Learning 2.0 : 23 things you can do to become web 2.0 savvy

Learning 2.0 Message

2007-01-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Learning 2.0, an online self-discovery program that encourages the exploration of web 2.0 tools and new technologies, specifically 23 Things.

This program was originally developed and launched for the staff at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in August 2006 with a total of 352 PLCMC participants creating blogs and many additional guests joining in. Since the program's launch, the exercises here have helped other library systems develop programs of their own, the first being the Yarra Plenty Regional Library system in Melbourne, Australia.

If you're interested in duplicating this program for your own staff, please feel free to do so under Creative Commons. And although PLCMC staff have already completed this program, this site will remain up for your use.

Additionally, you might find some of my program notes on the About page helpful. To date, over 250 libraries and organizations have duplicated the program worldwide. Listing of Learning 2.0 Libraries.

Special thanks to Minerva Shelved for creating a Google map of L2 around the World

If you have questions about duplicating this program, please feel free to contact me. This is a learning program that is freely available to anyone & I'd be happy to help anyway I can.

Helene Blowers
helene.blowers@gmail.com

05/15/2007 Update: For those that wish to continue discovering & learning more then just merely 23 things, check out Learning 2.1: Explore ...Discover...Play!

PLCMC Learning 2.0 Finale ( or "the winner is ...")

2006-11-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a journey the last 3 months have been since we kicked off Learning 2.0 on August 3rd. For those 362 staff member that joined in the adventure, I send you my thanks for demonstrating that PLCMC has a truly remarkable staff of lifelong learners. And to those of you who followed along from around the world (even without the incentives) I salute you for taking up this challenge and for offering the inspiration and support to many others also in the quest for new knowledge. In total 222 staff members completed the discovery learning quest and the program has been picked up by libraries both nationally and world wide --- Hello Yarra Plenty Regional and Missouri River Regional Library systems. :)

Technology is changing so fast these days that it's important for libraries (and staff members) to keep in the know about these new web 2.0 tools since so many of these technologies provide new channels for information to travel across and new opportunities for libraries to reach out and enhance services. You don't have to be experts with these new tools and websites, but as those of you that have completed Learning 2.0 have learned, a little bit of knowledge and exposure can go a long way. :)

Over the course of the last few weeks many staff ( & other libraries) have asked me if the 23 Things from the Learning 2.0 will still be available after the program's completion so that staff can go back and explore these websites and technologies more. The answer is YES ! There are no plans to take these discovery exercises down and in fact so many staff have asked that PLCMC continue this type of learning journey that there are plans now underway to modify the Learning 2.0 blog into an ongoing information and discovery resource that anyone can benefit from. And for those of you that already have an RSS feed set up for Learning 2.0 in your Bloglines account, you're already set to go. :)

As for the "24th Thing" in this Learning 2.0 program? Well that's really up to you. With so many new discoveries still to be explored, I hope you'll continue your discovery journey and plan for the next 224. But if you're looking for suggestions, I'll point you back in the direction from which the original inspiration for this program came from ... a little article by Stephen Abram called 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006). It's great place to start. :)

To this end, I know you're all wondering who the L2 finale laptop winner is? And to answer your question in true Learning 2.0 fashion, here is a YouTube video with the answer ...

Thank you to everyone who participated or supported this learning endeavor. It's true, PLCMC does indeed have the very best library staff in the country and as Learning 2.0 also demonstrated, it's full of lifelong learners too! :)

Helene

11 days and counting ...

2006-10-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

Lori over at Learning Express offers some great tips and support ideas for those still working through their 23 Things. I actually coudn't have offered any better advice. So go on over and read Lori's words of encouragement and be sure to remember her last bulleted item ...

"Have fun! If you are not having fun you are missing the point. Life is too short to not have fun!"

... and with determination and luck, you'll be spraying your own graffiti message and celebrating like Ruddy Rocky Pinnacle. :)

MP3 player

2006-10-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

Matt shows off his new player
Originally uploaded by hblowers.

MP3 Players!!!!

2006-10-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! MP3 players galore arrived today and it was great fun distributing these to the first 117 staff members who completed the Learning 2.0 program.

So what did we end up getting for staff? Sandisk 1 gb (yes 1 gb) MP3 players with FM radio & voice recorder. :) The IT department did a fantastic job finding a closeout deal that allowed us to get a great player with lots of storage ... and best of all it works with Windows media player DRM and downloadable audio. :)

Anyway, the first MP3 players went out today and I was pleased to be able to deliver several of them in person. With 19 days left in the program, there’s plenty of room for staff to finish the program and grab one of these beauties for themselves.

