I joined the 23 Things on a Stick Ning as part of Thing 21 in Round 1, but since it came so late in the Things I didn't use it once I joined. I joined 2 other Ning networks. The first was for the Midwest Library Technology Conference 2008 and the second was a closed network used for planning an event. In both cases, use of Ning fizzled out fairly quickly. The technology conference Ning was valuable as a way for presenters to post materials, but it never generated much discussion related to the presentations. The other network suffered from the same lack of use. We discovered email was a more efficient way to discuss and resolve issues.
The 23 Things on a Stick Ning seems to be more active, unless it's just all a result of doing Thing 26! I did explore the groups without finding one that interested me. Most of them seem more relevant to public librarians than academic ones. To fulfill this Thing I uploaded a video and contributed to a discussion. I already added the Ning badge back in Thing #21.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
More with Thing #25 -- Post by email
I decided to test posting by email using my iPod Touch. It's easy,
but time consuming to type with only one finger. I can see it might
be helpful if I was doing live blogging somewhere and didn't have a
computer with me. But pretty much anywhere I'd have email access I'd
also have web access to post directly. So email posting doesn't seem
terribly useful.
but time consuming to type with only one finger. I can see it might
be helpful if I was doing live blogging somewhere and didn't have a
computer with me. But pretty much anywhere I'd have email access I'd
also have web access to post directly. So email posting doesn't seem
terribly useful.
---------------------
Sent from my iPod Touch
Thing #25 -- Bloggers' Toolkit
This is a good Thing to have at the beginning, to explore useful tools for blogging. But it's a bad Thing because there's so much to explore it can keep you from moving on to other Things. I've been stuck on #25 for a couple weeks now...
The usability article was informative. It was also validating, as I discovered I'm already following many of the suggestions. I like the one about tag clouds being more helpful than lists of previous posts by date; it makes a lot of sense. I plan to add a tag cloud to my blog--but first I have to go back and add tags to all the posts! It was something I hadn't done originally. That article also introduced me to Copyblogger, where I ended up spending a bunch of time reading.
Some of the 20 usability suggestions were frustrating, however. Since it was written using, and for, WordPress, many of the linked tools are WordPress specific. I'd see something I wanted to try, but not know how to. The frustration was compounded because I don't find Blogger's gadget lists very easy to use. Browsing categories brings up too many gadgets to page through, and searching doesn't seem to produce very helpful results. Kind of strange for a company that built itself on search!
Google Analytics is something I'm familiar with because I use it on a couple web sites I work with. It was simple to add tracking for this blog to the other sites I keep stats for. I noticed my blog has very few hits--not all that surprising. There are so many More Things on a Stick blogs that I've only looked at a small fraction myself.
With such low traffic, many of the Toolkit items don't make much sense. They'd just highlight how desolate my blog is out in cyberspace. ; - ) But I can see their value for more active blogs. I'm thinking about some of the comment tools (recent comments area, post ratings, most popular posts, etc.)
One thing I did add was the ability to subscribe to my blog. That's a key feature that I always look for on other blogs. A section I didn't even explore was the photo tools. I use a couple different imaging tools in my work on various web sites. For me, it's easier to keep using the tools I know than to work with different ones just for blogging.
The usability article was informative. It was also validating, as I discovered I'm already following many of the suggestions. I like the one about tag clouds being more helpful than lists of previous posts by date; it makes a lot of sense. I plan to add a tag cloud to my blog--but first I have to go back and add tags to all the posts! It was something I hadn't done originally. That article also introduced me to Copyblogger, where I ended up spending a bunch of time reading.
Some of the 20 usability suggestions were frustrating, however. Since it was written using, and for, WordPress, many of the linked tools are WordPress specific. I'd see something I wanted to try, but not know how to. The frustration was compounded because I don't find Blogger's gadget lists very easy to use. Browsing categories brings up too many gadgets to page through, and searching doesn't seem to produce very helpful results. Kind of strange for a company that built itself on search!
Google Analytics is something I'm familiar with because I use it on a couple web sites I work with. It was simple to add tracking for this blog to the other sites I keep stats for. I noticed my blog has very few hits--not all that surprising. There are so many More Things on a Stick blogs that I've only looked at a small fraction myself.
