ACL Web 2.0 Programme

#23 (week 9) Is this really the end? Or just the beginning ...

2007-11-01T15:52:00.006+13:00

Wow! Congratulations, you’ve reached the 23rd thing! I hope the experience has enhanced your Web 2.0 skills, provided you with the information and knowledge to provide better service to our customers, got you thinking about how you can use these tools in your job and has been a fun and rewarding experience along the way.

The last discovery exercise is a chance for you to reflect on you learnings and tell us about at least one thing you learnt that you think will be useful in your role.

Discovery Exercise:

For your last and final post on your blog please reflect on your learning journey and post a few thoughts about your journey through this programme. Tell us about at least one thing that stood out for you and how you will use it in your role.

Well, I hope you learned a few new things and had fun doing it. In closing, I want to thank you all for joining us on this learning journey.

Jayne Gutry, Performance development adviser

#22 (Week 9). eBooks, eAudio books and downloadable media (or "The end is in sight ")

2007-11-01T15:39:00.015+13:00

For this discovery exercise, you will explore where you can get ebooks, audio books and downloadable media. There are a number of commercial audiobook and ebook sources such as World eBook Fair and Project Gutenberg which are worth a look.

Following is some discovery resources that you may find useful:

Introduction to Netlibrary* - this is a brief introduction on the use on NetLibrary
Amazon has unveiled their own-brand wireless electronic book reader called "Kindle".
Bookreader is a freeware e-book reviewer
Wiki on book reader devices available
Best places to get free books

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look at Auckland City Libraries' eBooks and eAudio books digital collections which includes kids animated talking books, virtual reference library & OCLC that could be useful for homework or reserachers.
Access the ACL NetLibrary account through the digital library and clicking on "NetLibrary (ebooks)", create a free account and complete the form. Click on the ebooks link to the right and explore some of the titles and add at least 5 books to your favourites.
Take a look at Downloadable Media and search for some titles. You can only download items at home to listen on your computer or MP3 player. This is popular with english as a second language students and commuters or travelling salespeople who enjoy a good story during a long ride.
Add to your week 9 blog post about your findings. Did you locate a title or resources that you might want to read or could recommend to customers?

#21 (Week 9). Podcasts (You don’t need an iPod!)

2007-11-01T15:38:00.014+13:00

The word podcast is a series of digital media (audio or non audio) that are released periodically and available to download. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary. Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries (like the ones used in this Learning 2.0 program), to the popular iTunes, to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Bloglines account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

Following are some discovery resources that you may find useful:

There are many, many podcast directory and finding tools out there. Here are just three of the more popular ones that don’t, like iTunes, require a software download:

o Podiabooks
o Podcastalley.com
o podcast directory

Discovery Exercise:

To find out more about podcasts start with this short video on podcasting in plain english.
Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. Look for some interesting library related podcasts like book review podcasts or library news.
Add the URL link for a podcast to your post write a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?

Optional extra

Do you want to learn how to be a podcaster ? (Here are optional resources for those who want to learn to create podcasts)

How to make your own podcast:
How to publish your podcast on blogger or the iTunes store
Beginners guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts
How to podcast tutorial

#20 (Week 9). Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.

2007-11-01T15:37:00.005+13:00

Within the past year online video hosting sites have exploded allowing users to easily upload and share videos on the web. Among all the web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day and allowing users not only to upload their own video content easily, but also embed clips into their own sites easily.

Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from your favourite tv commercial, comedian, music or anything that takes your fancy. Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer. :)

Winning reference interview from ACL reference interview competition
What is the future of libraries?
Chesdale Cheese adverts from back in the day
Goodnight Kiwi
Crunchie Bar advert that we all stayed in to watch the first Saturday night it played
Fred Dagg You don't know how lucky you are
Supergroove - sitting inside my head
The Dudes - Bliss
Conan the Librarian
library dominos

Discovery Exercise:

Explore YouTube & find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.
Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or componets of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and paste code for the for "Embeddable Player.” Note: you'll need to use Blogger's Edit HTML tab when pasting this code.

Other popular video hosting sites:

Yahoo Videos

Google videos

Others - top video site list

NOTE: Videos, like music downloads, are bandwidth hogs. It is recommended that you complete this exercise during light internet usage times.

