Final Comments

I enjoyed listening to everyone's Wimba presentations of their group projects. Everyone has certainly put a lot of effort into their projects. I would say that I would have liked to have heard everyone's voice on the presentations. It is nice to get to know who is on the other side of things. I did think that one of the presentations was a bit rushed; however, they did seem to manage to keep within the time given. I think Frank's group seemed to be straight forward and down to the point which to me says user-friendly and he spoke at a relatively slow pace. People of all ages can easily grasp this without feeling overwhelmed. Simple people do not like the hustle and bustle of city life and are offended at rapid conjecture. I remember noticing this when a girl, got caught up in it as a teenager, and now have a new perspective on the matter as a mature adult. Everyone has put a great deal of effort into their projects and I pray that they have received their rewards with good grades. It has been a pleasure making your acquaintance here on the board. You are most welcome to visit me on my Facebook page. I wish you all the best! As I have graduated and my transfer is a success, I will be leaving the school as a student. I think I am going to miss that side of it. Yet, I am happy to have made progress. It has been a struggle, yet I am happy to say that my GPA is intact and I will be graduating Summa Cum Laude this Spring. I say this in amazement at this accomplishment as I never would have dreamed it so. May your endeavors be blessed and your burdens be light! Love and Light, Tamara.

Final Blog-Future in Library Services

The Time Machine
by jovike with CC license: some rights reserved

This week's session has been almost like an H. G. Wells adventure in his famous time machine. I pray that libraries end up with a better future than in his novel. With this economy, who knows? With so many predictions being so accurate, it is as if we are in a scientific project that perhaps has been performed before and we are its next victims of experimentation. Sci-fi aside, it has been fun to contemplate the future benefits that may be derived from modern technology. I think it rings out clearly that one must remember the past in order to understand the future. Services will always remain basically the same it seems, only with new adaptions in how to accomplish them.

Blogging has been an excellent experience for developing needed skills for electronic posting. We started out with Wordl and learning to upload photos. We took an assessment, learned about Creative Commons and how to post a video from YouTube, discovered social media and Delicious along with tagging, discovered Cloud Computing which took a moment to grasp for me, learned about wikis, networking and infrastructures, mashups, mobile devices and apps, information tools, discovered how audio/visual may be used to enhance presentations, learning and teaching tools, experimented with Wimba and Skype with screencasting, selected Web 2.0 projects, discovered assistive/adaptive technology and performed group projects, and then peered into the potential future of libraries. It has been a busy semester! I am glad that I was received into this class. It has been a joy to learn and always chalked full of new scholastic adventures. The two highlight projects for blogging would be the following of the selected two resources through Delicious (which I observed through Google Reader) and the Web 2.0 projects, mine being the Facebook Social Media project and the Video Sharing/YouTube project. They have taken a great deal of blogging space and have pursued progressive discoveries into other web sources to examine and compare for library applications. This class has allowed me to relax more with technology and gave me solid ground to base myself. I know now how to explore and how to find the right resources to help me discover and stay on top of technology. I know that this class will continue to have its influence on me as I press further into higher education into the world of library science. It has been a pleasure meeting everyone and I have enjoyed reading your blogs and learning with you as we made our discoveries together. Have a wonderful last week of class and may your holidays be merry and bright! Best of luck in the future and all of your endeavors! This is my last semester at Ivy Tech! I will miss being a part of the student activities, yet will continue on as a Logansport Ivy Tech LRC staff member. Blessings be to you all!

The Story of the Four Candles posted on YouTube by Ninidosha (Double-click to enlarge screen)

TroubleShooting

Fixed by Don Fulano with CC license: some rights reserved

I have been rather interested in this weeks topics simply because I do so much troubleshooting in my place of employment that it was rather applicable. I especially enjoyed how they pointed out the most simplistic solution of shutting of the equipment and turning it back on. I also enjoyed the notion of keeping a troubleshooting journal. This is something that I will definitely be looking into in the future.

I have completed my Web 2.0 projects. They have been very educational and have put me more at ease to searching the web for apps that may be of use. It has also opened my eyes to understand to actually search for an app even if I do not know of its existence if a need arises.

Our tech comparison group project is coming to a close. My partner Chris was to upload the project to Wimba over the weekend and we are to meet to discuss presentation of it on Tuesday. So projects are coming to a close along with this class.

