Sylvester's 23 antics...

Provide us with feedback (Sylvester's antics conclude)...

2008-09-11T01:44:00.001-07:00

I think that there should have been much more genuine user/ participant interaction during the course of the learning program. By that I mean that observations and comments related to the blogs and posts which others have prepared, are really important. I have had the good fortune/ positive opportunity to glance through the different blogs recently. Amongst many fleeting thoughts, I have found the following:

Amy's post and find related to echcho was really positive;
Conan the Oz Librarian's "Warning - dangerously boring blog contents" generated image was great and made me laugh;
Laraine's image of the Impey boat in the UK was a nice touch. So too were the more useful tools that she referred for blog readers;
Emma's purple trees and chosen colours for her blog, reminded me of jacaranda season in the northern NSW town of Grafton;
Frances' sparkling custom glitter text was lovely!
KD's blog inclusion of the mountain imagery with clouds and eastern prayer flags were pleasantly spiritually inclined;
The overriding theme and unique "out of this universe" feel for The Librarian's Guide to the Galaxy blog was great;
Marg's black board: A creative blog name and the Difficult Library Customer You Tube video was fun, with Cookie Monster as the Sesame Street proponent.
The best thing I identified on any of the blog posts for the duration of 23 Things was the Charles Leadbeater You Tube clip called "We Think", which was included in Michiem's blog. It is absolutely brilliant causing much thought and consideration. See the following URL for background information to the video and book: http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/home.aspx. I also liked the variety of Flickr images and the imported book cover images, despite Michelle having hiccups with technology.
The Novel lover's black and white image of little Colin was very cute indeed!
Neolithic images of an automated catalogue and new document copier were fabulous on the Modern Librarian blog. I'm glad the technology was around before my time in the industry!
The quote included on the My learning blog web page "Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere" is really relevant and pleasant too. Charles' gallivanting and sharing of the experiences on Odyssey 2008 is also very interesting for the armchair traveller.
The blog name Daggy Diva's tearoom was delightful.
Finally, the post on Terri's top blog which included an image of Thing from the Addams Family asserted that she would like to forget the Library 2.0 term itself because it reminds her of study. Her post and overall consideration of 23 Things was most interesting.

Well done to everyone who took the time to create a blog. Even those whom didn't receive a specific comment from me. I loved the way in which blogs and posts reflected the diverse personalities and backgrounds of Chisholm Library professionals. Congratulations to Jason for rolling out the 23 Things project. Also, best wishes to him for the pilot project in the broader Chisholm organisation.

How could you draw on what you have learned in 23 Things to help you in your work?
Subscriptions to blogs and exploitation of RSS feed technology will continue. This should assist with professional networking, knowledge of industry best practice; and other information services.

How could the library use the technologies featured in 23 Things to improve its service?
With planning and research the introduction of wikis and blogs could occur on the library pages, or be affiliated with the on-line catalogue. A series of educational podcasts and vodcasts could also be established. I'm not sure that social networking tools, Google docs, maps etc. have real value added relevance to the suite of services already provided. I'm open to some convincing though.

Do you think you’ll keep blogging; or keep using any of the other tools you learned about?
Fortunately I already utilise some of the tools on a regular basis. However, I hadn't previously extended my browser to its fullest capacity. Also, I hadn't utilised Firefox. Now I'm a convert, particularly of morning coffee. Blogs, social networking sites and Google products will continue to be at the fore, for me.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I now love Flickr. It's my favoured procrastination tool! I suppose it is a take-away. There were not any unexpected program outcomes.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I have dug around to familiarise myself with other 23 Things programs. The brevity of instructions included in some of the programs was not a positive attribute. The program borrowed and adapted by Jason for the Chisholm Library team has a reasonable degree of instruction, as well as framed questions for review and reflection. Perhaps fewer things could be tackled on a weekly basis. Though, some have obviously embraced the concept of independent learning at one's own pace.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
I have thoroughly enjoyed the 23 Things program. As a genuine advocate of lifelong learning and continuous improvement I would readily participate in future discovery programs of this type. After all, I'm putting my hand up for a PhD during the next twelve months. I can concentrate on long-winded writing for it, instead of boring you with my much too long posts! Yippeee!

Read about Library 2.0...

2008-09-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

It's not all fun and a simple...
The library 2.0 movement strikes me as being a sensible transition and further embracement of contemporary Information Technology tools, as well as attitudes. I like the terminology included in the literature which describes Library 2.0 as being in a state of "perpetual beta" because it is constantly being tested, as well as altered.