#23 Is this really the end? Or just the beginning ...

2006-09-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

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Wow! Congratulations!! You’ve reached the 23rd thing. Be sure to give yourself a pat on the back for completing the program. Your reward for completing this journey before the Oct 31st deadline is a useful and handy MP3. But before sending this off you, I ask for one last discovery post.

For your last and final exercise for this program please reflect on your learning journey and post a few thoughts. Here are some questions to prompt you if you're drawing a blank ...

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

And last but not least…
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

In closing, I want to thank each and every one of you for joining me on this journey. My greatest hope is that this not the end of our learning journey together as a staff and a system, but rather it’s just the start of something amazing …

Thank you, Helene

UPDATE: Interested in other Learning 2.0 participants final thoughts? I've tagged most in Del.icio.us.

#22 Audiobooks (or "The end is in sight ")

2006-09-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

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With your new MP3 player right around the corner, it’s time to take a look around NetLibrary and downloadable eAudiobooks.

Downloadable eAudiobooks is a service provided by Recorded Books which is available through the library’s subscription to NetLibrary.

To establish a NetLibrary account, you must first create your acocunt through the PLCMC website. But once you have a Netlibrary user name and password (I know, I know … you’re tired of user names and passwords, but I promise this is the last user account for this program that you’ll have to create) you can access NetLibrary directly and bypass the PLCMC site.

For this discovery exercise, you merely need to familiarize yourself a bit with the structure of NetLibrary's Downloadable eAudiobooks site and get an idea of the types of titles you can find here. Take a look around and locate a few titles of interest. That MP3 player is right around the corner and once you have it, you’ll definitely have a reason to try out this popular library service.

Discovery Resources:

Introduction to Netlibrary* - this 12 minute tutorial covers the downloading process for Netlibrary audiobooks using Windows Media Player 10. (be patient, it may take a few minutes to upload this for viewing)

Discovery Exercise:

Establish a Netlibrary account for yourself by accessing Netlibrary through the PLCMC site. Note: Your not a member of the PLCMC staff or don’t have a PLCMC library card, full access to NetLibrary may not be available.
Once you have an account created, you can access NetLibrary directly at http://netlibrary.com
Click on the eAudiobooks link and explore some of the 1300 + titles.
Create a blog post about your findings. Did you locate a title that you might want to try out and download once you have your player?

OPTIONAL: Try downloading a title from the NetLibrary. You don’t have to have a portable player to listen to audiobooks, you can also listen to it from a computer.

* Tutorial created by Mary Kyle (PLCMC) using free screencasting software Wink.

#21 Podcasts, Smodcasts!

2006-09-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

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The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last 24 months, it's easy to see why.

Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries (like the ones used in this Learning 2.0 program) to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Bloglines account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

Discovery Resources:

To find out more about podcasts start with Yahoo: What is a podcast tutorial
There are many, many podcast directories and finding tools out there. Here are just three of the more popular ones that, unlike iTunes, don't require a software download:
What? You want to learn how to be a podcaster too?
(Optional Resources for those who want to learn create podcasts)
- Yahoo: Publish a podcast
- Odeo’s Studio – online recording studio.
- Beginner's guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts
- How to podcast tutorial

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting library related podcasts here like book review podcasts or library news.
Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your Bloglines account
Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?

Optional: If you're ambitious, why not try out the Audioblogger service and add an audio post about your experience to your blog. (see Jamie's audiopost on Library 2.0 as an example)

#20 You too can YouTube

2006-09-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

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Within the past year online video hosting sites have exploded allowing users to easily to upload and share videos on the web. Among all the web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day and allowing users not only to upload their own video content easily, but also embed clips into their own sites easily.

Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from 1970s TV commercials and 60s music videos to library dominos and kids singing about bloopers here. Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer. :)

Discovery Exercise:

Explore YouTube & find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.
Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or componets of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and paste code for the for "Embeddable Player.” Note: you'll need to use Blogger's Edit HTML tab when pasting this code.

~~Here’s a video (created by PLCMC's Web Services) that I embedded~~ that shows off ImaginOn’s Express Check.

Note: Due to frustrations that many users are having with Internet Explorer 6.0.2 crashing when trying to open this post, I've had to remove the embedded video. - pah! Yup! Another reason to take the leap and discover FireFox.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools

2006-09-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

[Sorry, no podcast for this "thing." You'll have to exercise your eyes instead.]

