Thursday, September 24, 2009

Library thing

Had quite a lot of fun with this one. Managed to add my five titles (although I added one by mistake and was too scared to delete it after it asked me whether I wanted to delete from 'all collections'!). Interesting to click on links of other bloggers who had chosen the same titles to see their comments.
http://www.librarything.com/home/annebetts

Image generators



How do you like my new shirt for my 10,000 steps team, the 'Outback Harriers'? I actually managed to do this on my own so I feel quite pleased with myself! Had a lot of fun looking at the different sites (found Generator Blog at bit strange though). I can't believe there are so many bloggers out there with so many ideas and so much free time. Could spend hours concocting all sorts of images and combinations.

Sandbox

A good name for a site that encourages you to play! Very interesting to look at the lists on offer - added a few comments to some of them. Found the favourite TV shows and holiday spots interesting and added a couple of comments to these sites.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wikis

Once you get used to the idea of a 'free for all' site (hoping that self regulation really does work!) the usefulness of Wikis does become apparent. By drawing on the combined knowledge of many different participants the maximum material is gathered together in one site and is easily added to or updated. Had a good look at the SJCPL site and was impressed by the variety of information available.
I especially like the idea of using wikis for special projects. I was recently involved in one group project which had about a dozen parties with emails being sent all over the place every day giving different suggestions for content, grammar etc. Instead of having to locate these in my Inbox, it would have been so much easier to have everything in the one place that could be edited by each party, i.e. a wiki.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Exercise 10

Found the articles on the future of the web regarding libraries fascinating. Nice to know that libraries and librarians will still play a vital role in the education and leisure time of our patrons even though our roles are, and will continue to evolve to meet the needs of our users.
We are now becoming navigators charting a smooth passage to the most relevant information (which is what we always have been) but the navigation tool is now so different and evolving at such a fast rate. It's so important for us to keep up with the latest developments otherwise what help are we to our users?
(Loved the idea of 'superstar' librarians - our 15 minutes of fame will come!)

Monday, August 31, 2009

Del.icio.us

Had never heard of this term before but it did remind me of Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas! Looks to me to be another way of bookmarking useful sites which would be great for libraries compiling info on hot topics etc. Had a look at the Thunder Bay (love that name) site which was very easy to navigate and provided quick, useful links to a number of sites. Great that you can access other users' sites as well - cuts down on your own search time.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Exercise FD Toys' Trading card maker

Wow! I just didn't know you could do all that with your photos - the possibilities are endless. Very creative ideas and especially useful with Christmas coming up. We had personalised cards and a calendar made last year at a photocopy shop but I think I'll have a lot more fun doing it myself this year.

Flickr exercise

Have just had a good look at Flickr, Can't believe there are so many photos of so many different things! Had a look at some Canadian shots and comments and also some of Milford Beach which didn't have as many comments attached. Got a bit confused when I searched Takapuna Library and quite a few photos of someone on a bunjee jump appeared but it must have been part of a set. I decided to use the site on Staffordshire terriers as my link. Beautiful shots of staffies - my favourites were the white staffies, which is what my late Poppy was. This is the link: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=staffordshire+terriers&m=text#page=0

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Had never heard of Flickr or mashups before so it's a whole new world but really enjoyed the Flickr color pickr. Looked up flowers under different colours on the colour wheel and was amazed at the variety. I probably wouldn't use the comic strip on Bubblr but can see that some people would find it useful.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Really valued our digital camera when we went overseas last year. Took beautifully clear pictures, especially of the Rocky Mountains and great closeups of wildlife in the far distance (unfortunately no bears or cougers, just mountain sheep and goats). Also used the video option which really brought the atmosphere of the trip back when we played it on our 42" TV when we got home. Downloaded the photos on to our laptop as well so we can take this with us to show friends and family.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

RSS fees

Have just added 6 feeds and found easiest way to do this was to search for the website on Google and follow the RSS feed instructions from there. Found it interesting that some well known publications, such as NZ Women's Weekly, did not have an RSS feed, but other established sites such as Newstalk ZB and NZ Herald easy to link. Love the Unshelved cartoons!
With a lot of help from Sarah I finally understand what an RSS feed is - a shortcut link to selected topics on favourite sites. The instruction videos unfortunately went right over my head and I usually have to do a new task over and over to master it (just like 5th form maths!) but I finally got there. Will find it a great time saver when searching for favourite topics and think it is a great way for libraries to keep uptodate with new developments.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Vancouver Island blog

Found a great blog on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada, which we visited last year(islandrambles.blogspot.com). Lots of photos of places we really loved, like Cowichan Bay - gorgeous photos of this fishing village on the home page. Also photos and comments on Butchart Gardens. We went there in fall and it was beautiful but lovely to see photos of it in the spring, with descriptions of the bulbs and other spring flowers. Also seemed to be lots of advice on photos going back and forth.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Have finally discovered the mystery of blogging! Belonging to the over 40 generation means you can sometimes feel a bit left out of all the blogging and twittering that's constantly going on around you but the time must come to join the rest of the world's population in participating in the 'new technology'. Here's hoping the rest of the journey of discovery is as easy as these first few steps have been!