I appreciate and embrace the notion that "the active and empowered library user is a significant component of Library 2.0" by co-creating, building, consulting and participating. Collaboration in its truest sense! I'm also amenable to ideas that "library services have the ability to evolve and improve on a constant and rapid basis [using Library 2.0]".

As with all IT and information literacy in contemporary times, access to technology, as well as matters related to privacy and security require ongoing review and consideration. As with some critics, I also offer constructive criticism, by cautioning against introducing change and technologies, simply for the sake of change. It's important to pro-actively conduct preliminary analysis and feasibility assessments, to consider the perceived value of services; and to establish strategic action plans related to technology innovation.

It's becoming more challenging, but I like the continual efforts to aggregate data; and recent customer involvement in this process. A final observation, despite all of the advances, it's perhaps reassuring for industry professionals that the "emphasis on the library as keeper [and organiser] of reliable information will [certainly] prevail".

Create an iGoogle home page...

2008-09-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

I created an iGoogle home page and suitably customised it with gadgets like map search and book search. I became carried away by adding the To do and sticky notes gadgets also. Everything was very easy, involving just a few clicks with the mouse button...

Enjoyable elements of personalising the site related to relocating the default inclusions, or closing them all together (e.g. latest YouTube videos). I deliberated over the theme for my page with such a vast array of options, for a length of time. Depending on one's mood, you might make a very different decision related to theme adoption. I think too that themes should be a reflection of your personality. So, I adopted differing themes for each of my interest area tabs. The theme I use for the main home tab is brightly coloured and stripy (as shown above).

When selecting areas of interest, the default inclusions are varied and relevant. I included business, sports, politics, film and books out of curiosity. Typically the headlines and other bits are from the US, or UK. However, some of my content is spanish. Fortunately my other half is proficient; and I have some grasp of the beautiful language.

Do you like iGoogle?
iGoogle is fun. I enjoy it for play, I'm not sure that I would access it on a daily basis as part of my recurrent online recreation, work, or continuous learning pursuits.

What improvements would you suggest to iGoogle?
I consider that the iGoogle function is designed to cleverly integrate and promote alternate Google products by way of customised, at-a-glance access. I don't like deliberate endeavors which aim to ensure exclusive use of the Google search engine, like prominently locating the search box at the front, top, centre of screen. I can't identify any specific improvements for iGoogle. My preference would be for a generic site that can be customised just as quickly and that I can adapt with a variety of non-Google products.

Would you like to work at Google?
This is a strange question indeed. I'm not sure what it has to do with Library 2.0, or 23 things... I have no desire to be located on the west coast of the USA, in Mountain View at the Googleplex Headquarters; or Silicon Valley, for that matter. We do have some friends (an English girl and an Irish guy) that live in a really pleasant gated estate golf course precinct outside of San Francisco. Leah is employed with Chevron Texaco, as a geologist. It's nice, but there is a constant risk of earthquakes. I'm more than happy to be gainfully employed in Australia!

Other themes I like include the following:

Play with Google book search...

2008-09-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

I really like Google book search. I have readily made use of electronic books (e-books) for some time now. They have been prevalent in my life for both study and recreational purposes.

However, I remember in some of my former professional workplaces there was much debate about the Bed, Beach and Bath test i.e. that e-book readers and other electronic devices are inadequate for use in bed, on the beach or during a soak in the tub! Also, some people are partial to the tactile feel of turning pages, the weight of differing tomes, the use of a variety of aesthetically appealing bookmarks with sentimental value, as well as (believe it or not) the varying smells associated with traditional books.

Further, sharing conventional books is nice with friends. So too, having conventional books on hand with dog-eared pages at book club conversation sessions, is preferable for most people. I haven't seen e-books catch on in those contexts.

I like to curl up with a good book in a hammock, or on the lounge. When I have done so with e-books and readers I have had to remain aware of battery life spans and the dreaded hibernation mode!

In short however, I think that Google book search is a good idea. It's particularly useful for items in the public domain, for which copyright has expired; and works for which the publisher/ author have intentionally released privileges.

I love the ability to search in-text (full text searching), for academic purposes. I sometimes find moving between pages to be a bit cumbersome though. The buy this book (with a range of online supplier details) and borrow this book (with links to libraries) are also positive inclusions on the Google book search site. I like the add to my library and the review options.

