Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Yask 18: Zoho


Zoho

Zoho Writer seems to have great functionality, with a button for pretty much everything on the toolbar. Here are some of the things I like about it:
 
  • I like the idea templates. For example, the resume or resume cover letter would be great for students to know about.  There is also one for settingo out multiple choice questions, as well as student progress report, or a nutritional tracking sheet for residents of hostels.
  • There are also "style sheets" to use.
  • The forum is like a help desk, with problems being addessed directly to the user.
  • You can digitally sign docs as well.
  • You can add links and anchors in the style of a web page.  So in a way, it is a cross between a word document and a web-page design programme, such as FrontPage.

A very handy tool, and the fact that it is collaborative adds an extra dimension.

 

Zoho Writer could be used with the Wiki option.  Text could be pasted from Writer to the Wiki or another web page.

Task 18: Zoho

Well, I successfully published to my blog from Zoho Writer.

I also had a go at Zoho Creator. This application offers fewer design and layout features.

I did try to copy from Writer to Creator, with less success. I will need to play with Creator to determine how flexible it is compared to Writer.

Very good!!!

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Task 17: PBwiki

I really like PBwiki. As I noted in my previous blog (Task 16), I actually set up a PBwiki blog a couple of months ago.

The point of my wiki was to share things I know about Web2.0 applications, and to invite teachers to add to the store of knowledge by posting information about their favourite Web2.o sites and experiences.

The address for my wiki is http://web20talk.pbwiki.com/
As previously invited, please free to critique this wiki, or add to it if you so desire.

I am hoping to add pages about all the things I have learned through doing the 23 things programme.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Task 16: All About Wikis

I looked at each of the wikis recommended for this exercise. The one I got the most out of, much to my surprise, was The Bull Run Library wiki.

This wiki is basically a bulletin board, which is not sponsored by, nor associated with, the Bull Run Library system. It is maintained by one library patron, and provides information about programs at the library, as well as a mish-mash of other information.

One really useful bulletin, however, was about the Web 2.0 Awards . As you would expect, one award category was for wikis. They were rated according to usability, usefulness, social aspects, interface and design, and content quality.

The most recommended wiki hosting sites were as follows:
http://www.wetpaint.com/
"Wetpaint’s wikis come fully equipped with smart navigation, tag clouds, awesome editing interfaces and neat customization features."
pbwiki.com
"Simple and free to use, PBWiki allows users to upload HTML in order to customize their pages."
stikipad.com
"A cheap hosted wiki service, Stikipad comes with neat features such as the ability to track changes and easily update content."

The other library wikis included in the exercise were:

St Joseph County Public Library (SJCPL Subject Guides) This wiki brings together all types of information on a specific subject – from the library's collection, webpages, and local help services. It is probably very useful to patrons of the library, but I thought it could get a bit confusing for some people, especially when it links straight to the library catalogue record.

Princeton Public Library - Book Lovers Wiki– This book review site is a great idea for public libraries, but could be adapted for students who could use the wiki to build a useful bibliography of information sources.

Library Success: A best practices wiki. This is a PD page for librarians, covering, not just web 2.o topics, but all aspects of operating a successful library service.

ALA 2006 New Orleans wiki - The best bit about this wiki is that it includes notes about editing the wiki, and ground rules for editing. A great idea since many wiki visitors may be 'newbies'.

Please also check out my own wiki which I started a while ago. I started it so that I could share information about web 2.0 technologies with teachers. Please feel free to critique my efforts.
http://web20talk.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

Friday, October 12, 2007

I "claiming my blog"

Technorati Profile

My thoughts on del.icio.us

After I created a del.icio.us account one of the first tags I searched for was 23things. I was not surprised to find lots of pages with this tag. I also looked at the popular tags. One tag called 'howto' intrigued me. I found a great page with this tag called "25 tutorials for the web minded". This site provides links to commercial as well as free tutorial sites. It also had a tag "tutorials". This tag listed many of the same pages. One good site I found with these tags was http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp


Del.icio.us would enable librarians across multiple campuses to pool their knowledge about the best sites in a particular subject area. Lists of useful webpages could be compiled collaboratively by a group of librarians, teachers, or students.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Search Box


Powered by Rollyo

Rollyo (Task 12)

I think this site would be useful for my work as a liaison librarian. I created two Rollyos - one for 'justice studies' and one for 'social science publishers'. I am hoping the publishers' Rollyo will prove useful as a way of searching sites for information about new titles. Initially I added about five sites but I could build this search list over time into a really comprehensive search tool. Similarly, the Rollyo on Justice includes lots of crime statistics and research sites, such as the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Crime and Misconduct Commission. Both sites produce a large number of free, but good quality, publications.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Library Thing (Task 11)

What a way to share your favourite books with others. This would be great for people with an enthusiasm for a particular series of books or a particular subject.
Here is a link to my page
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/marys23things

