SEAMLESS RESOURCE SHARING

The Web 2.0 Week 6 title interested me more than the previous lessons probably because the words Tagging, Delicious and LibraryThing (TDL) have psychologically created a friendly impression on me because I could connect to the meaning of the words easily, unlike the terms Blog, Wiki, RSS which sounded so alien or unfriendly to me at first sight. For example, the word Tagging conjures up the image of an object for identification purpose such as magnetic tags fixed on endangered species that environmental conservationists practice in their scientific studies, the common  price tags found on  commodities that serve to alert potential buyers the freshness of the goods as well as to prompt to people who have budgetary restrictions to spend wisely looking at the price tages first before heading to the cashier counter, or even the concept  of one tagging along/behind/closely a person for a reason... Delicious brings us the sense of “good aroma, taste” to our senses of smelling and   tasting like the judges in the TV  program “Iron Chef” often commented on the dishes they tasted “mmmm…it’s so delicious like swimming in the mouth” and LibraryThing inescapably gives us (or at least to me being a server in libraries for decades) the familiar concrete images of a physical structural building, different types of visible shelves of collections including nowadays the invisible e-collections on the Internet as invaluable sources of information, the services provided by the people manning the service points etc.  Perhaps with such familiarity of the words to me, comparatively I found the exercises were more user-friendly, more interesting and easier to do compared to that RSS feeds  lesson. In this TDL exercise, I could at least equate mentally to some of the actual practices known in library science  e.g. tagging is equivalent to assigning meaningful useful subject headings (keywords) in cataloguing to facilitate searchers in the use of library catalogues, the key to the treasures in their  treasure hunts;  Delicious is truly the fun part for me to search, identify, and bookmark many interesting web sites that hold the titles close to my heart, an overwehlming rich pool of resources from which I can draw up my own acquisitions or reading lists for my very own little Library, to be able to note like-minded people who also have selected the titles I have identified is a useful barometer for me to gauge the readership. Certainly in my opinion, Library Thing is a useful tool for libraries to structure into their system with the primary  objective in promoting the true spirit of sharing their special delicious resources seamlessly with all other libraries and interested users of libraries.

Food for thoughts:

"We can recycle things but cannot recycle our wasted time"

THERE IS SUNSHINE IN A SMILE

By Helen Steiner Rice

"Life is a mixture of sunshine and rain,

Laughter and pleasure, teardrops and pain,

All days can't be bright, but it's certainly true,

There was never a cloud the sun didn't get through -

So just keep on smiling whatever betide you,

Secure in the knowledge God is always beside you,

And you'll find when you smile your day will be brighter

And all of your burdens will seem much lighter--

For each time you smile you will find it is true

Somebody, somewhere will smile back at you,

And nothing on earth can make life more worthwhile

Than the sunshine and warmth of a beautiful smile"

Wikis Sharing Time

To me, discovering, exploring and doing the Really Simple Syndicate (RSS)  lesson was like going through a lesson of Reviving Survival Skill in the share well I was thrown into I was relieved that I managed to survive after the meandering through the cobweb Web2.0 thick forest and caught up with a few  fast-footed bloggers, who shared sympathetically with my viewpoint that it was “not an easy” RSS journey 

Emerging from the RSS tunnel, seeing  the clear blue sky, hearing the birds singing,  my spirit was lifted up once more.  Saw the signpost: Common Craft Show : Wikis in Plain English. Curiosity drew me to view the show…Ooops, it was like the silence movie of Sir Charlie Chaplin – so full of actions but no sound! something was not right for me!  Explored, explored... looking  for every hole to plug in and out my earphone, SOS  blogger Margaret a stone throw away, who readily came to help this poor deaf soul, still no-sound but actions on the screen...SOS via email to trainer-cum-supervisor Lawley, who as usual as a gentle-man, never failed to respond speedily even on  his off-duty day,  providing the tips to check all the gears are in proper place. Voila! finally the synchronization of sound and actions now for me to enjoy the video clip.