#19 (Week 8). Discovering Web 2.0 tools

2007-11-01T15:20:00.002+13:00

Throughout the course of this Learning 2.0 program we’ve explored just a small sampling of these new internet technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. But given time there are so many more we could explore. Current estimates place the number of web 2.0 tools at somewhere between 300 & 500 with only a handful emerging as market dominators. And although time will only tell which of these new collaborative, social networking and information tools will remain on top, one thing is for sure, they're not going to go away (at least anytime soon).

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to select any site from this list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees and explore it. With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you (like Books or Personal Organization) and then simply select a tool/site to explore. Be careful to select a tool that is Free and that doesn't require a plug-in or download. The majority of these free, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

Discovery Exercise:

Select any site/tool from the list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees. (If you prefer to select from just the winners, here’s a link to the short list.)
Explore the site you selected.
Add to your week 8 post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?

#18 (Week 8). Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

2007-11-01T15:19:00.007+13:00

One major benefit to web-based applications is that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC.

Another bonus is that they easily accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs (formerly known as Writely) to author and publish posts to your blog.

Following are some optional discovery resources you may like to access:

A short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: This list was authored in ZohoWriter and exported as HTML
Here’s a Zoho-created document created by Helene Blowers (viewable as a webpage) about some of the beneficial features of Zoho.
Take the Google doc tour
Try out Zoho Writer’s features

Discovery Exercise:

1. Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer or Google Docs

2. Explore the site and create a test document or two. Link document to your blog

3. For week 8 create a blog post and tell us about your discoveries.

Optional extra:

If you’re up for the challenge,

try using Zoho’s publish options to post to your blog
export your document as an HTML file or publish it through Zoho to your blog.

#17 (Week 7) Playing around with PBWiki

2007-10-30T15:39:00.015+13:00

Making a wiki is as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich, or so says their makers.

Sandbox" is the term that wikis often use to describe the area of the website that should be used for pure play. For this discovery and exploration exercise, we have set up a whole Learning 2.0 Favourites wiki* that’s for play!

The theme of this wiki is simply “Favourites” : Favourite books, favourite holiday spots, favourite restaurants, favorite anything …all you need to do is play and add your thoughts.
To mark your adventure on this site, you should add your blog to the Favourite Blogs page.

Following are some discovery resources:

PB Wiki Tour - Find out how this collaborative tool can be used
PBWiki Video Gallery - Short videos of PBwiki features
PB Wiki Tips

Discovery Exercise:

Sign into the ACL PB Wiki use the username: acl.elgar@gmail.com and password: aclweb20 to login to the wiki
Add your blog to the Favourite Blogs page, (that's how we'll know that you've been there) and feel free to add anything else to the favourite folders.
Add to your week 7 post in your blog and tell us about your experience.

* NOTE: The ACL Learning Wiki was created using the free version of PBWiki, a tool that lets you create webpages that anyone can edit.

#16 (Week 7). Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them.

2007-10-30T15:30:00.006+13:00

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content.

Wikipedia, the online open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and perhaps the most well known of these knowledge sharing tools. With the benefits that wikis provide, the use and popularity of these tools is exploding.

Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:

Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.
Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed.
And users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, libraries have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Some staff have been using them to conduct virtual meetings. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, conference wikis and even library best practices wikis.

Following are some discovery resources you can take a look at:

Wiki, wiki, wiki - from the Core Compentency blog of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County.
Wiki’s: A Beginner’s Look – an excellent short slide presentation that offers a short introduction and examples.
What is a Wiki? – Library Success wiki presentation
Using Wikis to Create Online Communities – a good overview of what a wiki is and how it can be used in libraries.
Using a Wiki for InformationServices: Principles and Practicalities

A good Youtube video, by Commoncraft videos, demonstrating wikis.

Discovery Exercise:

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some library wikis and blog about your finding. Here’s a few examples to get you started:

Take a look at the Auckland City Libraries training & development wiki
SJCPL Subject Guides – a pathfinder wiki developed by the St. Joseph County Public Library system
Book Lovers Wiki - developed by the Princeton Public Library
Library Success: A best practices wiki
Other library wiki examples

Create a blog post for week 7 and tell us about your findings. What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

#15 (week 6) On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 ...

