Gaming and Virtual Worlds

I had difficulty getting Second Life to go at home. It kept telling me to upgrade something on my system, so I opted for gaming in Diner Dash. I could never be a waitress. My 14yr old was beside telling me to pour the coffee, seat the customer, keep the food critic happy. Atleast I made it that far! Quite fun!

Second Life would be great for libraries because you could give patrons a virtual tour of buildings, resources, customer service points. It would be a great marketing tool and providing general awareness. Would probably entertain Grade 7 students during a class visit. I think it would encourage people to join if they were hesitant of visiting.

Online Applications and Productivity Tools

These tools are fabulous. Don't have to spend tons of money on word processing, spreadsheet or presentation tools. Don't have to worry about saving on floppy's or on your hard drive. Save it on the web and share with others that can make changes etc.

Awesome tool!

Here is my document. Shared with my lovely friend Lisa!


http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dj92298_09n2wtbcb

Alice

Podcasts and Video

Here's my audio link to Bedtime Stories My Kids Love

http://www.podfeed.net/play/play.asp?id=3237

I must be a media snob. I found the Podcasts I selected irritating to listen to. I really do prefer listening to audio materials where the voices are clear and pleasant. Even listening to someone on the radio seems better.

You tube is a fun thing to go. My kids are forever discovering something very funny on there.

E-Books and E-Audio Books

I had lots of frustration doing this homework. I was finally able to download Witness by Karen Hess on NetLibrary and All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz from OverDrive. I found NetLibrary easier for searching materials and checking out. NetLibrary seemed more difficult to get back to where you started and I'm not really sure whether the book is on my hard drive or not. I couldn't find it. I'm afraid I may need to have some extra help in this area when I really want something to listen to.

Week:11, Intro to Electronic Databases

I was able to apply the RSS feeds to my Blog and Email. I used Health Source to find information on Arthritus and found some great articles. For the average person I think that the Academic databases provide articles a bit of a challenge to read. I do however think that this is a great service to offer for anyone always looking for current material on a particular subject. The library should post this service on the website or with print handouts, with explicit directions on how to apply the feeds to their blogs or their email.

Week 9: Facebook and Social Net Work

After a bit of effort I finally did it. On facebook I added a photograph of a flying squirrrel and browsed around. On the Hamilton Public Library Learning 2.0 social network I joined in, invited 2 friends and uploaded a picture and changed the appearance.

If I was younger and had more time I might enjoy doing this stuff, but right now the appeal is not there. I can see its uses for friends or family members that live far away from each other so they can keep up to date.

Week 8 Social Bookmarking and Tagging

After a bit of effort I finally figured out Delicious and its' purpose. It seems like a good tool to remember and share all of your favourite websites.

I really like Library Thing and would recommend this to some of my friends who are big readers. I really like the fact that it displays the cover art. So many times I forget the author or the title of a book, but remember the"Pink" cover. It is an awesome tool to record everthing you've read and would help in selecting potential material.

Both links are one my Blog with tags applied to the websites or books.

Week 7: Photos and Images

As you can see I have been quite successful in adding photos to my blog. It was quite easy.

I registered for Picasa and I love it. When looking at home for photos prior to Picasa, I had them in various locations. I guess I'm just not that organised! Anyway, now the link is on my desktop and all my photos are in one area and in chronoligical order. I can also play all my pictures as a slide show which is quite nice.

Week 6: Playtime

As you can see on my post I was able to make a trading card, I added a customized Smiley and I received a "Genious" for the Blog Readability test.

I did play with the Yahoo Answers and surfed through the"Slam the Boards." I have to say that 90% of the questions on Yahoo Answers are really trivial and a waste of my time. I think that the "Slam the Boards" is a great idea for more serious questions that involve a fair bit of time. I received 2 points for an answered question, but it had to do with my experiences of working with a spray adhesive. I chose not to find a source because I knew through experience.

One thing I am learning with this whole experience is to choose the same user log-in, email account and password for everything!!! It was really getting frustrating because I couldn't remember what I'd done at home, or on a work computer. Trial and error for sure!!

The use Wiki's

In a library setting I don't know that I am that comfortable with using them. Because anyone can edit them I would be afraid of whether or not the information was truly accurate. I also find the "links" applied to certain words a little overwhelming.

In a more relaxed setting, such as the "Group planning the camping trip" video, I think it is a wonderful idea. Avoiding the extranious emails would be very helpful.

Alice

Dealing with RSS feeds

After many trials I finally got it to work. I found your terminology on RSS feeds and how to apply them to my blog a little confusing. I had to ask another staff member to assist me.

Alice

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog!

I am a happy Library Technician with HPL at Barton and Kenilworth.

In my free time I like to spend quality moments with my family, read, and draw.
I really enjoy looking at other people's art, especially local artists.

Looking forward to post more.

Thanks

Alice