#23 It’s Only the Beginning...

• What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

Given the fact that most of the exercises involve the use of tools that have no real application to my particular job, the discoveries that I have most enjoyed are those which have been found to enhance my personal life. As I am a great reader and collector of books, Library Thing has become a favorite of mine. I have also enjoyed learning about podcasts, and have subscribed to several in order to pursue my interests in books and music, although I have not found much time to use them (I would rather spend it reading.)
By contrast, the news/blog feeds, the social networking sites, the on-line book marking tools, although I’ve tried them out, have not fit themselves into my daily routine. This is also true of YouTube, with which I was already familiar. I enjoy browsing for interesting clips on rare occasions, but usually this activity is not given priority for my limited time. I have pretty much honed my usage of the internet down to several key sites (a couple of news outlets, a couple of blogs, a couple of reference tools) each of which I visit every morning, and which I may refer to, as needed, during the course of a day. I find that these sites continue to satisfy my needs and desires, despite all innovations.

• How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

As I’ve state in my blog, the impetus to mount a blog of my own, at which site I can express myself about what I read and what my reading causes me to think about, has been the greatest help to my lifelong learning goals. First, the blog prompts me to write on an almost daily basis. Secondly, because it provides an outlet for me to express my thoughts about what I’ve found most valuable in my reading, it has helped to ensure that I read carefully and critically, so as to have a true learning experience, and not just an entertaining one. As my blog has solicited a few comments from people who visit some of the other blogs that I visit, I have received some valuable feedback from the outside world. I have also been able to incorporate the Zoho reader into my blog project as a means of self-publishing some of my writings, and this has been very satisfying.

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

As I was a new hire on came “on-line” after Learning 2.0 was already under way, I really didn’t think, at the outset, that I would bother to play catch-up, and then continue through all the exercises. I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though many of the tools did not have much application to either my job, or my personal life, I enjoyed doing them and learning about them, nonetheless. It is always good to keep up with the times and be aware of what is going on around you, even if you aren’t a current participant. Becoming aware of what’s going on with Facebook and MySpace, for instance, has given me some insight into what my daughters are up to during all those hours they spend on their computers.

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

I found it difficult to attend any of the sessions that accompanied the computer exercises, since I routinely spend much of my day away from Alden, the only thing that would have helped me on one or two occasions, was more prompt feed-back on questions I e-mailed in when I found myself stumped trying to make something in one of the exercises work for me.

• If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate? Or would you be interested in helping to post to a learning blog similar to this one?

To answer the first part of the question, I guess that I would need to know more about what a hypothetical discovery program would be covering to say for sure. But, lacking that knowledge, based only on this experience, I’d say “yes.” As to the second part, I don’t think that I really possess enough technical expertise in any area to be of much help

#22 Social Networking

As I noted in my 8/2/07 post, I had already bookmarked FaceBook with the intention of checking into further in the future. Today, I watched “Social Networking in Plain English”, which provides a very brief overview of the concept of the networking on the internet. It reminded me of a thing I’ve read about in connection with Information Theory called the Game of Life.
I next read the Newsweek article, “The Facebook Challenge” and watched the video clip “Facebook Grows Up.” Then I took the Facebook Tour. None of these experiences enticed me to want to become a participant.
Finally, I investigated the MySpace homepage. I was able to easily find the sites of both of my daughters, and from there all of their friends. TMI, that’s all I can say: TMI.
Friendster was boring by comparison with either of the other two.
I can see how a library group on one of these sites could be valuable as a way to communicate with other librarians concerning conference planning, solutions to problems encountered on the job, shared interests within the field, innovative ideas for projects, and job searches. At this point, of course, it ceases to be “social” networking, or, at the very least, that aspect of it is diluted by its professional uses.
Both Facebook and MySpace seem to be dominated by the posting of photographs. That is something in which I’ve had little interest. Nor do I have any impetus to share my favorite pop songs with the world.
My preference in meeting people has always been to lay back and observe them for awhile, before deciding if I want to establish a relationship. I would not like putting myself out there where I can be approached first by people I don’t know. The idea of posting my profile on-line is not at all appealing to me.
I have a blog now, so I can put my ideas out there, without exposing my personal business to anybody and everybody’s idle curiosity.

#20 (cont.): How Many Found this Classic Library Clip?

