WEEK 8

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#18 Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops anymore

The availability and use of online productivity applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past two years and for good reasons! These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the Internet without the need for installed desktop applications. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office. But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, on this both sides seem to agree; web-based apps have their place.

One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with the ability to switch back to earlier versions) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents to multiple file types (including HTML and PDF). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs & Spreadsheets to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that makes web-based apps so appealing.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at the web-based word processing tools Zoho Writer and/or Google Docs & Spreadsheets, create a simple document and then write about your discoveries in your blog. If you're up to the challenge, you might even export your document as an HTML file or publish it through the writer to your blog. With web-based applications, the possibilities are almost endless!

Discovery Resources:

Explore this short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: this list was authored in Zoho Writer and exported as an HTML web page.

Discovery Exercise:

1.Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer OR explore Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google's online word processor (use your Google login from when you created your blog in Blogger)
2. Explore the features of one of the above tools and create a test document or two.
3. Look at Google's and Zoho's other office productivity tools, such as Google Calendar or Zoho Planner for organization, Zoho Show for presentations, or Google Docs & Spreadsheets or Zoho Sheet for spreadsheets (use the same Google or Zoho login)
4. Create a blog post about your discoveries.

Optional: If you're up for the challenge, try using Google or Zoho’s "publish" options to publish a document as a web page with a URL you can send to others or link to (look for a tab or link that says Publish when creating a document) OR try creating a document and posting it to your blog (you will have to "set" your blog settings in Google or Zoho first; it's all done under the Publish tab or link in Zoho or Google)

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#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools

Generated Image

Throughout the course of this Learning 2.0 program we’ve explored just a small sampling of new internet technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. But given time there are so many more we could explore. Hundreds of Web 2.0 tools are now in use, with a handful emerging as market dominators, for example Flickr for photo sharing. And although time will only tell which of these new collaborative, social networking and information tools will remain on top, one thing is for sure, they're not going to go away anytime soon!

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to select any site from this list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees and explore it. With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you (like Books or Personal Organization) and then select a tool/site from that category to explore. Be careful to select a tool that is Free and that doesn't require a plug-in or download. The majority of these are free, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Select any site/tool from the list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees. (If you prefer to select from just the winners, here’s a link to the short list.)
2. Explore the site you selected.
3. Create a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?

Web 2.0 – with so much to explore, it can become overwhelming -- just start with ONE "thing" :)
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WEEK 7

This is WIKI week. See exercises #16 and #17.
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#16 So what’s in a wiki?

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the online open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and perhaps the most well known of these knowledge sharing tools. With the benefits that wikis provide the use and popularity of these tools is exploding.

Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:

  • Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.

  • Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.

  • Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed.

  • And users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, libraries all over the country have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, ALA conference wikis and even library best practices wikis.

Discovery Resources:

Use these resources to learn more aboout wikis:

Discovery Exercise:

1. For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some library wikis and blog about your finding. Here’s a few examples to get you started:

What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

So what's in a wiki? Find out by doing some exploring on your own.

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#17 Playing Around with Wikis

"Sandbox" is the term that wikis often use to describe the area of the website that should be used for pure play. For this discovery and exploration exercise, we’ve set up a whole OULibrariesLearn Welcome Page** that’s for nothing but play! This page is still under some onstruction, as we are still learning how to play in our new sandbox.

Your other option is to use the PLCMC Sandbox - they have set one up for Learning 2.0 users.

For their “explore-and-play-with-wikis” exercise, you are asked to add an entry or two to the PBwiki Learning 2.0 wiki. The theme of this wiki is simply “Favorites” : Favorite books, favorite vacation spots, favorite restaurants, favorite anything …all you need to do is play and add your thoughts. To mark your adventure on this site, you should add your blog to the Favorite Blogs. We have already added OULibraries Learn to the Favorite Blogs page.


Discovery Resources:

PB Wiki Tour - Find out how this collaborative tool can be used
PBWiki Video Gallery - Short videos of PBwiki features
PB Wiki Tips

These Tours & Videos appear to be using an earlier version of PBWiki. The 'concept' is the same, but the look is a little different. Remember, these are just a few resources.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Access the OULibrariesLearn WIKI and create a login account for yourself (so you can play in the sandbox).