With such low traffic, many of the Toolkit items don't make much sense. They'd just highlight how desolate my blog is out in cyberspace. ; - ) But I can see their value for more active blogs. I'm thinking about some of the comment tools (recent comments area, post ratings, most popular posts, etc.)
One thing I did add was the ability to subscribe to my blog. That's a key feature that I always look for on other blogs. A section I didn't even explore was the photo tools. I use a couple different imaging tools in my work on various web sites. For me, it's easier to keep using the tools I know than to work with different ones just for blogging.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Thing #24 -- Refresh
When I finished 23 Things on a Stick I had all good intentions to keep up my blog, but somehow never actually did. That doesn't mean I haven't been blogging, just not on this one. A few months ago I began a blog to keep in touch with family around the country. I am also experimenting with a blog to communicate with faculty in my liaison departments. Now, with More Things on a Stick I will get back to posting to this one.
I spent quite a bit of time working on my blog design the first go-round, and still like the results. I did tweak the blog's colors a little, but don't see a need for major changes. The same goes for my avatar. I tried some of the suggested sites and others I found on my own, but didn't like many of my avatar experiments better than my first one from Yahoo!. In the end, I did create a new one I liked.
I spent quite a bit of time working on my blog design the first go-round, and still like the results. I did tweak the blog's colors a little, but don't see a need for major changes. The same goes for my avatar. I tried some of the suggested sites and others I found on my own, but didn't like many of my avatar experiments better than my first one from Yahoo!. In the end, I did create a new one I liked.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Thing #23 -- Final Thoughts
Blogging has been a bit of a revelation. I had not done it for a combination of 2 reasons. The first was my usual concern about content. Would I have anything to say? Or even: would I have anything to say that people would consider worth reading? What do I have to contribute that hasn't already been said better by others? Having the 23 Things to blog about gave me a starting point, and I may find from now on that coming up with posts isn't as hard as I thought. And they don't all have to be "great ideas."
The second reason I held back was for concerns about my privacy. In spite of all the Web 2.0 things happening around me I'm still not comfortable opening myself up too far online, at least not in any way that can be identified with my "real" self. So I set my blog up to be as anonymous as possible. I've struggled a bit with that choice as I worked through the Things. There were times when I could have illustrated a point better by mentioning or linking to a specific project or web page at my library. Since this program (and Web 2.0/Library 2.0 for that matter) isn't just about learning but also about sharing, was I breaking the rules so to speak? And how will I treat my identity if I continue my blog, as I plan to.
While, as I said at the very beginning, I've been doing some of the 23 Things for awhile, this program has been inspiring in its breadth of coverage. I found new uses for old Things, and was excited by the possibilities found in some new ones. And, to be honest, was completely unimpressed with a few...
In addition to blogging, some "new to me" Things that get applause are:
RSS feeds--not so much their use, but becoming aware of some new good ones, like LifeHacker and Librarian in Black.
Second Life--I was afraid to venture into virtual territory, but decided to take the leap for this Thing. I was impressed by what's there, and surprised at how often I could wander around and hardly see anyone else.
Library Thing--I want to play around with a couple applications using it.
One thing I've enjoyed is the way blogging about my experiences has made me slow down a bit to reflect on what I've learned. Instead of rushing through all the Things (especially as it got closer to the deadline) I had to take a break from willy-nilly clicking Resource links and think about what I was doing, whether or not it fit into my life and work, and if so, how.
Related to the mad dash toward the deadline: I'm glad the 23 Things blog will stay up for a bit. I'd like to go back to some of the Things and do more of the Challenges, or follow some of the links I left untouched on my first go-round. I also want to take some time to view other participants' blogs. I tried to read others at the beginning, but gave it up because 1) it was taking so much time I wasn't getting any of the Things done myself and 2) I didn't want their views to influence my own thinking too much while I was still exploring.