2007-10-11T15:51:00.004+13:00

Library 2.0 is a term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name, as you may guess, is an extension of Web2.0 and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (libraries).

Many have argued that the notion of Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. But no matter which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.

Here are some discovery resources for you to take a look at. The first five links are articles listed in the OCLC Next Space Newsletter:

Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?
Away from Icebergs
Into a new world of librarianship
To more powerful ways to cooperate
To better bibliographic services
To a temporary place in time
Links to more discussions can be located through the list of references at the bottom of the Library 2.0 page in Wikipedia
A great video that illustrates the Web 2.0 phenomenon can be viewed here.

Discovery Exercise:

View at least three of the discovery resources listed above.
Add to you blog post about your thoughts on any one of these discovery resources. Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?You may like to talk about where you see Auckland City Libraries in the future, and how you see web 2.0 being incorporated into this.

#14 (week 6) Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

2007-10-11T15:44:00.008+13:00

Blogging has exploded on the web according to the State of the Blogosphere . According to Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs, the number of blogs doubles just about every 6 months.

Thing 14 will introduce you to Technorati, show you how to get your blog listed as part of the blogosphere and how you can tag your posts with keywords to make them more findable through a Technorati search.

Here are some optional discovery resources which you may find useful:

Technorati Tour – videocast of new features
new lookTechnorati Popular feature.

Discovery Exercise:

Become a member of Techorati and claim your blog.
Take a look around. Try doing a keyword search for “Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different? Explore popular blog, searches and tags. Is anything interesting or surprising in your results?
Include in your week 6 blog post tell us about your discoveries and link your delicious account to your blog....how useful do you think this site could be in your role?

OPTIONAL:

If you're up for a challenge,

learn how to tag your posts by with Technorati tags so they can join tag searches.
creating a watchlist.NOTE: When adding HTML code, you'll want to make sure you're in Blogger's Edit HTML window.

#13 (week 6) Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

2007-10-11T14:26:00.009+13:00

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorising that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & posts).

Unlike library subject cataloguing, which follows a strict set of guidelines (i.e.Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want.

For thing 13, we look at the popular social bookmarking site called Del.icio.us. Librarians around the world are utlising Del.icio.us as it allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorise your bookmarks. Many users find that the real power of Del.icio.us is in the social network aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you.

Here are some optional discovery resources which you may find useful:

Several Habits of wildly successful Del.icio.us users
Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us
Us.ef.ul: A beginners guide to Del.icio.us
Take a look at the PLCMCL2 account that was created for the original programme
Look at the delicious account recommended for staff to use in the reference interview workshop

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look at Social Bookmarking in Plain English and create a Del.icio.us account for yourself.
Explore the site options and add at least 10 bookmarks. Note: try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorise this reference?
Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool.Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance, or is it just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

OPTIONAL:

If you’re up to the challenge, you may want to explore Del.icio.us’ latest addition, a network badge.

#12 (week 5) Roll your own search engine with Rollyo

2007-10-11T13:29:00.004+13:00

Do you have a group of websites that are your favourites? Or a set of similar online resources that you frequently use to answer homework or reference questions?

Well Rollyo may be the tool for you.Rollyo allows you to create your own search tool for just the websites you know and trust. Take a look at some of these search rolls that have already been created:

Discovery Exercise:

Rollyo seems to be experiencing major problems at the moment, some days it is working and other days you are more likely to receive notice it is not...if you cannot access Rollyo, let us know in your post and move on to the next step.

Explore Rollyo and create an account for yourself.
Create a search roll for any subject you like.
Link your search roll to your blog and create a post about your learnings. Can you see a potential use for a tool such as this and do you plan to continue using Rollyo?

Instruction on adding your searchroll to your blog:

Open your Rollyo account and click on DASHBOARD (menu at top of screen)
Scroll down the page and click on SEARCHBOX (located on right hand side)
Enter your blog name and URL of your blog in the place provided
Click on the search rolls you want and click on the > arrow to transfer them into the into selected SEARCHBOX ROLLS box
Go to STYLE and select the type of Rollyo icon you want (it will preview your selection )
Go to the COPY AND PASTE CODE BOX. Highlight and copy all the code
Open another page and sign into your blog
Click on dashboard (located at top right of screen), click on layout tab, page elements
Add a gadget and select HTML/JAVA SCRIPT
Type "Rollyo" in title and paste the code from Rollyo in the content box and save
Check that the rollyo search appears on the side of your blog.

