LIBR 246-12: Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools (Fall 2008)

I wanted to explain why I require each person in the class to submit a group experience report. Frequently, when people are assigned a group project, their first concern is "what if someone doesn't pull their weight?" Often, one or two people will end up doing a lion's share of the work to make up for their teammates' lack of commitment. While I believe group projects are valuable learning experiences, I do not necessarily think that everyone in the group should receive the same grade, particularly in situations when some did not carry their weight.

This is just a reminder not to forget to email me with your Group Experience Report (as of now, I've only received reports from half of you). This is a part of the grade for the final project and it's critical that I receive one from each of you. To refresh your memory:

On Thursday at 6:30 pm PT, we will have our very last Elluminate session in which each group will present their project to the class. Please be sure to follow these instructions when planning for your presentation (these can also be found on the Final Project instructions page):

The SOTES (Survey of Teaching Effectiveness) is available now! For those who don't know, this is a survey that examines your satisfaction with the class and my teaching.

I wanted to let you all know that your papers have all been read and graded. You can access my comments and your grade from the document you shared with me on the Google Docs site. My comments are all provided in red to distinguish them from your own words. Let me know if you have any trouble accessing it or if you have questions about your grade.

I've noticed that several of you had errors with your presentation when you uploaded it to blip.tv and it wouldn't convert to .flv, meaning that it cannot be viewed by others. This page describes what might cause these errors and offers some good advice, including the following:

I just heard from Mary Ellen about the dates and times for the Advanced Elluminate sessions:

One critical element to remember when sending me the link to your document is to first add me as an editor of the document first (otherwise I won't be able to see your paper). In GoogleDocs, click on the blue share button on the right-hand side of the page, choose "Invite People", add in my email address and make sure that you give me permission to edit so that I can add my comments to your paper. Then click send and you're all set. Sometimes Google isn't great about sending the message, so be sure you also send me an email with a link to your document.

This week, I don't really have a great blog to recommend, because the best one on the topic hasn't been updated in many months. Still, some of the old posts could be really useful for your assignment due next week. LibCasting is a blog all about library screencasting written by Greg Notess, a librarian in Montana who has written a number of books, columns and frequently speaks about web searching and library technologies.

I just got kicked out of the classroom for the 5th time tonight and now can't get back in, but I wanted to thank everyone for coming tonight. It was a great discussion and please do feel free to contact Greg and Sarah with any questions you may have.