Online Community Gaming Fun

I LOVE Battleship, and how nice of Yahoo to provide me with a battleship game that I can play online with a friend. Here is a clip of my little game! 

battleship

Because the video is large and it doesn't fit to embed, I have given you a link instead to the screencast.

Screencasts Best Practices

• BREATHE! - try not to talk too fast
  
• Pronounciate - make sure not to mumble words
• Practice makes perfect
• Run a few audio tests first
• Go through a few dry-runs before you actually record

Which Console for You?

A gaming system for my library/institution:

• How would you research? First, depending on my goals, I would ask my user group what systems they use. I would also ask them questions about what they look for in a system. Online research is essential in the process as well. 
• What would your criteria be? Questions I would ask. How popular is the system? What and how many games are available? How new is the system? and again Is it appropriate for my user group? 
• Which do you think you would get? I would probably get a Wii as it would encourage group play or communal play which I don't feel people get enough of these days. Also it improves motor skills such as referenced in this Engadget post. 

So in short, I would ask lots of user-centered questions and use the answers to in-turn make my decision regarding a gaming system for my institution. 

Johnson Reading revisited

"Is popular culture just a method to sophisticatedly deliver stupidity"

In short, I don't think so in the slightest. Having an education in popular culture is a form of intelligence in and of itself. Without a knowledge of pop culture you can find yourself dis-attached from modern society making it harder for you to relate people as well as to current trends and societal shifts. Also in large part knowledge of pop culture is central to some forms of humor. If its really just a method to "deliver stupidity" as Will states I will happily stay stupid.

I recently read an interesting article on Japanese society that equated popular culture with a sense of "optimism and success". SOLD OUT Toward a Knowledge Society: U.S.-Japan Perspectives. There is a reason that pop culture courses are popping up all over in anthropology departments. It's because pop culture is relevant and pop culture knowledge connects you with society. Just watch an episode of Antiques Roadshow, popular culture can also add value to things that are not in an of themselves significant, but they have become culturally significant through their role in popular culture. And, popular culture eventually leads to history, a history of people and their obsessions.

Johnson Reading

Well, because he says "everything bad is good for you" rather than "everything good is bad for you". The statement means nothing to libraries and educational organizations as I assume they are some of the "good" things, not included in the statement. However, if I was to take the concept in the statement and apply it to practices in the library I would assume it would be an encouraging beacon to libraries and educational organizations to tread into new territory and to not be so leery of new technology. I actually saw an interview with this author about 2 or 3 years ago on G4 television, back when it was Tech TV or at least it was an incarnation of G4 that was more geek than cool, like it is now. He was a very interesting guy. The interview made me understand that some people are actually afraid of technology and don't always see the introduction of it in educational environments as a good thing. That kinda blew my mind, not sure why I didn't even occur to me that some people are just not keen on the use of web 2.0 and all its other incarnations. That's all it took to rally me to the cause to introduce and encourage the use and application of technology wherever I went.

It's really no surprise that, some scientific studies have shown that older adults can delay or discourage the onset Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or other neurological afflictions by just keep their minds active and alert. One of these ways is through video gaming. Other studies have shown that surgeons can keep their reflexes quick and steady by also playing video games. What Johnson tries to say in this book is "the beneficial elements of videogames and TV arise not from their subject matter, but from their format, which require that players and viewers winkle out complex storylines and puzzles, getting a "cognitive workout".

What does that mean to libraries and educational organizations? I think it means don't be so quick to judge something that on the surface seems frivolous, but instead be innovative and think of ways that you can use its allure to the masses as a means to open-up minds. How can the skills used in playing a video game be used to teach other skills and cognitive abilities? Also, I think Johnson be a champion of technology in your organization and encourage its use. Do your research and select tools that are appropriate for your goals. The application of technology can give a quick and dirty ratio of payout to reward. Instead of trying to stand in the way of technology why no try to determine how your educational institutions capitalize on this brain-reward ratio?

If I Were Steve For Just One Day....

If you were alive and young in the 80s should now be humming the Thompson Twins song "If I Was King For Just One Day". But, if I was LibrarySteve for just one day. I would do away with new account setups or leave it up to the individual to decide. I strongly feel that learning about web 2.0 is closely intertwined with learning about what people actually do with the tools, and using an account that was set up 10 minutes ago has absolutely no history of use. Its important to see how people customize the tools to fit their lifestyle. How many friends do they have on Facebook? What types of Photography do they take or types of images the collect on Flickr? What types of feeds do they subscribe to? What types of links do they choose to save? All of these things are important, but without the ability to view a users involvement over time with the tools, many of the subtle ways people use them are lost.

Take for example my SL avatar. My avatar took many months to develop, I had to explore SL endlessly and do lots of research. Did you know you could have virtual pets? Probably not, but now because you see my avatar does, you can see more possibilities in the tool. It also tells you more about me, which if I was wearing stock clothing, standing on Info Island you would have really learned nothing about me. Instead, you see me standing in a Bonsai garden, drinking coffee and hanging out with my virtual poodle. Which tells you a lot more about me as an individual. Thats what I feel web 2.0 is really about, leaning about people as individuals and how that impacts the whole community. Web 2.0 allows you to look into once closed off areas of peoples lives, and gives you a view into their personal and professional lives. It brings people together based on commonalities and shared interests. This is something that is the essence of what Web 2.0 is about and you just can't get that from an account that has only been setup for a week. That's my two cents. Now, I can go back to being myself, which unfortunately means I have a final project to produce! Can I go back to being LibrarySteve again? PLEASE.

