My favorite things in 23things were: Podcasts, Wikis, del.icio.us, Library Thing, RSS, Bloglines, and Blogging.
23things has affected my lifelong learning goals by introducing me to technologies that I can use to keep me informed in many areas of interest: professional, academic and personal.
I take away from 23things that learning and using technology takes a lot of time and practice, but that it is worth the effort to remain abreast of new technologies and the world they created for the individual involved with them.
I would only suggest that more things, but each a bit smaller -- many small steps to success, would have helped many participants who were completely or almost completely new to many of the technologies. More, and smaller steps, extending the time span for completion of the 23things, would have helped many participants. Many participants gave up because they did not have the time at work to finish the projects. I spent a good bit of my personal time at home working on my 23things!
Yes, I would definitely participant in another similar project.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Audiobooks and the Digital Collection
It is great to have downloadable audiobooks and some audiobooks can even be burned onto a CD. However, the selection is somewhat small for avid users of audiobooks, the webpages are poorly designed, and many excerpts contain little or no material of the story or main text.
The excerpts are all two minutes in length. The excerpt for Atlas Shrugged contains no reading from the actual text of the story. We get two minutes of publication information, copyright information, length of book, number of chapters, and a reading of some of the material on the back cover of the book! This is virtually useless to someone who would naturally want to hear the quality of the writing, get a sense of the rhythm of the story, and the quality of the vocal characterizations and tonal interpretations of the reader.
11 Days in December includes actual story text, but the reader is really bad, very flat in his vocal interpretation of the text.
The Time Machine included actual story text, and had a much better vocal rendering of the text than 11 Days in December.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution included actual story text, and had a merely adequate vocal characterization of the text.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was at best mostly material not related to the text of the story itself -- unless one counts a short section which mostly is prefatory in nature as the start of the actual story.
The design of the webpage on which the books appear is very cramped and is in desperate need of redesign.
I like that audiobooks can be downloaded to mp3 players, and that some downloads can be copied onto CDs. But the smallness of the collection, the poor vocal renditions, and the poor design of the website clearly shows that the age of downloadable books is very much in its infancy in terms of collection quality -- which for audiobooks includes vocal interpretation of the text, collection quantity, and the design of the audiobook webpages.
The excerpts are all two minutes in length. The excerpt for Atlas Shrugged contains no reading from the actual text of the story. We get two minutes of publication information, copyright information, length of book, number of chapters, and a reading of some of the material on the back cover of the book! This is virtually useless to someone who would naturally want to hear the quality of the writing, get a sense of the rhythm of the story, and the quality of the vocal characterizations and tonal interpretations of the reader.
11 Days in December includes actual story text, but the reader is really bad, very flat in his vocal interpretation of the text.
The Time Machine included actual story text, and had a much better vocal rendering of the text than 11 Days in December.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution included actual story text, and had a merely adequate vocal characterization of the text.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was at best mostly material not related to the text of the story itself -- unless one counts a short section which mostly is prefatory in nature as the start of the actual story.
The design of the webpage on which the books appear is very cramped and is in desperate need of redesign.
I like that audiobooks can be downloaded to mp3 players, and that some downloads can be copied onto CDs. But the smallness of the collection, the poor vocal renditions, and the poor design of the website clearly shows that the age of downloadable books is very much in its infancy in terms of collection quality -- which for audiobooks includes vocal interpretation of the text, collection quantity, and the design of the audiobook webpages.
Invasion of the Podcasts!
I enjoyed searching for podcasts. The number and variety is quite amazing.
Of the three podcast sites we had to search, I liked Podcast Alley the best. It seems to have a greater variety of podcasts than NPR Podcast Directory or Library of Congress podcasts.
From Podcast Alley, I subscribed to Library Geeks podcast because I like technology. Their website is: One Big Library
From the NPR Podcast Directory, I subscribed to the NPR Book Tour podcast because I like books read and discussed by their authors and because non-fiction was included. Their website is: NPR Book Tour
I did not subscribe to the Library of Congress podcast of the National Book Festival 2008 because, quite frankly, it did not interest me.
