Article sites

Week 12 sees me investigate buzzle.com and I am amazed at the variety of information and opinions. I checked out some of the links to particular topics listed on the 21 lunges site and immediately found the Study Tips and Techniques helpful for the Uni course I am undertaking. I read about Strange cat behavior, checked out a few jokes and looked at some more serious news. They are all short articles of varied authenticity. I found it interesting, though.

Social videos and entertainment

In week 11, I spent too much time on YouTube

(this is one of my favourites) and TeacherTube. The latter will be helpful for my daughter ho has started her teaching course. I have saved GodTube for Sunday! (Actually I did check it out and it’s url is now http://www.tangle.com )

I signed up to Squidoo (by this time I have signed up to more things than I think I can keep track of, doing this program) and started to look through the craft pages for ideas for Girls Brigade. Again, more time is needed.

I must say though, that whilst I had been feeling overwhelmed with all the new Web2.0 tools, I am equally excited by the expanding possibilities that I never knew were waiting for me. Thanks Daniel, and all the team behind the 21 lunges program for what you have created, to bridge that gap for me and others. I am hooked!

Blog guides and catchers

During Week 10, I became immersed in searches on Technorati but found it OK when searching basic terms such as libraries (99,511 results) but frustrating when I was looking for more obscure things. Like Gary, I also looked up an author and then I diverted onto a Jane Austen fan blog. I have subscribed, but time is my enemy. I think I will find Technorati more useful after I reflect on exactly what is the best investment of my time.

Social bookmarking and tagging

I explored the intricacies of social bookmarking and tagging during Week 9 of the 21 lunges program and could immediately see uses for it, personally and professionally. I opened a del.cio.us account, but as usual, ran into password problems when I came back to it. I may have mentioned before, that I enthusiastically sign up to many and varied sites and then get bogged down with simple things like passwords. But I persevered and tried again and now I have some urls bookmarked. See http://delicious.com/robynsreflections I am going to ask Daniel to guide me through creating a tagcloud, when we have time. It’s not a priority at the moment – writing that paper is!

Digging It

Doing the reading for Week 8, I found that as with many other sites, Digg can consume enormous amounts of time and effort. A competitive streak as well as something genuinely interesting to say is essential.

I investigated the Digg website and was immediately immersed in articles on Baby Boomers, Michael Jackson and skin cancer (the latter two not linked).

I could sort by category, by most recent and by most popular. The more I discover in Web 2.0, the more time I want to spend exploring, contributing and enjoying.

The Multitasking Generation

I read this brief article as part of my homework for Week 7 and the snapshot of this family could almost be holding up a mirror to my own. I have 3 adult children who are all studying and whilst one of them is studying Computer Science (Games Technology) and claims a legitimate use of the computer for this purpose, the other 2 use the computer and other communication devices simultaneously and efficiently. I do marvel at them! I find their attention span is different from other generations, whilst they all read a lot for leisure and study, it is itermitttently and rotationally. I find myself contacting them from outside the home via text or Facebook, they always have several applications open on the computer and communicate both locally and internationally. Often they are ahead of the news services with information and breaking stories and have wide and varied contacts online, without having ever met those contacts. I never underestimate their ability to juggle many sources, which means that when I am assisting students of a similar ages with reference queries, I am tuned into their method of working.

Social Networking

After investigating MySpace and Facebook in Week 6, I signed up for Facebook. I was unsure at first about using my RMIT e-mail, so I used my gmail account and then ran into password problems that took quite a bit of to and froing. I nearly gave up! But with help, I started again, this time using my rmit e-mail and so I now have 2 Facebook accounts - is that against the rules? I also discovered the fun of chatting online, which could be distracting at work! I have uploaded my photo and found some friends. I haven't used it a lot so far, since I can see how much time and energy it can take, but once I have finished the formal part of the 21 lunges program, I plan on spending more time on it. There are lots of friends out there!

Holidays are great, but back to work soon

I have returned south of the border, but am still on holidays for one final week. It is definitely cooler, so I have foregone the swims at the beach and the walks while the air is still balmy at sunset. Instead, I have logged on and am tackling my homework for the 21 lunges program. I decided to go back over what I had already done (as I have stretched it out so long) and make sure I had completed all the tasks in order. I had for a while been carried away with practising all the things that were new to me, so ably demonstrated by Daniel, that I realised I hadn't actually commented on them on my blog as I am supposed to.

So, here goes.

Way back in Week 4 (yes, I did complete it earlier this year), I discovered the inner working of podcasts. I think they are great and have seen how useful they already are for the library. There are 21 currently available to listen to, and I think we could add more!. There is a new one for Brunswick Library, how about one for Bundooora? We have some specialised collections eg Childrens, that could rate a special spiel.
I do refer new students to these podcasts, also the vodcasts we have available. They are a great resource. There are only 3 vodcasts at present, I think there should be more and I would be happy to help produce them.

But before I go on...................Just an addtional comment about my progress through the lunges. Daniel had warned me that since the program was no longer actively maintained, a number of the links no longer worked. I found this to be true, but he was one step ahead of me, checking, fixing where possible and suggesting alternatives for others. So thanks for that!

I might add that I had a lot of frustrations throughout the program. A lot of it was definitely self-imposed, as I wanted to read absolutely everything on each topic and found the amount of time involved almost overwhelming and too hard to fit into work time. It spilt over into limited time at home (due to study and community commitments) and stretched the program out almost never endingly. Also, I kept getting side tracked, following up interesting side topics and straying away from the original content. Fascinating, but not productive for finishing the program. I also embraced the new experiences so thoroughly I got distracted - for example by Facebook. But most frustratingly, I had a lot of problems with logins and keeping track of the multitude of applications I got involved in. Sometimes, it all seemed too hard, but Daniel would steer me back on track and I would find it would find perserverance rewarding. Finally, as referred to earlier, time was the most precious commodity that I had trouble managing. Daniel and I discussed this and we endeavoured to schedule regular times to review my progress and for one to one mentoring. It was evident that without this (and I am aware that my motivation wavered), I would not be headed towards the finish line.

Of course, our decision to 'pitch' for a conference paper has focussed me more on the task. I will have finished the program before I return from holidays and then we will concentrate on writing the paper. Some of the thoughts I have just put down may be included!

Moving onto Week 5, I delved into the delight of wikis. I had used one before for a collaborative ATN project, so it wasn't completely new. I have edited a page and it all came back to me easily.

I am just having a short break away from the computer as we have a new member of the family wanting attention. We adopted a cat called Felix yesterday.

Back soon.