Thing Three!

3. Set up an RSS account and add feeds.

"Really Simple Syndication"

I have an account with GOOGLE Reader and subscribed to some feeds (BBC and NPR are two).

The GOOGLE News one has been added here . . .

Thing Two!

2. What is Library 2.0? I enjoyed the overview by Tom Storey in the OCLC article, and also read the Wikipedia one. In an online Information Literacy course that I took when on sabbatical two years ago, our first assignment was to do a paper on an unreliable website. One student used Wikipedia for her unreliable website, so I found it interesting to have the Wikipedia article as a resource even though it is informative on Library 2.0. Some instructors at our school do not like students using Wikipedia as a source for papers, so I try to steer them away even though it is popular.

Blogger John Blyberg added insight on Library 2.0. He states that Library 2.0 is partially a response to a post-Google world. Blyberg believes that internal reorganization and radical changes are needed for libraries. I thought about the occasional patron who still asks "Where is your card catalog?", and wonder what our libraries will look like in twenty years. Our shelves of unused books become quite dusty as students mainly use computers.

Stephen Abram of Murdoch University in Australia provided an international perspective in a video "programme" giving a brief overview of the 23 Things project in August of 2007. He challenged librarians to put human beings back in the information continuum. The 23 Things are experience-based. Abram encouraged us to set priorities to be "addicted to the priority of learning." I could understand what he meant as I found that to be my situation when I took online classes. The classes I took ranged from a six day class to a one semester one, but when each ended, I almost felt withdrawal after being so focused on them. Abram wants us to be motivated to just find 15 minutes a day for the 23 Things project. He encouraged us to look at unintended consequences at what is changing, and said to take time to reflect on what is being learned. Being I am doing the 23 Things during the summer when I am not at at work with my colleagues, it will be interesting to see if that changes anything when I return to work in August. One co-worker has already completed the 23 Things, and another plans to do it. While many web tools are Stephen Abram's "favorites", I liked what he said about using the web for browsing rather than just retrieving.

Thing One!

1. Getting Started: Set up your own blog.
Do your first post. Add an avatar.

This was all fun to do a few weeks ago when I set up the blog. I already had a GOOGLE account, and added my Shelfari and del.icio.us links being I had been working with them for quite awhile. Later I can change the arrangement if I want. The avatar was new to me, and fun to do. After I decided that the colors of the avatar that I selected did not look good with orange, I changed the template from an orange look. (Look for the avatar on the sidebar at the right.)

I wanted to do 23 Things On A Stick when it was first available, but that was a busy time of the school year, so I hope to be able to complete the Things this summer. On to Thing Two! (Reminds me of The Cat in the Hat!)

Planting is almost done!

The soybean planting is ALMOST done here. With luck, we should finish tomorrow, so I hope to resume the 23 Things project. Last weekend was busy with the relatives here for Memorial Day, and on June first we have Dain and Danielle's graduation at Gustavus at St. Peter.

23 Things On A Stick - Coming Soon!

Today even feels like summer for our last day this semester. Graduation is on Friday. I hope to have more time to work on this project soon! It is good to have the blog in place before beginning the 23 Things.