Week 1: Introduction to Web 2.0 & Blogging

                Thing #1: Read the intro

INTRODUCTION

                Welcome to the Marcellus Free Library’s “23 Things for Learning Web 2.0” program! Each week for 9 weeks (which hopefully won’t be too grueling!), we’ll be learning about a few ways people enhance their Internet experience by contributing content of their own. You are probably already familiar with Facebook and Twitter, but do you know about Tumblr or WikiHow? Impress your friends and family by throwing around these terms like you were born knowing them!

                I will post corresponding blog entries for each week of activities at http://mfl23things.blogspot.com, so you can follow along from work or home and check back after the course is done to refresh your memory. You are also totally encouraged to try any or all of these 23 Things on your own – who knows? Maybe you have a lot of important information to Tweet (it can become addictive)!

                Thing #2: Listen to Web 2.0 pod

PODCAST

                A Podcast is an audio broadcast over the Internet. The word comes from a mash-up of “broadcast” and “pod” (since podcasts can be played on portable devices such as an iPod). Podcasts began as mainly instructional resources, but have evolved into media outlets, so that nowadays you can get access to lots of great interviews with famous people, authors, and the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (any fans in the audience besides me?)!

                Many websites have podcasts attached to them. For example, I’ve made a few instructional podcasts about how to use the library’s catalog and how to sign up for e-mail. You may sometimes hear them referred to in short as “pods”, but don’t worry about alien creatures eating you alive! One really great place to find quality pods is Podcast Alley (http://www.podcastalley.com). If you do a search for “web 2.0” (always use lower case letters while searching, as you will get all results with both upper and lower case in them, whereas if you use upper case letters you’ll get results for only upper case), you will find some great podcasts on the subject. Let’s listen to one: http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=50846 (Web 2.0 magic), http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=12189 (interviews about web 2.0). With Podcast Alley, you can either download the entire file to your computer, or click “see details” and then “listen” to listen to it on the Internet.

                Another great resource for listening to podcasts is Pod Bean (at http://www.podbean.com)

                Thing #3: Take a look at some library blogs

BLOGGING

                The word “blog” is a shortened form of “weblog”, because a blog is sorta like a captain’s log of his time spent at sea back in the day, remember? So it’s a web-based log – usually a journal or frequently-updated information on the author’s interest or hobby.

                Some popular online programs for developing blogs are: Blogger (made by Google), WordPress, Typepad, and Movable Type. These are designed to be easy to use, with pre-made templates so you just choose the background you want, choose your blog’s name and address, then start making posts. You can also insert pictures or video along with the text, and most blogs give lots of storage space so you can blog for years before you run out of room. Many of them are free, also, but in some cases only limited accounts are free and if you want to do fancier editing or have more space you have to pay. Blogger and Movable Type are examples of completely free blogging software; WordPress and Typepad are free for a limited account.

                Let’s look at some interesting library-related blogs!

DCL Archives: http://dewittlibraryarchives.blogspot.com/ (Okay, I happen to have created that one, but I’m not looking for any praise here!)

Librarian in Black: http://librarianinblack.net (This is by a librarian at the San Rafael Public Library in California); The Daring Librarian: http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/

As a bonus activity, start your own blog, or make a comment on this one, so you can see how the world of blogs works!
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GO TO WEEK #2

Week 2: Interacting Online

                Thing #4: Navigating the Internet through Reddit

REDDIT

                http://www.reddit.com

Basically, this site is a giant warehouse of all that its members find interesting in the news and in their lives. A lot of the content is photographs, but there are also links to articles and videos. Reddit is completely uncensored, because the editors (or “redditors” as they call themselves) believe in the free flow of information and are fighting against proposed bills in Congress to filter or censor the Internet. So you will see a lot of controversial material and uncensored language on Reddit. The site describes itself as “The front page of the Internet”, and it looks a little jumbled, but if you become a Reddit junkie and look at it every day, you’ll probably most often pay attention to just the new articles posted at the top of the page. Also, I really love the cute captions people post on their photos!