The second reason I held back was for concerns about my privacy. In spite of all the Web 2.0 things happening around me I'm still not comfortable opening myself up too far online, at least not in any way that can be identified with my "real" self. So I set my blog up to be as anonymous as possible. I've struggled a bit with that choice as I worked through the Things. There were times when I could have illustrated a point better by mentioning or linking to a specific project or web page at my library. Since this program (and Web 2.0/Library 2.0 for that matter) isn't just about learning but also about sharing, was I breaking the rules so to speak? And how will I treat my identity if I continue my blog, as I plan to.
While, as I said at the very beginning, I've been doing some of the 23 Things for awhile, this program has been inspiring in its breadth of coverage. I found new uses for old Things, and was excited by the possibilities found in some new ones. And, to be honest, was completely unimpressed with a few...
In addition to blogging, some "new to me" Things that get applause are:
RSS feeds--not so much their use, but becoming aware of some new good ones, like LifeHacker and Librarian in Black.
Second Life--I was afraid to venture into virtual territory, but decided to take the leap for this Thing. I was impressed by what's there, and surprised at how often I could wander around and hardly see anyone else.
Library Thing--I want to play around with a couple applications using it.
One thing I've enjoyed is the way blogging about my experiences has made me slow down a bit to reflect on what I've learned. Instead of rushing through all the Things (especially as it got closer to the deadline) I had to take a break from willy-nilly clicking Resource links and think about what I was doing, whether or not it fit into my life and work, and if so, how.
Related to the mad dash toward the deadline: I'm glad the 23 Things blog will stay up for a bit. I'd like to go back to some of the Things and do more of the Challenges, or follow some of the links I left untouched on my first go-round. I also want to take some time to view other participants' blogs. I tried to read others at the beginning, but gave it up because 1) it was taking so much time I wasn't getting any of the Things done myself and 2) I didn't want their views to influence my own thinking too much while I was still exploring.
Thing #22 -- What Did I Learn?
About half way through this project I started wondering if I would keep my blog up once I was finished the 23 Things. I decided I would try to, although I will probably not post as regularly without specific "assignments" to comment on. A little less "what did I learn today?" and more "what did I learn this week or month." Having a blog in which to report my findings will be a motivating factor--I'm sure I won't want it to sit unattended for too long at a stretch. And if I get stuck for ideas there's always moving on to Learning 2.1 and Things 24 and up.
Over the course of the Things there have been plenty of times I've said "I'll have to think about that" or "I'll get around to that later." So I can report on my future exploration. There are a couple of specific projects I want to work on, and their outcome will likely end up in my blog as well.
As far as keeping up with the 23 Things, and discovering new ones, one idea I had was to create reminders in my calendar. I can set them for time that is typically unscheduled in my week, and they can pop up and alert me that I should be checking my RSS feeds, or browsing some online communities, or visiting Second Life. We'll see how that works, and if I'm disciplined to act on the reminders and not just close them and go on with what I was doing.
Over the course of the Things there have been plenty of times I've said "I'll have to think about that" or "I'll get around to that later." So I can report on my future exploration. There are a couple of specific projects I want to work on, and their outcome will likely end up in my blog as well.
As far as keeping up with the 23 Things, and discovering new ones, one idea I had was to create reminders in my calendar. I can set them for time that is typically unscheduled in my week, and they can pop up and alert me that I should be checking my RSS feeds, or browsing some online communities, or visiting Second Life. We'll see how that works, and if I'm disciplined to act on the reminders and not just close them and go on with what I was doing.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thing #21 -- More with Social Networks
There are 2 library related online communities I'm a member of: Blended Librarian and WebJunction Minnesota. I tried to take a look at Ning, but they're having technical problems right now. Guess I'll have to join the 23 Things on a Stick Ning later. Several years ago one of my cousins set up an online network for my extended family on my mother's side. We use it to keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, share photos, and even collect family recipes. I'm familiar with Flixster, my sister often challenges me to their quizzes using their Facebook app. She's much more into pop culture than I am, and she always wins. For the most part I prefer to do my socializing in person rather than online. I'm more likely to join an online group when I already know some of the people there.
Well, Ning is finally back up and I joined the 23 Things community there. Here's my badge:
View my page on 23 Things on a Stick
Well, Ning is finally back up and I joined the 23 Things community there. Here's my badge:
View my page on 23 Things on a Stick
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