Monday, July 16, 2007

Week 9, Thing 23


WOW!!!!!
It's hard to believe that I've finished! And ahead of schedule, too!
As someone who has always felt "technology challenged," I signed on for 23 Things feeling somewhat uncertain and quite a bit intimidated.

In the early stages I felt that I had gotten into something that was way over my head.
But I discovered along the way that stubborness can sometimes be a very positive personality trait. After spending quite a bit of my own time and working my way through untold frustrations, I figured out ...on my own!!!!...how to move widgets, avatars, and other "things" to my blog, simply because I was determined to complete some of the optional exercises. (It would have been nice to have had tips about this at the beginning of the program for us non-techie people.)

Then it became interesting and productive for me. Although I knew that I would find numerous applications for library use, I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that I will actually use some of these tools on a frequent basis. Merlin, del.icio.us, RSS feeds, and Zoho are my favorites and will fit into both my personal and professional lives.
I can see del.icio.us or something similar replacing Favorites on my computers and my bloglines account is a great way to keep in touch with items of personal interest as well as keeping in touch with library and technology news. I've already used Zoho sheets to send statistics and will be using Zoho Writer instead of Word. How wonderful to be able to access them from any computer!

I definitely feel like a success story! I've become more comfortable with these technology tools that have library applications and have more confidence in myself and my ability to learn about new technology in a non-threatening atmosphere. I'm pretty sure that I'm not comfortable enough to be a trainer, but I'm definitely glad to know about what's out there and to actually bring away things that I can use.
I would definitely consider another training project like this, but would prefer that it be offered at a different time of year.

Many libraries are already taking advantage of much of this technology to bring their customers to them. It is important that we (CCPL and other Maryland library systems) embrace new technology . We need to use it to make our online library an interesting and useful place to visit. Wikis for book reviews, reader's advisory and community events. Podcasts and YouTube to highlight programs, databases, and services.
Although I hope libraries will always have books in the print format, I can understand the need to make information available in other ways to engage a very diverse customer base.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Week 9, Thing 22

Finally, something that I already know!!!
I was already familiar with both Overdrive and Project Gutenberg, but had not visited either one recently. After creating an account with Overdrive, I located a couple of titles that I want to download to my new MP3 player. I like to listen to audio books on the lo-o-o-ong drive to South Carolina, and since I'm going down in late September or mid-October to visit my mom, this will be a great way to put my newest piece of technology to use. If I want older, classical titles I'll probably look for them on Project Gutenberg.

I looked at the sponsors listed on the World eBook Fair and found one that surprised me a little. I know you can do just about anything on your cell phone if it's sophisticated enough, but I didn't realize that there is a site dedicated just to downloading ebooks to your phone! Although the subscription cost is nominal, I'm pretty sure that I won't be subscribing to MobileBooks. As someone who doesn't even care for the idea of reading books on a computer, I cannot even imagine wanting to read one on my cell phone!!!

Week 9, Thing 21

I looked in all three of the podcast directories and found an interesting podcast on games. It was an episode from the series Game On: Games in Libraries that discussed a website for virtual pets, neopets.com
and how marketing targets children. ( They can buy accessories for your vitual pet!)

Then I listened to a long, but Very interesting podcast located on Merlin that was one of the episodes from the series Biblio Tech. This episode hosted Michael Stephens (Taming the Web) and was a very interesting discussion about Library 2.0. Although I had read an article by him for an earlier "Thing," this went into much more detail, emphasizing being "human" with our users in order to break down barriers, the vital need to market our collections and services, and the fact that although tools will change, cultural and social change won't.
It was reassuring to me to hear that I don't need to know what's happening "under the hood" with these tools, but what they are and how to use them.

Then I successfully subscribed to LibVibe, the library news podcast. I like the idea of another format for staying in touch with what's happening in the world of libraries.
Obviously there has been transfer of learning during this exploration of technology, because I remembered how to do this successfully on my first attempt!

There are many possiblities for the use of podcasts in libraries, including book reviews, storytelling program highlights, and booktalking, just to name a few.

Here's Nora!

Meet Nora, the talented piano-playing kitty!

Week 9, Thing 20

I explored YouTube and Google Videos, but was not able to access the Yahoo site on my computer at HQ.....blocked, rated R! The funny thing is that I didn't have any trouble getting into it on my library computer at home! I would have thought that it would have been the reverse.

