If it were not for QQ’s presentation, I would not have known Skype has changed tremendously since my last use two years ago. The interface and texture look more professional and the new functions like the ‘Share Screen’ are very interesting. I still have the exclusive video of her laughable parody to Skype’s call-in music. I’m sorry – I can’t post it up here – NSFW.

Great moves she had there but let’s not perish her image especially when internship commences next week. And we all know most likely, employers get curious sometimes. (:

Pat Law’s lecture let us in on a lot of exclusive websites. I have taken note of them – feel free to browse through:

Tweetica: http://tweetica.com

Twitalyzer: http://twitalyzer.com

Twitter Grader: http://twitter.grader.com

Alexa: http://www.alexa.com

URLfan: http://urlfan.com

Compete: http://compete.com

Popuri: http://www.popuri.us/

Wefollow: http://wefollow.com/

Tweetizen: http://tweetizen.com

MrTweet: http://mrtweet.net/

Twellow: http://www.twellow.com/

Muck Rack: http://muckrack.com/

Media on Twitter:  http://www.mediaontwitter.com/

Twitterfall: http://twitterfall.com/

Monitter: http://monitter.com/

Hashtag: http://search.twitter.com/

Daymix: http://daymix.com/

Whostalkin: http://whostalkin.com

SocialMention: http://socialmention.com/

MonitorThis: http://monitorthis.info/

BoardTracker: http://v2.boardtracker.com/

Omgili: http://omgili.com/

Technorati: http://technorati.com/

Google Blogsearch: http://blogsearch.google.com

Icerocket: http://icerocket.com/

Ping.sg: http://ping.sg

Blogarama: http://www.blogarama.com

PBWIKI: http://pbworks.com

Netivities: http://www.thedailyinfluence.com/

Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader

Google Alexis: http://www.google.com/alerts

Alltop: http://www.alltop.com

Delicious: http://www.delicious.com

–

Now, that’s A LOT of links. Credits to Pat Law (and to me for painstakingly stressing my eyes over the two-megapixels pictures to figure out them).

At the Enterprise 2.0 conference today in San Francisco, PBworks (formerly PBwiki, see our previous coverage here) announced that it is adding built-in, real-time collaboration tools to its wiki software. The new suite of tools will include in-app IM, Live Notifications of changes to an organization’s workspaces, Live Editing of documents, and Voice Collaboration.

The planned changes should make collaboration using PBworks much easier and faster, with less need to rely on external services. For example, imagine that you’re working on a document and you’d like some input from your team. You could use the built-in IM tool to see who’s online, direct them to the page, start a Live Editing session (which lets them see any changes you make to the document in real time), and even set up an ad hoc conference call using the Voice Collaboration component.

IM Collaboration, Live Notifications, and Live Editing will be available for free to customers with Project Edition and Legal Edition plans beginning Nov. 17, while the Voice Collaboration component should be available in early 2010 (pricing hasn’t been set yet).

Would you use built-in voice chat/conference calling if it was added to your favorite collaboration suite, or would you continue to use an external conference calling app, like WebEx?

For a while now, I have looked around for various services that might assist with organizing my writing notes, and I found a couple that I believe will help the process. The one that I will be talking about in this review is PBWorks, a Wiki provider that used to be called pbwiki once upon a time. Once upon a time I decided to sign up for pbwiki, but never really used it, but due to recent changes in my writing habits, I decided to test it out to see how useful it is. I decided to make a Basic account to get a feel for the service nowadays. What I have discovered so far has made it more than worthy of attention and heavy use by yours truly.

PBWorks is a lot more attractive and user friendly than many of the other wiki services available these days, providing some color templates with full CSS customization, plenty of features to make your site presentable. Got a color scheme in mind? Then go into Settings, and go into Basic Settings. click Custom in the Color section. You are able to customize colors and CSS even further, but I wasn’t able to test these features in the Basic service, but if the other features are anything to go by, then it’s going to rock.

Gone are the days of needing to learn wiki code, PBWorks takes the programming requirements out of the equation, reducing the level of annoyance and allowing the user to spend more time inputting information into their wiki pages. You’ll have at your disposal a neat and tidy interface for creating and editing your pages, which also allows you to add a bunch of different plugins.

You can also choose to revert to source code if you prefer to kick it old skool.

There is a bunch of pre-made pages, such as the To-do List, which should help show you how to use various features and then test them out yourself.

With the free account, you get 2 GB of space per wiki with a few minor restrictions, but if your project is primarily text-based, this service should offer more than enough features to work on your content. Need more? Then upgrade and take advantage of the other nifty features available. It will cost you by the user though, so be prepared to pay at least $8/user/month for the Standard plan and $20/user/month for the Project plan. These upgrades will buy you unlimited space, backups for your wiki, full customization of workspace’s appearance, and security options, as well as other cool stuff.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a great stand-alone wiki service to organize your project, then PBWorks is worth trying out. Even the Basic plan offers lots of great features for anyone wanting to collate and store information online.The service is great for seasoned wiki users and newcomers alike, and is going to free up time that users can spend on something more important, such as creating your content.

Stay tuned for a review of the Zoho service.

