Welcome to the third task post! We've almost been at this for a week, and so far I have eleven people participating in the challenge. If you aren't participating yet, don't worry, there's still time!
Task 5: Podcasts
Websites aren't the only things that use RSS technology to get information to their users. Podcasts are audio files that also use RSS to distribute themselves to listeners. Like website feeds, you have to subscribe to the podcast's RSS feed, and the feed will automatically send you the file every time a new one is added. For an example, check out the Authors on Tour Podcast. Each episode can be downloaded individually, but you can also get the downloads by RSS. The feed can be found on the right hand side, under the subscribe heading.
Here are some good sites to search for podcasts:
You can also find podcasts on iTunes if you have this program downloaded on your computer.
You do not need an iPod to play podcasts! All you need is a music player. Windows Media Player is included with all Windows computers, and should be able to play the mp3 file for you.
So! Now that you know how RSS feeds work, getting podcasts will be easy!
Your task: Search some of the above podcast search engines for some podcasts that interest you. Add them to your bloglines account, the same way you added the website RSS feeds. (Hint: look for the orange icon!)
Task 6: YouTube and other video sites
As you may have heard, Time Magazine just named the video sharing website YouTube "invention of the year". This site allows users to upload video, comment on each others videos (including uploading their own videos in response to someone else's video) and put videos in their list of favorites so they can easily find it later! Another cool thing you can do with YouTube videos is post these videos in your blog to share with readers.
As an example I show you two videos. This one, posted by David Lee King, shows his frustration as he tries 14 times before he correctly ties his necktie. Viewers can comment about his video (one suggests he try a bowtie) or add it to their favorites. In response, Michael Sauers posts this video, doing it right on the very first time. Now, we anxiously await the video where the two sing alternating verses of Anything you can do I can do Better.
Your task: I was disappointed to find out that YouTube now requires you to register in order to put one of their videos on your blog. I don't want you to have to remember another login for something you might only use once. So if you would like to register, feel free to but otherwise, try Google video to find a video to post in your own blog. (After a google video finishes playing, you can click "post to blog" and fill in the blanks. It's that simple!)
Don't forget, use your blogs to respond to what you've been doing!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Tasks 3 & 4: RSS and blog search engines
Welcome to the second assignment post for the Technology 2.0 challenge! If you've made it this far, congratulations! If this is your first time here, don't worry, you still have plenty of time to complete all 23 challenges! Last week, we had some problems, but through e-mail and chat (and maybe with a little help from your friends?) we've got it all figured out. Blogging will only get easier the longer you do it. So now, on with the next tasks!
Task 3: RSS and Bloglines
You might have noticed while you were exploring your blog, something that said RSS or Atom. Have you ever seen this symbol (
) in your browser, or on a website while you were surfing? These are all signals to let you know that a site has an RSS feed. RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication", which allows for the easy delivery of web publications to something called an "aggregator". Instead of having to visit a website to check if it has been updated, sites with an RSS feed can send their updates to anyone who has subscribed to the feed. RSS feeds are written in a programming language called XML, and while you don't need to know that exactly, you do need to know that's why you cannot just read an RSS feed directly. Browsers used to show the files in all their XML glory, which looked like a whole lot of nonsense in your browser window. Now, newer browsers like Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.0 will tell you that you have clicked on an RSS feed, and that you need an aggregator to read it.
Here are some links that also provide introductions to RSS.
Before we explore RSS feeds, we must set up our aggregator. Some browsers have their own RSS aggregators (they might call them newsreaders), but for this program I suggest you open up a bloglines account. There will be some bloglines features we will be playing with later.
To get your bloglines account:
Now that you have an aggregator, we're going to add all of the participant blogs to your account! (Note: Many of the newer browsers will do these steps for you. At the end of the address bar, the little orange RSS square should appear when an RSS feed is available somewhere on the page. Click it, and follow the instructions to add it to your bloglines account. You may want to try this before you go on to see if your browser will cut out some steps for you.)
* Go to a participant blog (the list is up on the right hand side of this blog).
