Wow. Finally finished. I have to say I had fun using the geocaching theme. It always provided me some focus with my searching, exploring, and prompted discussion in my posts. I have to say that the Things that scared me the most were ones I knew would take a lot of time. I am really glad I didn't succumb to Second Life. I knew it was one I shouldn't get into. I have enough to do. I still don't go on Facebook as much as my friends and family would like me to.
The most challenging part was actually writing the blog and using the tools to add the links and embedded video and such. Not only do I now know at least a little about a lot of Web 2.0 tools, I know ALOT more about blogging. I was working on a geocaching streak of consecutive days during this adventure, and it would have been cool to have been keeping a blog of those geocaching adventures too. I do know a librarian geocacher from HCL who blogs. You know, there really are many geocaching librarians. Maybe more librarians like those who stumble on this blog should start caching!
I do think these Things are very valuable for students and researchers, and I now have enough info to be dangerous as I endeavour to help them through the info maze.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thing #22: What Did I Learn Today?
Well, I sure have learned lots of new stuff! I have even learned some new tricks with old tools I have been using. I know I'll be keeping up with this blog for awhile, as I need to get going on the new 23 Things very soon. It feels great to finally get through the first 23. I'm adding more RSS feeds now!
Thanks to these first 23 Things, I also have found great ways to keep up with my favorite hobby, Geocaching!
Thanks to these first 23 Things, I also have found great ways to keep up with my favorite hobby, Geocaching!
Thing #21: Other Social Networks
I had not visited any of these sites before today. I had heard of Gather. It seems like beta vs. VHS all over again. Facebook is winning when it comes to attracting adults, though Gather seems to be more Audi or Lexus than Chevrolet.
I see the value of the 23 Things group on Ning, so you can meet your peers and help you through the Things. However, I do think people will gravitate to one network more than not, and perhaps just be in more groups on that one site.
I am on a couple of small message boards that are private, and I socially network with the 250 people or so on those boards. Between those and Facebook, I am over-socially-networked. One of those is a geocaching network, of course. Oh, one more geocaching item of note: I posted a photo of myself with two other geocaching librarians on my Ning account.
I don't have an interest in joing more networks. I am late to the game on Ning, and I see that my peers have not used the site in quite some time.
Visit 23 Things on a Stick
I see the value of the 23 Things group on Ning, so you can meet your peers and help you through the Things. However, I do think people will gravitate to one network more than not, and perhaps just be in more groups on that one site.
I am on a couple of small message boards that are private, and I socially network with the 250 people or so on those boards. Between those and Facebook, I am over-socially-networked. One of those is a geocaching network, of course. Oh, one more geocaching item of note: I posted a photo of myself with two other geocaching librarians on my Ning account.
I don't have an interest in joing more networks. I am late to the game on Ning, and I see that my peers have not used the site in quite some time.
Visit 23 Things on a Stick
Thing #20: Facebook
This is one more Thing that I already had a lot of experience with. I have been a member of Facebook for some time. I am part of a large family and it is one way we can keep in touch easily, know what everyone is up to, and can share photos and video. It seems the younger members of the family are more active with mutliple posts each day. They have lots more Friends too. My mom even joined! Since I joined I have been "friended" by high school folks I haven't talked to in years. I have cousins that I haven't seen for ages contact me too.
As far as Groups go, of course I've joined geocaching groups, and I have many geocaching Friends. The weird thing is that Facebook requires real names, and geocaching.com doesn't, so it's hard to tell who someone is when they send you a friend request. I look to see who we have in common before accepting an invitation.
Here are my geocaching groups:
Minnesota State Parks Geocaching Wildlife Safari
Sports & Recreation - Outdoor Sports
Size:96 member
Cooler Crew Cachers
Sports & Recreation - Recreational Sports
Size:23 members
Garmin Oregon Users
Internet & Technology - Gadgets
Size:168 members
Personally, I have some hesitation to going "all-in" on Facebook, as I think privacy is a big issue. People put so much private info out there, and they, especially teens, friend so many people without really getting to know them all first. You really need to be careful with what you post. I don't think my brother's employer would like some of his posts. Yikes!
As far as Groups go, of course I've joined geocaching groups, and I have many geocaching Friends. The weird thing is that Facebook requires real names, and geocaching.com doesn't, so it's hard to tell who someone is when they send you a friend request. I look to see who we have in common before accepting an invitation.
Here are my geocaching groups:
Minnesota State Parks Geocaching Wildlife Safari
Sports & Recreation - Outdoor Sports
Size:96 member
Cooler Crew Cachers
Sports & Recreation - Recreational Sports
Size:23 members
Garmin Oregon Users
Internet & Technology - Gadgets
Size:168 members
Personally, I have some hesitation to going "all-in" on Facebook, as I think privacy is a big issue. People put so much private info out there, and they, especially teens, friend so many people without really getting to know them all first. You really need to be careful with what you post. I don't think my brother's employer would like some of his posts. Yikes!
