Thing #23

I've really enjoyed Web 2.0 and 23 Things. It has been to our benefit and the benefit of our students to be able to connect with them at their level in technology. We, as librarians, need to speak their language and bring them into their library via the digital technology and everything that surrounds the internet. I have been so engrossed in this coursework, that each time I accommplished "a thing", I couldn't stop and leave it at that. I found my self motivated to continue until the very end.

Thing #22 EBooks

It is music to my ears to find that there are over 1.5 million ebooks that can be downloaded. If you become a member you may download as many as you wish for a small fee of $8.95 per year. I find that Ebooks and/or audio books are very helpful for our ELL students who are learning the English language and for our Special Education Population who are trying to achieve a higher Lexile Reading Level. This is a user friendly source for any librarian or teacher to use.

Thing #21

I was really fascinated with podcast.com since this resource allowed you to select from various topics. I navigated through the topic on "books" and found book reviews, episodes, playlists, book podcasts, newest podcast episodes, browsing through book podcasts selection, and the list goes on and on. I did create an account with podcast.com and selected to have emails sent to me on the latest book podcasts. This is an excellent tool to use for selection of books for librarians within any school district.

http://podcast.com

Thing #20 You Tube

You Tube is a tool that I have used from home several times. I usually have used this source when following the political campaign of Obama vs. McCain. In addition, I have used You tube when viewing movie trailers. For instance, I have You Tubed the "Twilight Movie" to see what the buzz was all about. After viewing the movie trailer on You Tube, I was intrigued by the scenes, the rating, the number of viewers who watched that particular trailer, that it prompted me to see the movie as soon as it premiered. The only thing that I don't like is that at times, the quality of video may be somewhat poor since amateurs are recording some of the videos.

Thing #19 Check Out Library Thing

Library Thing is one of my favorite learning conquests of the Web 2.0. I was getting carried away by the simplest manner of adding books to "my library." I did find that one of the books I added was ranked number "9" as a popular title for this month. As I went on to navigate through this fantastic resource, I was able to see the ratings for each book I selected. I will continue to use "Library Thing" and continue to tweek and adjust my homepage.

My direct link is: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/griseldag

Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools

After creating my account through Zoho, I found that Zoho Writer is indeed a fascinating tool to navigate from any computer, and incorporate into any type of document/software. In addition, Zoho Writer has many helpful features such as: adding pictures, tables, spell check, and exporting your document to your blog post or to your email account. No more worrying about converting your files from html to pdf and so on.

Thing #17 "Sandbox" Wikis

I really enjoyed posting a comments on the Wiki which reflected on our thoughts on pure play and practice. As I ventured onto The School Library Learning 2.0 and I realized how beneficial it would be to use wikis within our library. I could see how the librarian can post a topic especially after a training that we provide where teachers can post their comments. We are required to provide 7 schoolwide trainings and many questions/comments are posed after the training. I could definately benefit from wikis where our faculty can post their comments. In addition, our students can post their comments after their orientation here at the library

Thing # 16 Learn About Wikis

I discovered three intriguing wikis including: Book Lover's Wikis, Library Success-A Best Practices Wiki, and Library Blogger's Wiki. I enjoyed the fact that Book Lover's Wiki provides book reviews for summer reading with an index of genres to select from, and the featured review of the week with the bookcover. With Library Success, I found that their wiki arranges content/categories by table of contents including: introduction, joining communities, categories, management and leadership, material selection, collection maintenance, professional, programming reader's advisory, etc. Each categories offered subtopics of their content. Then, I really liked the Library Blogger's Wiki since it provided categories based on: academic, public, special, associations, directory, and blogs. This wiki was easy to use and user friendly to navigate through. I feel that having a wiki that provides all information pertinent to our library handbook would be something to consider for all our libraries. I can see how our handbook which includes our mission statement, rules, inventory procedures, circulation procedures, etc. would be great to navigate through a wiki for library wikis within our district.

Thing #15 Library 2.0 & the Future of Libraries

After reading, "Into a New World of Librarianship" and "To a Better Bibliographic services", I noted several key points. For one, Web 2.0 allows access no matter where the patron may be, services go beyond the local online cataloging systems, several options to navigate and select from various services including: ILL (interlibrary loans), book check outs, renewals, book vendors found online, inventory processing, etc. I believe the key word here is "collaboration of services" and "providing limitless resources for all patrons."

Thing #14 Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts

The results were somewhat the same in School Library Learnings 2.0, but within the blog postings, I noted the tags within the blogs. As I moved onto Popular Blogs/Searches/Tags, I was amazed to see the top tags, rising links of the day, top blogs, favorite blogs, and tag pages. I even discovered the top images which took me back to Flickr. Advantages would include: easy access to categores, organization of blog posting, and favorable layout since you can add images within your settings. This reminds me of a melting pot of all tags, blogs, and searches.

Thing #13 Del.icio.us

I had the greatest time creating my delicious account and bookmarking/tagging my favorites. I just finished bookmarking my URLs for my Library. The next phase will be bookmarking my personal favorite websites. I definately see this as a potential for research classes. This saves them plenty of time and focuses on organization. The greatest aspect of delicious is that you can view this from anywhere. Also, it has to be the simplest form of tagging and categorizing!

