WEEK 9 Tasks

#23 Copyright, Creative Commons, and Congratulations!

I love the video "A Fair(y) Use Tale"---saw it at my IB workshop for librarians. Very, very instructive and informative.

Creative Commons is much needed and I'm sure much appreciated. Introducing this site will generate teachable moments about copyright. I am linking it to my teacher information so it's available in all classrooms. And the other Discovery resources are invaluable for copyright / plagiarism / intellectual property discussions!

Congratulations to MOI! I did it---even if I stretched it way out over many months. That's just a good excuse to go back and revisit the early lessons!
My one word is: Mash-ups. Love the whole idea....love Wordle and all its goodies.
The sentence to describe my experience: Lifelong learning means stretching, reaching, exploring----every day!

WEEK 9 TASKS

#22 Explore E-Books and Audiobooks


Over two million books available at World eBook Fair---amazing and amazing. This is a world library that takes my breath away. I was sadly disappointed that the search tool was cumbersome and the results kept yielding broken links.....Ho Hum. I'll explore more when I run out of other apps :-)

Librivox looks like a great tool also--and the instructions for "How to Listen" were very helpful. I can see this application for bibliophiles and reluctant readers alike. It would also be useful for struggling readers of ELL's.

I went to the British Library and looked at images only of virtual books---saw pages from William Blake's notebook. OH MY!! You can download software to "turn the pages" but I was in too much of a hurry and sometimes those downloads are so*&&^^% tedious! All I can say is wow! I really want to share this with everyone---even strangers on the street.

OK---the great list of the best places to get free books is on friedbeef.com........the WWW is a fascinating intersection----or colliding worlds! Great resource to share.

WEEK 9 TASKS

#21 Podcasts

I have an iTunes account for my iPod, so I know I can download those podcasts. I checked out Podcast.com. Once again--huge variety, and varying quality. I heard a great podcast from dictionary.com on the etymology of the word "pencil" that would be fun to embed in the library website. But there was also some very amateurish stuff where the sound quality was unnerving.
I really thing podcasts could be a great tech tool for booktalks, etc. I may try one of the apps that does podcasts via cellphone. There definitely is a lot to explore and think about in this arena.

WEEK 9 Tasks

#20 Check Out YouTube
I never really explored YouTube enough to see that there is some useful information to be found!
I chose a cooking demo because I love to cook and the title "Working Class Foodies" caught my eye.
Hurray! I learned how to temper chocolate for molding and coating candy! This brother and sister duo made pumpkin seed brittle for Halloween treats. During the video they said they learned the technique from Jacques Torres so I had to watch his chocolate tempering video, which lead me to watch how to make a molded chocolate monkey. I think you could see demos on EVERYTHING on YouTube........and fritter away a lot of time.
I know there could be amazing applications for library websites--the big problem is that YouTube is blocked in my school district. Sigh.........
But for those of you who are aspiring candymakers, watch this video for some ideas:

Week 8 TASKS

#19 Check Out LibraryThing

This is amazing---Facebook for Books! This I understand! Here's the link to my page on LibraryThing:

I only posted 5 books to get started.

blogpost 110309

Week 8 Tasks

Take a look at ONLINE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS

#18 I have just changed my librarian mantra to "So many apps, so little time!" This ZOHO Writer is amazing. I could spend hours exploring it. Love all the collaboration features! I typed this on ZOHO and posted it to this blog. GO FIGURE!

Week 7 TASKS

#17 Add an entry to "Sandbox" Wiki

I explored the Wikis page in the the CalCurriculum Wiki. Great article linked from Joyce Valenza's wiki titled, "10 Ways Library Schools Should Be Teaching Social Media" by Daniel Hooker. Amazing---there are reasons to use Twitter to promote information literacy skills! Who knew? I printed the article, will peruse diligently, and apply what I learn. I am continually amazed by all the "apps" and "mash-ups" out there. I posted a comment to the wiki.

Week 7 TASKS

#16 Explore Wikis

This is a great collaborative tool for teachers and students. I bookmarked a lot of the sites to explore at length later. I know I am going to use wikis as part of my library toolbox---definitely!