Alternatively, I don't like the sponsored links / promotional information which invariably distracts viewers from the content pages of the e-book, in the Google reader layout (though full page view can easily overcome this hiccup). Of course too, I dislike the inability to print a couple of pages from the preview mode (particularly if a specific topic, or quote has attracted one's interest).

The About this book information is extremely comprehensive and useful... Some inclusions are the popular passages (extracts from the full text); references from web pages, and references from scholarly works (where the publication has been referred to elsewhere); hyper-linked key terms; and places mentioned in this book mapping function (physical geographical locations) are all positive for either learning and research, or novelty value.

Play with Google docs...

2008-09-02T22:38:00.001-07:00

Several years ago my other half and I rented out our home to live frugally from the income, spending more than twelve months gallivanting around several continents, with our backpacks. In Munich an IT savvy friend suggested that we sign up to a free on-line German product for posting our documents and selectively sharing them with others. I have no idea what the product was called and it had a convoluted URL which looked very foreign. However, it was wonderful... We scanned important documents (e.g. wills, passports) and allocated access privileges to others in the southern hemisphere, in case something untoward occurred to us.

When we arrived home more than a year an a half later, we continued to use the product for our documents; and we continued to permit a chosen few to access certain documents there. Use of the product eventually fell to the wayside. Google docs is exactly the same concept.

As requested for Thing 19, I created a document and a spreadsheet. Without difficulty I was able download the documents in differing formats, e.g. RTF and PDF. I was also readily able to export the documents.

Positive attributes of Google Docs include the Revision history information. I love this in the context of preparing comprehensive workplace documents, or teaching notes; and wanting a record of all the revisions, not just the most recent. I also really appreciate the facility which permits the uploading of documents like .ppt presentations up to 10MB in size! When wanting to share bulky documents by conventional e-mail, unfortunately internal and external mail servers sometimes delay or block the distribution. By adopting Google Docs as an information sharing tool, everyone can gain access to the document in question, irrespective of its size.

Play with Google maps...

2008-09-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

The cartoon is compliments of:
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/erp/article.php/11072_3693956_5

The You Tube video which promotes Google maps is extremely cheesy! I have friends whom are advocates of other Google products like G-mail and Google docs. I try to avoid Google as a search engine and I constantly suggest to others that there are a variety search engines, as well as directory alternatives.

It's interesting that just today (September 2) an article in The Age, New Google browser muscles in on Microsoft declared that Google is spreading its wings in an effort to attain a greater IT market share. The new free browser called Chrome will be available for download in more than one hundred nations and it will function on Microsoft's Windows operating system.

I get some pleasure from Google maps. However, I have really enjoyed monitoring controversy related to the Australian launch of the street view mapping tool. The function became available in early August 2008 and permits "people [to] explore the country at ground level for the first time with little more than a computer and an internet connection". Google has introduced the positive step of obscuring vehicle number plates and the faces of people. Potentially invasive images can also be reported directly to Google. Privacy activists are still up in arms though. Very early on, the visible imagery in Australia revealed a lying neighbour, identified a cheating spouse; and snapped a man sleeping on the job!

My first preference with regard to on-line mapping tools is Travel Mate's map maker: http://www.travelmate.com.au/MapMaker/MapMaker.asp However, this is powered by Google maps too! Travel mate provides really concise directions, distances between two points of interest; and other information, similarly to Google. I'll probably intermittently utilise Google too.

Explore social networking...

2008-08-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

I am not very familiar with MySpace (i.e. I don't have an account with them). Alternatively, I have had a Facebook account for as long as I can remember...

It's absolutely imperative that my other half and I have an on-line account: Having attended several primary and secondary schools in different states; having friendships with people from various tertiary and vocational courses; having friends and family that live abroad; as well as having networks with characters from a variety of sporting and recreational circles allows us to all keep in touch, using a convenient one-stop forum.

Facebook is indicative of a truly virtual world for those of us whom like to regularly communicate with people from abroad, breaking down geographical and national boundaries. We frequently chat, convey personal news, display images, make enquiries of others and schedule real-time, personal get-togethers with our Facebook friends. Many of our friends really enjoy posting interesting brief sentences to convey information about "what they are doing now" and it's a fun tool. Another popular Facebook feature is tagging (notifying people) that they have been included in digital images posted on the site.

I have to admit that some friends become carried away with different groups, or causes and inviting (coercing and making others feel obliged) to take up the plight, donate or partake too, by becoming the member of something, donating money, or doing some act or other. Other friends become very preoccupied with giving electronic gifts like good karma, gnomes and teddy bears... Some are inclined to join fan clubs of people and movements in droves too, which I perceive as involving some peer group pressure, or fear of missing out mentality.

