Frederick County Participants

Week 11: Commenting and 2.1

2007-08-13T15:58:00.000-04:00

You still have 2 more weeks to work on your 23 Things!

Many of you are sticking with it and you’re doing great!

Some of you have even completed the program!

Those who have completed – Help your colleagues. Share your frustration. Share your success. Comment on some blogs. No need to tackle the whole list---just visit the blogs of folks from your branch. We appreciate your help!

If the 23 Things program made you curious about web-based tools, check out the Learning 2.1 program - developed by PLCMC.

Week 10: Catch-up and wrap-up

2007-08-08T11:23:00.000-04:00

You were recently emailed two forms.

You'll need to complete each of them in order to get credit for the course:

Step one: Complete your tracking log.

If your last name begins A-M, email it to James Kelly.
If your last name begins N-Z, email it to Lesa Zuke.

Wait for an email verification from us.
Once you have received the email verification, then…

Step two: Complete, sign and send your CEU form via interoffice mail.

If your last name begins A-M, interoffice mail it to James.
If your last name begins N-Z, interoffice mail it to Lesa.

Please note: no forms should be sent directly to Administration.

Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable audio

2007-07-29T21:56:00.000-04:00

20. Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.

21. Discover some useful search tools for locating podcasts.

22. Take a look at the titles available on Overdrive or NetLibrary or Project Gutenburg and learn about downloadable audiobooks.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To use OverDrive you do not have to create an account (get a user name and password) and you DO have to go through your library's website to get into it. The procedure described is correct for NetLibrary.

23. Summarize your thoughts about this program on your blog and learn about where to go from here.

Week 8 - Online Applications and Tools

2007-07-23T13:47:00.001-04:00

We’re checking out some online productivity tools this week. More and more libraries are finding these tools very useful when working with the public because:
1) library customers can save documents online instead of porting around their documents on a disk
2) they can do word processing and spreadsheets on ANY computer with Internet access, even one that doesn’t have Microsoft Word or Excel.

These tools could also be useful when working on teams, particularly when team members include people outside of your library. But check them out and see what YOU think.

Week 8: Online Applications & Tools
18. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

19. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.

Week 7: Wikis

2007-07-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them.
17. Add an entry to the Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki.

del.icio.us tutorial

2007-07-13T16:20:00.001-04:00

Hello all,

As you probably noticed the Otter Group's del.icio.us tutorial in Thing 13 is down. The liaisons were told that this is because the tutorial site exceeded their bandwidth. So it may or may not come back up. But don't fret--

The other sites listed in Thing 13 (while not videos) will give you a very nice overview of del.icio.us.

If you MUST have a video though, our own Chris Long found this one produced by the same group. It is a little shorter than the original and, when I used it, the audio was great but the video was a little wonky. Try it out, if you need more info though.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati

2007-07-06T20:48:00.001-04:00

13. Learn about tagging and discover a Del.icio.us social bookmarking site !

14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.

15. Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and blog your thoughts.

Week 5 -- Play Week

2007-07-02T12:47:00.000-04:00

10. Play around with an online image generator.
11. Take a look at LibraryThing and catalog some of your favorite books.
12. Roll your own search tool with Rollyo.

Can't add COMMENTS ?

2007-06-30T20:52:00.000-04:00

If you have been unable to add a comment to some blogs because it doesn't recognize your userid or password, one way to get around it is to log in to your own blog BEFORE you go visiting other blogs.

Some blogs are set so that only registered users can add comments. By logging in to your own blog first, Blogger will see that you are a registered user and will let you comment.

Week 4 -- RSS and Newsreaders

2007-06-25T12:14:00.000-04:00

Now that we've learned about blogs and about Flickr, you may be interested in this photo, posted on Flickr, of two well-known library bloggers who are attending ALA.

They are Michael Stephens (Tame the Web) and Jenny Levine (The Shifted Librarian).

So welcome to Week 4 of 23 Things!

Hopefully you have completed the Things for Week 3, which means that you have explored Flickr, mashups, and posted something about "anything technology" to your blogs.

Have you visited our FCPL Staff Blogs yet? (See the link to the right) They are looking really great, and there's obviously a lot of good learning going on there. Have you found any comments posted to your blog? Everyone has at least one comment posted by James or me, but we hope you will take a moment to post comments on each other's blogs.

This week's topic is RSS and Newsreaders.

These tools allow us to easily follow our favorite blogs without having to click on a bunch of links to get to them, and they filter out the posts that we've already read before so we only see what's new. You have the following activities to complete:

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders
8. Learn about RSS feeds and setup your own Bloglines newsreader account.
9. Locate a few useful library related-blogs and/or news feeds .

ENJOY!

Week 3 -- Photos and Images

2007-06-18T17:45:00.000-04:00

The activities for Week 3 are...

