Thing #20
It is very frustrating and disappointing when looking around Youtube. I love the idea, don’t get me wrong, and there’s so many videos I would like to look at, but the aesthetic experience of watching a video is marred by the slowness of the internet.
I chose to watch in full a 2.54 minute clip, the one from ‘Life of Birds’ by David Attenborough featuring the dance and mimicry of the Superb Lyrebird. I love that bit of film. In that time the video paused for up to 8 seconds 42 times! It just doesn’t work for viewing videos. Once the video has been shown once, it seems to be faster the second time around. This isn’t too bad for short films, but imagine waiting for a half hour film to come in, perhaps taking an hour, then watching it after that.
Thing #21
I had trouble with Yahoo Podcasts. I couldn’t find a free player. They all seemed to need a subscription. Podcast.net had some book reviews, but clicking on the Podcast net player brought up a box without any obvious Play button. I added two RSS feeds from this site to by Bloglines. Finally Podcastalley.com came up with the goods. Clicking on a podcast brought up a player immediately and I listened to some history podcasts. I can see podcasts being useful in an educational and library context. For the sight impaired podcasts are a boon.
Thing #22
Audiobooks. This is an interesting concept. Instead of all the packaging that goes with audio cassettes and audio CDS, patrons may download material for a certain amount of time directly onto their MP3 players. This has great potential for a library service.
I looked in the Gutenberg collection and was pleased to see works by Kipling, Twain, Poe, Coleridge. Very exciting. I listened to some of the recording of Mark Twain’s ‘On the Decay of the Art of Lying’. This worked well.
Thing #23
The program has been useful in many ways. I always meant to explore what the web has to offer and this program has shown some of the various applications, tools and sites which may be useful. I found that with life commitments and work schedules that there was a lot to take in. I imagine that I will go back to some of the sites and tools which I thought may be fun to explore and take more time after the course finishes. Sites I wish to explore further include ‘Library Thing’ , Zoho , YouTube, Truveo and the Del.icio.us site.
I have mentioned a number of times that the slowness of the dial up connections and even broadband in the country hinder one’s use of the web based tools and sites. This is something which may have to be pursued.
Another concern I have is the amount of ‘stuff’ out there. People are putting everything on the web -- their photos, their journals, their pets. It’s endless. However, I like the idea that smaller special interest groups may now communicate easily across the world.
After exploring 23 things, one can only assume that there are endless sites and tools to find on the web.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
#19
Thing #19 Web 2.0 Tools
I selected Truveo, a video site and looked in the category music. Using tags I discovered many musicians film clips were on line and available. This free site allows you to join and store favourites on the site. It uses tags extensively to guide you to similar styles and trends which you may be interested in.
Just a point of annoyance. Even using the work computer, the videos display in fragments and are disjointed. Again problems with substandard ADSL passing as Broadband. This would limit the site ‘s utility in the library.
I selected Truveo, a video site and looked in the category music. Using tags I discovered many musicians film clips were on line and available. This free site allows you to join and store favourites on the site. It uses tags extensively to guide you to similar styles and trends which you may be interested in.
Just a point of annoyance. Even using the work computer, the videos display in fragments and are disjointed. Again problems with substandard ADSL passing as Broadband. This would limit the site ‘s utility in the library.
Thing #18
Zoho looks interesting. It will take some time to explore all of its features. I would like to know how compatible it is with Word. I'll try emailing to myself and seeing how it comes out. Export Word Document looks promising. At present I can see that you can centre or align left and right; change the line spacing, use a number of fonts, even add pictures.
I have inserted an image of a gulley in the Strzelecki Ranges Forest on the Franklin River.
Week 7 Thing #16 and 17 Wikis
#16 Wikis
Wikis are an interesting tool. They allow for a group of people to edit and change and build up an information base, data base, or information about anything and everything. In a regional library where the staff are scattered, a Wiki could be useful in educational tips for staff, information sharing and so on. The video was very useful, simply showing what is possible from a small task to creating an encyclopaedia.
Can a Wiki be restricted to a group of people or are they always public and subject to random misinformation? I noticed on the ‘Library Success: A Best Practices wiki’, one has to provide an email address. This is their attempt to restrict vandalism problems.
#17
I added my blog to the PB wiki and added an entry in the Favourite Music section, which said: I love a diverse range of musics from Indian pop, Indian classical, Techno, Funk, Qawwalli, Arabic, Rai. At the present I can't get enough of the haunting voice of Abida Parveen, a Pakistani Qawwalli singer. She is fantastic. I heard Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan when he came to Adelaide for the WOMAD festival. A beautiful performance on dusk after a 43 degree day. Another favourite of mine is Moroccan composer/singer Abdelwahab Doukali.
I've added a picture of Abida Parveen.
