Exercise 10: Generators

Here is the nouveau etch-a-sketch called Sketch Generator called Dumpr at

The generatorsare fun. They can spread alot of joy for the striking of a few key strokes. These apps a getting to be very easy to navigate. Earlier in our exploration it was a chore to get through the text on the site, that is, to zero in on the operative next step. Now I'm just zipping along.

However I am somewhat baffled by the fact that the gnibear's sketch is not instantly visible but needs an additional click.





I found the Cappuccino at ImageChef.

Exercise 9: Newsfeeds

Topix, Liszen, Syndic8. Technorati will be covered in a future post.

LISZEN some day will be a useful site for librarians. Currently it boasts to cover 700 library blogs. It needs some help to increase its coverage before it is seen as a first stop search spot.

Of the three newsfeeds visited for this exercise I especially liked Topix. The indexing seemed to give useful results, instead of a “come on” to more advertisements for commercial enterprises. The paid ads were discreetly off to the side and clearly labeled. Furthermore, Topix seemed to view “phrase” (quotation marks enclosing your search terms) as a phrase search and therefore, I did not get miscellaneous irrelevant hits. I liked the “interactive graph of "x topic" in the news.” A very nice feature if one is trying to zero in on a particular time period.

Syndic8 is an extremely well conceived site. The intake information for the sites is very complete (it almost rivals the MARC format). The chart and statistical breakdown on the site are interesting to view and will no doubt serve as a motivating feature for the hardworking Syndic8 staff. I’m very favorably impressed.

Exercise 8: Blogroll

After considerable shenanigans and no help from the blogline’s helpful hint, Library’s Cat and I managed to put my blogroll on my blog. I’m certain there was just some tiny something I was doing wrong the first six tries.

Exercise 7: Technology issue: Rant du jour

Technology issue: Rant du jour

Our University’s library is exploring the possibility of going with an OPAC other than the one offered by our Library Management System provider ExLibris. I can only say goodbye to Aleph and unresponsive providers.

We are returning to the innovations of the days of yore. Many of us remember the search engine Northern Lights. The Endeca interface certainly reminds us of this grandparent guided navigational system.

The advantage of the Endeca interface is the intuitive nature of the interface. Certainly if it is the navigational system used by Home Depot it must be the choice for no nonsense searchers. The interface allows the initial searched for term or terms to fall into broad categories so that the person searching can narrow according to their preferred path.

The only question is why it has taken so long to give our library users an intuitive interface. We do not go home and struggle with our TiVo. We simple push menu and fall through the channels with no challenging terminology. We must realize that most of our users simply want to arrive at the desired end — a DVD, or a reference source, or, more likely an online full-text article – that is only modest in length.

Let’s make life easy for our students and faculty. Endeca is a baby step in the right direction.

Exercise 6: Flickr Mashup

In response to exercise 6, I've enjoyed exploring Flickr. I'm intrigued by the "mashup". I'm not fond of the nomenclature but it is expedient in conveying the merger of the applications.

We have used Flickr previously to assist in the marketing of a theater production. It is good that so many people are so generous in allowing others to use their images.

Recently I took a very abbreviated course in PhotoShop and Dreamweaver. The young man seated next to me was a NASCAR fan and he was creating trading cards for the local drivers to supplement his income. I’m now wondering if it was with a “mashup” such as I found on Flickr that he was creating the cards. My question now is how did he make the verso of the card? How does one print the card in alignment back to front on the card stock?

Exercise 5: Sharing photos in Flickr

Exercise 5, Sharing photos in Flickr. I liked this piano interior. I guess because my new world revolves around learning to play the piano. Day to day the lid stays closed on my piano, because I don’t want dust to mar the stunning interior.

Most musical instruments are as beautiful to behold as they are beautiful to hear. Recently I had guests for brunch and for the second time, since I’ve owned my piano, I opened the lid. The as yet unnamed piano possesses such voluptuous opulence it has got to be a female. I have been puzzling for months over what I should name my piano, I’m happy to entertain suggestions.

7 1/4 habits

I want to begin by responding to the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Life Long Learners. I begin with the end in mind! However, so much so, that I expect the project/plan to have been accomplished yesterday.

My greatest challenge would be in creating the learning toolbox. There is so little $$$ for software and hardware. I have been asking for presentation software for three to four years.
I certainly noticed that exercise two was beautifully created with Articulate. I guess I will have to be an unwelcome guest and borrow another division's software yet again.

Another interesting point was made in the "Lifelong Learners" presentation. Negative thinking and words are a pervasive part of life. I need to start a new manner of positive thought and block the negative words that are so much a part of daily existence.

Recently I began studying piano as an adult beginner. This step took a large amount of courage on my part because my older sister (who has recently left us) was an extremely accomplished pianist. This speaks to point two: Accept responsibility for your own learning. I'm playing with two hands but I'm not as accomplished as Nora. If this wasn't enough an encore command performance can be seen here. My first and favorite YouTube video.