Thing #16: Wikis

After this activity I feel that emails are outdated! Teachers on my campus work together on lesson planning and this is a wonderful way for them to connect in this process. As a librarian on a K-4th grade campus, there are many times that I need to coordinate an activity or event with others staff members and because of scheduling conflicts it becomes almost impossible to gather everyone together to coordinate responsibilities, materials, etc. A wiki would be so advantageous to all concerned.

Thing #15: Web 2.0, Library 2.0

As I read through the discussion of Library 1.0-4.0 my anxiety level rose as the descriptions of each level were presented, but by the end of 4.0 I was really excited. Through the use of technology we can continue to redefine what a library looks like while still keeping its basic roots intact. A "place" whether a real stucture or virtual exsistence, that offers patrons an abundance of knowledge, peace, enjoyment, encouragment, and support to find the information they need to meet their needs. I also found the idea of redefining my "just in case" collection. It is becoming more important to find a balance between my physical collection and my digital collection. I continue to readjust my budget to meet these needs.

Thing #14: Explore Technorati

I found that searching for "School Library Learning 2.0" was more efficient if I searched in blogs. Tags gave too many results. Doing a keyword search now seems so outdated to me. I must admit this whole experience is making me feel better about myself and technology.

Tagging information is a valuable tool for students/teachers/librarians. It allows for quick access to information which can then be shared. It amazes me at how fast tagging allows us access information of any kind. Tagging is a great learning tool for students to organize their thoughts and resources for classroom assignments.

I felt more at ease with searching popular blogs. I guess I subconsciously felt that if others are visiting these sites so much they must have good authority and the information is trustworthy. This is my biggest concern with blogging-What is trustworthy information? The video with the personnel from Technorati discussed how blogs are about the "human experience" and what the "regular guy" thinks, well how do I know if I can trust the thoughts of the regular guy?

After working through the activities for Thing #14,I must admit that Technorati confuses me. For me Del.icio.us was much more user friendly but I will continue to work through Technorati to better understand it.

Thing #13: Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is great. I loved it. The potential for researching is outstanding. It is a wonderful way for teachers to gather information (URLs) and then share that information with others by posting to a shared tag. The availability of searching by popular tag would also allow students/teachers to find sites that others have found useful as opposed to blindly pouring through sites to find relevant material on a particular subject. The ability to use several different tags for a site also expands a person's capability for finding information quickly.

Thing#12-Creating Community Through Commenting

Most important point came from coolcatteacher: Comment when you have something meaningful to say, not just to chatter. Problogger's guidelines to blogging were very helpful. I found number 6 in his 10 Ways To Increase Numbers On Your Blog to be important. He stated that by being humble in your postings, you attract more comments than coming across as a "know it all". This was significant to me as a new blogger. I am intimidated to give my heartfelt opinion to someone I do not know and I worry that posting a comment may result in a response that would make me feel stupid.

I also made 5 posts to the following Blogs: Wonder Weiss's Wisdom, A Teacher's Garden, Sixty & Still Special, Fun Sun Summer Learnin, and Crazy PreK Man. It was fun looking at these blogs. There is so much creativity involved in putting together blogs. I am learning so much from my peers.

My blogs of interest have been great sources of information. An upcoming trip to the Great Smoky Mountains resulted in my finding two great travel blogs with sight seeing ideas that I had not found in the tourist literature I have received in the mail. I explored The Freshwater's Global Explorer Travel Blog and Homespun Highlights. I placed questions in my comments to both so am eager to hear back from them.

Thing#11-LibraryThing

I am really enjoying this blog. It will be so useful as I am busy reading the 08-09 Bluebonnet Nominees in order to booktalk them with my students this fall. I am adding these books to my LibraryThing as I read them. It will be great to get feedback on the books from other bloggers and I am sure I will get ideas for using the books with students too. This is a great tool for me.

The Author Chat group looks interesting. I like that there is a schedule/time for upcoming chats so I can put them on my calendar. I also enjoyed the group Librarians who LibraryThing. This blog allows me to click on a book and have instant access to thoughts/opinions from others about the title. This "thing" is a keeper!!

Thing#9-Useful Library Blogs

The Bloglines search options were easy to use and I liked the way results were arranged on the page. It just looked organized to me in a way that made sense. Technorati was confusing to me. As I read through posts and took notice of tags I began to develop a better system for searching. This may sound elementary to some who have had a lot of practice with blogging but it really is a different way of thinking about how a person finds information. Am attempting to use Topix.net to locate info on Alaska as my husband and I are planning a trip there. The site seems so busy but I am working through it. Found good info on Anchorage Bay.