Box.net - Online Storage
I found this site useful and I have used it. I created an account and I have invited members of the church's Worship Team to join so we can share the lyrics and chords of the songs that we are learning as a team.
In view of it's application in the library context - it would be great for many of the different teams e.g Y.A Librarians and Children's Librarians in terms of sharing activities amongst ourselves for our teen clubs to created a shared "group" resource. At the moment we can do this via N Drive - but this would be another way in which we can share information as well.
Would I recommend it to library patrons - absolutely!
Catch you again soon!
Jesus Freak!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Finishing Web 2.0
Well, I have taken a little while to sign of the last part of Lesson 6 - only because I really wanted to explore another library site to see what they do with FaceBook. I thought that I would check out Christchurch City Libraries to see what features they have on their website. I noticed that they have a Library blog for customers to use to commmunicate to other patrons about the books they have read or anything that may be of interest to people who use this site.
They also provide patrons with the opportunity to download Audiobooks - a feature that I know that we will be adding to the new Auckland Library website.
They had a link to Flick on their website and on their Home Page they had a "category Cloud" which is a great tool to interact and engage with anyone who may be wanting to find a quick way to navigate your way around their website.
At the bottom of their Teen's Page I noticed that they had a link to MAXOS Music so the web designers have thought about the types of links that Young Adults would use.
Patrons could submit feedback info such as the NZ Post Book Awards "Have your say" on the website.
I didn't see any shortcut link to "Facebook" or "Twitter" like we now have on our website.
When answering the question, "What would our customers get out of Facebook?" I am sure that they would appreciate the opportunity to be able to connect with people "online", view their photos, and participate in various "gimmicky" tasks such as Farnyard and Treasure Island. I am of the opinion that these types of activities are for people who have too much time on their hands, or don't have a life!
Rarely do our library customers ask for Facebook. They are more interested in using Bebo. Personally I prefer Facebook to Bebo. I like the layout of the site better and I find it a place where there are more people I know to connect with.
Twitter is also good as you can "follow people" and when people add stuff, you can instantly pick up from where you left off last time. On T.V recently they likened Twitter to a postcard becuase 140 characters are about the smae number of characters that you would be able to reaslisticallt fit on a postcard - good analogy!
"What can Facebook do for us as a public library?" Good question and I am stiull trying to figue that one out. It really is just like and email but you can limit who you want to hear from, because you have to be "invited" to become a friend on Facebook to communicate!
At the moment it is free to use Facebook so if we have the opportunity to have a conversation to some-one who has not yet started this "social networking buzz, then this would be the better way to go. Having a shortcut to FACEBOOK, hopefully our patrons will find it much easier to access a social networking site and they may even convert from using Bebo! I believe that having FACEBOOK on our Computer Desktop also assists in re-inforcing that libraries are still at the cutting edge of "forefront" of the new computer age. If we are using the site regularly, as librarians, then we will also be more likely to promote the benefits of Facebook to our patrons.
I also thought that the tags "Community Services", "Business", "Learning" were a really good idea. Again the designers had thought about the different types of "patrons" using the site, and provided quick links to useful websites to suit these users.
Well that's about all I can think of at this point in time. It's getting late and it's time for my final "sign out!"
Until next time......
Jesus Freak
They also provide patrons with the opportunity to download Audiobooks - a feature that I know that we will be adding to the new Auckland Library website.
They had a link to Flick on their website and on their Home Page they had a "category Cloud" which is a great tool to interact and engage with anyone who may be wanting to find a quick way to navigate your way around their website.
At the bottom of their Teen's Page I noticed that they had a link to MAXOS Music so the web designers have thought about the types of links that Young Adults would use.
Patrons could submit feedback info such as the NZ Post Book Awards "Have your say" on the website.
I didn't see any shortcut link to "Facebook" or "Twitter" like we now have on our website.
When answering the question, "What would our customers get out of Facebook?" I am sure that they would appreciate the opportunity to be able to connect with people "online", view their photos, and participate in various "gimmicky" tasks such as Farnyard and Treasure Island. I am of the opinion that these types of activities are for people who have too much time on their hands, or don't have a life!
