Week 5 # 12 Rollyo

I found this exercise particularly difficult, as the list of instructions in ACL Learning 2.0 for the Rollyo website don't seem to tally with what I found there (and I still can't for the life of me find STYLE to choose an icon, as instructed!). However, I have created an account for myself and added six of my favourite websites to this. I carried out several sample searches and got plenty of results.

http://rollyo.com/editroll.html

Week 5 # 11 LibraryThing

I logged into Library Thing, and had a look at the short tour. I then started to construct my own library, and I was surprised that it was so easy to find all the books I searched for, whether by title or ISBN. I was particularly taken with the recommendations for other books when you click on the title of the one you’ve added. This will be very handy when looking for ideas for similar books to enjoy. My library is at this address:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/patricia-thisandthat

I then clicked into the blog and was pleased to see the discussion about alternate default book covers, as two of my chosen books had the plain default covers. This library tool will definitely have my attention in the future.

Week 5 # 10 Image generators

I had a look at The Generator Blog and found an image generator that instantly appealed to me: personalising a chocolate bar. Anyone wishing to use this generator will find it at:
http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/chocolate-bar-generator.html

I then investigated Letter James, which enables you to personalise your own images for calendars, posters, etc., by adding your choice of text to your chosen image. However when I tried to use it a message came up that the site was being updated, so I was unable to try it. I looked at FD Toys, and this seems to have a wide variety of ways to personalise photographs, such as posters, badges, calendars, mosaic makers and desktop wallpaper. I intend to do more with this when I have time!

Week 4 # 9 Library Feeds (Part 2)

I have had a look at some of the search tools for this week, and once again I am struck by the overwhelming amount of information and opinion available at the click of a button. I particularly liked the Topix tool, which allowed quick access to city-specific news. The topic I looked at led to an article on the New Zealand Herald's website.
I then had a look at the Technorati search tool, and was particularly impressed with this. I searched for Library under the Blogs tab, and had the choice of 9,562 blogs. And the first one in the list dealt with the artificial borrowing restrictions on digital audiobooks, which was of immediate interest to me as a potential borrower when ACL starts purchasing these.

Week 4 # 9 Library Feeds

http://www.booksite.com/texis/scripts/bookletter/showfab.html?sid=5027&qlname=NLBFH (Feed for Fiction best sellers supplied by New York Times to libraries)

Although I no longer run a library book club, I did this in my previous position, so I have an interest in what new fiction is being published, with a particular interest in crime writing. This feed should tell me about the latest in fiction from the USA.

http://rpc.bloglines.com/blogroll?html=1&id=&target=http://www.themanbookerprize.com/feed/ (Man Booker prize website feed)

This site has updates throughout the year regarding the longlists, shortlists, and the awarding of the Man Booker Prize in October each year. Useful for getting information for book clubs.

Week 4: What RSS means

I've looked up RSS in Wikipedia and discovered that RSS stands for either Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favourite web sites automatically rather than checking them manually. The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

Week 4: # 8, RSS

http://http://www.phrases.org.uk/a-phrase-a-week/ (Phrase a Week)
http://contemporarylit.about.com/ (About Literature: Contemporary)
http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php (Accidental Hedonist)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/default.stm (BBC News)
http://www.bloglines.com/ (Bloglines News)
http://alison.knitsmiths.us/ (The Blue Blog: where blue is for knitting)
http://www.dilbert.com/ (Dilbert)
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html (New York Times article archive)
http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/ (The Shifted Librarian)
http://feeds.wired.com/wired/topheadlines (Wired Top Stories)

http://rpc.bloglines.com/blogroll?html=1&id=&target=http://www.bloglines.com/public/patricia-thisandthat (My link to my Blogline account)