Thing 23 - The summary

This is absolutely my favorite picture and perfect in my mind to describe my experience. I worked my chops off!

(1) My fav is blogging. I have gotten into this and think I am developing a feel for it.
(2) Perhaps made me a bit more committed to becoming more proficient in various Web 2.0 tools
(3) Unexpected and delightfully so was the number of HISD librarians participating and really being into it.
(4) If you could anticipate the hard parts, like embedding video, and provide more online help or resources.
(5) Yes
(6) Delicious
(7) Big thanks for doing this. I'd play with you guys anytime.

Thing 22 - Ning

I have had some experience with Nings. I have looked at Joyce's and Shondra's before and think that both could be useful. The Texas Ning gets a lot of repetition from the TLC Listserv. Joyce's Ning has a lot more features. We have a UNT cohort of MLS students that uses a Ning. This is a great use of this tool.

Thing 21 - Podcasting and Photo Story

This was my second effort with Microsoft Photo Story. It is really fun to work with. I think it should get easier with time. Had no luck adding narration. I have a brand new computer (Vista) and tried using a mike with a headset to no avail. Just need to invest in some equipment I think. And play more... Definitely want to challenge students, librarians, and teachers to try this.

I think I need more help on this one. Specifically the handout from Liz's Region IV class. My Photo Story ended up being a .wp3 file and I looked and looked and could find no instructions or directions on how to fix it so it could be uploaded to the blog. I know this was covered in our class. I even looked back at the Region IV WIKI and came up empty. Oh well. I do have an ok Photo Story to use with the High School Name That Book Group.

Thing 20 - TeacherTube and YouTube

So much wonderful educational content now resides here. Too bad that much of YouTube is presently unavailable to our students at school. Luckily we can access TeacherTUBE in most school districts. With help and persistence almost any video can be shared in a school by a teacher or librarian who is willing to learn how to do it.

Here is a book trailer from a Science Fiction book we will read this year, Host by Stephanie Meyer. I have met some readers who prefer Host to Twilight. How about you? Can you make a book trailer?

Had some trouble with the embedding. This link helped me.

Thing 19 - Web 2.0 Awards

I love this site. This will take some time to explore but I really liked what I saw when I checked out the categories most useful or interesting to me. I see lots of educational or library applications scattered among the categories. Of course I can see used for the WEB 2.0 tools in Books and Content Aggregation. I want to explore more of Wufoo for managing some web content like registration. That could be very helpful.

Thing 18 - Online office tools

So we really can't get along without MS office. We need it like the air we breathe but it is not free. We started using Google Documents a few years ago. It is a very handy tool. We use it to share and edit common documents. Never really thought about it's use as an alternative to a computer without Office. I have always made sure that I added the MS Office suite to whatever computer I purchase. I have seen and heard about Open Office but never downloaded it. I am in the market for a new computer so I might consider it. This might be very helpful to students whose home computer does not have Office.

Thing 17- Rollyo

Rollyo was a bit obtuse for me at first.
I created a custom searchroll on healthy eating. I think some of the custom searchrolls may be useful especially the one on travel. Then I added a Rollyo searchbox on books and authors to my blog and that may be useful. I see some overlap with using delicious. I also added a bookmarklet for Rollyo to my home page.

Thing 16 - WIKI nation

So WIKI's are everywhere. The grandaddy WIKI, Wikipedia, has become many internet users default encyclopedia. It is an awesome and amazing thing. However, it should not be the only source of information consulted in the research process. One of our tasks as librarian is to warn about authority and to introduce our users to other possibilities.

I went to the Spring Branch Sandbox (WIKI) and posted a commment about WIKIs. As I mentioned in that posting, we have created a WIKI to track and work on our departmental goals. Observation: WIKIS have to "catch on". You can build it but will they come? How do you get your audience to participate ? There are barriers to deal with learning curves, fear of making a technological misstep in front of your peers. This is one technology tool that is pretty deep and will require more practice and experience to be beneficial.

Thing 15 - Library 2.0

It is exciting to see all of the possibilities with Library 2.0. It is certainly a time of change to anyone working in libraries. I think that many of these new Web
2.0 tools will have a place in the the Library 2.0. The future of the library is all about service and delivering what the patron needs in the format requested in and a manner that is very user friendly. Design is very important and communicating for better understanding. I want to fast forward sometimes and take a peek.

I think one of the best Library 2.0 roadmap's was listed in Christopher Harris's blog, Informancy. Here is a quote that I want to hold close to my heart and mind.

"Being the Intel Inside is making sure you slap a “Powered by the School Library” sticker on everything you do. It is about making sure people know that the library is the person/place/thing/idea that helps make learning happen throughout the school. "