#21: Podcasts

After looking around a bit, I decided to try a feed into my bloglines account from three sites: "Radio Derb" which features droll commentary by my one and only conservative buddy, John Derbyshire; NPR Books; and another NPR feed featuring profiles of jazz musicians. Politics, books, and music: that about covers my range of interests. If I find that I actually access these feeds (about which I'm sceptical), I'll think about adding some more in the future.

#21: Here's Some Audio Worth a Listen

Dylan Thomas has long been one of my favorite poets, and this is one of my favorite poems.

#20: YouTube

I've already been visting YouTube for several months. People have also been sending me YouTube clips via e-mail for quite some time. And I've been visiting other blogs where clips are regularly posted. I created an account on YouTube, using my google sign-in, and found the Bob Dylan video posted below, which was something that was useful as an adjunct to a series of posts I'd put up on my other blog.
YouTube is great. It's amazing how easy it is to post a clip. I'm glad that Learning 2.0 finally prompted me to find out how to do it.

The most obvious use of clips in the library setting, it would seem to me, would be for short instructional tools to show individuals how to find, or use, things like on-line catalogs and research materials--clips similar to the ones included in this lesson.

#7 Redux: Well, isn't this special!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070804/ap_on_hi_te/social_networking_vulnerabilities

#19 (cont.)

I have already described my enthusiasm for one of the Web 2.0 winners, Library Thing. And I am using zoho writer, which I think is another medalist (?). I have also previously bookmarked Biblio.com after browsing through the list of winners in the "books" category.
Today I thought I'd take another quick look at some of the other winners.
I had noticed that a blogger whose site I sometimes visit offers a link to reddit.com, so I took a look at that one. In checking out the "what's hot" category on that site, I was directed to a security camera video clip of the awful bridge collapse in Minneapolis. (I am still waiting to hear from a friend who lives there and could well be a daily user of that bridge.) I hadn't seen that clip on TV, although it was apparently aired on CNN, which I often flip through in my nightly viewing. Finding this kind of thing is of interest, so I registered at, and bookmarked, the site. I don't really care too much about most of the "fun" features it offers, such as being able to vote on items viewed, in order, I guess, to create a ranking. But I will look into it further as time goes on to see how it might be used to better advantage.
I also bookmarked Facebook. Everybody seems to have one. Certainly my daughters have one. I just want to check it out for that reason. For my personal purposes, the blog seems like the most satisfying way to go.
I can see a person getting totally lost in feeds of interesting "stuff" from all these different sites. This is not good for OCD types; not at all. The world is already moving too fast; and we are already bombarded with an excessive amount of information, much of which is merely titillating. As I've said before, I need my recliner and a good book in my limited free time.
To the extent that uses can be found on the job for some of these tools--and I can see how they would be very helpful to people with certain kinds of jobs (and to students, as well)--I welcome their development. But as a form of entertaining time-killer, I see dangers in them.

#18: A New Feature

On the sidebar, a new feature of my blog can be observed: "Writings". I investigated zohowriter and the similar google feature, and decided to use zoho to publish a (very) short and (hopefully) humorous story that I've had laying around for awhile.
I haven't had occasion to use this tool for composition yet, but I can see how it could come in handy, from time-to-time.
I also signed up for the google tool, since I already had an account any way. If, over time, one proves to be more useful--or user-friendly--than the other, I can always switch.

#17: At Long Last

I am back, briefly, and I am back via the link to this blog on the "Favorite Blogs" list of the PBwiki. page.

All I had to do, it seems, is click on the edit page, and the "link" button came alive. Who knew?

And who was it that said this was going to be easy?

#15: Frustration 2.0

Beginning yesterday morning, I have yet to be able to link this blog on the "Favorite Blogs" page of the library wiki thingy. The "link" on the edit page is never available. I'm pretty sure that I've followed all of the instructions correctly--but no luck.

In the meantime, I've gone on to explore some of the web-based tools, and I'm becoming very enthusiastic about trying out some of the applications. I hope to use zohowriter to put something up for the world to read.

I have also been been exploring the 2.0 prize winners. I've bookmarked biblio.com, which looks like an excellent book finding tool. I've also bookmarked a mashup called Boxxet and will explore that for interesting lists when I have the opportunity. Having bookmarked all these things for later reference, I am beginning to rethink my decision not to sign-up for del.icio.us--so I've bookmarked that as well, just in case...

