TCCL's 28 Things

#8: Google Reader

2010-01-11T14:21:00.002-06:00

Watch this video entitled "RSS in Plain English":

You’ve heard of RSS, right? Have you seen those small, orange icons (like the one on the left) on websites or up in the address bar in your browser? Do you have co-workers or acquaintances who rave about their RSS feeds, but still have no idea what RSS is?!? Well, don’t worry. According to a recent survey, you’re still in the majority. In our information society, RSS is not only revolutionizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but is also swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.

Think about the websites you visit every day. It takes time and effort to visit each site and scour the ad-filled, image-heavy pages simply for the information you want, doesn’t it? Now imagine if you could gather all the newest information from those web pages and view it in one centralized location without being bombarded with (as much) advertising, without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it’s available now through the use of a news reader (aka feed reader, feed aggregator, or aggregator) and RSS. Simply create an account with the news reader of your choice (in our exercise, we will be using Google Reader, a free, online news reader) then subscribe to the RSS feeds from which you wish to receive updates.

This "Thing’s" discovery exercises focuses on learning about RSS news feeds and setting up a Google Reader account to start subscribing to RSS feeds.

What is Google Reader?

In order to use Google Reader, you will need a Google Account. Your Blogger account's username and password should be sufficient to log you in to Google Reader. Let’s get started by visiting Google Reader and logging in.

Next you need to add some feeds. There are many ways you can do this.

Discovery Resources:

*Getting Started with Google Reader:

Next you need to add some feeds. There are many ways you can do this:

If you know the URL of a feed, copy the URL. In Google Reader click the Add a subscription button and paste the URL in the box.
Do you have a favorite website that you visit regularly to check for new information? See if the site has an RSS feed.
No idea what feed you want to subscribe to? That’s OK. Click on the Add a subscription button in Google Reader. Now enter a search term and click Add. The system will return a list of feeds matching your search term. The result list includes helpful information including the number of subscribers and number of posts per week. To view the feed before you subscribe, click on the feed name. To subscribe, click on the Subscribe button.
With Google Reader you can also "Browse for Stuff." On the left hand side of the screen under the "All items" secton is a link to Browse for Stuff. You can locate individual feeds or grab a bundle. We’ll talk more about bundles later on.
Already have your favorite feeds set up in Bloglines? You can easily export them and then import them into Google Reader. In Bloglines go to My Feeds – Edit - Export Subscriptions. Save the OPML file to your computer. In Google Reader go to Settings – Import/Export and upload the OMPL file.

*Reading your RSS Feeds:

Note: Since the release of this video, Google has added an arrow to the "Mark as Read" button (screenshot below) that allows you to select to mark everything as read or only those items that are older than one day, one week or two weeks.

*Stars and Likes
An easy way to keep track of an item that you enjoy or want to reference in the future is to star it. When viewing an item, there is an outline of a star next to the title of the item and a star and the wording Add Star at the bottom of the item. Clicking on either star will turn the star yellow. In the future, you can go back and view the items you starred by clicking on the Starred Items link on the left hand side of the screen. Did you read an item you liked? Would you like to tell the world, or at least other Google Reader users, that you liked it? Click on the Like button located underneath the item. Keep in mind that everyone who reads that same feed as you do in Google Reader will be able to see that you Like an item. Check out Google Help to learn more about this feature.

*Sharing Items
UPDATE (11/11: Google Reader has changed the way allow the sharing of items so it no longer works as listed below. Instead, items are now shared via Google+

Now that you’re reading all of these feeds maybe you want to start sharing some of the great information you've read. Google Reader offers a number of ways to share information. The Share and Share With Note options located at the bottom of each item allows you to share an item with the world or with a selected group of friends simply by clicking on either of the links. Before you start sharing, you should check your Sharing settings. In this area you can also search for selected friends. Sharing Settings is located under the People You Follow area on the left side of the screen. If you don't see the Sharing Settings link, click on the small plus sign next to "People You Follow". One way to share an item is to email it. At the bottom of each item there is an email link. Clicking on it will create an email. Another way to share items is called "Send to…" It’s an easy way to share a post to other sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger just to name a few. Read the post on the Google Reader Blog to learn how to use this feature. In addition to sharing individual items, you can also share a list of feeds with your friends. A list of feeds is called a "bundle". If your friends have created any bundles you will see them listed in the "Browse for Stuff" area. You can access it by clicking on Browse for Stuff on the left hand side of the screen. In this area, you can also create your own bundles.

