Advanced Exercise Module #18

I sent a file to my brother using Skype. It would be a useful tool in meetings where people are in different locations and need to send documents.  I did a screen shot to show what it looked like.

Screen Shot:

Advanced Exercise Module #21

Making a podcast was fun, but it took so much time to figure out how to even get it on to a "host" site that I could to link to from Blogger. The screencasting that was meant to show me how to do it would not load and kept saying error. So I just looked on Google and did a lot of playing around, but you will have to download in order to hear it. The Podcast is a brief overview on how to make Buffalo chicken dip :) Enjoy!

 Podcast:
 How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip

Advanced Exercise Module #5

At first I wasn't really a fan of Flickr, I'm kind of old school and I like to print pictures out and have them to flip through.  Although now I can see why someone or an organization would use Flickr.  It is easier to post tons of pictures and put captions on them in Flickr instead of using Facebook.  It's also better for your Facebook friends so they don't have to see you constantly adding photos, if people really want to look at your pics they can just go here.  The Library can use it for promoting their different branches, or for showing pics from previous programs to stimulate interest in future programs.  

TCPL, a photo by FLorange16 on Flickr.

Advanced Exercise Module #19

I took one of my wedding photos and made it black and white. Then I added a splash of color by "erasing" the black and white on my shoes.  Ever since I learned how to do this by watching the tutorial with the girl and flower I have been doing it like crazy to my pictures :)  Below is the embedded video.


<iframe src="http://www.screenr.com/embed/92ws" width="650" height="396" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Advanced Exercise Module #6

I really enjoyed this module. I had fun playing with all the different filters, adjustments, and tools. I pretty much just went down the list and used all the different manipulation tools to see what they would do.  Anyone can use this to enhance their pictures, especially with being able to use layers, you can add to photos and take away certain aspects of photos very easily. In one of my other pictures I managed to erase my flower girl, she photo bombed a picture, just by using the clone tool and making her look like the wall and window that were behind her.  Layers also make it easy for when you want to undo something, but it was 12 steps ago, you just delete that one step without having to restart all your work :). The library can use the filters to create appealing pictures for advertisements, trainings, welcome brochures, etc. Family pictures can be enhanced and like I mentioned before you can get rid of wanted parts of photos. Just so many options when there are that many filters and adjustments (make pictures look old, sharpened, enhanced, clone in images/ or take them away) :)

I just added a little piggy picture that I enhanced, sharpened and then used the kaleidoscope filter on.

Advanced Exercise Module # 9

In Goodreads I went to Listopia and clicked on "What I should read in 2012?" From the looks of it I have a lot of catching up to do. I have only read roughly 2 books on the really long list. I usually stick to the classics, but I was recently introduced to The Hunger Games  and was looking for more great books.

I joined the History Book Club group on Goodreads. I found several authors that I am excited to read. I'm excited to read more by Suzanne Collins, and the Bronte sisters, and Kathryn Stockett.  I enjoyed looking at all the books and making lists of ones that I have read and will hopefully get to read in the next year :).


Here is the link: Goodreads

Advanced Exercise Module #11

These are just a couple examples of the ideas I came up with in my original blog post.   The top one is just a simple design that could be used for advertisements or fun Valentine's day cards, the bottom image could be used in a PowerPoint to outline the  agenda for a meeting or training. I had a lot of fun playing around with the different image generator sites.

Advanced Exercise Module #16

I made a wiki page on one of my favorit animals, the giraffe. I found facts and pictures on a National Geographic website and Wikipedia. Below is the link to my wiki.  I really enjoy wikis and have used them several times for school projects. its an easy way to show what you have learned, teaching others, or just having fun.  Enjoy!

Giraffe Wiki

Advanced Exercise Module #15

Google Calendar is one of the best things ever.  I love being able to create calendars and share them with others with just a couple clicks. Then if I want someone to put in their schedule it's so easy because I can just adjust the sharing features to allow them to add to my calendar. 

I shared my birthday calendar with TCPL's 23 things email. It is a calendar dedicated to just birthdays and I figured out how to have the birthday reoccur every year with just a couple steps.  Awesome!

Advanced Exercise Module #10

 I used another Sesame Street video to embed here because a lot of the new funny videos I looked up had disabled embedding.  I enjoy looking on YouTube and using the videos. As a teacher I used videos from YouTube a lot to supplement lessons. :)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zu8nz6XNdhg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Advanced Exercise Module #7

I'm still not a fan of twitter, but I am seeing its potential.  I tweeted a link and a picture, by using the websites recommended in the advanced exercise portion of the blog.  I took this URL http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/TownofEstesPark/CBON/1251596047038 and shortened it to http://1.usa.gov/yVYcnw and I posted the picture above using Twitpic.  My Twitter name is BJParson16 if you want to check it out. 

Advanced Exercise Module #13

I have a new appreciation for social bookmarking since the last time that I used it and blogged about the discovery exercises. I really do like it now :)

The Library could use this to have one place online where patrons could go, almost like a FAQ of websites and where they can locate websites to answer important questions (ex. tax paperwork). They can then search by categories, news, locations, government questions, or any other random thing the information desk is asked to search for. 

