Technorati seems to be a very rich way to use all the information out there, and "in here" too. I visited Blogger Central's list of top 100 blogs. If you simply sort this list by number of fans, Boing Boing wins. I don't know anything about Boing Boing yet, but it wins.
Another popular one is LifeHacker which has an amazing array of useful information. Their How-To listings cover "turning your Nokia phone into a WiFi hotspot...", "calming down before a speech," "recover from cooking disasters" and thwarting pesky 800-number calls. I was perusing one of their links, http://800notes.com/ when my phone rang and I was immediately able to type the 800 number into that site and track the caller, learning that this 800 caller ignores attempts to be on a no-call list, and tends to call around 8PM.
A search under Internet Marketing and social media led me to http://www.doshdosh.com/ Very interesting and intelligent material about web content and the importance of “becoming an authority in your niche” helps explain to me one of the most valuable things about social media: really having something worth sharing. Doshdosh also discusses how good content is only really an asset when it is shared. Good point.
I got a bit lost in my meandering, and failing to tag everything in De.lici.ous, can't recall where I found this novel use of Technorati: to track a group of traveling & blogging students, using a prearranged tag to better access the group project. Thus the group organizer back home could access all the posts for retrieval using this unique tag. Ingenious!
I looked up Learning 2.0. in Technorati where a task of this lesson was to compare search results using tags, blog posts and the directory. For some reason, I am not understanding where these features are on the Technorati site. Here is a good reason to ask someone else in the program. When Technology isn't helping, ask a person!
Last and best, I found a video of Helene and Charles, who present the program, wrapping up for a group of over 360 participants in late 2006. How nice to finally meet the face behind the voice of Helene Blowers.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Lesson #13 -Tagging and Del.icio.us
After my tour of social bookmarking, Del.icio.us, and some related articles, I am somewhat overwhelmed. I have read that the whole point of social bookmarking is to take the overwhelm out of the internet by allowing you to filter, sort, tag and "flatten out" your old style filing heirarchy that's making it so hard to find things. The example of a refrigerator was used. ("Flattening" this heirarchical system is like being able to tell your refrigerator to put all the dairy up front, or everything with onions in it, or anything over 7 days old, on demand.) And to extend the metaphor, since it is "social", anyone opening my refrigerator could do the same.
The reading provided on the "PLCMCL2 favorites" Del.icio.us account has given me many things to consider. Social connectivity by interest, or product, or behavior pattern, is interesting but problematic, expecially in an information culture like a library. Do people want to be identified by a “personal information field” made up of preferences, as tracked by their digital devices? How might this compromise the idea of freedom of information, inquiry, or thought?
The same ability of Amazon or the library to “understand our preferences” and of Live Journal to start running ads derived from words I may write about (which it does) reminds one of “profiling”, as the term is used in a legal sense or “tracking” as applied to school children, both considered undesirable practices.
I read a fascinating article, the “Social Machines” by Wade Roush, from a link of PLCMCL2 favorites: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/14664/ The writer expresses worry that the technology be so invisible that people forget they are using it, or that it is a path of least resistance in a world that is really more difficult than that. It is interesting to observe the ways in which people find meaning in connecting with each other, however. I admire this, and am curious about it. Look at http://allconsuming.net/ which is a social networking site for sharing not just books, music, and movies but also food or products. There are many others to explore.
After some thought and some reading, I have created a Del.icio.us account, but have not decided yet how to use it. The learning - and the questions - continue.
The reading provided on the "PLCMCL2 favorites" Del.icio.us account has given me many things to consider. Social connectivity by interest, or product, or behavior pattern, is interesting but problematic, expecially in an information culture like a library. Do people want to be identified by a “personal information field” made up of preferences, as tracked by their digital devices? How might this compromise the idea of freedom of information, inquiry, or thought?
The same ability of Amazon or the library to “understand our preferences” and of Live Journal to start running ads derived from words I may write about (which it does) reminds one of “profiling”, as the term is used in a legal sense or “tracking” as applied to school children, both considered undesirable practices.
I read a fascinating article, the “Social Machines” by Wade Roush, from a link of PLCMCL2 favorites: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/14664/ The writer expresses worry that the technology be so invisible that people forget they are using it, or that it is a path of least resistance in a world that is really more difficult than that. It is interesting to observe the ways in which people find meaning in connecting with each other, however. I admire this, and am curious about it. Look at http://allconsuming.net/ which is a social networking site for sharing not just books, music, and movies but also food or products. There are many others to explore.
After some thought and some reading, I have created a Del.icio.us account, but have not decided yet how to use it. The learning - and the questions - continue.
