Week 12 - The Finale

I've been waiting for Amanda to give us the "go ahead" for Week 12 - to blog our thoughts about Learning 2.0@Mac. When we started these groups way back in February with great anticipation and great motivation (MP3 Players and maybe a laptop), I thought this day would never come. I found some of the exercises arduous and depressing (must have been the cold, long, dark, bleak winter days) . I didn't know why I had joined. I agonized over some of the assignments, but I persevered. I always completed the weekly assignments before the new lessons began. I often thought of the folks on the 5th floor who were experiencing Fiscal Year End (April 30) and wondered how they were managing. (A word of advice- some depts. have difficulty participating and completing these exercises due to extremely important deadlines. Better to have 6 weeks of activities and not around "busy" times - also not at Christmas).

My very favourite activity was creating my very own Blog. I screwed up initially because after I had created it, I couldn't remember my password so I had to create a new one. (great experience). I had heard so much about blogging, had seen peoples' blogs but had no idea how to even begin, or why I should even bother creating one.
I needed to join Learning 2.0@Mac ,to be guided through it (ever so gently), taking one baby step at a time. I enjoyed signing up on Facebook(my kids asked if they could be my friends), exploring MySpace, trying out a few games, downloading Firefox and exploring the add-ons. All 11 weeks where invaluable! My team leader, Alex was very patient as he guided me through some of the steps. I think everyone benefited greatly with the very generous "drop-in" sessions for those of us needing "human contact". I think some of us would become more comfortable with the technologies we were exposed to, if we found it necessary to incorporate them into our everyday duties. Otherwise we learn them, don't use them and then forget about them.

I would definitely consider joining another discovery programme if it were offered in the future. However, I don't think it should be so lengthy. Also, you should consider offering sessions to staff in the Wong Room (everyone would have hands-on) whenever new software is acquired or going to be widely used. Many staff members, because of our job responsibilities are not aware or don't have access to what's "out-there".

Thank you again to the ETG for putting this on - especially Amanda, Alex and Kelly (for giving us 2 "live"demos.). The tools that I have been exposed to are only a small part of opening up a world I was way too timid to explore. Please continue this great work!

Always,
g.p.

Week 11 - Browser Tools

Can you believe its Week 11 already? I can and I can't. Some weeks its been a slow haul (Wikis) - and others (all the games) just whizzed by. I was sorry to hear and see that my leader Alex has left for new digs...(actually he's completing what he's suppose to)... nonetheless its a difficult parting especially since he was always there for me (he still will be electronically).

This week I downloaded Firefox on my system. Its a browser, but I was using Internet Explorer. I was able to download and install it (no problem, no technical assistance needed) and was thrilled to no end to see that all my Tags and Bookmarks just came over automatically - neat! There are so many Firefox add-ons I couldn't make up my mind but I did do one "WeatherBug" and its really great 'cause I see the temp automatically. I will add on more in the future. I visited the MORRIS bookmarklets page and installed subject keyword and title keyword. I then went to a web page, highlighted "blood type" and clicked on the subject keyword to perform the search. I got a lot of entries. It was neat! Thanks for letting us know about these techniques and tools for searching. On my part it will take a little practice and everyday usage to get completely comfortable with them, or to just remember I have them to use.

Always,
G.P.

Double "WOW" - Gaming is Unbelievable! - Week 10

Week 10: Gaming Demos was what the Learning 2.0 @Mac group was exposed to. It was unbelievable (at least for me). I attended both special drop-in sessions/presentations that Kelly Penfold "hosted"- boy, is she good. You can see she spends an incredible amount of time playing and developing the games so she's very comfortable playing, demonstrating and talking about them. Her computer must also be very powerful to hold all those games and not crash like mine always does. A few weeks ago, I did manage to download the basic Second Life, but have been very unsuccessful playing it (computer crashes constantly). I have also played Dance Dance Revolution (beginner mode) and its great fun and a good workout too. With DDR you need PS2 and a "dance mat" - its all one package. You choose from beginner to difficult, you select the music and then you watch the screen and step on the arrows. The screen tells you if you're marvelous or it boos you.
All these gaming and virtual worlds will be of interest to the library since you can have hundreds, perhaps thousands of users on a single game/virtual world. You may have a reference librarian in the virtual world to answer any inquiries, but you will also have many other participants from other parts of the world who may be able to answer or point the inquiry in another direction or perhaps because other participants have more knowledge or experience in other areas they can respond "better" . No one person has all the answers - if the question is posted to an open audience/participants, the person posing the question can choose what answer best applies to them.