Obviously there are a variety of library applications...
*highlighting library programs, especially Summer Reading
*featuring databases on a rotating basis
*instructional, explaining items on our website, such as Marina

I found the YouTube site to be extremely "busy," which was a distraction for me. After I located a library promotion that I liked, I looked at some funny cats videos. There was a bountiful selection, but many of them had scenes that I considered inappropriate to post here.

Take a look at the library promotion video.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Week 8, Thing 19

Just out of curiosity, I took a quick look at One Sentence under Fun Stuff. Sometimes people can take forever to say nothing, so it is wishful thinking on my part that they should have to look at this site before they speak!

Then I explored Lulu. What a great site for anyone considering self-publishing!
(Could anyone predict that I would choose something in the Book category?)
Lulu presents itself as "fast, easy, and free" (although not everything is free!) and is a one-stop shooping site for self-publishing. What surprised me, and probably shouldn't, is that it isn't just for publishing books. Calendars, CDs-music and audio books, DVDs, brochures, e-books, and images.
This site offers just about every service a self-publisher could ask for. Although most of these are free, some are fee-based.

*prepub - editing, proofreading, formatting
*graphics - cover and illustrations
*publishing - PDF conversion, uploading, revisions
*marketing and publicity - sample and guide to press releases, tips for book signings, reviews, media kits, etc. *translation services
*pricing and finishing wizard to establish cost of the product

Other advantages include print on demand, no inventory, no set-up fees or minimum orders. I especially like the Intended Audience category.

Book Review: The Talented Clementine


The Talented Clementine

by

Sara Pennypacker

Clementine is a strong, warm-hearted, wacky girl who tackles life with enthusiasm.

She is doing quite well in third grade....until she learns that the third and fourth grades will be presenting a talent show. Clementine can't do anything well enough (or even at all) to perform at this event. Even worse, her best friend Margaret is "perfect" at so many things, she can't decide which talent to display!

None of Clementine's hilarious attempts to to learn a new talent help, including glueing bottle caps onto the soles of her sneakers in order to try tap dancing. During practices for the fast-approaching talent show, Clementine finds ways to prevent mishaps and to make improvements to various acts. It isn't until the night of the talent show that Clementine's talent is officially recognized. As a result of her organizational skills, Clementine finds herself in the role of assistant director!

Week 8, Thing 18

Love these online productivity tools!!!
I created an account with Zoho and Google Docs.
As someone who telecommutes part of the time, I really appreciate that I can create documents, both in word processing and spreadsheets, and access them from any computer.
Although I didn't actually create a word document in Google, I did write a book review in Zoho Writer. I liked this application quite a bit and will continue to use it. Love the autosave feature!
Then I followed the "Publish" directions, and it went straight to my blog. How easy!!

I also created spreadsheets in Zoho and Google Docs and will experiment with them to see which I prefer. Here's a link if you'dlike to take a look.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ar?id=o02386377327435104801.4467229786905611439.09117104254545920022.8366515649315071579&hl=en_US&action=1&tile=0&rpert=100&tfe=hs_11&fprt=false&srow=0&erow=16&scol=0&ecol=5

Monday, July 2, 2007

Week 7, Thing 17

This was fun!
I created an account with Maryland Libraries Sandbox and added my blog to the Favorite Blogs page. Easy!!!
Naturally I went to the Favorite Books page next. Because it would be too stressful to identify a single favorite title, I chose to make a post on the Currently Reading page. It's interesting to see what others are reading.
I'll probably keep checking the Favorite Books page to see what everyone is reading.

Week 7, Thing 16

A wiki is a website that allows members/users to edit information.
The largest and best-known wiki is Wikipedia.
Wikis are easy to use, but one of the things that is an advantage is also a disadvantage -anyone can make changes. For this reason, using a wiki as a reference tool is not the best resource to recomend.

There are, however, many excellent uses for wikis in public libraries.
CCPL already has a wiki for tracking team progress and for our internal newsletter, Pipeline.
Viewing the various Discovery Resources brought to my attention other very practical library uses. I have listed a few below.

