Week 9: A Summary #23

# 23  I have been joined for a glass of tea by Zhar-Ptitsa, who has been singing in a current production of The Firebird. He is very familiar with quests, having been much sought after in folk history, and excitedly asks if I have returned with any of the magic secrets of Web2.0, would I recommend his undertaking the same journey, what were my favorite roosts, and so on. "Stop, a minute," I say, waving my wings to cool his burning curiosity. "This odyessy of discovery takes hours, days, weeks, but, of course, time is of no matter to immortal creatures such as ourselves who have eons of life during which to learn." My more impetuous friend hesitates, "Really, it took that much time?" he murmurs. "Indeed," I reply. "Yet, I would fly off again in an instant if the call came." Then I describe the fascinations of Flickr, playing tag on Del-icio-us, hunting articles in CiteULike, planning a podcast of poetry. He brightens. "Perhaps we could travel together, share expenses, explore fewer roosts with more care and exchange impressions?" "Yes," I agree. "It's always helpful to chat before putting stylus to tablet." "And eat, too," he adds, examining a sugared square of loukomi. "Well, if my goal was mental food, I certainly returned with a hamper full. However, the trouble with questing is that one quest inevitably leads to another, just as finishing breakfast suggests beginning lunch." I pause for a sip of tea, "As several very famous creatures have remarked in their memoirs, this learning path goes ever on and on, and Alkonost must follow, trilling her blog's Sirin song."

Week 9: Some Recollected Thoughts

# 15  After a meditative return flight, succeeded by a quiet interval of preening plumage, readjusting my crown and halo, I am again settled into a gloriously blossoming almond tree, ready to sing about this Learning2.0 odyssey. Back during Week 6, I skimmed over a number of Library2.0 articles without commenting. One in particular entitled: Web 2.0 and Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software by Michael Stephens, so tickled my feathers, I paused to find out FAQs about Kankakee Library's podcasts, explained in detail even a byzantine bird could comprehend. Excited by podcast possibilities I've begun planning a brief program of psaltery plucking and poetry to record. Kansas City Public Library's nicely designed subject pages (for instance, Our World Guide) utilizing RSS feeds are technologically exciting but the results once I clicked on a link seemed much less well organized because an RSS feed allows for more ephemeral data, more possible mental clutter. Now, a BizWiki, seems a solid idea for sharing and building upon each other's knowledge in a field. Imagine a wiki for all the lore we fabulous creatures have accumulated over the centuries!
# 16  "Why wiki, why wiki, oh, why wiki, cry I? It takes their shared knowledge for humans to fly." Just a bit of silliness before putting quill again to parchment to scribble about wikis, which like fowl, can live on hosted WikiFarms or exist free range on your own server. To regress to Week 7 discoveries, I skimmed over Wikis: A Beginner's Look, following a link in Resources to E-Rhetoric Wiki and Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not (too much to ingest), then backtracking to Using Wikis to Create Online Communities, which talks about wiki subject guides and community wikis. Being better informed I visited SJCPL Subject Guide for Pets which offered me books, links, tips in an easy to digest format. Next I dipped into the Book Lovers Wiki, a bibliophile's Turkish delight. (Oops, time for a real meal or I will be eating my words).
# 23  Even an ardent adventurer like myself must pause for supper before concluding her account.