#15 - Wikis you'll know and love

Before we get rolling today, I wanted to congratulate you (yes, you) for making it more than half way through our 27 things. Outstanding work, seriously - thanks for participating.

Today, make that this week, we continue onward - we'll be focusing on Wikis.

Simply put, a wiki is website that lets multiple users add, remove and edit content. You don't need to understand HTML (the stuff you see when you view the source of a webpage) and you don't need to know how to use webpage building software. Adding content on a wiki is, with just a few variations, just like using word processing software.

And, even better, you don't need to worry about messing something up - a wiki allows you (or anyone else) to revert to a previously saved version of your webpage. But what if someone changes your entry, one you thought was perfect? A wiki also offers tracking tools that tell you who makes each contribution (the add, the edit, the deletion) and when they made it - you can either revert that page to its previous version or get in touch with the person who made the change.

The collective

Wikis are built by their contributors - readers who add, remove and edit content. And this typically goes one of two ways - an open model where anyone (and I mean anyone) is invited to contribute or a closed model where a select group (say, at KCLS, only LTAs) are invited to contribute. Either way, it is an exercise in trust -whomever contributes is expected to meet certain standards of quality and should expect, should they not reach these standards, that another participant will remove their contributions.

Wikipedia is the best known example of the first model - anyone can participate. Wikipedia does, however, employ staff who will freeze an topic if foul play is reported by readers. Errors and obvious fakeries are often (though, not always) corrected very quickly.

Citizendium is another example of the open model but with increased oversight. The site is including "gentle expert oversight" (staff who check for accuracy) and does not allow for contributor anonymity - contributors must use their real names.

An example of the controlled model? The St. Joseph County Public Library has a limited number of staff members contributing to their version of our Web Links page -'SJCPL Subject Guides.'

More locally? David talks to Sarah Hunt about her Wiki experiences and the two do a bit of futurecasting together in this week's podcast.

Click the Play button above
to hear this week's Podcast (3:35)

More to read

Meredith Farkas has been writing about wikis for years now, and using them for even longer. Take a look at her Wiki’s: A Beginner’s Look. This is an excellent (and short) slide presentation with terrific visuals. You may also want to read her article, Using Wikis to Create Online Communities, on WebJunction.

And, finally, there's Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. Take a look at their What is a Wiki? presentation. Yes, it's a wiki talking about wikis...

Once you've finished reading up on wikis, it's time to tackle today's Discovery Exercise.

1. Take a look at at least 3 of the below:
   - that SJCPL Subject Guides wiki
   - the full Library Success: A best practices wiki
   - ALA MidWinter 2007 Wiki
   - Book Lovers Wiki at the Princeton Public Library
   - or some of these library wiki examples
   
2. Create a blog post about your findings. What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

And that, everyone, is all for today.

Up next: become part of the collective...

#14 - I got a LibraryThing, you got a LibraryThing, everybody's got a LibraryThing

Are you a book lover or cataloger at heart? Do you enjoy finding lost and forgotten gems on the shelf to read?

If you answered 'yes' to either of the above questions, then LibraryThing may be the thing for you.

LibraryThing was developed by booklovers, for booklovers and its basic function is most excellent - it lets you quickly and painlessly create an online catalog of your personal book collection. And what makes it even more special is its social networking component - once you've entered your books, you get to see everyone elses via book titles, authors, and the tags you assign to each entry.

Yes, it's really that simple - you create an account and get to it. Add a book to your catalog with the title alone (it's so easy that you don’t even need to know what a MARC record is). And once you've got a title (or 2 or 200) you are able to connect to other users with similar reading tastes.

Let me illustrate - this link will take you to the Learning 2.0 account set up for this exercise (it will open in a separate window). If this takes you to the 'cover view,' look above the titles and click on 'list view.' From the 'list view,' look to the far right side of the screen - it shows you how many others have entered the title in question (the second number, by the way, is the # of 'pro' subscribers with the title). Think I'm the only one with enough time on my hands to read through 'Tintin: The Complete Companion?' Think again - its on the bookshelves of 60+ other Library Thing users.

You can also add a widget to display titles that are in your catalog or install a Library ThingSearch box on your blog or any other website you've set up (instructions are here).

