Week 9: Exercises 20, 21,22,23 (Podcasts, Video & ebooks)

#20-YouTube at least has a "howto" category and under this was how to make a podcast (How to YouTube Podcast) http://youtube.com/watch?v=BNQLDgkUXvk and this is one of many from Infinite Solutions.
As noted there is a lot of rubbish and I had to sift through this to find the clips of interest to me.
I had already seen the library ones including Conan the librarian . I also watch video clips on the news web sites.
#21 Well at least http://www.podcast.net/ has a broader range of categories like arts, home and lifestyle,religion and philosophy. So Gardening is there and of course travel. Very little on home decorating too. Perhaps not the right forum.
I searched high and low for suitable podcasts that featured book reviews and settled on adding NPR 5 mins news to my existing RSS feeds on my bloglines.
#22 Netlibrary is a database we in Collections are familiar with because we select ebook titles for our library from here.However we are usually not working with this front end so to speak.I was disappointed with the absense of any categories a new user might want to select from to get an idea of the whole list.
#23The end is nigh and I will do survey. I think I have added reflections throughout the whole process of Web 2.0 learning. I think it has been a fantastic opportunity for those us not naturally drawn into these new technologies and what more we are permitted to explore it at work! I have learnt lots and am incorporating my favourite toys into my daily life already.

Week 8: Exercises 18 & 19 (Online Applications & Tools)

#18 Zoho Writer has great potential for me both at home and work, and also while travelling. This tool seems to reduce those limitations we are all so used to in word processing documents. And it can do heaps more:
"1) My documents can be saved online, so I can access them anywhere and I don't have to carry my USB drive or a diskette around.2) I can export this file as a Word or .txt file document, which makes it easy to use inside Word.3) The email feature is easy to use also. It allows me to email this document as a Word file, .pdf document, HTML and many other options. 4) I like that I can publish my documents as a public file so anyone (like you right now) can read it as a web page.5) I also like that I can export my file as a .pdf document or HTML (this is very cool!!) 6) And if I like, I can also use Zoho as a text editor and then publish my document as a post on my Blogger blog." (quoted from Helen Blowers and Jean Herriges)
I imported a photo from my PC easily but had difficulty doing same from my Flickr photo sets. My browser crashed in fact!
#19 Web 2.00 short list has of course many of the sites we have been exploring. I have bookmarked this site in my blog because it has all the goodies!
Under the travel section realtravel has interesting possibilities when we do the big trip in in 18 months or so. But but but....where all the categegories for lifestyle sites like gardening, cookery and fashion?

Week 7 Exercises 16 and 17 (Wikis)

#16 I have frequently used Wikipedia in the course of trying to track down obscure titles that customers ask us to buy. When our supplier databases don't find them we google the item and sometimes Wikipedia has an entry. This can mean that the item isn't a book at all but an article or discussion.
I love the idea of Wikis and agree that "it is an incredibly useful tool for collaborative writing, pooling knowledge or exchanging ideas, especially on a subject that changes or needs updating frequently." (from PLCMC Core Competencies blog)
The Book Lovers Wiki from Princton Public Library offers another source of reviews for our team to assist in our selection of titles. Reviews especially help us to identify either the marginal titles or the next big one.
Ideal uses of wikis for libraries would be in both customer service FAQ/quick reference type resource and also a staff intranet for training manuals. As soon as a manual is created it becomes out of date. So a tool whereby constant updating is easily accessible has to be good, in spite of the small dangers of incorrect/malicious editing!
#17 And I have now added my blog to the Favourite Blogs on PBwiki Learning 2.0 wiki.

Week 6 Exercises 13, 14, 15 ( Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us)

#13 Logged onto del.icio.us and I reckon I can use this between work and home by bookmarking items of interest, rather than research at this point. I have installed the buttons on my link bar here and I guess I will need to do the same at home. Any device thats economises on effort sounds good to me. The social networking aspect appeals too. I liked Jessamyn West's fabulous rundown on Flickr.
#14 Nice little entertaining video clip of social bookmarking in plain english.
Looked around PLCMCL2 account and Technorati and as I paused, several more posts appeared........all very American of course.
#15 Yes I understand that Library 2.0 is a term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. And thatthe name is an extension of Web2.0 and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (libraries).
# 15-Rick Anderson's article "away from the Icebergs makes interesting reading. I agree that that the The “come to us” model of library service is a priority for us because: "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." Michael Stephens's Into a new world of librarianship underlines another theme I have accord with; being a trendspotter.

Greenhithe Garden Tour 11thNovember 2007

Greenhithe Garden Tour
Originally uploaded by rosiewilk@xtra.co.nz

Last Sunday my Greenhithe friends had a wonderful day meandering around the gorgeous hidden gardens in glorious sunshine.

