Monday, July 16, 2007

Module 9

I have completed all the modules for this class and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every one of them. This has been a lot of fun at times it was a lot of work, but I got a lot out of every assignment. Here is the link to my project a rollover map using IMOD from the University System of Georgia.

United States Map

Friday, July 13, 2007

Del.icio.us PPT

Here is the link to the PowerPoint Presentation I created about del.icio.us Del.icio.us

del.icio.us podcast

Odeo no longer allows you to create podcasts to I had to find a new site. PodcastPeople provides free podcast creation and hosting in mp3 quality audio. I did try podomatic, but the audio quality was terrible. The library's system's librarian liked the audio quality from podcastpeople and the fact we did not have to download software to create a podcast. The podcast discusses some of the features and benefits of del.icio.us.com. My fellow librarian and colleague Mary Jane Rootes agreed to be my guest. There are benefits to having co-workers take the same class. Here is the link to podcast del.icio.us Please feel free to post your feedback.

del.icio.us

At last year's Georgia Information Literacy Conference in Savannah one of the presentations I attended was about del.icio.us. I came away really impressed with the website and the possibilities for it to be used in higher education. This is not a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace. Instead it is a social bookmarking site. del.icio.us.com allows you to create a network of people who are interested in similar topics and subjects. You can also import/export your bookmarked websites to del.icio.us from whatever web browser you use. Using this website allows you to access your bookmarked websites from any computer. This allows you to share information with students in an online environment or a classroom setting. If you need to change a site for a presentation or lecture you can do it by accessing your del.icio.us account and finding the website you need. Creating tags for your bookmarked websites help you to share them with others and find similar sites. The site contains a list of topics or tags. The bolder the letters indicates the number of sites tagged under that topic. This site is simple and easy to use and the tagging of sites becomes intuitive once you do it a few times. I would recommend people try del.icio.us because it is great a way to share information and to find information you need with performing a Google search and trying to look through too many results to find the one good site you need for a project or lecture.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Webinar

Last night (June 30th) I had the opportunity to participate in the webinar with three of my fellow students, Paul, Sandra and Bessie. This was the first time I used Wimba and thought it had some nice features. It allowed people to talk or text. If people had a question they could "raise their hand." The four of us used the webinar to discuss the group project and what we need to do to complete the assignment. We also had a discussion about the difficulty of getting people together in a synchronous environment to work on group projects. Synchronous tools are useful, but to make them work successfully a schedule needs to be posted and one must make accommodations for different time zones and schedules. I would definitely use this tool in an online class, but would create guidelines and a schedule to make it work successfully.

Google Talk

I opened a Google account about three years ago and really like the features of Gmail. It has an excellent spam filter and when they added the chat feature it was a welcome addition to Gmail. Unfortunately, I was not able to make the chat session on Friday because I was interviewing a candidate for a graduate assistantship. I have used Google Talk in the past and one of the features I like about it is the fact there is a trasnscript of the session. If you were using this with an online class and a student had a question after your chat session you could go back and review the transcript. Since it is a free service people should give it a try. Google Talk

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Survey Results

I created a simple six question survey about the library's blog and wiki and included the link in an e-mail to the libstaff listserv. I had twelve people complete the survey and it was evenly divided between staff and librarians. The analysis of the results was very helpful. The majority of respondents read the blog and wiki, but very few people post to either. Another interesting result was the majority of people responding thing the wiki should be used to post procedure manuals. If I had surveys to administer to large groups of people I would upgrade my account and use Survey Monkey again. Once I decided on the subject of my survey and created the questions it was easy to create the survey. I also liked the fact you could preview the survey and edit the questions before you created the link for it. This was a fun and informative assignment.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

SnagIt Assignment


SnagIt is a tool I have used in the past. It is simple and easy to use and can be incorporated into a variety of documents or presentations. Like most software that produces special effects you want to make sure you do not use it too much.

Camtasia Tutorial Video

The more I use Camtasia the more I like its many features. It will be useful to create tutorials and create assignments for class. Some students learn better with visual assistance. I can really see the benefit of adding video tutorials to an online class.

JSTOR

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Camtasia PPT

I was finally able to upload my Camtasia Power Point Presentation to my UWG website. It actually turned out better than I thought. It is a presentation on Wikipedia and some of the problems with using the Internet for research.
Wikipedia

Friday, May 18, 2007

Impatica with Power Point

The hardest part of this assignment was loading it onto the website. I really enjoyed using Impatica and creating the narrated PowerPoint Presentation. Welcome to LIBR1101
This was the first time I used Impatica. It was easy to use and would like to incorporate narrated PPT presentations into my online class. I enjoy using software like Impatica because it does not require a tremendous amount of training to learn how to use it.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

First Video Post


This took more time than I thought it would. I have to admit it is less than perfect. I ended up using blip.tv to upload my video. After completing this assignment I have to admit I doubt I would use it for a class. Including video would be nice for classes in the arts and sciences. It might work for the information literacy course by providing a virtual tour of the library so students can easily locate the materials they need. The video was intended to be funny. It is about how I accumulated so many books and bears over the years.

booksandbears

Friday, April 27, 2007

Podcasting Experience

Okay, I created my three podcasts and I have to admit it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. One of the reasons could be the fact I did not have anything scripted or outlined before I created the podcasts. If I were to use this technology in class I would definitely have the topic outlined with key points to be covered in the podcast. An issue I raised in one of my podcasts is depending on the subject you are talking about a podcast could be REALLY BORING. In some cases adding video or some type of graphics would be helpful. My experience using Odeo was okay. I did not have difficulty setting up the channel and creating the podcasts. It was relatively easy to link the RSS feed to Blogbridge and also my blog. Would I use this in my online class--it is a possibility. It just depends on the topic I am covering. All in all I found podcasting does have benefits, but one must keep in mind the disadvantages before incorporating a podcast into course material.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Podcasts

This is my first podcast and I can only hope they progressively get better. Hopefully, they will not get worse.
Podcasts

Friday, April 20, 2007

Techology Review

While working on my MLS I started to read Technology Review published by MIT. It is a great online magazine that will keep you up to date on the latest and greatest technology. It usually has some pretty cool stuff IMHO.

Technology Review

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Banner for Class

I never knew you could make a banner using Powerpoint. Here is my first attempt at creating a banner and will probably try it again.


Tuesday, March 27, 2007

New Blog

This is not the first blog I have created. When I relocated to Carrollton, from Rochester, NY, I created a blog so my friends and family out of state could keep track of what I was doing and I would not have to send the same e-mail to 20 different people. The name for my blog came from the fact I am one of the newest librarians at Ingram Library at the University of West Georgia but, I am not the youngest. Becoming a librarian was a late 40s career change and I enjoy my new career.

Blogs are a great form of communication and are becoming one of the fastest growing sources of news and information. It is a technology that libraries and other types of organizations need to embrace. Blogs are easy to create and do not take a lot of time to update.