#21 Podcasts, Schmodcasts

Of the 3 podcast directories, I like Yahoo Podcasts the best. It seems to return results that are more familiar and professional - NPR, NOVA, BBC, etc. - known quantities that I don't have to look at to see what they are about - saves time. I added the NPR book reviews podcast to my Bloglines account.

I enjoyed listening to the ASU Library Channel. I would like to know the demographics of who is listening to this podcast. What is the purpose and is it successful?

I thought it would be fun to listen to book reviews so I did a search on Podcast Alley - 200 results came back - too many to look through - I need a podcast review to choose a podcast on book reviews!

On a personal level, the travel and foreign language podcasts, such as ChinesePod: Learn Chinese and Unabellavista: How to Tour Italy, look interesting.

#20 You Too Can YouTube: RSS in Plain English

I liked this video when I watched it to learn about RSS. Posting it to my blog is a good way to keep track of it.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

I checked out Lulu, a site that allows you to self-publish your own book, music, or calendar and sell it online in either print or download format. I think this may be useful for faculty to produce textbooks for their own classes. This would also be a good way to publish a family history; interested family members from all around the world could get a copy. There is no cost to upload the book to the Lulu site; costs are only incurred by the buyer. I'm going to spread the word about this site to a few people.

Wikiality

I was talking with students the other day about Wikipedia - should I show them this video?

#18 Web-based Apps

In the spirit of efficiency, I'll create a document on Google Docs about #18 Web-based Apps and post it on my blog.

Google Docs looks like Microsoft Word, but does it have the functions I usually use in Word? Let's test it.

Sometimes I use the bulleted or numbered list function:

1. to provide information on sub-topics.
2. to list supporting evidence.
3. to make the document faster to read.

I often use the copy and paste function. I often use the copy and paste function. When I use the button for copy, a message pops up telling me that my browser won't allow access to my computer's clipboard. But the Ctrl-C command works.

My favorite button, Undo, is present and working.

And I can write text in many colors.

What about font styles? Not as many to choose from as in Word.

But we can highlight text.

Lots of fun functions for publishing a doc on the web.

It is very easy to publish the document to my blog.

#17 Playing around with wikis

Adding entries to the OULibrariesLearn wiki was fast and easy. It's a wonderful community-building tool.

#16 Wiki Wiki

I found a couple of ideas for using a wiki that I would like to try: First the subject guide. I would like to try this integrated into a subject-specific course with an information literacy component. It would be a way of involving the students in exploring, developing and sharing sources of information and it would grow year by year.

I also like the idea of using a wiki for planning and collaboration internally. Right now we have our policy manual on the C-drive of the work room computer. A wiki would make it accessible from any computer and easy to add or change immediately as needed.