Thing #23 - O! What a Geek wrap up

Well, a planned nine weeks curriculum stretched out a little bit to provide fun and web 2.0 learning. I enjoyed the process very much and gained some valuable skills along the way. I had never tried editing wikis before, and that was probably the area where I learned the most. Many of the "things" I had already discovered as a part of getting up to date with all the new web 2.0 applications. Among these were: twitter, facebook, youtube, podcasts, and library thing. Perhaps the most important learning for me was about portability using google docs and google calendar. I use these applications daily on a variety of computers. So, I can say that the program was a success and I'm glad that I took part.

Thing # 20 - YouTube

OK, I know I'm out of sequence, but I needed time to play and figured it really doesn't matter if the things are done in order.

When I opened YouTube this morning I was greeted by several "American Military March" videos sporting waving US flags and playing Sousa marches. Well performed recordings, probably by service bands from Washington, but the video portion left a lot to be desired. Then I saw one of my favorite German marches listed, "Alte Kamaraden." So, I clicked on that and then found a whole bunch of German military marches. I thought about posting one of those to Thing #20 but wanted to be in good taste, so I passed.

Then I searched for the most famous marching band routine in the world, "Script Ohio." Well of course there were lots of postings, but the video doesn't do the marching justice. Next I found a lot of Yea Ohio-Boo Michigan (to say it nicely) stuff. A lot is very funny, but in poor taste for a G-rated blog. The funniest one was a baby crying whenever the Michigan fight song was played.

Finally, I settled on this party video. I can't imagine drinking all those beers just to pull this one off.

Thing #22 - Downloadable Media

From my previous post you are aware that I love to listen to audio files and podcasts while traveling in the car. So, I was overjoyed to discover Overdrive on the OPL website. My frustration until recently has been that there were no Mac compatible files available. Thanks Judy Anghelescu (and others) for working hard to get Mac titles for us. Hopefully the number of titles and the breadth of coverage will grow over the next few months.

I'm not much of an "ereader" although I have an appplication on my palm pilot and home desktop computer. I tried reading through Shelley's "Frankenstein - or the Modern Prometheus" but didn't like the small screen and constant page turning. I guess, I like books in print better aethetically. However, I do like having the Bible on my palm pilot for quick reference and carrying back and forth to church. It's a lot smaller and lighter than my standard Bible and fits in my pocket.

In regards to downloadable video, I did try to view a streaming movie using my wife's windows laptop. I guess our bandwidth at home isn't fast enough for streaming. I got tired of getting 30 seconds of movie and then a pause while the next segment downloaded.

So, I think it's great to have these ebooks, audiobooks, and streaming movie files available at the library. I think we should do a better job in advertising these services; it's a real plus for many of our patrons.

Thing #21 - Podcasts

I've been listening to podcasts since I bought my 3rd generation iPod about five years ago. Although I have stored lots of my favorite music on the iPod, I listen mostly to audiobooks. I began listening to audiobooks while driving to visit my children; the nearest lives 7 hours away. I enjoyed learning a lot about revolutionary and civil war history and the biogrpahies of founding fathers.

My drive to work takes thirty minutes, so I began listening to audiobooks on a daily basis. I subscribed to some library-related podcasts to promote my professional development. My favorite podcast "LibVibe" sadly ceased in June. I have also listened to "Library Geeks" and especially enjoyed the interview with Koha's leadership team.

But, the most enjoyable listening for me comes from the mystery genre, which works well because I love film noire movies and they go hand-in-hand. Recently I listened to Dashell Hammett and I am now going through the Raymond Chandler mysteries.

For this discovery activity I accessed Podcast Alley to search for library related shows, and I subscribed to the Naxos AudioBook Preview podcast using my new Bloglines account. My main podcast directory is the iTunes store where I recently found a wonderful children's literature podcast sponsored by the University of South Florida called "Lit2Go" (http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/). This site includes readings of classic children's books arranged by reading level, and features subscribable podcasts by grade.

#19 - Web 2.0 Tools - MyHeritage.Com

For the assignment of playing with a Web 2.0 tool I went to the web awards page and noticed the link to genealogy tools. I've been actively involved in my family's genealogy for many years and have used a variety of software programs to collect over 4,000 names in my database. Since I'm a Mac user it's been difficult to find many quality programs. So, the possibility of a web 2.0 application that promised portability was very welcome.

I selected the number one rated genealogy program MyHeritage to investigate for Thing #19. Setting up an account was very easy as was uploading my pre-existing gedcom file. The gedcom format is the standard file exchange format for genealogy, and when you're working with thousands of names and associated dates it's important not to have to recreate the wheel. MyHeritage displays individuals with birth and death dates and cities, and family information with marriages and children's births. the user can upload photos of family members which will be posted along with their vital information. The site also allows for a variety of family tree print outs.

However, it is impossible to edit any data once uploaded to the site. This is a major flaw of the application, and makes it unusable as a primary genealogy file. It just becomes a way of displaying your information for family and friends. Also, searching for individuals is very slow and cumbersome.

Because of the weaknesses, I could not recommend MyHeritage as a functional genealogy site, and my search for a genealogy program for Mac continues.

Thing # 18 - Web-based Productivity Programs

I'm writing this post via Google Docs on my son's computer in Virginia. I became aware of web-based applications via Google Calendar and the browser bar at the top of the screen. Since I regularly use three different computers in the course of my day, and I work on both windows and mac platforms, I need both transportability and platform transparency. The suite of applications that Google now offers meets my need for both.

My use of web-based tools began with Google Calendar (discussed earlier in this blog) and increased when my son-in-law posted Christmas shopping lists on Google Docs. Finally, I broke down and signed-up for a Gmail account because its spam blocker was better than the free one used by my ISP. I suppose my next investigation should be of Google Scholar for journal articles and other documents posted on the web.

Anyway, I find the word processor in Google Docs easy to use, resembling the familiar MS Word interface. I like its spell checker, and now to find out how well it posts to my blog . . .

As a full-feature word processor Google Docs isn't robust enough, but for everyday use it's just fine. I guess if I were creating a document that needed robust features I wouldn't house it online anyway.

pbWiki - Thing #17

Wow, I've been away for a month. Not that December' is busy for anyone ;-).

I started working on the wiki things (16 & 17) during November, and soon recognized that it would take some concentration to really understand how they worked and to learn to edit material well. So, I postponed my learning activity until the holiday break. Today (12/30) I'm sitting at my son's computer in Virginia, waiting for them to return from Texas, and taking the time to play with thing #17.

It was easy enough to establish an account on pbWiki, and to find the list of favorite pages. I entered my blog in the favorite blog (general) list. I don't know why my entry looks different from the others. I think I followed the model. Ah, the wonders of html.

I added an entry to the favorite wine page. I love an Italian white wine made from the Cortese grape in the Piedmont region called Gavi. My favorite label is Princepessa Gavi which sells for around $14.00. It's great with seafood and for drinking on those hot summer evenings when its green apple and citrus palette slakes one's thirst.

OK, I think I'm over my slight roadblock and can continue with the remaining things.

Happy new year everyone! May 2009 be prosperous for all!