I did add one extra podcast. I am interested in health and nutrition, so I also subscribed to The Gary Null Show Podcast, a podcast whose host is a well known authority on health and the politics of welbeing. His website is: Gary Null: Your Guide to Natural Living.
There are many podcasts that I think I might really enjoy, but I think that picking these few to start with is better than being overwhelmed by too large a selection.
Of the three podcast sites we had to search, I liked Podcast Alley the best. It seems to have a greater variety of podcasts than NPR Podcast Directory or Library of Congress podcasts.
From Podcast Alley, I subscribed to Library Geeks podcast because I like technology. Their website is: One Big Library
From the NPR Podcast Directory, I subscribed to the NPR Book Tour podcast because I like books read and discussed by their authors and because non-fiction was included. Their website is: NPR Book Tour
I did not subscribe to the Library of Congress podcast of the National Book Festival 2008 because, quite frankly, it did not interest me.
I did add one extra podcast. I am interested in health and nutrition, so I also subscribed to The Gary Null Show Podcast, a podcast whose host is a well known authority on health and the politics of welbeing. His website is: Gary Null: Your Guide to Natural Living.
There are many podcasts that I think I might really enjoy, but I think that picking these few to start with is better than being overwhelmed by too large a selection.
Do You YouTube?
YouTube is an amazing video website. There is an enormous amount of material on YouTube. A potential problem is spending too much time surfing YouTube, and also using up a lot of bandwidth. There are also issues regarding copyright and inappropriate material.
You can create a free account on YouTube. This lets you set up a favorites listing, and also upload your own videos to YouTube.
I enjoyed looking at YouTube. I like the feature that presents videos similar to the one I am looking at -- these are shown in video sidebar to the right of the page. This often produces very interesting leads.
Libraries can benefit from using YouTube. Libraries can get their own YouTube accounts and upload instructional material, or they can host these videos on their own servers. Libraries could even have contests were patrons create their own instructional videos -- winners based on popularity, voting by patron library card number.
Video instruction on the use of the OPAC, databases, referenced websites, and classes would help more patrons to learn about our resources and services -- that is, so long as these videos are entertaining, creative, clear, short and easy to understand.
I searched for: palm beach county library, on YouTube and got about 41 hits. Here's Dr John C. Callahan III, the Director of our library system making a presentation:
You can create a free account on YouTube. This lets you set up a favorites listing, and also upload your own videos to YouTube.
I enjoyed looking at YouTube. I like the feature that presents videos similar to the one I am looking at -- these are shown in video sidebar to the right of the page. This often produces very interesting leads.
Libraries can benefit from using YouTube. Libraries can get their own YouTube accounts and upload instructional material, or they can host these videos on their own servers. Libraries could even have contests were patrons create their own instructional videos -- winners based on popularity, voting by patron library card number.
Video instruction on the use of the OPAC, databases, referenced websites, and classes would help more patrons to learn about our resources and services -- that is, so long as these videos are entertaining, creative, clear, short and easy to understand.
I searched for: palm beach county library, on YouTube and got about 41 hits. Here's Dr John C. Callahan III, the Director of our library system making a presentation:
YouTube, TheyTube, We-all-Tube
Well, not really, but with the variety and quantity of videos on YouTube, it can seem like that at times. I am a relatively late comer to YouTube. This is due, for the most part, to the bad publicity that YouTube always seems to be getting in the media -- copyright issues, videos of beatings, slanderous videos, to name a few
I decided to explore YouTube and found, quite to the contrary, that YouTube is full of great videos both entertaining and educational. In addition, the recent elections show that YouTube can play an important roll in grassroots politics.
I decided to explore YouTube and found, quite to the contrary, that YouTube is full of great videos both entertaining and educational. In addition, the recent elections show that YouTube can play an important roll in grassroots politics.
YouTube is quite apt for library use.
For example, Chad Boeninger, in his Biz Wiki Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, included a video introduction of himself and his wiki. This created a very welcoming impression and hopefully helped students feel more comfortable using the wiki and contacting Mr. Boeninger.
