Week 9 Thing 23

I MADE IT!! I'm so excited to say that I finished this. It was a great educational experience and I'm glad BCPL made this opportunity available to us. Whether we want to admit it or not, change is RAPIDLY coming to us. Technology is the wave of the future and if we expect to meet the needs of our customers we're going to have be techno savy. The teens and twenty-somethings are already so knowledgeable in this area it's scary. We've got to at least understand the terminolgy they use when talking to us. My own kids (all 20-something) are so impressed that I have my own blog and can actually carry on a conversation about YouTube, flickr, etc.

After taking part in these exercises I can honestly say that I'm still not proficient in the use of many of these tools--but I'm a whole lot more knowledgeable than I was 9 weeks ago. I look forward to making more use of ZohoWriter, GoogleDocs and my bloglines. I intend to go back and work more on the LibraryThing and to become more familiar with sites on the Web2 awards list. I had fun creating an Avatar and playing with FDToys. Probably some of my best feelings for this program are those generated from interacting with the NO staff as we all worked on the 23 Things. We shared laughter, frustration, support and knowledge; it was a great bonding experience. Many, many thanks to Donna H. as she helped us all navigate the "Things"--I couldn't have done it so successfully without her.

I would take part in another discovery program in a minute. It was an excellent learning experience--I just wouldn't go in believing that it only takes 1/2 hour per week to participate!! Thank you for making this possible.

Week 9 Thing 22

Last year I spent a significant amount of time working with downloadable audiobooks because of my assignments for LATI. I understand the value of this offering and have recommended it to customers--especially ones who spend a large part of their day in the car and say they have listened to a large part of BCPL's collection in their particular areas of interest. My problem with downloadables is that they can't be downloaded on the PCs at work--and I have dial-up at home. Do you know how many HOURS it takes to download on dial-up??! In addition, I couldn't/wouldn't SIT near a computer to listen to a book and I don't (YET) own an MP3. I can't borrow my son's iPod because it's not compatible. I DO believe in the usefulness of this offering--I just think it needs to be more customer friendly. (Or I need to re-evaluate my priorities and spend more money on technologic gadgetry!)

Week 9 Thing 21

I've spent a lot of time looking over the tools for loading podcast sites. I've done lots and lots of listening and watching and have mixed opinions on the usefulness of podcasts. Some were interesting, some educational, some entertaining (Dan (ESPN)Patrick's struggle with the ladder gave me a chuckle because it left me thinking "those who can't--Talk??!) and some "this person needs to get a life because this is useless/boring"! The Merlin site did have some interesting library podcasts. After viewing Denver PL's Stories for Kids I can possibly see BCPL adapting their telephone Storyline to a podcast offering, too. I liked the Kankakee PL's Booktalk podcast. I can also see the possiblity down the road of using podcasts for staff training and tutorials.
I didn't find any podcast that I really wanted to focus on, so I subscribed to the NPR podcast on my Bloglines just to go through the process. I must admit that it was really easy to do.

week 9 thing 20

Here's a video reminding people that doggie rescue organizations are a great way to get a pet!!

week 8 thing 19

After studying the Web 2.0 Awards List, I felt like I was on the gameshow "The Price Is Right" playing the game called "That's TOO Much". There was just tooooo much information to explore. I decided to settle on YELP--a blog that describes itself as "the easy way to find, review and talk about what's great--and not so great--in your area". It's a very well organized site for cities all across the US. Its coverage includes categories that range from Restaurants, Night Life, Health and Medical, and Education to Financial Services, Arts and Entertainment and Religious Organizations. I found the site informative and easy to navigate. I also liked that it includes a map and a mileage indicator from the center of Baltimore. Another interesting aspect is that in the Education section it lists other schools (preschool through college) that are in close proximity to whatever school you're researching. Besides its value to me personally, I could see myself recommending this site to library customers.

As a side note, I'll just make a few comments on Craigslist. My son that lives on his own in NYC and a friend's daughter that lives on her own in D.C. (both in their 20's) swear by its classifieds. They (and many of their friends) rely on it for everything from apartments to furniture to flat screen TV's. They speak highly of the reliability and quality of the information found there. This is good news for us anal parents that are too far away from our "big city" dwellers to give our VALUED input!!

week 8 thing 18

What a great idea!! I loved working with this "thing". The ability to create documents and have access to them from anywhere is amazing. Since we're familiar with other word processing applications the crossover is relatively easy. I LOVED Zoho's emotions button. It'll enable me to NOT have to capitalize and/or use ???? or !!!!! to express myself when I write certain things. I can see the value of the spreadsheets etc. when wanting to do some work at home that I can now only do at the library because I forgot to transfer the information to a floppy or a flashdrive.

My challenge at the moment is trying to get a Zoho document to publish to my blog. We've been trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong but have yet to be successful. I'll come back to this later and get it right!!

week 7 thing 17

My first experience with Sandbox is that I was locked out because someone else was editing the site! Guess this is where patience comes into play. Once I got on, it was easy to play around and make any changes I wanted to various sites. I was nice and made negligible changes--so most people wouldn't know I was even there!!

Week 7 Thing 16

I've only been aware of wikis for a little over a year and found my biggest exposure to them to be through Wikipedia. In my Google searches, I find Wikipedia coming up more and more often and make sure I explain to customers to use the information found there as more or less a jumping off point for more research because of the ability of that information to be altered so freely. I do find it helpful in providing some level of information on the newest "hot topics".



