Assignment #11 - Search Tools

I tried Rollyo and wasn't impressed. Very clunky. I spent probably the same amount of time fiddling with it that it would've taken me to do the searches normally. I do think it could be potentially useful, although I prefer to use other tools to do pretty much the same things.

http://rollyo.com/ehlrond/my_first_searchroll/

Assignment #9 - Finding Feeds

i generally used the search tools of the reader when I'm focused and looking for a specific thing. I keep an eye open for the icons and add when I come across stuff I'm interested in.

Assignment #8 RSS

i was already pretty familiar with RSS feeds and have accounts in Googlereader and Bloglines. Its a great way to stay up with topics you are interested in without having to troll the web to find the info. I have to say though, it is still hard to keep up with all the feeds sometimes.

Assignment #7 - More Flickr

Had a blast with the "create a trading card" app. Created one of a certain coordinator of the library. Won't mention which one... she might hurt me. Rumor has it the card still exists somewhere in the bowels of the DEPO office. :-)

Assignment #6 - Flickr

I uploaded some images from a recent trip a couple of friends and I made to a conference. I played around with sharing images and downloading from my friends. Was pretty simple and easy to use.

Lesson #5, Facebook

Reflections, Take #5:

I’ve been on Facebook a while now. Cindi mentioned in one of her blog posts that poking each other into oblivion can get a little boring and that apps are an extra spice to Facebook and I agree. It is kinda cool to be able to find out extra bits of info about the interests of your friends that may never come up in random conversation. It gives you a way to enhance shared experience that you would almost never get. Almost all of my friends on Facebook are friends or at least acquaintances in RL.

I’ve tried MySpace, and it left me pretty cold. Too many ads, too much junk, the search engine stinks, and it just seems like a big mish-mash of profiles. Maybe I didn’t give it enough of a chance, but if a web app doesn’t grab me immediately, I usually move on pretty quickly. To be honest, I am a little weirded out by Facebook and MySpace, especially MySpace, when it comes to librarians and students and providing library services. I am just unable to shake this feeling of being the too-desperate to help, creepy “old person” trying too hard to jump in the middle of the students and “be cool”. Maybe that's my failing, but it is the truth. I’m all about having a presence, or portal, if you will, but going beyond that is too much, imo. That said, I like “playing” with Facebook, and think it is a tool that has a lot of potential for professional uses, and like any tool we just have to be careful in how we use it.

I'll step off my soapbox now... I welcome any comments, and am willing to debate the issue. :-)

Lesson #4, Social Networking

Ok, here are some *really* random reflections on social networking...

Social Networks – the hidden nature and depth of it – Just having all your information laid out to your friends and friends of friends and so on… is a powerful function of social networking, yet scary, too. When I changed my “status” in Facebook to reflect the ending of a relationship, it was transmitted to all my “friends” when usually only a few people would know. I received condolences from a couple of folks whose intentions were 100% pure and would’ve found out anyway, but it was a little weird. I didn’t think of how quickly and how efficiently the info would get out there, even though I should’ve. A simple demonstration of the power of the social network…

That said, the potential for professional and special interest networking is awesome to say the least. Chances are, no matter your interest, you can find someone who shares it on one of the social networks. And through them, a whole community. Awesome... Dude. :-)

And this is the end of my regularly scheduled random reflection...