Comunicação fluente, colaboração e compartilhamento de informações são aspectos vitais para ter sucesso em montar um “pequeno negócio”.
Hoje em dia há milhares de opções de ferramentas sociais, mas tem uma que se destaca quando pensamos em colaboração: os wikis

Mas o que exatamente é um Wiki?
Wiki é um “web software” que te permite criar e editar páginas interlinkadas.
Por exemplo, você cria rapidamente uma página chama “novas ideias” e coloca lá algumas informações. Em seguida, qualquer um pode acrescentar ideias, comentários ou fazer correções na página criada por você. Isto faz de um wiki uma poderosa ferramenta de colaboração.

Quais os benefícios para um pequeno negócio?

1. Compartilhar informações:
qualquer um pode agregar ideias, outros podem refinar as ideias e colaborar com seus expertises próprios. O resultado destas interferências é uma grande, única e coesa idéia criada coletivamente por um grupo, ao invés de vários pensamentos isolados e soltos por aí.

2. Rastrear revisões:
você sempre conseguirá acompanhar a evolução de uma ideia, já que todas as alterações ficam visíveis e destacadas.

3. Arquivar informações:
quando você cria um wiki, você está con struindo um depósito de informações. Isto significa que você pode arquivar documentos que possam ser importantes pra você e para sua empresa, no futuro.

4. Fácil de usar:
uma vez entendida a sintaxe, é muito mais fácil criar uma página wiki do que uma página na internet ou um post em um blog.

Quais opções existem?
Há centenas de opções de wiki softwares, alguns são melhores para um uso mais “business”:

- MediaWiki: o software que está por trás da Wikipedia
- PbWorks: wiki site super colaborativo
- Twiki: tem sido usado pela maioria das empresas, inclusive pelo Yahoo

Uma lista com mais opções pode ser encontrada na Wikipedia.
Se quiser aprender mais, leia o “O’Reilly guide to wikis”

Texo original em inglês de Ben Parr

Social collaboration update: PBworks (formerly PBWiki) adds profiles, micro-blogging, eMail uploads; http://j.mp/lHzMP

PBwiki is a web 2.0 resource with a really funny name that I find extremely practical and user-friendly. I’ve used it to create a wiki for my students. So far, I’ve only posted resources for them, but I’m planning on getting the students to write on it collaboratively (which is actually the main aim of a wiki).
Take a look at the link and see what you think!

Thinking about using a wiki for your learning environment? If so, you might want to head to PBWorks Summer Camp. This interactive, online forum is a great professional development opportunity for educators who wish to engage in discussion, complete assignments, watch virtual presentations and learn from other wiki mentors some best practices in the wiki-world.

Here is the PBWorks camp syllabus:

Week One: June 22-26

How to set up your wiki:

• Wiki Structure
• What lesson plans to wikify and how
• Upload files – like your syllabus- and make it accessible from the front page
• Important features used for this course
  • Folders
  • Tagging
  • Tables
• Beginner tips from our Mentors!

Register for this week’s webinar on June 23rd at 10:00PST: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/497735667

Interactive Media and How to use it: Review the media options on our educator site

• Chat rooms – when they work and when not to use them
• Videos – tips on video recording software for teachers, and how to quickly embedd videos on your wiki page
• Images
• What video and image services are there for educators to use for free

Round Table Chat with Kristine and the PBwiki Mentors

• Hear from Mentors and find out where they struggled and where they succeeded with interactive media on their wiki.
• What to be aware of when using photos, video and podcasts (aka – no personal photos on a public wiki!)
• Learn step by step how to use the interactive media features.

Homework week two: (This should take 1.5 hours)

• Create a video and upload it to your wiki.  Use one of the suggested tools

-or-

• Create a survey/poll and upload it to your wiki. Use one of the suggested tools
• Link to your video/poll on your camper page.
• Ask a question, or join the conversation on our site for educators

Register for this week’s webinar on June 30th at 10:00PST: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/913182851

Security features in PBwiki 2.0 — keep your work private!

• User Permission levels and how to make changes
• Folders & Folder security
• Page level security

Demonstration of the PBwiki Security Features

• The most important webinar of all — learn how to set security controls BEFORE your students join the wiki.

Homework week three: This should take 20 minutes

• Create a new homework Week Three page & place it in the Week Three folder.
• Go to the page on PBwiki Permission levels.  Read over the PBwiki permission levels and answer the questions. Respond to the questions on your week three homework page.
• Go to the page on Folder Security.  Watch the three short videos and respond to the questions about folder security.  Respond to the questions on your week three homework page.
• Go to the page on Page Security.   Watch the short videos and respond to the questions about page level security. Respond to the questions on your week three homework page.

Register for this week’s webinar on July 7th at 10:00PST: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/333808003

Three ways to invite your students — including the BRAND NEW Classroom Accounts

• Request Access
• Upload email address
• Automatically create accounts without email address (for students under 13)
• How to introduce your wiki to students so it works
  • Parent permission forms
  • FAQ page
  • Sandbox
• What to expect when your students take over
  • Wiki management

Live Discussion on inviting students and the suprising results

Homework week four: this should take 30 minutes

• Set your notification setting in my.pbwiki.com to make sure you receive notifications of student changes
• Upload your student email address, or print out your student accounts
• Determine what invite menthod works for your class and discuss it on the forum

Register for this week’s webinar on July 14th at 10:00PST: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/983510451

• Review and new features for educators.

No Homework — Just new features for your workspace!

Register for this week’s webinar on July 21st at 10:00PST: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/756888211

Sounds intriguing? Then sign up HERE.