Let’s explore some of the tabs and features of Reddit: pics, “Today I learned”, and technology (click on the categories at the very top of the screen). The “I AM A” section has people who tell what they do for a living and allow you to ask them questions. Generally, you can find a lot of really interesting facts on Reddit, just by checking once or twice a day and clicking headlines that grab your attention. It’s a scatterbrained way of navigating current events, but still pretty cool! And as with all Web 2.0 tools, you can create a free account and put in your own two cents if you want. It’s quick to sign up for accounts on sites like Reddit, and easy to upload photos and share links with other users.

                Thing #5: Picture Blogs with Tumblr

TUMBLR

                http://www.tumblr.com

                Tumblr fits somewhere between blogging and tweeting – it’s something they call microblogging, meaning it’s not quite as long as a blog entry (which is limitless) and not quite as short as a tweet (which is only 140 characters). The idea is to take a photo, then comment on it in a short caption. It could be something that happened to you during the day, scenery, pictures of you dressed in a tutu – whatever!

                Let’s take a look at some interesting tumblr blogs!

                http://nypl.tumblr.com/ Quick updates on New York Public Library news and general news from the world of books.

                http://chicagopubliclibrary.tumblr.com/ Mainly used for publicity and programming updates from the Chicago Public Library.

                http://hclib.tumblr.com/ Hennepin County Library archives. Notice that, just like with other social networking sites, you can have followers, you can follow others’ pages, people can “like” your page or post, and you can tie it all together with your other social networks. It’s all about staying ridiculously connected, people!

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GO TO WEEK #3

Week 3: Photos & Images

                Thing #6: Explore Flickr

FLICKR

                http://www.flickr.com/

                Did you ever take a photograph of something, wait for it to be developed, pick it up, pay for it, and show it to a family member or friend, just to have that other person steal it when you aren’t looking? Well, I have, and it’s annoying. So now, thanks to Flickr you can set up a free account, post all your digital or scanned photos and share them with friends and relatives over the Internet! Flickr is a great way to share single photos (which they call a Photostream), or make labeled Sets. You can also control who gets to print or share your pictures with others, and whether or not your account is searchable. Like other social networking sites, businesses and libraries also use Flickr to display their photos.

For example, the NOPL locations have a Flickr page for program pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/noplibrary/

Fayetteville Free Library also uses Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ma1ja/

                Thing #7: Explore Picasa

PICASA

                http://picasa.google.com/

                Picasa is a Google product that’s similar to Flickr, except it’s software you download to your computer rather than using exclusively over the Internet. One of the biggest differences is that as soon as you download Picasa, it searches for all the photos on your computer and brings them into the program. Then every time you open the program, it pulls in the newest photos you’ve saved to your computer and puts them in your Picasa album. This doesn’t mean it automatically puts them on the Internet; that’s a separate step you have to do, but it tries to organize them all on your computer. Picasa also makes some odd little folders on its own, for example it pulls out all the faces from your photos and makes a file of just face shots. Picasa also gives you the option to edit photos and make slideshows.

                Some libraries use Picasa for publicity photos, including

DeWitt Community Library: http://picasaweb.google.com/dcommuni

Manlius Library: http://picasaweb.google.com/106106771347406301503

                Thing #8: Wordles and Pic Lits

WORDLE

                http://www.wordle.net/

                This Web 2.0 tool creates word clouds from text sources. It makes a kind of picture from the words, emphasizing those that appear most often in the text. Wordles work two ways: you can either copy and paste a bunch of text into a box, or copy and paste the Web address of a blog and create the Wordle that way. Often, the word pictures created by Wordle end up being little poems. Look at some examples here: http://www.wordle.net/gallery?start=4692897 . Once you’ve pasted the text, you can manipulate the colors and style of the Wordle before it’s finished. Then you can share it in the Wordle Gallery or save it for yourself.

PIC LITS

                http://www.piclits.com/

                Pic Lits gives you a photograph, and then you can either drag and drop words onto it or write your own phrases to put on the picture. It’s a sort of Internet word and picture collage. When you’re finished, you can share it or add it to your blog, or just save it for yourself. Look at some examples here: http://www.piclits.com/gallery.aspx

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GO TO WEEK #4