Thing 23 has been released a week early. It gives you a resource to continue your experimentation and exploration.
Thing 23. Explore the Learning 2.1 blog and do the exercises in a post that interests you.
Blog Post: What have been the highs and lows of the 23 Things for you? Where to next with emerging technologies? For you? For libraries?
Friday, November 23, 2007
December 3 - 9, week 13: ..and beyond...
Thing 23: Do a discovery exercise from Learning 2.1
To discover a resource to keep learning
The Learning 2.1: the adventure continues blog is a continuation of the original Learning 2.0 / 23 things programme at PLCMC. Guest contributers describe a new web tool and set discovery exercises for it.
1. Go to the Learning 2.1 blog list of Things
2. Select a tool that interests you and do the discovery exercise
3. Blog about how you could use it in a library
November 26 - December 2, week 12: Online content sharing
A month ago, we looked at Flickr, which is an image sharing site that has a lot of social elements like profiles, contacts, shared tagging and groups.
THIS WEEKS' THINGS
Thing 21. Search YouTube to find any video that interests you and embed this in your blog.
Thing 22. Find a set of slides you like on slideshare.net and embed this into your blog.
Blog Post: Revisit the goals you set in Week 2. Did you reach them?
This week we look at a couple of sites for sharing slightly more sophisticated content - videos and slidesets (some with audio). These also have social elements. Now that you have looked at social software like Facebook and twitter, you probably are more able to spot these social elements.
The information about User Generated Content and Creative Commons that we covered in Week 8 is relevant here - October 29 - November 4, week 8: Images and embedding
FURTHER READING
YouTube and Libraries - Australian wiki showing several ways that libraries use YouTube.
FUN SITE FOR THE WEEK
Thing 22. Find a set of slides you like on slideshare.net and embed this into your blog.
Why? Useful source of information and a good way to display your own work
Do Thing 21 first - it has more detailed instructions.
1. Go to slideshare.net
2. Search to find a set of slides suitable for inserting into a work based blog
3. Find the embed code.
4. Embed the slideshow into your blog
IF YOU WANT MORE:
Find out about slidecasting - where you synchronise an audio file posted somewhere else with a set of slides you have posted on slidesharel.net
Thing 21. Search YouTube to find any video that interests you and embed this in your blog.
Why? Communication is no longer just about text .
1. Go to YouTube
2. Find a video suitable to show on a work based blog.
Embed the video into your blog.
1. Find the bit on the page that says "embed"
2. Copy ALL of the code . ( CTRL A will select all, and CTRL C will copy it)
3. Open a new blog post
4. Go to the Edit HTML tab
4. Paste in the embed code and save
Done!
IF YOU WANT MORE
Check out blipTV or viddler .Browse mashable’s Video Toolbox: 150+ Online Video Tools and Resources.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
November 19 - 25, week 11: Gaming & Virtual Worlds
Games are fun. Gaming nights are a good way to attract users to a public library. This is true, but it is not why we are covering gaming for the 23 Things.
The gaming we are talking about is computer gaming - online, video, console based, hand held and PC. Gaming can be used as an immersive, compelling and engaging way of providing access to information and education.
THIS WEEKS' TASKS
Thing 19. Attend a workshop to create an avatar in Second Life
Thing 20. Play the yellow part of the Austin Community College's InfoGame.
THIS WEEKS BLOG POST: Which of the tools covered so far seems the most useful to libraries?
GAMING
Over 79% of Australian households have a device for playing computer and video games. 41% of gamers are women and 8% are seniors. The average age of Australian gamers is 28, but this is rising and expected to be 42 by 2014. ( Jeffrey E Brand of Bond University Interactive Australia 2007 : facts about the Australian computer and video game industry ). Market research from Parks Associates shows that US consumers play online games more often than watch online videos or visit social networking sites.
Rightly or wrongly, many students bring information finding strategies they use in gaming when they do research using our online tools. Several are spending hours immersed in incredibly engaging and sophisticated computer interfaces, where they are able to contribute to the action - so library websites look very different by comparison.
Gaming gives students skills like:
- Ability to quickly read and comprehend massive amounts of information on a screen.
- An understanding that many strategies and attempts may be necessary to accomplish a task.
- A reluctance to read wordy instructions.
- A preference to learn an online system by trying it out.
- An ability to rapidly synthesise facts and make split second decisions.
- Ability to learn a new interface very quickly.
- Ability to handle sudden or unexpected changes in their interface.
- Creative and lateral thinking.
- Collaboration.
- Teamwork.
- Ability to quickly assess what information is relevant and what is just noise.
FURTHER REFERENCES
A quick guide to gaming in libraries Ellyssa Kroski - over 20 articles about gaming listed
Audio files from most sessions of the American Library Association Symposium on Gaming, Learning and Libraries
Slideset by Beth Gallaway. Very comprehensive review of gaming in all types of libraries Get your Game On: Video Gaming at the LibraryONLINE VIRTUAL WORLDS
Online virtual worlds use a similar immersive 3D interface as gaming. Characters called avatars can move around the environment and interact with objects and other avatars. There are however no gameplays, strategies, rules or points.