*subject guides
*community information (not the directory, but events and calendars)
*government information
*reader's advisory

I was fascinated by the Bull Run Virtual Library that is maintained bt one library patron! I particularly liked the Best Free Reference Websites for 2006. Something similar to this would be be very handy for our library users.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Week 6, Thing 15

Wow!! A 55% drop in circulation over the past 12 years!
In his article "Away from the 'icebergs'", Rick Anderson focuses on 3 "icebergs" and discusses what needs to happen for libraries to avoid them.
CCPL has already moved away from print reference sources to online databases and recommended web resources.
I'm sure that our new website will help avoid the other 2 by making everything user friendly (so important!) and creating a "come to us" style of library service by using some of the technology tools in 23 Things.
Take a look at http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm

Although I rarely use Wikipedia when doing research, especially when sending sites to answer questions in AskUsNow!, I did find their entry on Library 2.0 quite interesting. According to Michael Casey in "LibraryCrunch" public libraries are at a crossroads and need to have "a strategy for constant change while promoting a participatory role fo library users."
Constant change and a willingness to improve/replace services with new and improved ones are a couple of the key principles to Library 2.0.
Although I just glanced at the References listed at the end of the article, I hope to go back later and look at them in more detail.
For more details go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_2.0

Week 6, Thing 14

Technorati is a search tool for blogs.
What a difference between the number of blogs and blog posts!
I looked at iphone under searches and found 325,132 blog posts and 1,495 blogs.
When I looked at the top favorited blogs and the top blogs, there were several that were on both list...Boing Boing, Techcrunch, and Engadget.
Although I obviously need to know what Technorati is, I'm not sure that I will use it

Week 6, Thing 13

If I had just looked at Us.ef.ful, I would have been reluctant to try Del.icio.us.
I found it too long and it made Del.icio.us sound quite complicated. I was much more hopeful after looking at Several Habits of Wildly Sussessful Del.icio.us Users.
Looking at thePLCMC interesting....I hadn't realized how many public libraries are blogging. Is this a possibility for our new website? I also read the YALSA's Positive Use of Social Networks, which provided a lot of food for thought, and gave me a better perspective on social networking and how libraries can take advantage of this technology.
When I explored the listed libraries, I found several items that interested me, such as Sachem Public Library Reader's Advisory and libsite.org
It was very easy to create an account and add favorites. I added 6 Reader's Advisory sites, including the Sachem Public Library one that I mentioned earlier. And I really like having the buttons on my toolbar! The only problem with installing them was that I had to wait until my shift was over so that I could close the windows on my computer.
Now that I understand tagging better, I do see the possibilities for using Del.icio.us as a tool for research. And it's so easy to access from your toolbar. For someone who telecommutes, it's especially useful that you can have "bookmarks" or favorites that aren't stored on your computer. Del.icio.us allows access from anywhere.
I located my reader's advisory sites by using Del.icio.us tags and also added some tags to some of the sites.


Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Faithful Companion


Playfulness
Originally uploaded by EddieB55

This kitty looks a lot like my TonyTiger!

Persistence

Finally, after looking at learner-learner's post, which kindly included instructions, I learned how to add my blogroll for RSS. Thank you, learner-learner!!!!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Week 5, Thing 12

Explored Quick Quotes, Public Domain e books Search, and PLMC's searchroll, which I really liked. I quickly saw lots of possibilities for the using Rollyos.

After I signed up for an account, I created a searchroll for my favorite genealogy websites. It's called Gathering Roots. I will go back and add more sites later. I also want to create some that I can use for reference questions but I need to take time to decide how I want to organize them. I will probably set one up for Reader's Advisory, too.





Success at last!
Finally learned how to add my Rollyo here.
http://www.rollyo.com/readslikecrazy/

Monday, June 25, 2007

Week 5, Thing 11

LibraryThing!! Now this is something that I can relate to and go to for personal use. I created an account and added 8 titles to my catalog....so few only because I didn't have my lists with me. Even though I have a huge list of authors that I read, I'm always looking for new titles/authors and see this a possible source.
Here's the link to my catalog. I'm almost out of time, so I'll try to add a widget later.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/readslikecrazy

Back again, 2 days later. Hopefully there won't be any HTML problems this time!


Week 5, Thing 10

After taking a look at several image generators, I decided to use Meez.
It was fun, but I spent way too much time with it! I was disappointed that I couldn't have both a book and a cat, but chose the cat because I didn't want to have to be standing while I read the book! : )
And I'm really quite proud of myself because I added my avatar by exporting it, using the "little bit more techie" method!
Here is the link to Meez. http://www.meez.com/home.dm

Week 4, Thing 9

Although I already knew about Merlin, it had been a while since I had looked at it. After I subscribed to the feed, I explored the following Learning Links :

Gaming, Avatars and Virtual Worlds - Second Life
Social Networking - ALA-YALSA
Trends and Cool Stuff
I definitely need to pay more attention to this site!

