23 Things - Library 2.0

23. Give feedback about the program

2008-07-04T11:29:00.007+10:00

If you have done all the 22 tasks up to now, congratulations! You have nearly finished the 23 Things. For your final 23 Things blog post, we'd like you to give us your feedback about the 23 Things program.

We're particularly interested in:

How could you draw on what you have learned in 23 Things to help you in your work?
How could the library use the technologies featured in 23 Things to improve its service?
How do you think the 23 Things program could be improved in the future?
Do you think you'll keep blogging or keep using any of the other tools you learned about?

We hope that you have enjoyed the 23 Things, and that you have found at least one useful tool that you didn't know about before.

Note: Your feedback is important to us, so please post your comments.

Your Blog

You are free to do what you wish with your blog. Those who have become keen bloggers can keep posting away merrily.

Note: If you want your blog away from our prying eyes, email the 23 things team and ask us to remove your blog from our RSS reader! (remember to provide your blog name)

Or, if you really want it out of the blogosphere, you can delete it:

Log into Blogger
Go to Dashboard
Click on Settings
Scroll right to the bottom
Click the blue 'Delete this blog' button

Week 13: Conclusion

2008-07-04T11:28:00.002+10:00

23. Give feedback about the program

22. Read about and explore various web based communication tools including Skype, MSN Messenger and Meeboo

2008-07-04T11:25:00.012+10:00

Read the following Wikipedia articles about instant messaging and Voice Over IP (VOIP) communications.

Your Task

Do some reading about Google Talk and launch the Google Talk client http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/popout

Sign in and invite a colleague to chat with you using Google contacts. Use the 'Add' link down the bottom and type in the email address of the user you would like to invite.

NOTE: You don't have to use Google Talk, especially if you already use something else (eg: MSN Messenger, Yahoo etc) Simply blog about what you use and what you like about it.

Blog about how libraries could use these tools to communicate internally with colleagues or externally with library users.

Optional Activity

Add the Google Talk widget to your blog. The steps you need to follow can be found in this article.

You can add it to your igoogle page. Click on the 'Add stuff' link and do a search for Google Talk.

Alternate Resources

Here are optional resources for those who want to learn how to use the popular tools Meebo and Skype

Using Meebo as your instant messenger

How to use Skype

Week 12: Communication

2008-07-04T11:23:00.002+10:00

22. Read about and explore various web based communication tools including Skype, MSN Messenger and Meebo

21. Find and listen to a Podcast or two

2008-07-03T11:48:00.007+10:00

What is a podcast?

The word "podcast" comes from joining Portable On Demand (pod, like iPod) and "cast" from broadcast. Get it? Podcast!

A podcast is a series of digital media files (eg. audio or video) that are distributed over the internet using syndication feeds (like RSS) and can be played on portable media players (eg. MP3s) or a personal computer.

Podcasting means that listeners can "time shift" their favourite programs by listening when it suits them. They give you the ability to "subscribe" to a feed using a feed aggregator (such as Google Reader), and receiving an alert when a new episode becomes available. You can then choose to listen to an episode at your convenience!

You can also download or stream programs without subscribing and listen to them on your computer. Most media providers have a direct download link somewhere on their podcasts page.

Your task

Find a podcast that interests you using Google, or the Podcast Directory links in the Resources section below.
Subscribe to it in your feed reader and listen to a media file or two.

Resources

Podcast.com - directory of podcasts covering a variety of subjects
PodcastAlley.com - podcasting resource and directory of podcasts
Podcast Directory - directory of podcasts covering a variety of subjects
PodShow.com - access to music, videos and episodes
Aunty ABC - podcasts of shows from the national broadcaster
The Education Podcast Network - what, why, and how of 21st century teaching & learning

Video Podcasting

You may even wish to catch up on your favourite television shows by subscribing to a video podcast. It works in the same way as an audio podcast. You shouldn't need to download any special software - most computers will have Windows Media Player installed to watch them on.

Optional resources (Here are optional resources for those who want to learn how to be a podcaster)

Odeo's Studio - Create and publish a podcast
How to podcast tutorial

Week 11: Podcasts

2008-07-03T11:47:00.001+10:00

21. Find and listen to a Podcast or two

20. Watch YouTube videos people have made about libraries

2008-07-03T11:38:00.006+10:00

YouTube is an online video sharing website that allows the users to share, rate, comment on, tag, and watch. It's covering just about every topic you can imagine, ranging from very amateur to professionally produced.

Watch this video that shows a future history of the media by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson.

Your task

Have a look around YouTube and see if you can find some interesting videos about libraries or librarians, or perhaps new web technologies.

YouTube makes it easy to do a search, and then to find similar videos to one you have already watched.

You may find a funny video clip or maybe something more informative.

Blog about your experience with YouTube.

Optional Activity: Embed a YouTube video into your blog post

Blogger

Find a video you want to post about
Copy the 'Embed' code for the video
Log into Blogger
Click on New Post
Give your post a title and some text etc
Click on the Edit HTML tab (top right hand side of your Post toolbar)
Paste in the embed code in the position where you'd like the video to be placed
Click Publish Post

Wordpress

Find a video you want to post about
Copy the URL of the video
Log into Wordpress
Click on Write
Give your post a title and some text etc
On the post toolbar, there is an 'Add media' section.
Click on the 'Add video' icon (looks like a strip of film)
Paste the youtube url into the field provided
Click 'Insert into Post'
Publish your post

Resources

YouTube official site

19. Put a photo of your pet on the wiki

2008-07-03T09:21:00.009+10:00

A wiki is a type of web site which is edited collaboratively. That is, anyone with access can edit any page of a wiki, and add new pages.