#11 (week 5) Take a look at LibraryThing and catalogue some of your favourite books.

2007-10-11T12:52:00.012+13:00

LibraryThing has been developed for booklovers, this online tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalogue of your own, it also connects you to other people who have similar reading tastes.

This next exercise will introduce you to Librarything and how you can link a LT Search box to your blog. You can even view your books on a virtual shelf! LibraryThing also has group forum for librarian users and over 4.7 million cataloged books, so you're bound to discover something new

Following are some discovery resources we recommend that you take a look at:

About LibraryThing
LibraryThing blog (updates & news)
Tim Spalding, founder of LibraryThing spoke at LIANZA conference in 2009. His presentation is divided into 6 parts, click on the link to watch
part one
part two
part three
part four
part five
part six

Discovery Exercise:

Take the Library Thing tour, look around LibraryThing and create an account.
Add a least 10 books to your Librarything account. All you need to do is enter the title -- it’s so easy that you don’t even need MARC record training to do it – to connect with other users through your similar reading tastes.
Add a LT Search box to your Blog and post about your findings. What did you like....what didn't you like.....how useful could this be to your role?

#8 (week 3) Play around with Image Generators

2007-10-11T12:06:00.008+13:00

Generators?
No, I’m not talking about those gas powered back-up things. The generators I’m talking about allow you to easily manipulate images and graphics to create fun images like this:

Often adding the image you mocked up to your blog is as simple as copying and pasting the code that the page provides. If you’re having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, ask a colleague.

Following are some discovery resources for you to take a look at:

The Generator Blog
Letter James
Image generator
Big Huge Labs
Also try searching for online generators, text generators or image generators!

Discovery Exercise:

Play around with some image generators listed in the resources. Find one that you like and make an image and link it to your blog.
Create a new post for week three and write about the results of your discovery. If you find any new sites, ensure you post the link on the blog so you can tell others about it.

#10 (Week 4). Twitter, tweeters and tweets!

2007-09-11T14:21:00.026+12:00

Twitter is a miniature blog. A personal blog for those that want to keep others informed about what they are doing, but don't want to spend hours crafting a post. Users send and receive short messages (less than 140 characters) - known as tweets via computers or mobile devices. You just say what's up and leave it at that!

The popularity and growth of Twitter since its launch in August 2006 has been astonishing and has now moved into the domain of uber coolness. Movie and rock stars are tweating, companies are into it - everyone seems to be tweating! Perhaps this is due to its simplicity as a way to keep in touch with others using the computer or a mobile device. Twitter is New Zealand's 39th most popular website.

You may be reading this and wonder why anyone would be interested in what tv programme you are watching, what you ate for lunch or which shop you bought a new shirt (you'd be surprised). People also use Twitter to find out what others are doing, get quick feedback on ideas, store thoughts, advertise jobs, keep up with news, get updates on events, blogs, websites etc and of course for fun.

Twitter lingo

Tweet - a twitter message up to 140 characters long. Messages are public unless a profile is protected (or have a private setting)
RT or retweet - when you forward someone else's tweet because you think it particularly good. Twitter etiquette is to quote the source eg Cool stuff RT@username check out this cool site http://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/
Timeline - this is your homepage on Twitter. It shows all the messages you send and messages that people you are following send. If you aren't signed in you will only see the tweets sent by the tweeter. It also applies to any collection of tweets
Following/Lurking - you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, you can lurk and follow tweets. If you find a fellow Twitterer interesting, simply click on the big 'Follow' button beneath their username and every message they send will be funnelled directly to your Twitter stream - a list of Tweets you see when you go to your twitter account
Hash tags - are a great way to tag your tweets. You usually use hashtags when tracking a particular topic
@replies - you can send a public message to any tweeter by putting their username with an @ symbol in front of it. An @reply works kind of like email in that the recipient will be able to see they have a message directed to them.
and there are lots more

Twitter tip

It is quite common to see shortened URL addresses from tinyURL or bity.lyin in twitter updates. These websites allow you to enter a long URL and turn it into a short one. Twitter is limited to 140 characters so this can be quite useful.