*TCCL's RSS holdings

Discovery Exercise:

Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and news readers.
Create a free Google Reader account for yourself and subscribe to at least 10 news feeds.
Example RSS feeds:
TCCL participant blog feeds - Subscribe to several of your co-workers' feeds that they have posted on the message boards. Login to your Google Reader account, click the “Add a Subscription” button at the top, and type the blog’s address, e.g. http://tccllearning.blogspot.com/, into the subscribe field. If you run into any problems, be sure to consult the message boards or ask a buddy for assistance.
Add a few of TCCL’s RSS feeds. Select at least 3 from the list below to subscribe to:
TCCL blogs with RSS feeds:
TCCL's 28 Things blog
Featured Services
Government Documents
News & Press
Reading Addict
Tulsa Area History

After you have subscribed to some RSS feeds, create a post in your blog about this exercise. If you aren’t sure what to blog about, think about these questions:

What do you like about RSS and news readers? What do you dislike?
Blog about your experience using Google Reader. If you have used another reader, how does it compare to Google Reader?
How might you be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this technology?

Estimated time to complete this step: 45-60 minutes

Note: Thanks to the Nebraska Library Commission for letting us adapt their content for this entry.

#9: Finding RSS feeds

2010-01-11T14:20:00.001-06:00

Now that you have a news reader, i.e. Google Reader, account, you can begin adding other RSS feeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate news feeds:

*When visiting your favorite websites – Look for RSS feed icons that list a number of news readers with which you can subscribe to the website’s RSS feed:

*Google Reader's "Explore" or "Browse for stuff" options – You can use the "Explore" or "Browse for stuff" features in Google Reader that were covered in the previous post (Thing #8: Google Reader).

*Syndic8.com - Syndic8 is an open directory containing thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted.

*Topix.net - Topix allows you to find recent RSS feeds based on keyword or phrase searching. Topix focuses primarily on news and media outlet RSS feeds for information.

*Technorati -Technorati is “the leading blog search engine” that indexes “more than 1.5 million new blog posts in real time.” Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging platforms, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic-specific blogs you may be interested in.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore some of these search tools to locate some news feeds.
Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to ask yourself:

*Which method of finding RSS feeds was the easiest?
*Which of the above sites, if any, were confusing?
*What useful feeds did you find in your travels?
*Did you find any unusual feeds?
*Di you use any other tools or methods to locate RSS feeds?

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#10: Play around with image generators

2010-01-11T14:19:00.002-06:00

Image generators allow you to easily manipulate images and graphics with your own photos or text in order to create new images like these*:

For this discovery exercise, we simply want you to find some image or text generators to play around with, write a post in your blog about one of your “generated” favorites, and post this image to your blog. Often, adding the image you created to your blog is as simple as copying and pasting the code that is provided by the image generating website. If not, you may just need to right click on the image and save it to your hard drive before using Blogger’s image button (pictured below) to add it to your post.

If you’re having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, head to the message boards and ask for help.

Discovery Resources:

The Generator Blog: This blog keeps track of numerous image and text generators. Click on one of the previously posted generators on the left side of the blog to try it out.
Demotivational posters (Our personal favorite)
Custom Sign Generator: Try searching for text or image generators using the search engine of your choice.
Warning Sign Generator
Warning Label Generator
Street Sign Generator
LOL Builder
Magazine Cover
Movie Poster
Tombstone Generator

Discovery Exercise:

*Play around with some image generators and find one that you like.
*Post the result of your discovery process in your blog.

Note: If you can’t embed the image in your blog, be sure to include a link to the image generator itself so other participants can play with it.

Take some time and have fun with this exercise. And remember to be tasteful, too!

* Images created with Dummies Book Generator and Monopoly Card Generator.

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#11: A thing about LibraryThing

2010-01-11T14:18:00.000-06:00

Are you book lover or a cataloger at heart? Do you enjoy finding lost and forgotten gems on the shelf? If so, LibraryThing may be just the tool for you. Developed for book lovers, this tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalog of your books, but also to connect with others who have similar libraries and reading tastes. Once you create a free account, you can simply add a book to your catalog by performing a search for the author’s name, the book’s ISBN, or full or partial keyword search for the title. The catalog draws from Amazon.com, the Library of Congress, and over 690 libraries worldwide, so it’s safe to say that your book is in there somewhere!

There are many innovative ways to use LibraryThing. You can rate, review and tag your books. You can view cover scans of your catalog on a virtual shelf, add a widget to your blog to display titles that are in your catalog, or install a LibraryThing search box on your blog that will allow visitors to your blog to search your LibraryThing catalog. You can even follow the reviews and conversations of other LibraryThing users for books on your shelf.

So why not join the ranks and create your own library online? With over 550,000 registered users (BTW: LibraryThing also has group forums for librarians) and over 33.4 million catalogued books, you're bound to discover something new.