It's great for sharing information between staff of an organisation, or for developing documentation. Wikis keep a record of all edits made to a page, so it's possible to see who added what, and even to reserse edits.

The most notable wiki is WikiPedia, an online encyclopedia. However, wikis can be used for a number of purposes.

Today you'll learn how to resize and save a photo for the web, and put a photo onto the wiki 'pet's page'.

Preparing your photo

When preparing an image for the web, it's important that you save it in the correct format, and at an appropriate size. Otherwise, someone may not be able to view it, or it may take too long to download on a typical home internet connection. The photos out of a digital camera or scanner will usually be too high a resolution for a web page, so they'll require reducing.

First, you'll need to find a digital photo of your pet (or someone else's, if you don't have one). If you have a digital camera, you can simply use a photo from that. If you have a printed photo, you'll need to scan it instead. Scanners are available at the library.

Note: You can use your favourite photo editing programs. I recommend MS Picture Manager.

To resize your photo

Open the photo you want to resize.
Click on File, and then choose Export
On the right side, choose Browse under "Export selected files to".
Now a new window will come up and you want to create a new folder for your web images (unless you already have this folder created). Click on "Create new folder" and type in name of your folder eg. "Web Images", then click on OK and Open.
Click on the down arrow under "Export with this file format", select JPEG file interchange Format (*.jpeg)
Click on the down arrow under "Export using this size", select Web - Small 448 x 336 px, then click OK.

Put your photo onto the wiki

Log into VU Wikibrary with your Google Account.
Locate the Pet's page on the wiki and edit it using Edit page
Click on Insert, and then choose Image
Click on the Browse button and locate where you have saved your photo
Click on Add Image and Save

If you want to create your own page, click on Create new page and insert your image into it.

Note: If you are unable to login to the VU Wikibrary by your Google account, chances are that your Google account hasn't been associated with VU email address. Now you can have several options to choose:

Associate VU email with your Google account, or
Advise the 23things team your gmail address and we will invite you to the VU Wikibrary, or
Use the 23 things generic account.

Your task

Add a photo to the VU Wikibrary
Blog about your experience with Wikis

How to associate VU email address with your Google account

Sign in to manage your Google account
Click on the "Edit" link next to "Personal Information"
Enter your VU email address to "Add an additional email address" and click on "Save"
Once added, Google sends a confirmation message to authenticate that the address is actually yours.
Follow the link in the email Google sent you and log into Google again.

Resources

Wikipedia page for Wiki
Help: Create Pages
Help: Page Actions
Article: "Wikipedia and the meaning of truth" (Technology Review)

Alternate tools

Wetpaint
Wikispaces
Wik.is (owned by MindTouch)

Week 10: Wikis and video sharing

2008-07-02T16:53:00.002+10:00

19. Put a photo of your pet on the wiki
20. Watch YouTube videos people have made about libraries

18. Read about the Library 2.0 movement and explore new developments in Library related interfaces such as Encore and the new EBSCOhost 2.0 interface

2008-07-02T16:51:00.020+10:00

Library 2.0 is term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering Library services. The Library 2.0 movement is about innovation, people and community building. According to Wikipedia the vision of the Library 2.0 movement is accomplished through trust and encouraging users to share ideas through writing, commenting, evaluating or rating about everything in the Library collection.

Watch this Web 2.0 video shows you how the web has changed and how it is connecting us, and changing us.

Read the following articles about Library 2.0

Library 2.0 from Wikipedia
Library technology reports: Encore

EBSCOhost 2.0

Introducing the Library 2.0 Gang explores what "Library 2.0" means, and looks at some of the changes that this phrase has attempted to capture.

Listen to the latest in library 2.0 with Talis

Your task

Write a blog post sharing about your Library 2.0 experience.

17. Play with delicious

2008-07-02T16:17:00.014+10:00

Watch this video introduction to social bookmarking

Categorise and share your bookmarks online!

is an online bookmarking manager. It allows you to add bookmarks and share them with others. It's great if you want access to your bookmarks from multiple locations, eg. home and office.
Just like Flickr where you can organise your photos using tags, using 'delicious' you can also organise your bookmarks with tags any way you want to.

What makes 'delicious' attractive to its users is the social aspect. You may think you have found some great web sites and then you tag them, but you are also able to see what other people have bookmarked and see what else they have tagged that may be of interest to you. It's a great way of sharing interesting links with colleagues or friends.

Your task

For this exercise, you need to visit 'delicious' and type something of interest to yourself into the search bar. Find another user's trail and you may just discover a new wealth of information. Let us know what you find and what you think of social bookmarking on your blog.

If you are really keen, sign up and become a 'delicious' user. It's a great way of keeping track of interesting websites, especially if you are someone that works from a few different locations or you want to share links with others.

Also, for those who have your own delicious account, you may wish to create a tagroll to display, like the example here on this blog.

How to create a Tagroll for your blog

Log into delicious

Click on the 'settings' link in the top right corner

Under the heading 'Blogging' you will see a link to 'Tagrolls'

The Display options and Preview are handily side by side so you can tinker and see the outcome

Copy the html script provided

Log into Blogger

Click on Dashboard

Click on Layout

Click 'Add a Gadget'

Find 'HTML/Javascript' and click the 'Add' button (which looks like a plus sign)

Give the element a title

Paste in the html code provided by the online app

Click on Save

Resources

delicious Official site
Library Journal article: Tags help make libraries del.icio.us

Alternate tools

CiteULike (a researcher's social bookmarking)
Furl
Simpy

Week 9: Social bookmarking and Library 2.0

2008-07-02T16:15:00.002+10:00

17. Play with del.icio.us
18. Read about the Library 2.0 movement and explore new developments in Library related interfaces such as Encore and the new EBSCOhost 2.0 interface

16. Create you own iGoogle home page

2008-07-02T15:52:00.006+10:00

Welcome to week eight of 23 Things. There is only one task this week.

