#23 (Week 9)

I am glad I could finish this program. It was very worthwhile, though I did not have the time to really devote to each section that I would have liked. I enjoyed learning about wikis and blogs the most. The RSS feed was also very interesting and I could see using all these technology in my professional work. I would say that the program was overall very good in making me aware of some of the new technologies, though I wouldn't frame it as assisting in my life-long learning. The sections relate to tagging was probably the most interesting and unexpected. I need more time to consider the real value of the tagging systems, though I can see how users might like having their own system, especially for personal use. That OCLC is promoting this type of technology is extremely interesting and something we need follow in the profession. I also enjoyed checking out UTUBE and I will use Library Thing.

I think this program could be improved with more sessions to introduce the first few lessons. Also, the interfaces have changed while some of the directions have not, and for mid-level professional, more instruction is needed. At least the instructions should be more explicit. I found that several of the sources we reviewed lacked really good instructions.

I would be interested in this type of program again, though, I would prefer more concentrated effort on a particular topic, especially design of the blog, RSS feed, and wikis. Some of the other areas were less relevant to my work or in my personal life.


Thanks for offering this program.

#22 (Week 9) Ebooks

I regularly download ebooks to my IDOD, which is great way to listen to a good story while driving or traveling, or anytime really. I don't really like the way the catalog arranges the audio book collection. It would be ideal if we could create a browseable feature, showing all of the audio books on the shelf. I frequently browse on the first floor, but a digital stacks experience would be better than just a regular catalog search. I was unfamiliar with the worldelibrary. Libraries need to provide better access to sound recording of this kind. Itunes has a good enough selection of the NYT best picks, but the cost is high, and it is even worse in the books stores.

21 (Week 9), Podcasting

I have a an IDOD, which I use for music, video, audio, and pod casts. I looked at the three resource sites for locating IPOD, but I found that it was easier to use the search feature on bloglines, rather than subscribing directly from the other services. There are a number of interesting broadcast out there, as well as some good resources for libraries. I looked at a podcast of a conference on scholarly communication.

Here is my blogline url
http://www.bloglines.com/public/danelle

#20 Week 9, UTUBE

I think this program is very interesting, though the quality of the film is rather poor, and the images flash to quickly, which makes it hard to focus. I think that this tool would work well for students and faculty, if the film captured is slow enough to actually watch. I looked at documentary short films specific to Woman Suffrage.

Here is the link to the film I found interesting, though as I said it is a bit fast paced.

#19 (Week 8) Library Thing

I really like this tool, and I can see how libraries short on cataloging staff might use this service. It is great for building a bibliography. You need to be careful in selecting Amazon, as you will not find most academic books. I added five books that I use regularly in my research, and I will go back to this service. The tagging system is also interesting, though, I am not sure that it would that useful for me, but if I shared my list, certainly it could be. Most of the books were held by 5 or so users, but every academic library in the U.S. has copies. This might be a good service to show students, and give them an assignment to share book reviews in electronic format.

here is my link to my library

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=danellemoon

#18 (Week 8) Online Tools

I reviewed the Zoho Writer's, which is a very interesting tool. If you have a blog and you want to add content, this program would work very well. I created two PDF files, which I thought I could export through my blog, but something is not working right. I saved the San Jose State Tree Exercise as PDF, which you can't use on the blogger. I created a document using Zoho, but I don't see how it loads to your blog. I tried this in Zoho, but it does not appear in my blog, and I am not able to import through my computer files. Does anyone have any solutions? If you can't import these web tool documents, what is the point?

#17 (Week 7) Wikis

Okay, I figured out how to post my blog to the favorites, though it took me a while to figure out how to do it. I am sure that this whole process is much easier than my experience so far. Time to learn the ropes is the issue. I already posted my thoughts on the value of wikis in #16, and have no other comments.