5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.
6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites.
7. Create a blog post about anything technology related that interests you this week.

Staff Tips Blog

2007-06-14T19:15:00.000-04:00

We have a Staff Tips link over to the right now, where I've moved a couple of my earlier postings, such as how post to your blog by email, or how to set your timezone.

If YOU would like to post to the staff tips, just email me with your GMAIL address.
(ex: CrazyDog@gmail.com ) I will "invite" you as an author - which means you'll get an invitiation in your gmail account. Once you respond to the invitation, you can then post to the Tips blog any time.

- Lesa

Great Blogs are Rollin In !

2007-06-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

As of right now, we have about 25 blogs already registered, and it's only Tuesday. The staff blogs are looking just great, too! Feel free to click on the "comment" button at the bottom of each other's blog entries so you can support and encourage your fellow staffers.

If you're still feeling a tad overwhelmed with the idea of creating a blog, ask a co-worker to help you. If you click on the "FCPL Staff Blogs" link to the right, you'll see a list of the people who've already started their blog, so right there are some potential helpers.

So far, everyone has been fine with sharing their blogs, which is great, because it's fun to look at them. But if there are some very private or shy folk out there who don't want to share their postings, please do the following when you register your blog:

if you don't mind displaying your blog, but don't want your name to appear next to it, comment when you register "don't show my name".
if you don't want anyone else to even SEE your blog, other than the liasons who need to check off completion of project, comment "don't list my blog".

Happy Blogging!
- Lesa

Week 2 - Create a blog !

2007-06-10T23:32:00.001-04:00

For Week 2, you will:

3. Set up your own blog & add your first post. Be sure that you use one of your test posts to create an entry about the habits among the 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits that is easiest and hardest for you & why.

4. Register your blog using one of the links below. (This is how James and I will be able to check group progress and it will also provide backup for your CEU credits.)
A: Artz, Bookmobile, Detention Ctr, TH, WA, EM
B: UR, MD, BR, PT

Group A Blog Registration

Group B Blog Registration

Week 1 -- Hint

2007-06-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

When listening to the 7 habits presentation, don't forget to make note of what, for you, are the easiest and hardest habits.

After you set up your blog next week, you can include the two habits in your first post.

Week 1

2007-06-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

what lives where?: a quick roadmap to this weblog
At right, you'll notice a sidebar and some links.
These links will always be there. They take you to...

the complete list of the 23 Things

the FAQs (Lesa and I found these helpful)

a list of other Maryland libraries participating in the program

At the bottom of every post, there is a place to leave comments. To use the comment feature, you must have a Blogger login.

Don't have one yet? Don't sweat it.

You'll be setting one up next week. (It's Thing 3.) Feel free to use the comment area to ask questions or leave tips on the 23 Things for your FCPL colleagues.

Enough roadmap...onto the 23 Things!!!

Week 1: Introduction

1. Read this blog & find out about the program.
2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process.

Kickoff coming soon

2007-06-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note.

Registration closed for FCPL's 23 Things last night and we have...[drumroll]...

80 people signed up!

I hope you're as excited as Lesa and I are for Monday's big kickoff.
Be on the lookout for a new post and an email blast next week.

[Please note: The registration links in the previous post are now inactive; however, you may still use the cancellation link...I just hope you won't.]

Joining Up

2007-03-21T17:58:00.000-04:00

Frederick County Public Libraries is very pleased to announce our participation in the statewide Maryland Libraries Learning 2.0 - 23 Things project.

23 Things is a 9-week long journey into the new world of Web 2.0 technologies - a program that you do on the web at your own pace.

The program runs from June 4 - August 31, 2007. Registration closes on May 31, 2007. After that you won't qualify for any prizes, so hurry and register now!

Program Registration
To register, simply select one of the two links below.

Group A: Staff to the North
Artz, Bookmobile, Detention Center, Thurmont, Walkersville and Emmittsburg
Register here.

Group B: Staff to the South
Urbana, Middletown, Brunswick and Point of Rocks
Register here.

You can cancel your registration anytime.

CEUs and Prizes
Not only will you have a lot of fun as you work your way through the 23 Things, but you can also earn up to 1.8 CEUs by completing the program.

While partial CEU credit is available, staff who finish all 23 things will receive the full 1.8 CEUs and, in addition, will be entered into a drawing for a grand prize. (...to be announced soon!)

Questions?
Please contact your liaisons, James Kelly and Lesa Zuke, if you have questions about this project.

Remember the liaisons are not instructors for the 23 Things project. This project is about collaboration. So, every staff member is an instructor.

Once we are underway, liaisons will provide a list of FCPL participant blogs on this page. We encourage you to visit each other's blogs for ideas and help with the technologies.