Another example is the YouTube instructional video producer Commoncraft. One of their videos was used in the Wiki section of 23things, and another two appeared in my blog on RSS. These videos are simple, short, and very clear.
These sort of instructional videos would greatly help patrons learn how to use the resources available at our library.
Here's a short clip from YouTube. It's a cute advertisement:
Monday, July 14, 2008
Zoho Writer -- Online Word Processing
Zoho Writer has an impressive pallet of features. You will need to establish a free account before you can access and use Zoho Writer.
Zoho Writer's icon's were easily understandable. The icons were similiar to the stardard icons that appear on MicroSoft Word 2003. Still, an explanation of each icon, and of the many other features that Zoho Writer brings to the user, would be a useful addition. Zoho sometimes will promote demos, but it mostly does not highlight them, and sometimes they do not seem to be present at all. Tutorials would be nice considering the power of the Zoho suites.
Zoho has a tremendous array of free applications in addition to Zoho Writer -- see: Zoho for its large suite of free productivity and collaboration applications, and for its added suite of free business applications. Zoho even has blogs regarding its many applications -- see Zoho Blogs.
You will need to go online and look for general introductions to Zoho Writer. There do not seem to be any onboard their website. Zoho provides a very powerful set of free tools that are web-based many of which are collaborative. Most of its tools are free, some trigger a fee for business users -- Zoho Creator, some trigger a fee based on the number of users -- Zoho CRM.
Google Docs is less robust than the Zoho suite of products, but it is also easier to use, and Google clearly promotes two brief introductions: one in a slide-show-like format, another as a YouTube video. The video lets you know that Google Docs are collaborative, and that they include a word processing program, a spreadsheet, and a slide presentation application.
Overall, both Zoho and Google Doc prove that high quality, free office and business applications are available at either no cost or at a very small price. They are two good choices for the cost and quality minded consumer.
Zoho Writer's icon's were easily understandable. The icons were similiar to the stardard icons that appear on MicroSoft Word 2003. Still, an explanation of each icon, and of the many other features that Zoho Writer brings to the user, would be a useful addition. Zoho sometimes will promote demos, but it mostly does not highlight them, and sometimes they do not seem to be present at all. Tutorials would be nice considering the power of the Zoho suites.
Zoho has a tremendous array of free applications in addition to Zoho Writer -- see: Zoho for its large suite of free productivity and collaboration applications, and for its added suite of free business applications. Zoho even has blogs regarding its many applications -- see Zoho Blogs.
You will need to go online and look for general introductions to Zoho Writer. There do not seem to be any onboard their website. Zoho provides a very powerful set of free tools that are web-based many of which are collaborative. Most of its tools are free, some trigger a fee for business users -- Zoho Creator, some trigger a fee based on the number of users -- Zoho CRM.
Google Docs is less robust than the Zoho suite of products, but it is also easier to use, and Google clearly promotes two brief introductions: one in a slide-show-like format, another as a YouTube video. The video lets you know that Google Docs are collaborative, and that they include a word processing program, a spreadsheet, and a slide presentation application.
Overall, both Zoho and Google Doc prove that high quality, free office and business applications are available at either no cost or at a very small price. They are two good choices for the cost and quality minded consumer.
Wiki Sandbox Fun
I enjoyed adding my favorite book and some of my favorite movies to the PBCLS Wiki Sandbox. It was also fun to look at what books and movies were picked as favorites. I also enjoyed looking a favorite URLs.
The PBCLS Wiki Sandbox shows the power of Wikis to provide information that has risen to the status of a favorite -- and hopefully the quality which that status suggests.
It was also interesting to see the PBwiki creator in action and its potential for educational purposes.
The PBCLS Wiki Sandbox shows the power of Wikis to provide information that has risen to the status of a favorite -- and hopefully the quality which that status suggests.
It was also interesting to see the PBwiki creator in action and its potential for educational purposes.