The Second Life of Nora Dowding - The Return

I've always thought Second Life was a bit weird, but I've also always been fascinated by its real world applications. For example, I once attended a Librarians talk in SL with a member of the Faculty of a previous job (it's also always interesting to see what people choose as their SL avatars), it was both fun an interesting. However, I've also always found SL to be a bit boring. Not really anyone to talk to and if there is it's people you probably aren't sure whether you should be talking to them or not. Interestingly enough was some of my first experiences in SL (about 2 years ago) I found that large numbers of the people I met where actually Librarians! They had librarian parties, librarian meetups, and research talks. I haven't been back in a really long time, so long my "Home" destination no longer existed and I took me a bit to figure out how to maneuver again. SL was a lot more crowded than I remember the last time and I could actually hear people talking, as of my last visit to SL the only way to talk was via the text field.

So on my return to SL, I found my cool clothes were still there, including my Doctor Who t-shirt, plaid pants and Converse sneakers. Also to my happy surprise I still had my virtual Poodle. Here is a snapshot of me, a cup of coffee and my poodle in the Bonsai gardens in Koleamoku (one of the locations I had saved that still existed). Now, I'm off to see if the Charles Dickens town still exists.

MySpace Friend Categories

Here is a quick video on how-to set up categories for your friends on MySpace

MySpace-Categories

Ning

what advantages/limitations do you see with using a Ning?
how could you use a Ning in a work environment?

Advantages:

• Groups can be made private or public depending on your needs
• easily contact all members of the group, by sending one email
• keep track of individual members
• Forums for your group
• event management

Disadvantages: 

• address to groups are hard to remember
• site is not top on my list of frequently visited
• yet another social website to remember to visit
• design is not quite as clean as I would prefer
• not a lot of customization options

What makes services like MySpace or Facebook "sticky"?

What makes services like MySpace or Facebook "sticky"?
people spend a lot of time on these sites...why?

MySpace and Facebook (and even blogs can sometimes be considered part of this) are almost like the NEW homepage that we saw in the mid-90s. They are a persons digital, public face. People spends endless hours tweaking, adding content, adjusting etc. because this is what image they project to others. They want to look their digital best. I once was weary of a new employee because they showed no signs of a "digital-footprint" as I liked to call it. I was wary because having no "digital-footprint" is almost akin to not having a real-life footprint in this digital day and age. They were applying for a job in the IT department and this lack of virtual face, told me a lot about the potential employee. Mainly that they were not up on current technologies. I later proved to be correct in my assessment, but this just goes to say that having a "digital-footprint" or some kind of digital face is very important for both your personal and professional life. People spend lots of time on their Facebook, MySpace and Linked in profiles as it is like a "calling-card" its a way to enter into networks and be part of a community.

My Screencast: The 50 States

Ok, you might get this, you might not, either way enjoy.

The 50 States

My Educational Video: Insane Disco - The Walking Step

This short video shows you how to do the "Walking Step". 

My Entertainment Video: Scream

A quick entertainment video featuring my favorite action figures....Enjoy...

Click To Play

YouTube SCILS Attack

Ok, I've decided that we are all pretty funny and a rather odd bunch! It was interesting to see that so many people chose never to show themselves in the videos and most where shot from a close angle. I really enjoyed the instructional soccer video as soccer is my primary religion and laughed out loud at the cardigan video. Also why oh why did someone do coffee? You stole the show. With both soccer and coffee off the topic list, what on earth can I do for my topic? 

Here are some links to my top favorites: 

Librarians must have Cardigans

French Press Coffee

Soccer Video - Cruyff turn

Edu vs Ent

Educational Videos vs. Entertainment Videos. 

As I wasn't really sure either we're in competition with one another, I will try to address this battle of the contents. Educational videos and entertainment videos, I feel, both are made for different audiences at different stages of their lives. Educational video are needed at a very specific time (when one is looking to learn something on a specific topic) and entertainment videos also have their time and place (when one is trying to avoid doing their SCILS homework). I tend to think of it in terms of television. I spend about half my time watching both educational channels such as the History or Discovery Channel and another good chunk of my time watching tribble like Bravo and E!. I even spend a larger portion of my time watching the soccer channel, but we will not discuss that. I think its very possible the entertainment is how most people spend their time on something like YouTube - however, I then think of my boyfriend who is constantly watching How-to videos for software, music and design and it cancels that out. I genuinely think its a tie, fair and square between the two types of content videos and I think both are in their own class. 

What do we all have in common:

Flickr Group: scils598f08

Commonalities: 

We all love taking pictures of our families, pets (dogs & cat's - anyone have any exotics?), our homes and where we do our schoolwork, the great outdoors and travel along with the very random harmonica and JD degree and the super random War of the Worlds Plaque. It seems like a good portion of us really love music and love science-fiction or at least literature that borders on the unique. We also enjoy hot beverages (tea and coffee) and alcoholic beverages.  

Differences: 

Are kinda hard to pin down. We do seem to be either Mac or PC users, with one (including myself two) dual platform user(s). We also seem to be in different stages of our lives, some in their 2nd career while others are just starting out. Some of seem to be right, smack in the happy middle. I think overall we have more in common with one another than differences. Which is interesting all in itself. 