Remember the list of Google products and services from last week? Imagine being able to access all of those products from the one website. This is what iGoogle allows you to do.

Google offers the ability to create a personalised iGoogle page that gives you at-a-glance access to key information from Google and across the web. On this self-designed page, you can choose and organise content such as:

Your Gmail account
Headlines from Google News and other news sources
Weather forecasts, stock quotes, and movie showtimes
Bookmarks for quick access to your favorite sites from any computer
Your own section with content you find from across the web
Google Book Search

Discovery Resources

Before completing any of the tasks below, you'll need to log in to your Google account (ie: same login details as your Blogger blog).

iGoogle

Go to iGoogle (log in if you have to) and you'll see your new iGoogle home page. Now you can customise it.

Try adding the following gadgets:

Google Map Search gadget
Google Book Search gadget
Facebook gadget
Google Docs and Spreadsheet gadget
Wikipedia Search gadget

You can also search for a gadget to add to your home page.

Create a post in your blog page about this exercise. If you don't know what to write about, think about these questions:

Do you like iGoogle?
What improvements would you suggest to Google?
Would you like to work at Google?

Alternate tools

Week 8: Google home page

2008-07-02T14:14:00.003+10:00

16. Create you own iGoogle home page

15. Play with Google Book Search and Google Scholar

2008-07-02T13:57:00.002+10:00

Google Book Search

In 2004, Google announced a partnership with serveral large academic and public libraries to scan 15 million books within a decade. Out of this project, called the Google Print Library Project, eventually came the product Google Book Search.

Google Book Search now allows browsing and searching full text within hundreds of thousands of titles from publishers as well as titles in the public domain. Subject to copyright restrictions, Google Book Search allows either viewing and downloading (as a PDF) of an entire volume, or online viewing of portions of volumes only.

Google Scholar

The year 2004 also saw the introduction of Google Scholar. Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.

The user can set preferences to view materials available via their home institution.

Your task

Visit Google Book Search and search for a book. I suggest Google: The Missing Manual by Sarah Milstein as it allows a limited preview.

The limited preview allows you to view the table of contents on the right hand side and view some segments of the book in the main panel. You can usually search within the full text, although some pages may not be available for viewing in the main view due to copyright restrictions.

You may also want to locate a public domain work. In the Google Book Search results page, click on 'Full View' to restrict your search only to works that are wholly available for viewing and download. This includes works in which the copyright term has expired, as well as works which the publisher has released into the public domain.

Visit Google Scholar and search for articles and books held by Victoria University.

Make a blog post about these Google research tools. Are they a good idea?

Next week

You'll be having a look at iGoogle, another product from Google allowing you to create a customised home page. If you are feeling a little overwhelmed, next week will be more easy-going!

Resources

14. Play with Google Docs

2008-07-02T11:31:00.009+10:00

Another application offered by Google is Google Docs. This is an online word processor and spreadsheet application.

Watch this introductory video

Web based applications to rival desktop applications

New support of web technologies by current web browsers allows for more complex and interactive web applications to be made, and this proof of concept by Google shows that it is possible for a web application to act as an entire office suite.

Unlike a desktop application, there is nothing to install on your computer in order to use a web application. The application itself resides on a server somewhere on the web, and you only need your web browser to access it.

One main benefit of web based applications is that they can be accessed from any computer. This is good if you frequently switch computers or you want to be able to access or edit your documents for home and work. You could use it for notes to yourself or for important documents you want to access on various computers. If you don't have Microsoft Office, it can be an quick way of creating or editing a document.

Google Docs is also a great way of sharing your documents with other people. They can be made publicly available, like this example or invitations sent out via email to a select few.

Your task

Log into Google Docs (NOTE: you can use your Blogger login details!) and create a new 'Document'. Notice the 'File' button near the top left. In here are your options to save or print the document. Saving the document keeps it in your Google account, so you can access it from any computer. Using the 'Download File As' option allows you to export the document to your desktop. You can even export as pdf!

Sharing your Google Docs

When you create a document, you may also notice a blue 'Share' button which gives you some sharing and publishing options:

Share with others: allows you to invite colleagues to edit or simply view your document. A hyperlink to the document is sent to their email address
Email as attachment: enables you to email the document to someone as a Microsoft Office attachment
Publish as webpage: generates a public url which makes the document viewable to all and sundry, like the example given earlier in this post
Publish as webpage: also gives you a second option to post the contents of your document as a blog post on your blog. Only really works well if you've typed up a simple Word document with very little formatting, eg: doesn't really work if you've got tables. For more info about this, look at posting to your blog from Google Docs

Google Docs isn't just for Word Documents. You can also create spreadsheets or presentations.

Write a blog post about Google Docs. How much competition do you think it poses to desktop office suites such as Microsoft Office?

Resources

13. Play with Google Maps

2008-07-02T10:43:00.006+10:00

If you haven't heard of Google by now, I'm not sure what planet you have been living on, but it definitely hasn't been Earth. Everyone knows about the famous Google search engine, but did you know there is a complete suite of Google products that are available for the everyday user? These products include Gmail (web-based email), Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Maps, Google Calendar and Google Talk just to name a few. In the past few years Google has also bought out successful web companies such as Youtube and Picasa to add to their suite of products. Check out the full list of Google products and services.

