Is RSS becoming easier to understand? Do you recognize new benefits of using this tool? Do you remember to check your feeds regularly? Has it become a habit (or obsession!) yet?
RSS is easier now ... but I find it difficult to check and read and otherwise keep up with all of the various feeds I've chosen. In some measure all of these Web 2.0 tools contribute to an overload of information. I have not yet figured out how to limit that information flow ... or even if I should.
What I do know is that RSS alone could take up a considerable portion of my day. Never mind other blogs and web sites and Flickr photo groups, and the many listservs I belong to, etc. And we haven't even started to talk about Facebook!
I'm sure that I'm not the first person to question what all of this connectedness does for us? Am I better off with so many points of connection to a diverse array of information? Or is there so much that I can't really internalize or act on any of it? Does it at some point become just a burden? How does one self-filter all of the information to a manageable amount? Some of these Web 2.o tools can help sort it all out ... but they certainly add to the dilemma too!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thing 14
Include your Delicious username in this blog post so that others can view the bookmarks that you have chosen to share. Then reflect on how you think social bookmarking can be used in your teaching. Does Delicious seem to be a tool that can enhance your productivity?
My Delicious user name is ljhardin (unoriginal but easy for me to remember with all of these accounts for new Web 2.0 stuff!!)
I have used a social bookmarking site in the past called Backflip. It works somewhat differently than Delicious ... but essentially allows a person to save their bookmarks and organize them. I created lists of sites for units taught in 6th grade dealing with Canada
It allowed for the creation of pages with a number of links. I haven't used it in a while but found it useful if a bit awkward. Still, I was able to essentially create a web page that students and other teachers could access from the web to use the links. That is a feature I like and I haven't see the equivalent in Delicious.
For my personal organization, I think that social bookmarking can be very useful. Within a defined group, sharing bookmarks this way can work but I think to be successful requires a bit of coordination.
My Delicious user name is ljhardin (unoriginal but easy for me to remember with all of these accounts for new Web 2.0 stuff!!)
I have used a social bookmarking site in the past called Backflip. It works somewhat differently than Delicious ... but essentially allows a person to save their bookmarks and organize them. I created lists of sites for units taught in 6th grade dealing with Canada
It allowed for the creation of pages with a number of links. I haven't used it in a while but found it useful if a bit awkward. Still, I was able to essentially create a web page that students and other teachers could access from the web to use the links. That is a feature I like and I haven't see the equivalent in Delicious.
For my personal organization, I think that social bookmarking can be very useful. Within a defined group, sharing bookmarks this way can work but I think to be successful requires a bit of coordination.
Thing 13
Share your thoughts about tagging. Is tagging a useful way to organize your digital resources and why? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content?
I do think that tagging is - or at least can be - a very effective way to organize digital resources for myself. It also could be useful for a group as is outlined in the materials read for this Thing. However, the problem comes in with the dynamics of tagging.
As a Library Media Specialist I understand the importance of assigning appropriate 'subject headings' to a resource since I routinely do that when cataloging books. If a book is given the wrong subject heading or not enough subject headings to describe its content, the book may never be found and utilized effectively. The thing is, librarians don't make those subject headings up. We have an established lexicon that is used by ALL libraries ... well, at least for the most part. The bottom line is that a user can find information under the same subject heading in my library, the public library, a university library, etc. That sort of formal lexicon just doesn't exist for tagging in social bookmarking which can make it difficult for groups of people to locate pertinent information in someone else's Delicious bookmarks.
AND, after reading the "Thirteen Tips for Effective Tagging" there are some rather significant tagging punctuation and formatting issues to consider. The manner in which I format a tag - space or no space, dash, underscore, no caps?, phrase as one word, etc. - can dramatically impact whether anyone else can make sense of my bookmarked sites. To alleviate some of these potential problems, this suggestion from the 'Thirteen Tips .." article makes a lot of sense to me for more formal groups of people who want to share information:
Co-ordinate your efforts. If you're part of a professional community or community of practice, consider establishing a common set of standards for how to tag resources you want to share among yourselves. A wiki can help do the job.
While such coordination can still be, and should be, a very dynamic thing, I think that level of organization is needed to use social bookmarking effectively for a defined group. Otherwise, in my mind, social bookmarking is more an application for the individual. As such it certainly has tremendous potential to be effective and useful for me to keep my content organized.
I do think that tagging is - or at least can be - a very effective way to organize digital resources for myself. It also could be useful for a group as is outlined in the materials read for this Thing. However, the problem comes in with the dynamics of tagging.
As a Library Media Specialist I understand the importance of assigning appropriate 'subject headings' to a resource since I routinely do that when cataloging books. If a book is given the wrong subject heading or not enough subject headings to describe its content, the book may never be found and utilized effectively. The thing is, librarians don't make those subject headings up. We have an established lexicon that is used by ALL libraries ... well, at least for the most part. The bottom line is that a user can find information under the same subject heading in my library, the public library, a university library, etc. That sort of formal lexicon just doesn't exist for tagging in social bookmarking which can make it difficult for groups of people to locate pertinent information in someone else's Delicious bookmarks.
AND, after reading the "Thirteen Tips for Effective Tagging" there are some rather significant tagging punctuation and formatting issues to consider. The manner in which I format a tag - space or no space, dash, underscore, no caps?, phrase as one word, etc. - can dramatically impact whether anyone else can make sense of my bookmarked sites. To alleviate some of these potential problems, this suggestion from the 'Thirteen Tips .." article makes a lot of sense to me for more formal groups of people who want to share information:
Co-ordinate your efforts. If you're part of a professional community or community of practice, consider establishing a common set of standards for how to tag resources you want to share among yourselves. A wiki can help do the job.
While such coordination can still be, and should be, a very dynamic thing, I think that level of organization is needed to use social bookmarking effectively for a defined group. Otherwise, in my mind, social bookmarking is more an application for the individual. As such it certainly has tremendous potential to be effective and useful for me to keep my content organized.
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