Throughout the course of this Learning 2.0 program we’ve explored just a small sampling of these new internet technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. But given time there are so many more we could explore. Current estimates place the number of web 2.0 tools at somewhere between 300 & 500 with only a handful emerging as market dominators. And although time will only tell which of these new collaborative, social networking and information tools will remain on top, one
thing is for sure, they're not going to go away (at least anytime soon).

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to select any site from this list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees and explore it. With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you (like Books or Personal Organization) and then simply select a tool/site to explore. Be careful to select a tool that is Free and that doesn't require a plug-in or download. The majority of these free, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

Discovery Exercise:

Select any site/tool from the list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees. (If you prefer to select from just the winners, here’s a link to the short list.)
Explore the site you selected.
Create a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?

Web 2.0 – with so much to explore, just start with ONE. :)

#18 Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

2006-09-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

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The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past two years and for good reasons! These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the internet without the need of installed desktop applications. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean the death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office. But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, on this both sides seem to agree; web-based apps have their place.

One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs* (formerly known as Writely) to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing.

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to take a look at a web-based word processing tool called Zoho Writer, create a simple document and then document your discoveries in your blog. If you're up to the challenge, you might even export your document as an HTML file or publish it through Zoho to your blog.

With Zoho and web-based applications, the possibilities are endless.

Discovery Resources:

A short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: I authored this list in ZohoWriter and exported it as HTML.

Discovery Exercise:

Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer.
Explore the site and create a few test documents of two.
Try out Zoho Writer’s features and create a blog post about your discoveries.

Optional: If you're up for the challenge, try using Zoho’s "publish" options to post to your blog.

* Note: You can also explore Google Docs (formerly known as Writely), Google's online word processer, as an option for this exercise. On Oct 11th, Google relaunched Writely (which it acquired in Spring 2006) as Google Docs.

BTW: Here’s a document (viewable as a webpage) I mocked up in Zoho about some of the features I found beneficial.

#17 Playing around with PBWiki

2006-09-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

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"Sandbox" is the term that wikis often use to describe the area of the website that should be used for pure play. For this discovery and exploration exercise, we’ve set up a whole Learning 2.0 Favorites wiki* that’s for nothing but play!

For this “explore-and-play-with-wikis” exercise, you are asked to add an entry or two to the PBwiki Learning 2.0 wiki. The theme of this wiki is simply “Favorites” : Favorite books, favorite vacation spots, favorite restaurants, favorite anything …all you need to do is play and add your thoughts. To mark your adventure on this site, you should add your blog to the Favorite Blogs page.

Discovery Resources:

PB Wiki Tour - Find out how this collaborative tool can be used
PBWiki Video Gallery - Short videos of PBwiki features
PB Wiki Tips

Discovery Exercise:

Access the PLCMC Learning 2.0 wiki and create a login account for yourself.
Add your blog to the Favorite Blogs page. That's how we'll know that you've been there. It’s easy to do if you follow this simple syntax:

Example:

[ URL | Title of blog]

[ http://plcmclearning.blogspot.com | Learning 2.0 ]

With brackets [ ] and just a little typing, you’ve added a link - yup, it’s as easy as that!

OPTIONAL: Add a favorite or two to a few other pages (Favorite books, favorite vacation spot, etc). And, if you feel up to the challenge, you might even want to create a separate page for book review or short travel essay and link up to that.
Create a post in your blog about the experience.

* NOTE: The PLCMCLearning Wiki was created using the free version of PBWiki, a tool that lets you create webpages that anyone can edit.

#16 So what’s in a wiki?

2006-09-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

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A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the online open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and perhaps the most well known of these knowledge sharing tools. With the benefits that wikis provide the use and popularity of these tools is exploding.

Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:

Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.
Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed.
And users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, libraries all over the country have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, ALA conference wikis and even library best practices wikis.

Discovery Resources:
Use these resources to learn more aboout wikis:

Wiki, wiki, wiki - from PLCMC's own Core Compentency blog
Wiki’s: A Beginner’s Look – an excellent short slide presentation that offers a short introduction and examples.
What is a Wiki? – Library Success wiki presentation
Using Wikis to Create Online Communities – a good overview of what a wiki is and how it can be used in libraries.

