Not that I didn't already know...but...

Yesterday I posted comments on the front page of the Sheldon's Play House wiki. Today when I went to see what others had added ...I discovered the entire front page was gone! This is one of the problems with wikis - anyone can add/delete anything...
I could have created a new page, which is what I see some other people did, but then you have to create a catchy subject line to make people want to click to that page!

Wiki World!

Wikis are great for collaboration! I like the idea of multiple people being able to add comments and add information on a topic. As with everything on the web, however - depending on how much moderation is provided for the wiki - it is important to remember the source of the information being provided. Certainly wikis can be less reliable in some cases than a site created by an authority on the topic. But when you are just looking for a variety of views a wiki may be the way to go.
Wikis could be used by libraries in many ways - I especially like the idea of using a wiki for staff members to edit a document or hold a discussion about a document's content. (This would have worked great when we were working on the Strategic Plan...) I could also see it being used for on-going projects - reporting on status to a group and asking for input. Allowing public input for book reviews or programming ideas would also be a good use for wikis.
I looked at the wiki that Meredith Farkus created: http://www.libsuccess.org/. It has some great information and allows library staff members to share ideas on a wide range of topics - definitely a site I will be back to.

A lot to digest this week!

Wow - this was one of the more intense weeks for me. I especialy enjoyed reading (and re-reading) the Web 2.0/Library 2.0 articles.
I already have a del.icio.us account. It is great to be able to access the sites I have used at work at home or on any other computer. I can also integrate the links I use had bookmarked for personal use with my wor-oriented ones. Everything is in one place. I like the new option for listing reference sources in a group del.icio.us list that Keith has set up. It reminds me of the librarian's Ready Reference files that I have used in the past at libraries. Anyone could create an index card with citations, sources or information tips and add it to the Rolodex/file for everyone to use when working the Reference Desk and/or Telephone Reference. This is so much easier to use and can be shared by many...
Technorati held my interest for quite a while - I searched a variety of topics and found some great new blogs in areas I like to follow. When I put in LCLS, David Lee King's blog showed up with a post about the presentation he gave at our Staff Day event. (He also posted a nice photo taken on the beach at Sanibel while he was here!) One other thing I found in a blog (can't remember whose) was a comment about Flickr's "Map Views" feature. You can select a place (by name) and all the photos in Flickr that are tagged with that place name will be displayed...
Now, on to the articles:
Michael Stephens is always good to read - and I do so regularly. I like all his comments about Librarian 2.0, but in particular his ideas about controlling techno-lust. We shouldn't add a technology for the sake of adding it - but really need to consider what value it adds to what we are offering our users.
I liked John Riemer's comments about bibliographic relevance ranking. The idea that relevance should go beyond keywords and also look at circulations, sales, clicks, etc. should also be part of the equation. This would be great in our library catalogs.
Much of what Rick Anderson said resonated with me as relating to our strategic planning and connecting with people. I was also intrigued by his comments about library collections and am wondering what others thought about that topic?
Fianlly, Dr Schultz's progression from Library 1.0 to the future Library 4.0 was interesting. I'm not sure however what happens to the slow adopters and/or the have nots in this progression. Will libraries evolve as places for the masses or will it move them into a place for an elite group? Are we cycling backward to a time when libraries were guarded/guided by select groups? I love the notion of the library as a place for thinkers and dreamers and innovators - but I would hope to be a part of that group. I see a real role for librarians to ensure that everyone continues to feel welcome and comfortable in libraries.

Half way point already!

I can't believe we are already at the half-way point in the training...and the glitch I encountered in adding images within posts has finally been resolved!

I have been to MySpace many times and always enjoy looking at profiles, comments and attachments.

Found Tom Anderson - who is a Libra - with his over 205 million friends! I also viewed his video interview. Of course once I was in the MySpace Video area I had to look at a few more videos...that is what always happens to me - I go to look at one thing and end up looking at many! I think MySpace, if and when used correctly, by libraries can be a good thing. Your presence however needs to serve a purpose - not just be randomly thrown out there without any thought of why you are there. I'm sure many people, as is the case with me, will not return to a space if it is poorly crafted or seems pointless.

I play many online games of varying types - ranging from picture puzzles, to brain development (memory, etc), to sports, to mystery solving, to adventures, etc., etc. etc. . I have not played this particular billiards game before - but found it similar in functionality to a miniature golf game I have played. Anyway , I was able to beat the computer in Straight Pool ...8 to 6!

Success!

I decided to give posting a few images a try today - and this time it worked...go figure!
I still can't post images within a post however (I still get the error code and the message that they are aware of the problem and are working to fix it) - but if you scroll down you can see my images!

Keeping myself motivated...

I'm moving ahead with the activities despite the inability to post any images in this blog...

I've looked at Library Thing several times (before Play To Learn) and plan to use it for my pop-up book collection (over 100 items.) I will need to do the entry at home however since all the books are there!

I created a search engine on Rollyo just to see how it works. I have to admit I was skeptical about how useful it would be... So, I created a search engine with the web links that I go to most frequently for leadership information. I now can easily do a single search within all those sites for specific topics - like a federated search! For example, if I type in "motivation" it pulls all the related pages from each of the sites I included in my leadership search engine. I really like this - and can see many uses...!!!

Week 5 - Frustration today!

Frustration is setting in today. I played with a variety of image generators and saved a few altered images in My Pictures file. When I am working on my Play To Learn blog - Add a page element - add a picture -- it won't display the image - goes to done but nothing shows...but if I follow the same steps in the second (personal) blog I created it works perfectly!!!

S o I looked at some of the other Play To Learn blogs and noticed that many of the altered image elements were added within the posts. I thought I'd give that a try - when I do, I get an error message stating "Unable to upload image We are aware of this problem and are currently working on a fix!" So I won't be able to share any images until the fix is in!

Week 4 - Where Did The Week Go?

Ok, so here it is Sunday afternoon and I'm in the office finishing the copies of the keynote speaker's presentation for Staff Day tomorrow. The whole week has flown by so today is the first chance I've had to set up my Blogline account. ..fortunately the e-mail verification came through instantly so I'm all set to go. I am regular viewer of many blogs so, this will streamline the process for me -- once I get it all completed. For now I've selected a few of the suggested sites and have begun creating folders.

I can see libraries setting up RSS feeds to be able to update users on library information. Of course the users need to be taught/given instructions on how to use RSS (if they don't know how.) Orange County Library Sysetm (Orlando) provides RSS feeds - I added their technology feed to my Bloglines account!