Rarely do our library customers ask for Facebook. They are more interested in using Bebo. Personally I prefer Facebook to Bebo. I like the layout of the site better and I find it a place where there are more people I know to connect with.
Twitter is also good as you can "follow people" and when people add stuff, you can instantly pick up from where you left off last time. On T.V recently they likened Twitter to a postcard becuase 140 characters are about the smae number of characters that you would be able to reaslisticallt fit on a postcard - good analogy!
"What can Facebook do for us as a public library?" Good question and I am stiull trying to figue that one out. It really is just like and email but you can limit who you want to hear from, because you have to be "invited" to become a friend on Facebook to communicate!
At the moment it is free to use Facebook so if we have the opportunity to have a conversation to some-one who has not yet started this "social networking buzz, then this would be the better way to go. Having a shortcut to FACEBOOK, hopefully our patrons will find it much easier to access a social networking site and they may even convert from using Bebo! I believe that having FACEBOOK on our Computer Desktop also assists in re-inforcing that libraries are still at the cutting edge of "forefront" of the new computer age. If we are using the site regularly, as librarians, then we will also be more likely to promote the benefits of Facebook to our patrons.
I also thought that the tags "Community Services", "Business", "Learning" were a really good idea. Again the designers had thought about the different types of "patrons" using the site, and provided quick links to useful websites to suit these users.
Well that's about all I can think of at this point in time. It's getting late and it's time for my final "sign out!"
Until next time......
Jesus Freak
Thursday, May 27, 2010
MP3 and Music Downloads Exercise
I haven't got and iPOD yet, but my husband got one given to him for Christmas and he is loving it! He has downloaded lots of songs to listen to when he goes to the gym!!
I had a look at a couple of the sites listed and have already told my husband a whole lot of songs that he can download onto a CD for a 70 year old friend of ours who loves his jazz - free stuff - wahoo!
The first site I visited was Amazon.com. This was really easy to navigate around and there was a list of music genres to choose from so it is quite easy to see what is available in each genre. Because I chose "Christian" as a genre, there was too much selection but I did see a couple of artists' albums that I would probably download being Fred Hammond and some jazz titles such as Easy River Drive by Grover Washington Jnr, Original Jazz Classics and a free sampler of Jazz Legends.
The next website I looked at was AmieStreet.com
This one, I felt was even more user friendly that Amazon.com. The tags along the top gave you options such as " Music you love", "Top 25 Playlist", and "Create your own playlist." As a new browser I found these tags straight forward and easy to understand. It had a drop down menu with all the different music genres amd the How? for Creating a Playlist, on the R.H.S of the website a useful guide for a novice like me.
Click "Options" button
Click "Add to playlist" next to any song
Click "Create playlist"
And then continue.... until you have a playlist to enjoy :)
Apparently this site is just like iTunes when it comes to creating, managing and listening to songs.
I wouldn't know, but that what the website tells me! One day when I embrace this musical frontier, and I will be able to check this out more thoroughly for myself.
Until then... I will just have to refer my customers to these sites when they are illegally downloading material! If I can understand the instructions, then I will have no trouble navigating them around the site - in fact, our patrons may not need my help at all!
It would probably be a good idea for some one to design a template with all these Free and legal sites listed on it, so that we can leave them to it. Perhaps that could be a small task that I could do when I am next rostered on the Learn.net......
That's me signing out for another week - one more to go....
Jesus Freak
I had a look at a couple of the sites listed and have already told my husband a whole lot of songs that he can download onto a CD for a 70 year old friend of ours who loves his jazz - free stuff - wahoo!
The first site I visited was Amazon.com. This was really easy to navigate around and there was a list of music genres to choose from so it is quite easy to see what is available in each genre. Because I chose "Christian" as a genre, there was too much selection but I did see a couple of artists' albums that I would probably download being Fred Hammond and some jazz titles such as Easy River Drive by Grover Washington Jnr, Original Jazz Classics and a free sampler of Jazz Legends.
The next website I looked at was AmieStreet.com
This one, I felt was even more user friendly that Amazon.com. The tags along the top gave you options such as " Music you love", "Top 25 Playlist", and "Create your own playlist." As a new browser I found these tags straight forward and easy to understand. It had a drop down menu with all the different music genres amd the How? for Creating a Playlist, on the R.H.S of the website a useful guide for a novice like me.
