Adventures in Community

Hoping to continue in 2009

2008-08-02T21:13:00.007-05:00

Thing 10. Wikis

2008-08-01T10:37:00.014-05:00

"Ask for help when you need it," is another way to build community, and wikis certainly make it easy to answer requests for help. Wikipedia asks for help this way: "This article may require cleanup... Please improve this article if you can." Wikis make it easy to answer questions, add new text, and clarify the message. Of course, they also make it easy to ask more questions, delete new text, and muddy the message. Writing by consensus can get messy.
(Photo from Flickr's Creative Commons, by roland).
I like the white background of many of the wikis. This similarity to Wikipedia makes them instantly recognizable and I doubt it's done by accident. I see also that vandalism problems have forced many wikis to require accounts and e-mail confirmation before they can be edited, which makes sense.

I enjoyed searching Minnewiki, the Minnesota Public Radio wiki, for the Fabulous Minnesota Barking Ducks. I did not find this blues group. Signed up and started creating a page about the Ducks, but realized it would take too long to do justice to an article on them. Gave up and instead asked someone write an article about them. I appreciate now the responsibility to do the proper research and put your thoughts together clearly. Like several others, I added a paragraph to the front page of the 23 Things on a Stick wiki, just for fun.

Thing 9. Online collaboration: sing together

2008-08-01T10:16:00.006-05:00

Once I receive the required code from the 23 Things staff, I will do this exercise. I look forward to editing the Declaration of Independence, as I see others have done so before me fearlessly.

Thing 8. Share your creations: another way to build community

2008-07-30T14:30:00.011-05:00

My office poster How to Build Community has two suggestions that mirror the sharing aspects of Web 2.0 tools: "Garden together" and "Have potlucks." At this time of the year, if we garden together we grow vegetables that go into those Minnesota hot dishes. Certainly, the slideshow services are a good way to start the gardening. I enjoyed Thumbstacks and Slideshare and was less impressed with Zoho Show. Its wide screen forced me to scroll from side to side to read each line. I know I can change the resolution, but then the type size gets too small. (Yes, I will take some cheese with my whine, thank you.)

Libraries and businesses should find Thumbstacks remote meeting feature useful: The presentation is on the Web and anyone with a browser can see it. Browsing in Slideshare's huge presentations bank I encountered one called The 25 Basic Styles of Blogging and When to Use Each One. The very popular blogs often have top-ten or best-of lists. I see why lists are popular with bloggers, as they draw readers to sites.

The photo sharing site Picture Trail Moving Thumbs demo in 23 Things blog is great. I liked the way you just point and click a thumbnail at left and see it emerge large from the confetti at right. I also liked the examples of educators' electronic portfolios made with eFolio Minnesota. They are beautifully done, a great way for educators and students to highlight their achievements. Less interesting was Lazybase which by this time looked boring to my dazzled eyes.

Boy, I surely got jaded quickly, looking at the good ones. It's a bit the way the colorful garden and delectable church-basement hot dish outshines all the others.

I got sidetracked playing Alice

2008-07-28T19:14:00.013-05:00

It took me a week to get through Thing 7 because I got bogged down trying to decide between two options. I felt like Alice in Wonderland: From which bottle should I drink? I can explain. Another 23 Things Library 2.0 learning program crossed my monitor by way of another library association. The second program and its directions were certainly professional looking... Hm... What to do? Quit this program and start the other? I finally decided to stick with this one because it's more fun. It's that simple. There, I admit it. One of my goals with this program is to have fun and it mostly does this.

Sometimes I feel like a voice in the wilderness, though, as I see few comments on my blog and on the blogs of others in this program. How do you get others to read your blog and comment on it?

Alice illustration from Antelope Publishers.

Thing 7. Communications tools

2008-07-28T13:24:00.012-05:00

Instant messaging (IM), email, text messaging (SMS), and Web conferencing are crucial to building community. My poster How to Build Community says, "Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. Work to change this." Libraries that use these communications tools wisely allow all stakeholders to have their voices heard. When well designed and easy to use, these tools are great levelers. They encourage discussion by everyone, no matter what their standing in the community.

Email has definitely improved my business productivity. To minimize interruptions, though, this week I changed my Outlook settings to check for new mail every hour not every five minutes. I am glad I did. Maybe this change would work for you, too?

Text messaging intrigues me and I would like to try it. I am not yet part of the text messaging revolution.

Web conferencing is a tool I have found valuable as an independent information professional. I watched the Minitex Webinar Library 2.0 today. I like archived Webinars because they are free of charge, I can watch them on my own time, and the format matches my favorite learning mode: listening.

Thing 6. Online image generators

2008-07-21T16:07:00.018-05:00

I am nearly 25% done with 23 Things on a Stick and still having fun with social networking tools. It's great to have enough direction to get started, plus the time to explore. Today I "played" with Big Huge Labs' trading card feature to make the Nancy Drew, Grrrl Detective trading card at left and Image Chef to make the matching coffee cup at right.

I wish a credit line automatically accompanied every photo in Flickr's Creative Commons. It would make it much easier to give credit where credit was due. Regarding copyright, in this post, I used two images that were free with attribution. I placed a credit line under the Nancy Drew photo from Flickr's Creative Commons, but I could not for the coffee cup image from Image Chef because there was no artist's name. Image Chef conveniently included its own credit line.

