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#19 Web 2.0 Awards

Before I begin this post about the short list of Web 2.0 award winners, I want to note that I forgot to put anything in the previous post about how the value of Zoho (or other online productivity applications) in the library world. But perhaps it goes without saying. After all, free online word processing, email, conferencing, etc. applications would be very useful for the librarian.
Now to the award winners. I couldn't pick just one to look at. I looked at three, so please bear with me as I talk about all three. Google Docs was the winner in the collaborative writing category while second place went to Writeboard. I was curious since I had not heard of Writeboard. Although I didn't actually try to create a document there, the features looked really good. I was glad to know there were alternatives to Google Docs for when I am no longer a student at UW. I can certainly see the value in librarians being able to collaborate easily on document creation -- perhaps on a paper.
I am always interested in health related information. I looked at the first place winner in that category - Revolution Health. I have to admit that for actual health information, I would much rather visit MedlinePlus. However, this site is very useful for creating a PHR (Personal Health Record). These are very handy for having all of your health information readily available. My personal favorite for this tool, though, can be found at MyHealtheVet. Because it is a government site, it is very safe and reliable. You don't have to be a Veteran to use the PHR part of the site.
OK -- just one more for the bibliophile side of me. I looked at LuLu. This site seems to be a place to not only find books to buy, but also to publish and to sell -- and not only books, but all things publishable.
This particular site (Web 2.0 award winners) would be quite helpful to the reference librarian.
I have bookmarked this page as well. Thanks for the introduction.

#18 Online Productivity Tools

OK - how come I didn't know about Zoho writer before? I am really impressed. I created a new document using a poem written by my practicum advisor. I then sent it to my blog from Zoho. You will find it in the preceding blog entitled "Koehler Poetry". How about that? I also sent an email to my daughter using Zoho mail. I investigated the Zoho planner (very cool) and the online presentation tool (also very cool). (Goodness, I sound like one of my children.) I noted that there is also an application for creating Wikis. I have bookmarked the Zoho accounts page and will return. I did know about Google docs. We have used that tool to work on group projects in some of my courses. But for that purpose, I think I now prefer using My (UW) Webspace.

Koehler Poetry

A Writer Writes
AWriter writes.
That is what they always recommend
There are the weekly bills to deal with.
Shopping lists to compose.
His children's homework to correct.
A quarterly report overdue.
All those song lyrics to improve when
sung aloud in the shower.
Daily emails to be answered on the fly.
Birthday cards to send.
A page of New Year's Resolutions that
keeps growing longer.
Those letters those letters home the child inside
hopes to smuggle out
asking someone to come rescue him.
Every Christmas then note
he leaves with the cookies and mild
for Santa to peruse.
Nightly, the grand epic he unspools
behind closed eyes.
What does it matter if his notebook
remains a blank white.
He still carries it wherever he goes.

#16 and 17 -- Wikis

Wikis. I am somewhat familiar with these. We learned a bit more about Wikipedia in 451. We chose a "stub", searched for 25 citations and wrote a 25 page paper to fix that stub. During that same semester, we used a Wiki for the Youth Services class. When doing this exercise, I did not need to create an account. I already have an account at PB works because of that Wiki. I did log in and add a post to a two of the "favorites" -- books and physical activities. I wasn't able to add my blog to the list, however, because there was no "edit" button to click. I noticed that another class member had added her link in the comment section. We have also created a Wiki for a volunteer group that I am part of -- the Reach Out and Read Program at the American Family Children's Hospital here in Madison. On December 1, the new in-patient reading library was officially opened with over 600 new, high-quality books available for the pediatric patients to read and be read to. Wisconsin's First Lady, Jessica Doyle participated and read to the children Opening. We are using the Wiki to mobilize the volunteers. This blog is getting a bit lengthy but I should mention that I visited several of the library wikis highlighted at the Learning 2.0 site, all of which illustrated how this tool can be valuable for libraries and their patrons.

#14 - Technorati

Before this class, I wasn't very cognizant of "blogs". I had heard of them, of course, and often visited my daughter-in-law's blog -- where she frequently posted pictures of the family. Here I am creating my own blog -- and am writing about blogs. I found the explanation of the title "technorati" enlightening ("technology" + "literati"). I assume the writers of blogs are the "educated class" using technology to publish their wisdom. Although I should be amazed at the number of blogs in existence, I am not. I can believe the the number grows exponentially daily.
My exploration of the site leads me to believe that updates have occurred since the podcast at the "learning 2.0 23 things" Web site. I did look at the blog directory, the keyword search box of blog posts and the tag pages. There is also a list of the Top 100 bloggers and the "State of the Blogosphere". I wonder if there is any topic about which a blog has not been written? I suspect that this particular tool could actually be useful in reference. Even though there is no peer review to create the reliability, a search here may just lead you to the correct answer. Just out of curiosity, I wondered if anyone had written blogs about Tiger Woods and the mysterious Thanksgiving accident. Indeed they had! I also noted that there is an entire section devoted to political blogs -- this could be interesting for my husband.

I'm back

It's been some time since I've been here. I have finally been successful in not only getting into Rollyo, but also creating an account and creating a search roll. After getting that very helpful "sharing" list of reference web sites from Charlet, I knew how I could keep many of them handy. I created a "roll" of Reference Favorites. OK - an account, a search roll -- then of course try it out. I picked a rather popular topic at first. A search for "H1N1" returned thousands of hits. Whoa.
So then, I tried something a bit more obscure. We just watched the final episode of "Monk", the TV show. I couldn't remember when it started. I searched -- and boom, immediate answer. It premiered in 2002. Can it really be seven years? I have to admit, I had my doubts about this one. But I'm pretty sure I can find uses for this tool -- especially in a library setting.