#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...