Week 7: Thing 17: 2.0 SandBox Wiki

I tried and tried to play in the sandbox for this "thing" but was unsuccessful. I went to the Maryland Libraries Sandbox and tried to set up an OpenID account, to log in, but it would not authenticate my account or let me into the workspace. After several unsuccessful attempts, playtime was over!!

Week 7: Thing 16: Wikis

This week, I became familiar with the "thing" known as a wiki. This term is derived from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki" which means fast and quick. A wiki is a web site that is easy to build, maintain and edit. All users or members of the site are able to add and edit content at will. This makes such a web site an attractive and easy way to share ideas, information and knowledge among the people who use it. In a library setting, for example, staff can share resources, training information, best practices, programming details--just about any form of internal communication. A library wiki is a good resource to use for communicating information to customers, as well, whether it be about the "latest great reads" or advertising upcoming events and programs. As good as a wiki might be, the accuracy of some information may be questionable since it is easily edited by any user of the wiki and content can be altered at anytime.

Week 6: Thing 15: The Future of Libraries

The future of libraries...hmm...



Libraries = Buildings with Walls (what we've been used to up to now), filled with collections of printed material.


Libraries = Virtual Services (new services offered with the impact of new technology), by which information is accessed electronically.

Libraries = Buildings with Walls + Virtual Services or simply Virtual Services.

No matter what form they take, libraries have been and will always be, warehouses of information.

Week 6: Thing 14: Technorati & Tags

I spent some time exploring Technorati. I did numerous keyword searches and can conclude that for every topic that you can think of, there is a blog! I also did a keyword search for "Learning 2.0" in blog posts, tags and in the blog directory. I was unable to explore the Technorati popular section because it was unavailable.

Week 6: Thing 13: Tagging & Del.icio.us

The assignment for this exercise was to explore tagging. Tagging is a tool used to categorize "things" online. Users can assign keywords or "tags" and use these keywords or phrases to search for online content. Additionally, we were supposed to explore a site known as Del.icio.us. Unfortunately, the video tutorial for this site is no longer working. I did learn, however, that Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site which allows you to bookmark web pages, add tags to categorize them and be able to share them with others.

Week 5: Thing 12: Rollyo

My assignment for this "thing" was to visit the Rollyo site. This is a site which enables you to create your own search engine. Unfortunately, Rollyo is under maintenance at this time so I was unable to visit it and learn the how to's of constructing my search engine. If time permits, I will re-visit the site and hope that all maintenance has been completed so that I can become familiar with this "thing".

Week 5: Thing 11: Library Thing

I visited the "Library Thing" site, registered and cataloged several recent books that I have read. It's a quick and easy way to keep track of the books that I have read, all in one nice, neat and tidy location! My link is http://www.librarything.com/catalog/carolng