Thing # 22 Trading Card

Flickr sure is fun! I used this site to make the trading card. There are also many other cool things you can do through this site and having a flickr account makes it that much easier. I can seamlessly grab a photo from flickr, change it up using the various tools and then upload it right back into flickr. Done!

Thing # 21 Flickr and Tags

Tags are essential in allowing browsers (humans) to find your creative content. In flickr tags are especially important because images are the content and search engines require words to do their job. A picture without a tag is very difficult to find and with the millions and millions of photos on flickr and the internat your tagless photo will not be found. Which is one of the reasons I do not tag many of my photos. I am not interested in the casual stranger looking at my pictures. They certainly can if they would like but without a tag they will have a hard time even coming across them. I however am not hindered from sharing the photos with family and friends which is the main purpose of my account.

Of course if I was interested in the community aspect of flickr I would tag with abandon, letting any word that came to mind become a searchable word for my photo. On my personal blog I frequently use tags to attract the wandering internet surfer. Not that I get many on the line but at least the hook is baited.

Thing #20 Flickr

I've been using flickr for some time now as a place to display and share my photography. The picture above is the front of the Francis Land House taken this fall. If you click on the image you will be taken to my flickr account.

What more can be said? I find flickr to be very convenient and easy to use. I have often searched for photos with Creative Commons permissions to use in class presentations. Additionally I have put a license on my photos that allows use as long as I am attributed and the photo is not used for commercial purposes. I know this is kind of like the honor system but I'm willing to give folks the benefit of my doubts.

Thing #19 Netvibes

For my Web 2.0 Awards selection I am revisiting Netvibes a service that allows you to have all of your web "stuff" in one place. Right now I use iGoogle because of the convenience of having Google Reader and Gmail all in the same place. Right now I'm investigating whether it is worth it to move all of my activity to Netvibes and if my life will be any easier. So far I can't tell. I can't find out how to integrate Google Reader into Netvibes which would automatically keep me away since all of my RSS Feeds are there. I do not want to even consider moving all of that stuff.

The nice thing about Netvibes or Google Reader is that the web becomes a friendlier place where I can have a homepage that has enough content and features to keep me on the page. Less mouse clicks and keystrokes and the same amount of information makes me happy. And staves off the inevitable wrist pains that come with so much computer time. I look forward to the day when I can get the information I need off of the internet using voice commands. Surely that day cannot be too far away?

Thing #18 Technorati, tags and blogs oh my!

Technorati is blog heaven. If there is something going on then surely someone somewhere is talking about it. Or rather blogging. I skimmed the top tag searches in Technorati and most were about a French swimmer whose nude photos have surfaced on the internet. Brittany Spears also made the list which leads me to believe that some serious research is being done via this site.

For one with tons of time on their hands and a penchant for random browsing Technorat is the site for you. As an up and coming blogger you can learn about the top blogs and see if you have the stuff to make your way up the ladder of blogdom.

I claimed my blog which means that Technorati has some information about me and my blog is a recognized member of the blogging site. My authority is a lowly 4 and blog rank is 1,644,723. These numbers do not depress me rather inspire me to write, write, write!!

VBPLL2

Thing #17 Deliciously easy

I'm a huge fan of Delicious! Primarily I use this site so that I can bookmark from anywhere and keep my bookmarks all in one place. Adding the tag and delicious buttons to your browser makes it that much easier to save an address for later use. I am finding that tags are absolutely essential in keeping all of the bookmarks well organized and fit for recall. I now put as many tags as I can think of in case I forget where I might have put a site.

Libraries can also benefit greatly from this service. Internally staff could create an easily shared list of websites that provide information about a particular subject. Creating a tag cloud and embedding it into our library website would be a fantastic service to offer patrons interested in browsing a topic of study. Check out San Mateo Public Library's deweyfied version of delicious. I think that we could do this!

I've added a delicious link on my sidebar if you'd like to check out my most recently saved websites. I've never explored the wonderful world of social bookmarking but I am willing to give it a try if you want to add me to your network.

Thing #16 MySpace...how about Facebook?

