The Finish Line!

Wow! I've completed the 23 things of Library 2.0! It was a blast! The most fun exercise was probably the image generators. The most useful...probably the RSS feeds. I also liked the Zoho Writer...great to know about if you need to compose a quick document out on the web.

It was a great ride and I definitely learned a lot about Web 2.0 tools. I can certainly see some ways that these exercises could be incorporated into the Library. Am I ready for another 23? Sure!...just give my a little bit to absorb it all!

Keep it Green!

SuffolkWave

I checked out the library's newest downloadable database, SuffolkWave. One can download not only books but audio and video! I found The Google Story which seems like an apropos read (or listen!) since Google is one of the biggest companies behind all this technology I've been discovering with Library 2.0.

Green Day Video on the Environment

In exploring YouTube I came across this Green Day video on the environment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-qxG0Uvs5Y

Web 2.0 Tools

I was amazed at the number of Web 2.0 tools highlighted at the following web site: http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/ I, of course, looked for something ecology minded and did indeed find http://www.begreennow.com/. I used their carbon footprint calculator and was dismayed to see I'm higher than average in my use of c20 emissions! They encourage you to give to their causes to offset your carbon footprint. I don't know enough about their organization to give them a nay or yea. I have my own set of environmental organizations that I give to that hopefully offset my carbon footprint. The site does have some interesting articles and links about everything green though...so it's worth a look.

Lightning Struck Trees

Unfortunately the trees that I blogged about earlier that were struck by lightning have died or are dying.  I thought maybe the bigger ones might survive because we have had enough rain and not a lot of really hot days.  But alas it doesn't look like that will be the case.  The cycle of nature will continue, however, and these trees will provide food for insects and the insects will provide food for the birds; particularly the woodpeckers as the trees start to decompose.

 

We have several different type of woodpeckers who visit our feeders for suet.  They are such beautiful birds and ever so wary; particularly the red-headed Flickers.  When I hear the rattatattat of these woodpeckers it amazes me that something so small can make such a loud noise...particularly in the morning!

 

I'm publishing this post from a web-based word processor program called Zoho Writer.  Pretty cool!

 

Wikis

Wikis can definitely be useful tools. After playing with PBWiki, however, i found it to be a little outdated, kind of hard to navigate and not in keeping with Web 2.0.

Just for fun, my kids and I created a wiki on wikihow -- how to build a finger church. So we've expanded the knowledge base of the world with this enlightning information! Here's the link:
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Church-With-Your-Fingers

Web 2.0 & Library 2.0

I'm having so much fun adding all these Web and Library 2.0 features to my blog. I think not only libraryland but most business have been and will be effected by the web. One must catch the wave and keep current with technology and the web in order to keep the library a valuable benefit for the community.

Technorati Profile

Gardening

I just love gardening! We had our 7th Annual Plant Swap at work this month. It rained the weekend before our plant swap which could have made digging up plants for the swap something of a chore. Our gardeners, however, are a hardy bunch. A little rain and a continuing deluge on the day of our plant swap didn't deter the gardeners. We all had a good time and exchanged some fun and interesting plants.

I've included a link for my Rollyo search on gardening. Looking for some gardening advice about plant diseases and slugs or what to plant where...try my gardening search!

http://rollyo.com/cbrand/gardening/

LibraryThing

I just created an account at LibraryThing. I cataloged several gardening, birding and bird song identification books and audio. I love the bird song identification CD. I listen to it on the way home from work. It's amazing how in no time you can learn to identify which birds are singing and calling in your backyard. My family thinks I'm nuts, of course, but can they identify our feathered friends...I think not! Here's the link to my LibraryThing list of materials:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cbrand

The Fury of Nature

Last Thursday's scary thunderstorm left several trees in my neighborhood damaged by lightning. The bark must have just exploded off the trees! Whole strips of the bark can be found littered on ground up to 20 feet away. A line of exposed wood runs all the way up the trees; from the ground to the very top of the trees. Poor trees! I don't think they will survive. I've Hockneyizered the photo on the left.