Some of my professional colleagues have formerly been concerned about Facebook's function as a data gathering tool, Facebook also collects information about you from other sources, such as newspapers and instant messaging services. This information is gathered regardless of your use of the Web Site. I consider that like all things in life, Facebook should be used in moderation and personal evaluative criteria should be applied before readily disclosing personal information. Common sense and caution should prevail.

Alternatively, I don't believe that social networking sites have much merit in the workplace at all. Recent reports have even declared that Facebook could be a five billion dollar waste of time in Australian workplaces. I think that it is more appropriate for customised communication and information sharing tools to be established in-house with suitable branding, layout and restrictions, in the interests of professionalism, propelling codes of conduct and exemplary corporate images.

Several months ago I read a scathing report related to Facebook in The Age newspaper. I was able to find the report online today: http://www.theage.com.au/news/general/beware-facebook/2008/01/18/1200620184398.html Hodgkinson has nothing but disparaging remarks to make about the way Facebook currently operates, the way it has grown so rapidly; and the (potentially untoward) motives which the co-founders and board members have. I particularly love Hodgkinson's quote, "Facebook is profoundly uncreative. It makes nothing at all. It simply mediates in relationships that were happening anyway". I agree with Hodgkinson to some extend, but for those of us whom can be nostalgic, I can attest that Facebook is a great directory for rekindling old friendships.

Jason's link to the resource titled Prediction: Facebook will be the largest social network in the world, as part of Thing number 17 is very relevant. Allen's prophecy was posted on his site during May 2007. An article from August 14 of this year with data provided by analyst organisation comScore declares that "Facebook has dethroned MySpace to become the world's most popular social networking website"; and "social network users grew... [across the board amongst all on-line providers], globally to 580.51 million people". In June 2008 alone, Facebook attracted 132.1 million unique visitors.

Irrespective of all the banter and some detractors surrounding Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is to be commended as an entrepreneurial member of the Y generation! I wish that I was one of his Harvard colleagues responsible for the original inception and roll out of the idea. Zuckerberg has successfully capitalised on IT tools that are appealing to his generation and some older folk (like myself) too!

Investigate YouTube...

2008-07-31T00:10:00.000-07:00

YouTube strikes me as providing many more television channel options; and play on demand movies! I have many friends whom spend much time trawling for great footage and stories.

I personally enjoy a short two and a half minute clip which has been heavily promoted recently. The clip relates to Christian the lion... He was originally sold from the exclusive London department store, Harrods. When he grew too large for a London flat, he was shipped to Africa. The human owners went to visit the lion one year later... The clip is called Christian the lion Reunion.

The video is located at the following URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWtRYaxmWM

The potential bond between man and beast is ever so close!

Also, I was most impressed by the University of Illinois library dominoes clip. It was fabulous to read about the time and energy it took to prepare the clip too - four takes and more than four hours for a couple of seconds of fabulous viewing!

Play with Flickr...

2008-07-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

Flickr espouses itself as being "the best online photo management and sharing application in the world", this is a bold claim indeed!

It was great fun to look at the Australia tag of most recent listings. It was even better to look at those which fell into the most interesting category.

Digital camera technology is absolutely fabulous... During my first overseas undertaking I had a plain old box brownie, well not quite, but it was a compact camera which seemed to eat 24 and 36 exposure film! Now on each overseas pursuit I religiously take a very mini digital camera and my heavy Canon EOS 20D which my other half imported from the USA, before they were available in Australia. It was a present for a significant birthday and is worth much more than many people pay for their first car, so I felt very spoiled; and now I seem to collect different lenses for it.

So, after that rambling, it's evident that I'm a convert to any form of digital imagery creation, sharing and manipulation (the crop, fix, edit and "make stuff" options in Flickr definitely help to get the creative juices and imagination going).

I couldn't believe that account subscribers have the discretion to add up to seventy-five tags to each photo, or video on Flickr. Subsequently, an inordinate duration of time could be spent allocating tags.

The "organiz" (deliberately without the e) option of linking images to maps and exploring by place also adds an extra dimension to the story behind images.

I particularly liked the Interesting - Last seven days images. Though, I was inevitably disappointed when wonderful shots were unaccompanied (i.e. without any explanation, or title to provide some context).

Additionally, The Commons has the objective to display "hidden treasures [from] the world's public photography archives". It's also designed to provide a way for the general public to contribute information and knowledge. The project only commenced at the beginning of 2008 and I think that it is absolutely wonderful.