Then I looked at several of the search tools for locating RSS feeds.
After looking at Feedster, Syndic8.com, and Topix.net, I found that I preferred Topix.net and subscribed to a couple of geographical news feeds.
After deleting some of my subscriptions from yesterday and adding several today, I now have a list of 22 feeds....news, weather, gardening, bookworm stuff, and library "things". Don't know how I'll ever keep up! More "weeding" soon!!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Week 4, Thing 8

I had never heard of RSS before. I can see the advantage of using this technology, both for personal use and for library use. Definitely useful for having all your news organized and available in one site! And a variety of uses on library websites...news feeds, program info, etc.
It was easy to set up my blogline account. Many of my choices came from the Most Popular list that appeared after I set up my account. I added Library Journal News, PLA Blog, Its All Good, and Unshelved, the library cartoon feed.
Right now I have 24 feeds, which is too many for me to keep up with on a regular basis. I'll take a look and see which ones are the most useful and most interesting and weed out the rest.
I found it easiest to subscribe while I was in my bloglines account and copying and pasting the URL.
Wow!! A technology that was new to me and easy to understand!!!

Week 3, Thing 7

Yesterday I read an interesting article on CNET, "10 Things Your Phone Will Do in 10Years". Yes, more "Things"!!!
Some of these features are ones that already exist but will be enhanced and expanded.
Here's the one that fascinated me the most:

" No wallet? No problem. A new technology standard called "near-field communications," or NFC, will turn cell phones into credit or debit cards. A chip is embedded in a phone that allows you to make a payment by using a touch-sensitive interface or by bringing the phone within a few centimeters of an NFC reader. Your credit card account or bank account is charged accordingly.
Unlike RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, which also can be used to make wireless payments, NFC technology allows for two-way communication, making it more secure. For example, an NFC-enabled handset could demand that a password or personal identification number be entered to complete the transaction.
The NFC mobile-payment application is currently in trials in the United States, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and a few other countries. The technology is widely used in Japan, where people use their phones to pay for everything from sodas dispensed in vending machines to subway cards. Nokia announced the first fully integrated NFC phone, the Nokia 6131 NFC, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, and the company is currently testing the 6131 with AT&T's Cingular Wireless in New York City.
Experts also note that NFC technology can be used for more than just retail transactions. It can be used to get data from an NFC-equipped business card, or to download tickets or other data from an NFC-equipped kiosk or poster."


Here's the link to the article.
http://www.cnet.com/4520-13387_1-6737990-1.html?tag=feat.9

Week 3, Thing 6

I spent quite a bit of time looking at the many uses for Flickr and there were some that were pretty interesting and that have practical applications, like calendar and card apps. I also liked the Flickr Color Pickr because it lets you experiment with colors and shading. After many attempts, I finally was successful at using the Trading Card maker. And finally I was able to add it to this post!!!

Success at last!


















Monday, June 18, 2007

Week 3, Thing 5

Flickr is a whole new world! I learned about Tags (Keywords...a library word! and labels) and Sets ( way to group photos to make them easy to identify and organize).
Although it is fascinating, I'm not sure that I'm interested in posting my pictures on a public site.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Week 2, Thing 4

I successfully registered my blog.
So far everything has been pretty easy, which is encouraging.

Week 2, Thing 3

I successfully set up my blog.
The biggest problem was having to stop to answer the phone and losing my train of thought!

Week 1, Thing 2, 7 1/2 Habits

Accepting responsibility for my own learning has been a well-established habit of mine for many years, so this is the easiest habit for me.

I tend to be a slow learner when it comes to new technology, so using technology to my advantage is the hardest for me. I am mostly a visual learner and find that when it comes to new technology, I learn best with live demonstration, followed by practice lessons.
So it will be interesting to see how successful this online training will be for me.

Although my goal right now is simply to become familiar with these new "things," I hope that by the time I have finished this training it will change to regular usage of some of these technologies.

Week 1, Thing 1

I already knew that I had a lot to learn about new technology.
Reading about 23 Things showed me that I did not even know the names of some of what I'll be exploring.