Week 4: Wikis

A wiki is a collaborative website. The word 'wiki' comes from the Hawaiian word for 'quick.' It's easy to get in - get out and then move on to another task.

So what is a wiki? Check out this Common Craft video on wikis:



Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:

• Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content. That means a group of you can work on your wiki.
• Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what has been changed and by whom. Just in case someone accidentally deletes something!
• Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed. Ditto above.
• 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.
  

1. For this discovery exercise, you are asked sign up for a PBWorks account (thing #5). After you've gotten your account go to our 23 Things n'@ Wiki and click on the page entitled "6 Things I Love About My Library" It is located on the right side of the screen in the sidebar .
2. There will be instructions on this page for you to edit this page by putting up 6 things you love about your library (thing #6). For fun, think about when you'd use a wiki instead of a blog. Richard Nixon and President Kennedy will give you a few clues. In the comments section of this post, blog about your experience.

Week 3: RSS and Social Bookmarking

Congratulations, bloggers - now that you've got your personal blogs up and running, it's time to learn about RSS and social bookmarking, two tools that help keep web information organized and readily available. Yes, that's two Things in one week, but we know you can do it - we've also scheduled a catch-up week later in the course, so that you have an extra buffer zone while you work at your own pace.

Your next tasks, should you choose to accept them, are to read the information below on RSS and social bookmarking, and participate in the discovery exercises therein.

Part I: RSS (Really Simple Syndication)

RSS is a digital tool that brings news to you so that you don't have to visit countless websites individually. Click here for a slideshow tutorial on just how the magic works; those of you who are visual learners may prefer the following video:





Ready to find out what your fellow explorers are blogging about? Choose a newsreader, sign up for an account, and subscribe to at least one feed (thing #3). Feel free to subscribe to your fellow adventurers' blogs whose links are found here - other suggestions, both work-related and not-so-much, are also available through the Week 2 wiki page.



Part II: Social Bookmarking


Social bookmarking is the fancy name for using web-based tools to organize your links and info. It's not unlike bookmarking links on your computer, but with the added bonus of being able to access those links again from any computer with internet access. So if you've moved your feet and lost your seat, you won't have to redo your searches, or wrack your brain trying to remember whether the address of that really cool site you found had an underscore or a tilde in the URL.

Roll that beautiful social footage, there, CommonCraft...

Now that you're in the know, it's time to sign up for a del.icio.us account and add a few links (thing #4). If you're feeling adventurous, you might want to explore tagging and/or adding other users to your network. - see the support materials on the Week 3 wiki page for more details.

Remember to leave a comment on this entry (week #3) so that you can get credit for completing the assignment. In your comment you should briefly discuss your experiences signing up for a newsreader, and share your del.icio.us username.

As ever, let us know what questions you have, and how we can help.

Week 2: Creating a Blog with Blogger

This week, we're asking yinz to create a blog (thing # 2!) Blogs are becoming more and more important in the world of media and information sharing. Check out wikipedia's explanation of blogs to see just how powerful they can be! Below is a quick and dirty guide to setting up a blog on Blogger. Just press play and follow along!




Also, check out this explanation of blogging from the CommonCraft Show.


Now, it's your turn! This week's discovery exercises:

• create a blog on blogger (To view your blog: Your blog address is http://(xxxx).blogspot.com, (xxxx)=the unique name of your blog. Be sure to also write down your blog address. Make this blog a special 23Things blog to use for just posting about your experience on this project.
  
• write a post about your experience so far with 23Things. Is it intimidating? Do you feel connected? Are you feeling lost? Anything! You'll be using this blog to track your progress.
  
• register your blog by leaving a comment on the week 2 post at the 23Things-n'at blog with your blog's address and your name and library. The planning team will be keeping tabs on how everyone's doing, providing encouragement, answering questions and so on so we need to make sure we know where your blog lives. We're also going to ask you (in week 3) to subscribe to 10 23Things Participants' blogs but don't worry about that just yet.
• have fun!

IMPORTANT NOTE: How you choose to identify yourself on your blog is your choice. You can blog under a screen name, anonymously, or as yourself.

For more fun stuff on blogging, go to the 23Things-n'at wiki page on week 2.