PBworks (formerly PBwiki) today introduced PBworks Project Edition, a modified version of the collaborative wiki software that incorporates some project management features.

Simple project management functionality, like workflow management, task assignment and milestones, is built right into the tool, so there’s no need to use a separate app like Basecamp to handle simple project management. This makes PBworks an attractive option for teams looking for a tool for collaborative project tasks, like document authoring, requirements gathering or design review. Task management is kept together with the actual task itself, which makes a lot of sense.

This idea of providing task and project management functionality in apps that are used for the tasks seems to be gaining popularity; we recently saw Box.net add task management features to its file-sharing service, for example. Including task management functionality within an app should help many teams handle project management tasks themselves, reducing the need to have a designated project manager on simpler project. (PBworks calls this “organic project management.”)

PBworks Project Edition costs $20 per user per month, with “guest” licenses (for clients and contractors on a particular project) available for free.

Have you tried PBworks Project Edition? Let us know what you think in the comments.

I want to share something with you. You could have found it on your own, but you didn’t. Maybe I use Internet search tools better than you do. Maybe I needed this information before you did. Or maybe I have more free time on my hands than you do. But the bottom line is you and I might have similar interests, similar levels of curiosity, or have the occasion to solve similar problems. And I have information you might want or need.

Wouldn’t it be great if instead of having to search the whole of the Internet, you could just tap into my bookmarks or my central depository of information?

Wouldn’t it be even better if you could find a group of people like us. And we’d all be willing and able to share what we know?

Like a lawyer asking a question in a courtroom, you have to know that I already know the answer.

Delicious. Or wait. Maybe Wikipedia. Or StumbleUpon. Or even my own wiki that I only let certain people have the password to. Maybe I don’t have THE answer after all since there is no ONE answer.

The bottom line is information is power and in today’s online world, people are willing to give that power away for free all the time.

Your online information gathering is so important that your OS or browser has some way of backing up your bookmarks. That information that you have deemed important enough to have it added to your browser’s database is probably very interesting to me. Let’s share.

A typical organization has vast amounts of internal knowledge and wisdom that it has gathered over the years. How is it being stored, vaulted, and recalled as needed? Do people sit around the company elders and have them spin yarns. Or is there a central database where anyone that needs the information has ready access, yet secure enough to be protected against competitor’s prying eyes.

On a personal level, how to you collect and store your information? How much are you willing to share?

At the corporate level, do you know of any positive examples where company knowledge and wisdom is collected, protected, and made available on an as-needed basis?

Many Maryland library staff who participated in 23 Things and played with the Maryland Libraries Sandbox Wiki.  Well now due to PBworks (the software behind the wiki) changed who it views as an admin to the site (basically anyone who ever signed up their email address so you could edit the wiki) – people are now getting lots of emails from PBworks Changebot.

Here is how you can stop these emails from hitting your inbox:

• log into the wiki
• click on Account in the upper right hand corner
• click on the Home tab
• in the Preferences section select NEVER
• click submit

If you can’t log into the wiki – either contact the workplace owner and explain that you want to login (but forgot your login)  to change your settings

OR

setup a filter in your email client to delete emails that come from the marylandlibrariessandbox.

By Michael E. Casey and Laura C. Savastinuk — Library Journal, 9/1/2006

Libraries are changing. Funding limits and customer demands are transforming staffing levels, service models, access to resources, and services to the public. Administrators and taxpayers are seeking more efficient ways of delivering services to achieve greater returns on financial investments.

Enter Library 2.0. This new model for library service is being discussed online, at conferences, in administrative offices, and at the reference desk. If you and your library staff are not among those already talking 2.0, pay attention; Library 2.0 could revitalize the way we serve and interact with our customers.

The heart of Library 2.0 is user-centered change. It is a model for library service that encourages constant and purposeful change, inviting user participation in the creation of both the physical and the virtual services they want, supported by consistently evaluating services. It also attempts to reach new users and better serve current ones through improved customer-driven offerings. Each component by itself is a step toward better serving our users; however, it is through the combined implementation of all of these that we can reach Library 2.0.

While not required, technology can help libraries create a customer-driven, 2.0 environment. Web 2.0 technologies have played a significant role in our ability to keep up with the changing needs of library users. Technological advances in the past several years have enabled libraries to create new services that before were not possible, such as virtual reference, personalized OPAC interfaces, or downloadable media that library customers can use in the comfort of their own homes. This increase in available technologies gives libraries the ability to offer improved, customer-driven service opportunities.

Tapping new users through the “long tail”

In the current library world—particularly in public institutions—we are accustomed to focusing our services on those customers we already reach. Michael Stephens explains on ALA TechSource, “As we reach out to users, we must remember all of the folks we serve.” Libraries are in the habit of providing the same services and the same programs to the same groups. We grow comfortable with our provisions and we fail to change. When thinking about this new model for library service, Stephens believes that “Library 2.0 will be a meeting place, online or in the physical world, where [library users'] needs will be fulfilled through entertainment, information, and the ability to create [their] own stuff to contribute to the ocean of content out there.”

No matter how hard we try, many of the services we offer are not being used by a majority of our population. It’s never been easy to reach this group with physical services, because libraries are constrained by space and money and cannot carry every item that every user desires. Many public libraries now try to offer a hit-driven collection plan, putting forth popular materials that many of their existing customers request.

