Week 9, Thing 21 - Podcastic

Not sure if I will ever be a "podcast" person. I like listening to a radio, even better, the XM radio I have in my car. I listen to music and news programs on the radio throughout the day more so than watching TV. I will have to spend more time maneuvering my way around and discovering more about "Podcast". I did find a music show that I like a lot. Its called the "neo soul cafe". I enjoy listening to this new form of soul music performed and written by new and young artist. I admire them for trying to keep soul music new and fresh and to be able to express themselves through this form of music. They sing songs about love, relationships, etc. just like the old groups from Motown (Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes, etc.).

I also looked at the Denver Library list of podcasts and saw that they have podcast for young children. To be able to select a book from the library and then have someone read it to your child to me is another wonderful way to encourage a child to read. Librarians seem to have enough to keep them busy; maybe volunteers could be recruited to read some of the books for the podcasts.

Week 9, Thing 20 - Can U Tube!

This is the first time I had the chance of viewing "You Tube". I had heard many negative and funny things that have appeared on this website. I had the impression that this was a site that was of interest to mainly the youth in our society; a way for them to express themselves freely without their parents permission. I was a little reluctant at first but then decided to give it a try. I decided to search for "Flamenco dancers". To my surprise, many items appeared to choose from. I viewed 10 or more videos of performers from Barcelona, Madrid, South America, NYC, etc. Beautiful dances performed by men and women, solo as well as group performances. The dancers were accompanied by singers, guitars, violins, drums, people pounding on wooden boxes, etc. It was educational as well as entertaining. I now see You Tube in a different light - not so much negative, but as a learning tool as well. Of course, their are some videos on subjects that can be viewed as harmful to some. I'm not sure if aything can be done about this other than policing what your child is seeing on the internet.



I also viewed some videos about african safaris, and found some beautiful, and incredible videos of animals roaming freely in Kenya and the wilderbeest migrating and crossing the Mara River. Some were visually stunning and some the video quality was a bit to be desired. All and all, my impression of You Tube has changed for the better and I can see it being used as a learning tool. The library could perhaps download podcasts that would be beneficial to students on subjects they feel are safe and educational for the community.

Week 8, Thing 19

I choose a hosted wikki called "wetpaint". Its a fun site that is very similar to a "blog" in asmuch as setting up, and choosing how you want your wikki to look (templates, etc.). You have to pick a topic for your wikki and decide whether you want your wikki to be available to everyone or if you want it to be private. I choose it to be available to the public for now. The topic of my wikki is japanese crafts. My hope is to reconnect with some of the people I met in Japan who took japanese culture classes with me. This is a picture of a samarai that I made in my Kimekomi class in Tokyo.

I could see this tool being used among co-workers or perhaps a librarian helping a student with research, or a patron who has a particular author or interest in a certain subject, etc.

Week 8, Thing 18

This exercise was fun and painless. I created an account with Zoho. Not sure if I would use it on a regular basis. I clicked on the templates and saw how businesses, students, etc. can select a
form based on their needs. I can see how sites like Zoho and Google Docs would be helpful to many especially in the business community.

While looking at Zoho's templates, I clicked on "resume letters". I plan to show my son samples of letters from that site. This site would be helpful to many businesses because not a lot of time or money would be wasted on installing special applications. Its also a great "shortcut" for businesses when it comes to online productivity!

Week 7, Thing 17 - Which Wiki!

Since we were not able to go to the "Maryland Sandbox wiki", I posted a comment on the sandbox wiki that Beth Tribe created. Sorry we were not able to do "favorite blogs". I will try later and also ask other's if they were able to do the exercises for 17. So far, I like the wetpaint wiki and will play around with that website some more.

Week 7, Thing 16

I think the concept of having a vehicle that enables anyone to add content to can be beneficial to the overall community. There are many individuals that will probably never have the opportunity to publish a book or an article and "wiki's" may be a way for them to do so. I especially liked the "wikis" that were not too technical, i.e., Princeton University's "Book Lovers" wiki and Merlin's wiki. The Princeton wiki looked organized but it was not too technical for anyone to go to the site and add their comments, etc. This site would be a good resource for an avid book reader to read others reviews of a book and to post their own.



I found a wiki called "wetpaint" at Merlin and really liked it. It helps you create your own "wiki website". I typed in Japanese dolls in the search box and found one site that was rated "100%" and clicked on it. I found info on "dolls" and also other subjects about Japanese culture and Japan. I kept clicking and kept going to different wikis all relating to Japan. It was fun. Not sure if I will post to a wiki but you'll never know!

Although I found "wikis" to be fun and beneficial, I also find it to be another tool that will be difficult to control whats written and who will have access to the website. I'm afraid it will be difficult to control or "police" either of the two.

Week 6, Thing 15

Interesting to read how libraries will have to rethink themselves to meet the demands of today's and future patrons. I wonder how the curriculum for library science has changed today compared to say 10 years ago. I'm sure a lot more technical courses are required.

The idea of not having to physically go to a library to do research seems strange to me. While doing Thing 13 or 14, I clicked on Amercian University's Library website. They have an "IM" set-up so a student can obtain info without going to the library even when its closed. Students have access to a librarian 24 hours a day to ask for help. Also while doing the last couple of exercises and having the oppportunity of looking at other library's websites, it seems each library has some type of service they provide that makes them different from each other . This is probably due to whatever their immediate community demands or needs the most.

I imagine libraries will have to think "outside the box" as well.