afterthoughts

As requested, here are some final thoughts on the program.

What were your favorite technologies, tools or activities?

I enjoyed many of the activities and tools, but I probably liked the Online Applications & Tools the most since many of the sites were new to me. I can see myself using some of them regulalrly.

Has Learning 2.0 @ Mac helped you get comfortable with emerging technologies? How?

Yes. Although I had been exposed to some of these 2.0 tools, I didn’t take the time to explore them properly. The program forced me to do this and I feel I have a better handle on what a lot of our tech savvy users are up to.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this programme that surprised you?

I was just suprised at how many great tools are out there for free. Very cool.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

Not much. It was well planned & organized. Scheduling discovery weeks into the program and providing drop-in sessions were really good ideas. I think the catch-up time helped out a lot of participants. I think having small groups with a team leader worked well - so well in fact that I think they deserve MP3 players too! Although blogging about the activities could be a chore at times, it was a good way to track our progress in the program.

If the Emerging Technologies Group offered another discovery programme like this in the future, would you chose to participate?

Yes, I would!

browser ad-ons: I had already downloaded the Firefox browser - I now use it almost exclusively. I got tired of Internet Explorer 7 freezing up on me so frequently. I’ve also really come to rely on tabbed browsing, so I opted to download two tab related Firefox extensions: Tab Mix Plus and Colorful Tabs. The first allows me to set my home page as my first tab & I can click on an icon to open additional tabs - similar to IE7. I also like that it recovers sessions that close abnormally. The second extension helps differentiate tabs with colour - which I find helpful. I’ll continue to explore the hundreds of extensions Firefox makes available and will undoubtedly add more in the future. The amount of customization available is impressive.

bookmarklets: I installed the Keywords Anywhere MORRIS bookmarklet for Firefox. To test it, I went to the Books for Business web site, highlighted a few entries in the Yearly Top 10 list and then selected the bookmarklet from my browser’s Bookmarks. It quickly did a search in MORRIS for the item(s). As it turns out, we do own many of the titles listed! I think this is a really efficient method of searching the catalogue for titles - I’ll definitely use it for collection development.

games: I tried some of the games in the arcade, puzzle, word, and card game category. They included: Bejeweled (apparently pattern recognition is not my strong suit), Diner Dash (some customers can be very demanding), FlipWords (neat combination of word-find and hang-man/wheel of fortune), Scrabble (moves a lot faster online and no tiles to straighten out!) and Zuma (good target practice).

The majority of these games were new to me so I did have to spend some time familiarizing myself with the rules of play - I appreciated all the hints and demo pages. Once I got started, I found the games engaging and fun. I was less concerned about my score than I was with getting things to work. I was just happy when I could get things to respond to my mouse clicks. Getting proficient would require some practice on my part. The nice thing about online games is that you can hone your skills at your own pace and time and setup is relatively easy - no missing or broken pieces to contend with, automatic score keeping for the mathematically challenged & cleanup is a breeze. What I did miss was some of the interpersonal interaction that often makes non-virtual games more fun than the game itself.

virtual worlds: I’ve seen some demos of Second Life and I’ve had an opportunity to explore the lay of this land with a friend’s guidance. The site is visually interesting and the customization options for avatars extensive. It was fun flying (& falling) into various areas - I initially had some trouble locating our library using the search features, but I eventually discovered it in CybraryCity - the signage helped. There weren’t a lot of other avatars around when I was there so I didn’t really get a chance to test the interactive component of the site - maybe next time.

I suspect the interactive nature of gaming would appeal to many library clientele. Incorporating gaming components into library instruction & online tutorials could make learning more interesting & entertaining. The fun factor is a big plus. Offering traditional library services (e.g., research help) in virtual worlds may also reach users that we haven’t been able to reach in the past. Also a great way to build relationships and networks outside our local community.

facebook: Once I created an account, it was interesting to explore the profiles of people in my network. The extensive hyperlinking made it very easy to see who shared mutual friends, groups and interests - I now have all kinds of new music & movies to explore! The network statistics provide a good snapshot of what’s generally popular on campus and with our users. I found the searching and browsing options plentiful and straightforward. The consistent appearance of profiles facilitated navigation. A lot of the features were just plain fun (status updates, wall messages, gifts, mini-feeds, poking) - I can see why people get addicted to the site. Frequent updates seem to be the key to making it relevant and meaningful - which may be challenging, particularly for those involved in several social networking sites.