Flickr Group: scils598f08-edexperience

We all really should have a discussion with someone regarding our obsession with vending machines. I think that really says something about our student diets. Also we are in a love hate relationship with all our library school texts - we love to photograph them, yet really are at odds with the fact that we own so many. We all seem to own the librarian action figure and really love our computers and the schools computers. We are clock watchers and poor eaters. Reads like a profile of a very nervous, tech obsessed, hungry person.  

Podcasts vs. Text Based Blogging

What are the benefits/detractions of podcasts vs. text-based blogging? 

• podcasts - have a much higher learning curve
• blogging - you can just type and go
• podcasts - require specalized equiptment and software as well as hosting services
• blogging - you just need a computer and an blog application account or ISP
• podcasts - more portable, can listen to on the go
• blogging - users must either print out or save in a text file to read on the go
• blogging - has a much wider audience
• podcasts - have a more specialized audience
• blogging - edits are easy and do not require much more than the delete button or the backspace
• podcasts - to edit you need specalized equiptment

Overall, I think each medium has both pros and cons - blogging for its speed and podcasts for thier portability. Each also has a very specific type of audience. For the more casual user blogging is a very easy way to get thier message read, while podcasting is a more complicated way of getting thier message heard. For the end user the medium varies in how it can be obtatined and options for reading. 

Excerpt from Terry Pratchett's Going Postal

I decided that why come up with my own story when I could read someone elses that was far more interesting! I decided upon reading an excerpt from Terry Pratchett's book "Going Postal" from the chapter entitled "Angel". It picks up with a man contemplating the fact that he is to be hung in the morning and starts as he is trying to make his escape: 

You can use the direct link here or use the player below:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/ljascils598f08/pratchettangel.mp3

It's just easier when you get right to the point....

see more pwn and owned pictures

How do Libraries/Librarians fill roles as New Producers, new Markets and New Tasetmakers?

"The Power of the PC means that the ranks of "producers" - individuals who can now do what just a few years ago only professionals could do - have swelled thousandfold." 

Librarians/Libraries as "New Producers": 

Libraries are often times community technology centers, helping others learn new technologies that enable them to be the "new producers". Libraries by educating patrons on how to use desktop publishing, video editing and audio editing tools are enabling the public to become thier own "creators".  In another aspect libraries and librarians provide the tools for "amateurs" to educate themselves on any number of topics and disciplines. Thus "creating" amateur experts.  Such as the case with Albert Jones and Robert McNaught, I'm sure they both did some amount of astronomical research at the Library and I'm almost doubly sure that a librarian helped them. 

Librarians/Libraries as "New Markets" and "New Tastemakers":  

On a side note, for my entire undergraduate studies, I only purchased previous additions. Already smart to the "only have to change 9 things to justify a new edition" rule. I never had any problems and was always able to figure out what page my teachers were on. I also swear by bookmooch and half.com for all my book purchasing. Yes, I still purchase books from Amazon and B&N, but thats only after I have been unable to find something comperable elsewhere. Libraries create new markets by offering books to patrons that they might not have purchased before in genres mabye they have been unwilling to pay-to-try in the past. If that experimental reader becomes a fan, they have just become particpants in a new market of genre types or "tastes". 

Librarians also through readers advisory can connect people with new authors they might not have tried before, again creating a new market and changing thier patrons "taste" in subjects. Libraries can also offer thier patrons choices of formats. For example NYPL offers e-books for download, thus opening themselves up to a wider set of content for thier patrons. On another level, more and more libraries are following the Amazon model and allowing patrons to post likes and dislikes, thus influencing any number of new readers. An much like the "LAUNCHcast" example, some libraries are even farming data from thier users and recommending titles. 

Libraries still have a ways to go, but if they start following more examples such as the ones mentioned in the chapters they will always provide useful services to thier patrons. 

Google Analytics.....

I could look at Google Analytics forever, I enjoy reading all the different bits of data on everything about my site. Here are some of the more interesting bits: 

General:

• 79 Visits
• 143 Page Views

Browsers:

• Firefox 52%
• IE 39%
• Chrome 3.85%
• Safari 3.85%

OS:

• Win 82%
• Mac 16%
• Linux 1.28%

Connection Speeds: 

• Cable 38%
• T1 23%
• DSL 19%
• Dialup 1.28% -ok, whoever in this class is still using dialup fess up! :) 

There is so much more interesting stuff, such as network locations (what ISPs people are using), countries (I've used this more with my personal site) and languages (I use this one lots with my soccer site). Overall, fun stuff and I can't wait to check in on it again. 

countdown....

countdown
Originally uploaded by ljascils598f08

This is the the official countdown....I can't wait till its over. It's been 15 years of non-stop school, part-time, full-time and next-to-no time. Three degrees later and I can't wait till December. I will soon add an MLIS to my AA (multimedia programming and design) and my BA (museum studies) degrees and it couldn't happen soon enough. 