* Somewhere on the page (most of the time, it is the very bottom) there should be a link to the RSS feed. The majority of ours say "Subscribe to : Posts (Atom)".
* Right click on this link and choose "copy link" from the menu.
* In your bloglines account, click on "Add" in the left-hand sidebar.
* Right-click in the text box on the next page that loads, and select copy from the menu.
* After the RSS feed address shows up in the text box, click on the "Subscribe" button.
* If you want, you can play with some of the settings on the next page. You don't have to, though, and can just click the "Subscribe" button again.
This blog post on another blog gives wonderful step-by-step instructions complete with pictures if you're having trouble. They also walk you though some shortcuts, like what to do when you can't find the RSS link, but are pretty sure they have a feed. (Hint: You can try just typing the blog's web address into the subscribe text box to see if the RSS feed comes up automatically. If you go to one of our participant blogs without the RSS link, try this approach.) I highly recommend going here, if only to see some of the other things you can do with bloglines.
Task 4: Blog search engines
So now that you have an RSS aggregator, you need more things to read! Of course, you could always just go to my public feeds to see what cool tech blogs I'm reading, but maybe you want something a little more personalized. A good way to do this is to use a blog search engine. Blog search engines work just like regular search engines, except they specifically target blog entries.
Click around these sites and pick out some more feeds to add to your aggregator. If you don't like them, you can always unsubscribe.
After you have added several sites to your bloglines account, find your public feeds address (in the right hand window at the top there should be a "share" tab. Click there, and down at the bottom of the page there should be a web address under the heading "/public". That is your public feeds address. It shows all of the feeds you have listed as public. [to change a public feed to a private feed, click on the feed, and click "edit subscription" in the top right hand corner. There you will get the option to change it to private.]) and post it on your blog! We want to see what blogs you can't live without!
Made it this far? Great! Only 19 more to go!
Task 3: RSS and Bloglines
You might have noticed while you were exploring your blog, something that said RSS or Atom. Have you ever seen this symbol (
) in your browser, or on a website while you were surfing? These are all signals to let you know that a site has an RSS feed. RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication", which allows for the easy delivery of web publications to something called an "aggregator". Instead of having to visit a website to check if it has been updated, sites with an RSS feed can send their updates to anyone who has subscribed to the feed. RSS feeds are written in a programming language called XML, and while you don't need to know that exactly, you do need to know that's why you cannot just read an RSS feed directly. Browsers used to show the files in all their XML glory, which looked like a whole lot of nonsense in your browser window. Now, newer browsers like Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.0 will tell you that you have clicked on an RSS feed, and that you need an aggregator to read it.Here are some links that also provide introductions to RSS.
- CNET Video: RSS – Feel the Need for Feeds (3:32) – a good over view of what RSS is and the benefits to users.
- Feed Me: A gentle introdustion to Internet feeds - a good tutorial from Palinet, a library cooperative
Before we explore RSS feeds, we must set up our aggregator. Some browsers have their own RSS aggregators (they might call them newsreaders), but for this program I suggest you open up a bloglines account. There will be some bloglines features we will be playing with later.
To get your bloglines account:
- * Go to http://www.bloglines.com.
* Click the "Sign Up" link in the middle of the page, or you can also click on the "register" link up in the right hand corner of the page.
* Fill in the required information on the sign-up page. Make sure you type in your e-mail correctly, as bloglines will send you an e-mail verifying this address.
* When you get the email, click on the link it gives you to verify your address.
Now that you have an aggregator, we're going to add all of the participant blogs to your account! (Note: Many of the newer browsers will do these steps for you. At the end of the address bar, the little orange RSS square should appear when an RSS feed is available somewhere on the page. Click it, and follow the instructions to add it to your bloglines account. You may want to try this before you go on to see if your browser will cut out some steps for you.)
* Go to a participant blog (the list is up on the right hand side of this blog).
* Somewhere on the page (most of the time, it is the very bottom) there should be a link to the RSS feed. The majority of ours say "Subscribe to : Posts (Atom)".
* Right click on this link and choose "copy link" from the menu.