Educational and library sites in Online Virtual worlds sit side by side with porn and gambling sites, just like on the World Wide Web. Online virtual worlds are still developing and as technology improves, they will get more sophisticated and easier to use.
Online Virtual Worlds were named by Educause and the New Media Consortium in their Horizon Report 2007 as one of six technologies likely to have significant impact on education in the next five years. Gartner Inc., which bills itself as the "world's leading information and technology research company, claimed on 24th April 2007 that "by the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a “second life,” but not necessarily in Second Life
Many unversities are experimenting with an Online Virtual World called Second Life. Murdoch University has a presence there, as does Harvard, Princeton, University of Oxford, Griffiths, Monash, RMIT, AFTRS and USQ. Over 600 librarians are experimenting with providing library services on the 40 island Information Archipelago where Murdoch Library has a plot of land.
This 23 minute slidecast (audio and slides) explains more about Second Life, Libraries, Universities and Murdoch University Library (Presentation at the Queensland University Libraries Office of Communication event, Social Software in Libraries, Wednesday 9th October 2007)
FURTHER READING
Infoisland.org - blog of the Alliance Library Service in Second Life .
Ten very good reasons why your librarians should be in Second Life
Six very bad reasons to have a library branch in Second Life
FUN SITE OF THE WEEK
Guess the google You are shown 20 images and you need to work against the clock to guess the keyword that would retrieve them all in a google search.Thing 20. Play the yellow part of the Info Game.
Play the first (yellow) part of the Austin Community College's Infogame.
Why? To experience how engaging even a very simple game interface can be.
Once you have pressed "Click here to play", read through the information (you can skim) until you get to the "click here and take the test and win token" screen. Click to take the test and use a made up name when they ask you for your name.
Once you have pressed "Click here to play", read through the information (you can skim) until you get to the "click here and take the test and win token" screen. Click to take the test and use a made up name when they ask you for your name.
Thing 19. Create an avatar in Second Life (you need to attend a workshop for this).
Come to a workshop to create a Second Life avatar and learn some basic skills to use it.
Why? To experience and assess a new type of computer interface - an online virtual world.
If you do not already have a Second Life avatar you will need to attend a workshop. Please email me by Friday 16th November to let me know which workshop you can attend.
Please make sure you have an email account that you can access via the web for this session. Gmail is fine .
WORKSHOPS WILL BE IN ROOM 1.015. The last 30 minutes are voluntary, but you will probably want to stay around to learn to use your avatar better.
- Tuesday 20th November 10am - 11am or 11:30
- Tuesday 20th November 2pm - 3pm or 2:30pm
- Friday 23rd November 2pm - 3pm or 3:30pm
If you cannot attend a workshop, please email me and I'll try to arrange another one.
You can create an avatar on your own, then download and install the software and log in and complete Orientation Island - but it will take you longer than the workshop will take. If you do this, you will need to email me your avatar's name so that I can add it to the Murdoch group. Workshop instructions are here.
Friday, November 2, 2007
November 12 - 18, week 10 : Online Social Networks
Sites like Flickr, YouTube and slideshare.net are called social software because you can:
1. Set up a user profile
2. Add others as "friends" or "contacts"
3. Subscribe to work uploaded by others
4. Message other users within the site
5. Add comments, ratings and tagging to works of other users
Flickr is about photos, YouTube is about video clips, and Slideshare.net is about slideshows.
Online social networks are about people. They are like library catalogues where the records are about people not books - and each person is in charge of their own record. Some examples of online social networks are: Facebook, MySpace, Beebo, Orkut, LinkedIn and Ning .
The Facebook and Twitter sites don't show you anything useful unless you log into your own account, so we will be making one.
THIS WEEKS THINGS:
Thing 15. Join Facebook and create a Facebook profile.
Thing 16. Add some Facebook friends and join a Facebook group.
Thing 17. Create a Twitter account and add some friends.
Thing 18. Tweet at least once a day between Mon 19th and Fri 23rd November.
BLOG POST: Do you think libraries should try to have a presence in Facebook?
Facebook is like a grown up version of Myspace. You create a profile and then use this to keep in touch with your friends. It began in a college dorm at Harvard, but soon spread to other campuses. It's big. According to wikipedia:
As of October 2007, the website had the largest number of registered users among college-focused sites with over 42 million active members worldwide and expects to pass 60 million users by the end of the year (also from non-collegiate networks).[3] [4] From September 2006 to September 2007[5] it increased its ranking from 60th to 7th most visited web site, and was the number one site for photos in the United States, ahead of public sites such as Flickr, with over 8.5 million photos uploaded daily.[6][7]
The Murdoch University network in Facebook has 1792 members. Overseas students are using it to keep in touch with family. There is a for sale noticeboard and discussion of campus issues.
