Ideas to Steal

I really enjoyed doing this program and would do something like it again. Some of the things that we looked at, I would never do - although I think that I said that about Facebook - and look what happened. For sure, I won’t be a blogger.

I have been telling my kids (15 & 20) about what I have been learning and (of course) some things they know far better than I do, but others were totally unknown.

As I have said before, I don’t think that libraries will be used in Facebook unless it is to send notices - but the privacy issue would need to be looked at. The online software, &/or wikis could be good for collaborating. I still think that wikis have definite limitations, but I could see using them in a limited sense. The gaming use that I can see is using avatars for the Reference IM. If the upcoming students tend to look for the familiar person in reference, possibly directing IM chat based on avatars (database searching questions -an elf ranger, hardware questions - a dwarf smith, software questions - a wizard etc. or other avatars that would be applicable would give those students a familiar “person” to talk to while the working staff could change. Think of roleplaying while giving reference advise - kind of a mindblower eh? Might be fun to try though.

I have to say that I found the Mac bookmarklets one of the coolest features from the point of view of someone working in the library as a promotion for using books in the library. Why isn’t this out there? I came home full of enthusiasm, and some of my daughter’s university friends were there. I was explaining the bookmarklets and the 2 that were from Mac wanted the website to be able to do it. So I messaged it to them on Facebook.

So I tried a couple. Just to try it. It’s kind of addictive even though I didn’t actually find anything very practical for me - I just might have to try a few more - hmmm.

Headlines was cool (actually someone else installed that one) Sampler required too many downloads of various programs to run the web pages that were coming up, and the Del.icio.us buttons were just as easy to install from Del.icio.us.  Still - there are lots of other things to try and I think that I will have to look at at least a few more.

Could we (as a society and a government) stop giving subsidies to the “big” power producers and use those funds to provide low cost solar panels to everyone. With the use of the smart meters and a guaranteed buy back price (see California or Colorado) we might be able to provide the extra energy that we would need to be able to close or cut back some of the big plants. I know that there would be economic disruption, but this would be balanced by the increase in the solar panel (etc.) industry.

OK last time I really didn’t have much use for Facebook, and I have to say that I am getting some ribbing from my daughters and their friends for using it, but - after looking at what the kids (16-25) are doing with these sites, it is not too bad. I have updated my profile and have made some “friends”. It still seems that it takes a lot of time. However, it makes me wish that there was a way to send a private message or seperate a public wall board and a private board. I think that there might be, but haven’t found it. This age group seems to be using these spaces even more than email, and I can see that it works for them.  We heard a lot about people being contacted through this medium after the shootings at Virginia Tech. Therefore this might be the place to send notices instead of sending to email. One thing to look at/evaluate would be that this age group tends to think that Facebook/MySpace is THEIR area and they might find the use of it for commercial/academic notices an intrusion or offensive.

Went to the gaming info presentation today - Kudos to Kelly. It was interesting but I probably wouldn’t/or coudn’t get involved in most of the games presented. I remember playing D&D in college and boy - it eats your life.

Part of the reason that I went is because I am of the digital divide. I live in the country and only have 28.8 baud dial up - for those who don’t know - that was the standard in 1995. And it is really sl-o-o-o-w. This means that we cannot download music (my daughter hates this) , we can’t access some websites (I don’t like this), and that we cannot use most of the elaborate game sites.

I did try the Dance Dance Revolution at the presentation- it was a good workout. Sort of like aerobics but with the competition of beating the machine. I was the only one willing to make a complete fool of myself (which I did) but I enjoyed it and might consider purchasing it for a workout machine. It’s more fun than a treadmill and my husband and daughter wouldn’t be threatened by it (I keep saying that if I buy a treadmill, I’m going to cut the plug off the TV and hook the power source to the treadmill).

