Thing 10: Wikis

Where to start . . . a review of how wiki's have changed how we look at, access and compile information? How Wikipedia created? engineered? the former and then responded to concerns of validity by adding footnotes and links to resources? Or to talk about my frustration in trying to create wiki's. Perhaps the last as the others have been covered over and over by people who are both smarter and better writers than I.

After reading Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts . . last summer, I created a wiki to use with an advanced art class. It looked good. I was excited about it. The teacher was excited about it and as these things go, we never used it. Not wanting to loose my wik-ability (Wait, now I sound like merino wool!), I tried making another one for my upcoming college reunion. I tried two different sites, some horrible site the name I can't remember and wetpaint. Wetpaint was easier to use and had pretty colors, so the planning group is playing with it right now. Come October, we'll see if it was a useful planning (and recruiting tool) for a reunion.

With my other job, not to be confused with my other other job or yet that different other job I have, the institution has been doing lots with Web 2.0 tools. One of my colleagues as well as boss was recently recognized for her work with promoting and integrating Web 2.0 tools, namely Placeography. This house history wiki has been a phenomenal sharing site for users. Two weeks ago I was at a lovely garden party and mentioned this site to Ryan K. who is hosting a walking tour of his neighborhood. Not only did he know about Placeography, but had also been interviewed on a local TV show about his well regarded contribution. So while the Internet brings information together, it is the garden parties in the central neighborhood of Minneapolis where people truly connect!

One thing that I have noticed about wiki's . . it takes people to keep them going and it there's no interest or it's too difficult to contribute, then they grow stagnant. Case in point, Minnewiki. The idea behind the site is great, but what's the point of a Minnesota music wiki if no one can contribute? The site is doesn't allow for users to add material. Without the ability to contribute or even keep things up-to-date, the Current's self chosen name is more than ironic!

Unnumbered but related Thing

My friend Eric (insert broken link. An early blogger, before blog was a word, he ~sadly~ no longer writes online.) is a long time reader of The Atlantic. The topic of conversation over a recent dinner had to do with reading fodder and attenion span. He mentioned Nicholas Carr's recent article Is Google Making Us Stupid? and if you have time, it's worth reading. (Yes, reading. Not skimming, but sitting down, slowing down and enjoying the words as they were put together by the author and taking time to reflect upon his point of view.)

Thing 9: Online Collaboration Tools

Photo credit: jelens

I'm a fan of Google docs. Last summer I started using at as way to work on school projects no matter where I was. It's not always convenient to have a jump drive and sometimes I am working at a work station where the software choices and accessibility is limited. Google docs has been freeing for me (wait, something else is supposed to be freeing for me what is it . . .) as a traveling user.

Last fall we started using Google docs with students as a way for them to create things, but more so as a way to easily transfer items back and forth between school. Slowly the interest is growing and I think as more teachers begin to use and demonstrate it, Google docs will become more popular.

(Mike--you may have noticed that I didn't write about editing public documents. I understand what the software is for and what can be done with it, just not my area of interest. Perhaps those government teachers might like to do something with it in the fall when they have students create their own Pledge of Allegiance . . .)

Thing 8: Share your creations

Here are pictures of the mural in my library. Last summer, my friend John created and painted it. While he was hard at work painting and singing along with radio, I weeded and weeded the non-fiction collection. There are no pictures of the many boxes of deaccessioned books, but there are these great pictures of the mural in progress!







With Zoho, I like the idea of being able to make updates and then those changes being automatically updated on the webpage. We'll see if that happens. I found a grammar error, corrected it and resaved the show, but when I last checked, that change hadn't yet been posted. What was frustrating for me was the slowness of Zoho. I wanted it to move a little faster than it did, but when I reminded myself what I was asking of it and that it was live and on the web, I became a little less critical about speed. (I know, I know. Those of you who know that I have dial-up at home are thinking I don't have a leg to stand on, but this post was done on a speedy computer with a speedy connection. :0)



A side note, I love the pictures of my fellow school media specialists posted on the 23 Things site!



Finally, I am intrigued by Lazybase and am contemplating how we might use that for the various reading lists I/the English Dept. compile for students. Right now, we use MS Excel as well as tables in MS Word lots and lots . . .

Thing 7

The use to web 2.0 technologies in the workplace has been in the news this week. Make it Stop! Crushed by Too Many Emails was a story on Morning Edition about the deluge of email at the work place.

Escape is but one solution and not one with much ROI (it's the acronym of the day, return on investment). According to the radio story, some companies have turned to instant messaging as a way of communicating while others have instituted "no email Fridays" where workers are encouraged to phone colleagues or better yet, walk down the hall and talk face to face.

IM has is place for quick things, though for more important things, I prefer email. I can keep the messages as well as search for errant ones. A topic on conversation today at the reference desk was the possibility of using text messaging here and how that could impact how we staff the reference desk. The idea represents change, which rarely goes over well in this department, but much of the professional literature reports that IM is being used and used well. As the occasional visitor, it's always interesting to see how new things are introduced and potentially, implemented.

In my other life, I am adjunct faculty at a university in Wisconsin. Part of my duties are to provide library (aka bibliographic) instruction for their students in Minnesota. About two years ago, the unnamed university started a "live chat with a librarian" feature. Each time I demonstrate it, the reaction is the same. The adult students in the class are thrilled that there is someone at the other end to help them with their research projects and they are also a little surprised that the software is so easy to use. Of course, they also puzzle about what sort of person would be willing to help with such things, but I reassure them that librarians are people too and at that moment, point out the library hours, noting they close on Friday and Saturdays at 5 pm, because librarians have social lives, too!

Photo courtesy Linda M.

More on Thing 6

Having lots of fun at ImageChef.

Again, more ideas for publicity things such as:

Thing 6: Online Image Generators

And you thought those READ posters were fun (stay tuned . . . I've been struggling with Photoshop and the software for these posters so am taking a class next week).

Here's my trading card:

Yet another addictive online tool that 23 Things has introduced. Students in World History create a resume for historical figures. It might be fun to create an online trading card for these folks, too.