Here is a problem I'm having with the Vermont's 23 Things site. When I click on the highlighted (clickable) site links Mara has given I get an error message: "Easy tiger. This is a 404 page. You are totally in the wrong place." This has happened numerous times. My solution is to get out and go to Google, where I type in something pertinent to the exercise, then find links to sites.
Moving right along - for #19, I went to About.com's spreadsheet page. There I browsed through the Excel 2007 guide, which I found somewhat less than wonderful. It seems to consist of illustrations with no explanatory text. I spent about fifteen minutes clicking through the steps, but the Beginner's book on Excel we have in our collection is much better. I trust that the course offered in WebJunction - if I can register for it - will be superior. I also looked at Yahoo's calendar site, which seems much like Google's.
For #20, I found the Web 2.0 Awards site by googling. I chose the Guides and Reviews category and went to Yelp, the winner in that category. I selected Burlington from the list of cities, and scrolled around in Restaurants, Shopping, and finally Arts & Entertainment, my true area of interest. Results for Burlington were dispiriting: Sunset Drive in - 3 reviews; Echo Center -4 reviews; Made boutique - 1 review; Firehouse Gallery - 1 review; Flynn Theater - 1 review; Ethan allen Homestead - 1 review; Flynn Center for Performing arts - 1 review; Flynn space - 1 review; and Discover Jazz - 2 reviews. I didn't go on to page 2 - too depressing. This is the best we can do in Burlington?!! Perhaps there just aren't enough people in the Burlington area who want to write reviews for this site?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Week 9/ Thing #18
Wikis continued...
On the Vermont's 23 Things Wiki at PBWIKI I added a favorite restaurant to the Favorites page, then linked my blog to the Favorite Blogs page.
On the Wetpaint Wiki I added a favorite book on the Favorite Book page. Whoopee!
I find this is taking quite a bit longer than the suggested 15 minutes per item model. I did not have time to thoroughly peruse all the entries by Vermont librarians. I think I will continue to use the wiki I know best- Wikipedia- for information on the fly. Lack of verifiable empirical evidence notwithstanding, it's a boon. My very favorite "pedia" source is The World Book in hard cover. Nothing like sitting in a chair and holding an actual book, written by actual experts, and edited by actual professionals.
As far as other wikis (and there must be millions by now) I probably won't be able to keep up. Maybe when I retire?
On the Vermont's 23 Things Wiki at PBWIKI I added a favorite restaurant to the Favorites page, then linked my blog to the Favorite Blogs page.
On the Wetpaint Wiki I added a favorite book on the Favorite Book page. Whoopee!
I find this is taking quite a bit longer than the suggested 15 minutes per item model. I did not have time to thoroughly peruse all the entries by Vermont librarians. I think I will continue to use the wiki I know best- Wikipedia- for information on the fly. Lack of verifiable empirical evidence notwithstanding, it's a boon. My very favorite "pedia" source is The World Book in hard cover. Nothing like sitting in a chair and holding an actual book, written by actual experts, and edited by actual professionals.
As far as other wikis (and there must be millions by now) I probably won't be able to keep up. Maybe when I retire?
Friday, November 28, 2008
Week 9/ Thing #17
Read Mara's text, then viewed the video. Cute, but what's wrong with emailing or phoning, again? Wiki is wave we must ride?
I use Wikipedia all the time, thus truly related to Colbert's piece. Truth is what we make it!!
Nancy Purl's BookLust site is interesting. I like her on NPR, though don't always share her taste. I was looking for some book discussion repartee, and what was there was okay, but there wasn't much in the way of current commenting or editing. The links to other review sites are current (NYTimes, e.g.) Again, I didn't sign up, though I would certainly suggest the site to a patron if asked. As was noted in Mara's set-up piece, and in Comedy Central's sketch, the validity of what's in a Wiki is far from certain. For that reason, the "pedia" kinds of Wikis, no doubt, are far less reliable than something like Nancy Purl, which is meant to be opinion.
Hadn't given much thought to the "open," as opposed to "closed" wiki. If you knew the provenance of the allowed contributors you would know a lot about the reliability of the site.
I use Wikipedia all the time, thus truly related to Colbert's piece. Truth is what we make it!!
Nancy Purl's BookLust site is interesting. I like her on NPR, though don't always share her taste. I was looking for some book discussion repartee, and what was there was okay, but there wasn't much in the way of current commenting or editing. The links to other review sites are current (NYTimes, e.g.) Again, I didn't sign up, though I would certainly suggest the site to a patron if asked. As was noted in Mara's set-up piece, and in Comedy Central's sketch, the validity of what's in a Wiki is far from certain. For that reason, the "pedia" kinds of Wikis, no doubt, are far less reliable than something like Nancy Purl, which is meant to be opinion.
Hadn't given much thought to the "open," as opposed to "closed" wiki. If you knew the provenance of the allowed contributors you would know a lot about the reliability of the site.