Week 6 #13, #14, #15
Thing # 13
I listened to the podcast and had a look around the Del.icio.us site. I also watched the video. I like the idea of having bookmarks available on any computer. I already do this through ‘ikeepbookmarks’ recommended by a colleague many years ago. The idea of tags is interesting and perhaps that is the benefit of Delicious. I will have a closer look at this. Tag sharing also sounds useful.
Thing #14
Results for searching for ‘Learning 2.0’ varied. A keyword search brought up 11,731 entries, a tag search, 972, and the blog directory 829. The popular blog, searches and tags page wasn’t really my cup of tea-- celebrities I don’t care about, mainly.
Thing #15
Thoughts on ‘icebergs’. I believe that libraries are attempting to move with the times, embracing new technologies and ways of finding information.
However from my experience in a small country library, the service is largely geared to the providing of books and I believe that is what the reading public are most interested in. The older population want to borrow Large Print fiction and others fiction mainly. Non fiction is a smaller percentage. Yes, there are some younger members who will use the internet to find information. However, at present, the technology, i.e., the on-line catalogue, is used primarily for ordering in books from other branches. Books still rule in a country library.
Availability of ‘hard to get’ journals through the web, access to library materials across the world are all exciting possibilities for libraries in the future. I like the idea that we don’t just cater for what the majority want and that there is a possibility to provide almost everything, even in a country town. We are not there yet. One big obstacle in remote places in Australia is that while the technology changes, the infra structure that provides the information flow is sub standard. For example, it is impossible for me to work on Web 2.0 at home. I need a book to read while the pages load. I find the slowness frustrating and annoying. And yet it is remote communities, far away from the large public libraries of the city who need the access the most.
I listened to the podcast and had a look around the Del.icio.us site. I also watched the video. I like the idea of having bookmarks available on any computer. I already do this through ‘ikeepbookmarks’ recommended by a colleague many years ago. The idea of tags is interesting and perhaps that is the benefit of Delicious. I will have a closer look at this. Tag sharing also sounds useful.
Thing #14
Results for searching for ‘Learning 2.0’ varied. A keyword search brought up 11,731 entries, a tag search, 972, and the blog directory 829. The popular blog, searches and tags page wasn’t really my cup of tea-- celebrities I don’t care about, mainly.
Thing #15
Thoughts on ‘icebergs’. I believe that libraries are attempting to move with the times, embracing new technologies and ways of finding information.
However from my experience in a small country library, the service is largely geared to the providing of books and I believe that is what the reading public are most interested in. The older population want to borrow Large Print fiction and others fiction mainly. Non fiction is a smaller percentage. Yes, there are some younger members who will use the internet to find information. However, at present, the technology, i.e., the on-line catalogue, is used primarily for ordering in books from other branches. Books still rule in a country library.
Availability of ‘hard to get’ journals through the web, access to library materials across the world are all exciting possibilities for libraries in the future. I like the idea that we don’t just cater for what the majority want and that there is a possibility to provide almost everything, even in a country town. We are not there yet. One big obstacle in remote places in Australia is that while the technology changes, the infra structure that provides the information flow is sub standard. For example, it is impossible for me to work on Web 2.0 at home. I need a book to read while the pages load. I find the slowness frustrating and annoying. And yet it is remote communities, far away from the large public libraries of the city who need the access the most.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
#12 Rollyo
I have created a search roll in Rollyo for haiku and haibun web sites which I like. I copied the searchroll information from Rollyo and pasted it here, but it doesn't seem to do anything. The instructions for doing this are quite long. I went to Dashboard on the blog site, but there didn't seem to be anything called 'template' so I gave up for the moment as this is optional anyway. I'll come back to it when I have time.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
#11
I have made an account and put five of my favourite books in it so far. The idea of linking with people with similar tastes and sharing information about books may be interesting. Again, time is the problem.
#6 epilogue
After having trouble with the slide show I was determined to make it work. So I've made a very short slide show and this link apparently takes you there.
View slideshow
Here's the full URL just in case the link doesn't work
When I have some time I'll look at some of these other free utilities. A few of them may be useful. Who knows?
View slideshow
Here's the full URL just in case the link doesn't work
When I have some time I'll look at some of these other free utilities. A few of them may be useful. Who knows?
Thursday, October 18, 2007
#10 Image Generator
This mosaic was created using mosaic maker at FD Toys http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.phpThe images are buildings by Gaudi, the celebrated Spanish architect. This is a small mosaic but you can include up to 36 photographs. I had trouble importing the mosaic with the URL, but saving to the hard drive and using 'add image' worked.
1. P1030672.JPG, 2. p1030606.jpg, 3. Inside Casa Batlló, 4. Casa Milá
Friday, October 12, 2007
#8 RSS and #9
This exercise took a long time. Most of the websites I vist or enjoy did not seem to have an RSS or related feed. Sometimes they had a button, but when I attempted to add to my feeds, was told no feeds were available. One problem solved after viewing the rest of the 'lessons' was that if 2 potential feeds appear, you must choose one.
