ENDINGS!!!!!!!!! or IS IT?????

Here I am, my very last blog, I am not sure whether I am thankful or sad, but one thing I know I am relieved. I have made it to the finish line, I wasn't too sure at one stage, YAHOO!!!!!.

Congratulations to all those who put 'Learning 2' together, a great program with much learning, head scratching, and fun.

At times I found Learning 2 extremely hard, RSS lines was one of my real difficulties and yet today when I needed one, not a problem. There were other times also when I found it difficult, I'm sure people around me felt quite frustrated at times as I had to keep asking questions. It's hard for an old "chook" to learn new things, but I did it. I do hope to get back to some of the different areas and have another go, I would like to go back to 'Flicka', podcasts, eaudio books, and even add to my library. I really do need the net at home, for me to say that is a first.

I wonder as an improvement of the program if there could be more explanations in each task, for me step by step, to enable those of us who are not technology minded to understand how to add rss lines, (which I think they did}, utube etc.

E AUDIO BOOKS

Some years ago I went to a seminar on E Books and nothing would convince me that there would be a demand for such a thing, who would want to go to bed with a laptop. I was wrong E Audio books are now taking off in a big way and this is because of the MP3 player. Books can be downloaded to the MP3 player no bigger than a mobile phone and listened to comfortably wherever you are, this method has a great advantage over heavy large print books and I can see for older persons that they could much more suitable than a tape or cd player.

E Audio books can be listed to on the train, on the bus, in the car, in fact I think I need to purchase a MP3 player. I am slowly coming into the new technological world.

PODCASTS

http://www.kuow.org/rss.php?program=nancy#
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/bsw.xml

I found some very interesting podcasts and had great fun listening to them, National radio book reviews and Nancy Pearl book reviews.
Enabling book reviews via podcasts could be very useful in a library situation as borrowers having heard of a book could then assess it via a podcast and listen to a review.

I could see this tool would also be useful for people in book clubs, as once again they could listen to other people's thoughts which would enable them to form their own views.

TECHNOLOGY

I missed task 7 when doing week 3 so here it is, my thoughts about technology.

I can remember when........ In the bank when I was a youngster they used to send withdrawal forms to be verified via a tube which I think ran along a wire across the ceiling, we also had some sort of suction tubes, which canisters came through. I can remember being very bored waiting for these canisters, opening the lid and playing tunes with the suction. To learn to type we used to key to marching tunes, when I say key I mean "bang", as each key had to be hit very firmly.

I can remember being faced with my first electronic typewriter, I had just commenced a new job and the typewriter kept typing when I wasn't touching it. I went home each night with a handbag of wasted paper as I tried to get a handle on it.

Now I'm into computers, love playing on Ebay and have discovered Utube. What a long way we have come. The net is a wonderful thing and with 'Learning 2' I have discovered so much more technology, so many wonderful sites to explore.

UTUBE

HOW EASY WAS THAT.

UTUBE THOUGHTS AND APPREHENSIONS

I am so amazed it was very simple to add a video, that is of course after I yelled for help!!!!!! Since then I have been able to help others.

What do I think of Utube??? The majority of the videos I watched were "plain silly", things that I had very little interet in and would not watch if I had the choice.

The library video I watched did have some very good point about enabling the disabled who come to libraries to access the facilities that are there. It emphasised that the resources in libraries need to be advertised, facility assessable, and that libraries should liaise with the different facilities for the disabled in the community.

Utube can be used as an information tool which is great but I think that a great deal of it is a waste of time.

CLIPMARKS

What an interesting site, it enables you to collect, categorize and archive all types of information and add to your blog. As a collector of information I could see great uses for clipmarks, especially as it can be used in a community environment and others can add information to the various clips.

ZOHO WRITER

ZOHO WRITER HERE WE GO

 

What a great set up, I love the menu bar which makes it so simple to use.  I think I have pressed nearly every button, not applied them but certainly pressed.

 

The idea of having access on whichever computer you use certainly revolutionises the media and not having to purchase programs is certainly a big, big plus.  I love it.

 

The spreadsheets are user friendly, all in all what a way to go.

 

 

   Very pleased and surprised.

 

 

 

PLAYING WITH PBWIKI

Surprisingly I found this easy, of course I had to have help. A little thing like having the caps lock on prevented me from putting the password on, which I was past at that stage, easy as. I'm very pleased.

