Thing 23

That video was awesome! It is very well done. It's easy to understand. It's fun to watch. Now, as for the part of the assignment where I "find an example or attribution that shows this program has been modified from it's original", here it goes. I would have to say that the FBI warning explaining Fair Use would be a good place to start. We often gloss over the FBI warning ... yeah, yeah ... but I really hadn't paid that much attention to that warning in the past. When the video hit approximately :30 in ... the disclaimer, indicating that the video was not associated with anything put together by 'Walt Disney' was a pretty clear indication that each of those tiny clips were not what was intended in the original programs the clips came from.

Thank you again, for this opportunity. I have been exposed to so much in a delightful format. Now I can go back and do some of the 23-things again and again .. now that I finished before the deadline. I blame the adrenalin rush I used to get as an undergraduate, running down the hall, ink drying on a paper before turning it in. I blame it on 10-years as a television news producer, where 'this just in' was a badge of honor -- and finishing with seconds to spare was a way of life.

In any case, thank you for the gentle email reminders. I made it! Thanks again for a wonderful course!

Thing 22 Ebooks and Audio Ebooks

Okay, I'm going to be perfectly honest. I get my audio books -- and most of my print books -- from the library. That arrangement works out well for me. My research is done on POWER Library or through the databases at Marywood University. I like getting my periodical and journal research in a digital format. But books? When I can touch them and use them and get them without difficulty? Why go digital? I guess because we can. I have been confused by project guttenberg. Is it just me, it very well could be. I did like the British Library OnLine Gallery -- the original Alice's Adventures Underground was truly beautiful. Yes, I'll admit it was nice to see the original drawings and the flip feature was nice. LibriVox was pretty cool, too. I guess I like to see the audio book (yes, the cover matters!) before picking it off the shelf, but downloading in digestible segments also make sense. There's also no worries about over dues ... okay, I can see the benefit. Some of these items are old and rare and it's nice to have them preserved in this format. I did enjoy William Blake's notebook -- I still think he was insane -- but nice to see. I preferred the British Library because it was easy to navigate -- popular picks right on the front page. I know I should become a join the world elibrary ... I guess I'll put that down on my next 23-Things to do. Way after my own podcasts ...

Thing 21.5 -- Podcasts Continued

I guess I could see putting together a podcasts. I can see this being helpful for student teachers and new teachers at school. I can see using podcasts as a tool to let students and parents know what's going on in the library over the summer. I would want to keep them short -- if you're reading this, you know my attention span is short. See my YouTube entry if you need refreshing on that! I know people don't have a lot of time.
I can also see using podcasts to get kids involved. I did enjoy listening to some 4th grade projects, where they teamed up to explain what they've learned on various topics. That I found enjoyable and nice for parents and the community to listen to.
If I've gotten over my hesitation on blogging, it's only natural that podcasting be my next arena. I'm sure the 2-fans of my former college radio show -- VM-FM, 91.5 at Marywood College, back in the 90's -- I was 'The Fresh Queen of Dead Air" on Sunday afternoons during the school year -- would love to listen to what I've put together. I would mix 80's and 90's alternative/modern rock with library musings, book talks and whatever else I'm doing.
After going through the podcast creation information, I think this could really happen. Once I'm done with my 23-things ... this is on my other list of Things to do ...

Thing 21 -- Podcasts

I am so happy to subscribed to 'Grammar Girl'. I love good writing. Some of you reading this will undoubtedly say, "how about demonstrating some good writing?" She does not disappoint. I always learn a little something, even if already heard it. I think this would be a great tool to use in a high school English class. I added this to my Google reader. I've shared a couple, so check them out. I checked out some children's book podcasts, since I find it hard to keep up with all the series and book information I need to know. I was disappointed in what I found at podcast alley. I'm sure there's other places ... okay, I've found a couple others. I like the 'just one more book' podcast -- and I see they put tag on Amazon to the books. Very convenient. Now, if they'll put the tag in on Follett Titlewave, I'll be set! I have been wanting to get involved in Podcasts. I like to listen to things when I'm on line or working on computer things. I tried to get set up at school but found too many roadblocks ... I'll listen at home. Thanks for getting me headed in this direction!