Week 8/ Thing #14
Took the tour of the Delicious "learn more" site. "Social bookmarking" is the product, which would enable me to get to my bookmarks from any computer; organize my bookmarks through tagging, as the list grows; and to share my bookmarks and tags with friends and unknown others. I didn't join the site, because I don't want yet another user name and password, and I don't want to share my email address with anyone else, if I can possibly help it. I did find out I can discover the most popular blogs/tags without joining. today's is "How to sen email to any cell phone."
Technocrati doesn't have a tour, but I Googled to find out that it's an "Internet sarch engine for searching blogs, competing with Google and Yahoo." As of June it contains 112 million blogs and 250 thousand tagged social media sites. Yikes. Again, I didn't join.
We do have LibraryThing,, Delicious, Technocrati, et al, bookmarked at our two circ stations, so if I need it to help a patron or myself, I can go there. There was an intriguing ad on Technocrati about how to earn $6000 dollars from a personal blog...wonder what that's about!
Read a few blogs about Library 2.0. New paradigms (remember that term?) do seem to create different opinions. Change - as our president-elect said - is coming. The only question is which change? Is all change benficial? Obama avowed that he isn't against all war - just dumb war. I could use that logic. I'm not against all change - just dumb change.
Technocrati doesn't have a tour, but I Googled to find out that it's an "Internet sarch engine for searching blogs, competing with Google and Yahoo." As of June it contains 112 million blogs and 250 thousand tagged social media sites. Yikes. Again, I didn't join.
We do have LibraryThing,, Delicious, Technocrati, et al, bookmarked at our two circ stations, so if I need it to help a patron or myself, I can go there. There was an intriguing ad on Technocrati about how to earn $6000 dollars from a personal blog...wonder what that's about!
Read a few blogs about Library 2.0. New paradigms (remember that term?) do seem to create different opinions. Change - as our president-elect said - is coming. The only question is which change? Is all change benficial? Obama avowed that he isn't against all war - just dumb war. I could use that logic. I'm not against all change - just dumb change.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Week 7/Thing #13
I've been getting an error message when I click on the links in the lesson pages. I then find the sites by Googling or typing in URL's. Wonder why?
Anyway, I found the site for LibraryThing and took the tour. I don't understand it. Why would I want to catalog my books? I don't actually own many; I borrow 'em from the library! As far as reading reviews, I can barely keep up with the New York Times reviews. For my own reading I like to read the Times and The New Yorker and go from there. I can see what new mass audience stuff (fiction & non) is coming in and tell patrons when they inquire, but for the literary novel and important non-fiction I rely on those two sources and NPR.
Anyway, I found the site for LibraryThing and took the tour. I don't understand it. Why would I want to catalog my books? I don't actually own many; I borrow 'em from the library! As far as reading reviews, I can barely keep up with the New York Times reviews. For my own reading I like to read the Times and The New Yorker and go from there. I can see what new mass audience stuff (fiction & non) is coming in and tell patrons when they inquire, but for the literary novel and important non-fiction I rely on those two sources and NPR.
Week 7/ Thing #12
By now, you've figured out that I am on a rampage. The 23 things have invaded my psyche. My blog now contains my picture on a magazine cover. Not sure how I did it.
On to thing #13
On to thing #13
Week 6/ No lesson!
The video was interesting, mainly because of the ice cream subject. I am not terribly wowed by ice cream, but my husband is a huge fan. He eats a bowl every night, without fail. How does he keep his figure? He weighs only five pounds more than he did when we were married, lo, these many decades ago. I think he has an imbalance - an ice cream imbalance. I don't think he'd eat the pickle ice cream, however. He has his standards... the Common Craft idea is an intriguing marketing/research idea. One of my offspring has started an importing business, a product from Japan customized for an American market. I'll ask him what tools he used to figure out marketing and potential customers. He doesn't like it when I ask him anything about the business, though. I'm his mother.
Lesson #5/social networking
Social networking is not something to which I'm attracted. I value my privacy too much, and I don't want to get bogged down in yet another computer-based time drain. Instead of setting up a site on one of the social networks I read some articles, which I did locate online!
The first is a news article from the A.P., dated 11/24/08 and accessed from the MSNBC website. The headline reads: "Jury gets case of MySpace hoax tied to suicide." It updates the story of the "Missouri mother accused of conspiring with her daughter...to harrass a 13 year-old girl on the Internet...precipitating the teen's suicide." The woman's defense rests largely on "whether (she)...violated the terms-of-service agreement of the MySpace social networking site." The prosecutor stated "the rules are fairly simple. You don't lie. You don't pretend to be someone else. You don't use the site to harrass others."
The next article is by Maria Aspan, written for the New York Times 2/11/08. The headline: "How sticky is membership in Facebook? Just try breaking free." Four people are interviewed about the near impossibility of "remove(ing) themselves entirely from Facebook," which archives info "indefinitely," even after members have deactivated their Facebook pages.
