Thing 9 Blogs & Newsgroups

Google blog search and Technorati were both very easy to use to find blogs. I think the problem here is that there is so much great information that it's impossible to manage it all. I really enjoyed looking at some of the award winning blogs, and I really like the post about "Creating your Circle of the Wise" One of the best things about being a librarian is that when I don't know an answer, I'm surrounded by a community that is dedicated to helping me find the answer. It's very powerful!

Thing 8 - RSS Feeds and Readers

I was introduced to RSS Feeds with our Blackboard software. The Google Reader Tool is wonderful with helping to manage the flow of information. I like the idea of any tool that works to help manage new information on the web. Trying to keep up with individual sites by trying to check them regularly is wasted effort. I plan to use this tool as part of my time management for keeping up to date with what's happening in the field of education.

Thing 7 Cool Tools by Google

I liked Cool Tools very much and spent a lot of time exploring I set up a Google alert for Dean Koontz because he is my favorite summer author. I spent time exploring Google scholar and set up my calendar for the year. I posted a document that I created this year to attempt to keep myself focused at TLA. I liked Google Docs, but with our district access to Blackboard, I don't know how much capability Google docs would add with respect to sharing work documents. Though I liked being able to search for others created documents in search of new ideas.

Thing 6 Mashups and 3rd party sites

I learned a lot about Mashups today. Retrievr was very fun, and I really had fun with the flickr api at bughugelabs.com. I'm working from the Ozark mountains today, and had problems with signal strength. I created a movie poster and a trading card that I really liked, but couldn't save them - lost the server right in the middle of the save. I created a mosaic featuring my summer reads.

Thing 5 Flickr

This was very interesting. I used the search feature to find an image with a Creative Commons Attribution License. This was a 1920's fashion photo by in pastel

Thing 3

Setting up the blog and creating my avatar was fun. I had difficulty getting the avatar to post, and it was great to be able to go back to the blog posts and find out how others had gotten it to work.

Thing 2

Of the 7 1/2 Things, I think the most difficult for me is to always see problems as only a challenge. Attitude is everything, and sometimes the first inclination is to see the problem as a barricade rather than a simple diversion.

The easiest thing for me is to be confident in my ability to learn. I can eventually find the source for the information I need from books, technology, or my friends.