Blogs and Wikis!

And again...I get to teach people about two of the most awesome, most versatile tools in the Web 2.0 toolbelt - blogs and wikis!

I'm excited to see what y'all come up with today! Post the link to your blogs and wikis in a comment below!

ARR!!!

Yesterday was one of my favorite days. Not my birthday, not my anniversary, not Friday...it was Talk Like A Pirate Day!!!  Usually, I think made up holidays are kind of silly, but this is a great one!  I know I'm a little late on this, but in case you're looking for some pirate lingo to throw in your conversations, check out this clip. (please note: it's rated roughly PG)

 

I was particularly excited about Talk Like A Pirate Day this year because, in November, we are going to be holding the Library Jubilee - which just happens to be pirate-themed!  Check out the all-star cast of presenters and some fun pirate-y resources as well: http://www.esc12.net/libraryjubilee

It's September!

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month! Observed since 1987, this is a time when the American Library Association and libraries across the country remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all. Library cards are FREE and bring you a world of opportunity— no matter what your age. A library card is your ticket to free public programming, computer access, a wide variety of books, and great internet resources such as informational databases and homework help – all for free!

Studies show that children who are read to in the home and who use the library perform better in school and are more likely to continue to use the library as a source of lifetime learning.

Check out your local public library this month, and if you don’t have one, you can get a card at the Waco library and take advantage of the internet resources. All you need to get a card is identification and proof of address. Click here to find out more about getting a card in Waco.

Here are a couple of websites with promotional materials that you can use:

• I Love Libraries
• ALA

 Download The Smartest Card poster.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Blogs, Wikis, and Widgets - oh my!

Today, I get to do one of my favorite things - spend the day with a group of librarians learning about technology. Today, we're focusing on blogs and wikis, how to create them and how to integrate them into the library. Can't wait to see what they come up with!

Post the link to your blogs and wikis in a comment below!

Britannica Widget

Week 4 - Thing 9 - Useful Blogs

This is another hard part about RSS - finding blogs that are worthwhile to me. There are many many blogs out there, and while they all may be very wonderful, only a few of them are relevant to me. This part is definitely a trial and error process. If I stumble across a blog address while reading something library-related, I'll often go to it, browse the latest two or three postings, and then decide if it's something I could see myself reading often. I also check the frequency of posting and the date of the latest posting. If it hasn't been updated in a while, it's usally not worth it to me to bookmark.
Then, I'll check out the list of blogs that they follow. If a blog is interesting to me, odds are the blogs that person reads have a good chance of being interesting as well.

Blogs I like:

Naomi Bates's YA Books and More
School Library Media Activities Monthly
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman - nothing to do with libraries, but check out the Black Heels to Tractor Wheels story - it's SO addicting!
Tweendom

I've got a ways to go...

Week 4 - Thing 8 - RSS

I have a love/hate relationship with RSS. The love part is easy - it comes to you! Most websites now have an RSS features to them, and as Sandra pointed out, even EBSCO offers an RSS feature that can keep you up to date. They offer a journal alert, which will alert you anytime a new issue of the journal or magazine comes out and provide links to it, and a search alert, which will alert you as new information that fits your specific criteria of your search is available.
RSS can save time since you don't always have to go out and check sites for updates, they come to you in your RSS reader (as the Common Craft video points out).

HOWEVER - You still have to check the RSS reader (I use Bloglines, when I actually do use RSS). I have Bloglines set up as a widget in my igoogle homepage, but the problem is, I hardly ever check my igoogle homepage. So...I think I need a better system...

I do like my Bloglines though, because, even if it says I have a number of unread postings, I can just say "mark as read" if I don't have the time to read them! I'm working on keeping my listserv subscriptions under control at the moment, but I think after I've got a handle on that, I'll start working hard to keep up with one or two blogs via Bloglines.

Think Before You Post

Has anyone seen this video? Its kind of scary and has quite a sinister tone...



What do you think?

Week 3 - Thing 7 - Technology

I've been immersed in Camtasia for the past few weeks. I will be conducting a staff training session at Region 12 to help staff members learn to use this amazing program. I am completely in love with Camtasia! The possibilities are endless! Video tutorials that can be posted online for your customers to view on their own time...that's customer service. I'm in the middle of taking a course in online teaching, and making a video lesson with some kind of tablet software, or recording your voice along with a PowerPoint presentation, can really enhance the quality of an online course and appeal to the auditory learners. I can see many applications for libraries as well. Quick tutorials that demonstrate how to log on to the different databases, how to conduct effective Boolean searching techniques, how to use the advanced search feature of your library's catalog. You can even add in quizzes and surveys to measure your viewers comprehension or collect their opinions.

The software is so easy to use too! All you need is a microphone and a computer. You can buy the full version of Camtasia, or you can download a free 30-day trial from the TechSmith website. There is also a shareware version of this screen capture software called Jing that is worth checking out. It does the same stuff that Camtasia does, just not as much. Jing does have a feature that allows you to take custom screen shots (like the Tech Smith product - SnagIt, which I also am completely addicted to) to include in handouts and PowerPoint presentations.

