Award-winning sites and online tools

I've used google docs a couple of times now, for group projects, and it's a pretty good tool. I can't say it's got the best tools for typesetting and graphics, but it does make things easier to collaborate on. That was particularly good for an online class that included several group projects. The down side is that it is sometimes hard to tell if everyone has actually looked at a piece, even if they have not edited it. I guess that's an issue that's more about communication than anything else.

The web 2.o award-winning sites were okay. The education category was a bit disappointing, though, because I thought it would be more related to the world of education, rather than things that can educate users. I guess that's an assumption I make coming from the world of educators. A number of innovative sites, but only some were really useful. It was good to see that the most visible employment sites (monster and career builder) are also winners, too, in the event I have to use them.

Share a Story

Love this. Now there's a flier available on the site to share with your more paper-oriented friends!

Wikis

I have worked with a couple of wikis myself, mostly for scheduling: We used them for scheduling volunteers for an education program at my church, so that if there were changes necessary, individuals could make them on their own. That was a wiki on the church website, and the wiki was in the password-protected area of the site--there were only a couple of passwords for the community, depending on what position members held (deacon, member, etc.).

I can definitely see a wiki being useful in a library as a resource for the staff, similar to a binder of information at the front desk used to be. In a school setting, I can see it being a valuable tool for teachers to share resources, and especially for a librarian to build a resource that teachers can access as well as add to for the greater good.

Library 2.0

Wow, it's a big topic, but really it's about how libraries are adapting and transforming to meet the needs and utilise the technology of today. Having read the articles posted on the learning 2.0 site, I also just read Joseph Janes' column in American Libraries entitled "Make Way for the Net Generation." He acknowledges the usual complaints by adults about the next generation, but also points out all the reasons we need to be paying attention, even if we have trouble personally embracing the changes. I really like the synopsis of the book Grown Up Digital. Gotta take a look at that one.

Share a Story Shape a Future

What a great idea! This is a blog event next week that will provide all sorts of ideas and resources for those of us on the benches (vs. in the trenches), reading and sharing books with children. Share a Story-Shape a Future begins March 9 and runs for a week with lots of good stuff going on. Can't wait.

Technorati

Wow, I like this one. I like to cook and knit, and so I'm always looking for a pattern/recipe to suit my ingredients (be they chicken & olives or 2 skeins of superbulky yarn). Plus, I look over several blogs for these things regularly, so I can't always remember the recipe/pattern I saw a month or so ago that I would love to use. Technorati helps tremendously with that, and can introduce me to even more sources. I also really like that I can choose the authority level based on my needs. I'm more adept at cooking than knitting, so I need more specific instructions on the latter than the former. Technorati gives me a sense of how much to trust any particular blog.