Click "Options" button
Click "Add to playlist" next to any song
Click "Create playlist"
And then continue.... until you have a playlist to enjoy :)
Apparently this site is just like iTunes when it comes to creating, managing and listening to songs.
I wouldn't know, but that what the website tells me! One day when I embrace this musical frontier, and I will be able to check this out more thoroughly for myself.
Until then... I will just have to refer my customers to these sites when they are illegally downloading material! If I can understand the instructions, then I will have no trouble navigating them around the site - in fact, our patrons may not need my help at all!
It would probably be a good idea for some one to design a template with all these Free and legal sites listed on it, so that we can leave them to it. Perhaps that could be a small task that I could do when I am next rostered on the Learn.net......
That's me signing out for another week - one more to go....
Jesus Freak
Monday, May 10, 2010
Good things about "Good Reads"
Well - it's week 4 now with the Web 2.0 Challenge and I am making good progress! Good Reads is essentially a "Book Lovers" social networking site.
I listened to the tutorial and it all seemed pretty straight-forward when it comes to signing up and setting up a profile - similar to other social networking sites like Facebook or Bebo. You can upload photos, add widgets, join different groups (book clubs) and you can find friends and follow what they are reading or reviewing. As the old syaing goes, "You can learn a lot about a person by the books they read - or have on their bookshelf!
Key features:
* Create your own custom profile
* Track what you have read and rate the books (like a review in My Library)
* Find out what your friends are reading
* Get good book recommendations
* Join Reading Groups
GOOD READS is a great social networking sites for librarians. There are some very useful features on this site such as the ability to click on a book and view cataloguing details e.g ISBN number, what the average score for the book is, as assessed by readers, and all the editions of the book that have been printed, along with the Literary Awards the book has received, where applicable.
I like the "explore" tab feature which allows the viewer to browse everything from "popular" titles to "unpopular" titles, events, trivia, quizzes and quotes - very useful for Book Club stuff!
Similar to "My Library," you can write reviews and you can also see the reviews your friends have written. There a more options too, that you can add to your review, such as commenting on who recommended the tilte to you, how many times you have read the book, and whether you actually own a copy of the book!
I am going to enjoy seeing the answers to my "challenge" question, when I build a set of "friends."
TTFN!
Jesus Freak
I listened to the tutorial and it all seemed pretty straight-forward when it comes to signing up and setting up a profile - similar to other social networking sites like Facebook or Bebo. You can upload photos, add widgets, join different groups (book clubs) and you can find friends and follow what they are reading or reviewing. As the old syaing goes, "You can learn a lot about a person by the books they read - or have on their bookshelf!
Key features:
* Create your own custom profile
* Track what you have read and rate the books (like a review in My Library)
* Find out what your friends are reading
* Get good book recommendations
* Join Reading Groups
GOOD READS is a great social networking sites for librarians. There are some very useful features on this site such as the ability to click on a book and view cataloguing details e.g ISBN number, what the average score for the book is, as assessed by readers, and all the editions of the book that have been printed, along with the Literary Awards the book has received, where applicable.
I like the "explore" tab feature which allows the viewer to browse everything from "popular" titles to "unpopular" titles, events, trivia, quizzes and quotes - very useful for Book Club stuff!
Similar to "My Library," you can write reviews and you can also see the reviews your friends have written. There a more options too, that you can add to your review, such as commenting on who recommended the tilte to you, how many times you have read the book, and whether you actually own a copy of the book!
I am going to enjoy seeing the answers to my "challenge" question, when I build a set of "friends."
TTFN!
Jesus Freak
Friday, April 30, 2010
Lesson 2 - Zamzar
I found Zamzar a really useful tool. It took a wee while to convert my word documen into a pdf either, about 3 -5 minutes. but I felt it would be worth the wait if I was in the predicament of trying to get access to a document that was saved in format that couldn't be opnened.
In terms of use in the library, I can confidently say that it will come in use. I had a customer come in last year with a document that our learn.net computer couldn't recognise and obviously open. All I could do at the time was suggest to her that she go back home and save the document in a different format. From memory I think it was a .exe file. It would have been very helpful if I had known about Zamzar back then...!