In the last few years, there have been many reports that Google has become the new Microsoft. On the other hand, Google is offering web based applications at a minimal cost to the user - usually just exposure to some advertisements - and the new generation is utilising these applications more and more everyday. This week's task will introduce you to some Google applications including Google Maps, Google Docs and Google Book Search. Next week you will be able to join these applications together on your new Google homepage.

Discovery Resources

Google Maps allows you to find locations and businesses by typing in the address, or even by doing a search on the name. Try finding your Victoria University campus and your home on Google Maps.

You can use Google Maps to find directions from one location to another. For example, from the Footscray Park campus to the St Albans campus. For this, you'll need to know both the start and finish address as a street location. Try finding directions from one location to another by going to 'Get directions' mode.

Google Maps also allows you to view satellite imagery at a fairly high detail. You may be able to see your house, or even your car parked outside! When viewing any map in Google Maps, click on 'Satellite' or 'Hybrid' to view the satellite photo. You can zoom in to any area by gradually rolling your mouse wheel, or using the controls on the left of a map.

Here's a Google Maps view of Victoria University - Footscray Park Campus

View Larger Map

Your task

Create a post in your blog telling the world about Google Maps. What did you think?

Alternate Views of Google

For a bit more content balance!

Week 7: Google tools

2008-07-02T10:22:00.002+10:00

13. Play with Google Maps
14. Play with Google Docs
15. Play with Google Book Search and Google Scholar

Rest week

2008-07-02T10:19:00.010+10:00

Congratulations , if you have completed all 12 Things so-far, you get a week off and a free gift!

12. Explore MySpace and Facebook

2008-06-27T14:13:00.007+10:00

I'm sure you have heard of Social Networking sites - and not necessarily in a positive light. Popular sites such as Myspace and Facebook have been criticised for privacy and child safety issues.

Watch this introductory video

Myspace is a social networking website popular among teenagers and young adults. It allows people to set up a personal website featuring information about themselves, their interests and activities. You can browse, search, invite friends to connect and interact, share film reviews, make comments, post mail and blog entries, view videos, post classified ads and much more. Myspace now allows video and music sharing, online chat, and can even be browsed on mobile phones.

According to the statistics company Alexa Internet, Myspace is the 6th most popular site on the web, beating Wikipedia, Blogger, Ebay and Flickr. Over 150,000 new Myspace profiles are created daily.

Some libraries have used Myspace to connect with their younger patrons. Read through some of the Resources links below to get an idea of what different libraries are doing in Myspace and what librarians are saying about it.

Myspace Resources

Facebook

Facebook is also a social networking website. Initially starting as a way for college students to connect with friends, it is now open to anyone who wishes to join. People use Facebook to keep up with old friends, upload photos, share links and videos, and find out information about the people they meet.

Originally, the membership was restricted to students of Harvard University but since 2006 it has been open to all. Users can select to join one or more participating 'networks'. Networks exist for universities, workplaces and geographical regions.

In June 2007, Facebook was ranked in the top 10–20 web sites and was the number one site for photos in the United States, ahead of public sites such as Flickr, with over 8.5 million photos uploaded daily. It is also the 8th most visited site worldwide according to Alexa Internet. Time magazine reported in its 3 September 2007 issue that Facebook's fastest growing demographic consists of people 35 years or over.

Facebook Resources

Your Task

First, have a look at some of the ways libraries are using Myspace.

The second part of your task is to explore Facebook. To do this, you'll need a Facebook account. Register for an account at Facebook.com and join. It will ask for lots of information about yourself, but remember that it is all optional. You only need to give as much information about yourself as you are comfortable giving. Jenny C's Facebook guide has all you need to know about setting up an account, as well as steps to set your privacy settings.

With a Facebook account, you can now search for people. Try searching for a person you work with. You may even want to browse for Victoria University's Facebook network and join it.

Add an application to your profile

Those who wish to explore further, try adding an application or two. JSTOR and Libraries Australia have made search box applications available for users to search for materials whilst logged into Facebook.

From your Facebook profile click on "Applications" in the left hand navigation bar. It looks like a heading, but it's actually a link to all of the Facebook applications
Click on the button in the top right corner that says "Browse More Applications"
At the top of the applications screen you'll see a search box that says "Search Applications" in it. Type "jstor" or "libraries australia" into the box and hit "Enter"
Click on the application heading to be taken to that particular application
Click on the 'Add Application' button on the right hand side of the screen
You will be presented with a list of application options. Tick which you feel are appropriate, then click 'Add'

Write a blog post about your thoughts on Myspace and Facebook. You could discuss what implications the use of social networking applications might have for libraries, or what benefit they could bring to libraries. Further food for thought is provided below:

Additional Resources

Next Week

You've all worked pretty hard to get to Thing #12, so next week we're giving you some time out to rest!

Week 6: Get social

2008-06-27T14:11:00.001+10:00

12. Explore MySpace and Facebook

11. Subscribe to some blogs

2008-06-27T13:58:00.009+10:00

For the final task this week, you'll learn how to find blogs on a particular topic of interest and keep up with them in your feed reader.

Technorati is a directory and search engine for blogs and blog posts. It helps you find blogs on any topic of interest. Technorati is not just a keyword-based search - it also tries to organise blogs using categories and tags.

Blogs on Technorati range from amateur, such as someone's travel blog, to professional. It also ranks blogs according to their authority - which ranks a particular blog according to how many other blogs provide links to its posts.

Your task

Your final task for this week is to locate some blogs about libraries and subscribe to them. You can find these using Technorati, or a similar service such as Google Blog Search, or by following links from other people's blogs.