Week 9 - My very own "Facebook"

My goodness how time flies! I can't believe we have completed Week 9:Online Social Networks. This week we had 2 assignments - create an account on Facebook and explore MySpace. I did both. I set up a profile of myself, added a photo and tried to "make friends". It was really fun. I joined the Learning 2.0 @Mac group and I contacted 2 friends. Margaret actually communicated with me and I wrote back to her. I really enjoyed it. After I finish my blogging I will add Alex "my leader" as a friend - I hope he writes back.

I also explored MySpace but did not create a profile. I think MySpace is more liberating and more personable in that you can create your own style, colour background, add music and meet new people. In Facebook you only let people in with your permission - interesting - so they both serve slightly different purposes, but yet both are social networks. I still feel a little shy and timid about these activities so I will move slowly with making new friends, but I'm very pleased with my progress so far.

Thanks,

G.p.

Fun Things To Explore

Hi everyone again - we finished Week 8 and the participants were assigned one or more activities to work on. They were "Online Applications & Tools". Amanda provided us with many choices, and I chose only 2 - RedKid.net and LastFM. The others sounded really great too - but it being Easter Weekend, I was really tight for time. We went out to families in Toronto on Good Friday and I had my side over for Easter Sunday dinner (sit down). Let me tell you I was more than tired - I was dead. Thats why I'm writing this Blog on Monday morning in my P.J.'s. I did explore these 2 activies last week but am only writing about them now. I first went to LastFM and was really impressed with how quickly I could receive (listen to) music. I had to sign on and typed in "The Fray"and I got their sound - I couldn't believe it - it was great. The site also provided me with other suggestions on other music stating "if you like this...then you'll like that etc. etc." It was really exciting and I will spend more time there. The next application I tried was RedKid.net which helped me create a really neat front page for my folder (binder) where I keep all my lessons. There is a beaver and I typed in "Learning 2.0@Mac Weekly Activities G.P.Lilly and then pressed "gnaw". It was really neat. As I mentioned above this was a super busy week and weekend for me and I would have liked to have done more and I will in the future. Thank you again for all the encouragement and support.

G.P.

Week 7- Other People's Insight

Hi there again everybody. We are now coming to the end of Week 7. Last Monday, Amanda sent us all a list of extra readings we could do to familiarize ourselves with other writers and their material and their thoughts on how the library is evolving with "Learning "Library" 2.0". I decided that I would undetake this exercise because I could use all the help I can get and I would also like to get ideas on what people outside of McMaster are thinking. I decided to read "Library 2.0 Theory: Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Libraries" by Jack M. Maness. It defines "Library 2.0" and the changing Web and the changing environment (physical and virtual) and the substantial implications for libraries. The article provided me with much needed background information (some of with I already new, but needed a refresher on) and it provided me with the new keywords which I am being exposed to here at Mac - ie. Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Blog, Wikii, Social Networking, RSS, Tagging etc. The author states that the Web has really become a very interactive, multimedia driven virtual space. He says that the users and libraries can interact in this virtual world and create their own content. What I found really revolutionary was his bold thinking that Library 2.0 will open up not only access to the libraries catalogue and its collections but access to its content. - WOW!!!
On a lighter note - we rented the new Casino Royale DVD starring Daniel Craig as the latest 007. It was fantastic. Very fast pace and exciting. What was really entertaining was how they used computers, cells and other techno gear to inflitrate the "bad guys" - good stuff - I highly recommend it. All for now - finally.

GP