My-Spacing Out with MySpace
To start with, let me say that this Arapaho Library site from Colorado is a good example of how social sites can be used to more-or-less seamlessly draw young patrons into libraries. Since the environment is already familiar to them, and navigation is not a problem, this is a good idea. Libraries can certainly establish a presence this way. When I entered, I was asking myself, "where is that music coming from?" until noting the embedded player via http://www.myspace.com/zune That means that now teens on the computer at home might be asked by a parent to please "turn down the music" and respond that they are "at the library." Friends of this site are everyone from Lisa See to His Holiness the Dali Lama (or a site in his honor, perhaps?) The Arapaho library site has even been "friended" by The Library Fairy, a whimsical site replete with Celtic music, Youtube promotion of storytelling-in-libraries prowess, and from there a link to a Maya Angelou Tribute page, where one can hear Maya herself recite (in her glorious voice) "Phenomenal", via the embedded music player. I have yet to decode how I too can embed audio this way, but the link is here - http://www.myflashfetish.com/music-player/ In establishing my own account, there was some trepidation. How does one navigate? What are all these different zones, and why does it seem so chaotic? Like entering a cocktail party in full swing. Attacks of social anxiety followed. Eventually I found Groups (likeminded MySpacers into money, investing, the Arts, Islam, etc) Events (geared to the zipcode you enter as you join, it tells of a Don Quixote event at Symphony Hall in Phoenix, nightlife and events throughout the valley), and Classifieds.
Later I learned that Brooklyn College Library also is on MySpace, with an intriguing link to Nikoli Gogol’s own site “by” him. (Those who have read “The Namesake” know who Gogol is…) This site, by the way, takes you on to a plethora of artists and writers who, though they haven’t written in over a hundred years, lead active lives on myspace, rubbing shoulders democratically with students.
Later I learned that Brooklyn College Library also is on MySpace, with an intriguing link to Nikoli Gogol’s own site “by” him. (Those who have read “The Namesake” know who Gogol is…) This site, by the way, takes you on to a plethora of artists and writers who, though they haven’t written in over a hundred years, lead active lives on myspace, rubbing shoulders democratically with students.
Friday, February 8, 2008
#11: That Library Thing
Investigating LibraryThing is much more fascinating than I expected. One early find is a link to the "Libraries of Dead Luminaries" where you can browse the bookshelves of people like Tupak Shakur, Sylvia Plath and Susan B. Anthony. (Found this in a post on the LibraryThing Blog.) I really didn't expect this level of ... scholarship? There is a lot of research and enlightenment to be found, besides what I expected -( who reads what I read, and what do they think about it?) I was imagining telling a teen looking for biography information on Shakur "You can browse his bookshelf on Librarything!" The next thing you know, the student has his own online library and is talking about books. Not to mention getting a more personal view of his subject. But do we know the authority behind the Dead Luminary's library; how "authoritative" it really is? (Can we say for sure these were books this person read?)
I successfully installed a Librarything widget at left, showing random covers from my library. I promise you I have read them, some recently. There is much, much more to do before I'm through with this site. I am a fan.
I successfully installed a Librarything widget at left, showing random covers from my library. I promise you I have read them, some recently. There is much, much more to do before I'm through with this site. I am a fan.
#10:Adding Image Generator Function
I downloaded an application called "Ad Slogan Generator," which is rather silly but amusing. Visitors to my site can now know the excitement of typing in a word or even a phrase and getting a variety of suggestions of ad slogans. I typed in technology and got "not just nearly technology, but really technology." Many of the results have that gee-whiz quality I associate with old 50's ads, and would be intriguing idea-starters for cards, wedding toasts, co-worker congratulations, etcetera. Unfortunately, quite a few of the slogans make no sense at all, and the layout I have chosen for my page creates a rather strange look to the slogan displayed. Nevertheless, I've accessed and used a generator in the 2.0 sense. One of the other image generators I did like was a tooth fairy letter generator, which would be lots of fun in Youth Services. I also tried to create a "Dummies" book cover, but was having trouble sending it to my Flickr account. No idea whether I am doing it wrong, but will try it again, because Web 2.0's cover made it look like fun, and she said it was easy...On to Librarything!
Friday, February 1, 2008
Always a Classic!
Another look at the Art of the Bag. I don't think this flickr application allows the use of the image for commercial purposes, so perhaps the library could not use this to promote the bags for sale.
Book Bags: True Avant Garde!
This is one of two mashup applications using the new bright book bags we finally have again. Yay, bookbags are back!
More About Finding RSS
In addition to setting up an RSS account, I investigated some of the ways to locate feeds by interest, topic, etc. I found Sindic8 to be confusing; not good for a beginner and not user-friendly although for an old hand at RSS it is probably perfectly fine. Topix.net looks like it would be useful for specific news searches or if you need current news on a topic. My search for news on the Arizona Hispanic vote, on Super Tuesday turned up over 3,800 news stories, and I have no idea how one would manage a feed like that. It is still easiest for me to copy feeds directly from sources of interest that I am currently using. I do find Technorati helpful when looking for like-minded blogs on a variety of interests.
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