New Blog for Michelle

Because of an errant blog violation that just wouldn't go away, Michelle W. needed to get a new blog.

I'd like to ask everyone to subscribe to her blog feed at:
http://www.mdwscils598f08.blogspot.com/

TY, Steve

Week #4 - Let the subscriptions begin...

Hello all

Glad to see that you all are surviving the week on RSS and I hope you're all looking forward to using RSS in different ways next week.

As class goes on we'll be subscribing to all kinds of things... del.icio.us tags, flickr pools, YouTube channels, podcasts, vodcasts, etc.

Many folks have said that that rss is "the glue" that holds web2.0 together...although I think that it's actually xml (rss is written in xml), what is true is that the "subscribability" of services is a very very important element that makes web2.0 tools useful and fun.

Hang on, it's just going to get more fun from here.

End of Week #3 /Entering new territory

As IM accounts, blogs and twitter accounts are now set up...we have our communication infrastructure up and running. Each will have its purpose and I do want you to be mindful of what we use each tool for.

From experience I've found twitter to be a great place to ask for help and also to generally socialize with classmates...beware though, it can be a fantastic location for "time suck" as you read, follow, post, check back, post, check back, wander, check back, etc.

The lesson I've best learned when using twitter is that you can't be afraid to miss something. In general if I have something important to post to the whole class I'll do it via the announcement blog (that you'll all subscribe to in week #4), but I'll be watching twitter as much as I can as well. Just a note, don't be afraid to try to help someone, I'd rather see you try to help then let someone struggle if you've figured something out (note: Twitter is also a great place to share alternative ways to do things)

I'm looking forward to reading ALL :-) your posts on the readings and blog service comparisons, but for now I'm off to enjoy a little bit of my Sunday.

As always, if you have questions, just let me know. Steve

All things change...

Interestingly it looks like twitter changed their interface somewhat DURING the week that we're working with twitter.

Nobody panic...things don't look different enough to make any real difference, just some improvements to the interface.

If you want to see more of what's been changed:
http://blog.twitter.com/2008/09/changes-afoot.html

Grand High Lord of the Library

Now when you have a tough day at work there's nothing like being called the Grand High Lord of the Library :-) Nice job TH and TK.

Good job all around to everyone...some of you really did an excellent job on the two IM discussions and I've heard some good background info that many of you had good experiences IM'ing with someone new in general. One of the side lessons to having you all share your "discussions"on the wiki is that the world now has some good information on IM that came about not from a ton of work by just a few, but by a smaller bit of work by many...welcome to group projects web2.0 style...

Week #2 Finale - synchronous can suck!

Hello all,

I do hope that you all enjoyed the week on IM and picked up some new skills and ideas (both regarding IM and IM in the library/work world).

In my new job I've been using IM quite a bit...thing I find most funny is the person that I IM the most is the person who's the physically closest to me, but I will say that it's been a very effective medium to communicate in a work environment with multiple buildings, multiple floors, multiple work teams, etc.

The one thing I know that some of you found "difficult" was coordinating with your partner to have a discussion...as we move on through the class we'll be working with more asynchronous tools, but please don't forget IM...it's a quick, easy, heavily used tool that is fantastic for communication.

Additionally, some of you may have noticed that meebo can be a bit buggy (people who are on appearing as off and vice-versa). Welcome to the world of "free" software. Some things will work just fine, others won't. For me meebo works about 95% of the time and it's interesting how fast you adjust to the faults of the system rather than finding a system that's robust enough to handle all user behaviors (but more about this as we go through class).

Example blogs

The following are some example blogs from former offerings of this class (remember no plagiarism..too much of that in the blogging world). I wanted to share them with you to show you some examples of posts and styles that I like...just enough w/out being too much, great use of titles/headings/bold&italics, etc.

Peter Green

http://pgscils598x08.blogspot.com/

Julina Lee

http://jlscils598x08.blogspot.com/

Kelly Staley

http://ksscils598s08.blogspot.com/

Week #1 "wrap up"

Hi all,

I know it's Sunday afternoon and not necessarily the end of the Social Software week, but as I take some time to upload vids and get next week's content set, I just wanted to put out a quick "wrap up" message.

Very nice job in the Discussion this week, you all raised some great issues and fleshed out a lot of topics and sub-topics in the web2 and lib2 areas. As we go through a lot of the individual tools in future weeks I'd like to ask that you remember those things that were covered in the Discussion. It's very easy to fall in "techno-love" with the technology and forget the purpose. The main reason I like to start with the readings I chose and the Discussion was to get some initial grounding before we move on.

The next few weeks of class are about setting up our communication channels...IM'ing, blogging, microblogging, rss/feeds, etc. are going to get us communicating with these tools rather than "old school" email and, god forbid, phone and allow us to work with each other more easily. Additionally, I do want you to consider the advantages/disadvantages inherent with each medium of communication and how/why you might or might not use them in the future.

Do hope you all "enjoy" the class and get a lot from it.

NYT Article - I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You

I haven't finished reading it yet (and this is non-obligatory for class), but a former Social Software student recommended it and so far it's really good and a nice follow up to the reading I asked you to do this week:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html

PROBLEM #1

Again I apologize for the caps, but until I know you look up here first, I gotta use them.

Two videos seem to be having issue:

1. Syllabus Review
2. Quick Wiki/eCollege Tour

The time elapsed seems to be going a bit haywire and the videos are getting cut off at the end

When I get home from work today I'll "fix" them (so about 7/7:30pm EST on 9.2 they should be working the right way)

A joyous start to the semester...welcome to Social Software :-)

READ ME FIRST!! Welcome to Class

Sorry 'bout the caps...needed to make sure you saw this message :-)

(yes you can use slang and smileys in this class)

Just wanted to greet everyone with a blog post that might address some FAQ type questions:

1. You can call me Steve. I don't mind Professor (I'm not a Dr.), but you're not obligated

2. If you need to reach me, email will be best for now - librarysteve@yahoo.com, but review the class b4 you send questions

3. Class generally runs Monday-Monday, then we start a new set of topics...I grade the previous week's homework on Monday/Tuesday night and usually do final prep for the coming week on Sundays

4. I'll expect you to work hard in this class...I'll expect this class will take a good amount of time per week...please don't think this is going to be easy even if the content is enjoyable

5. Ask for help when you need it, help others when you can

"See" you "in" class, Steve