On vacation......

No, I haven't gone anywhere, but I've been taking some time off from the computer. I did add cover pictures to the rest of my "uncovered" books on LibraryThing. My mother in law is giving me a lifetime membership to LibraryThing for my birthday :) , so I'll probably be spending a lot more time there..... I downloaded an image re-sizer tool from The Windows XP Powertoys site. It allows you to resize the pictures in your computer. I have been using it to make my pictures smaller to make them faster to send via e-mail. Otherwise, I have been enjoying summer and spending time at work and in my garden.

June Update

Participating in the 23 Things on a Stick helped me to overcome my fear of joining online groups or websites. As of right now, I think I am a "member" of about 20 different sites on the internet, something I never would have dreamed of doing before. Two of the sites I just joined this past week. I became a member of a Yahoo group to connect with others in the area that share my interest in letterboxing. I also joined Dave's Garden , which is a fabulous gardening site, offering plant information, discussion groups, book and supplier reviews, etc. Members can keep an online journal of all of their gardening activites, and even have a personal gardening blog on the site. Lots of fun, and a great source for information, too.

Spring is Finally Here

I've been spending most of my "free time" lately doing Spring cleaning and getting the garden ready for planting. Everything plant-wise seems to be running 1-2 weeks late this year. I did learn something new about Library Thing today--You can add your own pictures of books in your library if they don't have one on file. It was easier than I thought. Just take a close-up picture of the book with a digital camera, load it from your camera into the computer, and then upload it to Library Thing. So far I have done 2 books, both worked fine, so as time permits I will do some more.

Still Moving Forward....

Since I joined the Anokaberry group on the 23 Things Ning, I've been spending a lot of time reading and reviewing books for the Anokaberry award. So far I have finished five books, three of which were pretty good reads. Everyone is welcome to contribute-take a look at the Anokaberry blog to get more information. I have also discovered a new website that I love- Fantastic Fiction. On this site you can get comprehensive information about all of your favorite authors. They list all books published by the author (by year and series), pictures of the covers, awards and nominations received, new and forthcoming books, etc. Its nice to have all of the information in one place.

Beyond the 23 Things - The Open Library

I decided not to number my "things" anymore, since no one will be keeping track and checking them off. Today I explored the Open Library, whose vision is to build an online library that makes all the published works of humankind available to everyone in the world. The Internet Archive plans to do this by digitizing books using high end digital camera technology, and then loading them onto their site. The library went online in July 2007, and there are already over 7 million records in their catalog, and over 230,000 full text books. Of course, there are copyright issues, so most of these items are either in the public domain, or used under a creative commons license. You can take this guided tour of the Open Library to see how it works. The magnitude of this project is staggering! If they include every edition of every book ever published, it will take years and years and years......, even with today's technology.

Thing #23 Final thoughts

I just finished filling out the online survey--it's hard to believe I'm really DONE! I went back to Thing #1 and read all of my blog posts over again. Pretty much all of the 23 things were new territory for me. At times it was frustrating, but I had a real sense of accomplishment when I finally got things figured out. If I hadn't been a part of this program, I would have really missed out on a lot. I know so much more now than I did just 2 months ago! I especially enjoyed creating my own blog and adding pictures, slide shows, videos, links, new posts, widgets, etc. I liked reading other people's blogs, too. Even though we were all working on the same things, each person had their own unique perspective and ideas. I would definitely take part in another program like this if one is offered in the future.

Thank you, 23 Things on a Stick team, for all of your hard work in putting together such a great learning program!

Thing #22 What Did I Learn Today?

I have really learned a LOT about Library 2.0 tools over the past two months, yet I know it is just the "tip of the iceberg". I will continue to post the new things that I learn in my blog, and I will keep on reading the blogs of other 23 Things participants, so I can learn from their experiences, too. The only difference is that now I get to make up my own "things"! I will continue using GoodReads and LibraryThing, and will remain a member of the 23 Things Ning as well. I found a new monthly podcast by the Library 2.0 Gang on Libraryjournal.com that I can use to help keep up with new developments. This month's podcast was about the Open Library, which is a new interactive online library with a wiki format. This really looks interesting to me, so I will be making "The Open Library" my Thing #24!