Discovery Resources:

About LibraryThing
LibraryThing tour
LibraryThing blog (remember to look for the RSS icon if you wish to subscribe to their feed)

Discovery Exercise:

Go to LibraryThing and create an account.
Explore the site and add at least 5 books to your library.
Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog.

If you’re feeling froggy, add the LibraryThing widget and/or search box to your blog.

Estimated time to complete this step: 30 minutes

#12: Roll your own search engine

2010-01-11T14:17:00.008-06:00

Do you have a group of favorite websites or a set of similar online resources that you frequently use for work? If so, Rollyo might be the tool for you. Rollyo allows you to create your own search tool exclusively for the websites you know and trust.

Take a look at some of these searchrolls that have already been created:

* Public Domain e-Books Search
* Rare Book Library Search
* Quick Quotes
* Explore other rolls here

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore Rollyo and create an account for yourself.
2. Create a searchroll for any subject you like.
3. Create a post in your blog about your experience and link to your searchroll. Can you see a potential use in your job for a tool like this?

OPTIONAL: Add your searchroll to your blog using the Searchbox tool.

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#13: Tagging, folksonomies, & social bookmarking in Delicious

2010-01-11T14:16:00.001-06:00

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorization that allows users to associate keywords with online content (web pages, pictures, blog posts, etc). Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (e.g. Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data in any form they wish. (Note: If you look at the bottom of each post in this blog, you'll see the tags for the post which Blogger calls "Labels.") Tagging is also known as a folksonomy.

In the past few weeks we’ve explored two sites – Picasa Web Albums and LibraryThing – that allow users to tag content. This week, in addition to exploring Technorati tagging, we will also explore a popular social bookmarking site called Delicious.

Delicious is a social bookmarking site which allows you to bookmark a web page and use tags to categorize your bookmarks. Since your bookmarks are stored at Delicious, you can access them at any computer, thus overcoming the problem of having your bookmarks only on one computer or trying to transfer them between computers.

Many users find the real power of Delicious is in the social networking aspect, allowing you to see how other users have tagged similar pages and to discover other sites that may be of interest to you. Think of it as peering into another user's filing cabinet with the exception that Delicious compiles the contents of each user's cabinet to build an unified, expansive network of knowledge.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to explore Delicious to learn more about this popular bookmarking tool.

Discovery Resources:

*Delicious: Social Bookmarking in Plain English:

(Note: you won’t be able to install the Delicious buttons you see in this video in your browser on your work pc)

*Otter Group Delicious tutorial (sorry the video is so small)

*See what's new with Delicious

Discovery Exercise:

View the Delicious tutorials above and read more about Delicious to get a good overview of its features.
Create a Delicious account, explore the popular bookmarks and tags, and bookmark some sites of your own.
Create a blog post about your experiences and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance or as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

OPTIONAL: Explore the network badge feature that will allow you to display details about your Delicious network on your blog.

Estimated time to complete this step: 30-40 minutes

#14: Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

2010-01-11T14:15:00.003-06:00

Now that you’ve been blogging for a few weeks you might be wondering just how big the blogosphere is. According to Technorati’s “State of the Blogosphere,” 184 million people worldwide have started blogs with a readership passing 364 million people worldwide. It is estimated that 77% of active Internet users read blogs regularly.

Yes, these numbers are astounding, but as you’ve already seen, blogging is so easy that these publishing tools are being used by almost every industry, including libraries.

So how does a person get their blog listed as part of the blogosphere and how can you tag your posts with keywords to make them more findable through a Technorati search? The answer to the first question is that your blog content is probably already being captured by Technorati due to the fact that you're using Blogger, the most popular blogging tool on the web. However, if you want to have your blog "officially" listed on Technorati and take advantage of the watch list and other features, you’ll need to claim your blog.

As for tagging posts with Technorati tags? This is easy, too. All you need to do is add a little bit of HTML code to the bottom of your post (see the screenshot below) and Technorati will pick up these tags when its “spiders,” automated programs set up to browse (or “crawl”) the web in search of the newest content, discover your site.

There are a lot of new features that have been added to Technorati since its inception, including new ways to search for blogs. You can search for keywords in blog posts, search for entire blog posts that have been tagged with a certain keyword, or search for blogs that have been registered and tagged as whole blogs about a certain subject (like photography or libraries).

Discovery Resources:

*Technorati Top 100 blogs – See the top 100 blogs according to Technorati Authority.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore Technorati’s Blog Directory. Do you find anything interesting or surprising in your results?
Create a blog post about your discoveries on this site.

OPTIONAL: If you're up for a challenge, learn how to tag your posts with Technorati tags so they can be included in Technorati tag searches. Write a post about something related to TCCL’s 23 Things and add the HTML code to the bottom of the post to tag it as “TCCL.”