Thing #19: Podcasts
Here's another Thing that I have experience with. I have a geocaching friend named SirZman who does a weekly podcast called Twin Cities Geocaching Podcast. His special guest-host is his young daughter Super R. SirZman is married to Lady Z, who just happened to be a former library staffer at Washington County Library! Small world, huh? I have been subscribing to his podcast ever since Thing #3! I have also listened to podcasts of radio shows. I once called in to a radio station. I could later hear my call/conversation on the radio station's website through their podcast library.
I did search podcast.com for more geocaching podcasts and found 29 listed! My friend's podcast was not one of them. Have a listen:
Twin Cities Geocaching Podcast
Gcast is no longer free to post via phone, so I did not try that tool. I don't see myself getting into podcasting myself.
I did search podcast.com for more geocaching podcasts and found 29 listed! My friend's podcast was not one of them. Have a listen:
Twin Cities Geocaching Podcast
Gcast is no longer free to post via phone, so I did not try that tool. I don't see myself getting into podcasting myself.
Thing #18: Youtube
This Thing I already know alot about. I have had an account for years, and have shared video with friends and family before. I know this site can be a huge time-eater, since there seems to be a video about everything on here. I once was trying to explain how my Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer worked to someone. I found it on Youtube! They could see for themselves.
For this Thing, I searched geocaching topics. There are tons! I even got to see Dave Ulmer discuss the hiding of the FIRST EVER geocache in April 2000. I also saw a geocaching event video that I am in! Watch if you want, and I'm in the background but very visable during parts of the coronation.
Just for fun, check out my 3-year-old nephew singing the national anthem before a Gophers Volleyball game!
For this Thing, I searched geocaching topics. There are tons! I even got to see Dave Ulmer discuss the hiding of the FIRST EVER geocache in April 2000. I also saw a geocaching event video that I am in! Watch if you want, and I'm in the background but very visable during parts of the coronation.
Just for fun, check out my 3-year-old nephew singing the national anthem before a Gophers Volleyball game!
Thing #17: ELM Productivity Tools
Here's another Thing that I really didn't know much about before working on my Things. The feature I had used was to set up a search alert to watch for new articles on Dog Parks for a task force I was on. That made the first part of this Thing easy. To keep with the theme of this blog, I set up an RSS feed for articles on geocaching, of course. I suddenly was linked to 43 newer articles. Awesome!
I then logged into Ebsco and tried out the Page Composer. I tried some of the page formatting features and I saved it to my PC. I have to admit that I didn't get very far with this. I downloaded a very simple web page. I can see this being fun and helpful for students though.
Next I went to ProQuest Newsstand. Again, I searched for geocaching topics instead of those suggested. I used the refine feature, which was a great idea, since I started with over 1000 hits. I ended up getting it down to 71, and marking 5 and creating a page with those. I clicked on the "download" button, but couldn't tell if that worked at all. I then used the "email" feature and was able to email all the links to myself quite easily, and I think that is a really good feature. I love the email feature on all of these databases, and often recommend it to patrons so they can easily keep track articles they found helpful. Knowing more about how to send a bunch at one time is even more helpful!
Last, I went to NetLibrary, very grateful that I remembered my user name and password I had created at work, since I an doing this from home. I was able to get in and search the ebooks. Unfortunatley, I had no luck with the term "geocaching." I switched to the broader term "treasure hunting" and found some books. I looked in the Idiot's Guide to Sunken Treasures, and made some notes. I had never noticed that feature before. That's pretty cool!
If I was doing some serious research and needed to keep track of some great resources I found in ELM databases, these tools would be very helpful!
I then logged into Ebsco and tried out the Page Composer. I tried some of the page formatting features and I saved it to my PC. I have to admit that I didn't get very far with this. I downloaded a very simple web page. I can see this being fun and helpful for students though.
Next I went to ProQuest Newsstand. Again, I searched for geocaching topics instead of those suggested. I used the refine feature, which was a great idea, since I started with over 1000 hits. I ended up getting it down to 71, and marking 5 and creating a page with those. I clicked on the "download" button, but couldn't tell if that worked at all. I then used the "email" feature and was able to email all the links to myself quite easily, and I think that is a really good feature. I love the email feature on all of these databases, and often recommend it to patrons so they can easily keep track articles they found helpful. Knowing more about how to send a bunch at one time is even more helpful!
Last, I went to NetLibrary, very grateful that I remembered my user name and password I had created at work, since I an doing this from home. I was able to get in and search the ebooks. Unfortunatley, I had no luck with the term "geocaching." I switched to the broader term "treasure hunting" and found some books. I looked in the Idiot's Guide to Sunken Treasures, and made some notes. I had never noticed that feature before. That's pretty cool!
If I was doing some serious research and needed to keep track of some great resources I found in ELM databases, these tools would be very helpful!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Thing #16: Assignment Calculator & the Research Project Calculator
Wow! I had never heard of these tools before. Students have it so easy these days! If any students used these, and really followed them, they'd get "A"s everytime. I tried the calculator for a 6 week project and a 2-day project and it handled both. I looked in the teacher's area and noticed how it helped explain how the resources work. I felt like I could be out of a job soon! I liked how it explained how to search the databases and I think that is one thing in particular that could be printed out and left to aid students or other patrons.