This keeps some traditional customers satisfied, but non-users might be better served if librarians consider what’s called the long tail. Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired, who coined the phrase in an article of the same name in 2004, argues that the demand for movies or books that are not hits far outnumbers the demand for those that are hits. Match those nonhits with the people who are interested in seeing them, and suddenly you have a group of constituents equal to or greater than those who want to see and read the hits. (For more on libraries and the long tail, see Katherine Mossman’s “Serving the Niche,” LJ 7/06, p. 38–40.)

Going after the diverse long tail requires a combination of physical and virtual services, a move underway in many libraries, with efforts such as interlibrary loan (ILL) purchase-on-demand from online used-book retailers, home delivery of books to customers who otherwise never visit libraries, and by offering more electronic texts. Tim O’Reilly, in his seminal essay “What Is Web 2.0,” discusses the concept of harnessing the collective intelligence of everyone who uses a product. In an online environment, this takes the form of feedback, user reviews, and user-crafted social networks. Sites as diverse as Amazon, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, and Wikipedia (see “2.0 Resources,” p. 42) all depend on high levels of user participation to expand the value of the product.

Blogs and wikis are other ways to engage customers and push fresh content to users. Temple University Library, Philadelphia, uses its blog to provide a place for “news, events, and discussion.” Ann Arbor District Library (AADL), MI, went a step further and turned its homepage into a blog—an opportunity to build community and also quickly respond to feedback. The resourceful librarians at the Saint Joseph County Public Library in South Bend, IN, used open source wiki software to create a successful subject guide that facilitates customer feedback.

Customer as collaborator

At its most basic level, the Library 2.0 model gives library users a participatory role in the services libraries offer and the way they are used. Customers, should they desire, will be able to tailor library services to best meet their own needs. This can be done electronically, such as through the personalization of library web pages, or physically through new service options such as allowing customers to call impromptu book talks or discussion groups. Such collaborative efforts require librarians to develop a more intensive routine of soliciting customer response and regularly evaluating and updating services.

To increase both your library’s appeal and value to users, consider implementing customizable and participatory services. The Library 2.0 model seeks to harness our customer’s knowledge to supplement and improve library services. User comments, tags, and ratings feed user-created content back into these web sites. Ultimately, this creates a more informative product for subsequent users. Your library customers have favorite titles, authors, and genres. Allowing them to comment, write reviews, create their own tags and ratings, and share them with others through a more versatile OPAC interface will enhance your catalog. Customers want to know what their neighbors are reading, listening to, and watching. Hennepin County Library, MN, has taken this step by allowing users to comment in the catalog.

When creating customizable services you should also consider customer privacy. Libraries should remain as vigilant with protecting customer privacy with technology-based services as they are with traditional, physical library services. There are ways to preserve privacy, such as by allowing anonymous comments and tagging within the catalog. Library users should not be required to identify themselves publicly in order to participate in virtual services.

While a lot of the discussion about Library 2.0 involves technology, libraries with limited technology funding or in communities affected by the digital divide can still work toward Library 2.0. If technology options are limited, consider physical functions that will better serve current customers as well as bring in new ones. You can develop ideas for new, affordable offerings, including physical services, from other libraries, staff feedback, and by surveying both current and potential customers.

Handling the technology

The openness of Library 2.0 extends to the software and hardware that libraries use, including integrated library systems (ILS). Modifiable automation systems and catalogs are preferable to proprietary, closed systems. An excellent example of this is the Evergreen ILS project that is being developed by the Georgia Public Library Service for use by the Georgia Library PINES Program.

Some librarians, such as John Blyberg, Ann Arbor’s network administrator, are concerned that ILS vendors, in an attempt to capitalize on the changes brought about by Library 2.0, will design proprietary interfaces to link library catalog data with our users. Blyberg has responded with a call for open standards. His proposed “ILS Customer Bill of Rights” charges libraries with the need to have usable access to the data that they own in their databases and the ability to create service applications that use that data in new and creative ways. [For another AADL innovation from Blyberg, see “Baker's Smudges,” p. 30.]

Not every library system can employ programmers or maintain a large IT staff. “I’d say the problem (not the excuse) is that a typical library webmaster is very part-time,” observes Steve Lawson, humanities liaison librarian for Tutt Library at Colorado College, Colorado Springs. “I would love to implement some of these Web 2.0 ideas, but with reference, instruction, and collection development responsibilities, I don’t have the time to innovate constantly. In my own case, I’m hoping I can leverage free sites like Flickr and PBWiki and APIs [an application program interface, the end result of which is often referred to as a mashup] like Google Maps to create a Web 2.0–friendly environment for the library web site.”

In other libraries, applying 2.0 is a question of awareness. “Ask yourself if your library is ready for this type of shift [in technology], because, overwhelmingly, the answer is no,” writes Jenny Levine of the Shifted Librarian blog and the American Library Association. “Librarians just aren’t thinking like this yet, and we need to change this. It’s at the very core of the whole ‘Library 2.0′ discussion, and this is why it’s so critical. If we keep our content locked up on our own web sites and don’t get it out there for people to use as they want to use it, then our content will fall by the wayside.”

For many, a realistic start means embracing some inexpensive, even free new technologies. Libraries currently offering word processing may want to move away from locally installed and administered applications and instead point customers to such wonderful online tools as Writely and Writeboard, which both offer word processing applications that run in the web browser. Michael Arrington, of the blog TechCrunch, says, “Writely is no longer a toy—it is fast becoming a legitimate alternative to Word.”