I chose to attend Rutgers, even though I live in Brooklyn. It was cheaper than Pratt (which I can't really stand anyway) and closer than Queens College (by train NJ is closer than some parts of Queens!). Going from city universities (everything is vertical) to a NJ College town (frat houses and all) was an experience to remember. The commute has been super time consuming and draining. The courses, somewhat rewarding, it's been about half-and-half. However, where they have really shined is the instructors (not always the content-sadly enough). Ok, so I'm not the biggest fan of the current crop of LIS educational offerings. Out of all my courses my favorites have been Records Management with Steve Dalina (super relevant course, everyone should take it) and Interface Design with Jacek Gwizdka. Overall, I am happy to have met such a great crop of MLIS'ers, they are really the stars of the program. 

So, yes, I have been counting the days till its all over and I can reclaim my life, spend time with my family and read whatever I want. I will also enjoy having more time to focus on my career and spend more time on my professional development. It hasn't been the easiest, but it hasn't been the hardest either (classical studies and attempting to read Greek was harder!). 

my-rega

my-rega
Originally uploaded by ljascils598f08

One of my favorite pics from the flickr project.

Brown & Druguid Ch5 & Ch8

...thoughts on the conclusions in Brown & Druguid. Every time I pickup this book, I really want to put it back down again. The tone is always so negative, almost agressive, and I don't really care that Publishers Weekly thinks it's and "intellectual gem". However, when I dig into the chapter I tend to change my opinions. It's like they always seem to be having a rough start of it, but usually successful in making me think in the end. 

Ch5 - I get the battle between HR & IT. In libraries it's always been IT against another department or the library as a whole. Possibly cause half the time no-one knows what they are doing (B&D aren't the only ones that can get negative) and the other half thinks they know better, when everyone really knows nothing. I've never been one for epistemological debates, cause everything is all really lots of jargon and buzz words these days. However, their description of knowledge -vs- information is sufficient for the discussion and the personalization of knowledge is a given. Its no surprise that ELP failed at its attempts to harness the essence of what made Grimes so good. This happens all the time, again I'm going to reference advertising. Advertising companies buy each other up all the time only to find that what made that firm so special is out of reach. Same thing with Design agencies, its the culture of the people that make the place and make the work either substandard or great. Buy the agency, mix it in with another agency you change the dynamic, therefore changing the human factor that made it so great to begin with. So B&D really win me over in this section. The other way they really win me over (when they are not being so negative) is with their insights through their examples. They really stick with me and I've even used a few of them later in conversation with colleagues. In the "practical value of phone cords" - you really see evidence of the change of patterns in telecommunications and how customer service centers are run. You always seem to have to start at square 1 every time you get on a tech-support call, it doesn't seem to be a "learning" process anymore. 

Ch8 - Reading through this section makes me take a sigh of relief that, I'm almost outta here. Education seems to be getting messier and messier and I'm hoping to get as far away from the fallout as possible. In "solutions" again B&D go a bit negative, but they win me back with "resistance" - the idea that I could get a "turfgrass management certificate" woo hoo! In misrepresentation, I thought back to when I was looking to fill some part-time archivists slot at my old institution. I would immediately disregard certain applicants based on their education. It's horrible, I know, but every staffer that I ever had from that particular institution turned out to be a dud and I didn't want to get burned again. That particular institution had "lost my trust" when it came to finding and hiring qualified archivists. "A Distant Prospect" is incredibly relevant to the means of distribution of our Social-Software course. I often times work late at night and only on the weekends, my course "documents" are available 24/7, thus adding to my learning experience. However, I prefer the "old-system", but who has the time these days? Further on in the section when B&D state that "with a powerful website and some packaged content they can do away with everything but the students". More and more it seems as though students are just being "churned" out, to fill some unknown quota, without regard to the experience of learning itself. B&D are right when they say "catalyst for further conversation" as yet another reading of theirs causes me to think, rather than just shallowly read. 

RSS and Information Overload

RSS and Information Overload --- A means to an end, whew!

Honestly, without RSS I think I would be suffering from information overload. RSS readers allow me to get everything I need, from all the sites I normally read, in one centralized location. I could never keep track of all those as bookmarks and would never have the time to visit each site individually. I subscribe to over 140 different feeds, and RSS allows me to read all those feeds in one go. Although I do see another classmates point about narrowing my field of information vision to only what I want to read, and not experiencing other topics. That's what my undergrad was for, having to read lots of stuff, I really wasn't that interested in. So, I figure now I am on an information vacation. Getting to read what I want as soon enough someone will force me to read stuff I don't want to anyway. At least here I have a choice. The overload aspect can happen when you RSS something that is an aggregator such as Digg, which in my case ends up being duplicates of all the other Tech blogs I follow. So it's knowing what to RSS and what not to. You have to really implement good judgement. I try to only subscribe to feeds that relate somehow to my professional development and expose me to topics that I otherwise would not have the time to pursue. The ability to use RSS readers in order to organize your information intake is invaluable, thus taking away from information overload. You can read what you want, and however much of it you want. RSS by iself is only one half of the whole, it has to be combined with a reader to have its value truly seen. 

The Long Tail and the Library World

When this book appeared on my reading list, I wasn't really sure how it would be relevant. Yes, I had heard of the book and was familiar with it content. During 2004 I was a subscriber to Wired Magazine (still am) when I first read about Andersons "Long Tail". However, I had always thought of it as a "business book" related to marketing and not really applicable to the LIS world. So, throughout the reading I am trying to relate the concepts to LIS perspective and I'm finding it to not be such a leap after all. 

