Thing #4: RSS and Newsreaders and Google, Oh My!

So I am really learning something here, or so I thought... I read about aggregators and the orange RSS icon and the thing that made the most sense to me was the Common Craft video RSS in Plain English

It explained that by using RSS it was the "new, fast way" of keeping up with blogs, and website updates and changes, and by subscribing I wouldn't "waste valuable time" by having to check each website I was interested in. It compared this to Netflix movies coming to my home vs. me driving to the video store to rent movies. Ah, the convenience of it all!

The explanation was even really simple...


Step 1) Signup for a free reader account
Step 2) Set up a connection between the reader (like Google) and my favorite websites or blogs
Step 3) Look for the orange RSS icon and click on it to subscribe



The only warning is that this can be addictive, so BE CAREFUL! Duh, like most any of these online Web 2.0 technologies aren't??? That's why we have a line of people waiting outside the door every morning to run to our free internet computers! I am very lucky to be in a job where I have access all day. ;-)

The irony about Thing #4, is that when I went to set up my Google newsreader, I discovered I already had one and I was following some blogs and didn't even know it. How cool is that?! I guess that is where the learning comes in... NOW, I can actually read and follow them, when I get some more time (after Thing #23, perhaps??)

Thing #3: Blog Search Tooling around

I was overwhelmed by the Technorati site. It was just too much. I think their target audience is for people who actually want to market their blogs, but I honestly did not take the time to read the whole thing. I have a real job! This project is already taking more time than I thought it would. On an up note, I finally figured out that if I use Mozilla Firefox, instead of Internet Explorer I seem to have less technology problems.

I did do a search in the blogosphere under starting a nonprofit I have to say the return hits were not very useful, at least nothing I would pass on to patrons intending to get real information about starting their own nonprofit organizations. When I changed the search method by using quotes "starting a nonprofit" it shortened my return list, but not really any better results. I also looked under the Blogs menu and Blog Directory under the Business topics thinking I might find something relevant there. None of the topics there fit my particular need, though I must say at least some of the blogs listed there seemed to have more "authority."

I tried the Google Blog Search and it brought up some more relevant searches, but not necessarily blogs. It had a mix of websites and blogs, but I think I would prefer this to give to any patrons who needed this kind of information.

Lastly, I tried Ice Rocket Blog Search and the results were much like Google with more websites instead of blogs, but still more relevant than Technorati. I also discovered that I had to use the quotes for my multi-word search or type in the exact phrase on the advance search. I'd rather have a Hot Pocket than an Ice Rocket, unless they came up with a new cocktail and named it that... hmmm, I kind of like these Rocket Ice cubes!!!


For me, I don't think searching for blogs is the ultimate way to get information, but it is an option and it's another interesting way to link like-minded individuals together, but then again I don't know how different that would be just using regular search engines and adding the word "blog" or "blogs."

Fore... or is that #4?

THING #2- Web 2.Oh, noooooo

So I come from the "old school" of librarianship, VERY old school. I can actually remember putting cards in the card catalog on Friday mornings. There was NO internet when I went to library school, and YES! it was still called "library school" back then. So I can say with all honesty and great pride that EVERYTHING for me has always been "WEB 2.0" and probably will be for me until I finally decide to retire. Unfortunately, I am still too young and too broke. HAHA! ;-)

I can remember being on the team of people who did the first data entry of short records for conversion to our first computer system on UTLAS/CLSI. I can remember when we were an all Macintosh library. Hmmm... perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing? I can remember when the entire library system converted from Macs to PCs, and how we all had to get training again. Every time we get a new database or upgrade to an existing program, it's more training and instruction and sometimes it comes at you like a bullet train.

I remember first hearing about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 a few years ago at one of the library conferences I attended, and I actually got to hear Stephen Abram speak. What a phenomenal speaker he was too! I also remember taking on a phrase that seemed to be a mantra of sorts for the new century-- "BETA FOREVER" as technology moved faster and faster, and my brain moved slower and slower.

I know how much just having the "catalog" online has helped my job, and I don't even want to go into my shopping habits or my travel planning... ;-)

But, I see that even having e-mail services and Ask-A-Librarian chat statewide has helped to promote our services to a much broader audience. Six degrees of separation even applies to materials resources when I can now easily just get online to my Ask-A-Librarian compadres to see if they have something for one of my patrons or go to the online version of WorldCat or OCLC. to see an item is available for an interlibrary loan.

These are some things I am currently using, and I haven't even moved on to things #3-#23. The possibilities are endless, I'm sure...

P.S. Isn't it cool to have a "tech-savvy" Prez.
Obama's Top 5 Tech Tools

THING #1- so THIS is Blogging?

Okay, so I've been on vacation for a week and no, there wasn't a cruise ship involved. Darn it!

I'm still trying to figure out why some of the gadgets on my blog are broken and have gone into something called the the "Webmaster Tools" but think I need a whole week to go exploring them. I viewed the entire tutorial with the 31 Things (slides) and found it helpful, but can't seem to find all the tabs and links they mention on my particular blog layout. "Go forth and Blog!" ;-) I think it is more frustrating that the internet is often slow and the videos we need to watch don't show fast enough. Can't wait to see more about "Web 2.0!" Quite frankly, I am personally not afraid of the technology, I am just unhappy that more often than it should it does not work to full capacity. We get the same complaints from our patrons, OFTEN!

I am fully aware from past workshops and conferences we will be in "beta forever" and that change is constant. I am just not one of those people who goes on the cruise ship and has to get on the internet computers to check my e-mail or upload my vacation pictures so quickly. I also don't have the latest gadgetry at home, not even an MP3 player-- yet! (maybe I'll get lucky and win one?) ;-) OTOH, my husband just got his first "Crackberry" (er, um Blackberry) and I played with that to see how mobile technology has jumped ahead. It's scary how addicting it becomes.

By the looks of some others, you can tell they have more experience personalizing the look of their blogs. (i.e. "23" Anybloggy can do 23 things! WebKitteh's Twenty-Three Things Maybe I can steal, I mean borrow some of their creativity...

Day 2

I'd love to be able to say I am enjoying this, but I have broken link icons and I can't figure out why? I have no trouble uploading my own pictures, but I can't seem to format the page the way I want to! arrrggh. I also tried to add some other "widgets" from the basics lists, but it's not working with me and seems to be giving me some error messages.

It could be just the computer I'm on, or it could be a user malfunction? I'll try again later and see if there's any improvement...

So this is a test!

I've read many blogs for both personal interests and for work. I've even attended a class on blogs and wikis, thanks to Neflin-- but I've never created my own blog. I really don't think I'm that interesting. I don't like to write as much as I prefer picture taking. Maybe I'll add some pictures once I figure out how to do that here. I've tried Flickr, but don't prefer it because of it's limited space capacity.

As I sit here with this blog site and all the thousands of configurations it has, I can't help but think how much time I could spend just learning how to blog, let alone actually blogging! Alas, I have a real job. And I must get back to it. Maybe when get to retire... ;-)