NLLN 23 More Things on a Stick

Thing 32 - Google Maps mashups

2009-04-22T19:13:00.001-05:00

I created a Google map and placed it on my webpage; I also added Northern Lights Library Network to the local business directory.

Although I do not need much in the way of a mashup for the NLLN Office, I have enjoyed mashups made available at conferences that show the conference site, the hotels, meeting spaces, restaurants, and other things of interest to a conference go-er in a new city.

That seems to me to only one of many useful mashups that I have seen. I'd like to explore further and figure out how to create a mashup of legislative districts in our region....that will take a little more work!

Thing 31 - Twitter (more)

2009-04-22T19:00:00.002-05:00

Twitter is endlessly interesting and valuable to me. I like being able to follow topics indicated by hashmarks (#CIL09), to post from my phone, to search topics and events, to post pictures to, and to update my Facebook page if I choose to.

I have recently joined Twibes/librarians -- but haven't figured out exactly what that does. Lots of interesting librarians on it, however!

Truth of the matter is, however, that I like the plain, basic Twitter application pretty much the best. I use Tweetdeck, FriendFeed, Twirl, and others...but for a quick pick-me-up during the day, basic Twitter is the fastest, and most enjoyable form.

At times it can get to feel overwhelming -- and at that point, I consider the Twitter stream like a river. What's already gone past is gone -- just let it go and dip into the river as it is right now. Things tend to pop up again, if they are important, and since it is not possible to follow everyone closely or to click on every link mentioned, it is sometimes best to just let it go...and jump in with whatever is happening currently!

Thing 30

2009-04-22T18:50:00.003-05:00

I think that RSS feeds are just the greatest and use the Google Reader on my iGoogle page to read them. They quickly mount up, and with the advent of Twitter, I've found that my use of RSS feeds has dropped off quite a bit. Instead, I'm find that more and more the late breaking news, cool sites, announcements, useful tools, and links to significant blog posts are being posted on Twitter -- and from there it is a quick link to the item.

I also use Friend Feed which allows me to see what people are posting to their delicious account. That is very handy to know what others have found significant and often that is a great way to check out sites that are of interest.

Finally, regarding Delicious, I have found that placing people in my network allows me to look at their Delicious activity and I find many shared interest there. Since my neighbors and several friends got Blackberries at about the same time I did, it has been fun to see what they post on Delicious regarding using a BB -- an easy way to share info.

I'm a huge fan of Delicious and don't know what I would do without it. I use to keep track of all kinds of things -- personally and professionally. It's useful for very simple things, as well as for very complex topics (the Recovery Act funds, for example). And, new topics crop up every day that I want to remember and track.

Thing 29 - redux

2009-03-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

This is little Luka, Mary and Jiancarlo's newest family addition. The picture was edited in Picasa and then directly loaded into the blogpost -- which is fast and kind of cool. I also sent the picture and it allowed me to send it from my Gmail account which meant it was possible to do this all from the web-based software that Google owns. I like the way Google tools work with each other.

Thing 29 - Google Tools

2009-02-20T11:01:00.004-06:00

I love Google! No 2 ways about it. I use a lot of Google tools in a number of different settings.

My Gmail account is set up so that I also receive -- and channel into their own streams -- my various other email accounts. This automatically means that I am creating a searchable, archived, web-accessible back up of my email coming into my work accounts and to other email accounts that I use.

Gmail itself has a lot of attractive features, but grouping conversations and having an excellent search tool saves a lot of time. I do not have to send copies of messages to myself, I don't have to file or organize messages, and I don't even have to bother to delete messages. Gmail has made email much easier to manage in an efficient manner.

gTalk - their chat tool is excellent. Transcriptions are kept just like email messages for easy reference. I can chat via my phone if I'm away from my computer or if I'm on a completely different computer and still have all my contacts, and the record of the chat.

Other Google tools I use are Google alerts -- both for my name (just to be aware of how I'm showing up on the Internet) and for topics of interest on my iGoogle or PageFlakes page. I have news on my iGoogle page as a quick point of seeing what's happening in the news throughout the day. Google Reader allows me to create an easy to use tool for reading and tracking all my RSS feeds. I use the Google toolbar on my computers and use a Google search box on the NLLN website. Google mobile is excellent for accessing my gmail and doing Google search from my phone. And Goog411 is a godsend! I use it all the time for locating businesses, restaurants, museums, etc especially while traveling. Google maps are useful - always.

There are tons of Google tools available and I try to read the Google blog about what is in the works and what is newly available. I also periodically look through their lists of tools just for fun -- always something more to discover.