You may also want to consider claiming your blog. To claim it, login to your Technorati account and then click on your account name at the top right hand side of the page. Scroll down to the "My claimed blogs" section and enter your blog's address.

NOTE: When adding HTML code to your blog, you'll want to make sure you're in Blogger's Edit HTML window:

Technorati tag: TCCL

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#15: On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

2010-01-11T14:14:00.004-06:00

The phrase "Library 2.0" first appeared on Library Crunch, a blog by Michael Casey, in September 2005. Library 2.0 is a term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name is an extension of Web 2.0 and shares many of the same philosophies and concepts including empowering the user in both design and implementation of services (e.g. writing books reviews for the website or tagging titles in our catalog), embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades in "one big pass," and reworking library services to meet the users in their space as opposed to ours (libraries). Library 2.0 is not solely about technology; instead, it advocates the leveraging of technology, when necessary, to propel constant and purposeful change in the library as well as to meet the needs of increased user participation in the evaluation and creation of library services.

Many have argued that the idea of Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it is also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our physical and virtual spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer-friendly and welcoming. But no matter on which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, or even just five to ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.

Discovery Resources:

*OCLC Next Space Newsletter – Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of Web take libraries? Five Perspectives:

*TCCL's Web 2.0 holdings
*Wikipedia – Library 2.0
*Library 2.0 Discussions – a list of great references from the Library 2.0 Wikipedia entry
*TCCL's Library 2.0 holdings

Discovery Exercise:

Read all of the content from the Discovery Resources.
Create a blog post about your thoughts on any perspective(s) that interested you. Library 2.0 is many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

NOTE: Those who complete "Things" 7-15 by the Tuesday, March 16, 2010 deadline (Note: This deadline is simply for the prizes & not the deadline for receiving ConEd credit) AND register their progress in the "Log Your Progress" section of the Staff Forums will be entered into the drawings for a shirt from the Staff Association (one men's shirt & one women's shirt are available) or for a (refurbished) 2 GB flash drive.

To receive your 2 hours of ConEd credit for completing Things 7-15: fill out the Summary of Continuing Education form and submit it to HR.

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#16: So what's in a wiki?

2010-01-11T14:13:00.003-06:00

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and most well known of these knowledge sharing tools. Wikis have become a popular communication tool due to their information-sharing abilities.

Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:
*Anyone (registered or, if a wiki allows it, unregistered) can add, edit or delete content.
*Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what's been changed and by whom.
*Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed.
*Users do not need to know HTML (the language used to create web pages) in order to apply a style to text or to edit content. In most cases, a simple syntax structure is used.

As the use of wikis has grown, libraries have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Examples of such use include pathfinders or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, ALA conference wikis and even "library best practices" wikis.

Discovery Resources:

Use these resources to learn more about wikis:

Wikis in Plain English:

*Wiki’s: A Beginner’s Look – An excellent short slide presentation that offers a short introduction and examples.
*What is a Wiki?
*Using Wikis to Create Online Communities – A good overview of what a wiki is and how it can be used in libraries.
*TCCL's holding on wikis and Wikipedia
*TCCL's floating collection wiki (only accessible using a library computer and after an account has been setup)

Discovery Exercise:
For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some library wikis and blog about your findings. Here’s a few examples to get you started:

*SJCPL Subject Guides – A pathfinder wiki developed by the St. Joseph County Public Library system.
*Book Lovers Wiki - Developed by the Princeton Public Library.
*Library Success: A best practices wiki – A wiki for librarians to share their best practices.
*ALA wikis – A list of wikis, hosted by the American Libraries Association, focusing on library groups, topics and professions.
*The Bull Run Library wiki - A public library wiki and participant of the original 23 Things project.
*Other examples of library wikis.

Write a blog post about your findings. What did you find interesting? Do you seen any application for a wiki in your job or in your department\branch? What types of applications might a wiki have for TCCL or libraries in general?

Estimated time to complete this step: 45 minutes

#17: Playing around with PBWiki

2010-01-11T14:12:00.001-06:00

"Sandbox" is the term that wikis use to describe the area of the wiki that should be used for “play,” i.e. practicing the markup features of the wiki (bolding text, indenting text, etc) without disturbing the current wiki entries. For this discovery and exploration exercise, we’ve set up a TCCL Favorite Things wiki that’s simply for you to play with and learn.

For this “explore-and-play-with-wikis” exercise, you are asked to add an entry or two to the TCCL wiki. The theme of this wiki is simply “Favorites”: Favorite books, favorite vacation spots, favorite restaurants, favorite anything …all you need to do is play and add your thoughts. To mark your adventure on this site, you should add your blog to the wiki’s blogs page.

