Thing 12: NetLibrary

I just completed the discovery exercises for Thing #12, and I feel that this blog post warrants a narrative of my experience, rather than a mere report.

First, some background: I plan to enroll at the University of Virginia in the fall of this year, specifically in the Master's program for Urban and Environmental Planning. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but of course, I have been feeling a little nervous about embarking upon such a huge undertaking. When I read that the University of Virginia is a leading source of online books, I eagerly clicked the link provided in the Web Challenge page and took a look around. I was astounded to see that they have well over 5,000,000 ebooks, and now I really can't wait to take a look around their campus library.

After moving onto the excercises, I created a NetLibrary account with relative ease. To test out the search tool, I tried looking for "urban planning." After all, I am curious to learn as much as I can about the occupation. I got 98 hits, which included a number of interesting looking academic texts as well as career outlook manuals that consistently place my chosen field in the top 100 jobs for college graduates.

So, in this one step I was able to learn how to use NetLibrary, assuage some of my fears about grad school, and answer my own reference question. Rock on.

Thing 11: Library Thing

I just took a self-guided tour through this website, and I was really impressed. I'm not the type of person who will read just anything. This site strikes me as an excellent tool for finding out what books I will enjoy by reading through the reviews and lists of comparisons to the books I have already read.

On that note, I think I'm off to a good start. The first five books I have added to my own library are five of my all-time favorites. I was not surprised to find that "The Catcher in the Rye" had more members than any of the others, or that "The Painted Bird," by comparison a far more obscure novel, had far fewer than any of the others. This title did have some cool reviews, including a few that discussed some of the larger metaphors of the book (I won't say too much, so as not to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it.). I was surpised to see how few members have added "The Giver" to their libraries (The book is excellent. Even if you have to read it three times before you appreciate it, like I did, it's worth it.)

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/ssimone07

Thing 10: Technology

I just read Stephen Abram's article, and I was surprised to see that I am actually already familiar with a number of the new technologies he mentions. I have personally used tagging, microblogging, personal homepages, and elearning. I was pleased to see that GIS (Geographic Information Systems/Science) made the list, as I have some experience using these computer applications, as well. Graphical displays of data have already shown themselves to be useful in a variety of ways (i.e., mapquest, GoogleEarth, etc.), and it is exciting to think how this may be used by libraries. Perhaps OCL would be interested in mapping the locations of other library systems, the locations of publishers, population or demographic statistics for Ocean County, or book stores that are in the area.

Also, when reading I was glad to have prior knowledge about things like RSS and podcasts. Thanks, Web Challenge!

Thing 9: Finding Feeds

I just took a look at the blog search tools recommended on the Web Challenge site. Topix and Technorati were pretty cool, and very easy to use. Syndic8 was a little tricky; I didn't really get it.

RSS Mess

Well, I finished Thing #8 after about an hour of searching for RSS feeds. I'm currently subscribing to 12 different feeds, including electoral-vote.com and The Daily Show, in addition to several listed on the Web Things Challenge page. The process of pulling everything together was a bit frustrating, but I am already looking forward to using my blogline account; it promises to greatly expedite my web surfing.

Chelseaaaaaa's Photos

A few months ago, my buddy Sam referred me to his cousin's flickr profile. He knew I was getting into digital photography, and thought I would be interested in Chelsea's art school work. As I looked around, I was really impressed. I especially like her portraits, like this one; I just think her use of shadows, props, and makeup (a al Blade Runner) is fantastic.

http://flickr.com/photos/chelseaaaaaa/2153780752/in/set-72157601365182782/

Flickr

These are my 5 pictures. I tagged them as "oclwebthings." They're not very good, but oh well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25485802@N02/

My First Post

To me, a life-long learner is one whose education supercedes the confines of their schooling.