UPDATE: 8/28/07
I have just now gone back to the Wikipedia article on Library 2.0 and read through several of the "discussions" for which links are provided. Speaking primarily as a library client, rather than as a librarian (since I'm really not a librarian at this point), I find the following quote to be noting the most interesting and potentially useful aspect of 2.0--whether in the library, or any other venue in which information of any kind is being sought by users of the internet:

"With the exception of inter-library-loan programs, very little inter-library cooperation has existed. L2 is going to require that libraries pool their resources in order to achieve their goals. This is not a new concept, but I think it’ll probably be vital to the enrichment of our systems and programs. Take for example the type of development collaboration that is starting to take place between developers at different organizations. We’re going to have to find a way to harness the “peer-to-peer” abstraction in ways that can benefit all of us. Individually, we can’t compete with giants like Google (nor would we want to). But collectively, we have the resources and societal placement to provide vital services that extend beyond our local communities. We have the opportunity to make a global impact." [http://www.blyberg.net/2006/01/09/11-reasons-why-library-20-exists-and-matters/]

Like everybody else, I use google all the time, whether to support an argument (where one might have referred to the "World Almanac" in the past), or to seek information about current events, etc. It seems clear to me that scholars, researchers, students, and, of course, librarians, could all profit from a more focused, google-like, network which would pool the kind of information which individual libraries catalog and diseminate to their clients. I don't know enough about it to list specific items here, but I am convinced generally, that the benefits will be great.

#16: Wiki-wiki-parlez-vous?

I have long been a great believer in, and user of, wikipedia. I use it all the time in supporting political arguments on some of the blogs I visit for that purpose. It occasionally happens that somebody to whom you've applied an argumentative wiki-kicky in the teeth will say that wikipedia citations can't be trusted. And that's true; it isn't 100% reliable. But one can always check the annotations.
In looking over several of the library applications of the use of wikis, it becomes immediately obvious what a powerful tool it can be. As a person who has had to organize travel plans for several individuals in a department, the conference travel organizing possibilities are very attactive.
As a person who has often gone to amazon.com to read customer reviews of a book, the title of which I've found on Alice, to see if I really want to read it, or look for something else instead, I can attest as a client and customer, that such a wiki would be a great asset to any library.
While I'm not a researcher at this time, subject indexes that can be added to and subtracted from by persons currently involved in researching a given subject would be an obvious, time-saving asset to any library and its clients.
For public libraries, the use of wikis as a community bulletin board is also a great idea.
There is the danger, of course, of misinformation being conveyed to a whole bunch of different people at one time, with all the confusion that could cause. But, all-in-all, wikis seem to be one of the most powerful tools going. And most of us are already using several of them daily, I suspect.

#13: Not to my taste

de.lici.ous? Did I chop that up in the right places? Anyway, I looked it over and decided against registering at this time. I did (ironically?) bookmark the information page, just in case I later change my mind. Right now, I don't have so many bookmarks that it isn't easy to set them up on all the computers I use. As I don't travel much, being able to access them from other computers is not something that has any special appeal to me. On the few occasions where I've wanted to do that, it was easy to just google the name of the site.
On most days, I have trouble finding the time to visit the sites I already have bookmarked. The temptation to mark dozens more sites, and then feel pressured to check them all out, is something I don't need.
I need my recliner and a good book. I still say, "Hurray for Library Thing"!
That remains my favorite newly-discovered site, so far.

#14: technorati

I investigated technorati. The searches came up with bunches of "how-to" sites. It was a bit like those infomercials on cable tv. Not stuff that I'm interested in. I did a search for "Simone Weil"--a writer that I'm reading currently. Since she was French, much of the hits were sites in her native language. I went through about 100 of them, to see if the reference to her that I made on my other blog would come up. No luck.
I decided to claim my other blog on technorati.
And I think that I did.
Maybe.
?

#12: Rollyo Own, chump

Tried it. Didn't like it. I found that the sample sites I tried out gave me too many hits that didn't interest me, and had to be sifted through, probably because the key words I gave them to search with were too vague, or too generic. I suppose that if I were a hobbyist, or if I had a particular political hobby horse that I wanted to ride on a regular basis, a tool like this would be a help to me. As it is, however, my hobby is reading. And Library Thing, which is cool and which I am already into, seems to do the same kind of thing from the bibliophile perspective. So I'm content there, for now.
I can see how such a tool as Rollyo could be valuable in some jobs, but I don't see its application to mine.
Of course, I'm always willing to be convinced otherwise.

