#17

I'm positive about wikis as a way to share opinions; not as much for sharing information. A dose of skepticism about sources is always healthy. As it develops a wiki will be as reliable and trustworthy as its participants make and keep it.
I thought the PBwiki tutorials were good--direct without skipping over steps. It's reassuring to see the results of each command you enter. Sometimes too much is assumed as being common knowledge. Wiki, Wiki, Woo!

#16

The discovery resource I found most interesting was "Using Wikis to Create Online Communities" by Meridith Farkas. I liked the discussion of self-organizing group discipline. Viewing the Wiki as end product that would be a consensus of its contributors gives everyone a "stake" in its creation and ongoing integrity. This is the answer to the question of who is the gatekeeper in 2.0: everyone who is involved in the product.
There is also a good discussion here about libraries using wikis as an outreach tool. The open-endiness of wiki make them ideal for brainstorming or visioning. Wikis can define community needs for you. By responding to those needs you complete a bridge to the public. Pretty soon there can be lots of traffic!

#15

All of the six perspectives offer thoughts about information sharing. They see Library 2.0 as the vehicle for integrating that sharing. Check out "To a Temporary Place in Time" by Dr. Wendy Schultz. She has some great expressions: "Tagclouds offer diverse connections, not focused expertise." What a nice summary of this problem and the word "tagclouds" is a wonderful image. Library 3.0 as Library 3D and Library 4.0 as "knowledge spa" are pretty good too. Sure wish I'd saved my 3D glasses!

#14

A keyword search for "learning 2.0" in Blog posts yielded 345 hits, in Blog Directory, 2,483 hits, and, in tags (a lot of authority in English), 316 hits. My exploration of "popular blogs" gave me a chance to look at Boing, Boing which I had seen listed on other lists but had not opened. It is a nice mix of subjects. I came across two blogs that discussed the same topic I touched on in Exercise #13; here are the URL's: http://www.duperrin.com/english/2008/03/21/trust-doesnt-preclude-controlbut-which-control/ and http://www.elsua.net/2008/03/18/into-the-big-blue-yonder/

#13 Tagging

I looked at the links for this exercise and settled on NLC's Reference Department account. I picked astronomy as a tag and then "Your Sky" as a website. This particular one has been "saved by 283 other people." The comments about the site were similiar--some were almost identical. One comment caught my eye as hinting about the sharing aspect of this technology: "If I have your mailing address, you'll soon find out why I'm looking at this site." That seems to be the main point here.
I found the tags similiar and ranged from 1-9 per person--the common tags accounting for the sharing of info, linking people in their search. One thing of note: the 283 people were from different countries--an international chat!
Obviously, this opens one up to a lot of info. One problem I see is that a lot of it is opinion. Where's the documentaion? Where's the bona fides? I suppose after a while one gets a sense for this. With experience you trust certain sources and become your own gatekeeper. This ties in with the other problem I see: it still seems like a flood, a data deluge. I gather Del.icio.us is supposed to be the answer to that but it is not appearant to me just how.

Avocado Prep/Photo by Alex Jochim

Item #12

I found this difficult to set up and don't see any application for me. The instructions are vague and, I think, assume too much computer literacy--not an assumption to make with me. I hope to revisit this task before we're done and try another approach.

#11 Librarything

This is an interesting tool; I wonder about how much to put into the profile so I kept a low profile for that reason. I kept my "holdings" small; I entered Gore Vidal's 6 historical novels about America. The link is: http://www.librarything.com/profile/blogosaurus

#10 Image Generators

I looked at GeneratorBlog and it gives you a good sense of this technology's creative potential. It is easy to see why this exercise is a "fun" one. There is a list of "Previously Posted Generators" that I went into. Quite a few are deadends--website not available. One that did work was: Cheese Comparator Generator. You type in your name and it gives you your "cheese" name. When I put in just my first name, I'm Brie; when I enter my full name, I'm Gouda. Add my middle name and I'm Limeswold. They do provide a brief "bio" of each cheese. The link is: http://www.astradyne.co.uk/cheese/

#9 Finding Feeds

I thought Bloglines Search Tool was easy to use because it lists their 1000 top feeds. There was something there for everyone. You can preview each one to get an idea what it is and subscribing is simple.

Avocado on marble from Highnooner's/Photo by Alex Jochim

Item #8

RSS allows you to access information through a single conduit rather than tracking sources individually. In today's info-satuated world that's pretty handy. Libraries could use it to track new titles about a particular subject.

#7 Blog About Technology

I grew up in a rural area where the phone system was what was known as a party line. You and your immediate neighbors shared the line. Everyone had a ring code: if the phone rang "long" once, then "short" twice, that was your call. If it rang "long" once, then "short" once, it was someone else"s call. Typically, each group had six or so parties covering a square mile or so. If there was a bad storm or other emergency everyone could be on the line at the same time--sort of like an intercom. People could also eavesdrop if they were deft at handling a receiver. Technology can be great for information sharing; not so great for privacy.

Flicke 3rd Party Tool

Motivatr caught my eye because it reminded me of despair.com, a website that sells take-offs on the framed motivational photographs one sees all too many of. Dennis Klebe shared this website with staff several years back at tax time.

Bugaboo Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Bugaboo Smoked Baby Back Ribs, originally uploaded by disneymike.

One thing we're missing downtown is a good rib joint! Chauncey Blakely had one years ago on P Street called Chauncey's BBQ and there used to be a Smoker Van that would park in the alleys on weekends but that's about it. Thank goodness for Ribfest!

Easiest/Hardest

Item #1/Begin with the end in mind is probably the easiest for me since I generally set goals before I start. Item #6/Use technology to your advantage is the most difficult. I like results and once something works and gets the job done I'm happy. I may miss the advantage going another step may give me.