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What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?* I liked most all of them, especially wikis and Youtube. I really like the awards list, and will continue to explore and discover the tools and features therein.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?* Brought me up to speed on what the current trends are in communication, social networking, etc. Makes me want to learn more.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?* I had high expectations for the program, and I am pleased to say that it met them. Of course, there were things I learned that were unexpected; they are legion.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…* Well, I know that most of the folks who participated were either rushed to complete the components, if they were even able to; myself included. At the same time, I'm glad that the pressure is off now (almost), and that I'll have more time to assume my other duties.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again choose to participate? Absolutely!

Podcasting

is one of those technologies that would be cool if I had more time for it. I love the idea, but never really found time to either listen or create them. I guess in the right setting, like the way Helen Blowers used it for 2.0 works great; but I doubt I'll be subscribing to any in the near future.
I can see that it also works well for listening to things that I may have missed, like NPR shows. I found some interesting ones on that website, e.g. "What would Rob do?" How apt.

Overdrive

I was lucky enough to have Sara present an Overdrive training for us last week, so I got a pretty thorough look into Overdrive. Yes, this is the way of the future. It's very convenient and, even if the titles are currently limited, there's still some great content on there; and it won't be long before you can download or stream most anything you want.
Besides some popular titles we saw interesting IMAX documentaries and cool vintage cartoons. The area that appears most limited to me at this juncture is music.
Wait and see...

The Old Grey Whistle Test

I love You Tube. It's amazing all the great stuff you can watch for free! This site, for me, shows the freedom and immediate power of the internet. You Tube is so addictive that once I start watching I inevitably lose 3 or 4 hours without noticing. I can't think of anything critical to say about it.

I chose this video entitled "Keith Richards interview from 1974" because I just love Keith's persona and vulnerablity here. You gotta see this. It's from a British tv show called "The Old Grey Whistle Test" Now I will try to embed it here within...

short list

the short list of Web 2.0 awards winners is fabulous!

I bookmarked this webpage because I would like to go back to it from time to time to explore many of these interesting sites. This was a very valuable component of our 2.o training for me.

Checked out 'Omnidrive' and the other online storage servers. This is a revolutionary (to me) idea. Looked at the Lists and Polls category, but altho it sounded promising, I didn't have much luck with it :*( I was only allowed on one of the Music sites (others being blocked), and that proved disappointing too: Just selling downloads, and they didn't even have Billy Preston :^O
Was surprised to see that Flickr took the top award for Photos; is there sth I missed?! 'Yahoo answers' did yield some choice nuggets for me, in terms of some content that I'd been longing for : ) I tried 'Farecast', the 1st place in Travel, which worked nicely.

So all in all, yes, this was one of the best modules of the training for me: Thanx TACkies, and congratulations on your SPL award!

week 8: online apps

One of the advantages of GoogleDocs and Web-based applications in general is that they're stored on a server, so you don't have to worry about losing them if your drive crashes, etc.

Of course for that same reason, you may feel you have less control of your documents, because for all intents and purposes, your documents are not exactly (or completely) yours. This one I'm writing now, for example, belongs to GoogleDocs, not to me. If you read the fine print under Google's terms, they retain the rights to all of your account missives; so at least in that regard MS Office retains an edge.

I like wikis

Yes, wikis are cool. They're fun, easy (theoretically!) to use, and well, useful. As we learned in week 7, "Because it can be edited by anyone, patrons can add to the collection of useful resources and can prune away the dead links. The librarian can moderate the wiki and decide what websites can stay in the guide, or he or she can let everyone contribute freely....Adding wiki functionality to the catalog would allow users to post synopses and reviews for books they’ve already read. We can capitalize on the reading experiences of our patrons in order to help them make informed reading decisions from the library catalog.....What about making the library’s website the online hub of the community? Libraries could create a community wiki that would be a one-stop-shop for community information. With the input of the entire community, it could become whatever the community needs it to be. Want to know who the best mechanic is for fixing old Toyotas? Check the automotive reviews on the wiki."

In fact, one of the libraries that was already doing these things had their wiki set-up, run, and maintained by a patron, er, 'customer'(!). Here's what she posts:
" This wiki is not sponsored by nor associated with the library system, it is maintained by one library patron.
If this wiki does not meet with your expectations, please feel free to not use it."
Gotta love it!

Anyway, I'm off to post my favorites on the SPL2.0 wiki ;*/

week 6

Delicious looks like an interesting and perhaps useful tool for a non-heirarchal way to "bookmark" favorite websites. I did sign up for an account, but our city computers would not allow Delicious to download the toolbar necessary to use the delicious tools :^(

Technorati was created as a device for tagging and finding blogs, if I recall correctly. Again, a nice tool for those who can and need this type of service. But for some reason (computer blockage again?) I was not able to experience the online tutorial associated with it.

The 'non-linear' tagging system is so much more versatile, and I think that's one of the reasons that gMail has become popular too. While I truly am enjoying learning about all of these 2.o features and devices, I'm wondering about the general manageability of all of these assets and accounts.

