Week #8 Productivity Tools & Google Spaces

Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom by Shelly & Cashman is a great text for anyone looking for an introduction to all sorts of computer and web terminology. Reading this text has been interesting for me as it is a review of much I already know about how computers work, but then Shelly includes details and an update for me about some "technical" things that I don't have experience with or that I didn't understand fully.

Chapter 3 Application Software Productivity Tools for Educators went along nicely with our 23 Things task this week. I just wish it had some information about scheduling applications as I would like to learn more about what is available on the web for scheduling employees. However, I do realize this is a text for educators and not for student managers like myself. If anyone knows anything about scheduling applications like "When to Work," please drop a line.

That said, I decided not to experiment with Zoho Writer, but instead, to post about my experience with Google Sites. Last year I decided to set out on a mission to put our Information Services book of instructions online so that the library staff could more easily locate information needed while working the desk. Our "literal" book (which everyone called "the black book" as it was a black three ring binder) had an index, and noone could ever locate "how to" docs when they needed them. I enlisted the help of our library systems specialist. After looking at several different options for this project, we decided that the best forum for our book was Google Sites.

http://sites.google.com/?pli=1


Google Sites is a very basic webpage publishing application. However, what makes it better than Zoho Writer and other apps is that you can create a bunch of pages (probably over 60 documents for our library desk procedures!) and then you can search your webpage to find what your looking for. Since it is created by Google, it works just like it. For example, I have a couple of pages that cover how to check in and out laptops and what to do with laptops that are damaged. The staff member need only search laptop, and those one or two documents will show on a list. It is really easy to use and is a major improvement to what we doing...thumbing through a notebook looking for a page that we needed.

Google Sites also reminds me of a wiki without the collaboration factor. All staff members have access to our Google Sites pages, but I am the only one who can edit them. I did this so as to keep page maintenance at a minimum, and I didn't have anyone jumping up and down at work for a collaborative effort.

Another web publishing application I have used is a Geocities space through Yahoo. Yahoo is no longer supporting webpages so I will have to find a new place for the Gettysburg Riding Club page for which I am the "webmaster." Well, I hope this post was not too long or boring. I am signing off for now. ~Steph

Week 8: Library Thing

Here's my Library Thing link that goes along with my WebQuest on evaluating websites:


http://www.librarything.com/catalog/StephHerfel



My experience with Library Thing is that it is easy to use, and from a social networking aspect, I like how you can see others' libraries. I imediately noticed that David Loertscher had one book tagged "finding and locating information." It turned out that the book in his library seemed like a good one to add to mine since my WebQuest teaches students to evaluate web content critically. Here's a pic of it:

I chose other books that could be used for high schoolers or college freshman to guide them with choosing resources for research.

Voki

I found this Voki application on Martha Nelson's blog and had to check it out. Thanks, Martha, for sharing. It's fun.

Week #7 Wikis and my Webquest link

Wow, I really liked exploring the links on Wikis this week! The only problem with me and exploring links is I get totally sidetrack! I mean first I found some really cool things. One of my first treasures was found on the Library Success: Best Practice Wiki at:
http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page#Management_and_Leadership

As a LIS student (or whichever acronym we are supposed to use for someone pursuing a degree in librarianship...MLIS, LS, etc.), I was immediately drawn to the resources on this wiki under the heading Training and Development for Librarians. After clicking on the Resources link, I was able to find online flashcards for studying cataloging!

http://www.flashcardexchange.com/flashcards/view/325669

I know this might not sound that exciting to some of you, but the idea of being able to create flashcards online was something I just never thought about. What a cool idea! Now, I did glance at these cataloging flashcards, and they weren't the greatest, but this would be a cool way to study for our upcoming Cataloging and Classification midterm. (Hint, hint...You all make the flashcards, and I'll use them to study.)

Okay, so we are supposed to be talking about wikis here, not flashcards, but this is my blog and I am pretty excited about making some flash cards. On a wiki note, I have used PBwiki and do think it is an awesome cataloging tool and know that my classmates (Martha, Erin, and Sarah) can attest to that from our experience in LS532.