Well, the Wikis in Plain English preview was quite simple enough for me  to grasp  conceptually Wikis usefulness in the world of Web 2.0;  so curiosity adventurous spirit drew me to sign up for this exploration trip, but I was inwardly curious why called Wiki or Wikis? My own small renown  Oxford dictionary does not give a clue. May be the well-known MacQuarie Dictionary currently advertised now over the Monday-Friday TV LettersandNumbers Program will be the source of information to satisfy my curiosity to trace the root of this word

I signed up to get the Wetpaint, under the impression that  probably it must a super duper high quality wet paint, better than the Nippon paint,  that will help bloggers to paint the town red wherever they venture to!  Or at least be it may be  a safety aid for me to mark carefully the routes I would be taking, and just in case I lost my way , the  spots I mark along the unknown Wiki way may help me to retrace  my steps to return safely where I started this mysterious Wiki journey, since I think I have equipped myself with some  of the   basic knowledge of the Reviving Survival Skill in the RSS expedition taken by bring along  this bucket of wet paint highly recommended.

So I tried  the Wiki waltzing steps  of 1,2,3, “Edit, Write, Save” and was led to all the Wetpaint campsites of bloggers, who have certainly  left their distinctive trail marks behind, some even boldly signed their names, some were left anonymous. Actually I found out that it is more like the  1,2,3,4 Foxtrot steps that I have to do, becasue I have to Read first the voluminous writings of those who were before me, then continue more gracefully the next steps of  Edit, Write and Save in this new Wiki dance.  Neverthless, it was  interesting to read whatever  written on the big canvas ,  but oh, time is  needed to finish reading every one and I was hard pressed for more time as the merciless Internet Police Consable timer staring at my crazy dance, is ticking faster than I could twirl, warning me I had  barely a minute left to turn.  How I wished that I had taken a course on speed reading before!   From what I remember from the Wikis show, the wet paint can be very effectively applied  to erase  all the trail marks created by others if I dislike them.  One can also add more trail marks to or correct the existing ones with the rule of the game of to  “play nice”.   Frankly ,  I simply  don’t have the heart to erase all the colorful trail marks left by Wiki pioneers before me because,  they are HISTORIES, representing the tapestries  stitched and patched by fellow more seasoned Wiki travelers,   reflecting their  team spirit of co-operation to share with me  what they know and they deserve to be  retained for  their originalities.  A question crossed my mind: will or has Wiki become an avenue for copycats to engage in  online plagiarism practice e..g. in the Publish or Perish academic world with the increasing Wikis users?

Now I better now stop my rambling and go and find  five more bloggers, who can give me more tips and encouragements  to help sharpen my Revival Survival Skill for the next journey ahead. 

Some food for thoughts;  I came  across the following Helen Steiner Rice's beautiful poem Trouble  is a Stepping Stone  to Growth that I often read and re-read:

Trouble  is something no one can escape,

Everyone has it in some form or shape -

Some people hide it way down deep inside,

Some people bear it with gallant-like pride,

Some people worry and complain of their lot,

Some people cover what they havn't got,

While others rebel become  bitter and  old

With hopes that are dead and hearts that are cold...

But the wise man accepts whatever God sends,

Willing  to yield like a storm-tossed tree bends,

Knowing that God never makes mistake

So whatever He sends they are willing to take--

For trouble is part and parcel of life

And no man can grow without  trouble and strife,

And the steep hills ahead and high mountain peaks

Afford man at least the peace that he seeks --

So blest are the people who learn to accept

The trouble men try to escape and reject

For in our acceptance

 we're given great grace

And courage and faith and the strength to face

The daily troubles that come  to us all

So we may learn to stand "straight and tall" --

For the grandeur of life is born of defeat

For in overcoming we make life complete.