Wiki World
The Wikipedia entry for wiki tells us that "Wiki" is an Hawaiian work meaning: quick or fast.
The Hawiian Electronic Library gives the following definitions:
For more information, our assigned readings were helpful:
Biz Wiki Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA (mediawiki) included a video of the business librarian, Chad Boeninger, introducing himself and his Biz Wiki -- a nice personal touch. This helped convey that the librarian was accessible for questions and had a strong interest in helping and in his Wiki.
Chad Boeninger also had a chat box next to his video. He shared links to his business blog and twitter account -- again very open and accessible. He had a modest help page. The wiki was more like a personal website page done within a Wiki format. I couldn't tell if collaboration was enabled on the Wiki for members of the Uhio University community.
His Wiki consisted mostly of links to various business resources offered at the university library. It might take less clicks to reach the same material in a non-wiki format, but the clean look of the wiki makes searching an enjoyable experience. I wish he had include material on how to use the databases. Otherwise, going through his wiki was a very pleasant experience.
Library Research Guides Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, USA (mediawiki) does not feel like a wiki at all. It looks like a non-wiki webpage. It's primarily a set of subject research guides -- called "pathfinders" in the library world. It also has some course pathfinders, and links to individual librarian wikipages. The pathfinders are well done. I particularly liked the one on Economic Statistics.
Like Chad Boeninger's Biz Wiki, the Library Research Guides do not provide help regarding how to use their databases or the public websites listed on their pathfinders. The Library Research Guides wikipages were sometimes inconsistent in design or content -- some have librarian's picture, some do not; most have contact information, at least one did not -- English. Though librarians might be collaborating behind the scenes, there is no wiki format or functionality on the front end of the wikipages.
To their credit the Healey Library Course Resource Hub University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (wikispaces) does provide some tutorials on the use of it's databases, but they are very poor -- they do however provide information for further assistance: Healey Library Reference Services, Live Online Chat, and E-mail a reference question.
There is potential in using more of the capabilities of wiki pages. Patrons would benefit from collaboratively creating better help pages, more useful database descriptions, and pooling their research experience into their own pathfinders with critical opinions and comments -- together with that of librarians and perhaps interested professors.
The Hawiian Electronic Library gives the following definitions:
wikiWiki has become the name of a website format that allows easy collaboration among participants, adding to and improving the content of the website
vs. To hurry, hasten; quick, fast, swift. See alawiki. Hele wiki, quick time, quick step. E wiki 'oe, mai lohi (FS 111), hurry, don't delay. (Probably PEP witi, although Easter Island viti may be a Tahitian loan.) ho'o.wiki To hurry, hasten.
wiki
vi. To hurry; quick, fast. Cf. wiki. Mai lohi mai 'oe, e alawiki mai, don't be slow, be fast.
For more information, our assigned readings were helpful:
1) Wiki in Plain English (3:52) -- an entertaining, short video introduction -- geared to the general public.I enjoyed the Wikis. I focused my attention on the Subject Guides, Course Guides, & Resource Guides section of What is a Wiki.
2) What is a Wiki -- a short, but useful introduction -- geared to librarians
Biz Wiki Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA (mediawiki) included a video of the business librarian, Chad Boeninger, introducing himself and his Biz Wiki -- a nice personal touch. This helped convey that the librarian was accessible for questions and had a strong interest in helping and in his Wiki.
Chad Boeninger also had a chat box next to his video. He shared links to his business blog and twitter account -- again very open and accessible. He had a modest help page. The wiki was more like a personal website page done within a Wiki format. I couldn't tell if collaboration was enabled on the Wiki for members of the Uhio University community.
His Wiki consisted mostly of links to various business resources offered at the university library. It might take less clicks to reach the same material in a non-wiki format, but the clean look of the wiki makes searching an enjoyable experience. I wish he had include material on how to use the databases. Otherwise, going through his wiki was a very pleasant experience.