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

My Zwinky



Here is the free Zwinky avatar I created. Zwinky gives you a choice of basic body shapes, hair, eyes, clothes and accessories. The basic avatar is free but you must pay for a more choice of clothes, themes, etc. You can get your free avatar at http://home.zwinky.com/

You could also try Stardoll. At this site you can dress up famous people, or create your own 'mydoll'. My daughter has played at this site frequently. http://www.stardoll.com/en/show/

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Finding RSS feeds (Task 9)

In my travels I found a site called FaganFinder which provides links to a selection of RSS search engines. The url for this site is http://www.faganfinder.com/blogs/

Using FaganFinder I found a simple little search engine called Find That Feed -http://grumet.net/syo/findThatFeed My search retrieved a fine selection of library related RSS feed sites .

I also liked http://www.syndic8.com/ I didn't think Feedster found as many library feeds.

If you are into blogs which you might want to create a feed for try http://theaustralianindex.com = this is a search engine for Australian blogs, many of which offer an RSS feed.

My Thoughts About RSS + some interesting feeds (Task 8)

RSS could be very useful for maintaining a social network of ideas within the library community. The sharing of ideas is the best way to develop new strategies for the future.

RSS feeds allow the news to come to you, potentially very time-saving as you do not need to visit each news site to explore new posts.

Here is a selection of my shared RSS feeds http://www.google.com/reader/shared/11038826715317950021

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Web 2.0 is just the beginning (Task 7)

I thought that because this exercise was about technology, and specificallyWeb 2.0 technologies, I would report on information I found on the web. The internet, after all, is often the best place to learn about the internet.

Check out the Read/Write Web http://www.readwriteweb.com weblog which provides web technology news, reviews and analysis. This site has some great articles which help you get a grip on new ideas. For example, their predictions for 2007 include the expansion of web 2.0 technologies such as RSS, and Widgets, as well as Web 3.0 features such as the "Semantic Web" and "Structured Data". [http://www.readwriteweb.com/bestof.php]

Web 2.0 describes sites, services, or technology that promote sharing and collaboration on the web. Web 3.0 is basically designed to turn the Web into one big database. Machines will be able to read Web pages in much the same way as humans read them. The Semantic Web is a set of design principles or standards "in which web content can be expressed not only in natural language, but also in a format that can be read and used by software agents, thus permitting them to find, share and integrate information more easily" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_web]

Another useful article by Read/WriteWeb is Australia's top 60 Web 2.0 applications
The sites are ranked by how prominent they are based on four criteria: Web 2.0 characteristics; Coolness/ Innovation; Maturity; Commercial success or number of users.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/aussie_top10.html

Don't forget that most computing magazines also have comprehensive websites where you will find information about everything Internet. Here are two to try out:
PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/
Australian NetGuide http://www.netguide.com.au/v2/


Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Flickr-Storm (Task 6)

IMG_2712
IMG_2712,
originally uploaded by OZinOH.

Here is one photo I found using Flick-Storm. http://www.zoo-m.com/flickr-storm/ This site allows you to search for photos in Flickr by Creative Commons license, compile them in a batch and save them.

For example, I chose the Advanced search option and searched for "Photos for non-commercial Use" I used the search term grevillea. Here is a sample of the photos I found: http://www.zoo-m.com/flickr-storm/set/3b82db1d5a290457062f43aab7f93d251f81ee44?size=square

Riverfire, Brisbane, 2007

Here a sample of the photos from Riverfire. This photo was uploaded to Flickr on September 1, 2007 by greenplasticdave

Here are links to some more photos of Riverfire 2007

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_a_rush/1306182788/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/southernbase/1319449557/

Flickr

This is a test post from flickr, a fancy photo sharing thing.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

My photo



Here I am.

Search engines for Web 2.0

Hi everyone,



Blogger.com is owned by Google. Did you know you could also search for blogs using Google's Blog Search engine. Using Google Blog Search you can find other blogs out there on subjects of interest to you.



The URL for the blog search is: http://www.google.com.au/blogsearch?hl=en

Alternatively, you can find a link to Blog Search and other Google features by clicking on more above the search box at http://www.google.com/



Mary

The easiest and hardest things about Lifelong Learning

Hi everyone,

I'll start with the hardest. I sometimes find it hard to view problems as challenges. I am easily frustrated and like things to work first time.

The easiest of the 7 1/2 habits for me is creating my own toolbox. I always write myself notes, create cheatsheets, and bookmark sites which help me internalise a new skill.

I have a second easiest habit, and that would be to teach and mentor others. Passing on recently acquired knowledge helps to:
  • reinforce your own learning
  • highlight gaps in your knowledge which you can address

I look forward to adding to this blog over time.

Please feel free to send comments or posts.

Mary