How do we survive in a world that is truly 24/7 with everything available all the time? How do you as a brick and mortar business/library plan to service the needs of a clientele that is growing accustomed to this type of consumerism? We have more choice now then our parent's ever did and we have more freedom as to what we purchase. In one night online we can visit Amazon.com, then JCrew, and even Drugstore.com (to cure those late night LIS reading headaches). How does a library compete with this type of "all-access-pass"? Firstly, I think they are trying. More and more librarys are having richer online components, allowing patrons to do more online, even offering e-books and videos. They brick-and-mortar libraries themselves can never offer the selection that Amazon can provide, but what it can provide is customer service. Libraries themselves should try to focus on what these digital entities cannot provide and give that to thier patrons. They should try to stay abreast with the changes, but not run out of breath trying to keep up. They should instead examine those changes to then give the patrons what the "new-fangled-what-not" isn't. Be innovative, instead of just following along several paces behind. 

Our new digital society allows us to only consume what intrests us rather than lumping us all in together, in turn "shattering" as Anderson says the approach businesses have been taking thoughout most of the 20th century.  Are "hits" dead? Well, I don't think so, but at least now I feel like I have more of a choice on wheter or not to consume them. I am able to seek and find other items that interest me, leaving me less time for that "blockbuster". 

The ability of Anderson to explain our current state in this new, all digital, society was refreshing .  The more I read the more it seemed relevant to the Library/information World.  I honestly, wished I had more time to read it slower to let some of the more meaningfull sections really sink in. 

Using Del.icio.us in the Classroom Environment

Again, like with my Google Docs post below. I always am eager to recommend the use of Del.icio.us in any educational environment. Anytime I do research on a topic, I come across lots of useful resources and tools and always look to share those with my colleagues and classmates. Del.icio.ous makes it really easy to do this. You can instanty save links and mark links to share with users in your network. 

For using it in the Social-Software class I would make one suggestion. When studying web2.o applications, more imporant than setting up lots of accounts on different services. Studying web2.0 is really about studying what people do with the services they use, how they customize thier experience. Chief among all these is content! It's hard to get that depth on something kjscils598f08 just set up 10 minutues ago, let alone have any real depth of content. It has no history, no major customizations and really doesn't tell you that much about that user other than what they could set up in 10 minutes. Thats what social-software is about users and thier content, not how to set-up user accounts. So the challenge is trying to bring that experience into these accounts that users are setting up for purposes of the course. 

So I suggest when implimenting del.icio.us as part of the user introduction to "Social-Software" to really get the best use out of it you need to instruct current users on how to import thier previous del.icio.us bookmarks to thier "new" user "scils598" accounts. This is what I used to make my "scils" del.icio.us account have more breadth and thefore hopefully provide a richer user experience. 

Google Docs and the online/oncampus student

Any time the situation invloves any type of collaborative document creation, team-project etc. I always suggest Google Docs. Even most recently in my Information Visualization class, when I needed to collaborate with another student, I suggest that we both use Google Docs. Lucky for me this student had taken Social-Software with Steve last semester so he had an account. Work was seamless, easy and we got it turned in on time. I have used it for countless other SCILS classes including Metadata and Interface Design. Google Docs is my go-to, get-it-done, online-in-a-cloud favorite app. 

However, in most of these instances the professors had not even thought to work in this way. As a matter of fact most people don't think of working this way, and it's mainly cause they don't know that they can. Once they get going though, it really catches on and they start using it for all kinds of things personal and educational. I think reluctance to use the tool, would only be out of lack-of-knowledge of the tool. I really think that if they know it exists and know what the application is capable and they are open to using online tools for collaboration its a "no-contest" and they generally accept its use. 

As far as efficiency and collaboration its the best tool for the job. Documents are edited in real-time allowing all users to zoom in and out, making changes, adding content all without emailing one single document back and forth. Its one less thing to worry about for project collaboration. No more questions like "is this the most recent version?", "is this the one she/he just emailed me?". Google Docs makes it quick, easy and painless to collaborate on any project. 

PBwiki -vs- Wikidot

I've used PBwiki several times for class projects in the Library Science Program. I've always been frustrated however by its lack of CSS support unless you are a "power-user" and pay for an upgrade. I also like having a little more control over what my wiki looks like. I tried to see if I could do better. I really based on my choice of wiki software on the look of the website design itself, as the tours didnt really give you a look into the interface that you would be presented with and I wanted to make a choice quickly. 

• PBwiki -it's got ease of use on its side, new users should be able to create pages easily. 
• wikidot - its interface is a bit intimidating, it's hard to know where to start, having the "edit button at the bottom of the page is not intuitive. 
• PBwiki edit interface - uses very familiar icons, similiar to using MS office or any type of other popular text editing software, even similiar to Bloggers edit interface.wikidot - opts to use buttons
  
  
  
  
• Wikidot - opts to use buttons that are less intuitive. 
  
