And in the end...

I really enjoyed this class.  In fact, this is probably one of my favorite classes I have taken at UB.  I really liked learning how to use Dreamweaver.  I don't know how many tutorials I watched trying to figure out how to use Div tags but I finally figured it out and I feel like Dreamweaver is just an awesome tool to be familiar with.

My experiences with this class convinced me to register for some other technical classes in the program because of how much I enjoyed learning about Dreamweaver and trying to tackle relational databases.

Web 2.0: Team Snap

This is a tool that helps you manage a sport team that you may be running.  I feel like this would be a really useful application. I have managed a few bar league soccer and roller hockey teams and it gets pretty crazy trying to keep track of everything such as schedules and payments.

With this tool you can upload the team members and keep track of who made payments, who missed games, and you can even keep track of team stats.  Web 2.0 really is making things much easier and the organization and ease of mind it provides is extremely valuable.

Library 2.0

I really liked Michael Stephens' view into a new world of librarianship.  He stressed that everything will become user-orientated and as librarians we are responsible to accomodate them with the information and tools they need and want.  Also, he stressed that librarians must stay on top of trends in the field especially in regards to technology.  We can't just use technology because its there but we must analyze what will be useful and beneficial to our community and patrons.

Zotero

My Zotero Library

Rollyo

Rollyo Guitar tab

I created a rollyo that includes a few music sites I go to for guitar tablature.  It was pretty nice to be able to create a search engine instead of having to go to the various sites separately.

I think this would be really useful to create search engines for academic purposes.  I can see how something like this could become very complex and offer plenty of worthwhile sites. It makes searching so much easier as it can be done in one place.  It takes an extra step out of the process as one search query operates over a variety of sources.

A Thing About LibraryThing

My Librarything

I thought this was a really cool site.  I like how it uses the tags to relate and suggest books.  Some of my favorites had over ten suggestions which I think would be really useful when I look for other materials to read.

I also liked the review feature.  It is very similar to Amazon as everyday readers are commenting and reviewing the materials.

IGoogle and Google Calendar

iGoogle is an awesome interface for all the Google apps and features. I have access to my documents, calendars, rss feeds, as well as my gmail, that I linked to my buffalo account, all in one convenient place.

Google Calendar is by far my favorite Google app.  It allows to create one time events and events that repeat (such as classes).  You are also able to create different calendars such as work, school, etc.  This is nice because you can toggle between the different calendars and just helps with organization.

The best feature is how you are able to share calendars.  You can adjust your settings so that possibly other colleagues or family members can see when you are available or busy.  There is also a meeting scheduling wizard that will find common free time between all parties and create the event in the appropriate time slot.

Web-based Apps: Google Docs

I was actually introduced to Google Docs by a colleague in another class earlier this semester. I absolutely fell in love with everything Google from that point on. I'm pretty convinced they are going to attempt to take over the world at some point in the near future.

The sharing and collaboration aspect of Google Docs is pretty amazing. Especially how you can each sign on to a document at the same time and edit work.  The google chat is also a great feature while collaborating over a document. All in all, G docs is just pretty awesome all around and I'm glad I was exposed to it.

Library Success Wiki

I believe this wiki is extremely beneficial to librarians who are looking to stay current on trends in the field.  It covers everything from how to manage a library to how to select materials. Having a collaborative website such as this is extremely beneficial to the professional because it really encourages life-long learning. Librarians are able to contribute what they feel is useful to the professional and others are able to benefit from their discoveries.

Technorati

I really liked Technorati's Top 100 blog function.  Especially how it is constantly ranking the different blogs and how the rankings change from week to week.  I also like how they have the Top 100 for different categories as well such as Politics, Technology, and Gadgets.  It seems as though they also use Tags so they you can find blogs that are similar to the ones that you may specifically enjoy.

Tagging and Social Bookmarking

I feel this is a very nice resource to be aware of.  The tagging enables common websites to be linked together which would be useful while doing research.  Articles that shared common tags and topics would be linked together so that they would be much easier to find.

Sharing bookmarks with colleagues would also be a good way to be made aware of good articles that you may have missed but another colleague had bookmarked themselves.

Finding Feeds

Technorati was definitely the easiest of the search tools to use.  The website is designed well and I was able to navigate and find feeds much quicker than the others.  I especially liked the Top 100 blogs feature that was even further broken down by categories such as politics, world politics, technology, and gadgets to name a few.  I wasn't a fan of topix.net and syndic8.com mainly because I felt the interface was designed poorly.

RSS and Newsreaders

I really like RSS and Newsreaders because it gathers a lot of the information I'd like to read in one easily accessible place.  Also, Google Reader has the unread articles function so I know when I am all caught up on the articles I may have missed.

Professionally, there are many feeds that are related to a variety of disciplines.  They will often keep you up to date on the latest discoveries, trends, and innovations within a field.  Libraries would be able to use these feeds for the same function and to stay on top of what is going on in the discipline.

librivox

I thought this was a pretty interesting site with a very respectable goal.  I was surprised with the amount of public domain books the website had gathered and converted into an audio form with the help of volunteers.  Being a history major, I decided to search for a few different topics and found that many of them had works that were available for download.

Podcasts

On podcastalley.com I found the podcast LibVibe.  Every week a new podcast episode is added to the channel and it discusses a variety of topics in the library world. It does, however, tend  to post more information on news stories rather than act as an education resource.

Youtube- Benefits of Web 2.0

Headshift Founder Lee Bryant discusses Web 2.0

I chose this video because you can get the insight of an information professional and his view on the benefits of web 2.0 in society today.

Flickery

I think the Flickery application is pretty interesting.  It has Google Maps integrated into its interface which allows photos to be tagged at any location.  I think this would be nice on long trips where each photo could be tagged to its specific location.  It would be cool to see exactly where you were when you took a picture.

Slash Rocks Out at CES 2008

Slash Rocks Out at CES 2008
Originally uploaded by Domain Barnyard

When I was about 14, a friend of mine introduced me to Guns n' Roses and I immediately fell in love with the guitar. Soon after, I began to take guitar lessons and especially got into the blues.

7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits

Personally, I believe Habit 6, using technology to my advantage is the easiest.  I have always enjoyed learning about all the new programs that are made available.  Even when I encounter new technologies that I cannot grasp right away, like Pro Tools,  I'll sit at my desk until I figure it out.

Habit 3 is probably the most difficult for me.  Sometimes it is hard to just look at a problem as only a challenge.  However, after I have successfully dealt with it I am able to understand the good that has come from it.

First Blog Attempt...

I'm Tom and I love to blog.