Missing Week..hmm..

I just realizied that I think I half typed up a post for week 7 and then got distracted in the middle of it and never posted. Oh well.

Anyways~ Here's a quick recap from that week.

Del.iciou.us is one of the most helpful simple tools that I have discovered during this Play to Learn campaign. It is VERY helpful to be able to find a website while I'm at any computer and bookmark it and then be able reference that bookmark later from another computer. I often come across valuable resources at both home and work that I ususally end up emailing myself the links for, but now I can just bookmark them and they will be available at both sites.

Technorati was an interesting site. I searched a lot of various topics and found lots of great information from a wide variety of blogs. I even found references to some of the blog posts that I had made in my personal blogs because a few of my friends list their blogs on Techonorati.

Both of these tools are very valuable for being able to search for, and reference a whole host of ideas and links to information available on the world wide web. This all equates to blend into the idea of Library 2.0. Libraries are evolving and the world wide web is going to be a large part of this evolution. It is a wonderful tool and all librarians should really take the time to find out how they can best use it to their benefits.

Okay~ I think that about covers my lost post. Or at least I hope it does...

The End~

Wow, we've reached the end of the program. It's hard to believe that it's been ten weeks of Playing to Learn. I really enjoyed being able to take the time to sit back and go through some of the many resources that are available to us online. I only wish that there was a little more time for me to explore some of them.

I'm not sure if I actually had a favorite exercise. I really enjoyed the fact that I pretty much found at least one new website or resource that I hadn't seen before each week. I especially enjoyed learning about RSS feeds. I had heard of them, but was not really familiar with them. It was fun to finally figure out what they were and play with them some.

I do believe that this has help expand on my life long goals. I have a lot more tools for my toolbox now, and am equipped with the basic knowledge on how to use them. Now I just have to take the time to go back and explore some of the programs on my own so that I can learn them further. After all my life long quest is for knowledge of all kinds. :D

I will take away with me a lot of valuable and fun websites. I can't count how many links to websites I emailed myself to check out later. That was before I figured out how to use delicious to bookmark them from here so that I can look at them at home later. Yay for useful tools.

The only way to improve this program would be to maybe expand it a little so that there is a little more time each week to look at all the various resources available. It was sometimes difficult to carve out enough time in my day (even just once a week) to go through everything that was listed. It was an enjoyable experience though.

I would definitely choose to participate in any future programs like this. After all, I really do enjoy learning and writing about what I learn. It was a lot of fun and an enlightening experience, even for someone like me who has a lot of web experience.

Thank you for the oppertunity for this~ I really enjoyed the experience, and will be using a lot of what I learned for a long time to come.

I love youtube. I spend a lot of time on that and veoh in the evenings watching videos and Asian dramas/movies.

Here is a video that really makes me laugh. These gentlemen are inside of a library in Japan, and are trying to be quiet while all these things take place. Can you imagine someone doing this in one of our libraries? I love Japanese game shows...



Plus, because music is such a big part of my life and I really love this new video- I decided to use one of the other video sites I frequent to include the video for it. Yes, it's in Japanese. The artists are TVXQ (famous Korean/Japanese band) and Koda Kumi (Japanese pop artist)


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Here is a link to a podcast that I listened to on Japanese music. link here

I've taken the time to look through our Download Library, but I have had yet to download anything. I think that I would really like to listen to one of the Dr. Who books that they have narrated because it is read by one of the actors on the show. :D I will do it when I have a little more time, but I really think that our Downloadable Library is a wonderful feature. Personally, I'd rather read a book, but for those who are interested in listening to books on cd and audio players, it's truly a wonderful resource.

Week 9 ~ Applications and Web Awards

I actually didn't really know that there were web applications out there. Now, it doesn't really surprise me that they are there, but it's a really good thing. This actually comes in handy for me, because I just had a friend who got a new computer that doesn't have all the office applications on it. Now I can let him know that he can still open and access all his old documents using one of these sites.

Web Awards~
Many of these I'm familiar with, or have learned about through this Play for Fun session. I took this time to play a little bit more with Last.fm, which allows you to pick an artist that you like and listen to music that is similar in style to that. It looks like it also has the capabilities to keep track of what you listen to, and will begin to play music for you based on your choices. I was really surprised to see that it contained a full selection of Asian music, which is a lot of what I listen to.