Discovery Resources:

PB Wiki FAQ – a Frequently Asked Questions list, about PBWiki, put together by users.
PB Wiki Tips

Discovery Exercise:

Access the TCCL wiki and create an account for yourself.
Add your blog address to the blogs page so we’ll know that you've visited. To do so:
    *Click the “Edit” link at the top
    *Type the name of your blog
    *Highlight the text you just typed and click the "Insert\Edit Link" button (not here at the left but on the actual wiki) at the top to enter your blog's address.
    OPTIONAL: Add a favorite or two to a few other pages (books, vacation spot, etc). If you feel up to the challenge, you might even want to create a separate page for book reviews or short travel essays.
Create a post in your blog about your wiki experience.

Estimated time to complete this step: 30-45 minutes

#18: Web-based apps: They're not just for desktops

2010-01-11T14:11:00.000-06:00

The availability and use of Web-based productivity applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past few years. These applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents online without having to install any software on one’s computer. Think of these applications as free, online versions of Microsoft Office that can be accessed anywhere you can get online regardless of whether the computer you’re using has the equivalent software, e.g. word processor, spreadsheet, etc, installed. Some experts speculate that Web-based applications may mean the death of Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think Web-based apps have their place, just not in the workplace. No matter which side of the application platform you align with (online versus local), both sides seem to agree that Web-based apps have their place.

A big benefit of Web-based applications is that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you work on documents from different computers. Another bonus is that they can easily accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (keeping track of the changes with versioning) and provide users the ability to save and convert documents in multiple file types (including HTML and PDF). You can even use Web-based apps, such as Zoho and Google Docs, to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other Web 2.0 tools that makes Web-based apps so appealing.

Discovery Resources:
*A short list of web-based productivity applications
(Note: This list was authored in Zoho Writer and exported as an HTML document, i.e. a web page).

*Google Docs in Plain English:

*A document created with Zoho Writer that lists some of its features.

*TCCL's holdings on Google Docs

Discovery Exercise:

Create a free account for yourself with Zoho Writer or Google Docs.
Explore the site and create a few test documents.
Use Google Docs or Zoho Writer to create a blog post about your discoveries. Play around with the writer of your choice to see if you can post your content directly to your blog. Feel free, however, to rely on copying and pasting the text of your post into a new blog entry if you can’t post it directly from the Web-based app.

Estimated time to complete this step: 30 minutes

#19: Discovering Web 2.0 tools

2010-01-11T14:10:00.000-06:00

Throughout the course of this program, we’ve explored just a small sampling of the technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. Had we more time, there are many more tools we could explore.

This discovery exercise asks you to choose any site from the list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees and explore it. With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you, like Books or Travel, and then select a site within that category to explore. Be careful to select a site that does not require any software to be installed in order to view it. The majority of these sites do not have such a requirement, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Select any site from the list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees. (If you prefer to select from just the winners, here’s a link to the short list.)

2. Explore the site you selected.

3. Write a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the site? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#20: Online video

2010-01-11T14:09:00.006-06:00

Online video hosting sites allow users to easily upload and share videos on the Web. Among all sites of this kind, YouTube is the top dog. YouTube allows users to upload their own video content, easily embed clips into their own sites, e.g. blogs, and even edit their videos online without having to install any software! YouTube has over 3 billion views everyday. In May 2011, it was determined that over 48 hours of video were being uploaded every minute and by October 2011, over 20.9 billion videos were watched on YouTube!

Explore YouTube and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from classic commercials...

...to library dominoes...

...to animals with a flare for the dramatic:

In addition to silly videos, YouTube does maintain a list of channels with a focus on more serious topics like news & politics, "howto," child rearing, education, and much more. The PBS NewsHour even maintains their own channel, posting nightly reports from the television broadcast the same night that the show airs. You can even watch movies for free! In case you are worried about discovering objectionable content, YouTube has a Safety Mode to give you more control over what you see. Explore some of these channels, especially the Tulsa Library channel, to see if you find anything interesting.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore YouTube and find a video to embed (add) to an entry in your blog. Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and paste code for the "Embed” option to the right of the video (see screenshot below).

Write about your experience in your blog. What did you like or dislike about YouTube and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or components of YouTube that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

Other popular video hosting sites:
  *blip.tv
  *Yahoo Videos
  *Vimeo
  *Justin.tv
  *Viddler

Estimated time to complete this step: 30 minutes

#21: Podcasts

2010-01-11T14:08:00.002-06:00

Watch Podcasting in Plain English:

The word "podcast" refers to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the podcast is often delivered automatically through RSS.