My link:
http://delicious.com/griseldagonzalez

Thing #12 Rollyo

Rollyo is a wonderful tool to have at your fingertips. I enjoyed customizing and personalizing my search roll. If our students had accsss to this, I could definately envision them creating search rolls for Science when Science Fair projects are at the intial stages. Teachers can assist their students in inputting specific url links for their search roll. Rollyo definately has potential and their uses for all subject areas are extensive.

My Rollyo URL Link:
http://www.rollyo.com/index.html

Thing #11 Award Winning Applications and Ning

While exploring the site/tool, Web 2.0 Awards, I selected Books as a topic that I liked and found useful. For one, lulu allows the community to select the best selling books, thus exposing readers to the latest. Biblio.com provides book representatives with a list of books that are out of print. This is an important tool to have especially when purchasing titles that are still popular and in high demand, yet accessible. Then, Vufind, is a significant tool for cataloging. Librarians will find this to be of great use, and they can digitally locate the software for cataloging/processing. I can see myself using all three tools during book selection and book acquisition. This is a step up to the digital world and upgrading our libraries.

http://griseldaslibrarycorner.ning.com
This is my social networking tool via Ning
Please visit!

I enjoyed the Travel IQ Test, this is great for our Social Studies Department! It definately challenged me to Level 2. I need a refresher on geography!:(

Thing # 10 Image Generators

http://www.signgenerator.org/

I really tested so many image generators, that it was difficult to decide on just one image. I selected my library club as the logo and used sign generator as my background tool. I can definately envision our students creating images they need to incorporate into some type of mulitmedia project using online image generators!

Thing #9 Locate a few useful school library related blogs and/or news feeds

Topix was user friendly in that this tool provided us with local broadcasts on national and popular headlines. I found that the feeds especially today exposed President Obama's inauguration, and this is something that our students would find useful. Syndic8 provides feeds and breaks it up by featured, approved, syndicated headlines. The 10 random countries with syndicated feeds is also a great feature, plus you are able to register as a user for Syndic8. Technorati is a bit confusing in that yes the menu bar is your navigating tool, however, the blog page itself is not as appealing and a bit frustrating to sift through. I really enjoyed Topix because the feeds were reflective of current national events. I felt that Technorati was a tool that I would consider unusual and unappealing in its layout.

Thing #4 Registered Blog

My registered blog is http://griseldaslibrary.blogspot.com. I was able to email my blog to Region I and setting up all important information has been provided. In addition I am currently logging in the dates in which I have met each exercise by the week.

Thing #3 Set Up Blog

It was definately interesting setting up my blog on blogspot. I found that you are able to customize your blog and set parameters as to who can view your blog, follow other blogs, customize your layout, etc. Creating an avatar that reflects my personality was exciting, which I am certain that students here at our campus can relate to.

Thing #1 the 23 Things Plus Thing 1 & TOC

I am looking forward to working with Web 2.0. These 23 things will definately open doors for high school libraries and for our students. I believe that this tutorial will be beneficial for us as librarians to utilize and connect with our digital native teenage audience.

Thing # 8 RSS

I really enjoyed the RSS and newsreaders. I would definately be interested in selecting feeds on Austin American Statesman since our campus currently subscribes to this newspaper, and our S.S. Department utlizes this for research purposes. I can definately envision adding a feed of this issue for our students. Perhaps having a generic account on bloglines where students can access these feeds. In addition, our teachers can provide input on feeds they would want for their students and teach them to add these feeds to their blogline, thus exposing them to RSS.

Thing #7 Creat a blog post about anything technology-related that interests you

This week, I have been intrigued by blue ray players. We just installed our blue ray player and you can definately see the difference in quality and sharpness. It is like gravitating from a VHS to a DVD overnight. This enhances your visual experience with such clarity. On another note, I have been learning how to create my blog, and have learned so much in such little time. This is so crucial to me and the high school librarians since we plan to utilize such tools in the near future.

Thing #6 Flickr Mashups and 3rd Party Sites

I became somewhat creative in producing an authentic Flickr mashup. I decided to use our highlighted Tayshas section of our library to display as part of this project. In addition, I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to my two library clerks who have been instrumental in our book display and selection process!

Thing # 5 Explore Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajagendorf25/



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I was really interested in the "popular tag" section on the upcoming inauguration. This is a historical event in the making, plus our campus will be following coverage on Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. We are so proud that some of our students within our district, including our principal will be at the inauguration

Thing #2 7 1/2 Habits of Effectibve Learning

I am looking forward to this learning adventure. This will definately be of benefit to me and to my students as we venture on into podcasts and book trailers. I definately enjoyed the 7 1/2 habits. After completing the 7 1/2 habits I discovered that the easiest habit for me mentoring others. I really enjoy empowering others with knowledge. The most difficult habit would be viewing problems as challenges because frustation sets in for me immediately. I enjoy solving problems in a timely fashion.