Twitter workshop

Hi all,

Its been a little while since I have been on here, but I recently found this introduction workshop from slideshare while undertaking the State Librarys' version of 23 things and thought I would share it with you. It has been interesting going back over what I learnt doing 23 things and discovering new information along the way. Twitter is becoming more widely known and used - hope you enjoy the slideshow (one of many readily available online).

Twitter Workshop

View more presentations from Jane Hart.

Librarians In the 21st Century

I found this wonderful news video piece from the New York Times, which is about librarians of the new age. Click on the link:

21st Century Librarian

It is essentially about a school librarian, but many of the principles and philosophies are relevent to ALL libraries.

Enjoy!

Edit: For a companion article, Click here.

What do YOU want and need?

The days are ticking by and we're getting closer and closer to the end of the 23 Things project. I can see lots of activity happening out there in library land, and more and more people are tipping into the "completed" zone, which is fabulous to see.

My questions for you are:

What else at this point do YOU need to help you complete?

Please don't tell me time, I've just given you another 11 days. *smile* But is there any technical help, further explanations or demonstrations or assistance in that level that I can offer? Does anything not really make sense to you even though you've done that module? Do you need something shown to you in context of how to apply it? Please leave a comment on this blog to let me know if yes.

Also, what applications do you see Web2.0 technology to be useful to us as librarians in our day to day lives?

Are there things that you think could be useful to us to streamline our work, our communication, and even add a little fun to how we work. Again, please leave comments on thos post.

Two Weeks Notice

Well, we have two weeks left before 23 Things closes. Is this the expression on your face right now:



Well two weeks is a long time in the blogosphere. You can get through this without it being a high pressure thing. Just keep going at it, a little each day. It's been wonderful to see people plugging away who've not really been sure about Web2.0 technology and then something clicks and:



They get it! They understand that it's not about playing with fads, but learning what the tools are and how they can apply certain ones to their daily life. What ones are fun, interesting, informative, useful, efficient things that you can use.

Before long, you've saved so much time by using these tools, you can be like this:

HOWTO: Subscribe to an RSS Feed Using Bloglines

It's easy!

Here's a video I found on YouTube to explain it:



Remember! You will need to be logged in to your bloglines account to do it though.

How to Blog a Flickr Photograph

So you want to blog a photograph from Flickr?

And you've tried to save it to your computer and then upload it perhaps, using Blogger's upload image function. But all you get is either a broken image or a white box. "Damn Blogger, keeps ruining my images!" you think!

Ahh but does it?

This method of using images on your blog is considered stealing them, and Flickr is very carefully set up so that you cannot do this. If you try to copy or save any of the photographs on Flickr in this manner, it cunningly gives you a white box or broken image for your troubles.

But now you're thinking "But I saw Kath and other people have blogged images from Flickr! No fair!"

You can do this too, providing the owner of the photograph you would like to blog, has actually given permission for you to do so.

To do this, it is VERY easy. If a person has given permission for you to use their images on your blog, you will see a little link above the photograph, as per the example below, circled in red:

The first time you use this function, you will need to set it up with the Open Source settings, but once you have done that, it's very easy to use and is the legitimate way to blog and credit photographs from Flickr. It's very simple, it will take you to a page that shows the photograph, a title block and text box, you blog there, hit publish and voila, you've blogged the image.

There are other ways to share images/photographs in your blog, through such tools as Photobucket or Shutterfly etc, but Flickr and Blogger are designed to work together, so this is the first you should learn.

Mind Your Manners - Blogging Etiquette

I've had some emails and even questions on people's blogs about what kind of etiquette is expected in the "blogosphere". So I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learnt in my time as a blogger (about two years).

• Always credit anything you use that is not yours. If you use Flickr and YouTube embeds, they will automatically link back to the original owner. But if you use information from another website, provide it's name and a link back to it. Or if you quote an article, link back to an online copy of that article.
• If you want to offer critique of something, use a polite, constructive tone. Remember, people are very attached to their work (be it blogs, photos, videos, whatever) and it's ok to share constructive criticism, but openly bagging something is not cool. How would you feel if you were on the receiving end of that yourself?
• Give your blog a title, and tags (labels).
• If you read someone's blog, comment on it from time to time - all bloggers love to hear from their audience.
• Keep your blog clear, the paragraphs reasonably short and check your spelling!
• Don't assume your audience understands something as clearly as you do. Explain!
• Keep it upbeat. A raging rant just gets your readers cranky... and they're likely not to come back.
• Use pictures and videos to break up the text.
• Try to use a template or layout that is easy to read. Some of the grooviest looking sites give the reader a headache after two paragraphs.
• Variety is the spice of life. Don't post the same subject or same format every time you post. It makes your blog easier to read if there is some variety.
• And remember: Do unto others as you would have done unto you. If you wouldn't like something said about you, or your work not referenced, or criticism aimed at you, think twice about doing it to others.

Happy Blogging!

How to Embed Video in Your Blog

Kudos to Youtubes from Youall for finding this video on YouTube showing how to embed a video in your blog.



Lovely and simple, no need for me to reinvent the wheel!