Fun stuff!

Week 3 - Thing 6

I have a soft spot for fun gadgets, like these mashups and other online applications developed with inspiration from Flickr.

I made a trading card with FD Toy's application:nothing too thrilling, but fun, nonetheless.

I created a postcard with Delivr and sent it to my friend who is teaching in Korea this year. Saved tons on postage!

My favorite is probably the Rasomizr, though. I remember discovering this application during a reference class I took in library school. I was completely distracted for the whole class period. I love that it changes the pictures every time!


ransomizr

Week 3 - Thing 5

I love Flickr! There are so many talented people out there and I love looking at what they've shared with the world. I used to wonder why people would use Flickr. I had Facebook for sharing my photos with my friends and that worked just fine for me. Why would I need to put them on Flickr for my friends too? But as I explore the site more and more, I see that it's not just a place to upload pictures of your birthday party or picnic for your friends to see. It really is a creative outlet as well, and a clearinghouse for great images!
The Creative Commons search allows you to remain legal, and ever since I've found out about that, I'm addicted! I can't wait to try making a powerpoint like the example on Kim Cofino's blog.

Week 2 - Thing 4

Twitter isn't for everyone. I did find that I was MUCH more of a lurker rather than a poster. When I first started using Twitter, I got my account set up, and added the TwitterFox application in my Firefox browser window. I think might have been my downfall. Because I wanted to keep up with the tweets, I added it on my home computer as well, and that made things difficult. If it marks it read at home, it might not mark it read when you log on back at work.

It was also VERY distracting, I found. I would be working on something online, and then all of a sudden, a tweet would pop-up in the corner of my browser. Of course, I had to go click on it and see what it was, and then I'd find other tweets I hadn't seen and some of them would have links, so I'd click on those, and you can see what that can lead to...

The key to Twitter, in my opinion, is to find the right group of people to follow. It can be an extremely beneficial tool to get short pieces of information quickly. But if you haven't found the right community, you won't get information that you can use, and this application can simply become a distraction. Finding that community takes time, and time is something I don't have much of at the moment. I might explore this method of communication again later down the road. The other side of Twitter is contribution. I'm not much of a contributor, so it doesn't seem like it's a good tool for me to use. It was kind of fun to play with for a little while though!

Week 2 - Thing 3

I'm already a little behind! But I really had fun making my avatar. I got to combine two things I LOVE - penguins and books!

I'm enjoying getting to know y'all and see your creativity in your blog names and avatars. I'd encourage all of you to experiment with your blogs - with upload images, changing the theme, etc. Make it yours and adapt it into whatever you want it to be!

A little embarrassing to admit, but I had trouble with the directions for getting the avatar into a blog posting. Did anyone else using blogger have trouble? I finally had to save it as a jpg file and then just upload it the same way you would upload any image file.

2.0 at Region 12 - 23 Things

Today kicks off the Region 12 edition of the popular Web 2.0 online discovery course 23 Things - 2.0 at Region 12! I'm very excited about this course! There are all kinds of fun tools and toys to learn about! Web 2.0 is all about collaboration and I'm looking forward to learning from the other participants as we go along.
I'm a little bit worried about information overload - I'm very prone to trying to do too much and not succeeding at anything. My goal for this course is to figure out one or two things that work best for me that I can integrate into my professional life right away. I already use some of the things that will be covered, but I want to learn how to use them better and in more exciting ways!

I started this blog back when I began at the service center (January), and tried to establish Duck Tuesday for myself. However, life and work got in the way, and Duck Tuesday (and really all posting at all) took a two-month break. I'm excited be keeping up a blog again. I still like Duck Tuesday, and might have a few more duck books to share, but I want to branch out and share other books as I find them. I'll start next week with a few of my recent favorites, but it'll still be called Duck Tuesday!

Web 2.0 Playground

Don't Panic! It is still Duck Tuesday, but with a twist. Today I'm featuring:



Today's post comes from wet, humid, dreary Houston. BUT - here in the basement of the Houston Public Library, its all fun and games - education style! We're learning all about the cool Web 2.0 technologies available to the public for FREE and how to use them in an educational setting. So far, we've discussed wikis and blogs, and there are endless other cool tools. Here are a few of my favorites:

• imagechef.com - this image creator is copyright friendly and absolutely amazing! Upload your own photos, or use stock symbols and change colors, insert your own text, and generally manipulate to create the perfect image. For icons to banners (both displayed above), imagechef.com is your one-stop shop.
• wordle.net - I could play with this site for hours. Copy and paste chunks of text into the text box, and wordle will create a tag cloud for you based on frequency of word usage. Great tool for showing students how much they use the word "I" or passive "was" in a composition. Also great for analyzing speeches (presidential or otherwise). ALSO great for just playing around - you can manipulate wordle to create a customized tag cloud (see wordle advanced!)
• commoncraft.com - "In Plain English" explanations of various Web 2.0 technologies. Might be a good tool to explain things like "blogs" and "wikis" to skeptical administrators or teachers. Very amusing.
• ransomizer - Another visual toy that I am addicted to. Might not really have any practical use, but its SO much fun.
  