Google content that is created in my various Google-owned applications and services can be removed at my discretion if I choose not to use those applications in future. It is probably worth reading the Terms of Service to understand how to set privacy levels that you are comfortable with and to determine how to maintain control over your own created content.

Thing 28 - Personal webpage

2009-02-16T22:59:00.002-06:00

I have used iGoogle as a personal webpage for a few years. I like to have the RSS feeds all in one place, along with weather from the places my family lives (and in Feb it is nice to see the temps in Costa Rica!), tools I use frequently (like a PDF doc converter), gmail, News, and other similar things.

I did not find it easy to my i'Google page to create a personal learning page so tried out Pageflakes in order to customize a number of different pages on specific topics I want to learn more about. I created a pageflake page in order to aggregate info, rss feeds, delicious tags, documents, alerts,webpages on particular topics. I wanted to learn more about gaming in libraries, about broadband accesssibility/availability in MN, uses of Twitter, and webpage design. Pageflakes works to set up a page on each topic and then I can refer to that page when I'm ready to learn more about that topic or institute a new practice.

Thing 27 - Twitter

2009-02-16T21:17:00.003-06:00

I am a confirmed Twitter addict and find it a tremendous resource for keeping up with the world. Professional notices, suggestions, advice, personal info, what's up with friends and colleagues --- always a lot going on, always something interesting. I like the ease with which one can follow others -- or quit following them. The key to using Twitter is to follow interesting people, to post regularly about things beyond what you're eating

I use Friend Feed, a social networking aggregator, as a way to post to Twitter as well as to follow friends on 'Twitter and on a host of other Web 2.0 applications (flickr, facebook, delicious, etc.). Actual conversations are possible on FF.

Posting from my phone is easy and, in certain circumstances, it is worthwhile to be able to receive tweets via SMS (text) messages.

I use Twitpics to post pictures and have set my Flickr account to directly post selected pictures to Twitter.

There are a gazillion apps that work with Twitter -- more than it is possible to keep track of. If you have a special need for a certain kind of application to work with Twitter, chances are that someone has already produced it.

My Twitter username is rcksolie -- feel free to follow me (and I'll follow you in return) or look through the list of people I follow to find others to follow. Hope to see you tweeting soon!

Thing 26 -- NING

2009-02-16T21:09:00.003-06:00

I've enjoyed being part of several NING sites for nearly 2 years =for 23 Things on a stick, More Things on a Stick, as well as the MEMO Ning and some more general Ning groups. I like the ability to create a Ning site and to make the content whatever you want. I like the ease with which people join Ning groups and interest groups within a Ning. I find, however, that it is one more place to keep track of and to monitor, although I do have updates sent to my email account for the things of most interest.

One can put just about as much effort as you like into your Ning profile and can be as active as you like. Although it is very different from FaceBook, I like Ning more than I care for FB -- too much "noise" for me on FB and I am disturbed by the Terms of Service.

So - happy to be on Ning and enjoy meeting others there; I enjoy the content, and enjoy the social networking aspects of it.

Thing 25

2009-02-06T21:05:00.001-06:00

Posting to the blog from my cell phone. I had added a number of things last year like the sitemeter and photos. This year I'll add some new things.
Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Thing 24

2009-02-06T20:22:00.001-06:00

Well, it was time to take this blog out, dust it off, give it a little freshening up, and launch into the next 23 things.

I think it will be a grand adventure and am looking forward to meeting more people on the NING, reading the blogs from this area, and learning a whole lot of new stuff.

Thing 22 - Keeping up

2008-04-02T01:14:00.000-05:00

I believe the tools exist that will make it possible for each of us to create personal learning experiences that will help keep us at the top of our game when it comes to using new technology.

Its exciting to have learned so much about so many different tools and to share that learning in a statewide community of learners. I feel like this is just a start -- and a good one! It will be fun to continue to explore, learn and use more tools.

Thing 21 -- other social networks

2008-04-02T01:10:00.001-05:00

I have participated in NING and WebJunction for several years. WJ, I think, has been a great tool especially in the area of technology support, course, rural library sustainability, and for topical discussion. Mn-WJ is still developing, but perhaps it will come into its own in the next year or so.

I think these tools are a great way to connect with people of similar interests or concerns and for once, geography is not a dictator! I think WJ has been particularly useful in leveling the playing field and giving people every where the tools they need to do the jobs they do.

