(Don't worry if it takes you forever to remember how exactly to type this website in. We've all been there. I'm still there, in fact. I've mistyped that address 20 times in the last half-hour.)
Del.icio.us is a site that allows you to upload your bookmarks, making them accessible from any computer with a web connection. This also allows you share these bookmarks with others. Del.icio.us also supports tagging, offering the same easy search and browsing that tagging gives sites like Flickr and LibraryThing.
As an example, I have started a del.icio.us site here, to keep track of all the websites I have linked to during the challenge. Just need to know where the cool avatar sites were again? Click on the "task7" tag, and see all the links I referenced in Task 7.
Something else del.icio.us shares with Flickr and LibraryThing is the ability to subscribe to a certain search, receiving notifications whenever someone posts something you might be interested in. You can opt to receive notifications whenever someone posts a public link with a tag that matches your search query.
Your task: Explore del.icio.us, and create an account. What websites could you not live without? Share them with us, by posting a link to your del.icio.us account in your blog!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Friday, December 8, 2006
Task 11 - LibraryThing
So far we've seen communities based on words, videos, and pictures. Next we'll be looking at a community that is based on books. LibraryThing is a site that allows you to make a list of books you own (or even just books you've read) and rate them, review them, tag them, discuss them, or just about anything else you can think of doing. LibraryThing will even tell you who has similar reading tastes to you, and you can check out their list to find something else you might enjoy reading. (Someone who had read 39 of the same books as I have will probably have the same taste in books, so any book that they enjoy will probably be something I will enjoy.)
LibraryThing is similar to NoveList in that it is very helpful for reader's advisory, but LibraryThing is more community oriented. Instead of giving reader's advisory by genre lists, these recommendations take into consideration everything that you have on your list. You like mysteries, but you also like a good weepy romance now and again? LibraryThing will try to match you up with people who do too (there's even an easy way to see exactly what books you and the other person have in common, so you don't have to wonder if you're just being recommended because they have read all the same mysteries that you have).
When you have an account, adding books is easy. When you are logged in, at the top of the page there will be a tab that says "add books". Click there, type in the name or the author, or even the ISBN number, and LibraryThing will search whichever database you choose to find the book's record. That's it! Choose the correct book from the list of results by clicking on it, and the book record will be added to your list.
(Fun hint: Notice the RSS buttons on the bottom right corner of my profile page? If you find someone on LibraryThing that has the same taste as you, you can subscribe to an RSS feed that will notify you when they've added a new book to their list. There is also one that will notify you when they post a new book review. Book recommendations delivered directly to you!)
Your task: Sign up for LibraryThing. Add a few books, and explore what the site offers. Add a link to your profile page to your blog so we can see what you've read.
LibraryThing is similar to NoveList in that it is very helpful for reader's advisory, but LibraryThing is more community oriented. Instead of giving reader's advisory by genre lists, these recommendations take into consideration everything that you have on your list. You like mysteries, but you also like a good weepy romance now and again? LibraryThing will try to match you up with people who do too (there's even an easy way to see exactly what books you and the other person have in common, so you don't have to wonder if you're just being recommended because they have read all the same mysteries that you have).
When you have an account, adding books is easy. When you are logged in, at the top of the page there will be a tab that says "add books". Click there, type in the name or the author, or even the ISBN number, and LibraryThing will search whichever database you choose to find the book's record. That's it! Choose the correct book from the list of results by clicking on it, and the book record will be added to your list.
(Fun hint: Notice the RSS buttons on the bottom right corner of my profile page? If you find someone on LibraryThing that has the same taste as you, you can subscribe to an RSS feed that will notify you when they've added a new book to their list. There is also one that will notify you when they post a new book review. Book recommendations delivered directly to you!)
Your task: Sign up for LibraryThing. Add a few books, and explore what the site offers. Add a link to your profile page to your blog so we can see what you've read.
Task 10: Tagging
Did you notice the tagging feature on Technorati? Or Flickr? What about the labels feature on blogger?
Tagging is a feature that many web applications now support, allowing you to assign keywords for easy retrieval later. For example, this picture on my flickr site is tagged with "library", "pirate night", and "ya program". This way, if anyone came to flickr looking for pictures of YA programs, this picture from pirate night would show up as a search result. The default search on flickr searches the tags, photo descriptions, and photo titles.
On the Popular tags page, (which can be found by clicking on the triangle on the "explore" tab and then going to "popular tags") you can see the most popular tags used on flickr in the past 24 hours, the past week, or of all time. The most popular tags of all time are listed by alphabetical order, but the bigger a word appears, the more often it has been used to tag photos.