So why join the ranks and create your own library online? With over 65,000 registered users (BTW: LibraryThing also has group forum for library staff) and 4.7 million catalog books, you are bound to discover something new.

Me? I'm still hoping to find more Dexy's Midnight Runners fans...

A quick, really quick, tour

The last thing before today's Discovery Exercise is the Library Thing tour. Take a quick run through these seven or eight screens for an overview of key Library Thing features and functions.

Now to the Discovery Exercise.

1. Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
   
2. Add a least 5 books to your library.
   
3. Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog.
4. Already have a LibraryThing account and want to try something new? Give Shelfari or GuruLib a try instead.

That, everyone, is it for today's discovery exercise - excellent work.

But, wait, want to read a really interesting but long blog posting? A LibraryThng creator compares their tagging to that in use on Amazon.com.

Next up: Wikis...

#13 - Technorati and the search for your blog

So now that you’ve been blogging for awhile, you might be wondering just how big the blogosphere is.

Well according to Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs, the number of blogs doubles just about every 6 months with over 57 million blogs currently being tracked by the site. If the blogging trend continues, it is estimated that Technorati will have tracked its 100 millionth blog in just 5 months.

Yes, big numbers. But, as you’ve already seen for yourselves, blogging is so easy that almost every industry (including libraries) have been trying to find ways to make blogging work for them.

That's why, today, we're going to look more closely at Technorati.

Do you want to make sure your blog is being tracked? Register your blog with Technorati. Do you want to tag your posts to make them easier to find through a Technorati search? Perhaps not your Learning 2.0 blog, sure, but if you owned a business and were trying to attract attention? You'd register it with Technorati.

As a blogger blogger (aka someone who uses blogger.com to blog) you are probably getting tracked by Technorati already - it keeps track of new Blogger blogs by default. But if you want to take full advantage of the service Technorati offers up, you'll need to do this more formally and claim your blog.

And the tagging in Technorati? It is wonderfully easy - you either paste a bit of HTML code into the bottom of a blog post or follow the simple directions you find when you get to the Technorati website. Once one of these are in place, Technorati will pick your tags up when it spiders (or web crawls) your blog.

So what's really popular in the blogosphere these days? Take a look at Techorati's popular page.

And now that you've seen what is incredibly popular in the wide world, we'll take a look at what is popular in the smaller library world - today's Discovery Exercise is nice and easy.

1. Head over to Technorati (link will open in a separate window)
   
2. Try a keyword search for “Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and then in the Blog Directory (use the pull down menu next to the search box to change what you are searching). Are the results different?
   
3. Now try searching for kcls27things. Check the results on this one - it's even pulling up your Flickr images.

Told you that would be nice and easy. Wanted to give you a break because we've got one more thing tomorrow.

Next up: Library Thing...

#12 - Tagging is Del.icio.us

This week we’ll be looking more closely at web 2.0 applications that take serious advantage of tagging (we've already looked at one - Flickr). Tagging, remember, allows you to associate keywords with online content - webpages, pictures, posts, etc. It is considered a folksonomy, AKA an unstructured categorization scheme.

Categorization scheme?

As a library employee you know a thing or two about these – we use the largest categorization scheme on the planet, Library of Congress subject headings. Library of Congress, though, is much more formalized and is considered a taxonomy.

This week we’ll look at still more innovative applications that take great advantage of tagging – Del.icio.us, Technorati, and Library Thing.

But before we get too deep in, though, let’s hear from a cataloger. In this week’s podcast David talks to Libby McClean about the intersection of tagging and traditional library cataloging, as well as her experience with Library Thing.

Click the Play button above
to hear this week's Podcast (3:18)
Del.icio.us

The specific focus of today's lesson is Del.icio.us. In addition to having a most excellent name (yes, that’s a real URL – the .us at the end stands for United States), Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site that lets you save bookmarks to a central location (no more copying them to multiple browsers on multiple computers) and classify them all with tags.

How is that social?

Well, in addition to tagging your bookmarks, you get to see how other users have tagged the same links and see related websites are important to them. This is an excellent way to find websites that may be of interest to you.

Del.icio.us even offers RSS feeds - you can create a shared bookmark site (say, for your branch reference staff) and receive news every time a new link is added (say, when one of your colleagues adds a new link).

Give us twelve minutes.

