Audio Books

Audio books are always a good way to pass the time while walking the puppy. And now it has a great selection of teen books. I WAS surprised to see Victor Frankl as one of the offerings--my Jesuit philosophy teachers would be so proud.

Novelist

Twist my arm--make me look on a database filled with fascinating books, that refers me to other books I may find just as cool.

I've used Novelist a bunch of times, but never checked out my favorite books. I really liked this assignment, but it was too hard to figure out my favorite book! So I just chose a good YA book--Sabriel by Nix--and looked for similar adult books by changing the age parameters. It offered Maguire's latest: Son of a Witch. It's been ages since I've read his stuff so I'm glad Novelist put him on my radar again.

RSS

Really Simple Sindication. I have a bunch of feeds on a blogline account (online aggregator) but I don't check it as often as I should. I need to figure out a better way to make RSS work for me. I like CNN's email alerts a little better because I always check my email; I never miss an alert.

Sharepoint

While I don't think the intranet is the easiest site to navigate, I know that if I look hard enough, I will find everything I ever needed to know about DPLS but was afraid to ask.

I just have to commit more time to posting my own work on the site.

Social Networking

I have to admit that I felt a little weird asking my 14 year old neice to be my friend on Facebook (she declined. Of course. Did I mention she is 14?)

I like social networking. I find myself keeping track of my Library School classmates that way. My social network site is a place I go to for professional AND personal information. I think more and more of us are doing it unconsciously: A friend of mine told me he hated MySpace and Facebook, then proceeded to talk about all the comments he posted on a movie blog in response to others' comments. He was using a social network without realizing it.

And I am still fascinated by that article that points to class distinctions in Facebook and MySpace. Most of my friends and colleagues are on Facebook. Is it because I am older? White? From a middle class background? All of the above?

I have some pretty cool articles about social networking posted on my Facebook account. You can access them at www.facebook.com or go directly to the articles:

http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/fashion/07Cyber.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

making badges

I really like how I can take info from one site and place it onto my blog. I've made a bFlikr badge filled with pics from Uzbekistan (not even my pics, just random ones people have uploaded onto the Flikr site and chosen to make public). And with the help of Chandra I've been able to post my LibraryThing resources onto the blog as well.

Hobby Horse

Just a reminder as I watch streaming video at home: it is impossible to get the most out of the Web with dial-up connections--or no connection at all. Sometimes, I think we (and by "we" I mean employers, law-makers, teachers, Americans, etc.) forget that not everyone in every place has access to the Web. But we just have to look out at our libraries to see that the public library is some people's only link to the virtual world. Which means it is their only link to a job or a university application. Or school assignment. Scary stuff.

Lifelong Learning and Staying on Target

When I want to learn a new skill, some of my biggest hurdles are described in

Habit 1: Begin with the End in Mind and Habit 2:See problems as Challenges.

I usually start with a very challenging end in mind--or no end in site, then get bored or discouraged as problems, or "challenges" come up.

I believe that when I am pursuing certain goals, like "I want to learn more about technology" it is important to not limit myself with an End in Mind. But with other goals, like "I want to learn to ski," a more tangible end to that goal will help me achieve it. But I have to remember to set achievable goals like "I want to learn to ski by the end of the winter," not the "I want to learn to ski and run a race within a month" kind of goal.

Learned something new

Well, if you can't tell, my favorite part of my blog is my ability to connect to LibraryThing and share my bookshelf with you. Virtually.

Chandra showed me how it was done (surprisingly easy!) so this Learning 2.0 project accomplished some cool information-sharing between colleagues as well.