#11: Library Thing

I have signed up for Library Thing, which looks like a really fun site for a bibliophile. My house is groaning under the weight of my books, and I have started my list on Library Thing with twenty-plus related readings, both fiction and non-fiction, that form part of the core of my reading over the past few decades.
I have it linked in the sidebar.

Should any of you come across my blog and wish to discuss any of these books, please take advantage of the Comments Box.

#10: Warholized

After years of struggle, I've finally made the small-time. Fame, I have learned, is not all that it's cracked up to be.

Image generators are so abundant that it would take weeks to try them all. It's fortunate that I came across this one rather quickly. I'm just a Pop Art kinda guy.

#9: Bloglines uber alles

I'm definitely rushing through this, so anything that I say here will not really do justice to the possibilities available in using these tools.
That said, I did take a quick peek at all of the links provided with this exercise. On Sub with Bloglines, I set up several of my daily-visited sites, such as the New York Times and CNN, and fooled around a bit with the Bloglines Advanced Search. Without having had the times to play around much, this seemed to suit the kinds of searches I am apt to be doing regularly quite well.
I also fooled around with technocrati for awhile. I signed up, and will explore it more when time permits.

#8: RSS ETC.

Having started from w-a-a-a-y behind, I wish there existed a way to have all these learning 2.0 exercises fed to me in a concise, easy-to-access, and simple to accomplish format.
If I don't burn out before I catch up, this is something that may be very useful to me in my daily routine.

UPDATE: 8/8/07 As of today the wish stated above is accomplished. I have a whole directory of RSS feeds going, including from the OU Library Learning 2.0 site!
It just takes a little time to get caught up with all the details.
My next plan is to get del.icio.us going. Slow but steady wins the race.

#7: Technology: Dos and Don'ts

You have to start somewhere. But you also need to give a little thought about where you're going with it.

Think about it.

#10: Trading In Gender Bias?

While this card may not be exactly PC, I feel that Ms. Van Pelt has had it coming for a long time. I mean, what guy doesn't identify with Charlie Brown? Especially when heartless Lucy is whipping that ol' pigskin out of reach and putting poor Charlie on his backside, one more time. Give me Peppermint Patty everytime!

# 5-6: A Flicker of Success

Just a random picture, posted to prove that I (finally) figured out how to do it. I'd like to say that this is the view from the hot tub in my ancestral cave. But, alas, life is not nearly that interesting.

# 1-4: Technical Ineptitude

Maybe it's a generational thing? Maybe it's because I haven't yet gotten used to the idea of an IBM Selectric with a ball instead of keys? Lifelong learning. It's so HARD.
Innovations. Bah! Give me a quill pen and an oil lamp!
What's all this noise I hear about the "Seven Deadly Habits"?
Mark my words: nothing good will come of this internet thing. Wasn't radio bad enough? Straight from that jazz into rock'n'roll, and what do we have now? I'd rather not say.
Well, anyway, thanks for listening.

UPDATE:
It is now July 31st, and most of the complaints listed above have been dealt with. I am therefore back, editing this initial post, a little less technically inept than I was a week ago.
I have just listened to the 7 1/2 Habits tutorial for a second time, since I never got around to posting on it the first time, and then forgot to come back to it.
This blog (and the other that I put up after establishing this one) IS my goal. I have long enjoyed visiting other people's blogs and discussing issues on-line with many people of varied interests, backgrounds, faith lives, and political persuasions. I always wished that I had a blog of my own, but the twin obstacles of inertia, and lack of confidence in my own technical abilities and potential for learning new things always kept me from even exploring the possibility of actually doing it. Learning 2.0 has given me just the prodding needed to get me going. Having overcome inertia, having begun to build confidence that I can, with a little work, achieve the goal of building and maintaining my own blog, I am well on my way. In the process, I have developed a new goal, which is to establish a site on which to publish some of my writings. This goal, which Learning 2.0 has also given me both the impetus and the reference material needed to reach, will hopefully be accomplished by this weekend.
I can truthfully say that in the past week I have crammed in more learning about the possible uses of the internet than I had picked up in the past ten years. It has been very rewarding. And it's on to the goal...