We are going to cede to stage to Kathleen Gilroy who has posted an excellent video podcast on the subject – she’ll show you everything you’d want to know about Del.icio.us in just 12 minutes. Here’s the podcast link – it’ll open in a separate window. You’ll need to be on a computer with speakers or a headset.

And if you are on a computer without audio capabilities? Take a look at Us.ef.ul: A beginners guide to Del.icio.us.

Now that you are armed with this new and delicious knowledge (sorry, had to use the word as an adjective somewhere), you are ready for today’s Discovery Exercise.

1. Take a look around Del.icio.us using the 27Things account (this will open in a separate window) that was created for this exercise.
   
2. Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users (click on the text that reads 'saved by # other people'). Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize this reference?
   
3. Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about using this tool in libraries. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?
   

That, everyone, is all for today's lesson - thanks for completing another of the 27 things.

Next up: Technorati…

#11 - Friends

Anyone rememember the 1989 Jody Watley collaboration with Eric B and Rakim? The song, which peaked on the billboard chart at #9, was called 'Friends.'

Frienship is the subject of today's exercise. But not in the way you know it or even in the way they sang about 18 years ago.

How so?

Danah Boyd, a social networking pundit, puts it this way (you should only read her linked article if you've got some time on your hands - it is long...):

“Are you my friend? Yes or no?” This question, while fundamentally odd, is a key component of social network sites. Participants must select who on the system they deem to be ‘Friends.’ Their choice is publicly displayed for all to see and becomes the backbone for networked participation.

So, participants publicly identify their 'friends.' That's something new, fair enough. But the backbone for networked participation?

Imagine this scenario:

Herman gets home from school on friday night and has no idea what he's going to do for the weekend. He logs into his MySpace profile and sees that more than 20 of his MySpace friends are also logged in. Instead of reaching for his phone, he writes up a short posting on his bulletin board ("hey - is anything going on tonight?") and clicks send - this goes to everyone on his friends list. Within a minute, 4 of his MySpace friends have added 'comments' to his profile with invitations to join them.

And let's take a few steps back - imagine how much easier it becomes to stay in touch with friends you'd typically lose site of. From high school? College? Three jobs ago? Do you see the value here?

Why should any of this matter to libraries?

Our patrons, the younger ones in particular, are using MySpace like we use the telephone for communication. If we're on MySpace and other social networking sites we'll be there when they need us.

This point takes us to today's pleasantly brief Discovery Exercise - invite KCLS Learning 2.0 to become your MySpace friend.

1. Log in to your newly created MySpace page (page will open in a new window).
   
2. You should be returned to your MySpace profile.
   
3. From here, go to your web browser address bar and enter the following URL: www.myspace.com/kcls27things
   
4. This will take you to the Learning 2.0 MySpace profile.
   
5. Look below the Learning 2.0 image and you'll see the 'Contacting KCLS Learning 2.0' box - click on 'Add to Friends'
   
   
   
6. Follow the instructions and that's all - you'll get an email as soon as we approve your friendship request (hopefully within a day or two).
   

That, everyone, is all for today's Discovery Exercise and for the week.

First postscript - remember, you are welcome to cancel your MySpace account when we've finished up the Learning 2.0 program. Here's what you'll do:

1. Log in to MySpace, click on 'edit profile' (it's just under your name)
   
2. Click on 'account settings' (its in the top right corner of the screen)
   
3. Click on 'cancel account' (its in red near the top of the page).
   
4. You'll get a cancellation confirmation email - click on the link included and you're done.

Second postscript - that Jody Watley/Eric B and Rakim song? The video is up on Youtube - Eric B comes in at the 1:40 mark...

Third postscript (added at 2pm) - who is Tom? He's the guy who is automatically your friend when you sign up, a MySpace employee. Want to make him disappear from your profile? Scroll down to the friends on your profile, click on 'Edit Friends,' check the box next to his picture, click on the 'Delete Selected' icon. Once he's gone, you too can wear a 'Tom is NOT my friend' t-shirt...

Next up: Tagging, Technocrati and Folksonomies...

#10 - Set up your MySpace page

Today is all about doing - you'll set up your own profile on MySpace.

So we'll get straight to it - today's Discovery Exercise.

