I discover Feedburner

I've been searching for a way to add an RSS widget to this blog without complex XML instructions. I'm giving a workshop on RSS and I knew someone would ask how to do it.

I called Gothmom and she suggested Feedburner. Not only does the site have a simple form, it also has Feedburner 101, with good explanations.

Copyright Educational Video

An educational video on copyright!!

Literature, Arts & Medicine Database

I added a new link for one of my occasionally favorite websites, Literature, Arts & Medicine Database, a great resource not just for health personnel. The medical and health profession has some interesting cultural materials. I've loved reading the artwork sections of JAMA (usually featured on the cover-- click on picture) and the historical medical sleuthing in the Lancet. Unfortunately these sections don't have RSS feeds or I'd definitely subscribe! It's interesting that JAMA, and now the Literature, Arts & Medicine Database have published anthologies.

Wikis in Plain English

Commoncraft has done it again!
Their video, Wikis in Plain English explains it simply for simple campers and others who wonder what wikis are all about.

Library 2010

This week is Library and Information Week in Australia. Libraries Interact has asked for descriptions of libraries of the future and received some interesting contributions here. Read, watch, and enjoy! I especially like the user sensitive information bar!

Videos of note

Interesting videos that have come across my reading/viewing.

RSS in plain English I hope producer CommonCraft will put out others on Web 2.0 topics.

Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals courtesy of Vanderbilt University

Stationery Smiley and digitial audio podcasts

I'm listening to Technology Reviews audio version of "What can neuroscience tell us about evil?" in its digitized form. Weird and probably not the best medium for an article about the neurobiology of sociopaths. Two days ago this smiley crawled around an email message I received. I attempted to capture it, but I couldn't set it free. This reminds me that I have a lot to learn. Spring is here! I'm sorry to say that I'm battling snails, who like the basil seedlings I planted as companions to tomato seedlings.
I've come to the conclusion that one site where I've planted emerging sunflowers is doomed. Snails or other garden pests have cut the stalk twice.

Tai Chi Me

On Saturdays I Tai Chi

In praise of curb cuts and Learning 2.0!

Several weeks ago I broke a wheel on my shopping cart; I was going over a curb and the plastic inner cracked out of the axel. Dr. Djonz replaced wheels he'd salvaged from a previous cart (it's happened before). Whenever I wheel my shopping cart to Walgreens I'm made aware of the problems of those who depend on chairs, strollers and other wheeled carts to get around. And I appreciate curb cuts! Dr. Djonz says I should be more careful and lift the cart and its wheels over the cutless curb -- not easy with a full cart. Curb cuts help everyone, not just wheelchair riders. Sometimes what seems like an annoying and unnecessary accommodation for a special population has benefits for everyone. Like Learning 2.0 !

At last Thing 23!: In praise of Learning 2.0

What I've learned with Learning 2.0.

The journey's over? Definitely not! This has been just one rewarding segment of my lifelong learning experience. I only hope that future encounters with other new technologies will be just as rewarding. I can learn new things and maybe I can even create new learning tools!
All the same, I'm not one for being the first to adopt new technology. I still don't know (much) XML, don't have a digital camera, iPod or MP3 player (or television for that matter) I know that it's good to try things out, see if they work, and how they might be used in the future, consider the social consequences and if necessary, back off. I call this the Amish approach.

Going back in time (a long time?), I should have been more flexible about the learning issues around trouble shooting of computer printers. I protested I was a librarian not a technician (that was when contractors had the responsibility (and keys) for the xerox machines-- which I saw as a comparable technology) . My supervisor told me I had to be both.

Problem: Will I be given time in the future to make new discoveries? I hope so, and would definitely participate in similar programs. Were that all new technology as interesting and exciting.

Problem: Will we be able to incorporate wikis and blogs in our library website? I have a number of ideas, ranging from using a wiki to make a San Jose History Timeline for the California Room web pages to future blogs for book discussion groups to making subject specific pathfinders (squibo?) .

Kudos to Helene Blower for starting Learning 2.0 at PLCMC.
There's still plenty to learn! In my bloglines yesterday (via Shifted Librarian) I was excited to see Sam Wallin's Library 2.0 in 15 minutes a day wiki-in-progress, which includes some excellent introductory material on blogs and sections on social networking.
A wheel may not need reinventing, but there's always refinement needed to make it better.
Library technology like wheels, needs to be adaptable and squeeky wheels sometimes provide the best inspiration!

Book versions: e- and digital audio- (Thing 22)

Thanks to e-book subscriptions, some titles that always go missing will remain in our library collections, provided that the library(s) continue to subscribe. Yes, as long as there's hard copy copies of ASVAB they'll never disappear, and ditto for Nolo titles (why do military examinations and do-it-yourself law books go missing anyway! What does that say about our society?) I love Project Gutenberg and it's great that they've got audios now. However, considering that I don't have a digital audio player or a portable e-reader, I don't expect to use these sites much.
If I had an MP3, or something similar I'd download the Pimsleur language series for modern Greek -- maybe even Vietnamese. Years ago I checked out the Pimsleur German cassettes before going to Berlin. When I got there and walked along the Schillerstrauss, I felt I was in a familiar place, since Vo ist der Schillerstrauss? was one of the pattern questions. I highly recommend the Pimsleur series; they give a good introduction to the spoken language.

Casting for pods-did you hear what I heard? (Thing 21)

Podcasts are fun and useful, provided you have the right software and earphones. This weekend PLA comes to SJ and a podcast tour is one of the offerings at King Library. In an earlier posting I showed how the SF Chronicle turned its voicemail complaints into podcasts; seems silly, but some people will listen to anything!
I like the NPR podcasts or is it streaming audio?-- I can now catch up on what I didn't listen to and can go back and make sure I heard what I heard.
Wish I had podcasts when I was a university student.

