technology #17

Technology...it's helpful for many tasks, not so for others. I've only used computer-related technology since my 1st semester in college, and I can't say that I'm a natural. I remember back when pc's were first introduced, and how everyone said that they would cut-back on paper usage. So far I haven't seen much evidence of that.

I LOVE music, and I thought the most brilliant invention for recording/listening to music ever was the minidisc player. I think it's now extinct, but it plugged into ANY source to record and was tiny enough to carry anywhere. The minidiscs were also very tiny and cute. Plus, the discs were re-recordable for up to a million times before they would break down. MP3 players just aren't the same, and nowadays one has to pay for most of the music that's downloaded onto them. On the minidisc, the music's recorded for free because it's from whatever one has laying around. But hey, what do I know.

I've also heard just recently that the MAC computer is the best system to use for the creative types. Sorry Microsoft, I'll be using the MAC in the future.

wikis #16

Wikis look like another way to find/display information, but with text only instead of an html website. It seems easy enough for anyone with little tech knowledge to use. It's a 2-way street with the flexibility of editing: great to have the freedom to do it, but not sure if what's added is true/correct. I would hope that there are back-up editors that do fact-checking, and I'm not crazy about the idea of attracting spam.

I find it interesting that libraries use wikis. I was under the impression that librarians didn't approve of wikis, especially Wikipedia, because of the questionable content added by anyone. Since it seems to be ok with libraries, I can see where a wiki site that lists a library's branch information and community events would be useful. I think it would be helpful to have links to instructions on how to use the print card machine, the computer printer, the photocopy machine, and other areas where most of the repetitive questions are asked on a daily basis. Maybe even links to maps/addresses of places nearby to send faxes, make photocopies, find notaries, get tax help, etc.

library 2.0 & web 2.0 #15

Library 2.0 to me seems to mean that libraries around the world are updating their technology. Until all of this new technology is in place and being used on a regular basis, I won't be able to relate to much of it.

I like the sound of Library 4.0 the best, because I can relate best to physical reality and an actual space to find and process information. I think the description of chairs to lounge in and the brandy especially intrigued me. I also see the point that even when libraries achieve these new changes, their work will never be done because of the speed of updated technology.

I personally don't have a problem with the way libraries have existed for the past couple of centuries, in this country at least. I will have to see these changes take place in order to believe that they will be improvements. It's just my own opinion, but I feel like identity theft needs to be addressed and prevented before moving forward with technology. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I also feel that we, as a civilization, may have more basic needs in the near future other than the use of technology in libraries. I'm pretty sure that these changes won't come without resistance.

technorati #14

Advanced search of "Learning 2.0" brought up:
-Blog posts: 6,908 posts
-Tags: 668 posts
-Blog directory: 699 posts

There wasn't much difference that I could see, except in the amount of posts found. Searching the popular blogs was more interesting because I could go directly to blogs with subjects I was interested in. I located some art and music review blogs that could be useful. Basically, it just looks like another avenue to find blogs, unless I missed the point altogether.

tagging #13

I can see that this tool is ideal for research purposes. It looks like a little personal cataloging system of one's own. It seems to save a lot of time in finding certain sites, along with help from other users' tag suggestions and comments. Reading reviews on products and issues helps me to make more sound decisions, so I see the comments feature as useful. Having access to these from anywhere adds convenience.

library elf #12

Library elf seems like it has some useful features for those who may need it. I couldn't get it to work, but it looks like I wouldn't need to use it anyway. I already get reminder emails through our system for everything, so I prefer not to double or triple them. We do get a lot of patrons who want a list of past items that were checked-out, and I think that feature on elf is ideal for them.

library thing #11

I was excited to find a few of my favorite books on Library Thing. You can see most of them to the right, under the magazine cover, and at the link http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php.

image generators #10

I liked FDToys the best, http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/. It did take some time to get the thing onto my sight. It's the magazine cover on the top right of the page. I'm not crazy about little animated people, but everyone's raving about them, so I may give one a try later. I didn't care for the other generator options.

finding feeds #9

The easiest tools to use were Bloglines & Feedster. Topix was fairly easy, but I didn't find anything interesting for Houston stories. Technorati was easy to use, but didn't give me many results for anything. By the time I got around to Syndic8, I was on "information overload"; it was the least interesting site for me; my eyes didn't no which way to look because there wasn't much delineation between areas on the pages.

Feedster did help me find a couple of promising music blogs. They look like they may have information on types of music I'm interested in, which is not easy to find. One of the music blogs, Tables Turned, even gives instructions on how to start-up a podcast radio station!

I didn't pay too much attention to other ways of finding newsfeeds because of the reason above, "information overload":P

rss feed/newsreader #8

This exercise was easy enough, and I appreciated that. I probably won't have enough time in the day to look at all the feeds I subscribed to, but I will at least attempt it. I was surprised at how many feeds are out there in the world. I'm sure that I've only scratched the surface.

photo editing #7