I also took a look at The Broth- which is a Visual Arts nominee and allows you draw or post things that you have drawn online. It also has chat capabilites so that you can talk with your friends as you draw, or about what you are looking at.

Color Blender is a handy tool that lets you mix colors together to create a color palatte and then gives you the html code for it. This will be handy for me to use on my various websites and also in my novice attempts at icon making.

Finally I looked at the three video programs they had. I'm very familiar with youtube and use it all the time. In my opinion it is one of the best video websites out there. Daily Motion was a good site, with lots of videos available. Not quite as many as Youtube, but still a good selection. The last choice Metacafe didn't have many video selections at all, or maybe it just didn't have many of the things I chose to search for. :s

Once again, it was a week full of new and fun tools on the internet. :D

The world of the wiki...

The wonderful world of the wiki...

I spend a lot of time using wikipedia. I understand that it's not infallable and is easy to change and such, but it's a GREAT source for finding up to date information about a variety of things. If you need a quick reference as a starting point for looking up further information, wiki's are great tools. For instance if you want to know more about an actor who plays a certain role in a movie but don't know his name, you can search for the movie and most likely find information on that as well as the actor you are looking for. Then you can go and do a more formal search on other databases.

I think that this is an excellent tool for a librarian. I used it just last week to look up information on where a certain horse race was run. The patron was looking for information on how the site of the horserace looked because he was going to use it in an upcoming book that he was writing. He wasn't sure of the name, so I used wikipedia and was able to find out the information for him, so that we could go online and search for the location.

This was my first foray into editing a wiki though.. I do have to say it kind of made me feel important. Trivial but amusing. =D

My Space wasn't my first forray into the world of social networking. I actually started my online social networking experience years ago when I was in high school, before the WWW. I joined several local dial-up BBS's. I guess I've been into online social networking for years. I have had a myspace for a year and a half now and also have over 15 other social network profiles and such. It's nice having a myspace because I can connect with my Young Adult patrons this way. A lot of them have added me to their friends list, and think it's very cool that a Librarian has a myspace. I also have a lot of teen friends from when I was teaching. It's a good way to connect with them.

Tom is a Libra by the way. I don't have him on my friends list, so I had to go and look him up. =D

The game.. oh my. I stink at pool in real life and am even worse online. I'm better at games like pop it and such. My score was a 3 before I gave in and quit. Yes, I quit. I'm just not much of a pool player. Oh well.

Whhheeee.... I love generators. They can be totally addicting. I amused myself way too easily at the Generator Blog. My screenname should be mouldydragon by the way? >_> I don't even want to know. XD

I also had fun with the picasso- word generator. I know from my own experience that I can have too much fun with these generators (the things you do at night when you can't sleep). I sent myself the links to the various image generators and such, so that I can play with them and post some of the goodies in my personal online journals. ^_^V

I liked the Library Thing website. It looks like it could be a lot of fun. I would like to sit down and play with it at home some, so that I don't feel quite so guilty sitting here at my desk playing.

I wonder if this feeling that I should be doing something different with my time will ever go away...

Okay and now for my altered image. Just a little graffiti. Michan HWAITING! Hwaiting being the Korean equavalent for Good luck or Way to go...except you can use it for yourself as well. Anyways. ...♥♥♥ My IMAGE! ♥♥♥♥

>...sometimes I think I'm too easily amused. >_<

Behind... Week 4 >_<

Oh my goodness am I behind. I'm back on week four still. I guess that just means that I've been busy working. It is hard to find time some weeks to get to this. >_> But, still. I shall do my best to catch up.

Okay, RSS Feeds. I joined blogger and did some exploring. However, the wonderful email confirmation system did not want to work for me, so I couldn't actually ADD any RSS feeds. I thinks its a wonderful idea, and I really like that you can check already known social network sites easily and in one place. I have a lot of friends who blog at various sites, and to be able to check them all in one place sure would be handy.

Now if only that email thing would work... I swear I'm not noramlly technically challenged. I'm not sure why it doesn't like me today. I'll probably get the email or something tomorrow. Whee?