  
  
  
• Wikidot suppports all kinds of bizarre and unexpected editor features such as: mathematical equations, inline mathematical expressions, equation reference, bibliography block, citations and footnotes. 
• PBwiki - has many of the above Wikidot features, but they are buried in the plug-ins menu. 
• Wikidot - you can embed audio and video quickly
• PBwiki - you have to find the embed video in the plug-ins section
• Wikidot - not a wysiwyg editor
• PBwiki - closer to a wysiwyg than Wikidot
• Wikidot - has its own html/wiki syntax, not really a plus in my book
• PBwiki - uses nice and straightforward HTML
• Wikidot - no access to the HTML code
  
• PBwiki - can edit the HTML, but no CSS support

In a nutshell, I will gladly resign some control to have the ease of a nicely designed interface to use to create "quick and dirty" wiki pages. Don't think I will be giving up my PBwiki account any time soon for a Wikidot account. 

Del.icio.us -vs- Ma.gnolia

Well, lets just start by saying I am a die-hard Del.icio.us user and supporter. So I'm going to mainly focus on Ma.gnolia and how it differs from Del.icio.us. 

My first impressions:

• Ma.gnolia is its too cutesy! No IT/Techie in thier right mind will feel "cutting-edge" by logging in to share thier bookmarks via Ma.gnolia. 
• the interface is easy to use
  
• the sophistication of Del.icio.us is just not there (lots can be communicated through design)
• I do like the bookmarks page that the user sees first thing after they save a bookmark, but I also find it showing too much unrequested details. If I want to see that info I will select a tab that will show that to me.
• I really like the little webpage thumbnail preview nicely done, however when a thumbnail is that small is it really adding anything other than color to the page? 

Not a great first impression however, one that makes me not want to explore too much more. It's just not my style. However, I can see it's target audience being younger female users, Mom's, etc. Not power users. 

LibraryThing - a digital bookshelf

Library thing is a great way to keep track of your own personal book collection. Library thing allows you to catalog your own book collection. Personally, I use library thing to keep track of my leisure reading, as cataloging all my classical studies books would be a mountainous task. Library thing helps me also keep track of my collection by allowing a type of folksonomy tagging. For example I have my books separated into "unread" and "read" sections via tagging.  I also even have an "unfinished" tag. I tend to "mooch" lots of books via another site called "Bookmooch" and LibraryThing allows me to keep track of what's coming in and going out. 

The interface is very intuitive with navigation tabs: home, profile, you library, tags and add books among other more social and informative navigational tabs further to the right of the main interface. When viewing "your library" LibraryThing gives you several views and ways to examine your collection. 

List Covers

Tags

Styles A B C D E

Power edit Print

All fieldsTitles/authorsTagsReviewsCommentsSubjectsMost fields

In addition to various different way to view your collection. LibraryThing also integrates other services such as: GoogleBooks, Library of Congress Classifications. 

What makes LibraryThing web2.o is the users ability to also view others who have similiar collections to thier own, view all the users that have a particular book in thier collection. Along with lots of user groups users can join such as: Librarians Who LibraryThing or FantasyFans, to more inventive ones such as I Survived the Great Vowel Shift. 

Overall LibraryThing gives users the ability to play librarian of thier own collections, its no surpise so many librarians LibraryThing. Its great to control your inventory, so much so that some libraries are using it for thier collections http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6403633.html. 

When to put up the privacy curtains? You've just received a friend request from you Mom on Facebook...

Ok, just your average day, open up your email to find a Facebook request from you Mom. Yes, your completely and adult, nothing to hide, so no reason not to right? Right? Well, not so fast, I think. Why the hesitation? Maybe its because you also friend lots of people from work and don't want you mom posting weird things like "Miss you Honey, Oh, you look so cute!  -Love you Mom", "When are you going to come visit? - It's been too long, Mom", "do you want a crock-pot? Love, itchy poo" and any other number of weird things and topics. It's not so much you don't want her to see your stuff or read stuff about your friends. However, it's more like you don't want your friends and co-workers reading stuff from you mom, reading your mom's profile, etc. Then again her finding out about the two business trips you've taken right near her hometown via your status messages, might not be so easy to brush over. So what's next twitter? That will be interesting. I say you make a rule, the most diplomatic way possible. When it comes down to friending your mom, de-friend all your family (so no one feels left out) and tell them, I would like to keep my personal life private not from my family, but from everyone else. There, problem solved. 

New to me Social Software Pt. II - The Found Bin!

The Found Bin

http://www.thefoundbin.com/

Ok, being someone who has loved and lost and loved again, I love the idea of this website. However the only way for it to be truly useful is to have a VERY wide user base. I tried doing a few random searches, but nothing came up. However, I still really appreciate the idea behind this website and would love to see it grow and become more widely used. A good way to possibily start to widen that user base would be to work directly with the chamber of commerce in different cities across the globe and incourage them to incorporate the use of this tool into thier own lost-n-found system structures. A few media spots wouldn't be a bad idea either. 

Here's to hoping that some people are reuinited with thier favorite things.

New to me Social Software Pt. I - Wakoopa!

http://wakoopa.com/

What a fun little app! Total invasion of personal time...however, very, very interesting. 

Above is a embedable widget from the site listing all the software I am curretnly running on my PC. Wow! Pretty scary when you think about it. Right now I am just trying to understand the benefits of something like this, or rather the social software benefits of this. Here are some of my initial thoughts.

• discover new software via your contacts
• see what people are doing
• see how you spend your time

Also from a software development/use standpoint, there is lots of usage statistics that can be harvested. For example they have this quote on the website:

"Did you know communicating is the second biggest activity on the computer? We do. Wakoopa knows software" 

What do you guys think?