In some ways I prefer 'ikeepbookmarks' where I store websites I am interested in. I look at these when I am in the mood.
Attempting to find sites of interest gave me information overload. Here we are working in libraries, with thousands of books, papers, archives, and the net has just added to the amount of written material and images to be sifted through. I sometimes think that Henry Miller was right when he said 'read less, not more'. I'm sure most of us pass on with a wish list of books we wanted to read, but simply ran out of time. I started my blog with a haiku, perhaps one of the shortest poetic styles developed. There's something in that.
Anyway I did subscribe to 10 feeds and 3 co-workers blogs after all that.
For #9 I subscribed to some State Library feeds
In some ways I prefer 'ikeepbookmarks' where I store websites I am interested in. I look at these when I am in the mood.
Attempting to find sites of interest gave me information overload. Here we are working in libraries, with thousands of books, papers, archives, and the net has just added to the amount of written material and images to be sifted through. I sometimes think that Henry Miller was right when he said 'read less, not more'. I'm sure most of us pass on with a wish list of books we wanted to read, but simply ran out of time. I started my blog with a haiku, perhaps one of the shortest poetic styles developed. There's something in that.
Anyway I did subscribe to 10 feeds and 3 co-workers blogs after all that.
For #9 I subscribed to some State Library feeds
#7
Technology
In form 6 I bought a small blue Olivetti typewriter. I did love my typewriter and used it for typing essays when I was at university. I couldn’t believe the advantages computers offered in their ability to allow for revision, changing bits about and refining writing. Out goes the white-out. In with the delete button.
The internet has also opened up many possibilities for sharing information and fast communication although here in the bush you need a book to read while waiting for pages to load. This is frustrating when you consider that it’s often people living at a distance fror academic institutions, government bodies and so on who would benefit from a fast and cheap link- up.
I have to add that one of the best inventions is recorded music. Listening to music from around the world and from different eras is one of the most enjoyable pursuits. Live music of course is fantastic but when you can’t see and hear, hearing is damn good.
In form 6 I bought a small blue Olivetti typewriter. I did love my typewriter and used it for typing essays when I was at university. I couldn’t believe the advantages computers offered in their ability to allow for revision, changing bits about and refining writing. Out goes the white-out. In with the delete button.
The internet has also opened up many possibilities for sharing information and fast communication although here in the bush you need a book to read while waiting for pages to load. This is frustrating when you consider that it’s often people living at a distance fror academic institutions, government bodies and so on who would benefit from a fast and cheap link- up.
I have to add that one of the best inventions is recorded music. Listening to music from around the world and from different eras is one of the most enjoyable pursuits. Live music of course is fantastic but when you can’t see and hear, hearing is damn good.
#6
This has been a disaster. I spent 1 hour loading picture URLs into the slide show, only to be told that one or more was wonky. But which one?
I switched to mosaic making. Kept it simple. 4 pics. But once again, when the mosaic was made, no pictures appeared. After a day's work this is very taxing. Perhaps I'll try again some time. I think the hours spent on this particular area is enough for the moment
I switched to mosaic making. Kept it simple. 4 pics. But once again, when the mosaic was made, no pictures appeared. After a day's work this is very taxing. Perhaps I'll try again some time. I think the hours spent on this particular area is enough for the moment
Friday, September 28, 2007
#5 continued 28/9/07
I am not confident about this photo sharing. The photo I chose had a copyright sign and all rights reserved, but also said it was a 'public photo'. It is very confusing and I hope that I have observed the correct protocol.
Thank you whoever you are.
Thank you whoever you are.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
#5 Pictures
I visited this place - Medersa Bou Inania when I was in Fes in 1995. It is a beautiful building. The walls are carved with intricate arabesques and scripts and the wooden domed ceilings hang with carved wooden stalactites.
Photo from Flickr Public Photo taken by zeugmtp 23/9/96
Catching up
OOps, didn't realise that we were supposed to blog about the course and refer to the 'things' so here goes:
Week 1
#1 and #2 Discovery/Life Long Learning
I listened to the podcast and the 7 and a half steps. There's no point doing this at home on dial up in the country. Far too slow and disjointed. There's a lot to take in. Jargon to be learned. See how it goes.
Week 2
#3 Making a blog seems fairly straightforward. Wondering how much to say. Working in a library and looking at the net you realize that we are flooded with text and images and information.
#4 A few hiccups with remembering passwords, but the blog seems to be registered.
Week 1
#1 and #2 Discovery/Life Long Learning
I listened to the podcast and the 7 and a half steps. There's no point doing this at home on dial up in the country. Far too slow and disjointed. There's a lot to take in. Jargon to be learned. See how it goes.
Week 2
#3 Making a blog seems fairly straightforward. Wondering how much to say. Working in a library and looking at the net you realize that we are flooded with text and images and information.
#4 A few hiccups with remembering passwords, but the blog seems to be registered.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
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