These online tools offer valuable collaborative functions. Two writers can simultaneously work on Writely, crafting changes visible to the other writer, no matter their physical distance. Many other Microsoft Office–style applications exist online. 37signals offers several useful online tools that range from its powerful project management application Basecamp to the personal information organizer Backpack and sharable to-do lists called Ta-da Lists—all of which are available in free, fully optioned versions. Also, Microsoft has recently announced online productivity tools to come from Microsoft Office Live.

2.0, all the time

What makes a service Library 2.0? Any service, physical or virtual, that successfully reaches users, is evaluated frequently, and makes use of customer input is a Library 2.0 service. Even older, traditional services can be Library 2.0 if criteria are met. Similarly, being new is not enough to make a service Library 2.0.

Many libraries have made encouraging advances in their electronic offerings by providing access to top-quality databases, downloadable audiobooks and music, and instant messaging reference services. Our own Gwinnett County Public Library (GCPL) in Lawrenceville, GA, has launched a successful downloadable music, video, and audiobook service. South Huntington Public Library, Huntington Station, NY, has already created an iPod Shuffle loan program. Some libraries have expanded physical services by creating specific areas for teen and community activities, reflecting the public’s desire for a civic space and exciting new programs. The Cecil County Public Library in Elkton, MD, offers Teen Game Nights. GCPL held a very successful teen band competition in 2005 as part of its Year of the Teen.

Currently, libraries have a tendency to plan, implement, and forget. Library 2.0 attempts to change this by encouraging the development of a schedule that includes regularly soliciting customer feedback and evaluating and updating services. Both new and existing library services should be revisited routinely to ensure that they are still meeting expected goals. Even older, traditional library services should be reviewed with a fresh eye to determine if any aspect needs updating.

When thinking about ways to work toward Library 2.0, consider what services your library already offers that could be improved as well as new things that can be added. This includes both technology-based and nontechnology services. Also consider applications that are presented virtually, such as virtual reference, and those offered in the branches, such as your ILL system. Libraries have to evolve continuously to keep up with the changing needs of their users. You can help keep your service offerings fresh by always looking for new ideas and reevaluating old ones.

The Public Library Association’s (PLA) Planning for Results is an example of a tool that can be used to evaluate library services. Planning for Results offers a starting point for measuring the worth of current services and system procedures. No matter which tool your library chooses to use, be it contracted consulting or an internally created plan, it is essential to create a schedule of regular evaluations for new and existing services and seek both staff and customer input. Be sure to survey both current and potential customers, as well as staff from all levels. A wide range of commentary will provide balanced feedback on the success of or demand for a service.

Your library may already offer some services that can be considered Library 2.0. If your organization combines these Library 2.0 options with a framework for continual change and customer input integrated into other operations within your library, it will be well on its way to becoming Library 2.0.

Many tools and ideas will come from the world of Web 2.0, and many will have nothing to do with technology. The specifics of the Library 2.0 model will be different for each library system. Every library has a different starting point. Through collaboration between staff and users, you will be able to develop a clear idea of how this model will work for your organization.

PBwiki has changed their name to PBworks. Go to their website to read about the name change.

When I’m asked about setting up a new wiki for a group, I often recommend PBWiki as it has a number of good features and for education it can be used for free.  Since I work within the HE sector this is a simple and quick solution for many of the cross-institutional groups and many people are familiar with it.

I was surprised a few days ago however that it is changing its name.  Apparently to reflect the fact that it is more than just a wiki.  For more information you can check out the story on the Daily Peanut – PB Wiki’s blog.

There’s a competition to guess the name and as yet I haven’t managed to crack this peanut.  I thought a search of domain names on whois might yield a common address or owner, but no such luck.  My only guess so far is given its wider nature and American source, it might be something like Peanut Butter and Jelly collaboration platform (PBJCP).

I have a quick story to share that shows how cool it is to have web hooks. I was writing another post and ended up going on a tangent with this, so I figured I’d give it its own post.

At the last SuperHappyDevHouse, I presented Get Achievements, an XBox Live-style achievement platform I built one night. The only thing was, it had no pretty aesthetic to it, so I rushed what you see there now during DevHouse so I could present it at our lightning talks. I was hacking with a designer friend up until somebody came upstairs to tell me I was up soon, but just then I was struck with a great idea: what if I could add achievements to the DevHouse wiki? Get Achievements requires you to make backend changes to your code, and PBwiki is a hosted service. However, PBwiki recently added web hooks, so theoretically I could use them to trigger the achievements. Could I rig it up in the time I had left?

What I needed to do was have an event in PBwiki POST to a URL on Get Achievements that unlocks an achievement. I needed something simple and quick, so I figured I’d make a login achievement. With this, if I login to the wiki, I’d be rewarded with fanfare and a box saying “Login Achievement Unlocked” as you can do with Get Achievements. But how can I make PBwiki POST to Get Achievements when you login? Well, I can’t, it’s a hosted service. But like I said, they had web hooks, and they included logging in as a hookable event.