I could see myself recommending this to students, especially the many History Day project students. It list many resources, like style manuals, that we own in the library and can help legitimize the resources we carry and have access to.
As far as my own projects, if I need to write a report, this tool has timelines that could help keep me on track and to keep the process moving. The prompts seem to be generic enough to apply to almost any topic.
If I were giving a presentation on geocaching, I could use this to create an outline of the presentation and flesh it out. I could adapt the timeline to my project. Perhaps I could try this for developing the geocaching class for the library!
I could see myself recommending this to students, especially the many History Day project students. It list many resources, like style manuals, that we own in the library and can help legitimize the resources we carry and have access to.
As far as my own projects, if I need to write a report, this tool has timelines that could help keep me on track and to keep the process moving. The prompts seem to be generic enough to apply to almost any topic.
If I were giving a presentation on geocaching, I could use this to create an outline of the presentation and flesh it out. I could adapt the timeline to my project. Perhaps I could try this for developing the geocaching class for the library!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thing #15: Libraries and Games
Well, this Thing can sure be a big time-eater! I tried out Puzzle Pirates, since I think Second Life would be overwhelming. I did peek at SL, but it seemed far too complicated for me to learn in a short period of time. In Puzzle Pirates I created a pirate named Tessargh and she learned to bilge and carpent (since I have 4 carpenters in my family it seeme appropriate) and I earned 81 pieces of eight while working on the ship. I was challenged to rumble by someone on board and I took them on. Since I didn't have much time to learn, I was easily beaten. That was enough for me to jump ship and head back to my bedroll and crate with my rat. :(
I can see how people would want to come to the library and use our faster computers to play these games. Heck, it took over 5 minutes just to load the game at home with my broadband access. I can also see why the kids talk to each other as they play. They need help figuring out what it going on!
As far as geocaching goes, I googled "geocaching RPG" for role-playing games, and stumbled upon a game by Jeep. I tried to register for it and play, but it seems to be defunct now. Here's a screencap from it:
I can see how people would want to come to the library and use our faster computers to play these games. Heck, it took over 5 minutes just to load the game at home with my broadband access. I can also see why the kids talk to each other as they play. They need help figuring out what it going on!
As far as geocaching goes, I googled "geocaching RPG" for role-playing games, and stumbled upon a game by Jeep. I tried to register for it and play, but it seems to be defunct now. Here's a screencap from it:
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Thing #14: Library Thing
Okay, I have to admit that this Thing got me interested and I spent lots of extra time on it. I only added 22 books from my library, but I picked a diverse group of books, including a few bestsellers. I was surprised to see that someone had 8 books in common with me with only 22 to choose from! I can see the social and the personal reasons for using Library Thing.
I see the value of Library Thing as a reader's advisory tool. I looked up a few titles I know and saw other titles recommended that I agree, would be similar titles. I even found some titles I didn't know and could use those too! Many of the titles were by the same author, but we refer patrons to books by the same author all the time. I do think looking up titles in Library Thing for RA would be more useful for lesser known titles. I often just google "Who writes like..." and find lists online that work as well or better. Those lists are usually written by librarians.
I could see us starting up a library account for the staff to enter suggested reads. We could all put in our favorites, and get a diverse list of recommendations. We could have other area users "friend" us to get suggestions.
Now, I am really excited about the geocaching connections I have with this Thing. First, I added a geocaching novel to my list. It is a little known novel. It's a really weird book that my sis-in-law found on Amazon.com. Well, the funny thing is - I'm the only person to enter it on Library Thing! It's that unknown! It's also that bad. Second, and really cool, is that this Thing asked me to check out an account by a middle school media specialist. I followed the link and saw the profile, and lo and behold, here was Brook, AKA BookMN! BookMN is a geocacher I have met when caching in Detroit Lakes. I saw her recently at an event at Wm O'Brien SP too. Small world!
tesser's LibraryThing catalog
I see the value of Library Thing as a reader's advisory tool. I looked up a few titles I know and saw other titles recommended that I agree, would be similar titles. I even found some titles I didn't know and could use those too! Many of the titles were by the same author, but we refer patrons to books by the same author all the time. I do think looking up titles in Library Thing for RA would be more useful for lesser known titles. I often just google "Who writes like..." and find lists online that work as well or better. Those lists are usually written by librarians.
I could see us starting up a library account for the staff to enter suggested reads. We could all put in our favorites, and get a diverse list of recommendations. We could have other area users "friend" us to get suggestions.
Now, I am really excited about the geocaching connections I have with this Thing. First, I added a geocaching novel to my list. It is a little known novel. It's a really weird book that my sis-in-law found on Amazon.com. Well, the funny thing is - I'm the only person to enter it on Library Thing! It's that unknown! It's also that bad. Second, and really cool, is that this Thing asked me to check out an account by a middle school media specialist. I followed the link and saw the profile, and lo and behold, here was Brook, AKA BookMN! BookMN is a geocacher I have met when caching in Detroit Lakes. I saw her recently at an event at Wm O'Brien SP too. Small world!
tesser's LibraryThing catalog
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