Discovery exercises

Watch Twitter and Twitter search in plain english video.
Join Twitter, search for words, people, places or hash tags and follow at least two tweaters. Some examples of those on Twitter are:
National Library
Manukau City Library
New York Public Library
Ebsco
Gale
Proquest
Greenpeace
John Key
Link your twitter account to your blog and write a post in week 10 of about 50 words about what you did....was it easy...was it hard...did you like it.....couldn't see the point....how could libraries use twitter etc

Optional extra

If you are looking to grow your follower base you can look at Just Tweet It or Twellow to find users with similar interests
If you follow more than two people it starts to get hard to follow. A third party twitter client such as TweetDeck provides dynamic searches and allows you to create groups that automatically separates messages into specific categories.

#9 (Week 4). Learn about RSS feeds and set up a Bloglines account

2007-09-11T13:10:00.039+12:00

Have you heard of RSS or seen these symbols on websites but have no idea what they are? Well don’t worry, the majority of people don't know either. RSS means “Really Simple Syndication” and is a technology that you can use to have information sent to you, rather than having to go look for it.

Imagine if you had the time to visit all your favourite websites and news sources every day in one place at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Well, it’s available through a newsreader and RSS.

This week’s discovery exercises focuses on learning about how to set up a newsreader and using RSS feeds.

Here are some discovery resources that you may find helpful:

Google reader is a simple starting tool and easy to use as you have already signed up for a gmail account. Google has already has the newsreader set up, you only have to add RSS feeds
Netvibes - although primarily a start page Netvibes can pull any RSS feeds into this site - the main drawback is it is not useful for high volumes of feeds
Bloglines - is simple to use and has great features for moderate/advanced user - if you are up to the challenge of setting up a newsreader as well as adding RSS feeds then this is the site for you

Discovery Exercise:

Watch the RSS tutorial in plain english for an overview
Choose one of the discovery resources above and setup up your free online newsreader. Add a link from your newsreader to your blog.
Subscribe to at least 10 RSS feeds to your reader. Following are some examples that you could subscribe to:

* ACL Learning 2.0 tracking log - Take a look at some of your colleagues blogs and set ups an RSS feed.
* ACL website - search for your favourite author, popular topic, blog or event and then click on the RSS icon and copy the URL address to your newsreader
* ACL professional development blog - keep up to date with reports from staff who have attended a conference
* Topix.net - this search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching - this tool focuses specifically on news and media outlets.
Create a post in your blog about this exercise (titled week 4). Don't forget to tell us what you liked or disliked about RSS and newsreaders?....how do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?....how can you use RSS feeds to keep you up to date with best practise?.....how can libraries can use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

#7 (Week 3). Edit your own images

2007-09-11T13:08:00.011+12:00

It seems most people have access to a digital camera, whether it be on their cell phone. Flickr as you discovered is a great online photo album and even has some toys to play around with the photos. This next exercise will help you to direct customers to internet sites where they can fix red eye, crop photos or use as a tool to edit an image for a presentation.

Discovery Exercise

Open Picnik and upload at a photo or choose one from the library. Play around and use the tools to edit the image for copping, colours, resizing etc. You may want to apply a few creative filters using the Create tab. You may need to login to Flickr. Generic username is: aclelgar and the password is: learnweb20
When you are done save it (whether it be on Flickr or the G Drive). Add to your week three post on your blog, upload an image and explain what you did.

Following are some optional discovery resources that you may find useful:

Splashup - No registration, upload, edit, and save. This one gives some free to the user, competition to Photoshop. It has layers, filters, even looks like a software window on the screen. Some effects are a bit slow to happen but they do eventually.
Pixenate - reads from and to Flickr or disk. No registration. Simple tools, can't handle high resolutions but if you don't have a high resolution camera this is fine.
Snapfish - product of HP and there are strings attached. You do have to register and editing is limited. Free unlimited online storage! Well, not so free if you want to download or print your images.