Week 6 TASKS

#15 Read a few perspectives and comment about Library 2.0....One of my favorite lines from "The Sopranos" is when Dr. Melfi comments on A.J.'s questioning of organized religion as his explortion of "existentialism" and Tony's comment is, "*&&^^%%$ Internet!"Honestly---don't we all feel like that somedays? Wasn't your building and your collection so much easier to manage when you could really put your hands on all of it? But we live in such amazing times. And if librarians don't help in the information marketplace---then who will? We do need to embrace these challenges---embrace the users rather than the "collection"---plan for ease of use and user involvement. That's how we will be as indispensable as we ever were :-)There is no going back, nostalgia won't work here----but COLLABORATION certainly will. Wow! Bring it on.

Week 6 TASKS

#14 TechnoratiI have to look at this from home---blocked at school.

Week 6 TASKS

#13 Explore De.licio.us

Yum---what an amazing tool for sharing, collaborating, exploring. I love this!

Week 5 TASKS

#12 Join a social network on Ning

I'm a part of Library 2.0 social network on Ning-----wow! I can't wait to try Ning at my high school for book clubs, research projects---amazing opportunities to connect and share. BUT the huge challenge is getting the tech guys to unblock some of these social networking sites......they have tremendous educational value but, of course, that has to be weighed against potential abuse.

Week 5 TASKS

#11 Explore a 2.0 Award Winner
FARECAST to compare & plan for travel http://farecast.live.com/?
LOVE Farecast--this really is the slickest way to compare across travel websites----you do have to be a bit savvy as you are clicking back and forth between windows depending on how many sites you are using to compare---but very, very timely information. I will definitely use this tool often! I can't wait to share this with family and friends.

Week 5 TASKS

#10 Discovery Exercise: Play with an image generator
Here's my 1-minute creation in "ImageChef"--very fun!!! Great way to promote anything and everything in the library, on the web page, everywhere! Visuals are so important. This is so easy to use--no brainer creativity! Try it at: http://www.imagechef.com/

Week 4 TASKS

#9 Subscribe to newsfeeds & blogs

Done and done. I know this is a great tool---I think reading blogs, research blogs to document the process, or blogs as period in history could be useful tools in the library. I can see that I will eat up lots of time reading posts on things that of course interest me but that I was getting along just fine without knowing. Does that seem like a luddite attitude?

Week 4 TASKS

#8 Subscribe to an RSS Feed
I have a subscription to Google Reader. Great fun---how amazing to be able to visit all over the web and find great stuff I want to keep up with. I can see where truly being on top of all this infomation is mind-boggling. Management of it all is a nice idea...........

Week 3 TASKS

#7 Blog about Technology

I am a lifelong learner so I really see the "wow" factor in this flashy technology. Truly. But I am also an old-school librarian and I know in my heart that the flash can override the substance---the ethics, the evaluation, the VALUE of these new technologies. We cannot be blinded by the flash and ignore the substance. We teacher-librarians have to keep driving the point home, over and over and over. I'll step off my soapbox now. I love all the technology---all the great applications, but they must be used within the guidelines of information literacy. Everybody needs to be "information literate!"

Week 3 TASKS

#6 Have Fun

I looked at the 3rd party sites, Montagr, etc. Most were blocked at my school site. I will explore them later, with more time, at home.

Week 3 TASKS

MVHS 1108 TUTORING 002
Originally uploaded by sccline

# 5 Explore Flickr DISCOVERY TASK B

My idea of a great library shot---lots of students, hard at work or visiting quietly........using the library! Murrieta Valley High School, Murrieta, CA. Taken November 2008 during after-school tutoring.

Week 3 TASKS

20081002 131ps3 (Large)
Originally uploaded by AussieByron

#5 Explore Flickr DISCOVERY EXERCISE A
Found this great nudibranch photo. I probably will never dive Australia, so I am really thrilled by these colors. Great macro photography, too. Close-ups underwater are not an easy thing while you are breathing and trying to maintain buoyancy so I really admire this shot. Hopefully I will be posting my own photos of nudis soon (from the Channel Islands or Catalina) not just one from AussieByron!

Week 2 TASKS

#4 Registering My Blog
Done and Done---after 2 tries. Why can't I remember a drop-down = mouse click, not Enter key? So much for 21st century computer skills. "Let the wild rumpus start!!"

Week 2 TASKS

#3b Creating an Avatar

I have one I created on Yahoo! And now what? Help!!

Week 2 TASKS

#3a Blogging

This is it! I'm officially blogging. Go figure. ME--a blogger. Hello, blogworld!

Week 1 TASKS

#1 & #2 Lifelong Learners Pointers

While I have always been intrigued by learning something new, the idea of formalizing the process by setting goals and objectives is very compelling. Don't just think about it---do it! Make LEARNING an action verb!