1. Go to myspace.com (link will open in a separate window).
   
2. Click the "Sign Up" button.
   
   
3. Fill in the account information. Like with your Blogger account, you do not need to use your real name - feel free to use a pseudonym.
   
   
4. Verify your account - type in the numbers you see on the screen.
   
   
5. The 'upload a photo' page. We encourage you to skip this step by clicking on the 'skip for now' link at the bottom of the page.
   
   
6. The 'Invite friends' page. We encourage you to skip this step by clicking on the 'skip' link at the bottom of the page. We'll talk more about friends tomorrow.
   
   
7. Explore your page customization options - click on Edit Profile to begin. This is where you can add more information about yourself. Or not - you do not, remember, need to add a thing. This is also where you can experiment with the look of your page - have fun...
   
   
8. Write down your myspace address so that you can submit it to us via the Learning 2.0 progress log

That, everyone, is the full exercise for today. We'll ask you to log back in tomorrow to take care of one more thing.

But before you're done for the day, a word about MySpace ads. KCLS does not, in any way, endorse or have any control over the ads at the top of MySpace pages. We state this very clearly on the KCLS MySpace page.

And, last thing, what if you want to cancel your account when we've finished up the Learning 2.0 program? Here's what you'll do:

1. Log in to MySpace, click on 'edit profile' (it's just under your name)
2. Click on 'account settings' (its in the top right corner of the screen)
3. Click on 'cancel account' (its in red near the top of the page).
4. You'll get a cancellation confirmation email - click on the link included and you're done.

Next up: Friends...

#9 - MySpace and social networks

Way back when we were looking at Flickr (okay, that was only two weeks ago), we talked some about social networking sites. This week we'll expand the conversation and you'll get to see them in action.

Today we focus on the basics.

Social networking sites are websites that offer connections between users based on shared interests, backgrounds, and other associations. In most cases you have to create a profile to fully participate - these note basic details about yourself (screen name, etc.) and offer an opportunity to get more detailed (more about you - your favorite music, your background, photos of yourself, etc). It's truly a mix - some users keep it simple whilst others go all out, detailing their interests, their hopes and their dreams. And are some users less than honest than others in their self-assessments? Absolutely...

Friends, Connections

What really makes these sites tick is the connection between users. This is very similar to the connecting concept behind Flickr tags - you can find people based on shared interests and traits. But there's more - you also get to approach other users and invite them to declare an association with you. Some sites call your associations 'friends,' others call them 'contacts.' We'll talk more about this on Wednesday...

Popular Social Networking Sites

The first was Friendster, way back in 2003. Friendster developed a small following (and its still in use) but never caught on widely. The big problem was their restrictive participation policy - it was limited to individuals.

Next came MySpace which, for all intents and purposes, copied the best parts of Friendster and then upped the ante - they opened participation to non-individuals. Bands, clubs, community groups and, yes, even libraries were encouraged to create profiles that would improve the richness of the MySpace online community. And that was key - with the inclusion of these group entities, MySpace became a real life community where users logged in to do more than just connect with their friends. To this day MySpace remains the most popular social networking site out there.

But, of course, there's an increasingly popular competitor out there - Facebook. Facebook started as a college-oriented network but has since opened its doors to everyone else. And it's catching on - I've heard many stories from teens who have left MySpace because it's gotten "too popular" and have moved to FaceBook.

And then there's Second Life. Second Life is a very different type of online community - users download software to their computers, create avatars (online versions of themselves), and interact with whomever they meet.

But why should libraries care?

It's all about relevance. Libraries need to be where our patrons are. If a library has a presence on MySpace or Facebook they have a better chance of finding patrons who don't often come into their buildings or go to their websites (especially teens) and promoting their fabulous services. And KCLS is getting there - our first MySpace page launched in late 2006 and we expect to see branch/cluster level MySpace pages as well as a Facebook profile up in the coming year.

And it's not just KCLS - look at this list of libraries on MySpace from YALSA.

But even with these examples, are you really buying this? Let's try convincing you with some real life happenings - in this week's podcast David talks to Dawn Rutherford and Rick Orsillo about their experiences using MySpace to connect with their teen patrons.

Click the Play button above
to hear this week's Podcast (3:06)
And now to today's low-stress Discovery Exercise.

1. Read some of the articles linked below (we're being vague here on purpose - try to read at least one from each category - most of these are fairly short blog postings).
   