Thing 20

YouTube! It's fun for all ages. My children's friends tell them all the time about the 'funny thing they saw on youtube'. They look for videos (with me watching over their shoulders). I look for videos. Back at Thing 17 -- I went looking for videos to jazz up a lesson or two. That prompted me to reacquaint myself with discovery streaming videos, too. But, back to You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM This cracks me up. The Mom advice sung to the tune of the William Tell Overture. I'm thinking of writing one for the school library. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEvy-9yVyQ Nothing library here -- it's Singing in the Rain ... the big song/dance number. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. I went looking for some old commercials ... found some classics. I went looking for the Heatmiser/Snowmiser song from the old Christmas special, The Year without a Santa Claus and found a version by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy -- I've always liked those guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMjAf8Nwohs In another shout out to Susan Hefley -- she used a youtube video to explain how a wiki works, for those of us novices. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY I've recommended this video to many friends. Well, those who are interested in such things. At a meeting at my children's' school this year -- a youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAqh2Pxg0A was used to explain Response to Intervention. I liked this video thank you to a school librarian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwlt9og5KJY. There are so many uses. I guess I see myself using these to get attention -- before a topic. While we're talking about school libraries, I want you to see this. It's very well written and done. Could be a recruiting commercial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8dSUSxpyeE But I do like to see a well written, well produced video. There are a lot of library related videos. I've spent a lot of time searching, watching ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgSlpPUEAbo oooh -- a Dewey Decimal System -- not bad. I've added quite a few videos, I like searching. I need to have a lot of time for this sort of thing. I picked some of the best that I've seen. I think the educational ones -- like the explaining Wiki ones -- are great tools. There's a lot of junk out there too -- but I don't bother with that. Use and enjoy -- but block out some time for it!

Thing 19

This is one of my favorite things. I first started using this in my cataloging class in the summer of 2006. One student became obsessed -- she went to ALA in Philly in January -- got lots of things at the exhibits and turned me onto Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watts -- very funny -- but I digress -- (no surprise!) I liked the idea of Library Thing when I was working at a small, private school with no automated library system. I like the idea of a place to put information about my things. I liked the tags -- checking out what others have 'tagged' items as. Oh! The Library Thing Success stories I know: my former cataloging class students. One student cataloged EVERYTHING she picked up at ALA so she would know where it was/is once she started her new job -- she put all her stuff on Library Thing. Once she started, she couldn't stop. She likes to catalog. Another student from the summer of 2007 wrote me yesterday saying she was putting her library's collection on Library Thing, since her library lacked automation software and she wanted to get started with getting the place put together. Way to go ladies.

I liked to add items -- searching Amazon was fun! I was disappointed to see that '0 members' had the items I added ... oh well. Think how excited someone will be when they see they are not alone! I was thrilled when a few people had selected the same books as me. Puff the Magic Dragon with 132 other users. Now, I feel popular! It is a lot of fun -- less cumbersome than at school. I can see how people start cataloging their lives in this thing! It's a good thing! I know when I first started reading about Library Thing -- you were limited to 200 items -- I like all the options -- the widget for 'to read more like this' ... and the idea of putting it onto my blog -- for you all to see what I'm reading. Here's the thing -- so much of what I read comes from the library -- I'm big on borrowing! My library thing looks like I'm not reading. But I am ... I feel like I've found a new friend. I like this thing!

Thing 18

When I read about this Thing, I was a little concerned. I worked with Google Documents back when my school was working on an Improving Literacy through School Libraries grant back in the winter. The cold, snowy, winter. The cold, snowy, winter with many, many snow days hindering our progress in the hinterlands. Google Docs -- the spreadsheet program especially -- allowed us to access and change and collaborate during our many days 'out of office' during February. Feb-brrr-ary. I find these tools great -- you don't have to worry about an older format of a program (my case -- with my old, old, computer) not working with a colleague's newer version. Changes are easy to see and track -- I enjoyed this very much. Zoho was a lot of fun. I liked the ability to import into Microsoft products -- I think this should be taught at school -- so students can access their work at home and school -- let's face it, flash drives are lost, disks are bulky -- but getting online is convenient! I liked printing as a pdf -- I really liked it. I think students and teachers will like it. I think librarians will like it -- if we can have students working in Zoho and Google Docs, do you think we have a better chance of 'finding the document that student A saved -- I swear -- it was right here!!'

Thing 17

Okay,
I really like the PACurriculum Wiki. I just didn't know how to log on to share something. Because I needed something to make me smile tonight, I went looking for school library videos on youtube. Here's what I found ... I would use these as 'attention grabbers' to start a middle school or high school class ... Ninja Librarian. I found these hilarious -- and short enough to use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epENxrNlMMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO00w8iqyEI
The library rap was cute ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8EqGaRMUi4 a nice idea for a class project. Make your own rap ...
Of course, since my theme song is 'If I only had a brain' ... I really enjoyed this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWq_6s-lJY
I hope you do too. I really like to get student attention before getting started. I can really get excited about these videos and share that excitement with students. I can also spend a lot of time with youtube.

