Sunday, February 17, 2008

Thing 3: RSS

I had previously set up a bloglines account when I was in graduate school, but I wasn't using it. This was a good opportunity to refresh my learning about RSS. I thought the Common Craft video was a good, basic explanation of RSS.

On my favorites in IE, I have a Microsoft Feeds section. I can subscribe to RSS Feeds here and get to them easily from the favorites button rather than going to BlogLines. I assume the downside to this method is that I won't see the feeds if I'm using another computer. Guess I better stick with bloglines.

I subscribed to 2 news feeds and two blog feeds. I do wonder how I will find the time to read all the posts!

I would like to know the favorite blogs or news sites of other 23 Things participants.

Thing 2: Perspective on Web 2.0

From John Blyberg's post, I wanted to capture the Sarah Houghton's definition of Library 2.0 so I can refer back to it:

“Library 2.0 simply means making your library’s space (virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative, and driven by community needs. Examples of where to start include blogs, gaming nights for teens, and collaborative photo sites. The basic drive is to get people back into the library by making the library relevant to what they want and need in their daily lives…to make the library a destination and not an afterthought.”

Key words for me in this definition are: more, relevant, and destination.

As someone who has not been working in the library field for over 10 years (but is hoping to return soon), I find Library 2.0 very exciting. It definitely feels like a movement that will make libraries a richer (more) place that will be what people want (relevant) and entice people to interact with them (destination).

I am motivated to participate in 23 Things because I just completed my MLIS degree, I'm looking for a job, and I want to be able to communicate (at least at a basic level) about Library 2.0 tools.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Thing 1: Blog is registered

I kept getting an error trying to link to the http://23thingsonastick.blogspot.com/. Today I finally was able to get in and read the details on how to get started. My blog is registered. I found out about the program through SLA, although I do not currently work in a library, and I live in western Wisconsin. So I selected Metronet as my region, as that's the closest.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Ready for 23 Things

I created my blog account and am ready to start the "23 Things on a Stick" program on February 4.