Week 5 -Steps 10-12 (Playweek)

#10 External stressors mean't I wasn't much in the mood for playing but managed today to work through the exercises.
In the online image generator exercise I made my own Dec o7 and Jan 08 calendar months using some photos I took earlier this year of Pohutakawa and lavender.
I also dabbled with the cappuccino generator and put this on my blog.
#11 Next I looked at the librarything, I took the tour, created an account, added 5 titles to my catalogue (all on travel or gardening because I am desperate for some stress relief), and checked out the librarything blog. There at the top was the very title I had checked this morning when I came in. Identical Strangers, a book written by twins separated at birth was reviewed in the weekend papers. (Monday mornings I check that we have all reviewed titles in my lifestyle portfolio). Yes already ordered a few weeks ago. I have no interest at present however, in cataloguing or sharing my books online. Maybe when I am less stressed!
#12 Rollyo-well I explored this too and registered, added some searchrolls and created my own. I then added it to my blog as a link. I noticed a celebrity gossip search slip in among my others-not wanted! For my own searchroll I simply scanned my favourites folders and choose one of them. Basically I tend to add all my high use URLs to my link bar although just when I have them working perfectly they return to alphabetical order when the server is reset.
End of play

My dream last night-symbolic of inner riches?

I have been having some vivid dreams lately. Last night's one (early morning really) saw me driving along a country road in an old car, stopping off at old house rented by a couple of queens I think. I wandered around the section and poured something into a culvert and somehow caused the whole valley to flood! When it subsided I returned to the ramshackle house and its run-down front room. I ventured further into the house and discovered it was a grand palace of a place filled with people wanting me to join in with their activities. I pondered this and woke up to torrential rain outside.........

Summer in the Nelson Region 2007

My creation
Originally uploaded by rosiewilk@xtra.co.nz

I took most of these in early January this year. I was focused on the gorgeous red Pohutakawa flowers, the lavender-like spikes on the roadside inland from Nelson and the wild foxgloves near Murchison.
There are also a couple of my flowering carpet driveway roses.

Week Four- Steps 8 & 9 (RSS feeds)

#8 Hmm... I was a weeny bit apprehensive about doing this bit because my colleagues kept muttering about their difficulty in linking their blogline to their blog and whether the whole exercise in getting RSS feeds was actually worth the time it saved in avoiding the websites they belonged to.........
So, with the confidence of a traveller venturing into the unknown, I blindly tackled the exercises, read the tutorials, watched the video clips, searched for interesting websites with RSS feeds I wanted and did my homework. It seems relatively straightfoward even though I don't have a clue about the mechanics of what I am doing. This is probably what makes this whole exercise most challenging really; doing the steps with very little knowledge of how the whole process is engineered from below; the underpinnings so to speak. When I pasted the URLs of some of my own RSS feeds from the NZ Herald though, the page did have all the HTML content there.
So all is good and it remains to be seen how much I will actually check and read the RSS feeds on a regular basis.
#9 Update: Have had a look at sites like Readers Feed and checked out the Travel, Wellness and Selfhelp review lists. These look similar to the NextReads that we get and so for the purposes of book selection I would be duplicating work here. Will keep seaching on Bloglines for suitable feeds that will supply new book reviews though and new trends I need to know about in each of my lifestyle selection areas.
Topix.net impressed my immediatlely with Auckland based feeds that grabbed my attention. NZ Herald works better for me though.
RSS search tools I looked at were Feedster (upgrading site now though),Syndic8.com which looks to be vast resource I will investigate further and of course Technorati which if you just pause there and watch more blogs keep appearing constantly.

Week Three-Steps 5-7 (Photos and Images)

#5&6 Whew!
Explore Flickr I did. Have some fun I did too.
Got confused also (this happens quite easily) by the fact that Yahoo recognised my home email address and login even though I wasn't using this for my blog. And then my poor brain had to lurch backward and forwards and sideways to keep up with all the link ups from Flickr. How on earth will I remember all these I wonder. Use them or lose them I guess.
The more I explored, the more sidetracked I got and then, like being in a maze, I had to find my way back. The end result on my blog is a motley collection of photos with brief titles. I also went onto Mosaic maker from http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/and created a mosaic from a set of photos I uploaded onto Flickr.
#7 Technology related observation -Since I purchased a digital camera a couple of years ago I have been able to take heaps more photos of the properties I manage and download them onto my PC at home. When the existing tenant advises they are leaving I simply place an advert onto Trade Me (at home)with great images and these alone rent the place out well. So, efficiency all round.
Oh, and I posted a comment on my namesake's blog; the gorgeous rambling rose!

my old workstation

This is where we used to work on the first floor for a couple of years. I loved this spot because I could see outof the window and check out the weather. Natural light helped too.I am sure it kept SAD (seasonal affective disorder) at bay!

my old workstation
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/14428248@N04/

Week Two-Step 4 (Online Communities)