Podcasts have become so ubiquitous that in 2005, "podcast" was named the Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

Podcasts take many forms, from short commentaries to longer interviews or even panel discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every area of interest and the best part about podcasting is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access or listen to them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular format for audio files, you simply need an Internet-connected computer with headphones or speakers and a media player, such as Windows Media Player, with which to play the file.

iTunes, a free application created by Apple, is the most popular directory finding service most associated with podcasts but if you don’t have iTunes installed, there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to explore some popular podcast directories and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily subscribe to the podcast's RSS feed with your Google Reader account so that when new podcasts become available, you will be notified automatically.

Discovery Resources:

To find out more about podcasts, start with iTunes FAQs: For Podcast Fans.
Here are three of the many podcast directories and search tools that, unlike iTunes, don't require a the download and installation of software:
   * Podcastalley
   * Podcast Directory
   * Yahoo Audio Search
TCCL's holdings on podcasting

Optional: For those who want to learn how to learn create podcasts:
   * How to podcast tutorial
   * iTunes FAQs: For Podcast Makers
   * A Beginner's Guide To Podcasting:

Publish at Scribd

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed above and find a podcast that interests you. Also, find some interesting library-related podcasts like book reviews or general library news.
Add an RSS feed for a podcast to your Google Reader account.
Write a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful? Do you see an application for podcasting at TCCL?

Estimated time to complete this step: 30-40 minutes

#22: Audiobooks & ebooks

2010-01-11T14:07:00.001-06:00

For this discovery exercise, simply familiarize yourself with the OverDrive audiobooks and ebooks to get an idea of the types of titles you can find. Take a look around and locate a few titles of interest.

Discovery Resources:

Review how to borrow digital titles to familiarize yourself with TCCL’s audiobook and ebook download policies.
Watch this video to learn how to download and install Adobe Digital Editions (needed to read ebooks) as well as how to check out, download, read and return an ebook.
View “Download Digital Books & more” to learn:
   a. How to download and install the OverDrive Media Console
   b. How to browse, select and download audiobooks and ebooks
   c. Information about digital rights
   d. Features of the OverDrive Media Console
   e. Information about using portable audio devices and burning titles to CD
Check out TCCL’s ebook and audiobook collection and explore some of the titles.
Create a blog post about your findings. Did you locate a title that you might want download and listen to or read?

OPTIONAL: Follow the instructions in the Guided Tour to install the OverDrive Media Console or Adobe Digital Editions and download a title. FYI, You don’t have to have a portable MP3 player to listen to audiobooks or an ereader to read ebooks. You can simply listen to or read them using a computer. (Please note that this optional step must be done either on a personal laptop inside\outside the library or on a pc outside the library.)

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#23: Twitter

2010-01-11T14:06:00.005-06:00

Watch Twitter in Plain English:

What is Twitter? At its core, Twitter is simply a site where people answer the question, "What are you doing now?" Every time you answer that question in 140 characters or less using Twitter's website, SMS (i.e. text messaging), email, an instant messaging (IM) client or other Twitter client, it posts to your Twitter account. As opposed to a blog, where you can write as much as you want for each entry, Twitter limits you to 140 characters for each post; thus, it is considered a "microblog." Posts, or "tweets," are publicly viewable on the Twitter timeline or can be shared privately among your Twitter followers, i.e. those to whom you have given permission to read your tweets.

Tweets are ideal for making a simple statement or sharing a single piece of information, like a link. Every time you post a new tweet, that message is relayed to all of your followers, published to your personal Twitter home page, and added to the public timeline unless you tell it otherwise. Your tweets can also be posted to your blog or other social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn. In addition, Twitter offers the ability to send private "direct messages" to any of those you follow without that message becoming part of the Twitter public timeline stream.

Want to search for topics currently being discussed on Twitter? You can search Twitter (http://twitter.com/) to see what topics are trending.
Want to share interesting tweets that you have discovered with all of your followers? Simply retweet them.

Twitter has recently added a feature called "Lists." Lists allow you to create a specialized list of Twitter users (or "tweeters") in order to group only their tweets. For example, if you have 100 followers, 27 of whom are family, you could create a family list consisting of only your family's tweets so that you could easily see what your family members are tweeting about. These lists can be public or private. Additionally, you don't have to be following someone to add them to a list. You could create a list of random people, businesses and organizations in Tulsa and group them together in a Tulsa list. More information on lists can be found here.

Discovery Resources

*The Twitter Tutorial
(Click "Full" to enlarge this slideshow.)

*Twitter Help Resources
*TCCL's Twitter holdings
*A cheat sheet for Twitter and tips on how organizations can use Twitter. (Here is a printable cheat sheet.)
*What can Twitter do for my library?
*Twitter for library staff
*The mysterious # sign. What does it mean?!?
*The Pew Internet and American Life Project's Twitter Report

Discovery Exercise

For this discovery exercise, go to Twitter and create an account. Once your account is created, go to our list of TCCL locations that are tweeting and start following some (or all) of the branches. Use the "Find People" link at the top of your Twitter page to search for people, companies or organizations you are interested in following. Post a tweet to let the world know you are tweeting and post your Twitter address to your blog along with your musings as to whether you think you would have a use for Twitter (personally or professionally) or anything else you can think of regarding Twitter.