**To play in the OULibrariesLearn WIKI Sandbox enter in the wiki's password: oulib. You will also need to enter your first name and email address.

OR

**To create your own account and WIKI page (PBWiki Identity), go to: https://my.pbwiki.com/new.php and follow the directions (simple).

2. Add your blog to the Favorite Blogs page, that's how we'll know that you've been there. It’s easy to do if you follow this simple syntax:


Example of editing OULibrariesLearn wiki (as per corrections from Runningwithscissors):


1. Click on Favorite Blogs (Sidebar)
2. Then Edit page
3. In Edit page window: click on Link located on the toolbar
4. Use the dropdown arrow and select URL for linking to your blog
5. Enter your blog web address (runs-with-scissors.blogspot.com)
6. Type your blog name (runs with scissors)
7. Click Save


and you’ve added a link - yup, it’s as easy as that!

NOTE: Apparently only one user can be logged in at any time. Once you are done in the wiki, please log out. OR try the 'mirror' wiki: OULibrariesLearnXtra (same password - oulib)


OPTIONAL: Add a favorite or two to a few other pages (Favorite books, favorite movies, books, etc). And, if you feel up to the challenge, you might even want to create a separate page for book review or short travel essay and link up to that.

3. Create a post in your blog about the experience.

* NOTE: The OULibrariesLearn Wiki was created using the free version of PBWiki, a tool that lets you create webpages that anyone can edit.
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WEEK 6

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#13 Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & blog posts). Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (i.e., Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data any way they want.

In the past few weeks, we’ve already explored a few sites – Flicker and LibraryThing to name two --that allow users to take advantage of tagging, and in week 3 many of us used the common tag "oulibraries" to create an association between photos that we individually uploaded. This week, in addition to exploring Technorati tagging (see the tags on the right side of the Technorati home page), we want to also take at popular social bookmarking site called Del.icio.us (typed in as http://del.icio.us).

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks.

Many users find that the real power of Del.icio.us is in the social network aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another users’ filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at Del.icio.us and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.

Discovery Resources:
Discovery Exercise:
1. Read the Del.icio.us help and introduction pages to get a good overview of its features.


2. Take a look around Del.icio.us using a Del.icio.us account created for the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklinburg County. Note: In this account you will find lots of resources that have been highlighted or used throughout the course of the Learning 2.0 program.


3. Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Here is an example (click on "saved by 245 other people") Can you see the comments added about this bookmark or the tags used to categorize this reference?


4. Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?


OPTIONAL: If you’re up to the challenge, create a Del.icio.us account for yourself and discover how this useful bookmarking tool can replace your traditional browser bookmark list. You might even want to explore Del.icio.us’ latest addition, a network badge that you can post on your blog or website to encourage Del/icio.us users to add you to their bookmarks.


Note: If you do setup a Del.icio.us account, here’s a quick word about the Del.icio.us Buttons. On PCs that have the toolbars locked down, these will install as options in your browser bookmarks. The “Post to my Del.icio.us” link can be used to add a webpage that you are on to your account (you may need to log in). The “My Del.icio.us” button allows you to view your Del.icio.us account.

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#14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

So now that you’ve been blogging for awhile, you might be wondering just how big the blogosphere is. Well, according to Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs, they are currently tracking more than 70 million weblogs, and around 120,000 new blogs are created worldwide daily (from The State of the Live Web, April 2007)


Technorati has been tracking blogs for about 4 years now, and recently began tracking other social media web content such as video, photos and audio. Their annual The State of the Blogosphere report has grown into the The State of the Live Web report, which states that this year there has been "explosive growth" in the use of tags and that tagging has "become a phenomenon."


Yes, these numbers are astounding, but as you’ve already seen for yourselves, blogging is so easy that these publishing tools are being taken advantage of by almost every industry, including libraries.