Last but not least is the article on matchmaking services written by John Tierney, published 1/29/08 in the New York Times. The headline: "Hitting it off, thanks to algorithm of love." This piece is a look at the various claims of several online servces - eHarmony; Perfectmatch.com; and Chemistry.com - all of which use methods such as algorithms, neural chemistry, the dyadic adjustment scale (!?), and more to help people meet their future mates.
In descending order, these three pieces touch on the aspects of social networking that I find troubling: safety, privacy, and b.s. How are we to keep our children out of harm's way online? It seems a daunting and ever more out-of-control problem. Kids are communicating constantly through these networks, and they are doing it at the library, at school, and at home. Who is responsible? Many schools forbid social networking on their premises. Some parents forbid it at home. Surely the kids are doing it anyway. I imagine most public libraries are not monitoring or forbidding social networking activity. Is there a potential liability? Is there a moral responsibility? I don't know the answer.
The issue of privacy is a broad one, but it trickles down to libraries. If a library patron sends out personal information from a public access computer, and that data is mined, does the library have a responsibility? If a user forgets, or doesn't know how to log out or purge data, are librarians supposed to take on the task?
B.s. is rampant online, of course, and buyer beware should be the rule. Only think, what if someone takes the marital plunge after an online courtship conducted from the library, and there is no happy ending? Librarians at fault?!! Could we be blamed?!! I think I know the answer on this one, but the safety and privacy issues are no jokes.
The first is a news article from the A.P., dated 11/24/08 and accessed from the MSNBC website. The headline reads: "Jury gets case of MySpace hoax tied to suicide." It updates the story of the "Missouri mother accused of conspiring with her daughter...to harrass a 13 year-old girl on the Internet...precipitating the teen's suicide." The woman's defense rests largely on "whether (she)...violated the terms-of-service agreement of the MySpace social networking site." The prosecutor stated "the rules are fairly simple. You don't lie. You don't pretend to be someone else. You don't use the site to harrass others."
The next article is by Maria Aspan, written for the New York Times 2/11/08. The headline: "How sticky is membership in Facebook? Just try breaking free." Four people are interviewed about the near impossibility of "remove(ing) themselves entirely from Facebook," which archives info "indefinitely," even after members have deactivated their Facebook pages.
Last but not least is the article on matchmaking services written by John Tierney, published 1/29/08 in the New York Times. The headline: "Hitting it off, thanks to algorithm of love." This piece is a look at the various claims of several online servces - eHarmony; Perfectmatch.com; and Chemistry.com - all of which use methods such as algorithms, neural chemistry, the dyadic adjustment scale (!?), and more to help people meet their future mates.
In descending order, these three pieces touch on the aspects of social networking that I find troubling: safety, privacy, and b.s. How are we to keep our children out of harm's way online? It seems a daunting and ever more out-of-control problem. Kids are communicating constantly through these networks, and they are doing it at the library, at school, and at home. Who is responsible? Many schools forbid social networking on their premises. Some parents forbid it at home. Surely the kids are doing it anyway. I imagine most public libraries are not monitoring or forbidding social networking activity. Is there a potential liability? Is there a moral responsibility? I don't know the answer.
The issue of privacy is a broad one, but it trickles down to libraries. If a library patron sends out personal information from a public access computer, and that data is mined, does the library have a responsibility? If a user forgets, or doesn't know how to log out or purge data, are librarians supposed to take on the task?
B.s. is rampant online, of course, and buyer beware should be the rule. Only think, what if someone takes the marital plunge after an online courtship conducted from the library, and there is no happy ending? Librarians at fault?!! Could we be blamed?!! I think I know the answer on this one, but the safety and privacy issues are no jokes.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Lesson #4 RSS feeds
This seemed easy, so something must be wrong. I chose a feed from a New York theater/business newspaper, subscribed, set up an igoogle homepage, and now have the feed running. This is in addition to the NYTimes feed I already check obsessively.
Now I can track, on an up to the minute basis, how many shows are closing on Broadway and when Screen Actors Guild is actually going out on strike. Yay!!
Now I can track, on an up to the minute basis, how many shows are closing on Broadway and when Screen Actors Guild is actually going out on strike. Yay!!
Lesson #3 - Flickr
Good news - my latest general blog post avec photo finally showed up. Anyone know why it took so long?
Following this triumph, I successfully uploaded the same picture to Flickr, then ensconced it on the Vermont 23 things group page. I was able to do this only after making a general query on Google and discovering that I had to drag the photo onto the group page. There was no "Send to group" button to click. I found the Help feature on Flickr not very helpful.
On to Lesson 4!
Following this triumph, I successfully uploaded the same picture to Flickr, then ensconced it on the Vermont 23 things group page. I was able to do this only after making a general query on Google and discovering that I had to drag the photo onto the group page. There was no "Send to group" button to click. I found the Help feature on Flickr not very helpful.
On to Lesson 4!
Comfort food
Sunday my husband decided to walk down memory lane and make a pineapple upsidedown cake he remembered from childhood. Thanks to Google ( forget Joy of Cooking, Fanny Farmer, and Julia Child) he was able to find a recipe he could manage. Voila!
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