Thing 12 &13

I know I am behind and when I have time I will try to add a few tidbits of my personal life to this thing. It's been a wonderfully busy month and another has just begun. Today was my first class of the fall semester, I am a month into my new job as a graduate assistant at the NYS Library, and I am still slowly planning my wedding. It's going to be an interesting few months...now let's start a game of ketchup!

Thing 12 Putting the Social into Social Media

 image by Fred Cavazza taken from Flickr

• are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than those already outlined above?

It's easier for students to attend. As I student I really appreciate being able to participate in something like cdp23. Besides the benefits mentioned in the cdp23 post there are other practical advantages:

1. It's cheap! Money is tight I can't currently afford to pay for more classes or travel to attend conferences.
2. It's flexible! I am a full time student and now have a part time job, I can participate on my own time.

• can you think of any disadvantages?

With over 700 participants the cdp23 has the advantage of bringing many types of viewpoints and professions. However, there is something to be said for a smaller community. It's an overwhelming task to read and comment on so many blogs. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to be part of such a large thing. I would like to try a program like this on a smaller scale...I am hoping that the Capital District Library Coucil (CLDC) will host another program so that I may compare the experiences. 

• has CPD23 helped you to make contact with others that you would not have had contact with normally?

Yes, I have made contact with two UAlbany alumni and an ex-journalist. I wish I had time to make contact with more.

• did you already use social media for your career development before starting CPD23? Will you keep using it after the programme has finished?

I never have but I intend to from now on. I have found blogging to be a great learning experience and I have learned a lot from reading the blogs of others. While I have yet to use my Linked In 

account and my Twitter for any "real" profession development purposes I hope to in the future.

• in your opinion does social networking really help to foster a sense of community?

Yes and No, like any professional development workshop you get what you put into it. If you want to learn and create connections and work to do so...you can help to create a sense of community. 

Thing 13: Google Docs, Wiki, Dropbox

I am all for cloud computing. While its a little frightening to know that people have the ability to hack and data mine your information, I like that I can access my school papers anywhere (and honestly if you want to hack into my account and read them have fun :) . However, I am not a fan of Google docs. I enjoy Google's email services, its blogging platform, its RSS reader, and its search engine but I find Google docs cumbersome. I think this is because I tend to use Microsoft office materials. Sometimes when I use Google docs and Microsoft office tools in conjunction the formatting gets screwed up. While I think this error is mostly due to Microsoft programming I can't afford my papers and presentations being marred or lost.

 Therefore I highly recommend Dropbox. I used a Dropbox account to write a few group papers for one of my classes last semester. Most of my classmates used Macs. I used a PC. Despite the different OS were still able to access and edit Word documents and PDFs with out conflict. 

I love wikis! They make something like a proposal or report interesting and interactive. In order to do something different and show off my wiki-skills I created a wiki page to show off my resume information. Let me know what you think? 

While you can pay for some fancy wiki programs and services. I highly recommend the free options that are available. So far I have used pbworks, wikispaces, and mediawiki. I have decided to create a little chart so you can easily compare the three...but if I had to pick on pbworks is my wiki of choice. ^.^ 

Super Scientific Star Scale * - BOO!! ** - not good *** - GOOD **** - i like **** - <3 !	WikiSpaces	PBworks	MediaWiki
Usability	***	****	**
	Can’t really complain. It’s pretty simple to use.	It’s very easy to format this page however…all functions may not be a readily apparent as with the other wiki services. However once you get the hang out it everything becomes self-explanatory. I find PBworks the easiest to use.	Adding and editing text is easy. But formatting is more cumbersome because you must remember a series of codes to format.  With the other services you have RTF with just a click of a button. It must simpler to make things bold vs. “’bold’”…and bullet listing is just obnoxious
Guidance	***	**	***
	A helpful blog	Not a much support on site the other two but there are helpful videos and blogs abound!	Great tutorials…but I don’t think it makes up for the cumbersome style
Attractiveness	***	****	*
	Not as smooth and attractive as PBworks but still neat and professional without being an eyesore.	Smooth, neat, attractive, but the side bars and top tabs can be a little overwhelming.	If you don’t have programming skills… UGLY!
Free Amenities	***	***	****
	·2 GB Storage ·Unlimited users and pages ·10mb per file limit ·Few privacy options	·  Limited number of color options ·  More security options than wikispaces but you must pay more to be able to limit security on an individual page level ·  Unlimited pages and users ·  Can add larger files (big pictures and pdfs)	Everything! MediWiki is opensource so it’s basically what you make it…if you’re a newb you may want to try one of the other services because they have more built in features
Total Stars:	12	13 WIN!	10
What I Like Most about it?	It’s simple! Not as overwhelming with the weird codes like MediaWiki and easier to understand on your own than PBworks.	The Organization and the Look! I like that it has a backend that you can organize and a front end that looks smooth and clean.	It’s allows Creativity! Because this is open source the creative possibilities are endless.