If you find a blog in Technorati and want to subscribe to it, click on the url which appears under the blog title in the search results list. This will take you to the blog, where you can subscribe to it by following the instructions in the previous task.

Don't forget to blog about this task as well, recommend library blogs to others, or perhaps tell us why you love/don't love RSS and newsreaders.

Advanced tasks for the more adventurous

Create a Link List of your recommended Library blogs which will appear on the sidebar of your blog:

Log into Blogger
Click on Dashboard
Click on Layout
Click 'Add a Gadget'
Find 'Link List'and and click the 'Add' button (which looks like a plus sign)
Give your Link List a title eg: Library Blogs
Paste the url of the blog in the 'New Site URL' field
Provide the site's name in the 'New site Name' field
Click the 'Add Link' button
Repeat if you want to add several links
Click Save

Use Blogger's new 'Blog List' feature which allows you to show the lastest items from your favourite blogs in the sidebar of your own blog. For assistance with this, watch Blogger's help video, or follow the steps listed below:

Log into Blogger
Click on Dashboard
Click on Layout
Click 'Add a Gadget'
Find 'Blog List'and and click the 'Add' button (which looks like a plus sign)
Give your Blog List a title eg: Library Blogs
Select a sorting option from the drop-down menu
Select the number of blogs that will display from the drop-down menu
Use the tick-boxes to select your appearance preferences
Click the 'Add a blog to your list' button link to start adding your favourite blogs. You can either copy and paste the url of the blog or choose to import subscriptions from Google Reader. Make your choice, then click 'Add'.
Click 'Add to list'
Click 'Save'

Resources

Technorati

Google Blog Search

Next Week

We will be looking at social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook and exploring both their positive and negative points.

10. Add some subscriptions

2008-06-27T11:37:00.009+10:00

Now that you have a feed reader set up, it's time to add some subscriptions. This task will guide you through the process of adding a subscription to digg, a technology news site whose content is contributed by users and decided by vote.

Digg

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, digg surfaces the most popular news as voted on by its users. You won't find editors at digg - digg provides a place where people can collectively determine the value of content.

Digg can be geek and American centric. However, some Australian stories have made the front page of digg, including the Chaser antics and the OPEC forum.

Your task

Subscribe to digg.com through your feed reader.
Create a post in your blog about your views on digg.com.
Do you think this would be a good way to read the news in the future?
Add a few more subscriptions to your reader. Options are endless...pick your favourite sites, receive updates of items added to our own library catalogue, or receive alerts of updates to your favourite journals or searches from database providers such as Ebsco.

How to add a subscription in your feed reader

Go to the site you wish to subscribe to and look for the feed link somewhere on the site. It is usually a button that look similar to this:

Sometimes it is called an "RSS feed" or "XML feed". More information is available at Google Reader's site.

Click on the feed button or link.
This will usually open a new browser window containing code which represents the rss feed for that site. Copy the url you see in the address bar.
Paste this url into your feed reader.

Remember: tutorials for your feed reader of choice were provided in the previous exercise!

Setting up an RSS feed to Digg in Google Reader

Go to http://www.digg.com/

In the top right you will see the little orange RSS symbol...click on this

You will be taken to their rss feed page. Copy the url that appears in the address bar

Log into Google Reader

Click on 'Add Subscription' in the left hand menu

Paste in the url you just copied and click 'Add'

Digg should appear in your list of feeds

Note: If you have elected to use a different feed reader, the process will still be very similar. Check the tutorial information for your particular reader provided in Thing 9 to be sure.

Resources

Alternate tools

Alternatives to Digg:

9. Set up a feed reader

2008-06-27T10:03:00.009+10:00

Watch this introductory video

In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionalizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.

Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit every day. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it?

Now imagine if you could visit all those 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.

This utopia is available through a newsreader and RSS!

A feed reader, also known as an RSS reader, allows you to subscribe to many websites or blogs, and get updates to them all in one place. You'll see which of your subscribed sites have something new. The feed reader will list headings and summaries of new blog entries or news items at sites you've subscribed to.

It's now much easier to keep up, especially with sites and blogs that aren't often updated. The reader will also keep track of which items you've read, and allow you to flag old items to come back to later.

To be able to subscribe to a site in a feed reader, the site must have a news feed. Virtually all blogs have a news feed. That even includes your own blog, and this one! Many other websites have news feeds too.

A news feed is usually indicated by this orange icon:

Alternatively, it may sometimes be referred to as "RSS", "Atom" or "XML", still often with an orange button.
or

Your Task

Read up on RSS and how it works.

Set up Google Reader, a popular feed reader.

It uses the same login details as your Blogger account!

Blog about how you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life. Perhaps even think about how can libraries use RSS to engage patrons.

What's next?

If you've managed to set up a feed reader, congratulations! Now you'll just need to add some subscriptions.

In the next couple of tasks, we'll guide you through the process of adding some subscriptions to your feed reader.

Resources

Alternate Tools

Week 5: RSS feeds and blogs

2008-06-27T09:58:00.000+10:00

9. Set up a feed reader
10. Add some subscriptions
11. Subscribe to some blogs

8. Play with LibraryThing

2008-06-27T09:25:00.008+10:00

For this 'Thing', take a look at LibraryThing. Whether you are a librarian, publisher, bookseller or just a lover of reading, LibraryThing allows you to catalogue your own titles and find people with similar reading tastes.

There are thousands of books already listed on LibraryThing - in most cases, adding a book to your personal catalogue is as simple as inputting the title or ISBN.