At this point I was downstairs less than 10 minutes from my 5 minute lightning talk. I let some people go ahead as I rushed through this sitting on the floor with my laptop. I needed a place to write a hook script for PBwiki that would POST to Get Achievements. Very simple. AppJet was the first place that came to mind, and because I didn’t have to set up an application config file or upload anything with an SDK, I was able to add achievements to the SuperHappyDevHouse wiki in less than 10 minutes… thanks to hooks and AppJet.

I got up there and showed them how cool Get Achievements was, and then I dazzled them with a demo of the DevHouse wiki with a login achievement. Sure, it was more a demo of web hooks than Get Achievements at that point, and because not everybody knows what the hell I’m talking about most of the time, I didn’t get the standing ovation I was looking for, but it went well. I had to go around after, asking my friends if they really got how awesome what I just did was.

From idea to a (mostly) working demo for something that would normally involve making backend code changes, I did as a user, in a panic, terribly fast. Just an example of what’s possible in a world with web hooks…

In the past week of my life/this semester, several assignments and projects have been due for my courses here at SLAIS. Two of these assignments were unique from the others, in the sense that they were group projects. Though the assignments were from two different courses, myself and three of my classmates formed one group to work on both projects.

Throughout the semester, we met on several occasions to work together, though we also relied on the web. Specifically, we used Google Docs and pbwiki.com. These are only two examples of collaborative technology, but serve as a good introduction to the idea. The concept of collaborative technology is the key tenet of what is referred to as Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is essentially the second generation of the WWW. With, as mentioned above, a focus on collaboration and community-developed ideas, it is represented by sites like Google Docs and pbwiki. What the internet in general has done for businesses in terms of advertising, and subsequently the generating of revenue, Web 2.0 can do for groups and organizations that thrive on the discussion and dissemination of ideas. Indeed, since the concept of Web 2.0 was developed, or more accurately, identified, there has been almost no end to the settings in which it has been applied.

One of the most frequently used applications of Web 2.0 ideals, is where most web users turn for their definitions, wikipedia. This is by far the most commonly used and the best example of a wiki on the net. Wikis are web pages that can be edited by almost anyone, provided a user has an account with the site.

Libraries have been exploring this option in depth, using wikis to make themselves available and announce programs or events to users on the internet. This is about library wikis…in it’s own words:

LibraryWikis is a wiki about wikis used in libraries. It is a place for learning about and sharing examples of library wikis. The wiki is a companion to a research article published within the September 2007 issue of Information Technology and Libraries.

An example of an actual library wiki is the Bull Run Library wiki. The library uses the site primarily for the posting of upcoming events, but has several other resources available. There are links available for the library system of which they are a part, the library catalog, and then several other program schedules as well.

logo used on the Bull Run Library wiki

From Ohio University, we have the Ohio University Libraries Biz Wiki, which, as the welcome video tells us, is to, “promote business research tools.” This wiki stands alone from the main page of the Ohio University Libraries page, but enables users to search a specific topic.

Wikis are an effective tool, yet fairly low-tech to create. Because of their prevalence on the web, there are many free sites available, and thus they are easily generated and maintained by libraries. Best of all, any user who has the internet available to them is automatically connected to the library.

Herramientas y servicios para crear WIKIS

Crear una Wiki es más fácil de lo que pensamos. Existen varios sitios gratuitos en Internet donde podemos crear nuestra propia Wiki sin necesidad de instalar ningún programa en nuestro ordenador.

Algunos de estos sitios son:

• Wetpaint: un sitio recomendable, sencillo, gratuito, potente y muy atractivo visualmente para los usuarios.

Te ofrece muchas plantillas a elegir y varias opciones integradas con posibilidad de dejarlo abierto para que cualquiera pueda editarlo o cerrado sólo para determinadas personas. No tiene límite de capacidad de almacenamiento. El servicio está en inglés.

o URL del sitio: http://www.wetpaint.com/

o Este enlace contiene un manual explicativo en castellano para trabajar con Wetpaint: http://wikitaller.wikispaces.com/wetpaint

· Wikispaces: es un servicio que nos proporciona 2GB de espacio de forma gratuita para alojar todo tipo de archivos multimedia.

Es muy utilizado por el servicio docente para colgar información a los alumnos. Es muy sencillo de utilizar ya que nunca perdemos la información porque genera una copia de cada artículo que se escribe.

Controla los cambios que se hacen en cada copia del artículo. El contenido se estructura en hipertexto.

Dispone de un buscador interno, podemos suscribirnos a contenidos mediante RSS, contiene un foro donde manifestar nuestras opiniones y por último, algo muy importante, permite descargar en el ordenador una copia de seguridad, por lo que nunca se perderá la información del lugar aunque usuarios no autorizados cambien el contenido.

o URL del sitio: http://www.wikispaces.com/

o Para facilitar su uso aquí dejo un manual: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2203698/Manual-de-wikispaces

• Pbwiki: es un servicio gratuito que incorpora publicidad. Incorpora un editor WYSIWYG que es similar a un procesador de texto normal. Utilizando diferentes WIDGETS podemos incluir elementos como un video de Youtube, fotos de Flickr, etc. Es rápido y cómodo de usar. Contiene varias plantillas predefinidas. En este sitio existen dos versiones de Wikis: las gratuitas con publicidad y las de pago sin publicidad que cuestan unos 5 dólares al mes. La página también está en inglés.

o URL del sitio: http://pbwiki.com/

o Aquí tenemos un manual para utilizar Pbwiki editado por Mario Núñez: http://www.vidadigital.net/blog/2007/05/05/guia-para-la-creacion-de-wikis-en-pbwiki/