2. What do you think about libraries taking part in social networking sites? Create a blog posting with your thoughts.

MySpace
-   Libraryman w/ a great answer to 'why?'
-   David Lee King writes about libraries on Myspace
-   Librarian In Black polls librarians - read the comments...
-   Stephen Abram writes about the library context (this one is longer)

Facebook
-   It's really popular: Facebook's Astounding Stats

Second Life
-   An interesting take from the Infoblog
-   Stephen Abram on businesses in second life

That's lots to think about, so we'll stop there for today.

Next up: Create your own MySpace page...

#8 - Find some feeds

You've got your RSS reader set up (your newly created Bloglines account) and you've added a few RSS feeds. Excellent work. Seriously.

But do you really want to stop there? After you put all that effort into setting up your account? I didn't think so - today's lesson focuses on locating even more RSS feeds for your reading and information seeking pleasure.

First off, a reminder from our last unit. When you visit your favorite websites, look for feed icons - these are the clearest indication that the site offers some form of RSS feed. The feed icons will typically be displayed somewhere in the site navigation.

At KCLS? Right now you'll find RSS feeds in Catalog Explorer but not much else. Our website re-launch (which is just a few months away) will change all of that.

And what about searching for RSS feeds?

There are a number of RSS search tools - these include:

Blogline's Search tool. This lets you search for news feeds in addition to posts, citations and the web. Use the Search for Feeds option to locate RSS feeds you might be interested in.

Feedster. This is one of the largest collections of RSS feeds, Feedster lets you search for feeds in three categories: news, blogs & podcasts.

Topix.net. This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching. The tool focuses specifically on news and media outlets RSS feeds for information, not weblogs.

Syndic8.com.Syndic8 is an open directory of RSS feeds that contains thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted.

Google Blog Search. This one is limited to blogs. Once you find the blog you are looking for, add the main blog URL just as you added those from your co-workers in our previous lesson.

Today's Discovery Exercise is all about finding RSS feeds.

1. Log in to your Bloglines account and keep it to the side until you need it.
   
2. Use one of the above search tools to locate at least 2 RSS feeds on topics that interest you - add these to your Bloglines account.
   
3. Use another of the above search tools to locate at least 2 library-themed blog to your Bloglines account (or cheat and add Stephen's Lighthouse, Tame The Web, Library Bytes, Walking Paper, Librarian.net, or David Lee King.com).

Some things you might want to think about (or even add to this week's blog posting):
- Which method of finding feeds was easiest - going to your favorite sites or searching for them?
- Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Which was more confusing?
- What kind of unusual feeds did you find on your travels?

That's it for today's Discovery Exercise. And just about it for today's unit - just one last piece of feed icon information:

In Febuary of 2006, the adoption of standard feed icon among websites and browsers finally began helping to stop the madness and confusion caused by so many variations. So far this icon has been adopted by many websites and browsers, including Opera and FireFox, where it displays in the address bar:


And with that, you're done until next time.

Up next: MySpace...

#7 - Less Stress with RSS (& Newsreaders)

You've heard of RSS? You’ve seen these icons (the ones to the right) on your favorite websites? Well, what will they do for you?

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It uses XML (the second icon) and allows you to be notified when content on a website has been updated. With RSS you can track information posted on all kinds of new and familiar online news sources. RSS has revolutionized the way news, media and content creators share information. It is also swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit everyday. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for the particular text you want to read, doesn’t it? Now imagine if you could visit your favorite information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it’s available now through a newsreader and RSS.

This week's podcast focuses on the enabling power of RSS and speculates somewhat on its possible future at KCLS.

Click the Play button above
to hear this week's Podcast (2:38)
Rafe Needleman, editor for CNET.com Business Buying Advice, gives an illustrative 3 1/2 minute introduction to RSS feeds, how they work, and how you use them. Take a look: RSS - Feel the Need for Feeds (3:32). You'll need speakers or headphones to watch this - if these aren't available at your location, take a look instead at a similarly-themed text-based tutorial from Palinet (Palinet is an east coast library cooperative).

Whether you watch Rafe's video or check out the Palinet tutorial, you'll see several references to reader software. This software is the key to keeping track of your preferred RSS feeds. For the purposes of participating in KCLS Learning 2.0, we'd like you to use Bloglines. Why? It's easy to use, it's popular, it's feature-rich and it's free...