I have been received into the general studies program at IUPUI and am signed up for classes. I have to forward them to my adviser and contact financial aid to verify everything. I cannot wait until I actually receive my books. I will only then relax and start to believe that I am an official transfer student. I am yet waiting to receive word on the subsidiary that I have applied for to assist me in obtaining certification. I wish to get this accomplished before the start of Spring

semester as I wish the credits to apply for the continuation credits required to keep the certification active.

One application that I have been enjoying is Spotify; though, I have not had time to create a Christmas playlist as I did for Thanksgiving. I have to say that it does not take the place of some well-enjoyed radio stations at Live 365. WinterScapes is very beautiful and quite soothing. Here is a link if you care to enjoy the holiday season with me: http://www.live365.com/.

I pray that your projects continue to go well and that your holiday spirit is uplifted and regenerates you to continue to the end of the semester. Below are some pictures of the Logansport Ivy Tech's Campus after receiving snow. Have a wonderful week!

Video Sharing/YouTube Project

You Tube In The Library

View more presentations from CKZ

This class has been the highlight of my learning in the lta program with the exception to the practicum which was a warm wonderfully inviting experience for me. I started off this project reading through the lesson and exploring the links that were suggested. I found that the Allan County Public Library had a wonderful example of how video may be used in library services. Their video on eReaders was an explanatory; however, it further developed their program of exhibiting different popular eReaders to assist patrons to not only take interest, though also to assist them in purchasing the one that was right for them. I think this is an example of how libraries may use information in an assistive way to help merge the digital divide.

Resources that I examined were live streaming this focuses on videos being posted at the time of posting. The benefits to this could be instant sharing when there is a special event that could not be repeated. 12seconds.tv may be useful for quick broadcasting. This reminded me of Twitter in the regulation of momentary publishing. Screencasting has the benefit of not hosting software. ScreenToaster also hosts a PDF creator and Posty app for the desktop to provide instant publishing to websites. Screenr was the most user-friendly and had high editorial appeal. Screencastomatic is very useful for scholastic application in its presentation. ScreenCastle’s web interface does not live up to its name in my humble opinion. I did also pursue those links within the assignment for Windows. Some were not easily studied as they required subscriptions.

The most difficult part of this video was the theme. I did not truly know where to begin. So I started from within this class. I had selected the Social Media project and this Video project as well as explored Second Life just to say that I examined it without walking away from the unknown. Confining myself to these topics, I downloaded Jing and made screencasts easily that were saved to screencast.com. I proceeded to save this on my flash drive under the designated folder for this project under this class. Then the second hardest part came and that was to use the Windows Live Movie Maker. I had previously examined another student’s video of her project which was Second Life. I have to say that I was rather intimidated. How on earth would I ever learn how to make such a professional video? I needed to learn more about effects. So I struggled with tackling this topic due to ignorance itself. I finally happened upon the presets within Windows Live Movie Maker and realized that it was not difficult to do at all. I am rather pleased that I have made this discover and actually managed to upload sound. I know that it is not a Sullivan production by any means; though, I do believe that I have developed enough ability that I could get by on my discoveries and be able to assist in library services appropriately. The last most difficult thing to perform was uploading to YouTube. I had a phobia of this as I had not had a good experience on a previous attempt in Children’s Literature class. After consulting with our instructor, she assured me that my file was in acceptable format and that the download time was normal. With this understanding she assured me of bandwidth issues that could interfere and to arrange time around “busy hours” on the web to assure success. The following is an example of how libraries may use video for library instruction.

How to Use Home Sharing with iTunes Library for Dummies by Dummies.com


In summary videos may be used in Library 2.0 applications to serve patrons with instructional information, celebrate local history, and extend already occurring library services as well as simply encourage patron participation. When participating in utilizing video, it is always important to acknowledge copyright for any resource that is used. Copyrights protect the producers of the materials in order for them to receive the benefits that are deserved for the development of such. Etiquette is always of value and important to consider when producing a video. Considering others should always be kept in the forefront on one’s mind when attempting to produce materials that will be used by the public. One should always attempt to be non-offensive in every way. Lastly, the best thing that I have learned is to face fears that overwhelm you by getting feedback from others. I think this is much like troubleshooting one’s own difficulties. If someone else has experience with technology and you hit an obstacle, check to see what their tactics have been for confronting down times and make a journal of your accomplishments. Overall this has been an educational project that has taken me into a new area of technology and expanded my horizons. I look forward to new explorations with my toolkit based upon skills learned from within this class.

Here is my video project for your viewing. I welcome questions or comments. If you have any advice, I would love to hear it.

Video Sharing/YouTube Project.wmv by tamarag2010