The site's growth has exploded now that people without a ".edu" email address can join, and that other software can interact with Facebook using an API (Application Programming Interface).
Given that Facebook takes up 1% of all Internet traffic, our users are probably spending much more time in Facebook than on the library web pages. Can we use this platform to offer services to our students?
HOW ARE LIBRARIES USING FACEBOOK?
To communicate with students
To communicate with each other
For work tools
- Top Ten Facebook Apps for Librarians Part One
- Top Ten Facebook Apps for Librarians Part Two
- Top Ten Facebook Apps for Librarians Part Three
Library catalogue search box that can be embedded in a Facebook profile
- University of Notre Dame Libraries widget
- University of Alberta Libraries widget
- University of Illonois at Urbana and Champaign widget
- Hennepin County Library
Journal database search that can be embedded in Facebook
JSTOR
Twitter is like a cross between microblogging and IM (Instant Messaging). The concept is simple: Say what you are doing in 140 characters or less. It sounds like a simple and useless tool, but it is an extremely powerful social tool.
When you join, you find friends and "follow" them. That way you can see what they are tweeting. You can set your account to private so that only your friends can see your tweets and they will not be seen by search engines. Please make your account private for the 23 Things.
The best description I've heard is that it's like "walking to school with your friends". Sometimes you are gossiping about who has a crush on who, sometimes you talk about nothing but the hottest issue, sometimes you talk about lunch, but you often spend a fair whack of it talking about serious schoolwork too.
It is an anytime, anyplace tool. There is bound to be someone you know tweeting at any time. You can send and receive messages directly from the website, via IM chat, via text on a mobile phone or using client software on your PC. We are looking at it mainly to get a taste of the 24/7 interconnectedness and networking of many of our students.
HOW ARE LIBRARIES USING TWITTER ?
- Libraries Using Twitter for Reference, Blogging, Promotion, etc. at Library Success: a Best Practices Wiki
- 7 Things you should know about Twitter Educause July 2007
- Twitter Tweets for Higher Education from Web 2.0 Teaching Tools
- A guide to twitter in libraries
- Twitter is a great tool to use as a "back channel" at conferences - to discuss the speakers' points as they are made, arrange meetups, share information.
FUN SITE OF THE WEEK :
Twittervision
Thing 17,18 Twitter - Join, friends, tweet for a week
Thing 17. Create a Twitter account and add some friends.
Why? To understand how 24/7 connection changes communication and collaboration online
Please do Things 15 and 16 before this one by following the Facebook screencast.
Create account
Joining twitter is just the same as joining Facebook, except you don't have to go to your email and click on a link to verify your membership.
It is important that once you have joined, you go to Settings (top right corner) and select "Protect my updates". This means that only people you have allowed to "follow" you can see your updates.
Find Folks
Use the "Find Folks" search box in the green sidebar to search for the user "libkat" or go straight to her profile page: http://twitter.com/libkat . Select the grey "follow" button under her photo.
Look at the green sidebar on her profile page and you will see pictures of her friends. Mouse over each image to see the person's name. Like we did with Facebook, click on some of libkat's friends to add them as your friends.
Remember to check your gmail account in case someone has added you as a friend. This will also display on your sidebar as "2 new follower requests".
Thing 18. Tweet at least once a day for five days between Monday 19th - Friday 23rd.
Why? To see twitter in action - it's the only way to "get" it.
Mon 19th - Friday 23rd is Twitter week. Twitter only really works when it has critical mass. Please tweet at least once a day and share something work related that you are doing. If you can't do it that week, you may try it another week.
Enter text in the box under "What are you doing?" and select "update".
IF YOU WANT MORE
- Add a picture to your profile.
- Work out how to "Direct message" someone.
- Do some googling about to find out what the @ sign at a start of your tweet does.
- Keep twittering
- Watch this video by librarian David Lee King about software people have written to do crazy things with twitter. i r fluffin yr twitterz: or, Twitter, part 2: the "fluff"
Things 15 and 16 Facebook - join, profile, friends and group
Thing 15: Join Facebook and add a profile
Why? 48 million people are there. Find out what it is about.
Thing 16: Add at least 3 friends and join a Facebook Group
Why? To understand how a social network works
SCREENCAST
I've made a 4 minute screencast for this exercise Facebook 23 Things. It is very pacy, so I suggest you first watch it all the way through. Then play it, pause it, do the bit just described, play a bit more, do that bit etc.
The screencast shows you how to do more things than the exercises require. Those that are part of the exercises are marked with a * .
- * Join
- * Create a profile
- * Search for a friend
- * Add a friend
- * Look at a friend's friends to find friends
- * Accept friendship
- * View a friend's' profile
- *Join a Facebook group
- Write on a friend's wall
- Add a Facebook Application
IF YOU WANT MORE:
Write on a friend's wall or Add a Facebook Application. Play a game of scrabble with someone using Scrabulous - just once from work.
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