It was also fabulous to make use of the PicLens add-on which permits both full-screen and 3D viewing of online photos and videos. When used in conjunction with amazing historical images from The Commons project, it's a truly satisfying experience. Visit http://www.cooliris.com/ to find out more information and access the add-on. I'm thankful that I did!

Finally, I learnt that there is an interesting photography initiative known as the One hundred strangers Project, available for anyone to partake: http://www.100strangers.com/ It is described as a Flickr group dedicated to taking street portraits. One of its predominant objectives is to inspire participants to practice taking portraits of people not personally known to them.

It was much too challenging for me to select just one Flickr image that I found interesting... Watch this space and I'll post a link to an image soon.

Now I look forward to creating a Flickr account, uploading some images to the site; tagging them in my blog and making them public also...

Tame technorati...

2008-07-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

It's important to admit that I'm not a great, big fan of technorati... The site design struck me as being repetitive with different names for multiple tabs/tools that tend to do the same thing; and technorati is also somewhat ad-hoc in it's layout...

I was able to utilise the Quick Claim option to link and identify my personal Sylvester's 23 antics blog and that occurred in a straight forward fashion.

The search results did not vary significantly between blog posts and blog directory findings: 747 results were displayed with the same high priority listings.

Locating the tag searching option was initially quite challenging and required concerted hunting around the site. The search results in that instance were somewhat different: Tame the web blog listings contributed by mstephens7 dominated the results. It all took me back to the good old days of post-graduate Information Systems studies when recall and precision were analysed closely.

The Top 100 blogs and Blogger Central were of some interest, but promoted blogs consistently seemed to be of either a frivolous, egotistical nature; or targeted towards a niche audience. That might seem too critical, but despite my persistent search efforts, those were my findings.

Taming of technorati was not successfully accomplished by Sylvester the cat!

Discover Delicious...

2008-07-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have had the opportunity to peruse the Delicious site. Additionally, I have also added the button which permits viewing and searching of saved pages.

I'm particularly looking forward to creating bundles and tags when there are a large quantity of sites included on my personalised delicious page.

The notion of having a batch of bookmarks available from any PC workstation is great! It has particular merit if an individual makes a work contribution at a different campus; if one embarks on an international jaunt (e.g. different flight, accommodation and tour providers can be included so that the next leg of a journey can be prepared with stand-by and last minute fares, in the interests of saving pennies); or if one seeks to share web pages of potential broader interest, with other individuals. My better half is sure to be a convert too.

Explore library thing...

2008-07-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

I was able to explore LibraryThing, create an account and add/import several titles to my profile, without incident.

The list view option in the My Library tab was more interesting than the Covers view because it provided much more information; and provided extensive navigational pathways.

It was fascinating to read that in excess of 28,000,000 titles are included and cross referenced on the database. Additionally, the recommendations tab is probably really useful when a member has a reasonable number of items listed in their respective libraries.

The local LibraryThing tab has some opportunity for improvement. The concept is really positive but it defaults to Boston, Massachusetts. The profile page does not permit an individual to alter the location either.

My preliminary list of book titles is visible at the following URL: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Sylvestercat

Play with an image generator...

2008-07-07T23:01:00.001-07:00

It was fun to look at some of the various image generator options; and to select an individual template to post on the blog. This is provided compliments of Image Chef (www.imagechef.com), it is aptly called "Surfs up" and it permits you to write your own message in the sand.

Just a tip, less characters results in better visual clarity. This message states "Sylvester enjoys the beach".

Edit a wiki...

2008-07-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Thing 10: Edit a wiki, constituted thoroughly enjoyable tasks. It was great to ponder my favourite things, to post them on the Chis23t Wiki; and to add my blog to the favourites blog page.

I suspect that my favourite things list (and the accompanying list on the wiki) will grow with time...

It was also really enjoyable to read about the favourite things of other individuals!

Read about wikis...

2008-07-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

I love the egalitarian intention of Wikis; and that "wiki wiki" means quick or something fast, in the Hawaiian tongue! The notion reminds me of a collaborative mind mapping (of sorts).

Despite creator Ward Cunningham's objective for Wikis not being for casual users; and seeking to "involve visitors in ongoing creation... that constantly changes the web site landscape", I admit that I am a sidelines casual visitor, completely having been voluntarily removed from actively changing the web's topography.

I have been a genuine advocate of the Wikipedia for some time now, though I also admit that I hadn't readily considered the maintenance structure, ongoing evolutionary process and development of the material contained therein.