YouTube: Commercials, Opera and Web 2.0: Thing 20

YouTube has helped me catch up with television commercials. Not only did I find "poor chinese baby" of the 1950s Jello ads and the Apple Macintosh's famous 1984 commercial but the "Propostion Song" and "About time 89" from the California 2006 November election.
If chasing up on television ads is too lowbrow, here's an interesting suggestion about the educational use of YouTube: "Baritone Daniel Cilli suggests a visit to www.youtube.com for anyone curious about ''The Barber of Seville.'' For starters, try searching for ''Largo al factotum'' (the title of Figaro's most famous aria) and you will find performances, some dating back decades, by renowned baritones that include Robert Merrill, Thomas Hampson, Igor Gorin, Nicolae Herlea, Hermann Prey, Leonard Warren and Tito Gobbi.Play around: Searching for ''Giuseppe De Luca'' will bring up De Luca's extraordinary (and unusual) rendition of the same number. Each time you view a performance, Cilli says, follow the trail of ''related'' videos, which will take you deeper into the opera. "FIGURING OUT FIGARO San Jose Mercury News (CA)November 15, 2006 Author: RICHARD SCHEININ, Mercury News

I've seen the hilarious library videos, including Conan the Librarian, but my favorite so far is Web 2.0: the Machine is Using Us.

Writely Google: Thing 18

I started with Writely. Our home printer died and Dr. Djonz has procrastinated getting a new one. So with no computer at home, what am I going to do about book reviews, applications, papers, and other works that need revising, and printing at different terminals? I didn't think about flash drives then, and floppies were too cumbersome. I signed on to Writely, now Google Docs and and Spreadsheets. Great solution! I've had a few problems with font manipulation when transferring text, but so far no loss of text -- and I can go back and check earlier drafts. And, if I work on a project with some one, we can easily edit each others work.

At the library, we can now have an alternatives to loaner discs -- "Save to Google Docs". When asked whether we have Excel loaded on the PCs, we can offer the spreadsheet part of Google Docs.
I have a Zoho writer account, but haven't explored it much. I'm writely hooked or should I say hooked on Google Docs.

Beware of ampersands! Blogger doesn't like them.

Thing 15: Blog my thoughts, 2.0, and I didn't go to Library School to....

Dr Djonz tells me to beware anything 2.0. What he's refering to is the second-system effect in computing : "the tendency to design the successor to a relatively small, elegant, and successful system as an elephantine, feature-laden monstrosity. "
Therein lies the danger! "Elephantine feature-laden montrosities" could certainly be created if libraries try to replace catalogs using f various 2.0 technologies without careful oversight and project management.
Nevertheless I cheer for Learning 2.0! What fun! If you can't read the above screenshot (Thanks to etches-johnson for illustration. ) the Librarian 2.0 cares about the user, is unafraid of technology, is willing to 'play' with 2.0 tools and is willing to to experiment and make mistakes. If you're still wondering why you need to learn this new technology, read this article.

Shingleback goes to the sandbox:Wikis and PBwikis (16 and 17)

My first introduction to Wikis was through the Wikipedia -- a great source, though knew that content was variable and could be changed at any time. Usually Wikipedia information is adequate enough for me to get an idea of the concept and go to other sources of information.

My experiences with using and manipulating Wikis have been limited. I've added a few items (including shingleback) to the Wiki sandbox. I also worked on some entries for a wiki that some of my colleagues put up before they knew Learning 2.0 was featuring wikis. PBwiki has just changed its editor -- a change in the right direction, making additing and editing and deleting a whole lot easier. My own PBwiki plays around with the Top questions .

Wikis could be useful if integrated into catalogs. A good way to put together a work in progress, such as a program, a policy or procedure.

I'm impressed with Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Wiki and would like to try Wetpaint!

Technorati (Thing 14)

I played with Technorati, claimed my blog, or thought I did, and added the sjlearning tag. I played around with the widgets, but didn't quite get them working to my satisfaction. More to do. Not very impressed yet, but there's a lot more ways to go.

Six months on

It's been six months since I set up this blog and made my first post. It's been rewarding to find out by trial and error how these web applications work. At first I feared that I'd crash the system or that some one with clout would reprimand me for doing something unethical as a public servant. Although I haven't made blog posts on everything that I've explored, I've covered most of the 23 things and more. I've started another blog (with permissions) as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends around the world. So far this new venture doesn't look like it will fly very far; it's up and running, but most of my correspondents prefer email. Still, I have hopes.

Downsides of all this.

More user ids, passwords and web aps to keep track of.
Self-editing -- I try to be cautious with my emails, even the generic emails I send to family and friends, but I'm even more cautious with what I put on blogs. One caveat for blogging is :"You are responsible for your own future." I may have thought that as LaSeal Djonz I was creating a new identity, but it's also obvious to anyone who knows who I am. Yes, a hacker could easily recover anything I've put out on the internet, but googling LaSeal in the future might also be incriminating if I ever run for office. (Not much of a chance!) .

I'll have more to say about technology and Learning 2.0 later. Stay tuned.

Playing with Web.20 (Thing 11)

I thought I could kill two birds with one stone with LibraryThing, but my conscience prompts me to confess that I have spent more time playing with the Web 2.0 award sites and with the even more extensive listing on Go2Web20.net. Lots of fun -- I've even subscribed to a few like Wayfaring and PBWiki. It's been a lot of fun, but I probably should subscribe to Furl or add a section to del.icio.us to keep track of all these things.

Podcasts, complaints and the SF Chronicle

Did you know that the SF Chronicle has podcasts and that these include voicemail complaints from readers? Under Correct me if I'm wrong you can listen to selected complaints. One call about "pilotless drones" has inspired some interesting mashups , including some on You-tube.