tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87954698114666154582024-03-06T22:52:15.704-08:00I don't know what to title my blog.rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-6999277413096638622007-03-22T15:24:00.000-07:002007-03-22T15:25:26.007-07:00Ok.. one last post.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiI4phlZmIzIT5JCxzNg1Tdpp8gLxWV2RCKebnx1qlZHedRqhLLDxSYkQ0lFo5GhZoPaCu9P5-PqYkwgKHgfjR0hhGyicYsQjzq350fTV9MAh7Nvj3T3u1TX6o-p-50jTwctzu09ULow/s1600-h/achievement.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5044878400996973570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiI4phlZmIzIT5JCxzNg1Tdpp8gLxWV2RCKebnx1qlZHedRqhLLDxSYkQ0lFo5GhZoPaCu9P5-PqYkwgKHgfjR0hhGyicYsQjzq350fTV9MAh7Nvj3T3u1TX6o-p-50jTwctzu09ULow/s320/achievement.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center"></div>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-66574634497859812722007-03-22T13:49:00.000-07:002007-03-22T13:59:01.911-07:00Week 9, Ex 23<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I can't believe I actually made it all the way through. yes!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">My favorite "discoveries" had to have been all of the photo-related sites (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">flickr</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">fd</span> toys, and of course the trading card maker). I also really liked <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">bloglines</span> and I use it often now to catch up on all kinds of news. Overall, it was good to become familiar with all of the Web 2.0 sites because now when a customer comes up to me asking about it, I won't answer with a, "huh?" I definitely feel much more <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">knowledgeable</span> about what Web 2.0 means to me and to the community we serve. I hope to use many of the tools I was exposed to when working with the young audience that comes into the library every day. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">During many of the exercises, I would think to myself, "This is cool, but am I really going to use it often?" Perhaps this isn't the way I should be thinking about such things. I should probably be saying to myself, "How am I going to incorporate this into my every day life" OR "How is my profession, personal interests, etc. going to be enhanced now that I know how to use (insert Web 2.0 technology here)?" I think when I am inundated with all of these new website to check out, in can be a bit overwhelming to look at everything at the same time. But when I really take a look at what I'm already using and what I would like to use more, I'm finding that I'm already knee-deep in Web 2.0! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I thought that this "discovery exercise" was a cool thing to do. Outside of the content itself, it was awesome to do something where all staff of all different levels can <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">participate</span> in the same exact thing. It's cool to have staff who would never think of themselves as teachers, showing other staff how to browse <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">YouTube</span>, or do a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">mashup</span>, or make a trading card. I would definitely be interested in other projects like this. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Thanks! :)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-84817895911955267362007-03-22T13:36:00.000-07:002007-03-22T13:48:52.205-07:00Week 9, Ex 22<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">What are Ebooks? JUST KIDDING! Ebooks are growing in popularity among our patrons. Usage has increased in the past year, and it helps that the selection is getting better. Within the audiobooks, there are a lot of the Pimsleur learn a language items in the collection. I think this is great because they are usually checked out or the CDs are in bad shape. And of course, having electronic books saves paper AND shelf space. I also love how our OverDrive account now has music; again, it reflects how much our digital collection is growing. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I haven't fully explored our ebook collection for my own use, but I have referred customers to them. Many of them get frustrated if their Mp3 player isn't compatable, which I can understand. But many of the people I know who use it, really like them. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">For my own use, I haven't really found the need for it (yet). I have a hard time reading for long amounts of time on any kind of monitor (computer, laptop, PDA, etc.) so the electronic books are not my thing. And I'm never in a situation where I can sit and listen to an audiobook. I either have a hard time concentrating on the book, or I'm in a situation where I shouldn't be focusing on the book alone (for example, driving to work). </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">One way that I have used ebooks is with classes I took in library school. One teacher required a textbook that was only available through netlibrary. It was great because we didn't have to pay for an expensive textbook! :)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-2021494276281652252007-03-22T13:11:00.000-07:002007-03-22T13:35:54.176-07:00Week 9, Ex. 21 - Podcasts<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I'm familiar with what podcasts are, but I haven't used them very often. Perhaps it's because I was scarred for life during library school when I would have to listen to a 25 minute podcast about cataloging. *shrug*</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">But I took a look at Podcastalley and Yahoo! Podcasts and I sure have been out of the loop. There are many more podcasts than I thought were out. I did a couple of searches on my own interests and found some interesting podcasts. When I did a search for "wine" I found podcasts from large organizations like the SF Chronicle, and I also found one called "Napa Valley Wine Radio." This podcast had some really cool episodes about chemical balances, sulfites in wine, barrel building, and interviews with various winemakers in Napa valley. I liked it because it wasn't just about what wines we should drink. And I liked it so much, I added it to my bloglines account! :)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I did another search on "weight loss" and again, found a huge range of podcasts. My favorite ones were individual's podcasts that journaled their weight loss... kind of like an audio diary. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Another podcast I found that I may start using soon are the language ones! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.japanesepod101.com/">http://www.japanesepod101.com/</a> </span><br /><a href="http://learninggerman.mschubertberlin.de/podblog/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">http://learninggerman.mschubertberlin.de/podblog/</span></a>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-16051167724601954432007-03-22T12:29:00.000-07:002007-03-22T12:45:55.484-07:00Week 9, Ex 20 -YouTube!<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Do I sound like a 14 year old when I say, "YouTube is awesome!"? </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Oh well.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I'm a big fan of nostalgia, especially when it comes to tv-nostalgia. Before NBC caught on and had YouTube remove all of their Saturday Night Live clips, I would sit at my old job for hours, showing high school kids funny sketches from past episodes. ha.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">A couple nights ago, my husband screamed, "REMEMBER THIS?!" and showed me the following video:</span><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7dHamP9Wemc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7dHamP9Wemc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Unfortunately, I did not remember seeing this PSA way back when, but it was still making me cry in laughter. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The only issue I have with YouTube is that there is so much junk on there, it can get frustrating to find the real "gems." So I usually use <a href="http://www.videosift.com">Videosift</a>, a pretty good video aggregator. Then I just get the cream of the crop (i guess). </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-6917835611155934792007-03-22T10:42:00.000-07:002007-03-22T12:29:43.405-07:00Week 8, Ex 19 - Library Thing<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Library Thing was cool, but not really my cup of tea. I don't really have a desire to share with others what my favorite books are (unless they ask). I also don't care about getting book suggestions. I usually have a pretty huge list that never seems to get shorter even if I read books faster and faster. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I understand why people like this site: it's really user friendly, and it is fun to add book to your "catalog." I guess I just don't see myself using it very often. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Oh yeah: here's my link! <a href="http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=rockstar_librarian">http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=rockstar_librarian</a>. Most of the books I chose were pretty popular among other users, but there were a some authors I was surprised didn't get too many hits (Steve Martin and Thomas Friedman). </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">One of my books, <em>The Devil in the White City</em>, has a review that described the book as, "a mezmerizing read." First of all, it's spelled: mesmerizing. Second of all... the definition of mesmerize is: "attracting and holding interest as if by a spell." Was the book really that amazing? I just thought Larson has a good way of keeping the reader interested in the story. Well, perhaps that reviewer is in awe over serial killers during the world's fair. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-62799643212831644632007-03-22T10:20:00.000-07:002007-03-22T10:42:34.690-07:00Week 8, Ex 18<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I've been using Google docs for a while now. It's been a good alternative to working on documents at home or at work... especially when I forget to bring a flash drive with me. My favorite way to use Google docs is my "what to read" booklist document. Usually I find books to read at the library (duh) so it's nice to be able to log in and just add the book to my list. Then I can access the document at home and look through the list in my spare time. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I've never used Zoho Writer until now. I really like all of the different features it has besides making documents and spreadsheets (especially the to-do lists and presentation functions). Overall, I still find it pretty amazing that services like these (especially the web conferencing) are now being offered for free. Less than 10 years ago, it was something I would never think of using because I was just a student or not working for some huge company. But now I can web conference with other librarians, friends, family.. anyone! :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Probably because I have access to a computer at work and at home, I wouldn't use this site very much. But I can see a student or someone who is just always on the go, but doesn't have a laptop, using Zoho a lot. I've tried to talk to customers about using Google docs, or another web word processing site, but there is still this disbelief that the document will still be there when they log off. There has also been issues that the customers may not have Internet access when they are at home. </span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-90215241841085859722007-03-22T09:10:00.000-07:002007-03-22T10:15:54.918-07:00Week 7, Ex 17<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I