The library Wikis I explored included:

Library Success - The best practice wiki. I found the breadth of topics and depth of content to be really worthwhile for assisting innovative attitudes and continuous improvement pursuits in library environs. However, I would have appreciated some additional Oceanic content.

Book Lovers wiki - I really enjoyed looking through the reviews and recommended reading lists. It was really unimpressive to view a large quantity of spelling and grammatical errors. This occurred in a dual fashion because the site is library based and library personnel have an obligation to retain certain language standards. It was also unsatisfactory because the wiki is published online. I suppose this oversight is a potential shortcoming of wikis, which can be taken for granted.

Further, there is an interesting article in the July 8, 2008 edition of The Age, "The Aussie who's changing the world of whistleblowers", written by Asher Moses. The article is fascinating for those interested in commercial, as well as public sector transparency and accountability. Wikileaks (http://wikileaks.org) was established by Australian Julian Assange. The site publishes and comments on leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct, by anonymously publishing submissions and leaks of sensitive religious, corporate and government documents. Assange purports that documents posted on the site about widespread corruption of the former Kenyan leader Daniel Arap Moi, led to a significant swing in the African nation's most recent presidential election. If this is an example of what Wikis can achieve, it is truly amazing!

Explore podcasts and vodcasts...

2008-07-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Thing 8 related to podcasts and vodcasts was interesting.

I was disappointed that the Institute denies access to the Podshow web page. However, some worthwhile audio files were identified from exploring Aunty ABC.

It was also an uncomplicated process to subscribe to feeds.

Comment on a blog post...

2008-05-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

I read the thing 7 resource 10 techniques to get more comments on your blog and I came across the interesting statistic and definition that "Jakob Nielsen’s latest study finds that 90% of online community users are lurkers (read or observe without contributing)". Are you all lurkers out there?

Part of my obligations related to completing thing 7 are to write about my experiences contributing to discussions on other blogs and having people comment on my blog. I can only provide feedback related to the former because my comments remain an unfortunate cyberspace wasteland, without any contributions.

I have also read that I should be humble, be gracious and make it easy to leave comments, be open ended and set boundaries, amongst other things. So here goes...

1. Invite comments - You are more than welcome to leave a comment on Sylvester's 23 antics blog. In fact it would be very much appreciated;
2. Ask questions - Could you please leave a comment on Sylvester's 23 antics blog?
3. Interact with comments left - Sylvester promises to respond to all comments in a polite, engaging and prompt fashion.

My experience contributing comments to posts on other blogs has been straight forward. Thinking of something witty, entertaining and worthwhile to type has been more challenging!

Thanking you in anticipation... Sylvester the cat whom aspires to be humble and gracious!

Create an RSS reader account...

2008-05-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

Not much to this -
I did as was requested of me and created an RSS reader account using the Bloglines option. Since then I have been playing, speed reading through varied subject areas of feeds; adding, deleting, as well as modifying bits and pieces.

Thing 6: Subscribe to blogs led me to add many random; and objectively selected feeds. I had a little hurdle to import Jason's OPML computer readable list of feeds, but when that was accomplished there was no looking back. I now peruse all of the Library folders and readily look out for the orange symbol (or similar icons) when I have found a new web page with potentially interesting feeds.

An interesting blog...

2008-05-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

Take a moment to have a look at a blog which I perused during the weekend...

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2243509.htm

The ABC Unleashed blog describes itself as "present[ing] diverse and robust opinion about politics, society, belief and behaviour".

The post related to the greeting "How are you?" (including its genuine meaning and disputed aptness during busy, contemporary times). It generated lively comments and extensive banter.

Many of us routinely state "How are you?" when we assist students and other library users, I wonder if the gesture causes angst for many individuals?

Plugins & extensions...

2008-05-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

Thing 2: Extending your browser with search plug-ins and extensions created visual imagery related to a jumbled pile of electricity cables, GPOs and power adapters!

Both techniques for making browsers more efficient/effective are straightforward to implement, but enable web searching to be much more savvy...

Despite being a person that doesn't consume tea or coffee, I have become an overnight convert of Mozilla Firefox's Morning Coffee! The tool with a quirky name will become a daily fixture in the workplace; and at home.

Create a blog & post to it...

2008-05-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

How exciting, I now potentially have a greater web presence... This is a brief test... I'm slow off the mark, but I resolve to work diligently with regard to each of the 23 things, from this point forth...