Wordle....I'm hooked!

Thing 18: Tag Clouds

So this has by far been my favorite learning 2.o assignment!! I have absolutely loved it! It is so fun to play around with! I feel like this will be an awesome tool for my library in creating neat posters. I want to make a poster for each Dewey section like the example that was posted. So I made my wordle all what is available on Pioneer. I am thinking that I could give this to all of the teachers if I did a presentation on resources or something. Seriously, this is an AWESOME site!!!

Podcasts

Thing 17: Podcasting

So I listened to a podcast called "The Fireside Book Chat." It's a podcast that talks about books for teens and the reviews are given by teens. I chose to listen to one of these because my school goes up to 8th grade, and I feel like I need to be more informed on what they are reading and good books to recommend, but I don't have time to read all of those books! I thought this would be a good way to stay updated on what is new and current in a quick and easy way.

The first podcast I listened to was a book review about the book Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz. This series is one that students in my library have asked about over and over. So there is a host that asks these students questions about the book. They talked about what student reviewer liked/didn't like about the book. The student reviewer gives a plot summary of the book. It sounds like a James Bond book but with a 14 year old boy. It was the fourth book in the series. He compares it to the other books in the series...thinks it was the best so far. Here is the URL: http://firesidebookchat.podbean.com/feed (Once there just type in the name of the book in the search box in the upper right hand corner and it will take you right to it.)

I listened to another review on the book A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer. I recently visited a high school and the librarian said that this book was the favorite and that she couldn't keep it on her shelves. I read this a long time ago, but as the student reviewer recapped the book I couldn't believe some of the sad, tragic things that happened in this book. Here is the URL: http://firesidebookchat.podbean.com/feed

I subscribed to these podcasts, but I think I might look for another review podcast that is reviewed by librarians. I want to know more what is in the books and if they would recommend them for school libraries etc. The student reviewers didn't give me all of the details I wanted, but I like hearing what students thought about the books.

Thing 16: You Tube!!

Well I found a bunch of different videos. There are a tons of raps and songs about libraries that are kind of fun. This was one video I found that just had music and pictures and highlights about why school libraries ROCK! Check it out....

This is another quick, funny one I found....aren't we all super librarians?!?

This last one that I found is the best out of all of them. I think is really great. It is a little bit longer, but it talks about all of the different roles that we have as librarians. I like that the teachers are the ones that are talking about what their librarian does. I think that if we could all get our teachers to do this about us...if we deserve it....we would all be able to keep our jobs because you can tell what an invaluable resource Kathy Lester is. The thing that I think is really neat about this video though is that I really think that all of us (including me!) could become such a librarian. I feel like right now we are being equipped with the skills that we need in our classes. It is just a matter of implementing the things that we are learning, the tools we are discovering, the skills we are enhancing into our libraries. I found myself thinking that "Yeah, I've done that before. I could do that easy!" Anyways, its a good, motivational movie to watch and a good reminder that we do matter to teachers...we just have to make it that way!!

Tweet--Tweet!

Thing 15: Twitter

So when I searched for what people were saying about the library/libraries, it really wasn't anything relevant. Lots of them were headed to the library to study and some others said they were head to the library to check out a book. Others said they hated libraries for banning cell phones.....so yeah, I didn't find anything worth looking at.

So I've got to be honest. I will probably never touch twitter again. I don't feel like it would be really helpful for my library. Twitter is definitely not the first place that I would go to publicize any event or happening in my library. I would first post it on my blog; I would send out announcements in the school newsletter; I would post something on the school website; I would let teachers know to tell their students etc. If I sent something out on twitter, I guarantee that not even 30% of my student body would get the message not only because am in a K-8 school, and I am pretty sure that most young kids don't have twitter counts, but they would also need to know my user name and be added as my friend. Ugh...I am feeling blah even just thinking about this. Not going to use Twitter in my library. Although I could maybe possible perhaps see that it might be more useful in a high school library. But in my opinion not as a librarian, I don't like Twitter. For me, it would be another time waster. Plus, I don't think anyone really wants to know what I am doing every second of every day...if they do, they will call and talk to me or I can post it on my blog.

RSS and Newsreaders

Thing 13: RSS Feeds

So I set up my bloglines account. I was already somewhat familiar with it as I researched it last semester for my blog presentation. I think I even started an account, but I couldn't remember my log-in name so I had to make a new one...good thing it was fast and easy!

I added some of my favorite library blogs and I set up to get the new feeds to this flickr account...http://www.flickr.com/photos/batiks/ Go check it out...the pictures are BEAUTIFUL!!

Thing 14: Newreaders

Well I have been looking at the different "Top" Librarian Blogs, and I have picked out a couple that I like. I like "The Merry Librarian" because she posted pictures, she had book reviews and she just seemed like a normal nice lady. Some of the blogs I looked at were just weird and all it was was writing, writing, writing! Don't get me wrong, I like new information, but I just want to poke my eyes out when all my eye sees are words and more words. I need a pleasant looking blog to look at. I need to see pictures to catch my attention to what I am reading. I guess I am visual person, but when I clicked on a few blogs that were hard to read, only words, and I couldn't find the information quickly I didn't like it. Another blog that I liked was A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette. It might seem funny that I like this because it is pretty plain jane and there aren't any pictures, but I thought that it was pretty funny and entertaining to read. This librarian just offers different random tips on being a librarian, but each post is short and quickly and easily read. Some other blogs that I like to follow even though they aren't on any of those lists are the following: Kiss the Book and The Librariest. I love these blogs because they are from local people here in Utah. Another reason I love them is because they give great book reviews! I don't have time to read all of the books in my library, and I don't have time to always be reading the newest and greatest, but these blogs provide great book reviews by certified librarians. I have subscribed to both of these and plan on following them regularly. So for me, what makes a blog important are ones that provide book reviews and relevant and current information that I feel is relevant to what I am doing in my library (which is really just trying to build the collection so I love the book review blogs!) Another thing that I put a lot of value on is recommendations from people I trust. So if another librarian I know says they really liked this blog, I will go and take a look at it, and most often, I am happy with what I have found!