would really like to use a wiki to keep track of our branch's outreach partners. There would be a different page for every type of partner (daycares, businesses, schools, non-profits, etc.), then whenever someone makes a new connection, they can just post in on the wiki so all of the other librarians have easy access to it. </span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">It would be a great resource if a new librarian were to join the branch because they would already have all of the contact information for the branch's current partners. Yay for no duplication! :) </span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-35636984042613186782007-03-21T16:12:00.000-07:002007-03-21T16:41:58.289-07:00Week 7, Ex. 16<span style="font-family:arial;">My favorite wikis that were on the browsing list were the BookLovers and the pathfinders wiki. Having a book suggestion wiki would be great for a library (especially one as big as SJPL) because you'll be able to get such a wide variety of titles. I also liked the pathfinders wiki for the same reason: having the brains of 100 librarians is much more useful than only one (even if that one librarian is awesome). Our Youth Services wiki has also become a great tool for SJPL because of the reason stated above, AND I like the fact that our email boxes don't have to be loaded with huge files... we can just say, "download the form from the wiki!" </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But of course, being good for one thing, usually means it is not the best idea for another. When I worked at a high school library, I noticed that many students who would do web searches for reserach would use Wikipedia as a source (mostly because it would be one of the first results). It was really hard to convince students that Wikipedia can be a bad source for information due to the fact that it can be edited by anyone (well, almost anyone). The librarian and I ended up incorporating Wikipedia into our regular "how to find reliable resources on the Internet" lesson. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Overall, I really do like how wikis work. It allows for everyone to participate in sharing information and like the VST said, most wiki providers make it so user friendly, the technology barrier does not seem as large. </span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-26198013138854442472007-03-20T19:03:00.000-07:002007-03-20T19:49:00.997-07:00Week 6, Ex. 15<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Reading all of the articles about Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and Librarian 2.0 can make anyone working in libraries excited (or scared) about where libraries are heading. I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about all of these new ways that libraries will provide services, but I also know that even if many of our patrons are ready for it, there is still a large community that isn't. Something I feel that is just as important as Web 2.0 is the "digital divide." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I understand that librarians should be aware of new technologies and how these will be incorporated into our services. One point that none of these articles really make is that being comfortable with technology (in general) will also help our patrons who are still on Web 1.0. </span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I liked Rick Anderson's article about the "icebergs" we face. His last one about reaching out to the community to provide services was something that could be incorporated with customers who are learning about podcasts to those who are getting their first email accounts. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Perhaps these articles are the appropriate type of forum for a discussion on the digital divide and how Web 2.0 can play a role in bridging that gap. I think that sites like MySpace are doing a great job of this (even if they don't realize it). Many of the teen customers in my branch don't have a computer or Internet access at home, but I'm positive well over the majority of them have a MySpace. So at one end they are part of this new interconnectivity the web is offering, but on the other end, they're learning how to use HTML, send messages, and even literacy. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Anyhoo, that's all for now... time to go home!</span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-15230451284140133032007-03-19T18:16:00.000-07:002007-03-19T18:42:52.443-07:00Week 6, Ex. 14<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I've never really looked around Technorati until now. It's a huge website and even looking at the home page makes me think, "Yeesh.. these are a lot of blogs." Even though I consider myself a somewhat consistent blogger, I'm really not into reading them very much; there just seems to be way too many out there. I don't even know where to begin. So perhaps this is why sites like Technorati are useful! (duh) </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The one thing I did notice when I took a look at the popular page on Technorati was that even though this site totes itself on having blogs from mr. or ms. regular dude, many of the most popular blogs are still ones from big sites (boingboing, google, Huffington post, slashdot, etc.). I know that popularity is based on the number of people who list the blog as their favorite, and of course, the people and companies who are already popular will have a bigger fan base. But it would just be cool to have Mr. Joe Shmoe's blog be in the top 10. :)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">~~~~~</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">As a librarian, I really like the tagging aspect of all of these sites we've been looking at. The more organized I can make things, the better. The tagging linked with the concept of web 2.0 allows for people to find similar interest via their photos, bookmarks, blog entries, or where ever tags are being used. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I guess the only potential problem I see with tags can actually be considered a good thing as well. Since anyone can tag something anything they want, there may be some paths that never cross that should! For example, if I tag something as "learning2.0", it may never get picked up from someone who tags a similar entry as "learning2.0" or "web2.0". There are probably sites that already group similar tags together, but I can see how some connections may never be made because of this. </span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-76564389281097171152007-03-16T10:50:00.000-07:002007-03-19T18:16:28.481-07:00Del.icio.us -- Week 6, Ex. 13<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">When I first got my del.icio.us account, I really liked going through all of my bookmarks to see who else had also bookmarked. I also liked the satisfaction if I was the "first" person to bookmark a certain site. Ha! My favorite part of del.icio.us was looking at the popular links on the front page. With so much information on the Internet, it's nice to just get links from other people who are doing the surfing. :) Having an account is also very useful if you use more than one PC / laptop. It's nice to have your bookmarks online so you don't have to Google at work that really cool site you saw last night at home. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Probably because del.icio.us is one of the more popular social bookmarking sites, the content is pretty varied; at least it seems this way when you look at the popular links. <a href="http://www.digg.com">Digg</a> seems to be more of a tech-geek site; there are lots of articles on how to mess with various video game consoles, new gadgets, and new releases of games and other electronics. <a href="http://reddit.com">Reddit</a> is much more aimed at political articles and compared to del.icio.us and digg, has a very basic (not really pretty) home page. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Anyhoo, it's interesting to see (again) how people are using the Internet to connect with each other. Now even things that were always personal, like your bookmarks, can be shared with others. </span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-42355947059451413082007-02-10T16:40:00.000-08:002007-03-16T10:50:41.332-07:00Week 5, Ex. 12 - My First Rollyo<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I've never heard of this site until now. I agree with the VST that librarians can totally use Rollyo to bookmark favorite websites when doing searches for customers. Here is the first one I started working on after making my account:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><a href="http://rollyo.com/rockstar_librarian/ya_readers_advisory/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">http://rollyo.com/rockstar_librarian/ya_readers_advisory/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> (it's a work in progress!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">There are a couple of things I see that would prevent me from using it:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">1) I'd be too lazy to sign in on at staff computer on the floor. I would just deal with more search results.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">2) What if I didn't add a site that could be totally useful? I would be missing that information if I depended on my specific search choices.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">One way I could make good use of it is to post it on our MySpace page or our sjlibrary.org page so patrons can use it whenever they want to. </span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-56079285309546797522007-02-10T14:12:00.000-08:002007-03-10T11:21:53.792-08:00Week 5, Ex. 11<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Of course, out of all the Web 2.0 selections, I decide to pick a subject that is near and dear to my heart: shopping.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">So I took a look at a couple of choices in the "retail" category. Each one offered a completely different way to do interactive shopping. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Etsy.com</strong> -- This site allows up and coming artists a chance to share and sell their clothing, crafts, toys, books, jewelry, and anything else one can think of. Besides the type of item you may be looking for, Etsy also lets you search by location of creator, their hot items, and even by the color! It's an awesome way to get something really unique and it also offers these creators an inexpensive way to showcase their talents.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">The only warning I would give is that anyone can make an account and post products. I was looking at different stationary and stumbled on a seller who make 4 Valentines out of construction paper and was trying to sell them for $10.50. Not cool. I would consider this to be like Ebay... be very careful about who you buy items from. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>threadless.com</strong> -- I *really* like this store. Just like Etsy, this site gives artists a chance to sell their artwork, but all designs are sold on cotton shirts. The one thing this site does to prevent an overload of choices, is it allows the public to register as a score-person. Once registering, you can start looking at recently submitted designs and score them on a scale from 1-5. The highest scores are made and sold into shirts. I like the way this site encourages designers, but I also like how there is a filtering process so not just anything is posted and sold.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Both sites offer the viewer a number of things not offered before when it comes to shopping on the Internet:</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">More viewer/shopper interaction</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">A chance for new artists to show their stuff</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Viewers have more control over the content of the site</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Of course, I guess that's what Web 2.0 is all about.