Library Research Guides Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, USA (mediawiki) does not feel like a wiki at all. It looks like a non-wiki webpage. It's primarily a set of subject research guides -- called "pathfinders" in the library world. It also has some course pathfinders, and links to individual librarian wikipages. The pathfinders are well done. I particularly liked the one on Economic Statistics.
Like Chad Boeninger's Biz Wiki, the Library Research Guides do not provide help regarding how to use their databases or the public websites listed on their pathfinders. The Library Research Guides wikipages were sometimes inconsistent in design or content -- some have librarian's picture, some do not; most have contact information, at least one did not -- English. Though librarians might be collaborating behind the scenes, there is no wiki format or functionality on the front end of the wikipages.
To their credit the Healey Library Course Resource Hub University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (wikispaces) does provide some tutorials on the use of it's databases, but they are very poor -- they do however provide information for further assistance: Healey Library Reference Services, Live Online Chat, and E-mail a reference question.
There is potential in using more of the capabilities of wiki pages. Patrons would benefit from collaboratively creating better help pages, more useful database descriptions, and pooling their research experience into their own pathfinders with critical opinions and comments -- together with that of librarians and perhaps interested professors.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Future of Libraries and Web 2.0
The article Web 2.0: Where will the next generation Web take libraries? in NextSpace, The OCLC Newsletter No.2 2006, addresses some of the issues that libraries face regarding The Internet, technology, and patron desire for access and interactivity.
The article is collaborative with several authors each contributing individual sections on Web 2.0 and libraries. However, the sections are long on possibilities, many without adequate detail, and they do not address the important issue of turning visions into reality.
Sometimes comments are made with little regard as to their consistency or sense. For example, Rick Anderson, Director of Resource Acquisition, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries, writes:
News: Rossetta Stone has stopped selling licenses to libraries. The universe of everything just got a little smaller.
Rick Anderson writes "Think again", but why doesn't he do the thinking, instead of just leaving ideas suspended in midair? He writes: "This may be our great opportunity", but in what way? He does not say. These vague and general comments by Rick Anderson are the sort of comments that can be tossed off in a few minutes and then submitted as an article -- where is the work?!
I agree we need interfaces that you can easily learn to understand while you are using them -- the so-called "intuitive" interfaces. Rich Anderson writes:
What's the problem? Searching is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced. Interfaces sometimes impede that search, but just as often searchers impede their own searches by not learning the basics of using the database they are trying to search. Indeed, Mortimer Adler's classic, How to Read a Book, teaches how to read a book effectively and efficiently -- why should online or database searching be any different?
We need better interfaces, but we also need better searchers.
It is amazing that Rich Anderson can assert: "But if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons", a patently false claim.
It would be enlightening if Rick Anderson provided examples of what he means by:
Rick Anderson writes:
This species of article is commonplace in library literature. For example, Micheal Stephens writes in his section:
These writers provide a rich source of material for comment. I will simple end by noting that opened ended proposals like those of Micheal Stephens in fact are mostly fantasy that have little place in the real world.
If these writers focused on real world implementation of pragmatic programs extending library services in keeping with new technologies, rather than indulging in wildly unthought through proposals, these writers would have much more to contribute -- as it is, theirs is but a rather tedious pollyannish futurism.
The article is collaborative with several authors each contributing individual sections on Web 2.0 and libraries. However, the sections are long on possibilities, many without adequate detail, and they do not address the important issue of turning visions into reality.
Sometimes comments are made with little regard as to their consistency or sense. For example, Rick Anderson, Director of Resource Acquisition, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries, writes:
As a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything – digital collections of journals, books, blogs, podcasts, etc. You think they can’t have everything? Think again. This may be our great opportunity.How are patrons going to have access to everything? Can public libraries do this? Can academic libraries do this? Should they combine their resources? What would this cost? Should the government subsidize information access. Should "universal" information access be mandated and prices regulated?
News: Rossetta Stone has stopped selling licenses to libraries. The universe of everything just got a little smaller.
Rick Anderson writes "Think again", but why doesn't he do the thinking, instead of just leaving ideas suspended in midair? He writes: "This may be our great opportunity", but in what way? He does not say. These vague and general comments by Rick Anderson are the sort of comments that can be tossed off in a few minutes and then submitted as an article -- where is the work?!
