Snopes: I've checked out this site about a year ago (I happened upon it by accident). I didn't know they update the urban legends though. I really never heard about many of the ones listed on there now.. just the one abou the prizes and stuff offered (supposedly) from Microsoft or AOL through emails. I never trust any email I get claiming that I'll win something by giving out my email address, or any other personal information for that matter...
Factcheck: I'm not really into much political stuff, but I did check out the article titled "The 2010 FactCheck Awards". Its about weird &/or funny campaign ads. I wish I could have watched some of the videos they had on there, but my PC was being a jerk again... : ( .... oh well....
I think these sites are really useful. Don't spread the rumors!! Check them out on Snopes or FactCheck first!! : )
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Thing #16
I've used wikipedia a lot.. I also use several other wikis. My favorite is one for the Forgotten Realms, which is a series of books that I like to read. If interested, you can check it out here: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
They tend to update the pages for this wiki pretty often, since the books are released fairly regularly. They are usually updated or edited by a handful of people, depending on the popularity of the sub-series of the Forgotten Realms series. I don't think this particular wiki would have been much different when it first started, since in was created in 2005.
I guess i can understand why teachers don't allow the use of wikis, since there really is no guarantee that information provided is accurate because anyone can edit it. Not sure how a library might use wikis. Maybe staff could use them though to learn about more current library related stuff...I'm guessing. I really don't know....
They tend to update the pages for this wiki pretty often, since the books are released fairly regularly. They are usually updated or edited by a handful of people, depending on the popularity of the sub-series of the Forgotten Realms series. I don't think this particular wiki would have been much different when it first started, since in was created in 2005.
I guess i can understand why teachers don't allow the use of wikis, since there really is no guarantee that information provided is accurate because anyone can edit it. Not sure how a library might use wikis. Maybe staff could use them though to learn about more current library related stuff...I'm guessing. I really don't know....
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thing #15
I created an account with Librarything because I thought it would be interesting to see how it works. I've added a few books from my personal collection and tagged them. If anyone is interested in checking it out you can go here: http://www.librarything.com/profile/Dayzid480 but be warned, I have weird tastes in reading materials... : )
I tried the suggester/unsuggester too, with some good/unusual results.
Not sure how the library might use this site. Maybe to highlight books on a subject pertaining to one of the programs going on at the time or with the displays or something. I can't really see us putting the whole catalog in there... that would probably be waaaaay too time-consuming.
I tried the suggester/unsuggester too, with some good/unusual results.
Not sure how the library might use this site. Maybe to highlight books on a subject pertaining to one of the programs going on at the time or with the displays or something. I can't really see us putting the whole catalog in there... that would probably be waaaaay too time-consuming.
Thing #14
I always wondered what that checker-board icon was. I've seen it on several sites before, but never checked it out. Now I know! Kool and very useful tool if you have a crummy computer like mine. When it crashes, I lose all my bookmarks. Now I have a place to go to find them again! Woo-Hoo!!
The Library might be able to use Delicious to bookmark interesting and/or related sites for patrons to check out.
The Library might be able to use Delicious to bookmark interesting and/or related sites for patrons to check out.
Thing #13
I knew about tagging before this, but never really paid any attention to using it. it was interesting to see the difference in searching using quotes and not using them. The results were quite different. I found that the more specific my tags where, the more the results seemed closer to what I was searching for. Searching using tags: purple, butterfly, and flower I got pictures of regular yellow butterflies on purple flowers or against a purple background. When I searched using "purple butterfly", I actually got a purple-ish butterfly.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Thing # 11
Let's see... I checked out Flickr colr pickr. I found some kool purple pics, but I don't know how a library might use this tool.
Tried Spell with Flickr: its kinda fun to play with. I can see the library using it for fun lettering on flyers or posters or something. One problem: I can't figure out how to save the generated image!! : (
Montagr was pretty kool too. I searched for books, and the mosaic was made up of books using the color palette from one photo of books. : ) I suppose this could also be useful in creating some kind of graphic for posters and stuff.
Retrievr: I drew a purple butterfly, and got a bunch of pictures of purple stuff; a couch, a flower, a ring. no butterfly. So I drew a simple purple flower. No flower in results... just purple stuff again... hmmm...and I thought this one was going to be the best gadget thingy...
I actually like the color palette generator. I uploaded a picture of my cat, Ziggy, and it gave me squares of all the colors in the pic! I can use this to paint on my PC! (Which I'm in the process of learning how to do using GIMP. YAY!)
Trading card maker was kinda fun too. I can see the library using this for some kind of activity for the kids or something.
As far as posting pictures goes, I think one should be really careful of what they post because once its out there, there's really no telling who will use it for whatever purpose.
Tried Spell with Flickr: its kinda fun to play with. I can see the library using it for fun lettering on flyers or posters or something. One problem: I can't figure out how to save the generated image!! : (
Montagr was pretty kool too. I searched for books, and the mosaic was made up of books using the color palette from one photo of books. : ) I suppose this could also be useful in creating some kind of graphic for posters and stuff.
Retrievr: I drew a purple butterfly, and got a bunch of pictures of purple stuff; a couch, a flower, a ring. no butterfly. So I drew a simple purple flower. No flower in results... just purple stuff again... hmmm...and I thought this one was going to be the best gadget thingy...
I actually like the color palette generator. I uploaded a picture of my cat, Ziggy, and it gave me squares of all the colors in the pic! I can use this to paint on my PC! (Which I'm in the process of learning how to do using GIMP. YAY!)
Trading card maker was kinda fun too. I can see the library using this for some kind of activity for the kids or something.
As far as posting pictures goes, I think one should be really careful of what they post because once its out there, there's really no telling who will use it for whatever purpose.
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