I used Google Docs to create this blog entry. I think that this is a really great application! I don't know that I think it's better than Word, but it could be useful for students who don't have a personal computer, who don't like to use the W drive on campus or who don't have their jump drives with them. It's a neat application.

Web-Based Applications 101

I really think that is a great service offered to students!! The availability, simplicity, and cost ($0) makes all of those applications even more useful. I personally think that the zotero.org application is one that would be really useful. Especially for those who are in more research based majors or jobs. The wiki application is nice for group work (like I've said before) and it is good that there is a place where you can get your own.

Get Your Hands Dirty in the Wiki Sandbox!

One thing that I like about the wiki is how easy it is. You don't have to know html or any other computer language to accomplish it. I think that it will explode and become a more popular and widespread application in the very near future.

Like I said in the previous post, I think that the library could offer a group work wiki for students to do group work. Maybe that can be something that is offered through the Studio.

Gettin' Wiki With It!

Okay, I really like this application! I think that it's a great tool for group work! I think that we might offer it (along with a link to that video that explains how to use it) to students from the library home page. They can do group work through it. I know that blackboard offers wikis but professers don't always make them available. It might help our patrons with group work and make things a little more streamlined. Just a suggestion.

Tagging part 2

I really liked the Encore tag clouds. I think it helps you think of other terms that are related, especially if you are narrowing down a topic, or not quite sure what to call the topic. I think that it could help a patron be a little more specific (or broad) with their search.



del.icio.us is an interesting tool. I don't use it now, but I can really see a good use for research purposes and teaching purposes. I think that teachers can set up a good network of sites that are useful and not necessarily have to find them all by themselves. They can also help students do the same for their particular topic for assignments.

Tagging Part 1

Well I guess I never really thought about the importance of tagging. There has to be a way to link information to a search. I never thought of tagging until I had to tag some photos in Facebook. And even then I didn't relate that to anything else. It makes sense now in a different way. My search in google vs. my search in the catalog gave me very different results. In google, there are so many more millions of records than in the catalog so I got so many more results. And in a subject search, it is so much more important to have the correct tag, or you don't find what you want.

I guess that tagging is a new name for an old process. Just much easier to access now. I don't know that most people would claim that libraries were the inventors of tagging, but I think that they are the same process.

Search Tools

I LOVE this application!! Rollyo is GREAT!! As a teacher I search for lesson ideas on the web all of the time! This will save me so much time and frustration! This is something I will really use!
http://rollyo.com/keaslers/k-5_lesson_plans/
This is my first search roll. Yay.

LibraryThing

This was an interesting lesson. I don't know that I fully understand the point of LibraryThing, but it was interesting. Once I read a little more about what it did, I got a little more into it. It was kind of fun thinking of my favorite books.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/keaslers

Feed Searches

I really don't like the searches that I tried. I was looking for some teacher blogs on Deafness and I only found one that was partially relevant. Maybe I didn't search for the right thing, or maybe there just aren't any in existance... Oh well. I'll keep trying.