Week 3: Wikis

Read

7 Things You Should Know About Wikis (PDF), by Educause Learning Initiative

View

Wikis in Plain English, by Common Craft

Do

1. Use your browser to go to www.pbwiki.com


2. Sign up and create a free PBWiki account and wiki. Tips:
   
   
   
   • It will be less confusing to use the same name that you used for your blog (samename.pbwiki.com, samename.blogspot.com, etc.), but that's up to you.
     
   
   
   • Make your wiki public for now. You can change this later.
   
   
   • Click the link that allows you to use the free version. No need to upgrade.
   
   
   
   
3. Edit the front page of your wiki. Write whatever you like, perhaps a brief bio.


4. Edit the sidebar of your wiki to include a link to your blog.



5. Use the Contact the owner form to have your PBWiki account linked to the course wiki. Please include the same email address you provided in step 2.


6. Add a link to your personal wiki from your blog with a post and any thoughts you have about wikis.

Please note that the main purpose of wikis is for collaboration with others. The exercises you are completing here just show that you can do basic editing in PBWiki. This might not make a lot of sense now, is what I'm saying. But it will...Stay tuned.

Explore

PBWiki.com isn't the only site for setting up a free wiki. You could also try:

• Wetpaint


• Zoho Wiki

Wikipedia is perhaps the best known and largest wiki out on the Web. But did you know that a number of libraries are using wikis, too? These include:

• The University of Minnesota Libraries Staff Website


• The St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides

There are literally hundreds of types of wikis out there. Some are Web-based (like PBWiki) and others require installation on a server (like MediaWiki, which is used by Wikipedia).

• Use WikiMatrix to compare features and find a wiki for your next project

Week 2: RSS & Newsreaders

Read

7 Things You Should Know About RSS (PDF), by Educause Learning Initiative

View

RSS in Plain English, by Common Craft



Do

1. Use your browser to go to www.bloglines.com.


2. Create a free Bloglines account. For help see "How do I sign up?" or other FAQs.


3. Subscribe to the Library News blog by
   
   
   
   1. Signing in to Bloglines
   
   
   2. Clicking "Add"
   
   
   3. Typing http://neiuinfo.org/librarynews into the Blog or Feed URL box
   
   


4. Subscribe to a few of the NEIU staff blogs created in last week's module. For a list of these see the Library Bloggers area in the sidebar.


5. Search Bloglines by keyword choosing "Search for Feeds" to find additional blogs of interest. Anything: reading, quilting, gardening, motorcycles, tattoos...


6. Share your Bloglines blogroll by
   
   
   
   1. Signing in to Bloglines
   
   
   2. Clicking "Account" (upper right), then "Blog Settings"
   
   
   3. Filling in a User Name and choosing "Yes, publish my Blogroll"
   
   
   4. Clicking the "Save Changes" button
   
   
   5. Posting the blogroll URL on your blog
      
      example: http://www.bloglines.com/public/lisacwallis
   
   
   
   

Please note you have the option of making each RSS feed you add either public or private. Public feeds will show up in your blogroll; private feeds will not.

Explore

Bloglines isn't the only free Web-based newsreader available. You could also use:

• NewsGator Online


• Google Reader

RSS Feeds also have special search engines to help you identify additional resources. To find more feeds to add to Bloglines, search:

• Robin Good's Best Blog Directory and RSS Submission Sites


• The RSS directories of Google, MSN, and Yahoo!

Week 1: Blogging

Read

7 Things You Should Know About Blogs (PDF), by Educause Learning Initiative

View

Blogs in Plain English, by Common Craft

Do

1. Use your browser to go to www.blogger.com. Either Internet Explorer or Firefox will work.


2. Create a free Blogger account and blog. For help see "How do I create a Blogger account?"


3. Send the name of your blog and its URL / link to Lisa Wallis


4. Write your first (brief) post about either
   
   • the Library 2.0 article and how these technologies may be useful in your specific job
   OR
   
   • the 15 Minutes a Day article and your plan for completing NEIU Library Learns 2.0
   
   
   
   

Explore

Blogger.com isn't the only site for setting up a free blog. You could also use:

• WordPress (the Library's blog uses this software)


• LiveJournal

Since blogs are updated so frequently, special search engines constantly monitor them. To find something on a blog, search:

• Technorati


• Google Blog Search