So how does a person get their blog listed as part of the blogosphere and how can you tag your posts with keywords to make them more findable through a Technorati search? The answer to the first question is that your blog is probably already being captured by Technorati due to the fact that you're already using Blogger, the most popular blogging tool. But if you want to join the party and have your blog officially listed on Technorati and also take advantage of the watchlist and other features, you’ll need to claim your blog yourself. As for tagging posts with Technorati tags? This is easy, too. All you need to do is add a little bit of HTML code to the bottom of your post (see our example below) and Technorati will pick up these tags when it spiders (or web crawls) your site.


There are a lot of new features that have been added to Technorati this past Spring, from a major website overhaul that includes the expansion into other social content as mentioned earlier, to nifty new widgets. With Technorati, you can search for keywords in either a particular blog, all blogs, or subject-oriented blogs (like photography or libraries).


Discovery Resources:


Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search in the EXACT phrase box for “Learning 2.0” in "All Blogs." Look at a few items you found in the search result list.

2. Then go back to the search page and search for "Learning 2.0" in the Tag Search and Blog Directory Search (they have their own search boxes farther down the page). Are the results different?

3. Explore the most Popular page (don't forget to scroll all the way down to see popular videos too) . Is anything interesting or surprising here?

3. Create a blog post about your discoveries on this site.

4. Whether or not you do the optional exercise below, be sure to check out the oulibraries tag in Technorati to see what has been found by the Technorati web crawlers.

OPTIONAL: If you're up for a challenge, learn how to tag your posts with Technorati tags so they can be found in tag searches

Note: Blogger and other major blog software does this automatically when you add the "label" oulibraries to a post (some blogs call these tags or categories), but here is how it works if you wanted to do it yourself:
  • Create a post in your blog about something related to libraries.
  • Switch to the "Edit HTML" tab and add the HTML code as instructed on this page to the bottom to tag it as "oulibraries" Do this by writing in the tag oulibraries instead of [tagname]
  • you may also want to consider claiming your blog and creating a watchlist or setting up favorites.
Check out the things tagged oulibraries in Technorati!
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#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 ...

Library 2.0 is term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name, as you may guess, is an extension of Web2.0, and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts, including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a "development cycle" rather than the traditional notion of "upgrades", and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (the library).


Many have argued that the notion of Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. But no matter which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, and even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.


Discovery Resources:

Read the intro and Five Perspectives on the impact of Web 2.0 on libraries from the OCLC Next Space Newsletter – Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?

Five Perspectives:

Wikipedia – Library 2.0

Library 2.0 Discussions (list of great references from Wikipedia)


Discovery Exercise:

1. Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list above.

2. Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these? Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

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WEEK 5

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#10 Play Around with Image Generators

Generators? No, We are not talking about those gas powered back-up things. The generators we're talking about allow you to easily manipulate image and graphics to create fun images* like these:






For this discovery exercise, we just want you to have fun. Find a few fun image or text generators to play around with and write a post in your blog about one of your favorites and display the result. Often adding the image you mocked up to your blog is as simple as copying and pasting code that the page provides. If not, you may just need to right click on the image and then save it to your hard drive before using Blogger’s image button to add it to your post.

If you’re having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, ask a co-worker for help. In looking at several staff blogs, it’s easy to see that we have lots of people in the system who have figured out how easy it is to add images to their blogs.

Discovery Resources

The Generator (Blog)



Also try searching Google (or your search engine of choice) for the terms: online generators, text generators or image generators!

Discovery Exercise:

1. Play around with some image generators and find one that you like.

2. Post the result of your discovery process in your blog. Note: Be sure to include a link to the image generator itself, so other participants can discover it too.

So take some time and have fun with this exercise. And remember to be tasteful too!

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#11 A Thing About LibraryThing

Are you book lover or cataloger at heart? Or do you enjoy finding lost and forgotten gems on the shelf to read? Then LibraryThing may be just the tool for you. Developed for booklovers, this online tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalog of your own, it also connects you to other people who have similar libraries and reading tastes. Add a book to your catalog by just entering the title -- It’s so easy that you don’t even need MARC record training to do it. Or connect with other users through your similar reading tastes.