Finally, The Generator Blog offers tools to create computer havoc. Before I got myself under control I created a silly error message. Reminder to self: I must use this power only for good.

A note about outreach

2008-07-21T14:38:00.013-05:00

The RSS feeds I set up last week are exposing me to memorable quotations such as this one from Seth's Blog: [The Net] wasn't invented by business people, and it doesn't exist to help your company make money...The question to ask isn't, "but how does this help me?" as if you have some sort of say in the matter. You don't get a vote on whether Google succeeds or whether your customers erect spam filters. The question to ask is, "how are people (the people I need to reach, interact with and tell stories to) going to use this new power and how can I help them achieve their goals?" The web doesn't care

Thing 5. More Flickr fun: play together

2008-07-21T12:53:00.013-05:00

Playing together is another activity my community building poster suggests. Today I really started having fun playing with Flickr applications and mashups.

For example Flickr Color Picker is where I found this public-use photo, Sunshine by Zalgon. I wanted a photo that complemented the blues in the layout of this blog.

23Things invites me to think how I might use these tools in my library. I would use them to spice up my blog or newsletter, to add color and interest, to please and engage my audience. I love sharing photographs online! You know that already if you read yesterday's blog entry. I look forward to when I can add photographs of my own to the Flickr collection.

Thing 4. Flickr, another way to build community

2008-07-20T15:44:00.025-05:00

This gorgeous photograph is from Flickr's Creative Commons collection. Convectional Prairie Waves was taken in Saskatchewan, Canada, by Fort Photo I have yet to figure out how to place a credit line under the photo, where I want it. Can anyone advise me about this task?

My "How to Build Community" poster says to share your skills, which the Flickr philosophy embodies. Flickr, where have you been all my life? I can explain. As a writer and editor, I pay photographers to use their photos in for-profit publications. It is a joy to see Flickr's Creative Commons, where people can find photos for non-commercial purposes as long as they include proper attribution. So, whenever I need a photo for a non-commercial use, the commons is where I'll go. I set up my own Flickr account and searched Flickr for a photo that thrilled me. I found many. I hope you like this one as much as I do.

I will build my own Flickr photo collection when I have the tools to do so. (I hear you muttering to yourself, "This woman doesn't even have a cell phone! How can she exist without one?")

Thing 3. RSS Feeds say look up when you're walking

2008-07-19T17:45:00.011-05:00

My How to Build Community poster encourages people to "look up when you're walking." The RSS feed and subscriptions help me do this by getting my nose off the grindstone for professional development, opinion, and fun. For example, I wanted to read what the research- and general-business bloggers are writing. This search yielded my first two blogs, Seth's Blog and How to Change the World. I was on a roll:

Subscribed to the Midwest Region Medical Library Association newsletter, MidwestConnect,
Found three 23Things blogs to follow by RSS feed. I am crossing my fingers that the 23Things decision-makers will let me register my own blog even though I started late, so I can post comments.
Subscribed to another blog I found using Google blog search.

In all, I subscribed to 10 blogs and newsletters that offer me glimpses of what others are thinking, on topics that interest me. By showing me new ideas, these RSS feeds will encourage me to look up when I am walking. Do you think they will do that for you, too?

Thing 2: Library 2.0 means leave your house

2008-07-18T13:40:00.010-05:00

Thing 2: What is Library 2.0? My "How to Build Community" poster says "Leave your house." Library 2.0 tools encourage us to leave our house, to engage our customers on their own time and turf.

As an independent information professional and business owner, I see Library 2.0 as an extension of good customer service. If a social networking tool enables me to better meet my customers' needs for relevant, timely, and useful information, it is worth its weight in gold.

The Internet has affected my use of time both by saving it and by wasting it. Wait, wait, I can explain. The Internet has saved my time by making me a more effective researcher. It has "wasted" my time by distracting me with funny videos on YouTube. But I can't blame the Internet for that, can I? Phooey!

Today, I rate my knowledge and use of Web 2.0 tools as rudimentary. Yesterday, I would have rated both as zero. I credit the first two Things for this higher rating. I hope that by trying out these Web 2.0 tools, I will gain new skills and the means to establish relationships with people I would not ordinarily "meet." I hope it will encourage me to partner with others in ways to build community.

Thing 1. Set up a blog; share what you have

2008-07-17T20:01:00.010-05:00

Now that my schedule is a bit looser, I decided to start 23 Things. Although I might be too late to participate, I'll proceed anyway on the chance that the powers that be will register me.

A poster hangs near my desk that suggests ways to build community. Two ways are to "turn off your TV" and "share what you have." Now, I am not a TV watcher and I like to share what I have. However, I am most comfortable sharing my knowledge or opinions in person or on the phone, less so sharing them on the Internet. Perhaps because of this caution, I consider Thing 1 to be a professional adventure and a new way to build community.

I read some 23-things posts and visited the blogs of two top 25 library bloggers. I found these blogs fun to explore, with exciting writing, interesting layout, and dense content that shows these bloggers are comfortable with their blogging skills. Truly inspiring!