I agree we need interfaces that you can easily learn to understand while you are using them -- the so-called "intuitive" interfaces. Rich Anderson writes:
But if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons. One-button commands, such as Flickr’s “Blog This,” and easy-to-use programs like Google Page Creator, offer promising models for this kind of user-centric service.But not all problems with interfaces are due to poor design. A complex interface is also a function of the specificity needed to conduct research that focuses on very detailed material -- specialized science databases often require training to get the best results from them.
What's the problem? Searching is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced. Interfaces sometimes impede that search, but just as often searchers impede their own searches by not learning the basics of using the database they are trying to search. Indeed, Mortimer Adler's classic, How to Read a Book, teaches how to read a book effectively and efficiently -- why should online or database searching be any different?
We need better interfaces, but we also need better searchers.
It is amazing that Rich Anderson can assert: "But if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons", a patently false claim.
It would be enlightening if Rick Anderson provided examples of what he means by:
One-button commands, such as Flickr’s “Blog This,” and easy-to-use programs like Google Page Creator, offer promising models for this kind of user-centric service.-- again, where's the work? Is he suggesting a "one-button command" search? How effective would this be? Is he suggesting searching should mimic Google's Page Creator. How so? Is he proposing that web design developers focus on user-centric interfaces? Is this cutting edge?
Rick Anderson writes:
We have to be a bit more humble in the current environment, and find new ways to bring our services to patrons rather than insisting that they come to us—whether physically or virtually. At a minimum, this means placing library services and content in the user’s preferred environment (i.e., the Web); even better, it means integrating our services into their daily patterns of work, study and play.How? RSS? And, what patterns of work is he talking about? Indeed, what does he mean by daily patterns of work, by daily patterns of study, and by daily patterns of play? Image all the working people we meet: at the supermarket, at the mall, at the cinema, at the post office, at gas stations and at restaurants, and then image them enjoying library services during their "daily patterns of work"! I suppose that parents would welcome their children engaging the library in their "daily patterns of play" -- with regard to what: The Internet, CDs, DVDs, Gaming Software, or Educational Software?
This species of article is commonplace in library literature. For example, Micheal Stephens writes in his section:
This librarian bases all planning and proposals for services, materials and outreach on user needs and wants.How do we distinguish between user needs and wants? Are all user needs and wants within the mission of libraries to satisfy? Should libraries provide the photocopying options of professional photocopying and image processing centers? Should libraries provide minimarts or cafes for their patrons? Should libraries provide postal services for their patrons? Should libraries provide showers and temporary rooms for homeless patrons? Should libraries provide daycare for working patrons? If these are patron needs and wants, then why not?
These writers provide a rich source of material for comment. I will simple end by noting that opened ended proposals like those of Micheal Stephens in fact are mostly fantasy that have little place in the real world.
If these writers focused on real world implementation of pragmatic programs extending library services in keeping with new technologies, rather than indulging in wildly unthought through proposals, these writers would have much more to contribute -- as it is, theirs is but a rather tedious pollyannish futurism.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Techno-Lousy?
The Technorati searches were a dissapointment.
The URL search and the Tag search produced very weak results. These searches made Technorati seem like a bunch of post-it notes linked to each other by tags.
The URL search for: http://www.pbclibrary.org, was almost empty of value -- unless you're interested in the brute fact that the URL generates lisitngs.
The tags for "web 2.0" were equally pointless. If you are interested in looking up a tag and "trying your luck", then you will be in for a windfall of fun, otherwise don't waste your time.
TheTechnorati homepage provides a better impression with links on Business, Entertainment, Politics, Technology, and by grouping results into "Rising Blogs by Attention" and "Rising Stories by Attention".
Technorati might serve some as a useful search portal on blogs, but my searches on it have not produced outstanding results.
Technorati has its own blog for those who would enjoy looking more deeply into the ways of Technorati.
