Thing #8

I have been playing with Bloglines for several days. I had to print out the tutorial from Preetam Rai and read it several times. (I think I will start a notebook with all the items I have collected thus far!) There are so many ways to subscribe to RSS feeds and I wanted a hard copy to refer to. Then, I got caught up in reading all the blogs. I especially liked Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog. I read on his blog that Amazon is coming out with an electronic ebook reader called the Kindle. It is wireless and can hold up to 200 books at a time. You could possibly subscribe to magazines through it, too. What are the possible future implications for libraries? Will we have ebooks on our shelves? Could we give each student at our school a Kindle and then let them download books from our library? What are the possible copyright implications if we do that? It brings up a whole new set of questions that future (maybe present) librarians will have to answer. Welcome to the wave of the future! In the meantime, let me go check my RSS subscriptions to see if anything new has come up. This is addictive!

Thing #7

I enjoyed exploring some of the tools that Google has to offer. Google Notebook looked very interesting. I can see where it would be helpful in taking notes or maybe even in collaborating with the teachers on your campus. I set up my own Google homepage, too. I had already taken the Picasa class that the district offers. However, we didn't touch much on the Picasa Web Album. What a great tool that would be to share photos with students, teachers or parents and let them know what you are doing in the Library.

Thing #6--Flickr Mashups

I was so totally blown away by all the applications that were available on Flickr! I spent WAY too much time on this, but I had so much fun. One of the applications I would like to try for the library is the Motivational Poster. I'd like to use it during Children's Book Week and take pictures of students reading with encouraging captions underneath. I'm going back this week and make myself a trading card. The Movie Poster, Magazine Poster and Captioner looked like a lot of fun, too. You don't know that you've created a monster! All I want to do is explore these sites.

Thing #5

I had a fun time exploring Flickr. Even though I had used it before to get pictures for some units I was doing in the library (first grade--weather, etc.) , I found new things I had not seen. Finding a picture was not a problem--getting my picture to my blog was a problem and took quite a bit of time. Maybe the learning curve will not be so steep next time!

The Magnificent Mile

The Magnificent Mile
Originally uploaded by Stuck in Customs

I just returned from a trip to Chicago! What a great place. The weather was cold and windy--just like everyone says. I definitely want to return and go down the Magnificent Mile...a mile of shopping and restaurants on Michigan Ave. They say it is really gorgeous during Christmas because the trees are lit with lights. There was so much to do and see and we didn't have much time to do anything. Maybe next time I can see Oprah!

Thing #4--Here's my Blog

Whew! I've finally finished my postings for the day and figured out how to export my avatar to my blog (thanks, Debbie!)
After reading Edublog Insights I've thought of a few ways that I could use blogs for the library. A blog would be a great interactive way to communicate with parents and students. I could create an interactive library newsletter, post pictures from library activities, form interactive literature circles or book clubs. The possibilities are endless!

Thing #3--Avatar

Here's my avatar--the Digital Goddess!