myspace: Despite all the searching options, the sheer size & diversity of the site makes it more challenging to find folks with similar interests. It’s probably more useful when you’re looking for a specific individual or group, although the directory/search options in the film & music sections are great ways to discover new talent. The ability to customize the display of myspace profiles is a nice option, but it isn’t always well executed.

linkedin: Without setting up an account, I found the search & display options in this network very limited. I could only search by name and not by industry - which is the primary method I’d use given that the network is designed to connect people in various professions. In most instances, the profiles were a bit too brief & plain. I also wondered whether anyone was checking the legitimacy of people’s credentials - if not, the network may attract a lot of fraudsters. Nonetheless, the concept of this network is an interesting one.

I opted to try the sign generator site RedKid.Net. I explored and experimented with the different categories - banners, buttons, and avatars - but ultimately went with the fortune cookie message generator!

The image itself was easy to create, although I would have liked a bit more flexibility with the display options. I found the space for the message a bit limiting and I was hoping to play with font styles and colours, but I guess allowing too much customization would take away from the original design. On the upside, I was glad I didn’t have to set up another account. One less thing for me to remember. All in all, a fun little tool that allows those of us with no artistic ability to feel talented.

del.icio.us
When conducting a search in del.icio.us, I wasn’t sure whether I was just searching tags or whether I was also searching the text in the web site that was tagged. Using help I discovered that the default search “goes through bookmark descriptions, notes, and tags”. I was pleased to learn that I could restrict my search to tags only and that I could use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, XOR) if needed. It took some time getting used to the tagging conventions (i.e., spacing, spelling & formatting inconsistencies, etc.), but I did eventually find some relevant and useful sites on my topic. I found similar sites using Google, but it took longer to sift through the results. I think del.icio.us is a great way to find out what sites are most popular with users - the saved by # people is a helpful notation.

I created a del.icio.us account and included a few of the web sites I discovered in my initial searching. The toolbar buttons were handy - the installation instructions were clear. It would be nice if one browser could accommodate several delicious accounts / buttons, but I’m not sure if this is possible. Including RSS feeds to pages is a nice feature.

flickr
I did some searching and browsing for photos at flickr. Although the searching options were clear (full-text vs. tags only), it could be challenging coming up with search words that would retrieve relevant photos. The explore/browsing option was helpful, but time consuming. The view most interesting filter helped narrow my choices and the thumbnails display really faciltated scanning. Here’s a photo that caught my eye - it was hard to pick just one!

Creating a new page in PBWiki went pretty smoothly until I wanted to rename the page and then add it to the sidebar. Once I found the relevant help/FAQ pages, I was able to accomplish both tasks. The formatting and linking of text was made easier by the WYSWIG editor. In general, editing the wiki wasn’t as intuitive as I had hoped and at times I wondered whether I may have inadvertently altered or deleted someone else’s contributions. Here’s hoping I didn’t - fingers crossed.

I also gave WetPaint a test run by adding a couple of new e-book collections to our Digital Reference Shelf. The wiki features/options were more readily apparent, but editing was a bit cumbersome at times. Some of the changes didn’t always stick, so I found myself having to repeat the same edits a few times.  I also wasn’t too keen on the advertising - I found it a bit distracting.

Since each contributor will inevitably have different organizational, formatting and content preferences, I wonder how such individuality will ultimately effect the cohesiveness and quality of any given wiki. I see the collaborative value of wikis, but I also see it taking some time to master all the ins and outs of each one.

I was introduced to Bloglines about a year or two ago, so I opted to try Google Reader for this week’s activity to familiarize myself which the features of this feed aggregator. I thought the pre-packaged feed bundles were a great way to get started quickly. I found the feed searches (seach & browse) and display options (list & expanded view) useful. Navigating the site and managing subscriptions were also pretty intuitive. All in all, a very useful tool which I’ll continue to use to track new content at my favourite web sites.

After some friendly nudging from members of my learning group, I finally have a blog up and running! The initial setup was pretty quick & straightforward. I didn’t encounter any major technical problems & I had fun exploring and experimenting with themes and other features. I look forward to learning more!