· WikiOle: este servicio en castellano ofrece aparte de la creación de una Wiki, un servicio de foro on-line, de blog(a través de otro dominio: amigator.com), servicio de portal y encuestas. En este dominio tanto el usuario como WikiOle pueden cancelar las cuentas sin previo aviso. No se puede difundir ningún material protegido con copyright dentro de este dominio. No ofrece muchas plantillas como los anteriores sitios. También podemos suscribirnos a contenidos mediante RSS. Es un servicio gratuito.

o Su dirección Web es: http://wikiole.com/

• Wik.is: permite compartir cualquier tipo de información (Archivos, fotos, documentos…) con 1 Giga de espacio y de manera gratuita o de pago con más espacio (99 dólares al año). El servicio está en inglés. Está basado en un editor WISWYG, lo que facilita la creación de nuestras páginas. Permite añadir cualquier tipo de contenido multimedia a nuestras páginas.
  • Su dirección Web es: http://www.mindtouch.com/Products/Deki_Express
  • Aquí dejo dos guías para facilitar la utilización de este dominio: http://en.calameo.com/books/0000022747c58bd3193c7

http://aulablog21.wikispaces.com/file/view/tutorial_wik.is.pdf

· Nirewiki: es un servicio gratuito creado en España pero que está disponible en varios idiomas. El editor de los contenidos es similar al de WordPress. Una curiosidad sobre Nirewiki, es que no sólo es un servicio para crear wikis, además también permite crear blogs (Nireblogs), fotologs (Nirudia) y videoblogs (NireTv). En Nirewiki.com las comunidades son los códigos ISO de los idiomas, es, en, eu, ar,… pero podrían ser cualquier otro nombre alumnos, profesores,… Dentro de cada comunidad se podrían crear tantos wikis como se quieran. En Nirewiki existen wikis de registro libre (el usuario puede registrarse sin necesidad de ser aprobado) y de registro con aprobación (es necesario que se apruebe la wiki del usuario por un administrador).

Las wikis en Nirewiki pueden ser de tres tipos: abierta (todos los usuarios pueden participar en ella), pública (todos pueden leer pero solo escribir y subir archivos los usuarios registrados) y cerrada (solo los usuarios registrados pueden leer, escribir y subir archivos). Existen plantillas para que el usuario decore su Wiki como quiera, y el usuario también puede hacer sus propias plantillas y subirlas.

o URL del sitio: http://nirewiki.com/es

• • En esta dirección hay un manual para trabajar en Nirewiki: http://chandralab.org/?cat=23

• Wiki.com: es un servicio en inglés donde puedes crear tu wiki de manera gratuita. Tiene una capacidad de almacenamiento muy pequeña, de 25 MB. Wiki.com tiene un sistema de confirmación por el que al crear su wiki o realizar cualquier cambio en la misma se enviará un mensaje de notificación informándole de los cambios.
  • URL del sitio: http://www.wiki.com/

• • Manual en castellano para trabajar con Wiki.com: http://www.slideshare.net/Comunidad2.0/crear-un-wiki-con-wikicom-mdule

Existen muchos más soportes para crear Wikis, de momento os dejo con estos que son muy interesantes y fáciles de usar. También se pueden construir wikis a nivel mucho más avanzado creando nuestro propio código fuente, instalando varios soportes y varios programas en nuestro ordenador, etc. Por lo que he escogido para explicar la creación estos soportes que nos facilitan mucho el trabajo.

Si te ha interesado el post y quieres ver el artículo completo y saber más sobre las Wikis, pincha sobre este enlace:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/14181087/wikisopedias

]]> http://suesbent.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/slideshare-rock-star/ Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:52:19 +0000 suesbent http://suesbent.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/slideshare-rock-star/

According to Slideshare I am a “Slideshare Rock Star” because the slideshow I created and uploaded last year is very very popular. How to create a wiki has had 8913 views and is a favourite of 17 people and has been embedded 13 times. It has been downloaded 167 times and has been added to 2 groups. I used pbwiki version 1 as the wiki creation tool, then later created a second slideshow using pbwiki 2.

Instructors Wes Fryer and Karen Montgomery

Digital Learning Academy:
The Read/Write Web for the Classroom
July 13, 14, 15 ; 8:30 am-3:30 pm each day
Three day class: $414 CSD member; $598 non-member (Two Graduate Credits Available)

This three-day, hands-on educational workshop at Cooperating School Districts in St. Louis is focused on helping teachers blend collaborative learning technologies into creative, powerful lessons and projects for K-12 students. Facilitator Karen Montgomery and participants at CSD will be partnered with teachers in Oklahoma City, who will be facilitated by Wesley Fryer. The groups will interact with each other using videoconferencing technology, both Polycom and Skype.

