IndyFanJudy asked me over email how to use Dewey numbers in LibraryThing. So I made this video using a trial download of Adobe's Captivate demonstrating how to change your LibraryThing settings to show Dewey numbers. Apologies for the background noise - Technical Services at TSLA ain't quiet.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Mixing RSS
I've been trying to compose a "Super RSS" feed for TSLA Learning participants' blogs (and comments), and I've stumbled across a couple services I need to remember.
Most notably, I want to play more with Yahoo! Pipes - it looks pretty darn cool.
I also need to remember to check the feedbite feed I created to see whether it ever populated or not. When I tried KickRSS, it would not read the OPML file I had exported from BlogLines - I think because its server load was to great (when I tried to add individual feeds, it would kick 50% out with an error citing too much server load). I think this is a common problem in Web 2.0 applications - they've gotten so easy to program that anyone can throw up an app, and they're so useful that they can get HEAVILY used (by legitimate folks and nefarious spambots), which pushes the limitations of a server's hardware and pipe.
*****
UPDATE: Thanks to Sharif for pointing out that the URLs I uploaded to the feedbite feed were malformed - they've been fixed!
Most notably, I want to play more with Yahoo! Pipes - it looks pretty darn cool.
I also need to remember to check the feedbite feed I created to see whether it ever populated or not. When I tried KickRSS, it would not read the OPML file I had exported from BlogLines - I think because its server load was to great (when I tried to add individual feeds, it would kick 50% out with an error citing too much server load). I think this is a common problem in Web 2.0 applications - they've gotten so easy to program that anyone can throw up an app, and they're so useful that they can get HEAVILY used (by legitimate folks and nefarious spambots), which pushes the limitations of a server's hardware and pipe.
*****
UPDATE: Thanks to Sharif for pointing out that the URLs I uploaded to the feedbite feed were malformed - they've been fixed!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
TSLA Learning 2.0 Week 3: TEVA
"Health in Play" - if I were clever, I might be able to turn this post into a rousing celebration of the core values of this series of TSLA Learning 2.0 exercises.
TSLA Learning 2.0 Week 3: Librarian Trading Card
I handcrafted this librarian trading card back in the good ol' days when Sue and I were toying around with different Web 2.0 tools. Karina took the original photograph, and I edited it using the legally free, full-featured photo program The GIMP.
In an unrelated note: who out there has tested retrievr? When Sue and I were toying around with different Web 2.0 tools, I had the most fun with retrievr!
In an unrelated note: who out there has tested retrievr? When Sue and I were toying around with different Web 2.0 tools, I had the most fun with retrievr!
TSLA Learning 2.0 Week 3: Photos and Images
k thsi kitteh pix iznt rly fnny. Unless you're already a geek. But not so geeky that you can't appreciate the occasional cute picture of a cat on the internet.
I've been doing an informal poll, and it looks like the only people who get this particular lolcat picture were in the 6th grade in either 1985 or 1986.
I've been doing an informal poll, and it looks like the only people who get this particular lolcat picture were in the 6th grade in either 1985 or 1986.
TSLA Learning 2.0 Week 2: Blogs and the Tennessee Electronic Library
Hey everybody! We've been having some technical difficulties here at the State Library in the past couple weeks - underground explosions, power outages, evacuations... I'm playing catch up right now in Learning 2.0 world, and I hope that others of you playing catch up in Nashville can join Tricia on Friday afternoon (Aug 10, 2007) at a date to be announced next week to get one-on-one, face-to-face help with your questions.
I have a confession to make. I do not use the Tennessee Electronic Library regularly. I'm continually looking for new ways that I can access for-fee databases (Oh, how I miss UTK's subscription to the OED Online), and I forget to check TEL first. When I was doing some research before buying a laptop, I PAID for an online subscription to Consumer Reports, not thinking about TEL, which provides access to the CR articles for free. D'oh!
