Completing the activities was challenging at times but the support was incredible. It was always reassuring when an email was sent from team leader Alex with encouraging comments for the completed tasks. Weekly assignments with the easy to follow guidelines provided a strong foundation for the program. Including links, to articles and example sites, was expecially helpful. The drop-in sessions were great for communication when a little extra guidance was needed and it was fun to share experiences and tips with other novice learners. Favourite activities included setting up a blog, finding out about Facebook and creating a Second Life avatar. The gaming and virtual worlds presentations provided an excellent opportunity for group discussion and commentary from the experts. In the ever changing world of libraries and technology, an invitation to further discoveries would always be welcome.         Thank you Emerging Technologies Group for making this journey such a pleasant learning experience.

Bookmarklets was easy to install on both Internet Explorer [favorites] and Firefox [bookmark]. “Doctors Without Borders” was searched in subject keyword as well as keywords anywhere. Both IE and FF found one MORRIS record for subject and seven for keywords anywhere. The just released DVD Painted Veil is the biography of a 1920′s doctor who could easily be a forerunner to the present day Doctors Without Borders. For those who enjoy the history and scenery of a distant land, the story is set in the Far East, and the movie has been designated a hidden gem by Blockbuster.

Board games and cottage vacations just seem to go together. Scrabble is definitely one of the standards. Online game competition was great fun but all those other players with their “hurry up” comments, gentle sounds of surprise and outbursts of laughter, in the real world, were greatly missed. Devoting time to the online version [classic for now, not speed] would certainly improve my spelling and vocabulary.

Recently there was a television documentary on the addictive nature of online gaming and for sometime there has been an advertisement cautioning others to intervene when they think someone is spending to much time playing poker on the internet. A strong awareness of and dialogue about this concern will no doubt be an essential component of this emerging environment. It is reassuring to note that reading has never been described as an addiction. 

The Laking Garden RBG

Sparkling Waters           One Desire            Harbour Blue

Welcome to the Royal Botanical Gardens www.rbg.ca Iris Collection. There’s a wonderful surprise for visitors to the Laking Garden this year – a new design!  instead of rows, as pictured, there is a circular planting style. In early June, when the garden is in full bloom, I plan to search for my three favourite tall bearded irises.  

Profile was also setup on MySpace. For comparison, Facebook was preferred visually and navigation/searching was easier.  

Profile was setup on LibraryThing: got books. Since springtime has arrived, a list of books on gardening seemed like a good idea. The cover view is especially delightful and, yes there is a Gardening All-in-One for Dummies by the National Gardening Ass.

There were 37 Flickr photos for miniature shoes and this is my favourite from a longtime collector. Miniature footware includes shoes from all over the world and represents shoes throughout history. A miniatue shoe is usually 3-4 inches from heel to toe and many of them are decorated with tiny pearls or crystals. The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto also has many wonderful designs in their gift shop while others are available for purchase online. At a cost of $12 to $15, it makes collecting lots of fun.

BOOK CONNECTION  was easily added to the PB (peanut butter!) wiki ”my favourite books” and it was fun to receive other members book lists via email over the past few weeks.  Wetpaint tutorial was found via the navigation sidebar but it took some time. McMaster is certainly well represented – Office of the Registrar, UTS, Health Sciences, MUGSI, etc.  For comparison found Wetpaint to be more intuitive.   

The feeds are now organized and there’s even a folder for Learning 2.0. Wired news already has 200 postings.