#6 (Week 3). Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites

2007-09-11T13:04:00.004+12:00

Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on the site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups* that use Flickr images.

Here is some optional discovery resources that you may find useful:

Mappr - take Flickr images and allows you to paste them on a map
Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
Montagr – create a photo mosaics from photos found on Flickr.Discover more mashups, web apps, and Flickr tools.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are out there. Write a blog post about one that intrigues you.
Check out FD Toys’ Trading Card Maker. And there’s a ton of librarians out there that have created their own Librarian Trading Card.So have some fun discovering and exploring some neat little apps and add one to your blog post.
Create a trading card of your own. :) or a movie poster or magazine cover from this Flickr site and post it on your blog

* Mashup Note:

Wikipedia offers some great articles that explain mashups. Basically they are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like a map) In this example, you get Mappr (http://mappr.com/)

#5 (Week 3). Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.

2007-09-11T12:54:00.011+12:00

It took a small startup site called Flickr (and now owned by Yahoo) to catapult the idea of “photo sharing websites” into a full blown online community. Flickr uses "tags" or what we would call keywords to help identify and search for photos.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people and other libraries are using Flickr for.

Following are some optional discovery resources that you may find useful:

Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials
Flickr: Popular tags Interesting- Last 7 days
Flickr Services (3rd party applications & mashups) and
here's another Flickr site that lets you create movie posters, CD covers, magazine covers and so on.

Discovery Exercise:

In this discovery exercise, you have two options…

Take the Flickr Learn More tour and play around with Flickr. Discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool or Blogger's photo upload tool to add the image in your post. We have setup a generic logon in Flickr if you don't feel like setting up another account. Remember to save your images. Details of login is:
username: aclelgar
password: learnweb20

--OR--
If you are up to an easy challenge ... create a free Flickr account and use a digital camera to capture a few images of something at your site. Upload these to your Flickr account and tag at least one of the images “ACL Learning 2.0” and mark it public.
Create a post in your blog (titled week 3) and tell us about your experience. Be sure to include an image in your post.

Optional extra: if you're interested in looking at some photo hosting sites, then check out Picasa Web Albums from Google and another service called Smugmug.

PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette
When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) is it advisable to get the person's permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr. Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you (unless you have the photographer's consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog.

#4 (Week 2). Social networking

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You may have heard of websites such as LinkedIn, MySpace, Bebo, FaceBook etc...but have you taken the plunge and joined?

Personal social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo, allow users to create a profile of themselves, upload pictures and be "friends" with other users - like an online diary and chat room. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. MySpace became the most popular personal social networking site in the USA in 2006 but was overtaken by Facebook in 2008. Generally over 30's crowd use Facebook and Bebo is aimed at the younger market.

Business social networking sites such as LinkedIn offers a way to build professional relationships and boost your personal brand. Your profile should say who you are, what you do, what your point of difference is and why should we use you.

Discovery exercise

Auckland City Libraries has a Bebo page (although currently not active), and we encourage you to explore other sites on Bebo. Note: if you signup to Bebo, remember to use the same username and password - so you don't forget it!
Visit Myspace and Facebook and take a look around. Find some friends or see who else from ACL Library has a page, search for information about your favourite band, radio station or something of interest.
Also visit LinkedIn and find a group of professional interest to you.
Write another post on your blog and clearly label it as week 2. Add at least one link from a page on either LinkedIn, Bebo, MySpace or Facebook that really appealed to you. This new post should provide insights into what you've discovered and learned this week. Feel free to share what worked for you...and what didn't....what surprised you...what frustrated you....what amazed you...or even which of the social networking sites you liked best. Also comment on how you think we could use social networking sites to advertise events, our collection and services. As before this post should be at least 50 words.

Optional extra

If you just can't get enough, how about signing up and creating your own sites on LinkedIn, Facebook, Bebo or Myspace.

#3 (Week 1). Register your blog on and begin your Learning 2.0 journey

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We hope you are enjoying the adventure so far and having fun. If you get stuck you can always ask a colleague to share their knowledge or experience as they probably completed the programme at some point in their career at Auckland City Library.

