Ok, for this exercise I had to go to http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0 and choose a site that was a nominee for the Web 2.0 awards. I thought why not choose something fun, so I selected the category games and entertainment and read the descriptions for the top three in this category. The site that caught my interest came second. It is called Galaxiki ( http://www.galaxiki.org/ ) and is described as "A science fiction and fantasy wiki, the site is home to a fictional galaxy over which the community as total control"......hmmm sounds intriging.
Members are able to name and edit descriptions of stars, planets etc., invent aliens, write stories and upload images. They also have wallpapers and an online book and movie database where you can keep track of your favourites. Another fun option is the ability to place a widget onto your website/blog that displays a Galaxiki solar system in real-time (I have placed one on my blog). Basic membership is free, but there is an option to purchase your own solar system, which you can choose to donate to the site for public use, or keep for your own creativity. The site has over 2000 users and allows for forum discussions on things like books, movies, stores and a community blog.
This was an interesting use of wiki's and something similar could be implemented in the library. Perhaps a collection of book/movie review wikis by patrons.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
#18 Web-based Apps : They're not just for desktops
Well, signing up with zoho writer ( http://writer.zoho.com/jsp/home.jsp?serviceurl=%2Findex.do ) is easy, especially if you have an existing yahoo account. You just link your email to zoho and click on the log in with yahoo option. I really liked how zoho's permission to link with yahoo is a temporary thing, it gives me peace of mind in regards to my personal email.
It seems easy enough to use (if you are familiar with basic typing programs), but it took me a while to figure out how to publish the document on my blog. At first I thought it would be really straightforward, I clicked on the publish button above the document i was working on, I chose the publish to blog option (so far so good), then it asked for my user id......this is where i had problems. First I tried my zoho account username and password (no good), then my blog username and password (still no good), finally I thought what the heck and tried my email address and password and lo and behold it worked. I know it only took 3 tries, but the sites instructions could have been clearer. I dont consider an email address as a username and I only used it because I was desperate. Other than this I found zoho writer an easy tool to use, though I dont believe I will need it in the future.
You can see the document I published with zoho below this post.
It seems easy enough to use (if you are familiar with basic typing programs), but it took me a while to figure out how to publish the document on my blog. At first I thought it would be really straightforward, I clicked on the publish button above the document i was working on, I chose the publish to blog option (so far so good), then it asked for my user id......this is where i had problems. First I tried my zoho account username and password (no good), then my blog username and password (still no good), finally I thought what the heck and tried my email address and password and lo and behold it worked. I know it only took 3 tries, but the sites instructions could have been clearer. I dont consider an email address as a username and I only used it because I was desperate. Other than this I found zoho writer an easy tool to use, though I dont believe I will need it in the future.
You can see the document I published with zoho below this post.
1st go with zoho writer
Hmmmmmm, not sure what to write about. I have just changed the background colour and the font colour, perhaps I'll try some emoticons 
and some pictures.
This was something I found on the Penny Arcade site (http://www.penny-arcade.com/), can you believe what some companies will make for children to eat.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
#17 Playing around with PBWiki
Well I had a quick look at some of the favourite wiki's on the PBWiki site (http://plcmclearning.pbwiki.com/) and thought it was great. It had things like favourite books, movies, animals, restaurants, etc. and it was interesting seeing what people liked and why. Some entries were just quick comments like "I love to read children's fantasy books: Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, Inkheart... . Jairia", but others had taken the time to write longer entries explaining why they loved particular things and left links so people could find out more if they liked.
When I got around to finally adding my blog to the favourite blogs section, I was thrown for a bit because it wanted me to log in....and the exercise page didn't give password information, but then I stopped being blind and saw it was in plain sight on the PBWiki site >< . It was easy to add my blog URL and had no trouble adding a comment on the site about wiki's.
When I got around to finally adding my blog to the favourite blogs section, I was thrown for a bit because it wanted me to log in....and the exercise page didn't give password information, but then I stopped being blind and saw it was in plain sight on the PBWiki site >< . It was easy to add my blog URL and had no trouble adding a comment on the site about wiki's.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
#16 So What's in a Wiki
I thought I'd start by explaining what a wiki is. Basically it is a communal website that can be edited or rewritten by users/members of the site. They are great for exchanging ideas and pooling knowledge, and is especially helpful with subjects that are constantly changing (eg computers...).
For the next part of the exercise I checked out several library wiki's to see how they are being utalised. The St Joseph County Public Library (http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page) has a great subject guide created with wiki's. For example the gardeneing wiki link shows the library's new gardening books, any relevant magazine subscriptions they have, gardening tips, information on local farmers markets and links to related websites. They also have a section called "ask a librarian", where patrons find contact details to organise things like questions through a live chat session and to suggest books for the library to purchase.
The Princeton Public Library (http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library) also used wikis in an interesting way. During the summer of 2006 library members could publish book reviews on the site as part of their summer reading program. They only did this one year because they now have an option to put reviews on their catalogue, but have kept the wiki as a "snapshot in time" to show what was popular then.
I believe wiki's are easy to navigate and can have such a great variety of information due to the communal nature of the site, I guess the only problem I have with them is that incorrect information could be placed.
I have trouble finding new authors ( the ones I like just dont write fast enough >< ) so the idea of a book review wiki really appeals to me. We should definately look into using wiki's on our web site.
For the next part of the exercise I checked out several library wiki's to see how they are being utalised. The St Joseph County Public Library (http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page) has a great subject guide created with wiki's. For example the gardeneing wiki link shows the library's new gardening books, any relevant magazine subscriptions they have, gardening tips, information on local farmers markets and links to related websites. They also have a section called "ask a librarian", where patrons find contact details to organise things like questions through a live chat session and to suggest books for the library to purchase.
The Princeton Public Library (http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library) also used wikis in an interesting way. During the summer of 2006 library members could publish book reviews on the site as part of their summer reading program. They only did this one year because they now have an option to put reviews on their catalogue, but have kept the wiki as a "snapshot in time" to show what was popular then.
I believe wiki's are easy to navigate and can have such a great variety of information due to the communal nature of the site, I guess the only problem I have with them is that incorrect information could be placed.
I have trouble finding new authors ( the ones I like just dont write fast enough >< ) so the idea of a book review wiki really appeals to me. We should definately look into using wiki's on our web site.
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