Sunday, April 29, 2007

podcasts, bells and whistles

Some useful information on things like podcasts from about.com where I took a four day email class in creating and editing audio files, as well as a class in Web Design. While the instructions are kind of basic, both classes led me to other resources, such as finding a free digital audio editor Audacity. Of course, trying to figure out how to use the program is taking some time, but I have been playing around with my new microphone, trying to embed some audio on my website.

Templates

I have been working on creating a website for a couple of weeks now. I started by creating a domain name and signing up with Yahoo web hosting. Originally I was going to create my pages from scratch, using just the XHTML and CSS coding in a text editor (I have been using Notepad), but then decided that getting a finished product would take a really long time (and would probably be kind of primitive, at least in the beginning), so I shopped around for a template to use. Can't quite remeber how I found it, but I decided to use one called "Softened Cells" from FullAhead.org . My task then changed to adding content and figuring out how the template worked (extensive CSS file- still trying to configure it). Also having to hack the HTML to do some things not covered, so, although the site is still in a very developmental state, I have learned alot. My site (keep in mind it is still evolving) is InformEdge.net.

Monday, April 23, 2007

for openers

Recently I realized that knowing about Web 2.0 current events and actually applying these new things in a library setting are two very distinct things. While doing my customary daily "research" (which involves a random walk through the library blogoshpere, with frequent digressions via hyperlink, until much time has passed and the applications are still not filled in), I stumbled upon a link to the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg Country ( http://www.plcmc.org/ ) and an interesting online learning program developed by their technology director, Helene Blowers, called Learning 2.0: 23 Things (http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/).
Setting up a blog was Thing #3, and it's a useful exercise. I already am in the throes of trying to create a website, so this will be a useful notebook type space to attempt to organize the ramblings.
The program is very neatly organized and presented- it looks like an excellent way to introduce these new technologies to a technophobic or just inexperienced audience. The very process of moving through the list provides exposure to the technologies involved- listening to podcasts, viewing an online tutorial. The exercises are carefully limited in scope, so as not to overwhelm. I see that the online tutorial was done using a presentation package from Articulate (in the source code, the website is listed as http://www.articulate.com/ ; they have eLearning tools (including Presenter, which was used for this presentation) available (15-day free trials available- I will be trying that out).

And, actually I do remember the circuitous route to this link: I was looking at the website for the Darien (CT) Public Library, which is one of the oft-mentioned technologically hip library websites, and saw a mention of John Blyberg, who has recently been hired in some technical capacity by the DPL. This led to a link back to Blyberg's blog, wherein he posted the Library Journal's 2007 Movers & Shakers list. Helene Blowers was listed with her "Steal this idea" and here we are- some 90 minutes later...