The URL search and the Tag search produced very weak results. These searches made Technorati seem like a bunch of post-it notes linked to each other by tags.
The URL search for: http://www.pbclibrary.org, was almost empty of value -- unless you're interested in the brute fact that the URL generates lisitngs.
The tags for "web 2.0" were equally pointless. If you are interested in looking up a tag and "trying your luck", then you will be in for a windfall of fun, otherwise don't waste your time.
TheTechnorati homepage provides a better impression with links on Business, Entertainment, Politics, Technology, and by grouping results into "Rising Blogs by Attention" and "Rising Stories by Attention".
Technorati might serve some as a useful search portal on blogs, but my searches on it have not produced outstanding results.
Technorati has its own blog for those who would enjoy looking more deeply into the ways of Technorati.
Monday, July 7, 2008
WebFeat
WebFeat is a search engine that lets the user search up to 50 databases simultaneously on the Palm Beach County Library Website.
I searched for hometown news which in my case is the South Bronx. I did a title search for the phrase "south bronx", date range: 2008-2008, and selected all resources. Quite a few times the browser froze up and I had to close it down using the task manager -- what a waste of time that was!
Many of the databases returned zero hits. The greatest number of hits was on America's Obituaries & Death Notices (529 hits). The InfoTrac® Student Edition (87 hits) would not display -- another waste of time!
However, the Access World News (19 hits) did display. I read an article that alleged a school principal was getting teachers to "help" students find the correct test answers during the administration of a standarized test, High Test Scores, and Criticism, Follow a South Bronx Principal New York Sun, The (NY) - June 30, 2008.
Another story that caught my eye reported on protecting the environment, the community, and creating jobs in the South Bronx. One of the things it mentioned was a small project focused on creating "green roofs" -- covering roofs with soil and plants to help keep buildings cool, Sustainable South Bronx : Helping the Bronx Become a Sustainable Community New York Observer, The (NY) - June 23, 2008.
Using Access World News directly, I got 17 hits, but some did not have "south bronx" in the headline as I had selected. This was also the case, when using Access World News through WebFeat.
InfoTrac® Student Edition (87 hits) brought back hits outside of the target year (2008). I found no article that would open -- "page cannot be displayed" was all I got after trying on separate days to access the articles.
Even though the advanced search on InfoTrac General OneFile and on Access World News gives a more refined search, and dispite the problem accessing InfoTrac® Student Edition, WebFeat remains a good enough "quick and dirty" way of searching for information.
I searched for hometown news which in my case is the South Bronx. I did a title search for the phrase "south bronx", date range: 2008-2008, and selected all resources. Quite a few times the browser froze up and I had to close it down using the task manager -- what a waste of time that was!
Many of the databases returned zero hits. The greatest number of hits was on America's Obituaries & Death Notices (529 hits). The InfoTrac® Student Edition (87 hits) would not display -- another waste of time!
However, the Access World News (19 hits) did display. I read an article that alleged a school principal was getting teachers to "help" students find the correct test answers during the administration of a standarized test, High Test Scores, and Criticism, Follow a South Bronx Principal New York Sun, The (NY) - June 30, 2008.
Another story that caught my eye reported on protecting the environment, the community, and creating jobs in the South Bronx. One of the things it mentioned was a small project focused on creating "green roofs" -- covering roofs with soil and plants to help keep buildings cool, Sustainable South Bronx : Helping the Bronx Become a Sustainable Community New York Observer, The (NY) - June 23, 2008.
Using Access World News directly, I got 17 hits, but some did not have "south bronx" in the headline as I had selected. This was also the case, when using Access World News through WebFeat.
InfoTrac® Student Edition (87 hits) brought back hits outside of the target year (2008). I found no article that would open -- "page cannot be displayed" was all I got after trying on separate days to access the articles.
