Week Eight Number 18: Zoho/Google Docs

1. Created an account in Zoho and Google Docs. Read the FAQs in Zoho. Looked at Google Docs. Decided I far preferred Zoho and that I would save Google for part 2 of this section.

2. Easily created a test document (the easily part not often applicable to my experiences with different aspects of 23 Things) and just as easily posted it to my blog -- see entry below. It was simple enough to combine my test document with my blog posting about my Zoho experience.

3. Went back to make sure I could retrieve my document successfully.

4. Turned cartwheels.

Week Eight Number 18: Zoho Test 1 Blog Post

First Zoho Document August 9, 2007

I looked briefly at Google Docs for part 2 of the word processing week and I like this site infinitely better. It's just like the software! All the right features, easily identifiable, and never mind the collaborative part -- patrons can write letters at home even on their limited creaky old computers.

It's interesting that the Zoho spellcheck identifies Zoho as a questionable word - something objective and universal about that. I appreciate the word count and character feature and all the fancy, easily identifiable icons on the toolbars on top. Just when I thought Wikis were my favorite part of 23 Things.

Week Seven Part Seventeen: Sandbox Wiki

1. Created Maryland Libraries Sandbox account.

2. Added my blog to Favorite Blogs page.

3. Created a page called Serenity = Syphoning; a paragraph about vacation. Purely a "play" exercise.

4. Added a posting about the wiki Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day to an established page of "favorite wikis"

Week Seven Part Sixteen: Wikis

I have been using Wikipedia for some time as a good jumping off place to track down "reputable information". I knew that wikis were open and that the information was not necessarily substantiated, that they were subject to biased reporting, and that teachers wouldn't permit them to be used as a source for research. I wasn't aware, until this exercise that wikis could be contained and controlled.

I am very impressed with the opportunities that Wikis offer for collective sharing of valid information. I am also delighted with the ease of my being able to contribute. I knew theoretically that wikis were many-authored but I didn't know how the process worked before playing with this exercise.

My favorite examined wiki was The Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day. I found it simple (encouraging), thorough and a great resource to guide patrons to, which is always 50% of my goal in this whole 23 Things process.

The Book Lovers Wiki had some useful aspects since there were many varied titles -- always nice because it alerts patrons to what's out there in the reading world, but some of the books reviewed were outdated, i.e., Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and Deception Point. Likewise, the Best Practices Wiki was sporadic between flush with information and sparse; having headings listed didn't mean there was content: "Readers' Advisory/Leading Book Groups", for example, merely had a list of possible titles and not a how-to for leading a book discussion.

Week Six Part Fifteen: Library 2.0 Perspectives

"Librarian 2.0 controls technolust: This librarian does not buy technology for the sake of technology. “Techno-worship” does not exist here. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status. Technology is put to the test: Does it meet the users need in a new or improved way? Does it create a useful service for putting users together with the information and experience they seek? These are some of the questions this librarian asks when planning for technology. This librarian creates and nurtures a living, breathing technology plan."

Michael Stephens (great last name)

Into the New World of Librarianship

http://http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm

Library 2.0 and 23 Things are avenues to explore new technology that is available and that may be definitive and applicable to the future. But I agree with Stephens that all things bright, shiny (and especially free) are not necessarily helpful in our patrons' lives. I think it is very important to carefully evaluate rather than end up with a 21st century Edsel where "The aim was right but the target moved" (Wikipedia: Edsel)

Library 2.0 is a way to track what other library systems are implementing, where they are succeeding, where they are not, and what's new and practical that I can use on the reference desk or in class offerings.

Week Six Part Fourteen: Technorati

1)

When I did a keyword search for "Learning 2.0" under Blog Posts I got 25,194 hits. In Tags I got three windows, each with a synopsis of blog content for" Learning 2.0" and then a link to the rest of the 25,194 blogs available. I also got a video section and a photo section. In the Blog Directory I got 488 posts.

2)

I typed in "Harry Potter" in the top favorited blog and got 2219 hits. In top searches I got only a few video responses -- nothing else. In top blogs I got one response submitted 4 minutes previously and two responses submitted 1 minute previously. I was quite surprised at the dearth of information in the second two sections.

3)

Under the home search tab there was a potpourri of information from copyright and public domain to Iphones -- very random.

Under the Popular tab I put in "library 2.0" and searched as a non-registered user. On page three, the fourth listing down, posted three hours previously was MY blog entitled "Week Six Part Thirteen" from our Maryland Libraries 23 Things. I was very surprised at the speed of the posting (since I'm not registered) and the fact that it tracked my blog with just a few keywords.

After Popular I tabbed number three called WTF for Where's The Fire: What's Hot and Why. I got Lindsay Lohan and then a whole list of poorly presented (misspellings in the titles) explicit pornographic blog links. I haven't had a chance to see if this avenue (technorati - WTF -undesirables) would bypass the library's filtering system but it certainly isn't something I will point out to patrons!

Week Six Part Thirteen: Del.icio.us Tags/Account

The two days I tried to access the highly recommended Otter podcast about del.icio.us, the Otter site was down. I used del.icio.us itself to walk me through its offerings. I created an account and then searched under "library 2.0/delicious" and found some excellent bookmarks to wikis and to other shortcut instructions that had step-by-step instructions.

Until I actually logged on and scrolled through the plethora of information, I didn't quite understand: 1) How valid this could be and 2) How valuable this could be.

What I discovered was del.icio.us is very useful for gathering hot topics/relevant websites/frequently needed reference information in just about any area. From my little bit of perusing, it is a great place to go through vast amounts of information and pick and choose what's important/relevant to me and mark it. For some reason I didn't understand the implications or simplicity of this until I got in there and starting exploring. I used "library 2.0" "sun salutations" and "personal library" as tags for the bookmarks I chose.

What del.icio.us requires is spending the time to create what I want and then using it enough to keep it tweaked. I look forward to spending more time with it.

While I am very careful to edit and or eliminate most blogs from my own lists, patrons may be crazy about blogs as well as websites.

My account link: http://del.icio.us/rexstout