For my stack I chose 5 different news websites, although I am thinking now that I may make a stack for cooking websites so that way I can always access my favorite food recipes no matter computer I am on :).  I just shared the news stack with TCPL's delicious account, but I definitely plan on making more stacks :)

Advanced Exercises Module #14

I use Google Docs all the time, especially for my Church and sign-ups for pot luck and any other event that may be going on. Google Docs could be used in the Library for signing up for trainings, or for brainstorming sessions or making lists of things that  that need to be accomplished in each department (a to do list of sorts).  I just made a generic Google doc of the advanced exercises I have left to complete so I can keep track and cross them off. The link is below.

Shared Google Doc

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tRX_hkNbDpsNkP4cOp3WmbITbDYFo88FPH-9HGfhaq4/edit

Module #22 Book Trailer

Book trailers are interesting concept. I had fun playing around and making the book trailer. I definitely could see myself using this in the future for other events or activities like anniversaries, birthdays, etc.  I could not think of a book to make a trailer on because there are so many good books. I ended up doing a book trailer on If you give a pig a pancake. Here it is:

Module #19 Screencasting

Screencasting is such an amazing tool, you can use it to explain just about anything and everything that is on your computer. Screencasting can be used to show you how to use different tools in Microsoft programs; Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Publisher.  I absolutely love the screencasts for Picnik and have watched several in order to create my own little mini masterpieces of photo fun. Movie and music makers would benefit from screencasting as well. If it could be used to show how to make library cards that would be fantastic!

I looked up more Picnik screencasting videos. My favorite and still most useful of them all is the one that takes a black and white picture and adds splashes of color here and there.  I thought that it was very easy to follow and even when you were not sure 100% what was going on, you could see where the person found the tool and experiment with it yourself until you got it just the way you liked it. However, that would also be something that I would change. The viewer should not have to guess where you are and what is going on, they should be able to follow with little difficulty.  The picture did turn out great though, and it helped lead you in the right direction. I wouldn't click around so much in between each step, and if I messed up I would start over not just keep going, that's where it became a little difficult to follow.

Module #13 Social Bookmarking

I think social bookmarking is an interesting concept, however I do not have a whole lot of websites that I frequently visit except for facebook and gmail.  So I just picked some websites to bookmark to get to my five requirement. I chose several news related ones so I was able to use that as a category and then I placed facebook in a social category. 

If I had more websites I wanted to share with others than the sharing tool would be beneficial. I just picked a random one to share with the tcpl23things user name. Maybe in the future bookmarking will come in handy if I start using the internet for more than just news and communicating with others. Right now I have all my sites memorized and it would take more time to get to the social bookmarking site than actually going to the site itself. 

Module #20 WebJunction and Webinars

I enjoyed looking at this site and seeing everything that Indiana libraries have to offer. I picked three course units that I thought would be interesting and beneficial to our library as a whole. I then read the blurbs about them to get more information. The three I chose are; Cloud Computing 101, It takes a community to bridge the digital gap, and developing and maintaining e-reader policies and procedures for libraries.

The Cloud Computing course looked like it would be a useful tool to get the Library on one collaborative page and it also threw in Google docs and other tools that allow groups of people to work on one document from several different locations at once.

The Digital Gap one looked interesting just because I do not have very much knowledge about broadband technology and the different community groups/centers that use them. I am also curious to know how our Library is going to create/sustain our technology 'stuff' once we get our technology center.

Then the last one was about e-readers. After the awesome turn out that the Library had for the program I want to learn more about policies at other libraries and how they are handling the numerous amounts of people that want to borrow e-books.

Module# 12 Online Surveys

I created a survey titled Favorites! it has only three questions; what is your favorite color, food and book?  You can take my survey by clicking Favorites! below. I will post the results at a later time... 

Favorites!

Results: Fried chicken., buffalo flavoring are favorite foods, green, yellow, pink. and orange are favorite colors, and the majority could not choose just one book they enjoyed.

Module #21 Podcasting

I have listened to several podcasts about the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  The podcasts that I focused on were the ones done by Queen Quet and the work that is going on to preserve and understand the culture.  The Gullah/Geechee are located in SC, GA, and Northern FL.  There language is a creole language, a mix between English and several African languages.  Podcasts can be rather boring if the material being discussed is not interesting. A podcast is such a cool thing because you can hear a teaching by somebody that is in your town or countries away with the click of a button. I will listen to a podcast again if the opportunity arises or if there is a topic I want to learn more about. I definitely enjoy the podcasts that you can watch and I would try to find more like that to watch instead of just the listening ones. Podcasts are a great teaching tool!

Module #16 Wikis

I really liked the Foodista wiki there are several pictures that quickly grab your attention.  There was yummy looking food dishes and also pictures of celebrities which caught my attention and led me to read some articles. A couple of the wikis were laid out in an easy to read format and allowed you to look up a lot of different kinds of information (i.e. Foodista and Wiki How). The Library ones just looked really boring and no colors to draw the viewer in. Pictures, colors, and short headlines to click on that give you more information are the way to go if you want people to stay on the page and actually read anything.  I would like to find more wikis that are as nicely laid out as Foodista.