Well - in my wandering about looking at RSS feeds, I ran across Blog Pulse. I like this alot! It lends itself to doing searches when I'm trying to find opinions about various things. I looked for current information about the Amazon Kindle and was able to find various opinions about it.
I like Google Blog Search - probably because I'm familiar with the search format. The others seems more difficult to use with lots of information on the page. There seems to be a combination on them of blogs for RSS subscriptions along with news-type items. It all just feels like information overload to me.
Somehow with all this information available, I don't seem to have time to actually read things like books! I find myself with my laptop in my lap for most of my evenings... sometimes doing actual work and other times just getting lost in stuff. I'm not sure this is a good thing. Much as I like technology, I do think it's a double-edged sword.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Week 4, Thing 8
RSS. This is a tough one for me. Since I generally tend to look for information when I need it rather than keep track of various periodicals, I've not had much success using RSS feeds although I've tried them a couple of times. I just don't seem to make the time to look at them and read them. Maybe I just haven't found the right sites. I do keep up with CALIB and to some extent with LM_NET which seem somewhat similar. I guess I'm comfortable with email and its "in your face" nature.
I did click thru to some of the feeds with people writing blogs about various library 2.0 techniques that I found interesting but my general impression of blogs is that it's like reading someone else's diary - something I've rarely had any interest in doing.
I was interested to read one entry about the mobile internet and basically being an IP address as a human being. That makes sense to me as I'm still struggling with whether to pay what it costs to be more connected on an ongoing basis. It's hard for me though to justify the cost.
I'll keep at it, working to consider what piece of the RSS feeds would be of value to library services.
I did click thru to some of the feeds with people writing blogs about various library 2.0 techniques that I found interesting but my general impression of blogs is that it's like reading someone else's diary - something I've rarely had any interest in doing.
I was interested to read one entry about the mobile internet and basically being an IP address as a human being. That makes sense to me as I'm still struggling with whether to pay what it costs to be more connected on an ongoing basis. It's hard for me though to justify the cost.
I'll keep at it, working to consider what piece of the RSS feeds would be of value to library services.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Week 3, Thing 7
So much changes so quickly with technology. It used to be there weren't tools to do what you wanted. Now, there are way too many tools to do what you want. There are so many things available to do what you want, that it's easy to get lost in the exploration just seeing what's out there or to just choose one for efficiencies sake and ignore the rest.
I continue to be frustrated (as do many) by the fact that many of these tools are blocked by the district. On the other hand, it looks like they're beginning to figure out how to put the technological capabilities "behind the wall" in the district for safety reasons. Perhaps in the near future, things will open up. In the meantime, there are certainly plenty of technology apps available that I'm not taking advantage of.
I continue to be frustrated (as do many) by the fact that many of these tools are blocked by the district. On the other hand, it looks like they're beginning to figure out how to put the technological capabilities "behind the wall" in the district for safety reasons. Perhaps in the near future, things will open up. In the meantime, there are certainly plenty of technology apps available that I'm not taking advantage of.
Week 3, Thing 6
The 3rd party apps have changed a bit from last year. I'm still intrigued by the trading card app and thinking about how I might use it for book reviews or in the curriculum for my TA's. I also like the Name Badge idea since I'm collaborating with a teacher to create an orientation for TA's. I'd like to have them create their own name badge, killing two birds with one stone.
Last year after I stopped doing the tutorial, I created a book using Blurb to showcase my trip to China. It worked out great! I couldn't believe how professional-looking it was and how easy it was to create. Although the cost is fairly high, I can certainly see using this as a culmination of a class project on some visual topic... especially since you're able to combine text and photos. It might even be used as a fund-raising project. I'm amazed at the things that I see sell that I would never believe there would be any market for.
Last year after I stopped doing the tutorial, I created a book using Blurb to showcase my trip to China. It worked out great! I couldn't believe how professional-looking it was and how easy it was to create. Although the cost is fairly high, I can certainly see using this as a culmination of a class project on some visual topic... especially since you're able to combine text and photos. It might even be used as a fund-raising project. I'm amazed at the things that I see sell that I would never believe there would be any market for.
Week 3, Thing 5
Wow! Back again - almost exactly a year later! Better late than never. I was reading back though my blog and saw that my Flickr picture disappeared so I decided to remind myself how to do it. The picture ended up as its own entry but it's there. Onward and upward!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Week 3 - Thing 7
Anything technology related. That's a pretty wide topic!
Two things are of interest to me in the last couple of months.
1. I got a cheap 1g MP3 player, mostly to better understand how they work. I'm not big on walking around with headphones on listening to music all the time. (I guess I'm a bit old school in that it seems rude to be around others with headphones on or while talking on a cell phone.) Although I have used it to download music to, the biggest use I've found for it is checking out audiobooks from NetLibrary (through my local library), downloading them to the player, then using the player in my car to listen to books. Since I don't often listen to it other than in the car, I'm not sure this is a huge improvement over just checking out the CD's from the library but it does have some advantages... smaller device, don't have to make a trip to the library, don't have to change CD's while driving. Also, I was able to take the player recently on a long plane flight where I could finish listening to the book I was "reading". I've had the opportunity to talk to my students several times, giving them a little better understanding about the things that are available to them.
2. Sightspeed. I've been intrigued by the idea of videophones for years, hoping that someday they would actually materialize. Recently, I got a webcam at a huge discount from buy.com and decided to give the current videoconferencing tools a try. Turns out Sightspeed is pretty darn good! With it, you can record a video from your pc to send someone or you can call them up and talk "face to face", assuming they have Sightspeed and a webcam and they're logged on to the pc at the time. The technology still has a little ways to go but for using videoconferencing with family and friends who are distant is great. And even more impressive... it's free!
These are fun times we live in!! If only we can figure out how to keep up!
Two things are of interest to me in the last couple of months.
1. I got a cheap 1g MP3 player, mostly to better understand how they work. I'm not big on walking around with headphones on listening to music all the time. (I guess I'm a bit old school in that it seems rude to be around others with headphones on or while talking on a cell phone.) Although I have used it to download music to, the biggest use I've found for it is checking out audiobooks from NetLibrary (through my local library), downloading them to the player, then using the player in my car to listen to books. Since I don't often listen to it other than in the car, I'm not sure this is a huge improvement over just checking out the CD's from the library but it does have some advantages... smaller device, don't have to make a trip to the library, don't have to change CD's while driving. Also, I was able to take the player recently on a long plane flight where I could finish listening to the book I was "reading". I've had the opportunity to talk to my students several times, giving them a little better understanding about the things that are available to them.
2. Sightspeed. I've been intrigued by the idea of videophones for years, hoping that someday they would actually materialize. Recently, I got a webcam at a huge discount from buy.com and decided to give the current videoconferencing tools a try. Turns out Sightspeed is pretty darn good! With it, you can record a video from your pc to send someone or you can call them up and talk "face to face", assuming they have Sightspeed and a webcam and they're logged on to the pc at the time. The technology still has a little ways to go but for using videoconferencing with family and friends who are distant is great. And even more impressive... it's free!
These are fun times we live in!! If only we can figure out how to keep up!
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