Discovery Exercise:

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some library wikis and blog about your finding. Here’s a few examples to get you started:
- SJCPL Subject Guides – a pathfinder wiki developed by the St. Joseph County Public Library system
- Book Lovers Wiki - developed by the Princeton Public Library
- Library Success: A best practices wiki
- ALA 2006 New Orleans wiki – an example of a wiki created to support a specific event
- The Bull Run Library wiki - a public library wiki and also a Learning 2.0 participant
- Other library wiki examples
Create a blog post about your findings. What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

So what's in a wiki? Find out by doing some exploring on your own.

Only 8 left ...

2006-09-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

If you've kept up with program you're already 2/3rds of the way home. But don't worry if you're lagging behind in the 1st quarter of the game because there are still 6 and half weeks left to catch up. The good news is that there are just 8 remaining things to accomplish and after a busy week like this one, next week should hopefully be a breeze with only two things on your plate.

If you're looking to jump start next week on wikis, you might want to take a look at some library wiki examples and PBwiki. On Sunday, I'll be posting the discovery exercises for next week. In the mean time, you can just look around these resources and huddle for practice. :)

#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 ...

2006-09-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

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Library 2.0 is term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name, as you may guess, is an extension of Web2.0 and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (libraries).

Many have argued that the notion of Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. But no matter which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.

Discovery Resources:

OCLC Next Space Newsletter – Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?

Five Perspectives:

Wikipedia – Library 2.0
Library 2.0 Discussions (list of great references from Wikipedia)

Discovery Exercise:

Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list above.
Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these? Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

#14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

2006-09-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

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So now that you’ve been blogging for awhile, you might be wondering just how big the blogosphere is. Well, according to Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs, the number of blogs doubles just about every 6 months with over 51 million blogs currently being tracked by the site. If the blogging trend continues, it is estimated that Technorati will have tracked its 100 millionth blog in just 5 months.

Yes, these numbers are astounding, but as you’ve already seen for yourselves, blogging is so easy that these publishing tools are being taken advantage of by almost every industry, including libraries.

So how does a person get their blog listed as part of the blogosphere and how can you tag your posts with keywords to make them more findable through a Technorati search? The answer to the first question is that your blog is probably already being captured by Technorati due to the fact that you're already using Blogger, the most popular blogging tool. But if you want to join the party and have your blog officially listed on Technorati and also take advantage of the watchlist and other features, you’ll need to claim your blog yourself. As for tagging posts with Technorati tags? This is easy, too. All you need to do is add a little bit of HTML code to the bottom of your post (see my example below) and Technorati will pick up these tags when it spiders (or web crawls) your site.

There are a lot of new features that have been added to Technorati this past summer, including new ways to search for blogs. You can search for keywords in blog posts, search for entire blog posts that have been tagged with a certain keyword, or search for blogs that have been registered and tagged as whole blogs about a certain subject (like photography or libraries).

Discovery Resources:

Technorati Tour – videocast of new features & new look
Technorati Discover & Popular features

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for “Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different?
Explore popular blog, searches and tags. Is anything interesting or surprising in your results?
Create a blog post about your discoveries on this site.

OPTIONAL: If you're up for a challenge, learn how to tag your posts by with Technorati tags so they can join tag searches. Create a post about something. It can be anything you want and add the HTML code to the bottom to tag it as “PLCMCL2.” You may also want to consider claiming your blog and creating a watchlist.
NOTE: When adding HTML code, you'll want to make sure you're in Blogger's Edit HTML window.

There's a lot to explore.

Technorati Tag: PLCMCL2

#13 Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

2006-09-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

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Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & posts). Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (i.e.Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want.

In the past few weeks, we’ve already explored a few sites – Flicker and LibraryThing to name two --that allow users to take advantage of tagging and in week 3 many even used a common tag (PLCMCL2) to create an association between photos that we individually uploaded. This week, in addition to exploring Technorati tagging, we want to also take at popular social bookmarking site called Del.icio.us (typed in as http://del.icio.us).

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks.

Many users find that the real power of Del.icio.us is in the social network aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another users’ filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at Del.icio.us and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.

Discovery Resources:

Otter Group Del.icio.us tutorial (8 min video) - Highly recommended!!!
Us.ef.ul: A beginners guide to Del.icio.us
Several Habits of wildly successful Del.icio.us users

Discovery Exercise:

View the 8 minute Del.icio.us tutorial to get a good overview of its features.
Take a look around Del.icio.us using the PLCMCL2 account that was created for this exercise. Note: In this account you will find lots of resources that have been highlighted or used throughout the course of the Learning 2.0 program.
Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize this reference?
Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool.
Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

OPTIONAL: If you’re up to the challenge, create a Del.icio.us account for yourself and discover how this useful bookmarking tool can replace your traditional browser bookmark list. You might even want to explore Del.icio.us’ latest addition, a network badge. (Psst! see it over there at the end of the navigation sidebar)

Note: If you do setup a Del.icio.us account, here’s a quick word about the Del.icio.us Buttons. On PCs that have the toolbars locked down, these will install as options in your browser bookmarks. Use the “Post to my Del.icio.us” link to add the current webpage to your account (you may need to log in). Use the “My Del.icio.us” link to view your online account.