LibraryThing also allows you to share your book collection with others and get book recommendations from other people with similar tastes. It doesn't make a difference if you have a large collection of books or just a handful of books.

It's also not just limited to new releases or best sellers - you can find interesting books you may never have otherwise picked up.

Your task

Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account so you can start your own library.
Add a few books to your library. These can be books you own or books you have read.
Blog about your findings and be sure to provide a link to your LibraryThing catalog!
Note: Your url should look like this: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/yourusername
If you are not sure, log into Library Thing and click on the 'Your Library' tab up the top. Copy the url that appears in the address bar.

Those who are feeling cheeky can try to add a Library Thing widget to the sidebar of their blog:

Log into Library Thing
Go to 'Tools'
Click on 'make a standard blog widget'
Use the prompts on screen to determine widget layout. This will generate the code that you can copy and paste into your blog.
Log into Blogger
Click on Dashboard
Click on Layout
Click 'Add a Gadget'
Find 'HTML/Javascript' and click the 'Add' button (which looks like a plus sign)
Give the element a title
Paste in the html code provided by the online app
Click on Save

LibraryThing on Wordpress

Alas, Wordpress users, the LibraryThing widget is not supported. However you can put a small image (a chiclet) in the sidebar of your blog which links to your LibraryThing Catalog:

Log into LibraryThing
Go to Tools
Scroll down to "show off thingies" (no. 4 in the list)
Use the pull-down menu to select 'catalog'
Choose and click on the image you like best
Copy the code that appears
Log into Wordpress
Click on Dashboard
Click on Design
Click on Widgets
Look for the 'text' widget and click Add
A box will appear on the right side of the screen - click on 'Save Changes'
Click on Edit to make changes to the widget
Paste the code into the text widget
Click on Change
Click on Save changes again

Resources

LibraryThing official site
About LibraryThing
LibraryThing tour
LibraryThing widget
Guardian Article: The rise of the virtual bookshelf

Alternate Tools

Next Week

We will be looking at RSS feeds, a handy way to keep up with new posts from your favourite blogs and news sites.

7. Play with a funny image generator

2008-06-26T17:29:00.006+10:00

So, you may be wondering what an image generator is. Sounds like something you would take camping just so you can watch a movie in the middle of the bush. I'm not talking about those gas powered back-up things. The generators I'm talking about allow you to easily manipulate graphics to create images to place in your presentations, webpages etc.

Your task

For this exercise...just have fun!

Have a play around with a few of the sites listed under Resources or type the words 'image generator' into Google, and you may find some great sites yourself. Have a play around with some and write a post in your blog about one of your favorites and display the result.

Getting the image into your blog post

The image generators may offer a variety of ways to get your mocked up image inserted into your blog post. Most will provide instructions.

The easiest way is to right-click on the image you created and then save it to your hard drive. Create a new blog post and use the 'add image' button to add it.

Some sites will provide a URL link to your image. You can use the 'add image' button for this also.

Other sites may provide html code to copy and paste. Just create a new blog post, click on the 'edit html' tab and paste the code in.

If you're having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, please do contact us! Blogger's image help is included with this week's Resources below.

Resources

Also try searching for online generators and text generators!

Week 4: Play week

2008-06-26T17:26:00.001+10:00

7. Play with a funny image generator
8. Play with LibraryThing

6. More Flickr!

2008-06-26T16:45:00.009+10:00

At this point you should have discovered some of the interesting and exciting features that Flickr offers. This exercise will take you a bit further into your exploration with Flickr.

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

Your Task

Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools. There are links to a few in the 'Resources' section below. Too many to write instructions for, but most links have step-by-step prompts or links to help.
Create a blog post about one that intrigues you.
Optional - display your creation in your blog (see below)

Note: Not all of the Flickr mashups require you to create something to display in your blog (eg: Flickr Colour Pickr). To complete this task, blog about which mashup you chose to explore and what you liked/didn't like. Adding something to your blog is an optional activity.

Display your creation in your blog

Most of these tools will allow you select and present Flickr photos in interesting ways and posting them on your blog. The slideshow of the VU Library photoset you see on the right is an example of uniting our Flickr photos with a free tool called flickrSLIDR (NOTE: You are not limited to using photos you have uploaded yourself). These tools will generate some html code to paste into your blog.

Getting the code into your Blogger blog:

Log into Blogger
Click on Dashboard
Click on Layout
Click 'Add a Gadget'
Find 'HTML/Javascript' and click the 'Add' button (which looks like a plus sign)
Give the element a title
Paste in the html code provided by the online app
Click on Save

Displaying Flickr pictures in your Wordpress blog

Unfortunately most of the 3rd party Flickr tools are not compatible with Wordpress. If you want to display some Flickr images in your sidebar, you will have to subscribe to the rss feed (see things 9-10 for more info on this) of the particular user, group or tags (but not sets!) you are interested in.

In Flickr, look for some 'Subscribe to...' text accompanied by the little orange RSS symbol and click on it.
This will open a new browser window containing code which represents the rss feed. Copy the url you see in the address bar.
Log into Wordpress
Click on Dashboard
Click on Design
Click on Widgets
Look for the 'Flickr' widget and click Add
A box will appear on the right side of the screen - click on 'Save Changes'
Click on Edit to make changes to the widget
Paste in the url for the rss feed you just copied
Give the Flickr widget a title if you like
Select how many photos you would like displayed
Click on Change
Click on Save changes again

Note: It may seem that the pictures displayed on the side of your blog never change. They will only change if the user uploads more photos to their flickr account if you have subscribed to a user feed, or more photos are added to a particular group if you have chosen a group feed. The feed with the most rapid amount of change will probably be Tags.

