Ning.com

After reading the article about what Ning.com did with their information, I was hesitant about doing much at their website. However, I decided to try it anyway. I was surprised to find more depth in the quality of organizations participating. I signed up for it and joined http://neuronetwork.ning.com/, which is a neuropsychology-interest group powered by Springer. I am impressed.

And then I joined the ALA (http://alamembers.ning.com/). I was surprised that they let me in because I'm not a member of all those professional organizations. I am happy that they did, though. I'll have to add another blog entry later after I have the opportunity to participate in the online forums.

More Facebook

I went to visit some friends last weekend, and guess what one wanted me to do. Help him with Facebook. I jumped in like I was a pro. Thanks to 23 Things, I knew what to do and had him set up with his picture and everything. Then when I got back to my computer, I searched for him on Facebook so I could add him as a friend.

Then I created a "What's on your mind" without a link. After I that, I wanted to be sure I put a link to our public library and give kudos to their summer reading program.

The next thing on the list for More Facebook was to find three groups to join. I was amazed when I started looking through the different groups! I guess I am too American because when I saw the groups from all over the world, I was quite surprised. There are people joining together to support causes everywhere and in so many different languages! I signed up for several :

• Psychology


• Evolutionary Psychology


• Occupational Psychology


• International Slow Food Movement


• Slow Cooker Recipes
  
  
• Catch and Release


• American Fisheries Society
  

I also found a group where I can be a fan:

• U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Fisheries

This is fun!!!!

Facebook

People use Facebook to show photos, give updates, etc. I think it could be used for a family and friends newsboard. I think I'll try to get my friends and cousins to look in on my new site. The internet is like a zoo, although nothing is really black and white!

RSS Feeds

I really have enjoyed the Real Simple Syndication feeds recommended by the NTRLS staff. I added the cartoon (Unshelved (Library Humor): http://www.unshelved.com) and news (Star Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com/189/index.rss ) feeds. I like it because all of the info and cartoons I missed while not at my computer are available.

My Google Reader

I like being able to catch up on just the new additions to the various websites that I'm interested in. There was one website that I tried to enter for tracking purposes, but the Reader did not get a feed from it, so I guess it doesn't work with all sites.

Image Generators

I decided to use this assignment as an example of on-line announcements. I chose the Comic Strip Generator as my starting place. Then I looked for "butterfly", but the closest that I could get was the cartoon character "Buttercup". Here she is announcing a special event at the library this weekend. Cool!

Dinosaur Flickr Jigsaw Mashup

There was an additional Flickr mashup that I tried - the jigsaw at Big Huge Labs. I was able to use a photo I took at the Ft. Worth Zoo when robotic dinosaurs were on display in the spring of 2008. I didn't realize T. rex's were this colorful and that a mashup could make it more interesting!

Read My Thoughts!

I had fun putting a caption into one of my photos. I'm the one in the middle. Jimmie (left), Patsy (right), and I were attending a meeting in Galveston in May of 2008 when this picture was taken by someone in the crowd.

I fluttered to Flickr!

I'm coming into the technology age! And it doesn't hurt a bit. I set up an account with Flickr, found some photos I had taken, and then uploaded them to site. Now I will have to find out how to provide a link to my other page!

Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

Technology is changing how we live, do business, play, communicate, and more. More also means the library needs to change how we serve our customers to meet their increasingly diversified technology use. We need to help the older group with learning what's available, to reach out to the middle generation to help them to keep up with their children, and the young people - somehow we have to incorporate our past with their present and future.

At the TechNet Conference, there was a gentleman there who gave a presentation on Web 3.0, the next frontier, so to speak. He told of software that could interpret a page on the internet and provide proper nouns, companies, locations, etc., and putting these all together.

It's a very exciting time to be a member of the local library's friends group.

Fluttering into the Information Age!

I am so excited about learning how to blog! It's about time that I caught up with the world wide web! I look forward to sharing my experiences with you along our way down the list of 23 Things. Maybe we will be able to meet at the next TechNet Conference!