</span> </p>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-80502022840004455372007-02-04T21:35:00.000-08:002007-03-10T17:33:03.264-08:00Week 5, Ex. 10<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXct77wq14rLQfHCerXhtJttKJYWxXELtjeqg8dn_rJKFw4bNgDrZ0PAJUodRK1UlhhgnuJmNmJoAAhqXWwk8CmMQr1h2OF89qV1COSBemPCll6_XJ5W41mBrFHCeVnh1ZI2t0sb5btn0/s1600-h/mr_t_cartoon.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5040470178911798850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXct77wq14rLQfHCerXhtJttKJYWxXELtjeqg8dn_rJKFw4bNgDrZ0PAJUodRK1UlhhgnuJmNmJoAAhqXWwk8CmMQr1h2OF89qV1COSBemPCll6_XJ5W41mBrFHCeVnh1ZI2t0sb5btn0/s320/mr_t_cartoon.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">As you can see, I decided to use the </span><a href="http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> for exercise 10. Why? Um, because there was actually a Mr. T cartoon on it. What can be better than that ... seriously. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Besides the fact that these kinds of image generator sites are just another example of how the Internet is becomming more and more interactive with its users... it's also a great way to kill time.</span> </p><p> </p>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-31454325306282241402007-02-04T20:59:00.000-08:002007-02-04T21:32:50.773-08:00Week 4, Ex 9<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Perhaps it's because I'm too lazy, or that I really don't have a lot of time (or the desire) to search through blogs, news, podcasts, etc., but I really thought that Bloglines had the best variety of feeds for me. I found some from sites I already visit: Digg, slate, sj mercury, and nytimes, and I also found some that I've never heard of like Popgadget: Personal tech for women, and Obscure sound, an indie music blog.<br /><br />I tried using Technocrati and Syndic8 and I found both of them too overwhelming. There were a lot of blogs to go through and a lot of them were just personal ones that I had no interest in. I guess I can see if I was really interested in a specific topic, I may want to look for others that share my interest. But my interests are pretty broad and a couple of well-known feeds should cover my need. :)<br /><br />Besides using newsfeed sites, I also tried searching for newsfeeds I thought should exist. For example, I wanted to know if The Daily Show had an RSS feed and yay! they did. It's obviously not the quickest way to search for feeds, but it still worked.<br /><br />I also use the "personalize" feature on Google. Rather than have the standard google.com home page, you can choose all of these different feeds, games, news, etc. to show up on the home page. It's just like the yahoo! home page except very specific to what you choose to be on it. I currently have on my Google page: the date, world news stories, local news, the weather in Cupertino, and the "how to" articles of the day.<br /><br />As mentioned in my previous entry, I never used Bloglines until now and I find it really useful and convenient. Now there's one more thing to distract me @ work!</span><br /></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-72869001910234895052007-01-31T20:47:00.000-08:002007-01-31T21:02:34.258-08:00Reference help?<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Perhaps this is old news to other people, but I was reading this article about Web 2.0 </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.our-picks.com/archives/2007/01/31/after-web-20-follow-the-rise-from-the-simple-search-to-search-engine-20/%20">Search Engine 2.0</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, and it mentioned a new search engine called </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.chacha.com/">http://www.chacha.com/</a><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The regular search engine part is fine, but the </span><b style="font-family: arial;">cooler</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> part is if you enter your keywords, then click on "Search with Guide". It actually connects you with a live person who will help you with your search! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I tried to see who the people on the other end were, but I couldn't really find anything about if they had library science or information science degrees. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyhoo, it's still pretty interesting.</span></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-91956938568503919892007-01-30T22:09:00.000-08:002007-02-04T21:32:35.594-08:00Week 4, Ex. 8 - RSS<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I was aware of RSS feeds and I used them occasionally, but I never have used Bloglines before. It's a great way to be able to log into one website and read all of the news you want without having to log into 2390234820 separate websites. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Here's mine: <a href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/rockstar-librarian">http://www.bloglines.com/public/rockstar-librarian</a> .... it's definitely a work in progress. I chose ones I thought I would like to read; but if some are boring, I'll remove them, as well as add interesting ones. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm glad I made a bloglines account because one of my goals of this year was to keep up with current events and this is a great way to do so!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It's also interesting to me how sites like bloglines are helping people make the most of the Internet. There are so many websites and information out there, where does one person even begin to read everything? Well, people don't read everything; they shouldn't. Having a way to organize and prioritize information is what makes sites like bloglines so important. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I hope to use my new account to bookmark not only for my personal use, but to bookmark and share feeds that would help me out with my job! </span></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-21377415309232466452007-01-23T21:37:00.000-08:002007-01-23T21:39:09.546-08:00I Love You, PC<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Interesting, and scary article:</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://news.digitaltrends.com/article12132.html">Computer or Spouse?</a> </span></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-36484748382978658492007-01-22T17:13:00.000-08:002007-02-04T21:32:16.377-08:00Week 3, Ex. 7<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Video game consoles have sure come a long way.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Remember when you would play a video game and as soon as you turned it off, your game was done? There was no saving games (with a few exceptions). Or remember when you actually had to invite people over to your house to play a game? Or how a console's only function was for video game playing? Or how a cord actually connected your game controller to your console?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This isn't the case anymore. Video game consoles nowadays are so much more than just... well, video games! You can save the place you were at if you're done playing for the day, play DVDs, CDs, mp3s, play and chat with friends online, and many other things I don't even know about. It is like having an entertainment center, all contained in a small box.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Microsoft is going to make their PC software more compatible with their console, Xbox 360, with their new Vista OS. This article about gaming on Vista (</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://crunchgear.com/2007/01/23/vista-gaming-10-reasons-it-will-be-hot-5-reasons-were-worried/">Top 10 reasons why Vista gaming will be hot</a><span style="font-family:arial;">) is a good example of how gaming consoles are evolving into something much more complex.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Along with large companies like Microsoft, the gamers (or smaller business owners) are also tweaking consoles to make them do things an 8-bit NES could never accomplish:</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/23/how-to-make-a-wii-laptop-part-1/">How to make a Wii laptop (part 1)</a><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://news.com.com/2100-1040-937124.html">2002 article about the first Xbox modification chip</a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="https://www.allmodchip.com/PS2_Mod_Chip_Installation_and_Usage_Instructions_sp_8.html">Buy your PS2 modchip here!</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now I'm not saying anything new. I just thought it was interesting to see how far video games have come. </span></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-31482152661749602322007-01-18T10:27:00.000-08:002007-01-18T11:45:26.670-08:00Cool resource<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I'm usually not one to read all about libraries on my days off, but I thought this was a pretty cool blog/resource tool:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://librariancentral.blogspot.com/">http://librariancentral.blogspot.com/</a><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-15453489538163370172007-01-17T22:09:00.000-08:002007-01-17T22:11:47.747-08:00Week 3, Ex. 6<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7o8mFiZiAeP5xhnvsnt5nLo_2GVQ90_IfDvrwJheLMi7O8DvTWlrBoHAkiO_O1rwGgmC9isADYue3dzrjCTTrMoAkEfbTDvXlnXGwIDXfGpPuHyCOnYMRJeh3wtnN3VOZiC9W-QOCKc/s1600-h/deck7350461.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7o8mFiZiAeP5xhnvsnt5nLo_2GVQ90_IfDvrwJheLMi7O8DvTWlrBoHAkiO_O1rwGgmC9isADYue3dzrjCTTrMoAkEfbTDvXlnXGwIDXfGpPuHyCOnYMRJeh3wtnN3VOZiC9W-QOCKc/s320/deck7350461.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5021248907684583970" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >Wow, I've finally made it to trading card status.<br /><br /></span></div>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-67731340499482379072007-01-17T21:32:00.000-08:002007-01-17T21:35:37.171-08:00More for Ex. 5<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8KVAgLcOn-MG-d_sAm6ErrVDJVx3yhGmbuSX2lhaa6lyYx0OuL9W-ZuyCD-AMZO392hlspcCy2P4wNmMywpXXkQCFYZn_r60mMMZ88DHscXTMr8CjBzqm4qP-QOWCTQSYIYYgh0IEt0/s1600-h/motivator5056158.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8KVAgLcOn-MG-d_sAm6ErrVDJVx3yhGmbuSX2lhaa6lyYx0OuL9W-ZuyCD-AMZO392hlspcCy2P4wNmMywpXXkQCFYZn_r60mMMZ88DHscXTMr8CjBzqm4qP-QOWCTQSYIYYgh0IEt0/s320/motivator5056158.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5021239295547775506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Who cares about Elmo? It's all about Cookie Monster.<br /><br />Make your own motivational poster: <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/motivator.php">http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/motivator.php</a><br /><br /></span></span></div>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-21205251227577466602007-01-16T21:49:00.001-08:002007-01-16T21:49:18.730-08:00Week 3, Ex. 5<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72639806@N00/324577892/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/324577892_f1f737f28a_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72639806@N00/324577892/">staff1</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/72639806@N00/">writerang</a>. </span></div>Yay! I love my co-workers; they rock the house... er, the branch.<br clear="all" />rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795469811466615458.post-74406253683987611332007-01-16T16:08:00.000-08:002007-01-16T16:09:57.271-08:00Week 2, Ex 4<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ummm... exercise 4 just said to register my blog with the Virtual Service Team. So I did. Whew.. that was rough. </span></span>rockstar_librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419056934715566131noreply@blogger.com1