One of the best and most interesting modules of this 2.0 training for me was #15: Library 2.0. I agree with, and am excited about the concepts proposed therein; I especially liked the Library 2.0 Meme Map discovered via the Wikipedia link from the additional resources at the bottom of the page. Fascinating and very promising!

module 12

Slowed down a bit the past few weeks surrounding my jaunt to Penasco.

I just resumed work on 2.0 Facebook and MySpace.
MySpace is great for kids who want a free web presence with the ability to network. But for my purposes, it's crowded in several ways: the interface, the "friends", the time demands of maintaining your page, etc. I've seen several MySpace pages, but I haven't seen a personal page that was well designed yet.

Facebook's layout is less crowded; but it's not intuitive at all. Everytime I left my homepage I struggled to navigate back to it. I can see how it would appeal to the college set, however I don't see how I would personally benefit from using it. Again, it's basically a free webspace server. Webspace is relatively cheap these days anyway, so it's probably not something I'll ever embrace. I was truly glad to learn about it tho; for one b/c I have an old friend who had invited me to see her profile; this enabled me to finally see it and exchance some niceties. But is sending "hugs" and "beer" virtually really something for adults? I'm not convinced.

These Web networks are fun to learn about, but who can possibly maintain accounts on so many of these?! I just don't have the time.

image generator

image generator
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

This is what I was able to come up with via one of the image generators. It was a fun exercise; wish you didn't have to download stuff for some of them. Now let's see if this uploads to my blog...

Looks like it will work; this is a preview of a trip I plan to make this summer!!

#9 Finding Feeds

I tried 3 methods of finding feeds:
First I followed the instructions from the 2.o page;
2nd I tried the Blogspot search feature;
Finally I went to favorite websites to search for the RSS icons we learned about. I guess the easiest was the last method, b/c I had a pretty good idea of what it was I was signing up for. The search engine was the most confusing: for one, I wasn't sure I was doing it right; also, when I did get results, I wasn't sure what I was signing up for (if anything!), or how the information would be presented.

I'd heard a lot about RSS and I was excited to learn about it; didn't know exactly what to expect; indeed, it wasn't what I thought it would be. I need to spend more time mastering the whole concept, etc. and figuring out if this is sth that I can make work for me. i.e., you gotta really decide what information you need. In an environment where we're bombarded w/information overload, you really gotta pick and choose!

RSS

I created the blogspot RSS account last week and signed up for, among other things, notifications of Wilco and Stones tickets and shows!

Rocky Shores of Maine

DSCN2903
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

Just wanted to add this pic, in case I hadn't already: Some nice textures here; good foreground/background contrast; nice lighting; and, of course, the ocean! I took this on an August 07 pilgrimage.

Flickr, mashups, & week 3...

I took the Flickr tour, explore, etc. Frankly, I'm not a Flickr fan. It's interesting, but I preferred the now-defunct Yahoo Photos. I was disappointed when they discontinued it, and after struggling with Flickr, even more so. It was easier to share photos, which, in my opinion, is the only reason to have pix on the web. I guess you can share with Flickr, but first of all it is a fee-based operation; and secondly it is convoluted and not user-friendly. The whole invitation feature and defining someone as 'friend' or 'family' is useless as far as I can tell.
The mapping feature is even more difficult to navigate. I just don't get it.

I liked the trading card website, and in fact used it for our latest library newsletter.

Margaritaville

Margaritaville
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

It's always happy hour in Puerto Penasco!

Shattered

Shattered
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

Stones bring it down in Vegas, '06.

Dad and The Mick

Dad and The Mick
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

This is my Dad among the Monuments at Yankee Stadium.

Katie

DSCN1914
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

My niece Katie on the beach of Yelapa, Mexico. Helen's leg rests in the background.

ferry to Yelapa

001
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

We took a very pleasant boat ride out onto the penninsula of Yelapa, Mexico; Feb, 2006.

palapa in Yelapa

002.5
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

a 'palapa' restaurant in Yelapa, Mexico; Feb, 2006.

Franks_Bar II

Franks_Bar II
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

this was the after-party at the high school reunion, 2006.

The Old Gang

The Old Gang
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

This was the pre-party to my high school re-union, held at Jeff Silverman's beach house, Point Pleasant, NJ, 2006.

Geronimo conquers Joshua Tree Natl Monum

Geronimo conquers Joshua Tree Natl Monum
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

Summer of 2006.

Helen arrives in Palm Springs

Helen arrives in Palm Springs
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

On the drive back to Arizona, we brunched in Palm Springs before a short hike into Joshua Tree Nat'l Park.

Star Power

Star Power
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

Helen in the hills on our trip to LA, 2006.

on the rocky shores of Maine

DSCN2895
Originally uploaded by robwilson08

Helen & I visited our friend McLaughlin in Kittery Point, ME during the summer of '07.

Welcome

Hello from the home of the StoneSwagger blog! This is my first blog posting for the Scottsdale Public Library 'Learning 2.0' training.