The best game that I have found so far was one that my oldest daughter sent me from Ottawa. It’s an arcade style game and you can find it at http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf
It works with your mouse as the controller - no special gadgets to buy and you try to fly a helicopter. I’ll warn you - it is slightly addictive with the simplistic appeal of Pocket Tanks (for anyone who has played). My personal record is 63.7 feet. Enjoy.

I have a hard time seeing how a library could use  games and I have already posted about virtual worlds and the problems that I see with that (see Technology in use archive). I do think it is a great way to reinforce a lesson in a class. As a matter of fact, I have already recommended some games to high school teachers at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School that might apply to their class curriculum, such as Pharoh (a game to set up a working city in Ancient Egypt) for the Ancient Civilizations teacher that requires the player to balance the use of land, # of workers and urban, religious, trade and  political requirements. I will also be sending the link to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game to the English teacher who teaches the book. I think she’ll get a kick out of it and it may have applications to her course.

In general, I feel that gaming will have most applications in the classroom and that the subject matter the libraries teach (ie research skills in the library) will be a hard subject to make interesting in a game format. And that virtual worlds are maybe not really the way we want to approach our patrons. I see the appeal - 24 hour access etc. but there really needs to be a person/persons behind it. That is what gives a library value added service - otherwise we might as well just direct our users to Google and have done with it. Also, unless the system/server is set up in Canada, the library is then subject to the laws of whatever country the server is in (i.e. Second Life & Homeland Security).

OK I am so definately of the wrong generation. I signed up for both Facebook and MySpace, and found no one on there that I knew (except of course for the people that I am taking this course with). I tried all kinds of searches - no luck.

Aside from that - both of these are very easy to use and set up.

I checked out a few of the listed sites and articles and would like to comment on them.

So far we have not seen many repurcussions from the passing of the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 in the USA- however I think it will end up directly affecting the social networking websites. It depends on how the advisory board interprets the act.

Second, I agree with the Meredith Farkas, author of Libraries in Social Networking Software. I don’t know if libraries belong here. I can see that they would like to (a market that is underdeveloped - young adults 16-25) but I would be interested to see statistics from those libraries that have set up a MySpace or FaceBook page for their libraries. It appears that most of the comments (from what I could see on their sites) are not from their targeted audience, but from the authors that they have featured. Therefore, it raises the question of  the chicken and the egg. You have to have the site if anyone is to come, but is it worth having someone monitor and run it if your audience isn’t there. Hmmm.

Well it looks like this might really cut into Microsoft’s market share. I wasn’t really sure about the Google application - it looked interesting but was going to take too long to take the tour and try it right now. I think that I would in the future.

Zoho actually looked easier to use although some of the applications might be a bit much to set up.

I probably wouldn’t use ThinkFree because I hated the fact that once I was into ThinkFree it wouldn’t let me out again. But then I have a personal prejudice against any website that does that to me.

I liked Snipshot and would recommend it to people who actually do that stuff to see if they liked it. I am not the photographer of the family.

LastFM looks like a lot of work!!! Perfect for the person with time on their hands.

I actually have been really interested in this. I still have yet to really figure out Flikr. I tried to post a photo but am still not sure what I did. I got the photo but the comment I had posted with it showed as a seperate entry. Will have to spend more time with this I think.

In a perfect world, educational centers at whatever level would be about learning. But they are not. They are about marks, about passing, about memorization, about scholarships, about degrees, about money, about jobs, but somehow learning has taken a back seat.

I hear that there are a couple of universities out there offering undeclared majors. I actually like that idea. Students could study what they are interested in. This, I think,  would promote interdisciplinary courses at the undergraduate and graduate level as students would be exposed to a variety of ideas. It would allow for these same interdisciplinary courses to be developed and driven by users. It would also allow for some generalists to graduate. I kind of like the idea that our future corporate leaders & political leaders might know something about gerontology, the environment and 19th century literature for example.

Has anyone heard about any long term results from these programs? Although I’m not sure that they have been around for too long- I would be interested to know what/who they are turning out.