Thing #27: Photobucket

Using Photobucket on a standalone PC was a frustrating exercise in futility. Once I got going using my home connection though, the process of selecting and saving images to an album and then remixing using the "inferno" theme was incredibly straightforward and very quick to complete.

My own Mac computer offers superior options, but Photobucket is absolutely terrific as it enables me to design and produce interesting presentations any time I need them at work. Here are the results of my handiwork Wuthering Heights

Thing #26: Widgets

I already have a customised iGoogle page, with many widgets and applications inserted on the desktop, which makes access to regularly used applications very quick and easy. The YourMinis website was easy to use and I created a widget for weather in Melbourne.

After this, I was fascinated with how easy it was to make up album cover images from a couple of my favourite singers.

I located a few more widget sites and look forward to trying these ones out in the future. - Best widgets for free and Hot widgets

Thing #25 Letterpop

Using the Letterpop.com site to start a newsletter was posing difficulties, so I abandoned this approach and created a free account. From there it was plain sailing and I have attached my creation - a newsletter about the garden planted by Friday's child.

While I can see that Letterpop.com does not have any direct application at present for LIS, it has been a worthwhile exercise in learning how quick and easy it is to design polished and professional looking communication tools.

Thing #24 Zamzar

How easy was this!!

Just a few mouse clicks and hey presto a converted file appears without the usual hassles of trying to locate a colleague who has file conversion software and asking them to do my job. Converting a PDF file back to Word is just too easy!! This is definitely a time saving tool!!

Thing #23 Final thoughts about "Learning 23 things"

My 'Learning 23 things' travels are now over, but I can't wait to discover new Web 2.0 adventures. I had some general knowledge from my professional reading about emerging technologies and social networking tools and I was surprised with how much more challenging the experience of creating and participating in the new web has been.

I enjoyed learning about LibraryThing, using Techorati and wikis, establishing RSS feeds for information and podcasts and of course exploring the YouTube phenomenon.

Also, I just loved using online image generators and 'decorating' my blog with lots of images. This activity in particular has re-ignited a long dormant interest in visual design and I have begun to immerse myself in multi-media content creation and I want to develop this much further.

Thanks to all my colleagues who have shared their ideas and enthusiasm for the 'Learning 23 things' program and to those who have supported and fostered a great learning opportunity which has helped me understand so many new things. Finally, thank you Helene Blowers for your generosity in bringing the program to all of us at ATO Online Learning.

Thing #22 Audiobooks

NetLibrary eAudiobooks is described as the world's premier provider of electronic books, but I was unable to progress as I use an Apple computer which is incompatible with Netlibrary content. I was determined to find some free and accessible audiobooks content so I ran a Google search and found the following free options.


The best of the lot is the Gutenberg Project, which appeals particularly to my librarian sensibilities - bibliographic records and multiple source locations. I selected diverse works such as The Iliad by Homer, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci and just out of curiosity, the Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by Paul Lacroix.

Free downloadable audiobooks have the capacity to extend the circulation of great works of literature with this low cost electronic option.

Thing #21 Podcasts

I checked out several podcasting directories including Podcast.net, Podcastalley.com as well as Yahoo Podcasts but the one I liked using best is iTunes, particularly as I use an Apple Mac computer which includes this software.

iTunes allows for searching by title, author, description, category or even language. The results set offers some brief description about each podcast, and I elected to subscribe to 'Bookcast' after searching for podcasts covering books.



Interestingly, an earlier podcast episode from the Bookcast was about the 2007 American Library Association (ALA)conference, which attracted over 21,000 librarians to Washington, DC for the annual conference. My previous blog post included a YouTube video from this same conference, and it is a somewhat synchronistic event to find this podcast, particularly as I was using different search terms in each situation.