WIKI'S

The Commoncraft video gives an absolutely great explanation of a wiki and how it works. I can see many advantages in a wiki, especially in the elimination of emails flying all over the office and little bits of paper with messages on waiting to be handed on. The one disadvantage I could see would be if you did not want your input edited but if this was the case you would not use a wiki. Care would need to be taken to keep the site "clean", in other words uncluttered as too much information or cluttered information could make it difficult to use.

I am wondering if my office could use a wiki to create useful net sites with the relevant subjects attached. Might be worth looking into.

LIBRARY/WEB 2.0

My thoughts, help!!!! It's obvious that libraries have to move ahead but for people like bumbles, its a hard slog. The technological language we use has changed dramatically, before I started learning 2, I had not heard of the word "blog" or sites such as "flickr", "RSS feeds" etc. Regardless of whether I like this or not, move ahead we must.

On reading the article "Away from Icebergs" one salient point was raised. No longer do library patrons come to the library to access non fiction data, today they either access the information they need by the net at home, or come to the library to download the info. The need for a vast collection of non fiction books is no longer required but training for the public is.

Another article mentioned OCLC - Open Worldcat, a system which would integrate collections and services of member libraries and would be accessible to anyone with a web browser. This system, I believe, will bring libraries and patrons into a new era.

My one concern is for the elderly, where do they fit in with all this? Are we going to try and teach them or do we leave them to their own devices? Many of the elderly are at a stage where they don't want the pressure of having to learn new skills, they just want to find the information in a book, they say "you can't take a computer to bed and be comfortable". I believe libraries must cater for the elderly but at the same time reduce the purchasing of non fiction books, how then do we cater for them?

The way forward is via technology but at the same time maintaining the public and personal aspect of libraries. This can be achieved by continuing to put people first, by catering in the best possible way to the varying needs and by being willing to "go the extra mile" when required.

TECHNORATI

Is there a difference between a post and a blog? Yes, a post is a short entry about the given subject whereas through technorati a subject can accessed via either a post or a blog. A blog is a person's personal view and the whole blog can be accessed.

Popular blogs - I was amazed by the numbers of people who added comments etc. to the popular sites, one site had 3059 fans, "Boing, Boing" containing cultural curiosities.

ROLL OVER ROVER

Well here it 'tis. What a handfull, Rover is not rolling over very well.
Rollyo is a great way to to make your own search engines and very easy to change and modify. 'Way to go'

MY LIBRARY WEBSITE

[http://www.librarything.com/catalog/dmhcw]

Here is a link to my library, hope you enjoy the books.

My own personal library, how fantastic. It was interesting to see how many other people read the same type of books, I hope to later add some more books and even talk about them. Happy reading.
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GENERATORS

Today I have been learning about generators. They are quite amazing, my favourite is the comic strip generator as imagination can be used in many varied ways. Hopefully I can add a link for this site. Here goes.http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/

OVERWORKED

Well, here I am again, only 4 weeks later than I should be. Snowed under, at least 100 metres deep, and now I am slowly crawling out again. My last attempt was session 4 trying to add bloglines, I found this very difficult and I am not even sure that I have succeeded, any way on to session 5. Bumbles never give up they only lag behind

WEEK THREE

Pictures, I found a beautiful picture to post but on consideration had to remove it as I felt it might contravene copyright, hence a picture of a "Bumble". What fun!!

WEEK TWO

Amazement, my first entry into a blog. I allowed my imagination to soar, I wonder what heights I will attain.

WEEK ONE

Discovered what a blog is!!! I had never heard of a "BLOG" before being introduced via
public libraries, what an interesting concept.

Bumble Statistics

Statistics !!!! What statistics.

Bumbles are round and fat and love to make people laugh, they can be getting on in years but still act like a child given the opportunity.

Bumbles enjoy gardening and quite often can be seen chasing butterfly's, they have a great respect for God's creation and would not dream of standing on a snail, of course if they see snails eating their flowers then out comes the snail bait. Bumbles love dogs, that is, if they don't bite. Small dogs are better than big dogs especially if they look like a hairy mop and have adoring eyes.

The other mainstay of a Bumble is reading, they have to have books wherever they go. Murder mysteries, romances, of course they would not dream of reading anything that might make them think too hard because this would hurt.