There are lots of ways to use LibraryThing. You can view your books on a virtual shelf, add a widget to display titles from your catalog on a blog or web page, or install a Library Thing Search Box

So why not join the ranks and create your own library online. With over 65,000 registered users and over 4.7 million cataloged books, you're bound to discover something new (BTW: LibraryThing also has group forum for librarians)

Discovery Resources:

About LibraryThing
Library Thing tour
LibraryThing blog (Library Thing updates & news - note the July 5th post about using Flickr to create a book pile* and enter a contest)

*What's a book pile? A photo of a stack of books, usually on a theme. Here are some examples.

Discovery Exercise:


1. Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
2. Add a least 5 books to your library.
3. Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog.
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#12 Roll Your Own Search Engine with Rollyo

Do you have a group of favorite websites? Or a set of similar online resources that you frequently use to answer homework or reference questions? Well Rollyo may be the tool for you. Rollyo allows you to create your own search tool for the just the websites you know and trust.

Take a look at some of these search rolls that have already been created:

Here’s a searchroll we created to search several web directories all at once. Try a search for broad terms like "global warming” or “shakespeare” to see results listed from multiple sites. The sites searched are listed on the left side of the page.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore Rollyo and find a search roll that you like (select a radio button such as "Top News," "Tech News," etc.)
2. Create a post in your blog about your experience. Can you see a potential use for tools like this, either in the library or for personal use?

OR alternatively,

Create an account for yourself and create a search roll for any subject you like. Link to your search roll in your blog.

ANOTHER OPTION: Add your searchroll to your blog using the "Create a Searchbox" tool.

Rollyo - You just never know when this little tool might come in handy!

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WEEK 4

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#8 Make Life "Really Simple" with RSS & a newsreader

You’ve heard of RSS? You’ve seen those small funny tags on websites? You’ve heard co-workers and acquaintances swear by it, but still have no idea what RSS is? Well don’t worry, according to a recent survey you’re still in the majority, but this is changing rapidly. In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionalizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.

Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit every day. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it? Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it’s available now through a newsreader and RSS.

This week’s discovery exercises focus on learning about RSS news feeds and setting up a Bloglines account (a free online newsreader) for yourself to bring your feeds together.

Discovery Resources:

Discovery Exercise:

1. Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and newsreaders.

2. Create a free online Bloglines account for yourself and subscribe to at least 3 newsfeeds to your reader. See Using Bloglines Tutorial steps 1-3 for instructions.

Newsfeeds:

  • Learning 2.0 participant blog feeds - Subscribe to several of your co-workers' feeds. This is as easy as typing the blog URL into the subscribe field in Bloglines. Try it, it's easy!

Then try adding a few other types of news feeds from news sources:

3. Create a post in your blog about this exercise.

Don’t know what to blog about? Think about these questions:

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

PS: Once you tackle this discovery exercise, you've tackled the most difficult one of the whole 23!

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#9 Finding Feeds

Now that you have a newsreader (your Bloglines account), you can begin adding other newsfeeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate newsfeeds:
  • When visiting your favorite websites -- look for news feed icons that indicate the website provides it. Often a feed icon will be displayed somewhere in the navigation bar of the site.

  • Use Blogline's Search tool - Bloglines recently expanded search tool lets you search for news feeds in addition to posts, citations and the web. Use the Search for Feeds option to locate RSS feeds you might be interested in.
  • Other Search tools that can help you find feeds:
    Feedster - One of the largest collections of RSS feeds, Feedster lets you search for feeds in three categories: news, blogs & podcasts
    Topix.net - This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching. The tool focuses specifically on news and media outlet RSS feeds for information, not weblogs.
    Syndic8.com - Syndic8 is an open directory of RSS feeds that contains thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted.
    Technorati - Technorati is a popular blog finding tool that lets you search for blogs. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic specific blogs you may be interested in. Additonal Resource: Technorati Tutorial on finding and adding your blog

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds.

2. Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to think about ...

Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?

Which Search tool was the easiest for you?

Which was more confusing?

What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels?

Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?

What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

EXTRA STUFF -- Feed icon information:

In Febuary of 2006, the adoption of a standard feed icon among websites and browsers finally began to assist in stopping the madness and confusion caused by so many variations. So far this icon has been adopted by many websites and browers, including Opera and FireFox, where it displays in the address bar: TEST

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