Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Exercise 20 - E Books

I found this very easy to find. I like Google Book Search and it was very easy to use. I found a book of Wordsworths' poems and read some pages in the format of an e-book.

I thought the Kindle was a really innovative idea. I looked on Amazon.com and read the write up on the Kindle. It sounds a very clever idea and I can see lots of uses for it. The fact you can read a couple of chapters of a book before you decide to buy is definitely a plus.

I can see that e-books and the kindle have a place in the world today but I don't think they can ever replace the feel of a real book, the smell of an old book and the turning of real pages. I also don't think reading off a screen can be very good for your eyes in the long run. I think I'll stick with the real thing!!

Exercise 21 - Bebo, Facebook etc

I was already experienced with Facebook and Bebo before starting the 23 things, so this was not new for me. I have a Facebook account myself and really enjoy using it as a way of communicating with friends overseas. I find it a really good way to keep in touch and it is also fun to use. My kids use Bebo which is really Facebook for kids and again they find it a fun way to keep in touch with their friends.

I thought it was great the Auckland City Library and Rotorua are using Bebo to keep their patrons up to date with 'library matters'. It definitely brings their libraries up to date and will appeal to the youngsters who we should be really encouraging into our libraries.

Exercise 19 - Podcasts

Having never been involved or used Podcasts before, this was all new to me. I took the tutorial 'What is a Podcast' and it all became a little clearer.

I explored Pod Nova and found this site quite interesting - http://www.podnova.com/channel/396280/. It is a book review site.

I explored Yahoo Audio and found it to be very user friendly. Not sure how much I will use Podcasts in the future, I have managed ok without them so far so probably not very often!!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Exercise 18 - You Tube


I chose this video because I just love lions and I think these wildlife videos are so spectacular.

My family and I have been great fans of You Tube and use it all the time. We watch anything from old cartoons from our youth to current movie clips. I think it is a great application, you can find a video on almost anything you choose. Of course it does have its down side, there is also a lot of rubbish posted on there, you just have to be selective.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Exercise 17 - Web 2.0 Awards List

It was interesting to see which sites had come top of the list and won awards and I wasn't surprised that sites like 'del.icio.us' and 'flickr' were up there at the top.

I was impressed with a site called 'Spanish Pod' which is a site where you can learn Spanish in easy steps. You can download lessons onto your Mp3 player. I thought this would be a very useful site and one that could be used in libraries to good effect.

I signed up for the food website ' i'm cooked' http://www.imcooked.com/index.php. This is an entire website dedicated to food, my kind of site! It is a great site where you can share videos for recipies with other people. I found it to be very user friendly.

Zoho Writer

ZOHO WRITER

 

 

I am having a play around with zoho writer and I am finding that it is quite similar to microsoft word.

 

I think it is different in the way you can share your document with others without having to email them.

 

It is also good that you can export documents in their current state.

 

It is an on line application.

 

kiss I am enjoying having a play around with it!!


Exercise 15 - Rollyo

Not too impressed with this site, a little uninspiring. Don't think I will be using this one very often.

I created my own Rollyo site as requested and added a couple of sites I'm interested in.

http://rollyo.com/bunnee/

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Exercise 14 - Library Thing

I loved this site. How user friendly, just what I needed!!

I created my account and added some of my favourite books.

http://www.librarything.com/home/bunneeee

Exercise 13 - Generators

http://www.letterjames.com/start.php?mod=image-gallery&lang=0&kat=6&charset=0&site=5

I really enjoyed this exercise and could have played around with all the different options available for ages. Unfortunately, not enough hours in the day!!

Exercise 12 - Sandbox

I found this exercise really interesting. The U-Tube video showing how to set up Wet Paint Wiki site was well done and explained how to make one in very easy steps.

I think it is an interesting idea to have a social website which grows as people contribute to it. It is useful for people with a common interest who need to collaborate. It seems to work well and elimates the need for people to send emails back and forth to one another and everyone involved can stay in touch and up to date.

I don't think I would use it too much but I can see its appeal.

Exercise 11 - Wikis

I already had quite a lot of experience with Wikis and Wikipedia before I started this exercise, so I knew how they operated. My children use Wikipedia quite a lot for homework purposes but you also have to be careful as the fact that anyone can write a Wiki or add to it can make it an unreliable source at times.

I watched 'Wikis in Plain English' on You Tube and for any one who wanted to create their own Wiki, it was a really good step by step guide.

Exercise 10 Web 2.0

Reading 'Where will the next generation of the Web take libraries' by Tom Storey was very interesting and illustrated the point that people are using libraries less for simply reading purposes and now expect to access everything digitally. The web is such an important part of our lives now and will only continue to gain in momentum in the future. So much information is now digital that libraries cannot stand around and be left behind. As an information tool in itself, we must move with the times. Libaries have definitely changed over the last 10 years, readers needs have changed and how they use libraries now is quite different.

I watched 'Web 2.0 - The machine is using us' on U-Tube and found it very interesting and clever. It was interesting to show how we and the web are so interwined, one cannot survive without the other and how it is driven by us and our need for it.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Exercise 9 Technorati

Well, I found technorati a bit too much really. It was not really explained very well and just seems to me it is yet another internet tool for gathering information, some of it quite irrelevant.

"Boing Boing" was rated as the number one blog with 3,888 fans and the top story was "security guard beat man in soccer arena, then get beat up by players". Need I say anymore!! Not one I will be using often!