While my example has been from Flickr, several of the sites we have used recently have had a tagging feature. I use the tagging feature on this blog, to make it easy to find each challenge. On the right hand side of the blog, under the heading "labels", you can click on any of the tags there to see the posts that pertain to that particular tag. Clicking on "task1" for example, will take you to the entry that contains the challenge for task 1, which will be helpful when you're trying to find one particular task out of the 23 that have been posted.
Your challenge? Tag something. Tag your photos, your blog posts, anything that allows tagging. (There will be more places that allow this later on.) Along with your own tags, tag something you've done for this program as "ncpltech20". Then go here, and see what everyone else has tagged for the program on flickr.
Tagging is a feature that many web applications now support, allowing you to assign keywords for easy retrieval later. For example, this picture on my flickr site is tagged with "library", "pirate night", and "ya program". This way, if anyone came to flickr looking for pictures of YA programs, this picture from pirate night would show up as a search result. The default search on flickr searches the tags, photo descriptions, and photo titles.
On the Popular tags page, (which can be found by clicking on the triangle on the "explore" tab and then going to "popular tags") you can see the most popular tags used on flickr in the past 24 hours, the past week, or of all time. The most popular tags of all time are listed by alphabetical order, but the bigger a word appears, the more often it has been used to tag photos.
While my example has been from Flickr, several of the sites we have used recently have had a tagging feature. I use the tagging feature on this blog, to make it easy to find each challenge. On the right hand side of the blog, under the heading "labels", you can click on any of the tags there to see the posts that pertain to that particular tag. Clicking on "task1" for example, will take you to the entry that contains the challenge for task 1, which will be helpful when you're trying to find one particular task out of the 23 that have been posted.
Your challenge? Tag something. Tag your photos, your blog posts, anything that allows tagging. (There will be more places that allow this later on.) Along with your own tags, tag something you've done for this program as "ncpltech20". Then go here, and see what everyone else has tagged for the program on flickr.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Task 9: Flickr toys
The internet used to be a pretty one-sided place. Websites allowed you to put information out on the web, but there wasn't a lot of collaboration. You just took the information as it was, and that was that. Now, the web is all about collaboration. Most web applications can be easily co-opted and modified to add functionality. Flickr is an excellent example of a site that has become the base for all sorts of other applications.
Examples:
So for this task: Explore some of the flickr tools listed above, and post about it in your blog. If you edit a picture, try to post it in your blog. Or if the tool you use helps you find pictures on flickr, try and post one of those.
Examples:
- Flickrbits.com. This site claims to be the definitive list of flickr tools available on the web.
- FD's Flickr toys. This site provides little tools that add frames to your photos, or make them into trading cards or magazine covers. This would be a great place to use that self-portrait picture I mentioned in the last task assignment!
- Retrievr. This tool allows you to search for flickr pictures by sketching them out on your screen. Fun to play around with and see what you come up with.
- Colr Pickr. This is one of my favorites. Want to find a bunch of green pictures? Feeling like today is a pink day? Pick a color, and this tool will show you pictures on Flickr that match that color.
- Spell with Flickr. Want a really easy way to write a ransom note? This site lets you type in a message and spells it with images found on flickr.
- Clockr. See the current time written out in pictures of numbers found on flickr. This can even be downloaded as a screensaver.
- Also cool is Moo, a site that will print you little business cards with your own flickr pictures printed on the back of them. This is for a fee, of course, but still neat all the same.
So for this task: Explore some of the flickr tools listed above, and post about it in your blog. If you edit a picture, try to post it in your blog. Or if the tool you use helps you find pictures on flickr, try and post one of those.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
A few hints for those just starting (and maybe everyone else as well...)
- I have to add new blogs to the list of participant logs. Make sure to send me a link to your blog so I can add you!
- The Meebo chat box is great, but if you use it you need to tell me who you are! From my end, you are identified as "MeeboGuest" with a random number after it, which doesn't help me much. Also, if you move away from the page where the chat box is, you will be disconnected from the chat. When you reconnect, there will be a new number attached to "MeeboGuest", so you'll need to reidentify yourself. Even better: You can click on "Edit Nick" and change the "Meeboguest" to your name! After you change it once, it should continue to show up as you each time you visit the page.
Everyone is doing a great job. Keep up the fantastic work!
Monday, December 4, 2006
Task 8: Flickr
Welcome to week two of the Technology 2.0 challenge! We're still having more people sign up every day, and that's great! If you haven't started yet (or you're behind in the challenges already) never fear! There's still plenty of time to get caught up and complete the challenge.