sorry it's so small

Thing 8,9, & Presenting StudyBlue!

 I am a goggle fanatic. I use it daily sometimes hourly. I have two email accounts, a blog, and Goggle+ account. However, I can not get used to Google Calendar. I grew up using computers in some form from the age of  8 but there are still somethings I have to do the "old fashioned way". While Google Calender can go anywhere on any device. I like being able to physically change and add things. That's why I've also using been the wipe-off calendar above my desk since high school and why I buy a paper planner every year. There is something satisfying to the ritual of keep a physical calendar. I like that I can flip through the pages of my event book and see where I am going and where I've been.  I get a sense of accomplishment to wiping of everything off of my desk calendar and updating it every two weeks or so. It keeps me focused on what is ahead. Now that I have an I pad I may try to use Google Calender when school starts...but if I do I know I'll still keep up with my wipeoff board.

 A few weeks ago cdp23 introduced us to Pushnote. While an interesting application, I found it to be more of a hindrance than a help. Another account to keep track of, check, and update. As I have mentioned before it also didn't seem to provide information on sites I wanted.  This weeks suggestions of Evernote led me to roll my eyes figuring this would be more of the same. Not so. Evernote is what I have always wanted from delicious  it lets you clip and organize websites, keeps notes, and sync this record to call devices...kind of like a combination between Delicious, Pushnote, and Dropbox. I beyond anal retentive about organizing my bookmarks...especially the ones I visit often..Evernote allows me to "clip" the website and add notes to it. The only thing that disappointed me is that it there is currently no web clipper for the Ipad.


  One of the other great features of Evernote is that besides the fact that I can sync my library from my laptop and my Ipad ....is that I can also sync it with other applications. Evernote Trunk  is an part of the Evernote site that lists all the applications you can use with Evernote. I can sync PDFs from my Dropbox to Evernote and make notes on them, I can sync emails and add notes, etc.


One cool application I found through trunk is called:

    Like Flashcard Machine....Study Blue allows you to  create flash cards, and search share or upload flashcards made by others. However, StudyBlue also allows you to store, share, create, and download notes. Click the image below to see a screen shot of StudyBlue flash card creator.

 Unfortunately for NOW you can only create flash cards on computers however the Study Blue Ipad app does allow you to view the notes and flash cards already existent in your account. I DO NOT recommend using StudyBlue on the Ipad for anything but flashcards.

There is a way to sync your StudyBlue notes to Evernote so you can edit them in there....but I honestly think I will only be using StudyBlue for flashcards.

Here is a little video I made of me using the StudyBlue App to view a flashcard I created. This also the first video I've ever created and uploaded so I hope it works!

Something to Think About

One of the people gracious enough to comment on posted a link to the Capital District Library Council. The CDLC ran a program similar to the 23 Things Program  I'm participating in the summer...very cool.

Anyway Pollyalida (my kind commenter) posted this video on her blog as part of the CDLC's program. It's only about 5 minutes and very interesting.






While the video has some thought provoking "Big Brother" implications, it made me wonder what else could be done in this situation. Yes, Google and other sites are "customizing" the Internet to fit us as users. BUT as the pool of information increases exponentially...What other methods can we use to sift through it??

Let me know your thoughts...


***also if you are new to TED I recommend looking them up and watching/listening to some other talks..very interesting :) ***