* In your bloglines account, click on "Add" in the left-hand sidebar.
* Right-click in the text box on the next page that loads, and select copy from the menu.
* After the RSS feed address shows up in the text box, click on the "Subscribe" button.
* If you want, you can play with some of the settings on the next page. You don't have to, though, and can just click the "Subscribe" button again.
This blog post on another blog gives wonderful step-by-step instructions complete with pictures if you're having trouble. They also walk you though some shortcuts, like what to do when you can't find the RSS link, but are pretty sure they have a feed. (Hint: You can try just typing the blog's web address into the subscribe text box to see if the RSS feed comes up automatically. If you go to one of our participant blogs without the RSS link, try this approach.) I highly recommend going here, if only to see some of the other things you can do with bloglines.
Task 4: Blog search engines
So now that you have an RSS aggregator, you need more things to read! Of course, you could always just go to my public feeds to see what cool tech blogs I'm reading, but maybe you want something a little more personalized. A good way to do this is to use a blog search engine. Blog search engines work just like regular search engines, except they specifically target blog entries.
- * Bloglines has its very own search, found in the top right hand corner of the page.
* Technorati is another blog search engine, which includes a tag search. Don't worry it you don't understand the concept of tagging just yet, we'll deal with that in another task.
* Blogger also has its own blog search.
Click around these sites and pick out some more feeds to add to your aggregator. If you don't like them, you can always unsubscribe.
After you have added several sites to your bloglines account, find your public feeds address (in the right hand window at the top there should be a "share" tab. Click there, and down at the bottom of the page there should be a web address under the heading "/public". That is your public feeds address. It shows all of the feeds you have listed as public. [to change a public feed to a private feed, click on the feed, and click "edit subscription" in the top right hand corner. There you will get the option to change it to private.]) and post it on your blog! We want to see what blogs you can't live without!
Made it this far? Great! Only 19 more to go!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
State of the Blogosphere..
If you're in the mood for an interesting link, try Sifry's State of the Blogosphere. Written by the creator of Technorati, a blog search engine, the article discusses blogs by the numbers, with charts on how many new blogs are started a day and how many different languages blogs are published in. Skim through if you're interested to see why it just might be important that we at least understand this whole blogging thing.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Tasks 1 & 2: "30 Positive Uses of Social Networking" & blogs!
Hello and Welcome to "Can you Tech it?", the Nelson County Public Library's technology 2.0 challenge! Over the next two months, we will be exploring some of the new technologies available to us, and discovering how we can use them, both personally and as librarians! Tasks will be posted one or two at a time, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a catch up week at the end of December and one again at the end of the program. So without further ado, what you've all been waiting for....challenge one!
Task 1: "30 Positive Uses of Social Networking"
I hate to scare you all of with the first challenge, but I think that if you're going to read -anything- in this program it should be this first assignment. (Don't worry, this will be your only reading assignment, so just bear with me.) In October of 2006, YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association-- part of the ALA) blogged every day about the positive ways that social networking sites can be used. This was done in response to DOPA, a proposed bill that would require libraries that receive a certain type of federal funding to block all social networking sites from their public computers. It is important that we remember that while we only hear on the news about the ways that these sites are being abused, the positive ways that these sites can be used outweigh the negative.
Now I know what you're thinking. Why should we cater to just the kids? Isn't this something that the YA librarians should be dealing with? That's where you would be wrong. According to studies, over half of Myspace.com's users are over 35. This information is relevant to all of our patrons, young and old. So read the compilation here, and start thinking about social networking sites differently. (You may need to download Adobe Acrobat reader, if you don't already have it.)
Task 2: Blogs!
Blog is short for "weblog", an online journal which makes it easy to publish on the web. Blogs are usually set up so that the newest posts are at the top, pushing the older posts down and eventually into some sort of archive. Blogs can be used for announcements, for someone's thoughts and opinions, or telling the great big world wide web what you had for lunch today. There are no right or wrong topics to blog about, though I doubt unless you're Brad Pitt or Paris Hilton anyone is really going to care about what you had for lunch. For this task, we will be setting up our own blogs to chronicle our journey through all 23 tasks. These will be where you will record your thoughts on whichever task you are working on, from whether you like it or not, to what ideas you might have for its use at the library. But first, we must set up our blogs.