So, back to my treasure finding theme here...I am totally going to have to edit this post at another time when it isn't 2am...Another great resource especially for school librarians is the teacherlibrarianwiki at:

http://teacherlibrarianwiki.pbworks.com/

This is where I got totally sidetracked. I explored this wiki and found a PowerPoint on copyright. I have been keeping a lookout for copyright information because one of my co-workers here at Schmidt Library just took over doing our e-reserves. So, that's when I went to my e-mail to send her the link and PowerPoint...Anyways, this post became a time consuming process. So, in conclusion I must conclude that WIKIS ARE COOL because they can be used for so many different purposes, foster collaboration, and even if you are not a collaborator, you can benefit from the fruits of others' labors. Cool! And, here is a link to my Webquest assignment which is a lesson on Evaluating websites for high school or college students:

http://calcurriculum.pbworks.com/f/Herfel%20WebQuest.htm

(Just cut and paste this into a new window to view.) Does anyone know if you can make this a direct link? I couldn't figure it out.)

Week 6 Technorati

I promise this is my last post for my Week 6 experience (unless I decide to come back and edit this post). I played around with searching Technorati and know I will get back there to explore some more and add some blogs to the ones I am already following using Google Reader. Someday I would like to have time to browse more of the Top 100 Blogs list, but I did find one that I saved that is great for librarians or anyone trying to keep up with technology especially all of the tools available on the web. Here's a description of TechCrunch and the url if you want to read up on the newest technology trends or add it to whatever reader you might be using:

TechCrunch was founded on June 11, 2005, as a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. In addition to covering new companies, we profile existing companies that are making an impact (commercial and/or cultural) on the new web space. http://www.techcrunch.com/

Week 6 Ch. 2 Looking Toward Catalog 2.0

Library 2.0 and Beyond is a great text for learning all about these technologies, and I love how this text gives further readings, additional resources, and websites at the end of each chapter.

Chapter 2 really made me ponder the idea of how much library websites and catalogs have and will continue to change. The academic library where I work does not seem close to adopting a catalog that allows our patrons to tag library materials within our collection. I also feel that being able to tag items in our catalog or write reviews about books we have is not "high priority" for many of our college students. Our text does mention that the University of Pennsylvania library has created its own tagging system called PennTags so tagging does seem to be making headway at academic libraries, just not so much at my library.

However, here at Schmidt Library, the way we search our OPAC will soon be getting much more user friendly as we will be getting a new search engine called Summon. Dartmouth has Summon and basically it is like Google search for libraries. If you have some time and want to check it out, you can test drive it at Dartmouth's site.

If you take a look at this site, notice how "streamlined" Dartmouth's library website looks, and if you try some test searches, let me know what you think. I am really excited about this new way of searching our catalog that will be coming next semester!

http://library.dartmouth.edu/

Week 6 Bookmarking and Metatagging

I love these Lee Lefever videos that explain different web applications. (Dr. Farmer shared one with us for our previous lesson on RSS.)

I have to say that my favorite Web 2.0 (or Library 2.0) application is social bookmarking, and my preferred social bookmarking site is Diigo. I also have used Del.icio.us (now just Delicious) but converted to Diigo because it has some extra features that I like. I currently have about 80 different tags, and I honestly can't tell you how many sites bookmarked.

If you choose to experiment with Diigo and join, try searching for "Delicious," and you will find lots of useful websites there on the topic of social bookmarking. I also have tagged my Clarion courses and will eventually have all of the useful websites accumulated through these Masters courses saved there. It will be a wonderful resource and my own little "key" to the web when I add the rest of what I have on my Favorites list. The cool thing is as long as I can always access the internet, I won't ever loose track of these useful online resources!

Hi, all.

Here's my Rollyo. It could be used as a lesson in Information Literacy on how to evaluate websites for high school or college students. I had a crazy time with the Rollyo site and probably won't use it again. I would actually prefer Diigo or Delicious sites for this purpose as I like both interfaces better. I know it is not exactly the same concept but would certainly serve the same purpose...grouping webpages together under one tag so you can share them with a class.

http://rollyo.com/sherfel/ifl_evaluating_sites1/

I will certainly add more later, but I think a need a "technovacation" right about now. ; ) ~Steph