Thing 20 - My Space and Facebook

2008-04-02T01:02:00.000-05:00

I have had accounts in both Myspace and Facebook for some years but rarely use them. One surprise for me was to find that my children's friends wanted to be friends -- and I was somewhat reluctant to accept their invitations! I thought there was just too much information that I really did not care about, and in some cases would prefer not to know. It all seemed pretty harmless, however, and I found it very interesting to see how the friendships rippled out across the world. That was nifty. A few Facebook friends are of interest to me, but I dont spend much time on either my page or anyone else's.

I do see how Facebook is being used by library staff as a way to make themselves available to students; and libraries that advertise their presence through Facebook and Myspace. Hennepin Co Library has done well in this area and it is interesting to see that kids, in particular teens, use the pages to create a community.

It will be interesting to see where these pages go in the next few years -- they seem to be evolving at an enormously fast rate and have gazillions of applications. I wonder if we might be surprised at what these turn into in the future and what unintended results crop up.

Thing 19 - Podcasts

2008-04-02T00:57:00.000-05:00

Being an MPR addict, I discovered the joy of podcasts a few years ago when I wanted to listen to favorite shows I might have missed. I used iTunes to locate and subscribe to those podcasts and generally have downloaded them to my MP3 player to listen to as I walk or drive. Sometimes I listen to them when I knit or snooze on the couch.

I have made a series of inept podcasts using the OPAL webconferencing software. They have not been good, but it has given me the opportunity to know what needs to be fixed and some idea of how to fix it. I would like to use brief podcasts or vidcasts for training purposes and make them available on my website.

Thing 18 - You Tube

2008-04-02T00:51:00.000-05:00

I love You Tube and Google Video for personal amusement and for a variety of professional reasons. So often, a quick video is just the greatest instructional tool when you want to convey a complex idea so folks will get the big picture -- why it is they might want to know this info.

In my personal life, I enjoy having access to video of things I would not otherwise have much knowledge of. I recently watched a long presentation by the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Having just read the book, I was curious about her and wanted to see what she looked like and what she had to say. It was a great experience.

I have embedded video in my other blogs.

Thing 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

2008-04-02T00:45:00.001-05:00

I like the Ebsco webpage creator for making nice looking bibliographies. I am trying to convince my city council that some of our new sidewalks should be made from recycled tires -- rubber sidewalks. This tool was an easy way to share good info with members of the council. I don't think it changed any minds, but it did allow me to share quality information with my elected officials.

I have long been a fan of netLibrary and think it is a useful collection of books that is often overlooked. I think many of the tools available are fantastic. I have used it for a variety of personal and professional purposes over the years, but travel continues to be one very good use of netLibrary.

Thing 16 - Research Project Calculator

2008-04-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

I have been familiar with this since it was first conceived of as an offshoot of the Assignment Calculator at the U of M. I think it is a deceivingly simple tool -- it is much more complex and robust than it first appears. The addition of teacher information adds to the richness of the site and provides some very useful tools for teaching Information Literacy.

I think these two tools will continue to develop and will be especially useful for kids moving from the RPC to the AC as they move from high school to higher ed.

Thing15 - Games

2008-04-02T00:22:00.000-05:00

I chose 2nd Life out of curiosity about it. I was fascinated by it but felt like it was a huge commitment in terms of time, bandwidth, and complexity -- I created a cute avatar, learned to fly, visited some interesting sites and participated in an online event at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC -- but I didn't have much luck negotiating the various libraries or attending any library events. Also I didn't think it was really worth my time to invest any more energy in it at this point since gaming doesn't have much interest to me in general. Now if it was an opportunity to try out Wii -- that might be a different story. I think that type of gaming may well have a future in my life -- and for libraries.

Thing 14 - Library Thing

2008-04-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

I have used Library Thing for a segment of my personal library. I love the ease of use, the full cataloging, seeing who else has the same books I do, and looking at other collections.

I am very taken with the use of Library Thing by libraries (e.g., new books, book clubs, etc) and am wondering if it might be an option for smaller church libraries.

I did see in a Library Thing discussion group that there were church libraries who reported success with it.

I think getting the book covers is really cool!

Thing 13 - Productivity tools

2008-04-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

I have found my iGoogle page to be a great resource -- a place to collect all MY things from calendars to RSS feeds to file converters and weather reports. Since I find Google to be endlessly fascinating -- always another widget, another tool, another service -- I tend to spend too much time seeing what will work on my iGoogle page, my cell phone, and my webpage. Always something new to explore and to build on.

On a more serious level, iGoogle is a great personal learning experience platform. With the tabs it is possible to put feeds and other resources all in one place when you're working on learning something new or want to receive alerts about a particular topic.

I also like the way the banner reflects the time of day as the sun travels from left to right!

