Week 11: ebooks

Hi Everyone

Thanks to the Gutenberg Project I've just finished viewing an old science fiction novel by an author I loved as a kid. I'll definitely will be going back to the site to see what other treasures I can find. Ebooks provide easy access to information particularly for work and study purposes. I'm not sure about using them for recreation though. I personally much prefer holding a book in my hand to viewing a book on screen particularly if I am reading for pleasure. I can't imagine sitting at the beach with my laptop reading a book. I would listen to an MP3 version of a book on my IPod though. I think this has great potential to bring books to a wider audience.

Week 10: Podcasts and YouTube

Hi Everyone

I've just spent some time downloading and playing podcasts. I browsed Podcast Alley and added some podcast RSS feeds to my blog account and Google Reader account. Playing the podcasts in Google Reader was easy. All I had to do was click on the podcast to play it.

YouTube was fun to play with. I was very impressed with the video from RMH Library - loved the music!! It's a great way of showcasing our libraries and sharing information with clients. I draw the line though at appearing in any video!!!

Week 9: Wikis and Rollyo

Hi everyone

What great tools these Web 2 technologies are. I've just finished playing around with Wikis and Rollyo and wish I had done this course when I was teaching. Rollyo is a great tool for creating web-based searches where you control the content. What a great tool to use for directing kids to quality web sites for projects and assignments!

I registered with Rollyo and created a search roll using my favourite recipe sites. It was easy enough to add the various site URLs to Rollyo and my search for chocolate recipes (of course) yielded many mouthwatering results. It would be a useful tool to add to a library web page to direct clients to particular content.

Wikis are another great Web 2 tool that teachers can utilize in their classrooms. They have great application for on-line group projects and assignments. Libraries have certainly been busy creating wikis. They are a useful tool for the sharing of information with both clients and staff alike.

Week 8: Del.icio.us

Hi Everyone

I've just played around with Del.icio.us. I found it a great way of sorting and managing my bookmarks. I usually don't like to add too many bookmarks to my computer as the file becomes too big to manage and I forget why I added certain bookmarks in the first place. I like the way delicious allows you to add tags so you can sort your bookmarks and only view the ones you want. I just have to remember to be consistent with the tags I use!! I'm not sure about the 'sharing' aspect either. It seems to me you can waste a lot of time trawling through bookmarks that aren't all that interesting or useful.

Week 7: IGoogle

Hi Everyone

I've just spent a very enjoyable hour playing Pacman, Sudoku, Hangman and other assorted games through IGoogle. The games were easy to find and add using the 'Add Stuff' link. Unfortunately the Movie gadget didn't work properly. I also added an RSS Feed to the HeraldSun newspaper and to Taste. Once again IGoogle is a useful site for accessing all your favourite pages in one place.

Hope you all had a lovely Easter break.

I love Easter-All that wonderful chocolate!!!

Week 6: Google Tools

Hi Everyone

I've just finished playing with Google Docs and Spreadsheets. I created a few documents to which I added pictures, tables and some links. It all seemed to work well and I was able to save my work in various folders I'd created. I even had a go at uploading an existing document saved on my PC. Again all went well. It seems to be a useful tool for creating and sharing documents on line.

Google maps was fun. I typed in my address and got to view a picture of my home. The picture though wasn't current - it was at least one year old. I took a virtual walk down my street and played with the zoom feature. I even got travel directions from my current house to my old home which were fairly accurate. This would be a useful tool if you were house hunting and wanted to check out potential neighbourhoods.

Google Books was fun to use. I was able to locate some science fiction books I had loved reading as a young teen. One book cover linked me to the ebook version of the title so I was able to spend a happy half hour rereading some of my favourite chapters.

Have a happy Easter everyone!!

Week 5: My Space & Facebook

Hi everyone

I've just set up my Facebook account much to the amusement of my kids. I was amazed that I had one person (I had no idea who they were) who wanted to add me as a friend even before I had activated my account. With some coaching from my kids I learnt about walls and messaging and finding and adding friends. I managed to add my kids as friends but was surprised when their friendship networks suddenly become visible to me. No wonder this is a social networking tool!!! I suddenly had pictures of their friends plastered all over my wall!!!

After adding my kids as friends I gained access to their threads - absolutely riveting information they had posted about what they were up to. It was at this point that my kids decided to block me as a friend from their accounts - a very wise decision for all of us. Sometimes ignorance about what they are getting up to is a very good thing!!!

I also had a look at My Space and am not surprised by its popularity with Public Libraries. It's a great way of connecting with teens and letting them know what is happening in the library and wider community. I visited the Yarra Plenty Library page but it was slow to load and scroll through. I liked the music that accompanied some of the sites even though I had to turn the volume down.

It's definitely time for another chocolate - actually a hot chocolate would go down well now!!!