Some of the Web 2.0 topics covered in this tele class will be: • Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy and Creative Commons • Social bookmarking – delicious • Podcasting – Gabcast • Photo sharing – Flickr • Digital storytelling – VoiceThread • Collaborative document building – Google docs and PBwiki • Social networking –Ning • Online video – TeacherTube, YouTube and USTREAM

Want to create a class website where you can post daily assignments and pictures and upload documents for parents and students to download, but don’t have the time?  Wikis were designed for you!  Wiki Your Way to a Classroom Website will be July 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Cooperating School Districts‘ tele. Come learn how to use this free, Web 2.0 tool to create quick websites that contain everything you are dreaming of.  In no time at all, you will have a robust website that you will be proud of and others will be impressed with.  Learn the uses and benefits of using wikis and see several examples of how they are being used in education. Participants will create their own wikis using pbwiki (a free Internet-based service) and learn wiki basics such as setting one up, adding pages, inserting links, uploading files, inserting images and adding tables.  Walk away with your own website in less time than you ever thought.  “Wiki” means “quick” in Hawaiian, and they truly are! ($138 CSD member; $214 non-member | One Graduate Credit Available)

The Case for Wikis and Social Media in the Classroom

• Make learning more interesting and engaging
• Increase productivity
• Ease of communication and collaboration
• Media and technology literacy
• Creativity and self-expression
• Virtual teamwork
• Contextual and big picture thinking
• Introduction to online ethics

Concerns Wikis and Social Media in the Classroom

• Budgetary hurdles to education technology in the classroom
• Student classroom time
• Teacher time
• Shiny new toy syndrome
• ADD

How will your students use the web in the future?

• Communication
• Collaboration
• Creative self-expression
• Health care and doctor communication
• Banking and financial management
• Business meetings
• Politics
• Goals, scheduling, and planning
• Productivity (Sofware as Service)
• Customer Service Management
• E-commerce
• Marketing
Is there a part of their lives that won’t be touched and influenced by internet technology?

A Vision of Students Today

How can I use a Wiki?

How can I apply a Wiki for Business, Education, or my Favorite Hobbies?

How do you use wWkis? What do you see as the future of wikis in education and business? What is your favorite Learning 2.0 resource or Education 2.0 tool?

Additional Wikis in Education and Education 2.0 Resources

Education 2.0 Overview of Top Tools on Hubpages
Classroom 2.0 Wiki
Classroom 2.0 Social Network on Ning
Classroom 2.0: Forum Discussion of Wikis
Top Education Websites on Alltop
Wikis in Education from Jeff Utecht at Wetpaint (His blog Thinking Stick is informative too)
Wetpaints Wikis in Education
Best Education Wikis at Wetpaint
Top 100 Tools
Business Case Studies at PBWiki
Wikis in Education Presentation on Slideshare
Elearning 2.0 Presentation on Slideshare

What is PBwiki?

I’m using it to collaborate with other consultants and also friends and family..

PBwiki is the world’s largest provider of hosted business and educational wikis. We host over 400,000 wikis, serve millions of users per month.
Leading companies from AT&T to Wal-Mart, including 1/3 of the Fortune 500, choose PBwiki to help them with knowledge management, collaboration, project management, and a host of other business processes and workflows.

One of the most common uses for PBwiki is project management.  After all, project management is all about collaboration.  And unlike traditional project management software (such as Microsoft Project) which forces you into a certain process, PBwiki lets you manage your projects your way.

PBwiki provides an easy and flexible way to manage your projects.  One final thing to remember is that once you’ve customized this project management system, you can simply tag the representative pages with the keyword “template” and add your customized templates to the wiki.  This makes it easy for your entire organization to adopt your customizations.

Check it out here..

Å komme igang med wiki er ikke vanskelig. Det er mange typer å velge i. De fleste har sett wikipedia. En kommersiell verson av denne er Mediawiki. Den må imidlertid lastes ned og installeres på eget domene. (f.eks: www.hvemsomhelst.no) En slik løsning er derfor ikke aktuell for de fleste. Den har også en egen syntaks/koding for å formattere innhold i motsetning til andre som har en egen editor.

Her er tre wikiløsninger som er grei å starte med:

• Wikispaces
• pbWiki
• Google sites

For alle slike tjenester kreves det en e-postadresse. Siden det har en tendens til å bli mange tjenester etterhvert, er det lurt å opprette en egen e-post til slikt bruk. Gmail, Live, Hotmail. Google Sites (og alle andre Google-tjenester) krever en G-mailadresse.

Hjelpeside om Wikispaces
del&bruk sin Wikispaces med forklaringer på å komme igang.
Videoer på www.norskboka.no/wikispaces.htm

Under en video fra Youtube

Og her er en video som viser hvordan man arbeider i Wikispaces

Å komme igang med wiki er ikke vanskelig. Det er mange typer å velge i. De fleste har sett wikipedia. En kommersiell versjon av denne er Mediawiki. Den må imidlertid lastes ned og installeres på eget domene. (f.eks: www.hvemsomhelst.no) En slik løsning er derfor ikke aktuell for de fleste. Den har også en egen syntaks/koding for å formattere innhold i motsetning til andre, som har en egen editor.

Her er tre andre wikiløsninger som er grei å starte med: Wikispaces,  pbWiki,  Google sites

Les mer om Wikispaces på Digitale læringsressurser, Hjelpeside om Wikispaces og Videoer på www.norskboka.no/wikispaces.htm

I’ve written before about how much I like wikis. I’m not paid by PBWiki in any way. Really! I do like the way they do wikis, though. There’s many others out there (they may appeal to you more than PBWiki…): Wetpaint, Wikidot, Wikispaces, and Zoho wiki. Actually, most are pretty user friendly.

Anyway, PBwiki has a series of upcoming webinars OR you could just jump right in and give a wiki a try. They really make for easy web pages and serve to promote collaboration.

Give it a try!