Now you get to give it a go in today's Discovery Exercise in which you'll set up a Bloglines account and add a bunch of RSS feeds.

1. Go to Bloglines (link will open in a new window) and set up your personal account.
   
   
2. Subscribe to 2 RSS feeds.
   
   How?
   
   First, find the RSS feed. Look for XML or RSS buttons (the same ones you saw at the start of this lesson) on your favorite websites. And it's not just text-heavy sites - even your Flickr photo pages have RSS feeds (look to the bottom of a Flickr page for the feed icon). Click on the icon and select the resulting URL at the top of your web browser - this is what you'll copy then paste into Bloglines. Second, go back to your Bloglines account and click on the 'Add' link in the left side of the screen.
   
   Looking for more visual instructions? Take a look at this excellent tutorial on preetamrai.com. Just keep in mind that some of the bloglines buttons used in the tutorial have changed.
   
   Curious about the various Bloglines check boxes when you add your RSS feed? Take a look at this descriptive screen shot Helene Blowers created for her library's Learning 2.0 program.
   
   
3. Subscribe to at least 2 of the RSS feeds from your co-worker's Learning 2.0 blogs. These blogs are linked from our particpants page. All you'll have to do here is type the blog URL (for example, this blog is http://kcls27things.blogspot.com) into the subscribe field in Bloglines. Try it, it's easy!
   
   Still confused? Never fear - watch this short YouTube video created by our Learning 2.0 guru Helene Blowers .
   
   
4. Make it official - subscribe to the KCLS Learning 2.0 feed via Bloglines. Like in the examples above, paste the blog URL into the subscribe field...
   
   
5. Subscribe to at least 1 of the following news and/or library-themed feeds:
   - Seattle Post Intelligence RSS link (pick one from their list)
   - BBC News Front Page World Edition
   - Google News - Health Section
   - Reader's Club New Review Feeds
   - Unshelved Library Cartoon Feed
   - National Weather Service
   
   
6. Create a blog post about this exercise. Don’t know what to blog about? Think about these questions:
   - What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
   - How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?
   - How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
   

That, everyone, is the end of today's Discovery Exercise. And nice work - you've just tackled one of the (if not the) most difficult lessons in all of Learning 2.0...

3/16/07 Postscript - Google Reader

A number of you have asked about using Google Reader instead of Bloglines. Feel free - it's another good product and has the added benefit to tying in with the Google account you set up a few weeks ago for Blogger. The only negative is that we will not provide setup instructions - just don't have the time to write these up...

Google Reader is available at www.google.com/reader.

Up next - searching for feeds and discovering those with a library-theme...

#6 1/2 (unofficial) - Check Your Blog Title

This isn't really a 'thing' but, rather, a request that you check our staff participants page to confirm that your registered blog is listed correctly (and head to the Learning 2.0 Progress log if you haven't registered yet). The blogs are now arranged alphabetically by blog title - please make sure your blog is there. If it isn't, and you have already registered, send email to 27things@kcls.org with your blog URL.

Can't remember what your blog title is? Or, seeing it displayed, do you want to change it? Here's how you check it and/or change it:

1. Log in to your blog (go to www.blogger.com and log in to the 'New Blogger' link in the top right corner of the page).
   
2. Click on the 'Settings' tab that is towards the top of the resulting page.
3. The 'Title' is the first thing you'll see.
   
4. And if you decide to change your title? Make sure you click 'save' at the bottom of the screen...

Some good news (at least for me) - the new participants page is semi-automated - any change you make to the title of your blog will be reflected on the participants page shortly after you make the change.

an Update on Blog Settings

A note to those of you who have set your blogs up to accept 'invited readers only' - you'll have to invite 27things@kcls.org so that we can keep track of your blog postings. You might also consider removing this restriction - so long as you keep your blog anonymous, noone is going to know it is you...

#6 - Even more fun with Flickr (aka Mashups)

Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on their site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups that use Flickr images.

Mashups?

Mashups are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like a mapping program). With this combination, for example, you get Mappr.

Wikipedia offers a slightly more detailed explanation.