I almost turned off the TEL tutorial before the real tutorial started because it took so long to load! But with patience as my guide, I picked up a couple resources in TEL that I wasn't aware of, e.g., the Multimedia resources tab (which led me to an NPR transcript from 2000 I hadn't seen before). I also got tickled by one of the sample searches: "labor violations" in AFL-CIO published materials - I hope the trainer developing the tutorial still has a job :)
This morning, I'm thinking about my friend Hector Black - 82 year old organic blueberry farmer in Cookeville, Julliard-trained pianist, World War II veteran, Harvard graduate, who moved with his wife Suzie to Atlanta in the sixties, lived a few blocks south of the Kings in Vine City (has stories of Coretta bringing over the casserole). He asked me a few weeks ago to look up some articles in the Atlanta Constitution about his time in Atlanta, and I've been stymied by the absence of a good index for the mid-sixties. Anyhoo, I did a search in TEL, and found a citation for Hector (having to do with organic farming): Reich, Lee, and Barbara Pleasant. "Native American fruits. (includes related article)." Organic Gardening 39.n2 (Feb 1992): 52(5). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. TSLA. 9 Aug. 2007
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A11859225&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=tel_s_tsla&version=1.0>
I have a confession to make. I do not use the Tennessee Electronic Library regularly. I'm continually looking for new ways that I can access for-fee databases (Oh, how I miss UTK's subscription to the OED Online), and I forget to check TEL first. When I was doing some research before buying a laptop, I PAID for an online subscription to Consumer Reports, not thinking about TEL, which provides access to the CR articles for free. D'oh!
I almost turned off the TEL tutorial before the real tutorial started because it took so long to load! But with patience as my guide, I picked up a couple resources in TEL that I wasn't aware of, e.g., the Multimedia resources tab (which led me to an NPR transcript from 2000 I hadn't seen before). I also got tickled by one of the sample searches: "labor violations" in AFL-CIO published materials - I hope the trainer developing the tutorial still has a job :)
This morning, I'm thinking about my friend Hector Black - 82 year old organic blueberry farmer in Cookeville, Julliard-trained pianist, World War II veteran, Harvard graduate, who moved with his wife Suzie to Atlanta in the sixties, lived a few blocks south of the Kings in Vine City (has stories of Coretta bringing over the casserole). He asked me a few weeks ago to look up some articles in the Atlanta Constitution about his time in Atlanta, and I've been stymied by the absence of a good index for the mid-sixties. Anyhoo, I did a search in TEL, and found a citation for Hector (having to do with organic farming): Reich, Lee, and Barbara Pleasant. "Native American fruits. (includes related article)." Organic Gardening 39.n2 (Feb 1992): 52(5). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. TSLA. 9 Aug. 2007
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A11859225&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=tel_s_tsla&version=1.0>
Monday, August 6, 2007
TSLA Learning 2.0 Week 1
My library system's staff is playing around with Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, Mashups, and all the other Glorious Technologies of Web/Library 2.0. As a part of our first week's exercises, we watched "7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners" - an online presentation from The Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County, which details values like "Play!" and "Viewing problems as challenges."
The presentation asks viewers to create a Learning Contract with themselves, and I'd like to share my contract with you.
My Learning Contract
I will become a more effective technology trainer, mentor, and collaborator by October 1, 2007
Below is a list of some obstacles I may face and how I will overcome these obstacles:
Obstacle: Personality and learning style conflicts with trainees
Overcome:
1. Study learning styles and personality traits to identify behaviors that don't make sense to me - and how to respect them in training situations
2. Participate in and evaluate other training sessions
3. Learn to accept that I cannot be the most effective trainer for all learners
Obstacle: Improve the training sessions I lead
Overcome:
1. Listen actively to trainees comments about their experiences in training sessions
2. Study effective training session evaluation techniques
Things I need for my "Learning Toolbox":
Registration in several training sessions through the State
Registration in several training sessions through the Center for Nonprofit Management
Study materials for trainers
Take some relevant personality inventory tests
Effective training session evaluation techniques
If I need help, I can ask:
PJ Snodgrass
Tricia Bengel
Pat Thompson
Kathy Lauder
The presentation asks viewers to create a Learning Contract with themselves, and I'd like to share my contract with you.
My Learning Contract
I will become a more effective technology trainer, mentor, and collaborator by October 1, 2007
Below is a list of some obstacles I may face and how I will overcome these obstacles:
Obstacle: Personality and learning style conflicts with trainees
Overcome:
1. Study learning styles and personality traits to identify behaviors that don't make sense to me - and how to respect them in training situations
2. Participate in and evaluate other training sessions
3. Learn to accept that I cannot be the most effective trainer for all learners
Obstacle: Improve the training sessions I lead
Overcome:
1. Listen actively to trainees comments about their experiences in training sessions
2. Study effective training session evaluation techniques
Things I need for my "Learning Toolbox":
Registration in several training sessions through the State
Registration in several training sessions through the Center for Nonprofit Management
Study materials for trainers
Take some relevant personality inventory tests
Effective training session evaluation techniques
If I need help, I can ask:
PJ Snodgrass
Tricia Bengel
Pat Thompson
Kathy Lauder
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