Flickr is a photo sharing site that uses profiles, comments, groups and tagging to create a community built around picture sharing. Just like blogs create a community built around your words, and YouTube creates a community built around the videos people have shared. (Beginning to see the pattern here? These tools are all great for helping create a sense of community around a common theme.)
At my personal flickr site (try not to laugh too hard), you can find pictures of my college graduation, my cats, and even the staff Christmas party.
At Michael Stephens' blog, he's written about ten ways we can use flickr in libraries.
Did you know our YA Program has a flickr site? Visit it here to see pictures of some of our past programs, including our Halloween party this year, Pirate Night, and both of our Murder Mystery parties.
Your assignment:
Create your own flickr site. Then upload (when you are logged in, click on the triangle on the "You" tab, and select "upload pictures") some pictures from your own digital camera, or ask to borrow the library's camera. Be sure to take at least one picture of yourself!
Addition:Once you have created your flickr site, share it with the rest of us by going into the "Your Account" page (click on the little triangle on the "You" tab, and go down to "Your Account") and scroll down to "Your Own Flickr Site" in the right hand column. There you should be able to set an easy to remember address that you can give to other people. It will look something like "http://www.flickr.com/photos/your username".
Notice the "tagging" feature. We're going to be doing that ourselves a little bit later!
Good luck! And as always, don't be afraid to ask for help!
Flickr is a photo sharing site that uses profiles, comments, groups and tagging to create a community built around picture sharing. Just like blogs create a community built around your words, and YouTube creates a community built around the videos people have shared. (Beginning to see the pattern here? These tools are all great for helping create a sense of community around a common theme.)
At my personal flickr site (try not to laugh too hard), you can find pictures of my college graduation, my cats, and even the staff Christmas party.
At Michael Stephens' blog, he's written about ten ways we can use flickr in libraries.
Did you know our YA Program has a flickr site? Visit it here to see pictures of some of our past programs, including our Halloween party this year, Pirate Night, and both of our Murder Mystery parties.
Your assignment:
Create your own flickr site. Then upload (when you are logged in, click on the triangle on the "You" tab, and select "upload pictures") some pictures from your own digital camera, or ask to borrow the library's camera. Be sure to take at least one picture of yourself!
Addition:Once you have created your flickr site, share it with the rest of us by going into the "Your Account" page (click on the little triangle on the "You" tab, and go down to "Your Account") and scroll down to "Your Own Flickr Site" in the right hand column. There you should be able to set an easy to remember address that you can give to other people. It will look something like "http://www.flickr.com/photos/your username".
Notice the "tagging" feature. We're going to be doing that ourselves a little bit later!
Good luck! And as always, don't be afraid to ask for help!
Friday, December 1, 2006
Task 7: Online avatars
Welcome to the next task assignment for the Tech 2.0 challenge! Today's assignment will be a easy one (I swear!), so let's jump right in.
You may have noticed that many social networking sites offer you a place to upload some sort of profile picture. Many people will post actual digital photos of themselves, but what may be even more fun is creating your own avatar on one of the many sites available online.
Some examples:
So your assignment for this challenge: Make yourself an avatar! How you look, how you would like to look, it doesn't matter. It's your choice! After you've made one, share it with everyone by posting it in your blog.
That's it for today. Have a great weekend!
You may have noticed that many social networking sites offer you a place to upload some sort of profile picture. Many people will post actual digital photos of themselves, but what may be even more fun is creating your own avatar on one of the many sites available online.
Some examples:
- Yahoo! Avatars. These avatars are actually little flash videos. You can make them act out your mood on the yahoo site, but non-moving versions are available to put on your blog. Just click "export" on the right. If you have a Yahoo ID (or don't mind signing up for one) this is a fun site to check out.
- Meez. This site allows you to export their avatars if you create an account.
- Stortroopers. This Javascript avatar maker has three different wardrobes to chose from. Plainclothes, goth, or fashionista. After you are finished, you can email you avatar to yourself, save the file, and upload it wherever you want.
- WeeWorld. Home of the WeeMee, this site allows you to make a very cute avatar. In order to dress your WeeMee, you must sign up for an account. These can be exported into your blog.
- The Simpomaker. Ever wanted to be a character from the Simpsons? Now you can. You have to know how to make a screen capture to add this to your blog, but it's still fun to play with.
So your assignment for this challenge: Make yourself an avatar! How you look, how you would like to look, it doesn't matter. It's your choice! After you've made one, share it with everyone by posting it in your blog.
That's it for today. Have a great weekend!
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