Bloglines vs. Google Reader

Bloglines vs. Google Reader

Bloglines:

• Dated interface
• Weird User Interface, dare I say “Frames”
• To long a delay between setting up account and getting up to speed
• Feed setup takes too many clicks
• Sometimes too much customization, leads to frustrated users and in the end less use
• Too much feed visible and even when I changed the setting to only show headlines it still showed the whole entry
• Too make changes requires going to different menus rather than being able to do it within the same screen.
• Does it do folders, like Google? At .40 cents a minute (I’m blogging from the middle of the Atlantic) it’s too expensive to try and figure that out! Most people aren’t even being charged those kinds of fees and still won’t bother to try and master this reader.

 

Google Reader:

• Easy to use interface
• Quick to setup
• Feed addition is quick and easy
• Sharing is simpler, and it’s a one-click process
• You don’t have to email to share
• Scan quickly through feeds
• View trends
• Quickly switch views between “expanded” and “list”
• “Home” section gives you headlines from each of your feeds
• quickly see “Friends” shared items
• Allows for a high consumtion of information in a short amount of time
• I could go on forever about the features that Google Reader has that Bloglines does not have or has and just doesn’t do well.

Overall, I would recommend Google Reader any day over Bloglines. I feel that while Bloglines offers a few more features (it’s a bit smarter and can find feeds where they didn’t really even exist), it’s just too much of a pain to really play with. The interface is a bit dated and customization menus are too buried within the interface, if you just want to do quick adjustments. Maybe this is all due because I am more used to Google Reader been using it now over year, but I am a pretty savvy internet user and Bloglines just frustrates me. I don’t care enough about it or see its features relevant enough to my needs to spend any more time with it. This is coming from someone who really likes using new internet apps (even the annoying and non-useful ones) and this one just didn’t do it for me. 

What messages can Librarians/Libraries take from the Brown & Duguid reading?

...not to put the shelves too far away from one another or move them around on a daily basis. 

Chapter 3 discussed technology as it relates to the office environment and home-workers in reltation to that. C/D (I now work in advertising too!) and thier experiemental new office structure took a large portion of the chapter. How does all this relate to libraries? To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think I will take this approach, Libraries should be choosy what technologies they choose to use. Just cause it's trendy doesn't mean you have to adopt it. Also implimentation is important. If you are trying to be trendy and jump on the "bandwagon" - you should also decided to do a good job of it. I've gone to more than one library website where they have tried to incorporate web 2.o features on thier web -1.0 websites and it just comes over looking very pedestrian and dosen't send a good message at all. They would have been better off just keeping it simple rather than trying to do to much at one time. KISS a.k.a "Keep it Simple Stupid" should be hung up in every library across the globe. Do not complicate things that don't need it, aka don't try to use technologies where you don't or cant properly support/impliment them. 

Approach #2 to the chapter: Libraries should take a lesson from C/D and not be so strict with thier clientel. I may be the proud and the few, but unless it's a special collection environment - I think Coffee is a very good idea, some call me crazy, but I will even go as far and say a Cafe would be a nice touch too. Unlike with the move-again and again C/D'ers, libraries should try and create a familiar and relaxed environment if they want people to be comfortable. Libraries are not Book Museums (well unless they are), they are aisles of information organized in a recognizable pattern (although some would argue thats a stretch). 

Random thoughts on the chapter: I tended to get lots of out the chapter from a corporate work perspective and how people rely on other people to understand and support the use of technology (i.e G.Bell). This chapter made total sense to me. Often times in the library environment I would become the IT Help Desk as libraries tried to catch up and the staff tried to just keep pace. Now I am IT and it's even worse. There is quickly becoming a general accepted level of computer skills and to fall below that makes you almost irrelevant. I think this is not really due to people critizing the level of knowledge, but the cost and time that is consumed by one user having to show another user how to do something. This is a bit of a tangent, so I will end that 

In closing I think the guy at the start of chapter 3, should own a MAC and there is a reason shared office space for independent workers is opening up all over the city. 

Library Blogs

Ok, so SG wants us to post some library blogs and say why. If some of you have not done this yet, I suggest this link to help you out. http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki

I also tried pretty hard to find a library that had done anything really cutting-edge in respect to blogging, but no luck. 

1. Library of Congress Blog:  http://www.loc.gov/blog/

The design is nice and clean, not to mention its won a few awards. The blog covers a wide variety of topics that could interest a reader. The site makes use of imagery to grab the readers attention. Overall a nicely organized site with a good solid taxonomy. There are not many web 2.o features to be had here, but a nice experience. 

2. Smithsonian Institution Libraries Blog: http://sil.typepad.com/

I am more of a special libraries kind of gal and well, I also have a soft spot for museums (as I worked in one for 6.5 years). So that was my main reason for choosing this blog. Not anything super special here except the content (that's the thing lots of people miss the mark on). The content is interesting and engaging, like the LIC it varies in topics and uses imagery to add more interest. 

Wordpress -vs- Blogger Pt. II

Well, it seems as though I'm not so good at following directions, actually I think I just got carried away in my prior post.

Here is my findings of my nice, long previous post presented as convenient bullet points.