Week 4 Fun

2006-09-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Talking Headz by Gizmoz.Com

PS: If you're interested in getting a jump start on next week... take a look at Del.icio.us, Technorati tags, and the 5 perspectives in this OCLC NextSpace newsletter.

Also a Blogger Tip: I’ve heard from one or two participants that they are having problems posting to Blogger. To help eliminate “session time out” problems that may be occurring from long posting and editing durations, type your thoughts in Word or NotePad first. Then use copy and paste to add it to the Blogger editor.

#12 Roll your own search engine

2006-09-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

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Do you have a group of websites that are your favorites? Or a set of online resources that are similar that you frequently use to answer homework or reference questions? Well Rollyo may be the tool for you. Rollyo allows you to create your own search tool for the just the websites you know and trust.

Take a look at some of these search rolls that have already been created:

Here’s a searchroll I created to search ten of PLCMC’s family of websites:

Try a search for broad terms like "homework” or “history” to see results listed from multiple sites.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore Rollyo and create an account for yourself.
Create a search roll for any subject you like.
Create a post in your blog about your experience and link to your search roll. Can you see a potential use for tools like this?

OPTIONAL: Add your searchroll to your blog using the "Create a Searchbox" tool.

Rollyo - You just never know when this little tool might come in handy.

#11 A thing about LibraryThing

2006-09-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

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Are you book lover or cataloger at heart? Or do you enjoy finding lost and forgotten gems on the shelf to read? Then LibraryThing may be just the tool for you. Developed for booklovers, this online tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalog of your own it also connects you to other people who have similar libraries and reading tastes. Add a book to your catalog by just entering the title -- It’s so easy that you don’t even need MARC record training to do it – or connect with other users through your similar reading tastes. There are lots of ways to use LibraryThing. You can even view your books on a virtual shelf, add a widget (see sidebar for sample) to display titles that are in your catalog or install a LT Search box on your blog.

So why not join the ranks and create your own library online. With over 65,000 registered (BTW: LibraryThing also has group forum for librarians users and over 4.7 million cataloged books, you're bound to discover something new.

Discovery Resources:

About LibraryThing
Library Thing tour
MoBuzzTV Review (3rd story in the 5 min broadcast)
LibraryThing blog (updates & news)

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
Add a least 5 books to your library.
Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog.

PS: Happy 1st Birthday LibraryThing !!! (August 28th)

Photo - MicroSoft Clipart

#10 Play around with Image Generators

2006-09-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Listen to this podcast [1:00]-->powered by ODEO

Generators? No, I’m not talking about those gas powered back-up things. The generators I’m talking about allow you to easily manipulate image and graphics to create fun images like these:

For this discovery exercise, I just want you to have fun. Find a few fun image or text generators to play around with and write a post in your blog about one of your favorites and display the result. Often adding the image you mocked up to your blog is as simple as copying and pasting code that the page provides. If not, you may just need to right click on the image and then save it to your hard drive before using Blogger’s image button to add it to your post.

If you’re having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, ask a co-worker for help. In looking at several staff blogs, it’s easy to see that we have lots of people in the system who have figured out how easy it is to add images to their blogs.

Discovery Resources:

The Generator Blog
Letter James
FD Toys
Also try searching for online generators, text generators or image generators!

Discovery Exercise:

1. Play around with some image generators and find one that you like.
2. Post the result of your discovery process in your blog.
Note: Be sure to include a link to the image generator itself, so other participants can discover it too.

So take some time and have fun with this exercise. And remember to be tasteful too!

* Images created with Dummies Book Generator, FD Toys Magazine Cover, Comic Strip Generator.

