Week 12 - The Grand Finale

Over the 4th of July weekend I remembered that I had a cousin who could not say Grand Finale. Instead he would keep asking when he would see the Grand Jumbally. Of course as an adult that stuck with me and it makes me laugh everytime I think about it. Our initial reactions to change and technology also tend to stick with us, unless we have the opportunity to really get our hands dirty playing and inspecting new technologies. Think of it as mud pies for the mind. From You Tube here are some words of wisdom about technology.



Since this is the final week you have 3 quick assignments: (Thing #21) please give us your final comments. You can post them right here on this blog. (Thing #22) Take the exit survey by following this link. And for the Grand Finale, (Thing #23) please share your new skills with your fellow library workers and users. The greatest gift of all is not in knowing everything, but sharing everything we know. Now remember you have 2 weeks to continue working on assignments you couldn't get to or needed more time for. So pat yourselves on the back and many thanks for your participation! For fun here are some links on the 23 Things Wiki

Week 10: Firefox

Double-clicking on the big blue "E" is only one way to access the world wide web. This week's exercises are designed to introduce you to Firefox, a web browser made by Mozilla.

Mozilla uses open-source software to design its products, and it's worth taking a second to explain what that means, because it's a phrase that comes up over and over again in library world these days. Open source software, as defined by the Open Source Initiative, is software with code that can be shared, modified, and even spun off into other works, freely, among other things. That means anybody with time, interest, and an idea can play with open-source programs to make them better, or write new programs by modifying the existing language in which the program was written.

In very practical terms, this means that open-source software tends to be more flexible, is updated more frequently, and invites more participation and collaboration. Instead of sitting around waiting for a software company to release a new version of its product, you could be actively writing your own code...or, at the very least, submitting your ideas to the programmers to see what they can make for you. If you're interested in this, I suggest checking out What I Learned Today, a blog written by Nicole Engard, self-appointed Open Source Evangelist (she knows a lot of great stuff about other emerging technologies, too).

But, to return to the main point, Firefox: how is it different from other browsers, and what can it do for you? There seems to be no end to what you can do wtih this browser, but two important aspects to highlight are tabs and add-ons. The following short tutorials cover these elements at greater length:

Working with Tabs:






Using Add-ons (also called "extensions"):






See Week 10 of the wiki for more "Firefox 101" videos, and other helpful information.

Your assignments this week are:

Thing #17: Experiment with tabbed browsing and record your experiences in your blog, or a comment below.

Thing #18: Find an add-on that would enhance your web-browsing experience and install it. If that sounds intimidating, you might want to check out the lists of popular and recommended add-ons. If all else fails, who doesn't need another search engine? Report back on the experience.

Thing #19: See if you can find the features that let you change browser text size within Firefox. How do they compare to the settings in Internet Explorer? Record your observations.

Firefox keeps evolving, so it's the sort of tool you'll want to play with on a regular basis, to see what new features have been added. One great example of this is the recently-launched collections feature, which lets you add groups of useful add-ons. What would you like a web browser to be able to do? What kinds of features would be most helpful for our users?

Week 8 - Social Networking

Any article or conversation about Web 2.0 will inevitably stress the newly acknowledged primacy of the experience of the Web for the user. And the vehicle for converting the user’s experience from that of a solitary, passive viewer (as in what might be called Web 1.0) to one of rich, dynamic content and broad, interactive participation is social networking. In other words - you can join a social online community of your choice.

Defining Online Social Networks

As with a lot of 2.0 tools, pinning down a definition of a “social network” is difficult — it’s one of those “you’ll know it when you see it” tools! But how do you know what to look for? Here are a few characteristics of social networks:

• profile pages: when you sign up for an account on a social networking site, your “profile page” becomes your home base. Most social networks allow you to add as much or as little information about yourself as you’d like. Common fields include your name, contact information, interests, and a photograph of yourself. Some social networks allow you to customize your profile page by changing the design, color, or look of the page (MySpace is an example), whereas other social networking sites use the same look & feel for all profile pages (Facebook is an example).

• “Friending”: this is probably the most important characteristic of a social network because finding friends (existing or new) on a social networking site is pretty much the point of being there in the first place! So, most social networks allow you to add another person/profile as a “friend” or a “contact” and your collection of friends becomes your own personal social network (not dissimilar to the way social networks form offline too!). The “friending” aspect of an online social network often accounts for why some social networking sites are popular with specific groups. For example, Facebook began as a social network for college and university students; it has since opened up to allow anyone to join the network, but it still remains most popular with students. Why? Because people go where their friends are!

• Groups: with real life social networks, groups tend to form around common interests, therefore most online social networks allow users to start a group or join a group based on their interests or common goals. Depending on the social networking site, you will probably find a group that represents your interests, regardless of what that interest might be!

• For those of you interested in just short bursts of information about yourself or observations, then Twitter is the way to go. Twitter is generating a lot of attention these days as it's being used to discuss elections, social lives and work.

Assignment:(Thing 11)Sign up for either a Facebook, MySpace or Twitter account! Look for people you know in the social network you choose and "friend" them. (Thing 12)


Optional:
If you’re not comfortable creating a Facebook, MySpace or Twitter account, for an alternate exercise:

1. Find 3 articles on these or other social networks(Thing 11.)
2. Blog about your thoughts on these tools and how libraries are using them. (Thing 12)
   

Go to our Week 8 wiki page for more resources or for a break click here and find out how libraries and librarians are using social networking.

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.