Thing 12 -- Digg

2008-04-01T23:31:00.000-05:00

Digg can be pretty interesting and is especially interesting when one of your own posts is dugg! Unfortunately, I think I'm too easily distracted by looking at top stories -- especially political ones -- and forgetting what I'm doing.

I do think that it is interesting when my favorite bloggers are digging each other and major issues -- a quick way to get an idea of what's hot, what the buzz is.

Thing 11 - Tagging

2008-04-01T23:24:00.000-05:00

I have found Del.icio.us to be about the most useful tool there is. I work on lots of different computers and have many different personal and professional projects going all the time. It is just great to be able to assign somewhat random -- or at least unrelated -- tags to a website and then find that website again later, no matter what computer I'm on.

I recently heard an author talk about writing a book and tracking all her sources, chapter by chapter, on Del.icio.us as she was doing the research. Great idea for anyone doing research and wondering how to keep track of so many possible resources on the web.

I also like the social aspect of this -- to see who else has tagged an item; what tags they used; what their del.icio.us account looks like.

I would like to know more about libraries that allow tagging in their catalogs -- that seems like a great idea since library subject terms are pretty rigid and very specific. I think del.icio.us would also be useful in college courses or high school classes where students/teachers could share resources.

Thing 10--Wikis

2008-04-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

I thought it was interesting to see how the Princeton Library used a wiki for book reviews and then linked back to the Princeton catalog when you clicked on the title.

We used a wiki to plan 23 things on a stick and I thought it was a very useful way to keep track of various threads that were being worked on simulateneously by different people. It has since taken on a life of its own with this project and the comments from participants -- just like it is supposed to, but was not originally intended to do that. A very positive unintended consequence --as so often happens with these tools!

Thing 7 - Communication

2008-04-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

I have found that the NLLN subscription to OPAL webconferencing software has been extremely useful for small meetings, for sharing documents, and for NLLN planning. The multitype directors use it regularly for meetings and planning in between face-to-face meetings.

I especially enjoy the OPAL website and the constant stream of programs available there in real-time and in the archives. Some amazing opportunities have come past that provided good learning experiences of personal and professional interest.

Chat - as in Google Chat -- is just the best for quick conversations with others. I like the fact that Google records and keeps a transcript of these conversations. I have used the group chat function to some extent, but it didn't prove to be quite as useful as I thought it would be. Though I use it at work for "on the fly meetings with colleagues, my favorite use is with my daughters who live in distant locations -- but are at work most days!

E-mail and wikis are also part of my tool box when it comes to planning and implementing NLLN programs.

I think this is a particularly useful "Thing" -- but it sure includes a lot of alternatives!

Digital photography -- the close up

2008-02-13T17:42:00.000-06:00

I find that I often don't use the special capabilities of my digital camera because I forget how to use them or what the icons do. On the Lifehacker blog, there is a great tutorial on how to use the close-up option available on most digital cameras. It's a clear and concise set of quick directions on using the options. Check it out at: this site

Thing 6 - image generators

2008-02-01T16:16:00.001-06:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by NLLN

This is a mosaic of photos from MEMO Midwinter where we did some training on using the 23 Things. I used the image generator to produce this from the photos in the NLLN Flickr account and then posted it to this blog. Pretty slick.

Lunch at MEMO Midwinter

2008-01-30T19:20:00.001-06:00

lunch
Originally uploaded by NLLN

This is from MEMO Midwinter -- where people were comparing notes and networking over lunch. The photo and this posting were created in Flickr and posted from there to this blog!

Fast and easy -- just a matter of setting up the permission in Flickr and telling Flickr about your blog -- so it knows where to post it.

Things 4-5 Flickr

2008-01-30T18:57:00.000-06:00

I love Flickr!

I have a Flickr account for Northern Lights Library Network (NLLN) and regularly post photos there of events and activities occuring throughout the NLLN region. I recently posted pictures from the MEMO Midwinter Conference last week and there are photos from other events, the Governing Board, Conferences, Spotlight on Books, etc.

One really great thing about Flickr is the ability to post directly to the Northern Lights Insights blog from Flickr -- photo and commentary created without leaving Flickr! It's fast, it's convenient, and it works slick!

For $25 a year I have a "pro" account that allows for lots of storage, easy uploading, and permanancy. Well worth the fee, in my opinion.

I also have a personal Flickr account that allows my far-flung family and friends to share their lives with each other. I have a childhood friend who has lived in Singapore for more than 30 years. She and I have not seen each other in a long time or seen each other's children, but through Flickr she has a sense of my family in all its strange and wonderful ways! I have a daughter living in Costa Rica, a daughter living in Montana, a son in Minneapolis, parents, siblings, and friends all across a variety of states. Sharing pictures via Flickr is easy, anyone can see them, can comment, can share their pictures -- it just helps us feel more in contact and it eliminates all those .jpg files anonymously filling up computer hard drives!