New mashups come out, literally, every day. Here are some fun ones that work with Flickr:

- Spell with Flickr lets you spell anything from Flickr photos.
- Montagr creates photo mosaics from photos found on Flickr - all you have to do is change the tag in the top right corner.
- Flickr Color Pickr lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
- Retrievr lets you find photos based on your sketching abilities.
- Trading Card Maker lets you create your own trading cards (many library staff already have...).
- There's even Flickr Sudoku.

And tons more - discover more on the Flickr services page, Flickr Bits (this is not officially part of Flickr) web apps, and this incredible list of Flickr tools from Quick Online Tips.

And now to today's Discovery Exercise.

1. Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are mentioned in this blog posting or in the links provided just above.
   
2. Create a blog post about the one that is most intriguing to you. Tell us which one you explored and what you liked about it.
   

That, everyone, is it for today's discovery exercise - hope you've had fun exploring some of these extremely cool Flickr mashups. All that's left to do now is submit your weekly Learning 2.0 Progress Log.

Next up: RSS & Newsreaders...

#5 - Discover Flickr

Welcome back for another week of Learning 2.0. This week we focus on photos and Flickr.

Photo sharing websites have been around for several years. Flickr, though, is different - it's half photo sharing and half online community. How so? Flickr makes incredibly intelligent use of linking keyword 'tags' to create associations between photos and between users.

Let me illustrate.

Take a look at a photo on the Learning 2.0 Flickr profile (this link will open in a new window). Look to the right side of the page and scroll down until you see the label 'Tags.' Click on the 'library architecture' tag - this will quickly display all other photos with the same tag in our Learning 2.0 Flickr account. Quickly, near instantly, you have linked to all similarly tagged photos in our account - this works the same whether you have 3 photos with the same tag or 3000.

Now click on the link that says 'see all public photos tagged with 'libraryarchitecture.' This is where we get into the online community part of Flickr - just as quickly as we saw other library architecture photos in the Learning 2.0 account, we're now seeing similarly themed photos from other Flickr members.

Let's have Flickr fill in some of the blanks - take a look at their FAQ page on tags. And, if for no other reason that it's so well done, take a look at the image below - it was posted by Flickr user cambodia4kidsorg.

The above photo illustrates the beauty of tags - there are many many ways to describe whatever it is you are looking at in a photo (in this case: Pen, Marker, Sharpie, Purple). Why not include them all as tags?

Flickr also makes use of groups. Groups are communities of like minded photo posters. And, yes, there are quite a few groups with a library theme. Let Flickr fill in the rest of the blanks - take a look at their FAQ page on groups.

But who is going to spend time posting photos, tagging them, and particpating in Flickr groups?

That, my colleagues, would be you. Or at least one of you - in this week's podcast David talks to Pam Riess about her experiences using Flickr outside the library world.


Click the Play button above
to hear this week's Podcast (3:21)
And inside the library world? A growing number of public libraries are starting to use Flickr for many of the functions mentioned in today's podcast. Take a look at some of the links contained on Library Stuff and see what's out there.

And now, finally, we get to today's Discovery Exercise. Today you get to choose - scenario 1 or scenario 2. Either way, you'll be asked to blog about your experiences in your week #3 blog entry...

Scenario 1

1. Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about.
   
2. Blog about it and be sure to include either a link to the image or a copy of the image itself in your blog posting. For the later, you can either use Blogger's photo upload tool or Flickr's blogging tool (you'll need to set up a Flickr account for this).
   

Scenario 2

1. Create a free Flickr account.
   
2. Use a digital camera to capture a few photos.
   
3. Upload these to your Flickr account and tag at least one of the images “kcls27things” and mark it public.
   
4. Create a blog post in your blog about your photo and the experience of getting it loaded to Flickr (be sure to include the image in your post - use Flickr's blogging tool or Blogger's photo upload feature.)
   

And before you get started, a quick word about photo posting etiquette. When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) is it advisable to get the person's permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr. Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you unless you have the photographer's consent and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog (as I have above in the case of cambodia4kidsorg).

That, everyone, is the end of the Discovery Exercise.

But if you want still more, feel free to take a look at these tutorials:

- Flickr's 'What Is Flickr' tour
- Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials
- Flickr's popular tags

Or relax and curl up with a good book...


(it's okay to post this photo, he's my son)

Next up: More Flickr fun and Flickr Mashups...