I see that I have three followers. Hopefully I can make this blog something worth reading!
This post will be shorter than my last one. I don' t have as much to say about PB Wiki. Accessing and typing into the post was the easy part. I had more difficult coming up with the six reasons to love my library:) Even though I felt frustrated because I couldn't come up with a simple list, I ended up learning why PB Wiki is a useful collaborative tool. I looked at other people's additions to the post and got some ideas from them. Brilliant!
I had some difficult using there editing tools though. I wanted to make my post look like the others, but it took too long. PB wiki didn't have a way to copy and paste text. I'm used to selecting text and then right-clicking to cut/copy/paste. It took me a while to get used to using the "Edit" menu.
One digression, I really like how Blogger auto saves this post as a draft every few minutes as I type. Blogger makes it difficult to lose text- yay.
Anyway, the only other major thing that I learned about PB Wiki- after I completed my post, by the way- is that only one person can access/ edit the post at the same time. My co-worker told me about this after I commented that I got a message during one editing session about someone else who was accessing the post at the same time I was, so I couldn't get through to edit my part. I hit yes to, in essence, kick the other person off of the site. When I found out why the message popped up and what I did to the other user, I felt bad. I didn't mean to kick the person off, all I wanted to do was get rid of some extra blank lines to make my post take up less space. Oopps. Now I know in case I ever use PB Wiki at another time.
A recurring theme so far is that I'm making these exercises more complicated than they need to be since I feel pressure to do a good job and represent myself as a competent person. The drawback is that I'm taking up too much time and stressing out too much over this endeavor. Next week, I resolve to relax and manage my time better.
I'm looking forward to next week.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Delicious RSS
I’m such a bad worker. My time management skills are horrible. Instead of adding my reaction to 23 Things last week, I used time from last week time to edit my profile and add a picture. Now you see what my work priorites are:).
Better late than never, I suppose.
I decided to subscribe to the RSS feeds without watching the video clip beforehand, which was a mistake. I thought that I could figure out how to start with RSS by just going through the steps. I ended up having to go back and look at the information anyway, which took more time. So I learned a lesson: always take advantage of the materials that are available on the “23 Things” blog.
Now on to the process: first I subscribed to a few librarian blogs using Internet Explorer, which was a simple process. I felt a little worried at first because the steps were different what I had learned; with IE, you don’t have to copy and paste the blog URL somewhere or deal with embedded code. When I went back to check them the next day, the feeds were not on the computer. Instead of finding the same blogs and signing up again, I used the information from the video clip and signed up for a Bloglines account. I like how the feeds and the corresponding text are organized on the page; it’s easy to find the information. Even better, since I share my computer with co-workers, the websites that I follow can remain private unless I keep keep my account up and running.
Onto Delicious: I’ve always wanted to try it, so I was excited about getting the chance to use it.
The sign-up process was more detailed than I thought it would be though, and I felt a bit overwelmed by the end of it. I also felt a little nervous during step three when it asked you to install a Delicious toolbar. We tell patrons not to install programs on the public computers and I abide by that same idea. I did not feel comfortable installing anything on my staff computer even though I’m positive that the information is not harmful to the computer in any way. I just don’t want to leave a trace of my activities on a computer that I share with others. I had fun adding links, descriptions, and tags to my account. Unlike some people, I found writing the website descriptions harder than creating tags.
Overall, I can see how useful these features can be for people who visit many sites andneed an organizational took to process all of the information from those sites. I however, visit about six sites on a regular basis, so I don’t think that I need to use Delicious or a feed reader right now. It serves as a good learning experience for me though. Any kind of practice is good for me.
P.S. – another goal for this blog: I need to stop using “I” so much!
Better late than never, I suppose.
I decided to subscribe to the RSS feeds without watching the video clip beforehand, which was a mistake. I thought that I could figure out how to start with RSS by just going through the steps. I ended up having to go back and look at the information anyway, which took more time. So I learned a lesson: always take advantage of the materials that are available on the “23 Things” blog.
Now on to the process: first I subscribed to a few librarian blogs using Internet Explorer, which was a simple process. I felt a little worried at first because the steps were different what I had learned; with IE, you don’t have to copy and paste the blog URL somewhere or deal with embedded code. When I went back to check them the next day, the feeds were not on the computer. Instead of finding the same blogs and signing up again, I used the information from the video clip and signed up for a Bloglines account. I like how the feeds and the corresponding text are organized on the page; it’s easy to find the information. Even better, since I share my computer with co-workers, the websites that I follow can remain private unless I keep keep my account up and running.
Onto Delicious: I’ve always wanted to try it, so I was excited about getting the chance to use it.
The sign-up process was more detailed than I thought it would be though, and I felt a bit overwelmed by the end of it. I also felt a little nervous during step three when it asked you to install a Delicious toolbar. We tell patrons not to install programs on the public computers and I abide by that same idea. I did not feel comfortable installing anything on my staff computer even though I’m positive that the information is not harmful to the computer in any way. I just don’t want to leave a trace of my activities on a computer that I share with others. I had fun adding links, descriptions, and tags to my account. Unlike some people, I found writing the website descriptions harder than creating tags.
Overall, I can see how useful these features can be for people who visit many sites andneed an organizational took to process all of the information from those sites. I however, visit about six sites on a regular basis, so I don’t think that I need to use Delicious or a feed reader right now. It serves as a good learning experience for me though. Any kind of practice is good for me.
P.S. – another goal for this blog: I need to stop using “I” so much!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Reaction to 23 Things
I've been working up the nerve to create a blog for a while now. I'm glad that the opportunity to participate in 23 Things came about since I feel more comfortable using a blog for work purposes rather than personal ones since I am a somewhat private person.
As for my reactions to 23 Things thus far, it's already challenged me by expanding my limits of comfort, which is good. I still feel uncomfortable writing about myself, but hopefully, it will get easier each week with practice.
I have a comment about the process for setting up this Blogger account: the part about entering an email address was confusing. From the front page, it seemed as if you needed to have a Gmail account to use it or create a Gmail account, but I entered a non-Gmail address into the first "blog set-up" box and Blogger accepted it. Everything else has been easy to follow!
After 23 Things is over, I hope to continue adding to this blog and integrate it into the library as an additional source of information for our patrons.
As for my reactions to 23 Things thus far, it's already challenged me by expanding my limits of comfort, which is good. I still feel uncomfortable writing about myself, but hopefully, it will get easier each week with practice.
I have a comment about the process for setting up this Blogger account: the part about entering an email address was confusing. From the front page, it seemed as if you needed to have a Gmail account to use it or create a Gmail account, but I entered a non-Gmail address into the first "blog set-up" box and Blogger accepted it. Everything else has been easy to follow!
After 23 Things is over, I hope to continue adding to this blog and integrate it into the library as an additional source of information for our patrons.
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