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This newsletter will keep you up-to-date on 23 Things On a Stick and offer hints on the Things. If you have hints to share, send them our way at minn23@gmail.com.
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Here's the First Hint
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Read the directions, people!
Seriously, it will make doing the Things a lot easier! There are dozens of first posts on the 23 Things On a Stick participants' blogs saying just that, "If only I had read the directions for Thing 1, setting up my blog would have taken me 5 minutes, not an hour." Or "I wouldn't have registered a blog about death in Danish, if I had followed the Blogger instructions."
OK, that last one is made up, but there were a lot of weird blogs registered that were clearly not what the participant intended. Individual online learning is a great thing, but reading the directions is not optional! Maybe this can help.
So, for Things 2 to 23, please first read what you are expected to do--and then jump in and have fun. Thanks.
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Everyone: Check Your Blog
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 Please check your blog. We have added the blogs alphabetically (mostly) by region to the "mother blog" by copying and pasting the information you entered on the Registration form. We caught some URL typos and other errors, but probably missed a few or couldn't figure out a problem. So, take a minute or two to find your blog and click on the link to be sure that this is the blog you registered.
If it is not, send an email to minn23@gmail.com with Blog Correction in the subject field. Put your name and region (region is important so we can find your blog!) with the corrected blog name or URL.
You will note that there are several blogs with the same name--great minds think alike! If you wish to change the name of your blog to something more distinctive, you can do so without creating a new blog or re-registering. Go to the Settings--Basic page. Put the new title in the Title Field and click Save. Or, go to Template, click Edit in the Header element, make your changes, and click Save. Once you have changed the name, send an email as above, but include the new title, the old title, and your URL, too, so we are not changing someone else's blog.
And while you are checking your blog, take some time to check out other participants' blogs and comment on their posts. There are some great thoughts and insights.
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Blogger Hints
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Here are some features of Blogger you may not have found yet:
Make your Blog Title appear on your blog's front page
Be sure you have entered your blog name on the Basic Settings page. If you leave these fields blank, the title will not display on your blog main page.
To show blog title on the main page of your blog, go to Template and choose Add a Page Element. At the very bottom of the list is Page Header-select this and click save.
You can add a subtitle or description to your blog from this page. Just enter the words in the Description box. Click Save. This text will appear under the title of your blog.
Change Template
Don't like the template you are using now? Go to Layout and click Pick New Template. There are 15 or so choices with color variations on many of those, so chances are you can find a combination you like. You can preview what your blog will look like in the new Template. Choose a Template and click Save.
Change Fonts and Colors
Many of the Templates let you change the colors and fonts for some of the elements. Under the Template tab, click on Fonts and Colors. Scroll the elements that you can customize and choose new colors/fonts. Blogger gives a preview of the changes in the lower pane. Click Save Changes when you are happy with the new look.
Easy Upload of Images and Video
Adding images or video to a blog post can provide more info or interest. You can upload images in JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF or BMP format. Quickly and easily upload photos from your computer or the Web by clicking on the appropriate icon in the Toolbar above the posting box and following the instructions in the pop-up window.
Use photo icon for images and the filmstrip icon for video.
Blogger Create a Post Toolbar
For more info, go to Blogger Help for video or images.
Page Elements
Want to customize your blog by adding a blog roll or other list of links? Need to share your Oscar picks? How about adding a slide show or poll? You can add many different features using Blogger Page Elements.
All the information and services on the sidebar of the 23 Things On a Stick mother blog were added using Blogger's Page Elements. Some are just link lists or text boxes we added using the appropriate page element. Others -like Sitemeter and ClustrMap-are third party services that provide the HTML/Java script code to embed in your blog-Blogger tells you where to put the code.
To add a page element, click the Template tab or Customize link in the upper right. This takes you to a view of what is on your blog's front page. Click Add a Page Element. This opens a pop-up window with the elements you can add-each has a brief description. Click on the element you want to add and put the information in the appropriate field. Click Save.
Once you have page elements on your page, you can drag and drop them into the order you want them to appear.
Read Blogger Help for more on customizing your blog.
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Thing 2. What Is Library 2.0?
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 There are some interesting comments in the Thing 2 post on people's perspective on Library 2.0. Take a minute to read them--and maybe add your own. Browsing other participants' blogs will give you many other perspectives and insights on Library 2.0, too.
Commenter Donovan added a handy link to Webopedia's glossary of Web 2.0 terms and acronymns. Library 2.0 Cookbook by freerangelibrarian.com offers definitions for Library 2.0. Slides 14, 22, & 23 compare Library/Web 1.0 and 2.0. But browse the whole thing; it is a good summary of services and ideas for LIbrary 2.0.
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Reminder!
Please put the Thing number in your post title. We are tracking your progress and this will help us--and you--see which Things you have finished.
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| Keep it up! It is great to see the number of people participating and reflecting on the Things.
Sincerely,
The 23 Things On a Stick Team
Patricia (CMLE), Ann WS (Metronet), Linda (NCLC), Ruth (NLLN), Robin (SAMMIE), Ann H (SELS), & Nancy (SMILE)
The Minnesota Multicounty Multitype Library Systems
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