TIME FOR FEEDS

It is not

how much time we have

with which to do

all that we want to do

But how much we do

With what ever time we have

Having placed  my little lamb enclosed in theStitch in Time green pasture blog housed in my little Stitch to Patch Village, I gaily  went on to find "5 feeds" for my lamb under the impression that following the RSS guidelines, I could easily get the necessary feeds.  So off I went on the highway of the FREE Internet system provided in the Library.

Woe on me! to many of the new X-, Y- or Z- computer-literate generations,  it is a bullet-train ride for them without any  hassle.  For me, coming from the age when bullock carts, man-pulled rickshaws or bicycles were the common mode of transport other in addition to our own two legs, it is a bit hard to be on an expedition by the 21st-century fast Internet bulletin train, especially I stand the disadvantage of having poorer eyesight to read the signboards, more white matters than the grey matters in my poor brain, my reaction is  in slower motions...

Is RSS user-friendly Really Simple Syndicate to let me get the 5 feeds for my poor lamb?  Well I have to confess and admit with self-justification of my aging biological system that I have faced "problems".  The experience was like me boarding the first time the fast bullet train, showing my "passes" at several security gates and thrown among the massive commuters, eagerly looking for the signposts where to board or alight correctly.  I peered through the Windows up and  down, left and right, hanged on to the long-tail  mouse, pressed the little fellow to let me pause here and there in the exploration to reach the destinations  to gather the feeds as fast as possible before the bullet train pulled off again.  I did not realise I was on the Internet Explorer 7 till several failed attempts. Then computer guru Michael noticed my plight and came forward to offer help to me; following all the steps of the settings, scrolling, finding the goodies etc etc etc..then I failed, failed, failed and finally with his expertise, he kindly showed me his way to open the gates to the food galore of all the feeds in the world!. 

It  was a frustrating and yet also hilarious fun ride for me to press  this and that icon, buttons or  symbols,  out of my curiosity to get to slowly understand the usefulness of all types of icons and buttons,  assumed by  their creators that they are universal unspoken language, easy to comprehend by all young and old, computer-literate or illiterate alike.   But it took me longer time to get to know each of them more intimately, having to  press them one  by one. Well at least I  was still in control of that little long-tail mouse to stop whenever I wanted it to stop for me to to alight  in order to  explore a bit the maize field that popped up endlessly and led me gone astray at times too!

Now  the greatest mistake I had was my stupidity in my assumption that once I subscribed to the selected feeds, they would AUTOMATICALLY be delivered and plonked into my blog, forgetting that I need to open the gateway to a new blog for the safe delivery of the feeds.  Rang   the new generation computer expert Adrian, who  kindly redirected me on to the right path on how the feeds be delivered into my Stitch to Patch Village!  Happened to meet another computer-age pretty lass, Lizzelle who also gave me the tips to go to Design,  Posting, Edit  routes on this RSS exploration trip!  Thank you Michael, Adrian and Lizzelle for your kindness,holding my hands as I trotted along the highways and the lowways, through the mountains and valleys, rivers and streams...enriching the tapestry of my life journey!

Now my Free Internet PC is signalling me leave now with the counting out time. So "jaijian" (i.e. see you again) my fellow bloggers. 

Have subscribed to:

anna patchwork house

http://christianbookshopsblog.org.uk/

http://www.unshelved.com/

http://www.unshelved.com/

http://christianbookshopsblog.org.uk/


Addendum:

I posted and published this "Feed Time" but found that I was swimming in the deep blue sea of RSS and was too murky for me to take the right pathn.  Hopefully this time I am out of the winding path of RSS and can go on to the next journey

Hope to see you  fellow blog passerby at my next Wikis journey if I  can find my way through the antoher thick forest! (huh!Already encountered thorny problems, NO sound coming from the Wikis video clip on Common Craft site.... ????? when I tried to view the Plain English video on Wilkis...spent 30 minutes, failed failed failed to hear!!!  Something wrong with my hearing????

btw, if you find my wordy blogs too boring, please please DO NOT hesitate  NOT to open or read my rubbishy text, better save your precious  time to  do other more interesting fruitful things you long to do.