Now I really feel my age. Looking at Bebo makes me feel old! Even though my 30 year old has been texting and emailing me for years in this same cryptic language and appalling spelling it doesn't mean I have to like it. I know language is usage etc but how do people manage to fill out job applications with perfect grammar? I suppose the answer is ....does it really matter?
Looking at Myspace I first searched the main US site under classifieds and found Auckland under Australia.....no great surprise I suppose for an American site. So switched to NZMyspace and did same with Auckland was still under AU........I think classifieds default to US.
Then I searched through the groups , noting many were founded in 2004/2005 and browsed through the places and travel ones. Noticed lots of private groups comments by the editor like"please refrain from spam posts, this is a place for travel lovers, not for entrepreneurs to place there business information and scams."
Lastly I looked at Facebook and the explanatory statement explains it nicely: "Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet. An online community? But then under "Recent Headlines" in an interview with Time Magazine, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says " Our whole theory is that people have real connections in the world. People communicate most naturally and effectively with their friends and the people around them. What we figured is that if we could model what those connections were, [we could] provide that information to a set of applications through which people want to share information, photos or videos or events. But that only works if those relationships are real. That's a really big difference between Facebook and a lot of other sites. We're not thinking about ourselves as a community — we're not trying to build a community — we're not trying to make new connections. " Nice.

Week One-Steps 1, 2, 3

The adventure has begun!
After a few glitches I am on my way and have created the bones of my first blog.
My internal process around this has reminded me how I approach learning and problem solving.
I was simultaneously excited about the possibilities and terrified because of my fear of failure.
So I took the plunge.
Then as I mastered the technical aspects I was able to reflect on content. What is the purpose of this blog? Who am I writing to and for? What message am I conveying? What does all this say about me? Reflection reflection.....
Yes, I am a babyboomer and like many, I have issues around exposure. Feeling exposed that is.
So I am mindful of being selective in what I post and what sort of attention that might result.
Having said that, this is a process for me and I want to create and express who I am and where I have come from... and where I am going. I am quite familiar with journaling my process as a therapeutic tool but how much do I want to reveal here? And to date it has been one hell of a journey.
Then my resourceful side kicked in. What else could I include and where could I search. I trawled my own files and found some things that have helped me in the past. So, thus far, my blog reflects what I have long wanted (serenity), some lessons for living I agree with and which keep me in line when I begin to stray (Dalai Lama stuff), a list qualities that benchmark healthy relating and some pictures (all mine) that capture some aspects of my life now.
All of these elements depict tools I have in my toolkit but this is just the beginning.
I am sure in the next few weeks my blog will evolve in all sorts of directions and I can hardly wait!

How to know you are healthy emotionally

People who are healthy in themselves, ready for love and love-able show some of the following qualities, characteristics and attitudes:

· They don’t expect others to make them feel good. They are not always looking for approval acceptance or appreciation from outside themselves. Their feelings about themselves do not depend on the opinions of others, yet they are comfortable with compliments and acknowledgement given to them.

· They feel loveable regardless of their weaknesses or mistakes. They are not plagued with quilt, shame, fears and inadequacies. They are not too demanding or condemning of themselves, their children or others. Acceptance and forgiveness is not hard for them.

· They do good things for the quality of their own life, not for reward or recognition. They feel that their value comes from who they are more than what they do. They do not have to achieve great things or prove anything to anyone in order to feel good about themselves.

· They don’t live in fear of what others may think. They do not need to spend a lot of time, energy or resources keeping up an image or front. They are not afraid of expressing their own personality, feelings or opinions and do not need to be defensive or protective about themselves.
· They have a sense of empathy, acceptance of and compassion for other people. They understand human dilemmas and don’t feel the need to be controlling or critical as other people work things out for themselves, maybe in their time and in different ways.

· They are willing and able to generate energy, love and care towards others. They give without waiting for others to give back in return. They reach out naturally and warmly, giving of themselves.

· They radiate and unaffected and genuine humanity that makes them appealing and attractive. Even if they have had disappointments and setbacks, they are not afraid of love or life. They radiate energy, enthusiasm, personality, hope and heart and other people respond readily to this warmth and naturalness

· They look after themselves. They do not feel that it is selfish to make sure they feel good and look good. They keep themselves healthy, balanced, motivated and attractive, seeking fulfilment and quality in their life. They manage their time and resources so that their needs are not always last on the list.

· They pursue communication and understanding in their relationships. They are not oversensitive and do not need to resort to denial, blame, defence or attack in their interactions with others. They are not withholding or detached and do not avoid intimacy or being truly known by others.

· They are open and honest in expressing themselves. They are not superficial and they give others the space and freedom to express themselves as well. They listen, contribute and care as they communicate. They are not afraid of admitting their own struggles, confusions, troubles or triumphs in life.

· They are natural and comfortable with themselves. They have their own style and way of being and they enjoy others being themselves too. They don’t feel inadequate or needy and do not need to be smothering, jealous, demanding or guarded in their relationships.

· They can express themselves on all levels, social as well as intimate. They are not afraid of intimacy and have a desire to know themselves and be known in return. They have nothing to hide and are comfortable with themselves, warts and all. They so not have boundaries or mannerisms that keep others out.

Dalai Lama’s Instructions For Life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realise you’ve made a mistake; take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation of your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go somewhere you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Not that I work here

There I was just sitting at my desk and all these people turned up and someone took a photo of us all. I guess I will find out why eventually.....