Thing #17

Courtney's Librarian Resources Search Engine
http://rollyo.com/courtney.clm/librarian_resources/

What a fabulous way to create safe searchers for students without sacrificing the search engine experience. I also think it's a great tool for personal use because I can create searchrolls for subjects that I search for frequently. This means I don't have to go through my bookmarks and search each trusted site individually or do a general Google search that makes me sift to find my trusted resources. I can simply go to my Rollyo searchroll and have all of my trusted resources at my fingertips.

I wonder what would happen if Delicious and Rollyo put their heads together? Hmmm...

Thing #16

Last semester (Spring 2009) I had my first experience using a wiki. Dr. Matthew set up a wiki for those of us in LLLS 5532 to work on throughout the semester. We used it for the purposes of discussing the YA Literature that we were reading in the course. At first I was a bit nervous. After all, there really aren't any "rules" on wikis. After a while though the class settled into a comfortable pattern of posting. The blank space provided freedom to express whatever we wanted to and include links to additionally resources that we had discovered. I found that while it was initially uncomfortable to not have any rules, in the end it was the lack of rules that made the experience meaningful.

Wikis scream collaboration. Additionally we know that students learn from one another, so the benefits of a shared learning space, such as a wiki, are unlimited. How great would it be for an entire grade level to share a wiki for each unit of study? This would allow sharing and collaboration to occur between classes. I think that students would also be intrigued to read what other classes are saying and think that teachers would be inspired by comments across the grade level. What if the grade level invited the principal to be a member of the wiki? What an easy way for the principal to be involved in the learning process.

My favorite resource on this Thing was the tutorial video designed by CommonCraft. I wish that I had seen this before working on a wiki for the first time. Every time I watch one of their videos I think "I wish I had thought of that".

Thing #15

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/a-vision-of-students-today-what-teachers-must-do/

Let me start off this post by encouraging to watch the above video. I was completely astounded by it. It made me question who I am as an educator. It made me question what society is doing to education. It made me question what meaningful education should look like. The link below the video will take you the a blog with comments from the professor who oversaw this project.

Free access for all has been at the heart of libraries since day one. I guess my question then is why are so many librarians hesitant to embrace the Library 2.0 concept which by its very nature increases access? I think that some librarians need to reexamine their attachment to books, and expand it to be a love of information. After all, what is there to really LOVE about BOOKS? I myself love books. But honestly, if I really think about it, it's the content, tucked inside of the smell-good covers and pretty bindings that I really love. Without that content, or information, a book is just a cardboard cover with letters on the spine. It's the love of the content that I want to share with the world, and while my life has been filled with beautiful content printed on paper, and wrapped in covers, there are people out there who are falling in love with content written on a computer screen and I have to make sure they have access to that.

I love what Michael Stephens had to say about the Librarian 2.0 http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm:

The Librarian 2.0:

- Plans for their users

- Embraces Web 2.0 tools

- Controls Technolust

- Makes good, fast decisions

- Is a trendspotter

- Gets content

Rick Anderson makes some very though provoking statements in his blog post: http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm

He questions the need for a "just in case" collection of print materials. Since the beginning of libraries, information has been scarce. Libraries prided themselves on having print information that their patrons could not gain access to on their own. Today, information is not scarce, so patrons come to the library with the expectation that they can access the information. I guess the question then is what will we offer them at the library that they won't be able to find on Google? He also boldly states that "...if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons". Think about that for a second. Are we so worried about being disposable that we are holding on to services that require patrons to "need" us?

I don't know about you, but my mind is churning. We need to be asking ourselves what the library should look like today instead of thinking about how it should look in the future. The future is here!

Thing #14

Well, I do believe that I am now a Technorati convert. I have explored this blog content search engine a couple of times, but I finally "got it" after watching this video http://technorati.com/weblog/2006/07/110.html Although I have been tied to my Google reader for over a year now, I do think that it's time to part. Here are a few of the reasons why:

1. Tags - Technorati utilizes tags which means that readers can "tag" or add labels to blogs that they read. Those blogs are then categorized by those people-driven tags. That means that everyday people like you and me have a say in the defining and popularity of information.