Those who complete Things 16-23 by the April 14, 2010 prize deadline (Note: This deadline is simply for the prizes & not the deadline for receiving ConEd credit) AND registered your progress on the message boards, you will be entered into the drawings for one of the two $25 gift cards to Amazon or a (refurbished) 4GB flash drive.

To receive your 2 hours of ConEd credit for completing Things 16-23: fill out the Summary of Continuing Education form and submit it to HR.

Estimated time to complete this step: 30-45 minutes

Note: Thanks to the Minnesota Multitype Library Systems for allowing us to modify their content for this entry.

#24: Facebook

2010-01-11T14:05:00.009-06:00

With over 750 million active users posting more than 3.5 billion pieces of content each week, Facebook is the most trafficked social networking site in the world and, based on monthly unique visitors, has been since it overtook MySpace for the title in April 2008. Aside from being the most popular social networking site in several English speaking countries, its residence in pop culture was made evident from a Halloween costume worn by Jim Halpert on the television show "The Office:"

What started as a "Harvard students only need apply" social networking site has evolved into a communication tool whose use has become more common among an older set of users. The 2009 Facebook Demographics & Statistics Report showed a 276% Growth in 35-54 year old users of Facebook! Whether you want to start your own Facebook account or are interested in helping customers with their accounts, follow Jessica Reed’s extraordinary Facebook slideshow below to learn the ins and outs of finding long lost family and friends and communicating easily with people across the country or just across town.

Discovery Exercise:

1. View the slideshows below for instructions on creating your own Facebook page. (Hint: Click "Full" to view the slideshows in fullscreen and navigate through the show using the arrows at the bottom of the slides.)

Facebook, pt. 1

Facebook, pt. 2

2. Watch this video and check out this page or this page for tips on how to set your privacy settings. Include as much information or as little information as you are comfortable with sharing.
3. Once you have created your page, become a fan of the TCCL Facebook page.
4. Write a blog post about your experience creating a Facebook page on how you might or might not see this as a useful tool in your online life and what features you like or don’t like about Facebook.

Discovery Resources:
*TCCL's Facebook holdings
*TCCL's Facebook page
*3 Facebook settings every user should check right now
*The official Facebook Privacy Guide
*Keep up with the newest Facebook changes on the Facebook blog

Estimated time to complete this step: 30-45 minutes

#25: Screencasting

2010-01-11T14:04:00.012-06:00

A screencast is "a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture, often containing audio narration." Screencasts are generally used for instructional purposes.

Watch this screencast, created by our own Melissa Kash-Holley, to learn more about screencasting software. (Note: If you have a problem viewing this screencast, contact IT).

Discovery Resources:
*Watch this video for more screencasting tips
*Lib20 Resources-Screencasting
*Library Success: Online Tutorials

Explore these screencasting alternatives to Camtasia:
*Jing
*ScreenJelly (web-based)
*ScreenToaster (web-based)

Discovery Exercise:

Write a blog entry that answers the following questions:

How could the library use screencasting software?
Could you see screencasting being used internally for staff and externally for customers?
Could you think of uses for screencasting software specifically for your branch?

Estimated time to complete this step: 20-30 minutes

#26: Streaming media

2010-01-11T14:03:00.000-06:00

How would your very own radio or television station, one you could customize to play only the music you like or show only the programs you want to see? You can do all of this using Pandora, Last.fm or Hulu. You can even share your favorite songs\programs with others and find out what your friends are listening to or watching.

Let’s begin with music and Pandora. Pandora announced in December of 2009 that it had 40 million registered, double the size they had at the start of the year, and more than half of these new users are using Pandora on their mobile devices (e.g. iPhone, Blackberry, etc). With Pandora, you can listen to 40 an unlimited number hours of music per month for free (with ads) but must pay to listen ad-free. You can initially listen to music without having to create an account although you have to eventually create one (again, for free) to continue to use the service. At Pandora, you can select a song or artist that you already enjoy. Based on your selection, Pandora will then "create a station" based on your chosen artist and suggest music with similar qualities. You can further customize your station by "liking" a song, "disliking" a song, or adding more artists. You can then share the station you have created (via Twitter, Facebook or email) and listen to stations made by your friends. Underlying the way Pandora customizes your station is The Music Genome Project, a select group "of musicians and music-loving technologists". More information can be found on their frequently asked questions page.