Resources

Flickr Services - Featured online Flickr apps
Flickr Badge - Creates a mosaic of photos to put on the sidebar of your blog
Mappr - allows you to take Flickr images and paste them on a map
Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
Montagr – create a photo mosaic from photos found on Flickr.
More Flickr Tools from Big Huge Labs. You will need to log in to BHL to save/export your creations. Feel free to use our generic account, which we've set up using the same account details used to log into Flickr.
Wordpress: Using the Flickr Widget

Next Week

You will have more opportunity to unleash the online artist within by playing with some Image Generators. The cataloguer within will also have a chance to create a virtual bookshelf using LibraryThing.

5. Explore Flickr

2008-06-26T16:28:00.007+10:00

VU photo found on Flickr posted by user kinghwagoh

What is Flickr?

Flickr is an online community which enables you to host your photos online. It is one of the fastest growing photo management and photo sharing sites on the web. Flickr allows you to upload your photos and tag them (that is, describe them with keywords). You also can arrange them into groups so they are easier to search for. Basically it is a way to display your photos publicly for family, friends and if you wish, the whole world!

Your Task

For the first part of this task you are required to take a look at Flickr and discover what it has to offer.

Find out how tags work
Find out what groups are
Find out how libraries are using Flickr

For the second part of this task you can choose between two options:

1. Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or, if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool to add the image in your post.

Note 1: If you already have a Yahoo ID, it can be used to log into Flickr

Note 2: You will not be able to use the blogging tool with the 23 things generic account, as it does not support more than one Blogger blog at a time. Please set up an individual Flickr account if you wish to use this tool.

2. If you have access to a digital camera you might like to upload a picture to Flickr. We have set up a generic account for everyone to use if you don't wish to create your own Yahoo account. The account information will be available in Google Groups by the start of Week 3.

Note: Google groups seems to present email address with ... in them, which is problematic if someone copies the Flickr login directly from the screen into the Flickr login box. You will need to click on the username first to view it in full, then copy it.

To upload a photo:

Save your photo to your computer (or memory stick
Go to the flickr website at http://www.flickr.com/ Sign in (using either your own login and password, or our 23things one)
Click on "Upload Photos"
Click on the "Browse" button and locate where you have saved your photo (If you'd like to upload more than one photo at once, hold down the ctrl key and select your photos with your mouse)
You will then be prompted to add tags, titles and descriptions of your photo(s) - but it is all optional!
You will also see an option to add your photos to a set (which is just a way of organising your photos if they have a particular theme). If you are using our 23 things login, feel free to add your artistic campus library shots to our VU library set!
Click the "Save this batch" button down the bottom of the screen.

PS: 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.

Important: Remember to add this task as an entry in your blog!

Resources

Alternate tools

Feel free to explore these other photo-sharing tools:

Photobucket
Picasa (owned by Google. Requires a software download first)
Smugmug

4. Comment on each others' blogs

2008-06-26T14:04:00.003+10:00

Welcome to Week 3 of 23 Things!

Blogging is not just about getting your message across. It's also for two-way communication - other people can comment on what you have written, or respond to you on their own blog and link back to you. It's a great way of sharing ideas and encouraging lively debate.

By now we have a nice list of staff blogs. You can see them on our 23 Things Participants page. You may not know which blog belongs to which person, but you can take a look at the blogs and see what they're written. If your blog is not on that list yet, you may want to go back and revisit tasks 2 and 3.

Your task

Go into a few other people's blogs and leave some comments. You may offer a word of encouragement, or read some people's thoughts on blogging and tell them your own views.

Other people may comment on your blog.

Write a blog post about your experiences contributing to discussions on other people's blogs, and having people comment on your blog.

Keep track of comments on your blog

To save yourself continually checking to see if people have commented on your blog, set up an email notification:

Log into Blogger
Click on Dashboard
Click on Settings
Click on the Comments hyperlink
Scroll down to 'Comment Notification Email' and enter your email address in the space provided
Save Settings

What's next?

You may want to keep watching some people's blogs for new posts and adding comments where-ever you feel like encouraging, helping out with a problem or responding to what they've written. There's even ways of subscribing to their blogs, but that will be covered in steps 9 to 11 of 23 Things.

Resources

23 Things Participants List

10 techniques to get more comments on your blog

10 reasons readers don't leave comments

Blogger's code of conduct

Week 3: Blog comments and photo sharing

2008-06-26T11:52:00.000+10:00

4. Comment on each other's blogs
5. Explore Flickr
6. More Flickr!

3. Send us the link to your blog

2008-06-25T15:34:00.002+10:00

Show us your blog!

This is the second task for this week's activities. Before beginning this task, you should have created your very own blog and written a post in it. If not, complete the previous step now.

Your task

Your next task is to tell us about your blog. Remember, you can remain anonymous to everyone else if you like, except that you'll need to let the 23 Things team know who you are...

To tell us about your blog, you'll need to use the 23 Things Participation Form.

Important: The link to your blog will not appear on the participant's list immediately, there will be a slight delay. Check it the day after you register and it should be there!

Using your blog

From now on, you'll need to use your blog to write about each of the remaining 23 'things' you complete. We'll use this as a record of where you are up to in 23 Things.

Important: Give each blog post the title of Thing #1, 2 etc to help us out when checking entries!

Even though we number each task and have a weekly schedule, you may complete tasks out of order or move at your own pace. Don't feel bad about taking a break - there will always be help here when you come back!

More help

The front page of a blog (like this one) shows the entries in reverse order, with the newest entry at the top. That's one reason why blogs are suitable for news, where the latest information is usually the most relevant.