There are many different blogging programs, some of which are hosted on your own webspace, and others like Blogger, which can be hosted on their server. The service is free, and each service has it's own perks. (A personal example, Livejournal.com is a blogging site that allows you to upload user icons, little 100x100 pixel images which accompany your posts. These icons are so addictive, the company sells additional icon space to users who absolutely must have more than seven. Crazy but true.) You may set up a blog anywhere you feel comfortable, but I would recommend Blogger for this program, as this is the service I am providing instructions for.
Creating a blog using Blogger takes just three steps:
Make sure you write down your username and password, as you'll need to login in order to edit or post to your blog.
Activites:
1. Start a blog. Leave the link in a comment to this post. (Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post, and leave your comment in the box on the right. (Make sure to hit "publish"!)
2. Start blogging! (When you are logged in, click on "new post". When you are done, click on "publish!"
Introduce yourself (blogging anonymously is also allowed, though in order to win a prize you will be required to tell -me- which blog is yours), and respond to the "30 Positive Uses of Social Networking" we just read. Do you agree? Disagree? Remember, you don't have to like everything we do. In fact, you don't even have to like -anything- we do. The point of this program is to allow you to become more familiar with what is available, and how to use it.
3. Come back and browse through some of the other participant blogs. Leave a comment!
Bonus:
(The bonus task is not required to win the challenge, but just an extra step for those who feel comfortable enough to play a little more. Do not feel obligated to do this!)
See that map with the red dots on it? The one on the right that says visitor locations? That is a clustr map. A clustr map is a Mashup, a popular web service which takes the cool functions from at least two seperate web services and adds them together to make something different. In this case, a clustr map takes a traffic counter and mashes it up with google maps. Suddenly, you've got a traffic counter which not only tells you how many people have visited your site, but also shows you -where- your visitors are coming from. Pretty cool, huh? Try adding your own clustr map to your blog.
Hint: You'll need to edit your layout for this. When you're logged in, click on manage layout, add a new element, and then select HTML/Javascript from the list of available choices. Copy the clustr map code that they give you, and paste it into the content box. After you click save, you will be able to click and drag your clustr map to wherever you want it to be on the page. Click preview to make sure everything looks alright, and then click save to save your changes. If you don't like it, don't panic! You can always click edit and remove the map if you want to.
If you've made it this far, congratulations! Only 21 more to go!
Task 1: "30 Positive Uses of Social Networking"
I hate to scare you all of with the first challenge, but I think that if you're going to read -anything- in this program it should be this first assignment. (Don't worry, this will be your only reading assignment, so just bear with me.) In October of 2006, YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association-- part of the ALA) blogged every day about the positive ways that social networking sites can be used. This was done in response to DOPA, a proposed bill that would require libraries that receive a certain type of federal funding to block all social networking sites from their public computers. It is important that we remember that while we only hear on the news about the ways that these sites are being abused, the positive ways that these sites can be used outweigh the negative.
Now I know what you're thinking. Why should we cater to just the kids? Isn't this something that the YA librarians should be dealing with? That's where you would be wrong. According to studies, over half of Myspace.com's users are over 35. This information is relevant to all of our patrons, young and old. So read the compilation here, and start thinking about social networking sites differently. (You may need to download Adobe Acrobat reader, if you don't already have it.)
Task 2: Blogs!
Blog is short for "weblog", an online journal which makes it easy to publish on the web. Blogs are usually set up so that the newest posts are at the top, pushing the older posts down and eventually into some sort of archive. Blogs can be used for announcements, for someone's thoughts and opinions, or telling the great big world wide web what you had for lunch today. There are no right or wrong topics to blog about, though I doubt unless you're Brad Pitt or Paris Hilton anyone is really going to care about what you had for lunch. For this task, we will be setting up our own blogs to chronicle our journey through all 23 tasks. These will be where you will record your thoughts on whichever task you are working on, from whether you like it or not, to what ideas you might have for its use at the library. But first, we must set up our blogs.
