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.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
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!!!
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!!!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
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!!!
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!!!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
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!!
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!!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
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!!!
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!!!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Week 4: RSS and Feedreaders
I finally know what an RSS feed is - I think. I liked the video from The Common Craft Show as it presented information on RSS feeds and readers in a format I could understand. I also found some useful videos on You Tube on using Google Reader and other readers.
After having played around with RSS feeds for an hour or two I think they are a useful way of easily accessing your favourite information in one place. I think you need to exercise some caution in what you subscribe to though, otherwise you can still waste an awful amount of time scrolling through stuff.
I decided to go with Google reader only because I already had an account with them. I found Google Reader fairly easy to use . I even managed to subscribe to the following feeds:
Herald Sun newspaper
HLA Blogs
Movie Reviews
Movies Coming Soon
Latest Recipes from Taste.com
Recent Australian Publications from Libraries Australia
Top Recipes from Taste.com
When viewing my feeds in Google Reader I found the list view better than the expanded view. I could quickly see what information was listed and there was much less scrolling which I preferred.
One difficulty I encountered was locating the link to the RSS feed on web pages I was interested in. In many cases it was located right at the bottom of the page amongst other links. I also had problems adding ALIA feeds to my reader. I got a error message when I tried to copy and paste the URL's from their RSS page into Google Reader. I'm not sure why this happened? Maybe you have to be signed into Alia to access these feeds?????
It's now time for another chocolate!...or two!!...or three!!!
After having played around with RSS feeds for an hour or two I think they are a useful way of easily accessing your favourite information in one place. I think you need to exercise some caution in what you subscribe to though, otherwise you can still waste an awful amount of time scrolling through stuff.
I decided to go with Google reader only because I already had an account with them. I found Google Reader fairly easy to use . I even managed to subscribe to the following feeds:
Herald Sun newspaper
HLA Blogs
Movie Reviews
Movies Coming Soon
Latest Recipes from Taste.com
Recent Australian Publications from Libraries Australia
Top Recipes from Taste.com
When viewing my feeds in Google Reader I found the list view better than the expanded view. I could quickly see what information was listed and there was much less scrolling which I preferred.
One difficulty I encountered was locating the link to the RSS feed on web pages I was interested in. In many cases it was located right at the bottom of the page amongst other links. I also had problems adding ALIA feeds to my reader. I got a error message when I tried to copy and paste the URL's from their RSS page into Google Reader. I'm not sure why this happened? Maybe you have to be signed into Alia to access these feeds?????
It's now time for another chocolate!...or two!!...or three!!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Week 3: Library Thing
Hi Everyone
I've just spent the past hour adding some of my books to Library Thing. I think I got carried away with the thought of finally being able to organise my ever growing collection of books into some order. I've been buying books since my late teens and have never been able to throw anything away. As a result I have books everywhere - on shelves, in cupboards, even outside in the shed. While I love the thought of using Library Thing I think it will take me years to record all the books I own. Maybe by the time I'm 80???
I've just spent the past hour adding some of my books to Library Thing. I think I got carried away with the thought of finally being able to organise my ever growing collection of books into some order. I've been buying books since my late teens and have never been able to throw anything away. As a result I have books everywhere - on shelves, in cupboards, even outside in the shed. While I love the thought of using Library Thing I think it will take me years to record all the books I own. Maybe by the time I'm 80???
Week 3: Image Generator
This is a mosaic I created using Flickr and the mosaic maker from Big Huge Labs. The photos were taken when my husband and I visited Europe for 3 weeks in 2007. I had never been overseas before (does visiting Tasmania count?) so this trip was very special. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. I'm already making plans for our 30th!!
Oh... time for another chocolate!!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Week 2 - Using Flickr
This is a picture I took of Tower Bridge on a recent holiday to Europe. My husband and I spent 3 days in London and I absolutely loved the place. London is such a beautiful city with so many places to see and things to do. It's also an easy city to navigate as the public transport system is so quick and efficient. I can't wait to go back again!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Register your Blog
Hi Everyone
My name is Janice and I've just rewarded myself with a yummy chocolate for having successfully created my first Blog!! I've bought myself a box of chocolates and I plan to have one each week as a reward for having learnt something new.
I'm a library technician and I work in a Health Library. I really enjoy my work and I am looking forward to playing around with Web 2. in this course. While I've never used Facebook or My Space I'm familiar with these sites because of my kids. My kids love these social networking sites and use them constantly to stay in touch with friends. They found it very funny when I told them I would be setting up a Facebook account. In their eyes I'm much too old to have any friends let alone be networking!!
I love the 'learning by doing' focus of this course. I now find that it is not enough to read about something new, I really have to play with it to learn how to use it. It reminds me of the way my kids play with a new computer game. They never read the instructions, they alway dive straight into the game. While I'm busy reading the instruction booklet they have set up characters, created cities and fought their first skirmish. They have lots of fun and learn far more about the game than I ever do.
I plan to follow their example and have fun.
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