I am sure that I will have other opportunities to share this online file conversion tool with other library patrons and with my friends. In fact, I have already shown my husband this site and saved it in our "Favourites" for future reference!
I particularly like the fact that you don't have to create an account to be able to use Zamzar.
In terms of use in the library, I can confidently say that it will come in use. I had a customer come in last year with a document that our learn.net computer couldn't recognise and obviously open. All I could do at the time was suggest to her that she go back home and save the document in a different format. From memory I think it was a .exe file. It would have been very helpful if I had known about Zamzar back then...!
I am sure that I will have other opportunities to share this online file conversion tool with other library patrons and with my friends. In fact, I have already shown my husband this site and saved it in our "Favourites" for future reference!
I particularly like the fact that you don't have to create an account to be able to use Zamzar.
Friday, April 23, 2010
2010 Web 2.0
I am excited that I have an opportunity to refine my understanding of all the great new programmes and features available "online." Some I will be familiar with, and some will be completely new to me. I haven't "twittered" as yet, so that will be something I know that I will be learning this time around.
The lesson on converting files will definitly be useful in the library setting. Just the other day my husband asked me whether I could convert a PDF that he had recevied into a word document so he could select some pages to print. I was not able to do so. I asked some staff at the libary whether this was possible. I was told that you can convert a word document to a PDF, but you can't reverse the process, which I already knew, but I wasn't sure why I could get into the document. Perhaps after completing lesson 2, I may discover that this can actually be done! Alternatively I may discover what online tools will enable this to be done - Zamzar hopefully?!!
One time in the library a patron came with a C.V wasn't able to opened because it was in a file that windows 7 didn't recognise. I imagine that this lesson will help me resolve this type of problem so that we can assist patrons to access the information they have on their USB.
I would like to know more about music files and using MP3 files as I know nothing about this at all! My husband was given an IPOD for Christmas and he is doing all this type of stuff so I need to "catch up!" Young people are into this in a big way these days so any learning on this will be very useful in assisting patrons. As a library professional I want to be able to talk "intelligently" about this to our patrons and able to make recommendations of other sites or tools available to assist them to get the stuff they want to listen to without breaching copyright (hopefully)!
Social networking sites continue to be a hit with many of our library patrons. I have had queries from new users about downloading pictures onto these sites and I would value some more practice with this. I have downloaded photos onto my "Facebook" site, but I haven't done so with Bebo so I look forward to trying some new feature and techniques to beautify my site! I wonder what is in store for me in this lesson?
I am ready and willing - Web 2.0 2010 - here I come!
Jesus Freak
The lesson on converting files will definitly be useful in the library setting. Just the other day my husband asked me whether I could convert a PDF that he had recevied into a word document so he could select some pages to print. I was not able to do so. I asked some staff at the libary whether this was possible. I was told that you can convert a word document to a PDF, but you can't reverse the process, which I already knew, but I wasn't sure why I could get into the document. Perhaps after completing lesson 2, I may discover that this can actually be done! Alternatively I may discover what online tools will enable this to be done - Zamzar hopefully?!!
One time in the library a patron came with a C.V wasn't able to opened because it was in a file that windows 7 didn't recognise. I imagine that this lesson will help me resolve this type of problem so that we can assist patrons to access the information they have on their USB.
I would like to know more about music files and using MP3 files as I know nothing about this at all! My husband was given an IPOD for Christmas and he is doing all this type of stuff so I need to "catch up!" Young people are into this in a big way these days so any learning on this will be very useful in assisting patrons. As a library professional I want to be able to talk "intelligently" about this to our patrons and able to make recommendations of other sites or tools available to assist them to get the stuff they want to listen to without breaching copyright (hopefully)!
Social networking sites continue to be a hit with many of our library patrons. I have had queries from new users about downloading pictures onto these sites and I would value some more practice with this. I have downloaded photos onto my "Facebook" site, but I haven't done so with Bebo so I look forward to trying some new feature and techniques to beautify my site! I wonder what is in store for me in this lesson?
I am ready and willing - Web 2.0 2010 - here I come!
Jesus Freak
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
REFLECTIONS ON THE 23 THINGS....
