Online learning...

Next week in class we are going to be discussing online education. I found this list of articles to be useful to me, as I am primarily interested in K-12 education. http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/04/09/online-learning-one-pathway-to-success/

link to Mashup

Here is a link to my final Mashup page:

http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~ffarokhi/Feed/finalmashup.html

Enjoy~

Mashups, yes, please!

Tuesday's class session was an adventure in Mashups starting with Google Maps and adding more of our choosing! The first part of the session where we used Google Maps to give directions from a point of our choosing to the Herman B Wells Library went well. Once the place was selected, for me it was the Monroe County Public Library, it was easy to follow the prompts to add pictures, a description, and a path. I learned the difference between plain and rich text settings.

The second part of the session, where we created an HTML web page that contained our Mashup, was more complicated. Because I am a bit rusty with the HTML coding I was apprehensive about the process. After finding the codes to copy and paste into the text editor, it became more manageable. While in class I was able to create a link from the html page to my blog, RSS feed, Meebo chat widget, and a Shelfari widget. Later, I added a Twitter and Poetry 180 widget to the page. So far it seems like the more widgets are available for embedding, like from the website Patrick suggested, http://www.widgetbox.com/search?q=library, with cut & paste ready codes, the more people will utilize the option. In a library setting, I can see this being a useful tool in layering information onto a webpage.

Virtual Librarians--let's do it!

Last week in class we discussed the "Virtual Librarian" and what that looks like. I have used the Instant Messaging chat feature on the IU Wells library webpage but only as a class assignment for our Reference class. I found it to be helpful to my research needs, especially because I was able to save the online conversation. Many times when I have gotten reference help in person, it is harder to independently recreate a search after the reference interview has ended. I think that it is valuable for a library to offer the service if it is being used by the patrons. The in-class exercise of IM'ing another classmate showed how easy it was to set up and use. When we tried the conversation again through email, I found that the IM format is faster, more convenient as both a librarian and a patron.

RSS Feed Experiences...

I used the Google Reader as my primary web-based feed reader of choice and compared it to Bloglines. As a novice user of blogs and feed readers, they both seemed to offer the same services with only some slight differences. In the end of my study of both tools, I am going to stick with Google Reader, even though I may still use some of the noted features of Bloglines.

Since I use other Google applications I wanted to keep it in the same family of web-based tools. I found it incredibly easy to use and navigate. The page itself is clean and clutter-free with clearly marked buttons and functions. I have yet to use all of the features, such as the sharing and link to my own personal blog parts. The page is set-up in a way that I have been able to easily add my selected RSS subscriptions. The reading and subscription trends options are also interesting to see, in terms of how often subscribed blogs are updated or which ones I read the most. I also appreciate the recommendations from Google Reader. When I was looking for subscriptions to add I was having some difficulty remembering the more popular blogs for school libraries, so when I set-up my account and added several, I was able to peruse the recommendations Google Reader made to look for ones that met my interests.

I signed-up for an account with Bloglines just to understand more about the services it provides. Initially Bloglines offers a new user the chance to subscribe by interest categories or by the most popular subscriptions of the day. All of the saved blogs, feeds, clippings, and playlists are saved in a menu on the left of the screen. This location is similar to Google Reader, however, it is all tabbed rather than laid out, exposed. I prefer the layout of Google Reader because personally, I like to have all of my options in front of me.

A positive feature I found in Bloglines that is missing from Google Reader is the Top 1000 blogs of the day. On this page the newest feeds to enter the Top 1000 Bloglines list are noted, as well as the blogs that have become the site’s “top movers.” Another feature that Bloglines has is a direct way to blog straight from the account. Since I already have a personal blog set-up elsewhere this is not something I will use, however, it seems like Bloglines is a one-stop shop meeting the needs of its users.

RSS success!

Tonight we learned about RSS feeds! Here is a link to an xml file I created:

http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~ffarokhi/Feed/rss.xml

Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh)

Social Media Revolution

First Post

This is my first blog post--ever! More to come soon!