Resources

Next week

Next week we'll be commenting on each other's blogs, and looking at the website flickr.com.

2. Create your own blog and write something

2008-06-25T14:24:00.008+10:00

Welcome to the second week of 23 Things. Your first task for this week is to create your own blog and write something in it.

'Blog' is short for 'web log'. It evolved from a 'web journal', like an online diary. Blogs serve different purposes. They are promotional tools, communication tools, social tools, or tools for sharing or commenting on news.

Why blog?

People blog because they want to share with others. They may share their opinions, rants on particular topics, or news from a holiday. They may even have a professional blog where they share views on their industry, or they may have a blog all about their cat.

When you're blogging, you can adopt any persona you like. One blogger adopted a persona they called Fake Steve Jobs and tried to write from the perspective of the co-founder of Apple.

Many companies have an 'official' blog, where they release news about the company and views about the industry. Some blogs are highly successful due to the personality of the blog's author. Some blogs have multiple authors

Your task

Create your own blog! Your blog is where you will be recording your thoughts, discoveries and exercises for the 23 Things program. You'll need to add an entry to it for each 23 Things task you complete.

To set up your blog, use Blogger.com, a popular free online bloghosting service that is extremely easy to use.

Creating a blog using Blogger takes just three steps:

1. Create an account
As Blogger is associated with Google, you can use your Google Groups username and password to set up your blog.
2. Name your blog
3. Select your template.

Blogger provide a useful video showing you how to set up a new blog:

Webjunction also have a really good step by step guide to signing up for a Blogger blog.

Important: Bookmark your blog!

Save your blog to your bookmarks or favourites folder so you can return to it quickly later.

Want to be anonymous?

If you prefer, you can create a blog under a pseudonym - you don't have to give your real name. The only people that will know whose blog it really is will be the 23 Things administration team. Besides, part of the fun is guessing which blog belongs to whom!

Have a blog already?

If you have a blog already, you're welcome to re-use it for 23 Things. However, part of 23 Things will involve blogging about the tasks you do throughout the 23 Things program. Therefore, if you're not comfortable adding entries about 23 Things to your existing blog, you may want to create a new blog at a free site.

Resources

Have a look at the links below for ideas on what to blog about, and why people blog.

Ten tips for writing a blog post

Alternate tools

Throughout 23 Things we will point out alternate tools with similar functionality that you may wish to try using instead.

Don't want to use Blogger? Try WordPress.com. For assistance, go through this online tutorial.

Week 2: Start a blog

2008-06-24T13:05:00.000+10:00

2. Create your own blog and write something
3. Send us the link to your blog

1. Read about the 23 Things program

2008-06-21T12:37:00.021+10:00

Welcome to the start of 23 Things! 23 Things is self-paced learning program all about Web 2.0 technologies. Over the coming weeks you'll be reading about and experimenting with a lot of different online tools.

Each week will cover a different tool, and you'll have one or more tasks, or 'things' to do, and some information for you to read.

Origins of 23 Things

This program originated from the article 43 Things I might want to do this year by Stephen Abram, Sirsi Dynix's Vice-President of Innovation.

Stephen's list was then reduced to 23 Things by Helene Blowers, Public Services Technology Director of The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County and has seen countless permutations and learning experiences since!

Where to get help

You are not alone! If you get stuck using any of the tools we're using, there is plenty of help available:

Pick your colleague's brains by starting a discussion on Google Groups
Leave a comment here on the 23 Things blog. Just leave a comment and we'll post a response as soon as possible.

Your task

This week, all you need to do is read the list of 23 Things you'll be doing and some of the additional information about where 23 Things came from and why we are doing it.

Resources

Self-reliance

11 reasons why Library 2.0 exists and matters

Library 2.0 service for the next generation library

Next week

Next week, you'll learn how to create a blog with Blogger and add a blog post to it. Once you've created your blog, you can register your participation in 23 Things.

Week 1: About 23 Things

2008-06-19T17:25:00.001+10:00

1. Read about the 23 Things program

2008-06-19T17:03:00.006+10:00

The 23 Things

Here are the 23 tasks. As we progress through the program, each item in the list below will expand to become a link to more information.

Week 1: About 23 Things

1. Read about the 23 Things program

Week 2: Start a blog

2. Create your own blog and write something
3. Send us the link to your blog

Week 3: Blog comments and photo sharing

4. Comment on each others' blogs
5. Explore flickr
6. More flickr!

Week 4: Play week

7. Play with a funny image generator
8. Play with LibraryThing

Week 5: RSS feeds and blogs

9. Set up a feed reader
10. Add some subscriptions
11. Subscribe to some blogs

Week 6: Get social

12. Explore MySpace and Facebook

Rest week

Congratulations, if you have completed all 12 Things so-far, you get a week off and a free gift!

Week 7: Google tools

13. Play with Google Maps
14. Play with Google Docs
15. Play with Google Book Search and Google Scholar

Week 8: Google home page

16. Create your own iGoogle home page

Week 9: Social bookmarking and Library 2.0

17. Play with delicious
18. Read about the Library 2.0 movement and explore new developments in Library related interfaces such as Encore and the new Ebscohost 2.0 interface

Week 10: Wikis and video sharing

19. Put a photo of your pet on the wiki
20. Watch YouTube videos people have made about libraries

Week 11: Podcasts

21. Find and listen to a Podcast or two

Week 12: Communication

22. Read about and explore various web based communication tools including Skype, MSN Messenger and Meebo.

Week 13: Conclusion

23. Give feedback about the program