Blogger:

• super simple set-up
• finding admin UI is not so easy
  
• admin UI is nice, clean and is designed well
• execution - real easy to get started blogging, only a few clicks
• themes - very slim pickings
• mods - gadgets are easy to use and have a guided setup
• page layout - not much control here with the GUI, however its nice and simple
• not as customizable as Wordpress, but easier to use out-of-the-gate
  

Wordpress:

• email confirmation for setup, not as quick, but still pretty speedy
• finding admin UI is very easy
• admin UI is overwhelming for a newbie user
• execution - easier to start blogging than Blogger, but a more complex "write" page
• themes - lots to choose from (5 pages worth)
• mods - not many widgets to chose from and set-up is not as intuitive
• page layout - like Blogger not much customization abilities other than those inherent in your chosen template
• more freedom, but not a lot of room to exercise those freedoms

Wordpress -vs - Blogger

To keep this fair I am posting this review on both my Wordpress Blog and my Blogger Blog (that's pretty redunant, eww in more ways than one! ha ha). 

I use Wordpress for my own personal site at lealaabbott.com. However, I realized the only way to fairly compare the two is to compare the web-based (developer hosted) version of Wordpress against Blogger. This is because I self-host my Wordpress site for my website and use it as the CMS system, so I have all the freedoms of editing the code etc that come with running the backend of a Wordpress site. So instead I am going to approach this as if I was a beginner to either platform. 

So, lets start with the basics - Sign-up and Execute: 

Ok, lightning speed with Blogger since it is integrated with Google, so if you have a Google account it doesn't take much work to then have a Blogger account. Wordpress same story, super easy you just had to go through a confirmation email. It took awhile (in Internet minutes) for the confirmation email to arrive. When it finally did (Yahoo had stuck it in the Spam folder), I was ready to get to blogging. 

So getting started with Blogger. Executing a blog on Blogger was super simple. Its a little wacky navigating to the administration section, but its findable. For instance if you start from your vanity page such as http://ljascils598f08.blogspot.com you have to first go into "New Post" then you are able to see the "Dashboard" link which takes your to your administrative menu. Not liking that, kinda bad UI if you ask me. However once you get to your "Dashboard" the Admin GUI is nice and clean and easy to read and understand, the information is laid out nicely and is uniform and cohesive. 

Now let's get started with Wordpress. Wow, OK, this is definitely different. I hate to admit it, but the Dashboard is really overwhelming! On the other hand, its much more intuitive to find than the Blogger admin menu. However, if you are a more experienced user all these features add up to more customization and integration opportunities. For the purposes of this section, however we are just setting up and account and executing our first blog posting. As busy as the admin GUI is it's pretty easy to find the "Write" link in the upper right-hand corner (best spot for frequently used or most important features on a website). The "Write" interface is pretty similiar to the Blogger interface with one difference, advanced options. Good for advanced users, but not so integral for beginners. 

Winner of this section: Blogger

The Fun Stuff - Themes: 

Ok, Worpress I think wins hands-down here with thier zillions (well 5 pages, just seems like a lot) compared with Bloggers 16 available themes. Yes you can edit the HTML, but we are talking blogging for the beginner here. My begginer persona I'm using for this does not include him/her having programming skills. Why don't you tell me which one you like better in the comments section. 

Wordpress Blog: http://ljascils598f08.wordpress.com/

Blogger Blog: http://ljascils598f08.blogspot.com/

Winner of this section: Wordpress

Everything Else:

Yes, my persona is a beginner, but I think mod'ing out your blog isn't too difficult for this newbie to handle. So lets have a look at how you can customize in either of the two platforms. 

In Blogger the "layouts" tab takes you to a part of the admin menu that allows you to change the appearance of your blog. The resutls are a pretty minimal set of tools that you can use to move around and edit your blog layout. Interestingly enough only two of the boxes you can actually move around and when you click on edit, its really a content managment settings GUI wrapped up in what you would think was the "layout editor" section of the platform. The other links are "page elements", "fonts and colors', "edit HTML" and pick new template (we already know that link isn't much fun). Well, I like the fact that you can edit the HTML, but remember my newbie persona not a programming bone in their body. So not really to exciting. "Fonts and Colors", ok midly exciting. However, "gadgets" now I could definately spend some time here. Lickety-split easy to add and I found exactly the ones I wanted right away, del.icio.us and my picture. There are tons of gadgets to choose from, they are easy to search for and a click of the button to add.  This Blogger thing is pretty darn easy! Now let's take a peek at the competition. 

In Worpress "Design" mode, we have the tabs  "themes", "widgets", "extras" and "edit CSS".  We already played around with the themes, lets have a look at the "widgets" and add a few.  To keep things even, we will add the same widgets that we added to our Wordpress Blog. Wow, big difference we only have around 20 widgets we can add. I can't even add the picture widget, oh well. Now I get to the next user experience difference. In Wordpress you actually have to click on "edit" in the widget to set up your preferences as opposed to Blogger where it walked you right through it. I guess I will just have to add the "del.icio.us" widget. 

Clear winner in ease of use and options: Blogger

My final opinion: 

I think for a new user Blogger as a blogging platform is a much better option than Wordpress. Its easy to get started and add features and functionality. However, there is a limit to your freedoms. With Wordpress there is more freedom, but the options just aren't there to exercise that freedom. So kind of a loser there. After this little exploration I am happy to return to my self-hosted blog as that gives me all the freedoms I could ever want. However, my newbie persona is off to do some blogging on thier new Blogger blog.