Week 4: Rainy & Busy

2006-09-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty rainy one for the past few days and I don't know if this is what is making the difference, but it seems that there has been an increase in blog posts as well. With 274 staff blogs out there, PLCMC participation is officially just over 50% (can I just scream WOW!!!). Anyway, some of you might wonder if I do actually read all the stuff you post to your blogs? Well the answer is Yes!... and, you're keeping my evenings very busy -- which is good. cause I'd much rather scan your posts in my Bloglines account than watch ~~stimulating programs~~ some lame show on primetime TV. :)

This week's discovery exercise was a difficult one for some (and a long podcast too! - sorry, they all get shorter from here). But from the posts that have been published so far, it seems like many of you find this tool valuable. I, for one, can tell from very, very, verrry recent experience, that Bloglines is a life saver. How else could I keep up with nearly 300 blogs! If you've only set up your Bloglines account once and haven't looked at it again, log in sometime in the next few days and you'll discover the real power of news aggregators -- they're smart enough to know what you've already read. And, thanks to Learning Express, I also learned a new nifty trick to turn an email newsletter into an email feed. - Very cool!

Anyway... that this week's review. Next week is titled "Play Week" (as if we've haven't been doing that along) and we'll be looking at fun image and text generators, LibraryThing and Rollyo. Jump ahead if you want to or use next week to catch up.

PS: If you haven't stopped by Ain't Yo Mama's Library, take a look. I keep wanting to hear these tunes recorded. My personal favorite ... Blogs to the World:

"Singin’ Blog to the World, all the boys and girls.
Blogging for that player of the MP3s,
Blogs for you and me."

Have fun Bloggin!

Happy Blog Day!!!

2006-08-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you didn't know it, but today's Happy Blog Day! - a day to celebrate blogs and to highlight a few new blogs that you find of interest.

According to the guidelines, every blogger is encouraged to highlight (and link to) 5 new blogs that they have discovered and would recommend. But since I can't narrow down my selection to just 5 -- With nearly 290 participants it would take too long for me to decide. Besides, I recommend them all! I know- I'm too politically correct :) -- I've decided instead to ask every Learning 2.0 participant to join in the fun and highlight 5 other L2 blogs that they find of interest.

So Happy Blog Day! Why not salute a few great L2 blogs that you're enjoying and join the fun!

Technorati Tags: BlogDay, BlogDay2006

Week 4 fun ahead ...

2006-08-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Week 4 of Learning 2.0 focuses on a tool that nearly every information professional and library staff member can use to keep themselves informed on news, blogs and events - RSS & Newsreaders. Here's a testimonial from L2's own Jersey Girl Librarian :)

"Okay, I admit I skipped ahead and learned about bloglines. This is a great service! I no longer have to go to 10 different websites a day, they come to me. I can now have my cartoons, news about New Jersey and keep up with some of my co-workers blog with simple clicks instead of retyping every url and waiting for the sites to load. What a time saver. I wish I knew about this sooner. I can't wait to get back to it and add more!"

So discover what RSS is all about, set up a Bloglines newsreader for yourself, and discover a few new feeds and perhaps you'll be joining Jersey Girl in celebrating this time saving discovery. :)

#9 Finding Feeds

2006-08-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Listen to this podcast [3:08]-->powered by ODEO

Now that you have a newsreader (your Bloglines account), you can begin adding other newsfeeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate newsfeeds:

When visiting your favorite websites -- look for news feed icons that indicate the website provides it. Often a feed icon will be displayed somewhere in the navigation bar of the site. (Here's an image that contains a sampling of several feed icons).
Use Blogline's Search tool - Bloglines recently expanded search tool lets you search for news feeds in addition to posts, citations and the web. Use the Search for Feeds option to locate RSS feeds you might be interested in.
Other Search tools that can help you find feeds:
- Feedster - One of the largest collections of RSS feeds, Feedster lets you search for feeds in three categories: news, blogs & podcasts
- Topix.net - This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching. The tool focuses specifically on news and media outlet RSS feeds for information, not weblogs.
- Syndic8.com - Syndic8 is an open directory of RSS feeds that contains thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted.
- Technorati - Technorati is a popular blog finding tool that lets you search for blogs. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic specific blogs you may be interested in.
  Additonal Resource: Technorati Tutorial on finding and adding your blog

Discovery Excercise:

Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds.
Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to think about ...
Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Which was more confusing? What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find? What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

EXTRA STUFF -- Feed icon information:

In Febuary of this year, the adoption of a standard feed icon among websites and browsers finally began to assist in stopping the madness and confusion caused by so many variations. So far this icon has been adopted by many websites and browers, including Opera and FireFox, where it displays in the address bar:

The next release of Internet Explorer is suppose to have this as well. For more information about this emerging new standard, see Feedicons.com