Another choice for customizable, streaming music is Last.fm. While Pandora is only offered in the US, Last.fm is available worldwide. Like Pandora, Last.fm is also a free service but there's no need to create an account in order to use Last.fm although you can choose to sign up for one in order to access to more features. At Last.fm, you will find a smorgasbord of music which Last.fm, based on millions of recommendations, will then “scrobble” for you in order to suggest even more music you might like based on your preferences. Simply type in the name of a favorite artist and you will see a page containing that artist's bio, that artist's "radio" station, i.e. songs from the selected artist and similar artists, as well as a list of “Similar Artists” to populate the radio station. Scroll down to the "Similar Artists" section to find a new artist that you haven’t previously listened to. Click on that artist and then select the “Play Artist Radio” button underneath that artist’s picture to give them a listen. More information on Last.fm may be found on their FAQ page.

Check out both sites to see which one you prefer. This page has a comparison of the two sites and the writer's opinion on which is best, but experiment with both to see which you prefer.

As for video, specifically movies and full episodes of television programs, the most popular site for these full-length features is Hulu. Hulu is visited by over 43 million people per month who watch over 14,000 hours of content. Hulu's content consists mostly of television shows but there is a limited library of full-length movies. Missed last night's episode of The Simpsons, Lost or The Office? You can watch these shows the next day on Hulu for free! You don’t even need to register to watch the episodes although you will need to register to watch some movies. Check out some of the “Popular Clips” from Hulu as well as some of the channels they offer. If you’re feeling ambitious, try to embed one of the clips from Hulu in your blog (this part is for fun and not required).

Discovery Exercise:

Compare Pandora and Last.fm and blog about which one you prefer along with a blurb about a new artist you discovered, maybe even posting a link to this artist's music.
Explore Hulu and blog about what you liked about the site (and disliked, if anything), what you discovered, and anything else you care to write about.

Estimated time to complete this step: 30-40 minutes

#27: Google Maps & mashups

2010-01-11T14:02:00.005-06:00

Google Maps is a map service from Google that allows a user to view basic or custom maps (depending on your location) for a given address or location, to get driving or walking directions, to see satellite images of an address or location, and even get local business contact information. For an introduction to Google Maps, watch this video:

Google Maps is a perfect example of a mashup: "web applications that combine data from more than one source into a single integrated tool." While not exclusive to maps, one of the most common mashups combines data from Google Maps with data other sources, such as real estate listings, photo sites, Wikipedia, and many more.

Discovery Resources:
*Take a look at the library maps on your library’s Locations & Hours page. You can click on the "Satellite" button to zoom in and see an aerial view of your library! Conversely, if you go to Google Maps and enter a library's address, you should be able to see a street level view of that library.
*Check out these sites and videos for more information on using Google Maps in mashups:
*Google Maps Mania
*Google Maps: 100+ Best Tools & Mashups
*100 Things to do with Google Maps Mashups
*Street View on Google Maps:

*Plan your weekend trip with Google Maps:

Explore these other mapping services:
*Bing Maps
*MapQuest
*Yahoo! Maps

*TCCL's Google Maps holdings

Discovery Exercise:
1. Create a map in Google Maps by using the My Maps function. Watch this tutorial to help you get started:

As an example of a map you can create, checkout the map that Tim Spindle created last January that shows the locations of free tax help in Tulsa:

*View Free Tax Help in Tulsa for Tax Year 2010 in a larger map

2. Embed your map in your blog (See the Discovery Exercise in Thing #20 for a refresher on how to embed a video).
3. Blog about the type of map you created as well as whether you found any mashups that interested you and what use(s) you could see for the libary to use a mashup.

Estimated time to complete this step: 35-45 minutes

Note: Thanks to the Minnesota Multitype Library Systems for allowing us to modify their content for this entry.

#28: The end...or just the beginning?!?

2010-01-11T14:01:00.001-06:00

Congratulations! You’ve reached the 28th Thing! If you have completed this journey by the Friday, April 30, 2010 prize deadline (Note: This deadline is simply for the prizes & not the deadline for receiving ConEd credit) AND registered your progress on the message boards, you will be entered into the grand prize drawing for a 1st generation Kindle (a $250 value!).

To receive your 1 hour of ConEd credit for completing Things 24-28: fill out the Summary of Continuing Education form and submit it to HR.

As your last and final exercise for this program, please reflect on your learning journey by completing this survey. In closing, we want to thank you for participating in this program. Our hope is that this learning journey together, as a staff and a system, is just the beginning of great things to come.

If completing this program has given you any ideas about how some of the technologies we have covered could be utilized within the library, head over to the New Technology Committee's site and submit a proposal. We're anxious to hear from you. Thanks again for participating in TCCL's 28 Things!

Estimated time to complete this step: 15-30 minutes