to others talk about all their fun experiences.


With 23 years in education behind me and in the middle of my 24th year, I have discovered I have become somewhat of a "homebody." Recently, I decided to get out of the house and do more things. So, for one idea, I am going to try-out bowling. Even though I am not a "Bowler," and will need to get over the idea that people undoubtedly will see me strike-out on many occassions, bowling has so many great characteristics I plan to give it a try:


1. It is a safe sport and will give me some exercise.
2. I will have an opportunity to meet new people.
3. The atomosphere will be a fun one--with people laughing and of course smiling!
4. The climate will neither be too hot nor too cold.
5. Music will always be in the background.


So if anyone does indeed read this blog and is interested in bowling with me, you have my number. Please give me a call. What fun there is awaiting us.


My Basic Background History:


Upon graduating from highschool with honors, I went to the University on a fully paid Academic Scholarship. Throughout the years, college was so much fun, I just could not seem to get enough "schooling." I have the following degrees and certifications:


Master of Library and Information Science
Bachelor of Science


Library Certification--All Levels
ESL Certification--All Levels
G/T Certification
Seconday Certification: English (Major); Reading (Minor)
Elementary Certification: Engligh (Major)


I taught 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade English and Reading for 10 years, and am currently in my 14th year as a teacher/librarian. I have made the right choices in my career; I don't look back. I am very happy to be part of the educational process.


Have a great day everyone!