Thing #17

So I was "playing around" in the pbwiki and was not having as much fun as I thought I should. Maybe the learning curve is steeper for me and this app. I love the blog format, it is so user friendly and "pretty" while the pbwiki is boring and not as user friendly thus far. I tried to add photos and that didn't work. So I eventually just posted a comment to my initial comment on my page.

Thing #16

I first visited the Bull Run wiki. If I wanted to edit I needed to request access. Other than the edit tab, it looked like a regular webpage. The Book lovers wiki was "prettier" but similar a format. The ALA New Orleans wiki used the same format as Wikipedia and that made it have a familiar feel to it.
It seems that there are many 2.o tools that allow very similar applications. I created a "group" for my book club on my social networking account and made it so all members could edit. We can discuss the books, meeting times, other stuff and theoretically edit each other's comments. So this application is not a wiki, but has similar qualities. It doesn't seem like you would use a wiki unless you wanted it very open and available to the public.

Thing #15

Learner and user centered library media centers was what I saw a lot of in these 2.0 articles. Maybe it is because I began and finished my (Library) MA in the last 5 years, but these qualities are very much a part of my library and media center. I am always asking the kids to request materials if they can't find them in the LMC. And more often than not, I'll go out and buy the resource or novel for the student. If they want to read it and it fits our LMC needs I am very much for that. I do the same for staff.
I also related to the budget transparency discussed in an article. I am very open with what I have to spend and how it gets spent. I keep my budget spreadsheet on the main server so that anyone can open it and look at it if they wanted to. It is very simple and straight forward so that anyone can read it and see where the LMC budget is being spent.
I am also the Webmaster at our school and I like being able to update things like links and add trial database codes for student use. This lets them "use" the LMC anywhere.

Thing #14

A Technorati search for Web 2.0 resulted in pages and pages of related blogs. I read on article on Mashups about different Internet service depending on global location. The article described how many social networking and video sites are either limiting cancelling access in countries with little broadband capabilities. The writer argued the point that all global users were not having access to the same thing. In other words a different Internet depending on location. MySpace is creating a "lite" site for users that don't have faster bandwidth or broadband access. Interesting article...
I went back and searched celebrity gossip and wasn't suprised that TMZ was the first result. However, I was suprised by the rest on that first page - hadn't heard of any of them. Interesting how many people have opinions about perfect strangers and feel they can write a blog about them.

Thing #13

Carol has been singing the praises of delicious for a few years now - and this class finally forced me to check it out. FANTASTIC site - I should have listened earlier! How cool to be able to take your bookmarks w/ you wherever you go. Many a night I am at home trying to get to something I bookmarked at school, but can't find it and ultimately have to wait till I get back to work. I see lots of potential for this site.

Thing #12

Here's my search roll
http://rollyo.com/lschachet/schachets_favs/

I could see teachers using a search roll tool for specified research. If you really wanted to narrow down a student's online options this would be the way to go. The downside would be the time it took me to figure out how to link my list to my blog. The upside would be the ease and simplicity once you have that process down. Plus the search process would be quicker than searching each site individually. I find it hard to break the habit of using a quality database though. How can one busy individual find all pertinent sites for their students to search, when they have excellent databases at their disposal?

Thing #11

The LibraryThing site is fun. I have already been using a similar site called www.goodreads.com I'm used to its interface, so I prefer it based on only that. I'll have to spend some more time on Library thing to check out all of its features.

http://www.librarything.com/home/lschachet

I really like using Goodreads with my friends that are readers. We can discuss books, share reviews or tease each other for what we have read. It's fun :0)

Thing #10

One of the English teachers uses a word masher like this one I created. Hers is from a site called wordle and the kids put in English vocabulary related to the Holocaust. It look pretty cool when finished.

The Big Huge Labs site was fun. You could spend hours there creating fun posters, photos, mashups, etc.

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

Thing #9

I took a look at Technorati, it was ok. Since I can search from Google reader or from bloglines, I don't think I need to go to an additional site to search - just yet. I'm sure it has applications for a savvier user though.

I also went to the sites I normally visit and just added them to my reader. That was very simple. I added 2 music sites from the Bloglines set up and now my unread/inbox/updates (Whatever it is called) is full. So I'll take my google reader account a little slower and just add blogs I really love.

I also found newsfeeds at websites - very simple.

Thing #8

I LOVE RSS and can't believe I didn't use this before! I love the organization and simplicity of having everything I want to read about it one place! I have now added the RSS feeds to the reader and I get a very timely update in a nice organized package. So COOL! I am already using this in my personal life - just reading more about the things that interest me. I'm thinking I could easily add professional journal-type RSS feeds to my reader to make it more work - related.
As far as schools using this technology, not sure yet. I would say that a Social Studies teacher could have their students create accounts and follow current event feeds. That may be a problem for kids who don't have internet access at home if it was a homework assignment. (Yes we have lots of those even here at Webber.)

You can create your own font!

I found a fun website on a blog I follow. It lets you make your own font. You just print a template, write in your font, scan it, download to your computer and then add to your font folder. Very simple and fun. The only problem is the font won't show in email or on other computers unless you have added it to those. It will print out in documents though. www.yourfonts.com Plus it is FREE!!!