Saturday, February 11, 2012

Social Bookmarking

I have been slow to warm to the idea of Social Bookmarking. When I looked at Sara's list I was quickly overwhelmed and felt that using Diigo would make me feel even more so. Why would I need a place to keep track of websites I like to visit? The tabs that pop up when I open up Explorer at home seemed just fine to me, and I already had Google Reader to keep me informed about some websites I liked that had regularly updated content.

Then, I was continuing to research ideas on teaching Macbeth for the upcoming mod. I found I was refusing to shut down Explorer when closing up my computer for the day/night, because I didn't want to lose the website I'd found that had such amazing ideas and information about the play. And then I found another website that would allow me, and my students, to access an online version of the play broken down by scene, an excellent complement to the graphic novel which would be our main text. Should I email myself the link to the site and make sure not to delete the email?

No! I should figure out how to use Diigo (something which had been eluding me up to this point) and make it easy to access those websites, and others, quickly whenever and wherever I needed them! I did, and have now added those websites and a few others, and have sent in requests to join the Forman group Sara created, as well as the Diigo group for the English Companion Ning (as a side note, I have been a member of Ning for awhile and never saw the need to join their Diigo group as well, until now) and am eagerly awaiting replies. 

I admit to remaining slightly overwhelmed/awestruck when I think of the 1800 websites/800 tags Sara has saved on her Diigo, but I am okay with that because I can clearly see why Diigo can help me organize and access sites that will help me in my teaching, and that is exciting!

2 comments:

  1. I by no means started out with all those tags and websites--I've been using Diigo for five years now (actually started with delicious, and then migrated)! I can't imagine all the things I would have lost track of if not for Diigo!

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  2. Also, Sara is a librarian and an information specialist soooo she should have all of those websites, etc. I have found social bookmarking extremely helpful with my most recent units in both Design Tech and Emerging Diseases. I can go to diigo on both my computer and on iPad and have used them interchangeable. Makes life much easier. Glad you are on board.

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