Thing 16: Wiki

I have to thank Susan Hefley for dragging me into the world of Wikis It's been a while since I've worked on one -- I keep up with the changes she's making -- but need to get more involved myself. It was great to have the Students Committee working on it last year -- the north of Pittsburgh -- north of Scranton commute is a little tough to work on projects. So I thank her from the bottom of my heart for teaching me and getting me to expand my tech horizons. I've visited the PSLA wiki, I visited teacherlibrarian -- as always, impressive work by Joyce.

There are so many possible applications for this technology -- a living, breathing teaching place, for students to contribute. The tough sell is getting administrators to loosen up restrictions on wikis. Sure, things will be misused. But that's what we have AUPs for. Maybe I'm being naive. I know we need to create assignments that get students excited -- and having an online project and outlet is something to get worked up over. It's also a dose of reality. Heck, if I can collaborate across state, imagine what we can get our students to do. I have to spend more time working with this, to get more comfortable.

Even with this blog thing, I guess I'm a little uncomforatble being 'out there' on line.

Thing 15 -- Web 2.0 the Future of Libraries

Some very thought provoking articles here. The icebergs heading our way -- interesting ideas about our collections -- I know I can't afford to buy all the materials my students need. If I can put together collections using 2.0 tech, I think that's great! I think public libraries need a 2.0 person ... school libraries too. Instead of lunch duty, how about 2.0 time, to teach and demonstrate these tools uses within a school. That will be a very hard sell ...

Some of the concepts were a little advanced for me. I guess I'm hoping to influence my small sphere of influence on these items. There are so many ways to use them. I'm imagining my weekends, now in the world of 2.0, to create what I need for my students and teachers and administrators.

What is great about these tools -- is that they're free. Time is all that's needed to use, teach, update and create great projects with these items. Students need to be using these 2.0 tools to be ready for all that's out in the world.

I hate to say it, but I liked the wikipedia article. 2.0 has been around since 2005? Boy, am I late getting on the bandwagon! But I'm here now ... and not going anywhere! See, 8-things to go!!

Facebook

I've been reading on the listservs this week, about joining school librarian discussions on facebook. Oh, I've been avoiding those places (see previous posts about not having time) because I didn't want to get involved -- at times, there's already too much on my plate. I keep thinking that if I get a job closer to home, I'll try ______, but really, is an extra hour and a half a day enough to get everything I need done??? Just a thought.

Thing 14 -- Technorati

My first thought when I read the description of Technorati was, "Good Lord, what do I possibly have to contribute to the blog world?" I was imagining someone reading my musings and laughing -- sharing with others, but in a bad way: "Look what she uses ____ for! Can you believe that???" I am enjoying my web 2.0 journey but feel I am such a novice, not quite where I should be or will be. But, let me explore ...

So far, I think technorati is a great way to see blogs organized, without going too far to search for them. The popular sites and tags are right there. I'm surprised at what some folks are blogging about -- but, to each his/her own.

I like tagging. I get worked up about coming up with a tag. I like tags to be specific. I guess I'm occasionally worried, 'Is this the right tag' ... or 'what would other librarians do' with this site/item? My main point is that I know what I've tagged, so I can find it again. I get hung up on cataloging thoughts -- making sure my delimiters and dots are in the right spaces. AACR doesn't have a thought on tagging yet, right, or FERBR? Hee hee ... even talking about tags, I see the 'labeling' option for this post. I think I'll just stick with the title -- Thing 14.

Thing 13 -- Delicious

http://delicious.com/sbpski
I love del.icio.us! I've been using it for about 6 months. I know I have some things I need to change -- I need to be more specific in my tags. I have a lot of lesson plan ideas. What I like best about del.icio.us is that I can organize my favorites -- and keep them separate from my husband's and kids'. I also like the ability to find them easily at home and school. I run out of time at school to get things done. While being in the car pool is saving me tons on gas, I don't always have the freedom to hang out and get things done at school. I do like the ease of using the toolbar, to just add to del.icio.us when I come across something I'll need again. I can see using this in school -- not my 'sbpski' one, but creating one for the students and allowing them to add to it. Perhaps putting one together for the teachers to use and add to for some of our school-wide projects. Del.icio.us was explained to me, and the librarians in the northeast, at our AcccessPA Meeting in March. I've been hooked ever since. Out of all the web 2.0 tools, I use this the most frequently and I rave about it to everyone I meet. Well, not everyone ... but you know what I mean. I'm not bragging about it in the grocery line or anything. I have been 'blocked' at school this year -- it may be unblocked now so I should check on Monday. That has been sad. : ( But, I use it from home and find things I saved months ago -- for a day just like today! It's awesome!