2. Reciprocity - Sure Google reader allows me to track and read posts on my favorite blogs, but I can't track who else follows the blog or who that blog follows. Additionally, I can't see who is following me! All of that changes with Technorati.

3. Social Science Media - As someone who enjoys studying people and social patterns, Technorati offers up to the minute information on what people are talking about. Technorati provides you with information on the most popular searches, blogs, tags, photos, movies and more. Talk about a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of society.

I'm on my way to set up my account right now! Look me up when you get there!

Thing #13

Tag! You're it! I have finally uploaded all of my "favorites" and "bookmarks" to delicious.com. Now it's your turn. I think that social bookmarking sites such as delicious have so much potential in regards to information sharing. Today I discovered that you can create "Networks" and "Subscriptions" to further your delicious experience. A network is a hand-picked group of people that you create to share bookmarks with. This means that teachers and librarians could potentially create networks that include their students and/or parents for information sharing purposes. Subscriptions provide you with all of the information that has been recently tagged with your tags of choice. You can even create a subscription within a network which means that you will receive notice of specific tags within your specific network of friends. The professional development and networking opportunities that could be created with the use of subscriptions is endless. A teacher or librarian could create a network of all of the teachers in their school and then subscribe to specific areas of interest such as "science", "literature", "communication" and so forth. Additionally teachers and librarians can subscribe to general tags of "school_libraries", "education_technology", "lesson_plans" and more. Delicious is a fabulous way to organize and share information.

Thing #12

Are you a lurker? Do you follow numerous blogs on a regular basis but never contribute any comments? Well, you're missing out! It's like sitting at a dinner party and taking everything in but never uttering a word. I have to admit that there are blogs which I read on a regular basis but never take the time to comment on. After reading through some of the comment guides posted for Thing #12 I have both a better understanding of and appreciation for comments. Here are two ideas that really stood out:


1. Cool Cat Teacher Blog makes the point that we should be teaching commenting. I realized that in school we often ask students to exchange papers and make comments on each other's writing. As a teacher I often had my students exchange their creative writing pieces with two other students for proof-reading purposes. The two reviews were then required to return the paper with two positive comments and one constructive criticism. We need to make sure though that our students are connecting the editing etiquette we teach in the classroom to real world applications. Teaching students how to comment involves teaching how to express a personal opinion, tactfully disagree with someone else, and construct meaningful compliments. As web 2.0 continues to expand into all areas of life, our students need to be equipped to make meaningful contributions to the online conversations going on around them.

2. Darren Rowse makes the point that blog facilitators need to make commenting easy for their readers. At first this seems like a duh statement but with a little more thought I realized that I have my blogs set to allow comments from "registered" users only. Registration can be a hurdle for readers who want an easy way to respond to what you have posted. I think that many bloggers (especially newbies) worry about spam and security when it comes to comments on our blogs. I think though that Darren has a point and that the best route to take is to open your comments up for anyone but set it so that you have to moderate the comments before they appear on your site.

This Thing inspired me to post a comment on two personal interest blogs that I have followed for a while as a lurker. One blog is Beth Moore's Living Proof Ministry blog. She posed an interesting question for her readers (also a great comment increasing tip), so I dove in and posted my thoughts. Another personal interest blog that I have followed for a while is Kelly's Korner blog. Last week she asked for suggestions in one post so I responded with my idea. On both occasions it felt good to be a part of the "conversation" on the blogs as opposed to an observer. My goal now is to become more involved in blogs that interest me professionally.

Thing #11

LibraryThing was one of those things I have always wanted to check out but never took the time to do so. Luckily Thing #11 gave me the opportunity to take a look at this popular thing called LibraryThing! ;-)

I really think a librarian could get lost on this site. What a great tool. I signed up for an account and immediately began adding books. I suddenly felt the urge to add all of the books in my home, but I had to resist the urge for the sake of time. I love how it organizes all of the information, provides cover photos, allows you to customize how your books are listed, and provides opportunities for social interactions based on books. When I checked out the groups available through the site I realized that there is literally a group for everyone.

This would be a great website for teachers to use. They could catalog all of the books in their classroom collection and have students create accounts to track what they read throughout the year. The teacher could even create reading groups for the students since there is an option to create private groups. I will definitely share this web find with others.