MLA CE Week 8

Exercise 1: I viewed the different examples of Mashups, specifically the Most Popular ones. I really loved the Virtual New York City Tour, but I also found the Flickr Sudoku to be the most colorful and eye catching. As far as libraries, I have been looking forward to the day when our online catalog will include user comments and pricing information. This is what makes Amazon so handy to use, and I think libraries could adopt this format also. Guess I hadn't realized that I was already using Mashups (besides music) in my daily life.

Exercise 2: In the exploration of Searchrolls, I got so caught up in the discussion on privacy in the Annoyed Librarian blog that I wanted to join right in. then I noted that her first posting was on March 12, 2007 and therein is the issue. I think all of the bloggers had insightful remarks to make and well worth the time to read and/or contribute. I just don't have that time right now. I hope that I can spend a few minutes each day to read or post to a blog - there are so many I would like to be a part of. I can understand the concerns over privacy and the intellectual arguments raised.

Advanced exercise: I began to create a Custom Searchroll for my favorite sites and will eventually post to my blog--but not today.

MLA CE Week 7

I've enjoyed finding and sharing YouTube videos for over a year. Up until now I had only thought of them as entertainment, but now I think I see potential value for instructional purposes.

I'm not sure if the quality of the videos will be adequate. Would like to hear from other librarians.

MLA CE Week 6

Hello, this is a photo of the New River Gorge, a site not to be missed if you travel to West Virginia!

MLA CE Week 5

I enjoyed using Google Docs and sharing a document. I believe I'll be turning to it more and more for its ease of use and collaboration.

I see many possibilities for Zoho also. The spreadsheet, project management tracker, and many other capabilities are wonderful.

MLA CE Week 4

I started to use del.icio.us a few months ago and have really enjoyed it. I love being able to put my own tags on information and finding out what others are reading. Quite often, I am led to related articles that are very useful to me and my patrons. Also, I had been finding it very cumbersome to try to locate my favorites or bookmarks.

In response to the question in this week's exercise about Social Bookmarking, I do think that these tools can be beneficial to librarians in their work with MLA or MAC Chapters. Most of us spend a good deal of time collaborating with each other on various projects or papers. For example, if a group is involved in a marketing project, we can find great information about what other chapters are doing, or a paper or poster presented, tag it and then share it with our group.

Up until this time, I had been reading about Library 2.0 tools. Now, I intend to use them on a daily basis to organize my time.

MLA CE Week 3--Part 2

Hello--When I started to post the other day, I was interrupted and had to cut it short before I could respond to all of the questions in our assignment for the Week. Wanted to add that it was very useful to me to begin to see ways in which these tools can be used and which one should be used for a certain outcome. I created some additional blogs but then realized that one of them would be better as a wiki--live and learn! After seeing the students who regularly corresponded with a colleague of mine at another library, I realized how helpful this could be. As far as privacy, yes, I am concerned and think that people should be cautious in putting out personal information.
I just heard that a young man hacked into MySpace or another site after reading a "Dummies" book. I really benefitted from LinkedIn. As soon as I had registered and posted, I received a great contact from someone I had met a few years ago. Thanks!

MLA CE Week 3

I have to say that participating in Facebook has been a lot of fun. I like being able to check and respond to email while doing a PubMed or World Cat search. Being able to share with other colleagues and find out about their non-library interests was eye-opening as well.

I was not aware of LinkedIn before this week. It looks like a great way to keep in touch with old classmates and contacts at other institutions.

This class is a great way to practice what our students already know!

MLA CE Week 2

I'm excited to begin using blogs and wikis but have a lot to learn. I read the article on using wikis to collaborate online, and I note that it is called the 'perfect tool for collaboration.' This is a great way to build a community around a particular aspect of the library.

I'm wondering if wikis should start out with a few participants and gradually build or whether invitations should be given out liberally. Should wikis be updated frequently? Would like to hear from others who have been using them.

MLA CE Week 1

Hello,

This is my first experience using a library blogger. I think it would have great professional value in sharing ideas with other librarians who are liaisons to faculty across various disciplines.

I'm anxious to hear from others who have had success with this format. I have been interested in setting up RSS feeds for several areas and be able to send alerts to interested faculty.