I love Flickr and all the nifty, nifty things you can do with it and with it in combination with other Web 2.0 tools.

Thing 3 - RSS Account and add Feeds

2008-01-30T18:11:00.000-06:00

I experimented over the years with a number of different RSS aggregators and ways to tracking blogs. Often, I just didn't figure out how to make the time to read the blogs that I found really useful and interesting.

Currently I am using Google Reader on my iGoogle page to subscribe to the feeds and have weeded out many of them so that I have a smaller number of blogs, but ones I really, really find compelling to read. Stephen's Lighthouse, Tame the Web, Shifted Librarian are three of my favorite library blogs. And, Northern Lights Insights, is the blog I maintain for the NLLN region -- check it out.

On the Northern Lights Insights blog, and the others mentioned above, are "blogrolls" that list blogs of interest to the person creating the blog. In this case, these are primarily library blogs and all the great ones are there.

In addition to library blogs, I use my Google Reader to subscribe to feeds from Flickr so I can see when new photos are posted, I use it for news feeds of interest to me and book lists from the library. There are lots of uses for RSS feeds.

In addition to RSS feeds, some blogs allow you to subscribe via email so you get the post in your mail box -- that's handy if you tend to not read the blogs often or if some are more important than others.

One thing I have learned from reading library and technology blogs: they all read each other and often share what someone else has posted about. This helps decrease the number of blogs I read since I can often catch up simply by reading a few blogs and then following the links they post about.

Lots to be learned from blogs. There is an RSS feed on this blog if you want to add it to your reader!

Thing 2 - What is Library 2.0

2008-01-22T18:54:00.000-06:00

I have really enjoyed reading these articles, reading the blog posts, and viewing the videos clips -- I think Stephen Abrams is always compelling and his blog, Stephen's Lighthouse , is an on-going source of info about trends in the library world.
Stepehn recently referred to an interesting post by Marshall Kirkpatrick, another blogger, giving 10 reasons why people don't want to learn Web 2.0 things and then gave possible responses to each reason -- check it out by clicking here. All the reasons you've thought of yourself (I don't have time; I have real work to do; it's just fluff) are here and some very thoughtful reasons you might consider as to why it actually is worth your time and effort to learn more about Web 2.0 and its value to you, your library, and your library community.

Thing 1- setting up the blog

2008-01-21T21:50:00.000-06:00

Thing 1 is to set up a blog on Blogger or WordPress, write a post, and register the blog.

I have used Blogger for about 5 years for various NLLN blogs but have more recently begun using WordPress for the NLLN blog called Northern Insights.

Both are free, both are very popular, and both have many features to explore -- be careful you don't get sucked into spending hours tweaking the look of your blog and adding fun features..

I think the biggest challenge to setting up a blog is to chose a name! The name can sometimes be a challenge -- but pick something fun, or quirky, or serious, or mysterious. Check out what some of your colleagues have selected for names -- they can be quite amusing! "Lutefisk on a stick" as a blog name? I guess you know you're in Minnesota!

We're off and running

2008-01-21T11:52:00.000-06:00

23 Things on a Stick launched yesterday, Jan 20, and we have had a number of people out of the gates -- setting up their blogs, learning, posting,and moving ahead.

Today is a holiday for some and I anticipate that we'll see a surge of new participants.

Remember to register your blog by Feb 15 to be eligible for incentives.

I look forward to creating a social network in the NLLN region through participation in the 23 Things on a Stick! Ruth

It's getting closer!

2008-01-10T16:36:00.000-06:00

Another welcome to this blog in the days leading up to the launch of "23 Things on a Stick"! I hope you are planning to participate in a journey of discovery and learning!

The official "mother blog" of the project is found at "23thingsonastick.blogspot.com". At this time the intro is there and much information, including a list of the "23 Things" but: the complete program and live links will not be fully available until January 20th.

Be sure to check back at that time and launch your learning journey.

To be eligible for prizes, you must register your blog by February 15 and complete all 23 Things by April 16, 2008.

It will be a lot of fun. See you later in January!

Welcome to NLLN's "23 Things on a Stick"

2007-12-19T18:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the NLLN 23 Things blog which will your companion as you join the Minnesota 23 Things on a Stick: a Library Learning 2.0 Program.

We're happy to have you here and hope you have a valuable and interesting experience in the coming weeks.