Even though the advanced search on InfoTrac General OneFile and on Access World News gives a more refined search, and dispite the problem accessing InfoTrac® Student Edition, WebFeat remains a good enough "quick and dirty" way of searching for information.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Quite Del.icio.us
Del.icio.us is a website that lets you save your favorites in an organized and easy to use format. It also has a feature that lets you identify you favorites with keywords of your own choosing -- these are called "tags". A user is able to enter a tag name and take a look at similiar favorites saved by other Del.icio.us users.
I enjoyed using Del.icio.us. I looked up the tags "tarot" and "husserl" (a major philosopher of the 20th century) each gave me an interesting assortment of websites.
I ran a google search on "tarot" and noticed that Goolge's first 10 hits had 4 sites that also appeared within the first 10 hits of Del.icio.us. I did the same for "husserl" and by chance the results were the same: google's top 10 sites listed 4 sites that appeared on Del.icio.us' first 10 listed sites
One Husserl link was dead on Del.icio.us -- since Goolge caches sites a dead link is still "viewable" on Google. Del.icio.us has sponsored links the same as Google. Google, of course, returned many more hits, but Del.icio.us -- which is like an informal web directory, seems a good enough place to start. Overall, using Del.icio.us created a more personal experience than using Google.
I liked the "design" tag on the PBCLS account which lead to a great online generator page on smashingmagazine. I also liked the "web" tag which lead to http://slashdot.org/with feature sections on technology and related news.
I enjoyed using Del.icio.us. I looked up the tags "tarot" and "husserl" (a major philosopher of the 20th century) each gave me an interesting assortment of websites.
I ran a google search on "tarot" and noticed that Goolge's first 10 hits had 4 sites that also appeared within the first 10 hits of Del.icio.us. I did the same for "husserl" and by chance the results were the same: google's top 10 sites listed 4 sites that appeared on Del.icio.us' first 10 listed sites
One Husserl link was dead on Del.icio.us -- since Goolge caches sites a dead link is still "viewable" on Google. Del.icio.us has sponsored links the same as Google. Google, of course, returned many more hits, but Del.icio.us -- which is like an informal web directory, seems a good enough place to start. Overall, using Del.icio.us created a more personal experience than using Google.
I liked the "design" tag on the PBCLS account which lead to a great online generator page on smashingmagazine. I also liked the "web" tag which lead to http://slashdot.org/with feature sections on technology and related news.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
It's a Library Thing
LibraryThing is a library cataloguing system that let's you create an online catalogue of the books you own. The first 200 books are free; after that, there is a 10 dollar yearly fee -- or, you can opt for a one time 25 dollar life membership.
To add a book you simply click the "add books" tab found along the top of your LibraryThing homepage, type into the search box the name of the book you want to catalogue, and the system does the work of cataloguing the book. The catalogue entry includes a picture of the book, it's title and author, a description of it's content, how many members have also catalogued it, the number of reviews available on the book, and much more.
My favorite features of LibraryThing include the ability to see the libraries of members who have catalogued the same and similar books as I have, the ability to join discussions, being able to participate in groups, and contacting members.
On learning about LibraryThing, I prefer A very short introduction to LibraryThing which introduces you on how to get started.
Click on my Library Things Homepage Link to see my library.
To add a book you simply click the "add books" tab found along the top of your LibraryThing homepage, type into the search box the name of the book you want to catalogue, and the system does the work of cataloguing the book. The catalogue entry includes a picture of the book, it's title and author, a description of it's content, how many members have also catalogued it, the number of reviews available on the book, and much more.
My favorite features of LibraryThing include the ability to see the libraries of members who have catalogued the same and similar books as I have, the ability to join discussions, being able to participate in groups, and contacting members.
On learning about LibraryThing, I prefer A very short introduction to LibraryThing which introduces you on how to get started.
Click on my Library Things Homepage Link to see my library.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Image and Text Generators
This poster was generated using AutoMotivator, a simple poster creation website -- images are provided and the user adds text.
This image was generated using LunaPic. LunaPic provides many tools and special effects for your images. Our lovely model is sporting an effect called "photo-spread".
This image was generated using Says-it. Says-it allows you to choose from various images and write in your own text. Here we see Arnold expressing his real feelings ...
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