Thing #6: Mashups and 3rd Party sites

What is a "mashup"?
Wikipedia offers a great article that explains mashups. Basically they are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like Google Maps). In this example, you get Mappr (http://mappr.com/).

Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on the site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups that use Flickr Creative Commons images or even your own photos.

Discovery Resources:

Here are a few examples of mashups that use Flickr:
Mappr - allows you to take Flickr images and paste them on a map

Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.

Mosaic Maker – create a photo mosaic from photos found on Flickr. Discover more mashups, web apps, and Flickr tools.

Bookr - a cute way to create little books using Flickr pictures and your text. Look in the archive at different examples by clicking on the key words list. If you create one, remember the title! The search function is not the best...but remember, it's free! Include the link in your posting so we can see your creation!

Discovery Exercise:
Your discovery exercise for this “thing” is to:
Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are out there.
Create a blog post about one that intrigues you.

In your post, talk about some ways Flickr and/or Flickr mashups could be used in your library program.One of our very favorite tools is FD Toys’ Trading Card Maker. And there’s a ton of librarians out there who have created their own Librarian Trading Card. So have some fun discovering and exploring some neat little apps. And if you're up to the challenge while you’re at it, why not create a trading card of your own?! :)

Take a look at more fun stuff from the Big Huge Labs.

P.S. Be sure and use copyright-friendly photos!

Thing #10: Online Image Generator

(This image was made with Comic Strip Generator)

For this discovery exercise, we just want you to have fun. Find a few fun image or text generators to play around with and write a post in your blog about one of your favorites and display the result. Often adding the image you mocked up to your blog is as simple as copying and pasting code that the page provides. If not, you may just need to right click on the image and then save it to your hard drive before using Blogger’s image button to add it to your post. If you’re having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, ask a colleague for help. In looking at several of your blogs, it’s easy to see that we have lots of people in the district who have figured out how easy it is to add images to their blogs.

Discovery Resources:
Comic Strip Generator
Custom Sign Generator
Image Chef
Happy Face Generator
Big Huge Labs
Kid-Friendly Image Generators
Dumpr
Wordle
Glogster

Trading Card Maker
Also try a Google search for online generators, text generators or image generators!




















(This image was created in Trading Card Maker)

Discovery Exercise:
1. Play around with some image generators and find one that you like.
2. Create several different types of images and save them to your computer.
3. Describe your discovery process in your blog.
Note: Be sure to include a link to the image generator(s) you used, so other participants can discover it too.
4. In your post, be sure to include ways you might use these image generators in the library 0r classroom. Take some time and have fun with this exercise. (And remember to be tasteful too!)