Okay, Off to the next lesson. =D

~Amy

Flickr

I have spent a lot of time on photosharing websites. I LOVE pictures and spend a lot of time browsing through them. I like flickr, and did create an account there for this blog, however I still prefer to use photobucket for the majority of my photo storage and sharing needs. For me, photobucket is much friendlier for inserting images onto webpages and creativing avatars and such (all things that I do on a regular basis). It allows you to easily upload pictures from any url or your computer and has a one click copy feature that I use all the time when sharing large amounts of pictures on my websites. I posted here two pictures I took a while back of a Harry Potter display I put up in our library.

The 71/2 Habits of Life Long Learners...

I've always considered myself to be a life long learner. One of the things that I enjoy most in life is learning. It seems to me that the more I know, the more I long to know (and the more I find out I have left TO learn).

I've never really thought about there being actual steps or habits to becoming a life long learner, so I found it very interesting to sit down and listen to the descriptions of one.. to descriptions of myself in a lot of aspects.

Of the seven habits the ones that I found easiest were steps three through seven and a half.

Step 3
I long ago learned that all obstacles that come my way are merely steps in my life, all the things that I come up against shape me and help me become who I am. I attempt to view most things as learning opportunities, as with all people I have my share of moans and groans, but on the other side of a problem, it's wonderful to see how I've grown or what I've learned.

Step 4
I was taught early on to have confidence in myself and my abilities. There is little in life I won't try, and I rarely give up (some might label me as stubborn). I have lots of dreams and continue to plod along at them even though they may seem a little overwhelming from my current vantage point (ie- learning four languages before I die).

Step 5
My environment is a constant influx of learning materials. I love books, people, traveling and the Internet. I surround myself with other people who share my desire for learning and use them as part of my learning toolbox as well. Learning is a joy to me, so I find it easy to stick things in my learning toolbox.

Step 6
This is probably the easiest goal for me. I love technology and all that it allows you to do. I already have several personal online blogs and writing journals. I have created a network of online friends from around the globe, from California and Canada to Japan and Singapore. They almost all share my desire to learn and grow, and we are always connecting and sharing our resources. In this quickly growing technological world, there will always be something new to learn, but I enjoy attempting to stay connected and current.

Step 7
For me it is natural to want to teach and/or share my love of learning with others. I do this both consciously when I sit down and helps students and patrons who come in for advice or help, and unconsciously when I sit down and chat with someone for hours about the things that I have learned in life, and have yet to learn.

Step 7 1/2
Play! This is never a hardship. I can easily get lost online, in a library or just wandering a city. I love to observe, watch and learn. Sometimes (like now even) I may feel a little guilty about spending time figuring things out that are fun for me, but I know that in the long run it is worth it when the skill is gained and a sense of accomplishment felt.

The two of the skills that are the hardest for me would be beginning with the end in mind and accepting responsiblity for my own learning. I create goals, but I usually have a vague sense of where I want to go with them. I usually don't set good time tables, and often allow things to distract me or deter me from my goals. While these things are often learning adventures in themselves, they may leave the first goal unfinished. Which touches on the second habit, accept responsibility for your own learning. I know that I am responsible for my learning, but there will always be a little side of me that wishes that all the vast wonders of the world will come flying through the air and implant themselves upon my brain without all the effort on my part. I am currently trying to learn Japanese and Spanish, but have been having trouble forcing myself to sit down and actually focus on say, one lesson a week in each language. Instead I prefer attempting to learn through experiences and interactions with other people. This method of learning will eventually work, but the knowledge will come at a much slower pace than if I sat down and studied.

Well, it looks like I have done a good job of rambling on and on in my first blog here, but I hope that all who read this will gain a small insight into the things that I find interesting and challenging about being a life long learner.

Until next time~
Amy Hilliard (Dunbar Library)

For the curious- a side note on my user name Michan. It is derived from the later part of my given name Amy (mi) and the Japanese honorific chan (there are several honorifics or titles used with names in Japan, chan is a word that you would add to a young person, or someone - often female- you are very familiar with). It was a nickname given to me ages ago online and has somehow stuck as my online persona.