Thing 12 -- Rollyo

http://rollyo.com/sbpski/sbpskis_stuff/

Okay, Rollyo, rollyo -- what am I going to do with Rollyo??? I think this is neat. Being a control freak, I immediately thought of creating a search engine that I feel my students could use, finding sources that go with our curriculum. I put a few of my favorites in there. I really enjoyed searching other Rollyos, finding silly cat pictures, looking for old books. How do people have time to create and maintain all these things? I don't have access/time during the school day, and I don't have that much time at home ... I guess staying current is an investment in myself I must make. Now, if I could put my computer on the treadmill, I'd get a lot accomplished!

What excellent ideas you all have!

I looked at a few posts about week 4's RSS feeds and found some great suggestions. Thank you! I'm going back to add a few right now!

Thing 11

Okay, while I'm here and on line, I might as well get a couple of 'Things' done. Especially since I've been slacking since the end of July! Ahhh, August. It was a good time ... ahem ... no more digressing!

I really enjoyed the Travel I.Q. game -- yes, I started with the game. I'm easily distracted online. (Note: I'm on thing 11 -- it's taken me WEEKS to get this far!)

Hey -- this list of award winners is impressive. I think I worked on this 'thing' last month! My brother just bought a new house near Philly ... he shared it with the family on Zillow. This tool is great -- finding out what the house you're interested in worth -- what the house you're living in is worth -- uh, finding out what the houses of your friends and family are worth. C'mon, you know you're going to look! http://www.zillow.com/ You can see pictures find tax information, it's great for house hunters. Hey, from the aerial photo, the weeds among my flowers don't look too bad.

I had to revisit my favorite, del.icio.us. I had to beg my principal to have it unblocked for me at school! I was lost without it! Oh, the new filtering software. It's kept me busy these first 8 days. Back to del.icio.us, I don't know if I'm using it in the most 2.0 fashion. I use it to keep my favorites in a place that I can organize them an find them again! Also, so I can work from school and home when doing lessons, orders (yes, I know, I should get all these things done at school but I just can't do it all in a day sometimes!) and other school library related projects. I can see using this in a high school or middle school library - having students add sites as they find them and use them and to leave detailed notes about them - if I'm working from home, I know some of the students are. As an elementary school librarian, I can see creating one on my school website for parents to use when they're looking for good sites and allowing parents to share the sites they like and use. In addition to the 12-Things I haven't done yet ... my 'other Things-to-do-List' grows by the minute! I haven't really found any limitations for what I want to use it for - mainly notes on sites that I want to use again and organizing them in a way I can use them, instead of the unwieldy favorites list on my home computer.

As for the Ning Network, I joined TeacherLibrarianNing, natch. Where else should I be? Thank you, Joyce! You're a super-brarian! Lots of good ideas here. That aforementioned 'other-things-to-do-list' just got a little longer. I even got a message from another member welcoming me, moments after signing up. That's amazing. That's librarians for you!

I'm just about at the half way point of this journey - thanks for putting this together and helping me through this online adventure!

Thing 10 Continued ...

I can see using Image generators to jazz up my school library website. I need to take the time to upload a few images to play with. I like working with the things I find, I guess mainly because it can be easier to find something out on the web than to take the time with my aging technology at home to make Flickr happen. However, I am fussy. I like to find the 'perfect' image for what I'm working on - this can make for long searches. I really have to plunge right in and get going - whatever technology I have will be getting older and if I keep waiting, I'm going to miss out.

Rainbow of Books ...

Okay, I started to go to FD Tools, but wound up back in Flickr. That's fine. This picture made me think of a story I heard about a library at a parochial school in Scranton. That shelved it's books by color. I have to share this with a few people and I'll start with y'all. But I've digressed ... many more 'Things' to go!

Thing 10

Okay, I really had some fun with ImageChef. There are a few images I liked -- and worked with. Mostly, putting text on an image. I liked the animations and the beach. OOOoooh, the beach. I thought it was a bad idea to start counting down until the end of the school year already. (172-days) Who's counting?

Thing 9

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted. If I spent as much time working on my 23 things, instead of thinking about them, I'd be done already! School is off to a good start for me and my family. Now, with a few weeks finished, I'm ready to get back to work!

I thought I had done thing 9, but here we go. I subscribed to a few RSS feeds. I have found some nice school library news and learned about a free online time line maker. through Tom Snyder's Timeliner software. It's free online or $1,200 to buy. Here's the link. http://www.free-timeline.com/timeline.jsp I love time lines.

I've also been reading about my beloved NY Giants and catching up on Unshelved, the Library Comic. Always good for a library chuckle. To be honest, I chose feeds that didn't have too many updates, and that's a good thing. I still have quite a few to go through. But it is easy to find what I'm looking for -- I start reading the headlines that appeal to me and just start reading. It's a very nice way to keep current, without filling up my email box with listserv postings -- which I love -- but there's so much pressure to keep the inbox from getting too full at school!

I like this tool -- it's convenient for having all the latest school library news delivered to my virtual door.