The online Web 2.0 learning has been a very worthwhile experience. It has been great to explore so many aspects on the web that I would probably not venture in the normal course of life as a librarian.
I enjoyed the session on e-books and kindle and finding out about websites such as Technoratti that keeps surfers up to date with all the new advances in web technologies. Learning about flicker and having a "play" with some of the programmes where you can "doctor up" photo's to make them look older or give people a "face lift" was a laugh!
Learning how to use RSS feeds to send new postings of articles was very useful but it now is a bit burdensome as you also have to keep up with reading them as they soon pile up quickly!
Exploring the social networking sites was a useful exercise as highlighted the unique features of these sites. So many people come into the library to use "bebo" and I was curious as to the differences between bebo, myspace and facebook as there are different friends of my who use these vehicles to communicate. I have found the "Old Friends" network a useful vehicle in which to catch up with folks but it is limited in ways that bebo and facebook aren't.
Exploring Web 2.0 online tools was one of the most relevant tasks to our field of work . Sites such as Library thing are fantastic. I enjoyed publishing my reading interests and hobies on our blog using widgets. I particularly like the way that the book titles are rotated around so that everytime you log on to the blog you get a different selection - very cool!
YouTube will always be a favourite site as there are limitless vidoclips that you can view! Many young people spend all their time up on the learn.net looking at clips of their favourite hip hop artists. It is also a very easy way to publish movies you've taken from your mobile and "show it to the world." There are lots of "exhibitionists" publishing clips, but there are excellent training videos that we also watched courtesy of youTube. There are some really funny animals clips and "bloopers" that are great to cheer you up on a bad day!
The exercise on wiki's was very informative and it clarified for me that wiki's are a useful way of publishing information on any number of topics. I was interesting to find out how easy it was for anyone to publish infomation and comment on other people's entries. Students comonly use wikipedia to get information for homework tasks and teachers frequently encourage students to use other websites because the information provided can be too "long-winded" or complicated for most students.
I enjoyed the session on e-books and kindle and finding out about websites such as Technoratti that keeps surfers up to date with all the new advances in web technologies. Learning about flicker and having a "play" with some of the programmes where you can "doctor up" photo's to make them look older or give people a "face lift" was a laugh!
Learning how to use RSS feeds to send new postings of articles was very useful but it now is a bit burdensome as you also have to keep up with reading them as they soon pile up quickly!
Exploring the social networking sites was a useful exercise as highlighted the unique features of these sites. So many people come into the library to use "bebo" and I was curious as to the differences between bebo, myspace and facebook as there are different friends of my who use these vehicles to communicate. I have found the "Old Friends" network a useful vehicle in which to catch up with folks but it is limited in ways that bebo and facebook aren't.
Exploring Web 2.0 online tools was one of the most relevant tasks to our field of work . Sites such as Library thing are fantastic. I enjoyed publishing my reading interests and hobies on our blog using widgets. I particularly like the way that the book titles are rotated around so that everytime you log on to the blog you get a different selection - very cool!
YouTube will always be a favourite site as there are limitless vidoclips that you can view! Many young people spend all their time up on the learn.net looking at clips of their favourite hip hop artists. It is also a very easy way to publish movies you've taken from your mobile and "show it to the world." There are lots of "exhibitionists" publishing clips, but there are excellent training videos that we also watched courtesy of youTube. There are some really funny animals clips and "bloopers" that are great to cheer you up on a bad day!
The exercise on wiki's was very informative and it clarified for me that wiki's are a useful way of publishing information on any number of topics. I was interesting to find out how easy it was for anyone to publish infomation and comment on other people's entries. Students comonly use wikipedia to get information for homework tasks and teachers frequently encourage students to use other websites because the information provided can be too "long-winded" or complicated for most students.
The lesson on podcasts was useful as many schools have their own websites and are making podcasts to show their community what they are learning. Many pastors enjoy the convenience of listening to their favourite preachers via podcasts. This technology is rapidly becoming the favoured was for students studying "long distance" so having a knowledge about what's available and some of the most popular sites where you can access podcasts was very helpful.
I found this course of study a novel experience and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to undertake Web 2.0 training as a reasonably new librarian.
Jesus Freak
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