  According to the guy who created it, "Ransomizr grabs the last bunch of single-letter images from the One Letter Pool on Flickr, arranges them into an array, and waits for you to type something in the entry blank. The result looks just like an old-school ransom note, and may be copied and pasted from here into the page of your choice."
  
  As you can see, fun times in Houston despite the traffic and rain and general homesickness. More later!
  

Duck?

Yesterday, I spent blissful afternoon with an open purchase order at Barnes and Noble. At the ESC, we're hosting a session entitled "Great Literature Picks for All Ages" in which we, the education specialists, will a Cliff's Notes version of recent literature and make recommendations for how to use the books in schools. Though I am not a "specialist," the invitation to participate was extended to me due to my library connections. And I just couldn't resist the allure of an open purchase order to Barnes and Noble! I was able to get a few of the books that I've read recently and really enjoyed, a few that I've been wanting to read but just haven't been able to yet, and some completely new serendipitous finds that I'm super excited about! I couldn't help but think, this is exactly what we did in Library School...book talks! I'm so thrilled at this opportunity to do what I love most, talk about books :-)

Today's book was one of the serendipitous finds. It's called Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of Little Pea, Little Oink, and several other popular children's books. This book tackles optical illusions in a really fun, real-life, kind of way. It's a conversation between two people who disagree on the animal depicted in the picture. The picture is the same on every page, while the scenery around it changes while the two parties try to convince each other to see things their way. Not quite a profound work of literature, this is definitely a fun read that will teach kids to really think about what they see, and exercises their creative vision.

Sample pages:

The Duck of the Irish

In honor of the day devoted to green, leprechauns, shamrocks, and all things Irish, I decided it would be really fun if there was an Irish duck book. But I looked and looked, and could find NOTHING! If I were a children's book author, I definitely would have capitalized on this holiday a long time ago, because I just love green, and because there could be great potential for a duck/leprechaun friendship to steal the hearts of children everywhere!

But instead, I did find this:
And so, today is a tribute to one of my most favorite professors of children's literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), Elizabeth Bush. She kicks every class off with a Duck Question. This question usually has something to do with the subject of that day's class (non-fiction, award-winners, graphic novels, etc) and the answer to the question will help us be smart at librarian cocktail parties, she says. If you're late, you do not get to try and answer the Duck Question. You always want to be on time. Everyone writes their answer on a piece of paper and drops it into Betty's Christmas gift bag, and she draws until she gets a right answer. The owner of that right answer receives a duck! I am the proud owner of four ducks, three of which I earned for answering questions correctly, one of which sports a nifty cap and gown, and holds a diploma and was given to me upon my graduation from library school.
Betty is a phenomenal school librarian, an enthusiastic and energetic library school professor, and in her spare time, she writes for the Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books, which is housed in the basement of GSLIS. The Bulletin only reviews recommended works, so they are a great resource! She is a quirky, witty writer, and I always love the books she reviews.

So, here is today's Duck Tuesday book, reviewed by Betty for the Bulletin:


Whatever you do, don't you DARE tickle me here! and of course, tickling is the first thing on the reader's mind. With a patch of fur for a belly, how could they resist! Betty describes the book as "the tactile pleasures of Pat the Bunny meet the comedic style of Mo Willems' Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus." This snarky duck is hilarious! His protests against the tickling mirror that of many kiddos...they say "No!" and they squirm, but in the end, they might reconsider. The book itself is visually very appealing - "yellow floor and a steely blue background against which his milky white body, expressive yellow eyes, and bright orange bill and feet writhe in fits of contagious laughter (EB)" I remember this book being one of our regulars in the circulation flow at Urbana Free Library, and I'd stop to read it every time!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Duck! (seriously, look out!)

That's right! "Duck" and cover because this week's edition of Duck Tuesday features flying ducks! I stumbled across this delightful little guy on Amazon.com this week:
He flies AND quacks! What better way to illustrate a duck book than with visual aids and sound effects! And here's the perfect book to accompany such a fun toy:

Super Duck by Jez Alborough

Part of the Jez Alborough Duck series, this book features Goat, Sheep, and Frog (Duck's friends) and their quest to launch Goat's kite into the air. Duck shows up at the last minute, and of course, when Duck is around, things always go comically wrong! Can Super Duck save the day and his friend Frog??? Bright, colorful, action-packed illustrations command, making this story great for reading aloud, and the rhyming couplets are reminiscent of Dr. Seuss (and you know how I enjoy Dr. Seuss!). Such a fun book!

In other news, I get to help with Weather With Rusty today and tomorrow! Spring Break is somewhat of a slower week around the service center since at least half of our schools are off, and its much easier to get discouraged when there aren't people to help and conference rooms to support. Roxanne once passed on a piece of advice that really rings true at the moment: if I get discouraged in my day-to-day routine at work, just do a videoconference, watch some kiddos learn with realizing that's what they're doing, and it'll remind me of the larger purpose behind what I do. It's definitely time to see kids again!