Beginning/End March 1, 2008

Wow…this has been a great eye opening experience about the Internet.  I have used the Internet for years and through school have become more savvy with it; however, I realized that there was so much I did not know. 

I could not believe how many blog sites that there were and it still amazes me now.  Bloglines is a great way to get organized and to be kept up to date on what is going on with blogs that are of interest.

I never had used Flickr and I am so happy I have learned how to use it.  I have found so many great pictures and a new online resource.  It is so much fun to explore this site, this particular assignment was one of my favorites.

Some assignments I felt were repetitive and I did not quite like having to open so many accounts, that is hard after a while.  That was the only downside to this project.  I do use myspace and I feel it is easier to add pictures and videos onto myspace than wordpress. 

This learning program has taught me a lot and I am very happy that I completed the program; some of the assignments were frustrated, I still need to figure out how to get my puzzle on the site but overall it was a positive experience and I will take away new resources with me.  

ebooks March 1, 2008

I have actually used ebooks before from CSUEB.  It is a lot easier to find journal articles online and most universities have rights to many online articles.  At CSUEB I was really interested in the daughters of King George III; there was one book in the Alameda County Library but it was checked out.  CSUEB did not have the book but they did have it in ebook form.  I started reading it online and eventually the hard copy came my way though ACL. 

I was pleased that through ACL it was extremely easy to access the ebooks.  I explored the site, the searchers were very simple.  One think that I could not find was fiction books.  There are over 5,ooo ebooks in the system which is great; however, there could be times when a fiction book could be needed online. 

Ebooks are a great resource when you don’t want to check out the book or are at home and need a resource and aren’t able to get a hard copy of the book.  It is a way to have easy access to a plethora of material that we normally would not have access to so easily.  There are only so many books on building can hold but it is almost limitless as to the amount of books that can be held online. 

Podcasts March 1, 2008

There were a lot of cool podcasts and I never knew that you didn’t need an ipod to listen to them.  I have heard that some college lectures can be found online now and professors don’t mind of students listen to the lectures from home instead of coming to class.  Podcasts can be a great learning tool for anyone who wants to study a subject and can’t attend a university.  I subscribed to two podcasts, learn Spanish with a coffee break and and Tudorcast.  Tudorcast is an informational podcast about the Tudor family of England, I am very interested in these times and there is a lot of interest with the television show and movie, The Other Boleyn Girl.  Learning Spanish is something I have always wanted to do and I think it will be easy listening to it and learning it in little bits.  I look forward to trying to learn something new.

You Tube March 1, 2008

You Tube is great, I use it all the time for lots of things.  You can watch music videos, tv shows, reviews, and even commercials.  I had  a song stuck in my head for years about a Nestles candy bar.  I typed in what I could remember on You Tube and 4 versions of the commercial came up!  The commercials are from the 80’s and are the best.  The song is a classic and from all of the posts about the commercial I can see that I am not the only one that really likes them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92wHNa1UvE&feature=related

You Tube can be used in a library setting.  So many things can be found on the site and many general information ideas can be found.  I think that there is an endless variety of uses for You Tube. 

Web 2.0 Tools March 1, 2008

I found a great site, I am going to add it to my blogline account.  I wanted to find something light and fun and so I found Cocktail Builder.  This particular site has a few really good applications.  The first thing is that you can list what have in your bar and then a list of possible drinks comes up on the screen.  It also tells you what other ingredients you need.  Also, you can just look up a drink and it will tell you the recipe for that drink.  There are also ratings for each of the drinks!  This is great because you don’t want to spend money on a drink that is not going to taste very good.  It is very easy to add a receipe to the site, you don’t have to log in or create an account.  I highly recommend this site for a party or fun night!

http://www.cocktailbuilder.com/ 

Zoho Writer March 1, 2008

This application would be really great if the computer you are working on does not have Microsoft Word.  Also, while in school there have been many times when only Apple computers are open for use and in the past I could never use them because I have a pc.  With this application I would still be able to use the Apple computer and save the document online and then retrieve it later on my own pc.  I would use this again, what a wonderful find!  I tried to post this blog through Zoho Writer, however an error message popped up and I was unable to. 

Fun With Images February 29, 2008

This one took me a while…the computers at work were really slow so I had to do it at home.  This is one of my favorite pictures and I thought it would make a really cool puzzle.  I finally figured this out…I am really happy with the way the image turned out.  This is link to the program that I used: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/jigsaw.php

PBWiki February 29, 2008

A lot of people like myself really seem to like Harry Potter!  While exploring this page I looked at the book section and found so many books that are my top favorites on the list.  I agreed with a lot of the comments and disagreed with a lot too.  That is what is fun about this kind of site, we can post what we think and let people agree or not agree.  Also, it is a great way to get new ideas for movies or books. 

Wikis February 29, 2008

I looked at a few of the wikis on the list.  My favorite was the Bull Run Library wiki.  I searched for the book, The Other Boleyn girl and easily found it on the site.  A cover came up and also subject headings about the book.  Also, reviews about the book can easily be added, all within the same page.  It was very easy to navigate.  I did the same search on Book Lovers Wiki and the results weren’t as good.  The book was not found on the page; I went back to the home page and clicked on a few subject headings, there are not many books on the site.  When more reviews are added or commented on the site will be better but as of this moment I did not find it that useful.

Library 2.0 February 29, 2008

Libraries are wonderful places to seek help and information, Library 2.0 is just the next step and wave of the future for libraries.  Fast and accurate information is now found not in books but on the Internet.  Depending on who needs the information and for what purpose it is much easier to go to a search engine and search a term than to go and look in a book.  Library 2.0 is a wonderful way to share information and add to it.  I am not saying that we should stop going to libraries and accessing the information within them, many times it is easier to find information online as start and then research the subject more deeply in other areas.  Recently while working at the library I was surprised to find out that teachers required students to keep books on states in the classroom for over 9 weeks.  I thought to myself that all the basic information carried in these books can easily be found from credible sources online and would be more up to date.  Not everyone is ready for all of the information that can be found online or all the ways to comment and add to it but soon everyone will be using it.