I know. I am supposed to create a MySpace profile or even a page to complete this thing. I just don't want to. I've seen plenty of MySpace pages and I've done the behind-the-scenes for another more-engaging social networker Facebook. So let's talk FB, shall we?

One remarkable difference between the two online networkers is that in FB practically everybody uses there whole name. MySpace profiles are many times pseudonymous. FB has a sleek look where MySpace gives users the flexibility to impose backgrounds that bring on motion sickness and at the very least irritate.

Privacy will always be an issue in the online sphere and FB is no different. Friends can look at whatever you decide to put on your page. A good rule to follow: if you don't want people to know do not put it online. You may think it funny to post on your FB wall that you are wasted yet again on a Tuesday morning but that ill attempt at humor may have unforeseen ramifications. Take care to present yourself on the web the way you would like to be seen. Someone may misinterpret information you provide even if you make the good effort but you will at least control what lies in your hands.

So far the greatest benefit I have found from FB is the application Scrabulous which allows you to play Scrabble with your friends. All else is fluff.

Thing #15 Social Networking Library

Should VBPL be a part of the online social networking scene? Hmmm...

I'm not so sure. Do people want to be in touch with the library in this kind of format? Would I want to "friend" my library?

There are libraries out there that have successfully delved into MySpace and seem to be benefiting from the involvement. Denver Public's Evolver and Hennepin County's MySpace page both seem to be thriving in the volatile world of teenage online relationships. I would be curious to know what kind of practical benefits the library systems are reaping frpm the maintenance of the website. If you'd like a little more insight into the benefits/costs of libraries involved with MySpace let me recommend two classmates who recently wrote reports studying this phenomenon.

On the flip side the staff time commitment would be minimal and the benefits could be substantial. Find a small team of two or three people who already have MySpace accounts, give them a couple of hours to create a snazzy looking site and then pull content from other sources to fill in the holes. If we ever get a blog (Hint!) then the posts could be put in two different places to maximize exposure.

At this point I wonder if we should let go of the MySpace idea and turn attention towards Facebook. Isn't everyone on the move to the next cool thing?

Thing #14 RA Wiki

I am on the Reader's Advisory Team and was glad to assemble the bare bones of the RA wiki. I looked around to find a wiki host and though I would have loved to try out Mediawiki (which hosts Wikipedia) server space is required and most importantly the knowledge to put said wiki on the server. If I knew how to do that I would be working for the IT department. So Wikispaces just because I had never used it before and you can easily change the look and feel. I must have been feeling the coming fall when I picked the colors. Any votes for an alternate hue?

I love that so many people will be adding content to the wiki over the coming weeks. Truly a wiki is only as good as the people that take the time to add content and organize sections. (I'm not forgetting that the recent additions are mandated) If you would like to have behind the scenes access to this wiki you can either send me an email mbrobert (at) vbgov (dot) com or click on the the link at the top right of the page that says "Join". We'd be happy to have you! I am only one person, if you'd like to see some changes you can engage your wiki prowess and make it beautiful. Or better organized. Or content rich. Your choice.

So I have dutifully added my book to the list, give Henry Miller a try if you are between books and want to romp around 1930's New York and Paris with an intellectual, morally questionable, free-spirited, lovable tour guide. Happy travels!

Thing #13 Wikis for the HTML-impaired

I cannot remember the day but sometime back in the early part of 2007 I created a user name and password for my very own wiki. Exciting, I know. Pbwiki hosted it for free and all I had to do was play around and discover how to handle the editing software. With a little practice I had conquered and claimed my own little piece of the World Wide Web--without a lick of HTML knowledge I had my own webpage. The browsing peon uplifted to geek creator.

Since I've started this wiki thing I can't seem to stop myself. I created one for a library team and another is the RA wiki we are all posting on for Thing 14. Since my schooling all happens in the online environment I have found wikis to be an invaluable tool of collaboration. When your classmates are geographically separated and a group project looms, a wiki can allow editing and sharing that minimizes the clunkiness of email attachments.

This little wiki I use to keep my notes from the ALA Conference. This is a class project turned in via wiki. So many options for one who has no computer programming skills.