There are many different blogging programs, some of which are hosted on your own webspace, and others like Blogger, which can be hosted on their server. The service is free, and each service has it's own perks. (A personal example, Livejournal.com is a blogging site that allows you to upload user icons, little 100x100 pixel images which accompany your posts. These icons are so addictive, the company sells additional icon space to users who absolutely must have more than seven. Crazy but true.) You may set up a blog anywhere you feel comfortable, but I would recommend Blogger for this program, as this is the service I am providing instructions for.
Creating a blog using Blogger takes just three steps:
- Create an account (view screenshot)
- Name your blog (view screenshot)
- Select your template. (view screenshot)
Make sure you write down your username and password, as you'll need to login in order to edit or post to your blog.
Activites:
1. Start a blog. Leave the link in a comment to this post. (Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post, and leave your comment in the box on the right. (Make sure to hit "publish"!)
2. Start blogging! (When you are logged in, click on "new post". When you are done, click on "publish!"
Introduce yourself (blogging anonymously is also allowed, though in order to win a prize you will be required to tell -me- which blog is yours), and respond to the "30 Positive Uses of Social Networking" we just read. Do you agree? Disagree? Remember, you don't have to like everything we do. In fact, you don't even have to like -anything- we do. The point of this program is to allow you to become more familiar with what is available, and how to use it.
3. Come back and browse through some of the other participant blogs. Leave a comment!
Bonus:
(The bonus task is not required to win the challenge, but just an extra step for those who feel comfortable enough to play a little more. Do not feel obligated to do this!)
See that map with the red dots on it? The one on the right that says visitor locations? That is a clustr map. A clustr map is a Mashup, a popular web service which takes the cool functions from at least two seperate web services and adds them together to make something different. In this case, a clustr map takes a traffic counter and mashes it up with google maps. Suddenly, you've got a traffic counter which not only tells you how many people have visited your site, but also shows you -where- your visitors are coming from. Pretty cool, huh? Try adding your own clustr map to your blog.
Hint: You'll need to edit your layout for this. When you're logged in, click on manage layout, add a new element, and then select HTML/Javascript from the list of available choices. Copy the clustr map code that they give you, and paste it into the content box. After you click save, you will be able to click and drag your clustr map to wherever you want it to be on the page. Click preview to make sure everything looks alright, and then click save to save your changes. If you don't like it, don't panic! You can always click edit and remove the map if you want to.
If you've made it this far, congratulations! Only 21 more to go!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Can you Tech it?: The Technology 2.0 challenge
Welcome to the challenge blog for the NCPL's Technology 2.0 challenge. This program is open to all staff of the Nelson County Public Library, including the branches. In two months (November 23-January 23), participating staff will be required to complete 23 tasks, designed to introduce you to some technologies available online and offline. Not only are these tools useful for the library, but for our patrons as well!
Participation is not mandatory, but anyone who completes all 23 tasks by January 23 will get their choice of an MP3 player, a digital camera, or a PDA.
There are no boring classes to take for this challenge! Everything will be found online, here at http://techchallenge.blogspot.com. Everything is at your own pace, and the only requirement is that you have all challenges completed by January 23, 2007.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for help! You’re not going to be in this alone, and I will always be willing to walk you through something that is confusing. (Of course, reading the introductory info is always helpful. ;) )
Interested? Great. Stay tuned, because the first challenge goes online November 23rd!
Participation is not mandatory, but anyone who completes all 23 tasks by January 23 will get their choice of an MP3 player, a digital camera, or a PDA.
There are no boring classes to take for this challenge! Everything will be found online, here at http://techchallenge.blogspot.com. Everything is at your own pace, and the only requirement is that you have all challenges completed by January 23, 2007.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for help! You’re not going to be in this alone, and I will always be willing to walk you through something that is confusing. (Of course, reading the introductory info is always helpful. ;) )
Interested? Great. Stay tuned, because the first challenge goes online November 23rd!
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