The next step is to register your blog with the ACL Learning 2.0 team so we can verify and track your progress. We will comment on your blogs within 48 hours and update the tracking log at the end of every day.

Discovery exercise:

The URL is the unique address that specifies the location of a file on the Internet. URL is an abbreviation of "Uniform Resource Locator" Find the URL address on your blog located in the same place as the example below. Copy the address by clicking once on the URL address with the right hand button of the mouse.
Send an email to acl.elgar@gmail.com and make sure to include your
* real name (this is kept confidential)
* location
* blogger name
* and paste the URL blog address

When we receive your registration we will update the tracking log and you can track your progress on the web 2.0 blog. Feel free to see what other bloggers are up to.

That's it for week one, only 20 more things to go. <:)

#2 (Week 1). Set up your own blog & add your first post.

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Please read through the instructions each week so you are clear on what you need to do. Each week you will be asked to complete some discovery exercises and then write a post on your blog that reflects on your learning. Each post should be a minimum of 50 words.

Discovery Exercise:

Create a Gmail account as you will need to complete exercises in this programme. Gmail is a free webmail service that combines traditional email with Google's search techology. Complete the form and choose a fictitious login and password. Ensure you check the availability of your login name. Note your login name becomes your username.
Create a Blogger account. The whole web world can see your blog title and blog address so you may want to consider creating an anonymous blog name that is unique to you. Remember to write down or bookmark the URL address of your blog (URL is the address at the top of the screen, and looks kinda like this http://www.nameofblog.blogger.com/)
Play around with your blog and customise it, try changing the font or colours. Click on the folders so you are familiar with how blogger works.
Create a new post on your blog and record what you did this week. In approximately 50 words, reflect on what you did.....how you could use these things in your role....what worked for you...and what didn't....what surprised you....and what amazed you etc. You will be asked to do this each week and the ACL learning admin team will check your blog when new posts appear and post comments on your progress.

Note: Write down your Username and Password. During the learning programme you will be asked to enter a whole bunch of usernames and passwords. To make it easy for you we recommend you use the same ones for each programme.

Lastly, if you run into problems, check out Blogger's Help file and Tutorial, ask a colleague or email us at acl.elgar@gmail.com

#2 (Week 1). Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process.

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Before we embark on this new online learning and discovery journey, we should take a few minutes to review a few habits that can assist in creating lifelong learners. These habits, called the Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, will provide you with a refresher on what it means to be a lifelong learner.

The Seven and ½ Habits tutorial is actually 14 minutes in length, not the 5 minutes indicated in the podcast. At the end of the tutorial Helene Blowers invited her staff to submit their comments and questions to the We Value Your Opinion! link. Please do not use that link. It goes to Lori Reed at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Open up the 7 & 1/2 Habits online tutorial and view the online tutorial. The tutorial was developed by the training specialists at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Note: If possible, use headphones or speakers and attach to your computer.

2. As you watch and listen, write down which habit among the 7 & 1/2 that is easiest for you and which is hardest. You will use your personal blog (which you will set up next) to post your thoughts about lifelong learning.

Have fun! If you haven't jumped on board yet, it's never too late to become a lifelong learner.

Next Up: Creating your blog so you can begin tracking your journey.

#1 Discovery has never been so much fun ...

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Welcome to ACL's 2.0 learn through play programme.

Chances are if you've found your way here you're either:

a member of ACL's staff who's participating in the 2.0 learn through play programme that begins on 20th January 2010 or
you are interested in learning about and playing around (yes, playing is allowed in libraries) with some of the free web 2.0 tools available on the internet that will help you expand your information literacy toolbox.

Either way… I'm glad you're here!!

Web 2.0 learn through play is an online self paced learning programme that encourages you to learn more about free emerging social media technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society and libraries access information and communicate with each other.

Over the next nine weeks, this programme highlights “23 Things” and discovery exercises to help you become familiar with blogging, RSS news feeds, tagging, wikis, podcasting, online applications, and video and image hosting sites.

Be sure to read the About the programme page. The FAQs should answer most of your questions, if not, then please add your question to the FAQ page as a comment.

So fasten your seat belts, grab your mouse and get ready for a discovery adventure… and remember, it's OK to play in the library and have fun!