Week 8 of 23 Things

Hello out there!

Hope you had a good Labor Day weekend.

How's it going with the 23 Things? I see some folks are getting back to it and catching up. This is self-paced learning so you can do that! And a few people have reported that they have finished! Meanwhile, Nini Beegan from DLDS has a message for you about week 8 when you are ready to listen for about one minute - http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=10217&cast=30261&castPage=&autoplay=trueHere's what Week 8 is all about:

Week 8: Online Applications & Tools18. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.19. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.
Tip -
If you find that you are running out of time to do these exercises, maybe you can skip the "optional" ones and keep going. You can always go back when you have more time ;)

Regards,
Jennifer

Week 7 of 23 Things - Keep going, no matter where you are!

Good morning! Welcome to week 7 of 23 Things. If you are feeling a little behind, don't stop! You really have 12 weeks to complete this 9 week program. We know that people get busy, so we've factored in a few more weeks. Although this is play, it is important stuff. It's an opportunity to help Maryland libraries move forward. If we're going to stay viable in our communities, we need to know about these technologies. So thanks for helping us!

Week 7: Wikis16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them.17. Add an entry to the Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki. Remember that when you post in your blog about your experience you should include one practical application for what you’ve learned this week.
Tip -
If you prefer, you can jump ahead and play with the "things" in Week 7 even if you have not completed some of the prior "things". Then later, you can return and complete those.
Regards,
Jennifer

Microsoft Surface Photo Organizer

Microsoft Surface Photo Organizer,
originally uploaded by kjd.

For my "anything technology related" post I thought I would talk about Microsoft Surface. Just released by Microsoft and only available to select businesses such as casinos, Surface is a touch screen computer that sort of looks like a glass coffee table. The picture here shows photo organizer on Microsoft Surface. You can physically manipulate digital photos on Surface by dragging, dropping, and resizing with your fingertips. Pretty cool!
This sort of technology could revolutionize both back-office productivity and front-line customer service in libraries -- particularly self-service for patrons. Too bad it is not on the consumer market yet.