As a librarian I can also see some great possiblities of using a wiki for readers' advisory. I loved the idea of the "Book Lover's Wiki"--a site like that could promote a lot of customer interaction in a branch. There are a lot of people out there who can't fit a regular book club into their schedules, but would really like to share/express their feelings and/or insights about what they've read.

I think the use of a wiki taylored to an individual library's specific information or to it's calendar of events has potential. BUT, being a bit of a control freak I do worry about "just anybody" being able to make changes. I think I understand the "limited wiki"--but is that an oxymoron?? Or does that make it a blog?? See...a little information can be dangerous!!!

Week 6 Thing 15

There was a lot of reading concerning Library 2.0 and I actually read all 5 perspectives. With much of my life focusing on cooking, I'll have to say that the articles provided a lot of "food for thought". The basic premise of the collection is that times are changing and libraries will have to make changes in order to be useful in the future. Speaking for BCPL I believe it is making serious efforts to be ready for that future. Express-checkout, RFID, online renewals and holds, the availability of research databases and web resources, ILL, WiFi, e-Books, etc. are great in-roads. Individual libraries are working to reconfigure collections and floorplans to meet customer demands for materials and wireless accommodations. I think BCPL's best effort is in working to provide information and training to its staff to get them ready for the future. The Maryland 23 Things has been an excellent opportunity for us to be exposed to the latest in technological developments and how they can be put to use. (However, my mind does get slightly boggled when I try to imagine the bandwidth requirements to meet the needs of all these technological advantages!)

I have to say that I did enjoy the Library 4.0 neo-library vision of "knowledge spa": "a WiFREE space, a retreat from technohustle, with comfortable chairs, quiet, good light , coffee and a single malt." Personally, they can do without the coffee (the smell makes me throw up) and the single malt (I think the patrons would throw up)!

My final comment on Thing 15 is that I LOVED the YouTube video "The Machine is Us/ing Us". I found it entertaining and informative (even if it did force me to read really, really fast). It made me look forward to the day when/if I get enough skills to be "teaching the machine".

Week 6 Thing 14

Technorati is real proof that blogging is becoming a VERY popular activity and Technorati seems to make the blog-search quicker and more efficient. After reviewing some of the top searches, top blogs and tags I'm forced to reconcile myself to the fact that I'll never make it to "omnivore". There's just too much information and technology out there and it's changing too fast (and I have to be honest enough to say that I just don't care about alot of it! I will make sure I'm aware of it, but I can't see myself spending hours immersed in it). At this point in time, I can see the value of blogging for some of my work-related information (like the CCD blog), but I prefer my social interfacing to be more "real" face to face. (Guess my age is showing!!)

To find my own blog I had to do an advanced search to get it to appear--but then there it was in all its glory! I didn't mind it not coming up in the basic search because I don't have a need for people (strangers) to read my work! I like my privacy.

Week 6 Thing 13

I went to "this one" to view the tutorial. I found it interesting to be on the "other side" of the streaming video ban because I was working off a public computer in the training room and some of the sites I wanted to visit were blocked. As soon as one of our staff computers was free I logged off the public computer and "jumped ship" so I could better explore this concept.

I can see some uses for Del.icio.us in my personal life--especially for favorite recipes that people are always asking me for since I don't carry them around with me. I also have certain other favorites that it would be nice to be able to quickly access whether at home, work or on the road. Our work computers are pretty well bookmarked for any job-related needs that I have right now. As I become more knowledgeable I may find more of a need for using it in my work.

Bandwidth

OH MY GOD!!! What a time difference. Playing with adjustments to "de-stress" the bandwidth has had amazing time-saving effects. I was able to complete 3 THINGS in the time it took me to do one the other day. YAHOO!

Week 5 Thing 12

I registered with Rollyo and created a search engine for food and recipes. See if you can use it to find an epicurean delight.

Select...food finderSearch The Web

Week 5 Thing 11

I registered on LibraryThing and created a small catalog of my favorite books. I can't wait to come back and work on this catalog in depth.

Week 5 Thing 10

I created an image using Yahoo Avatar. The site was a lot of fun and I wish I'd had more time to "re-invent" myself. The image created is only a "slightly" delusional memory of me in my youth! It's now become part of my sidebar.

Week 4 Thing 9

I found Merlin LOADED with information. It almost scares me because I start wondering if I'll ever be able to keep up--or be able to remember what I do cover. It somewhat shakes my delusion that someday I really will become an "omnivore".

The Librarian in Black blog is great--good information and a sense of humor to boot! The AllConsuming.net site looks like it could be a good reference tool for Readers' Advisory and Shelfari and Facebook caught my interest, too. But I had to stop looking because of time--there's just not enough of it!!

Snagit alos sounded both interesting and useful--all I'd need is 40 EXTRA $$ for the software. (How far can I make that 6% stretch?!!)

week 4 thing 8

I set up my own Blogsline newsreader account. It was fun reviewing and selecting blogs that I can access quickly. I picked some for private interests, some to keep me "news current", some for work and some to keep check on who's doing what with the MD 23. So look out--"I got my eye on you"!!!

week 3 thing 7

My interest in technolgy this week focuses on computer response time. I'm amazed at the difference the various hook-ups* can make in completing a project. I've learned that I should not attempt to work on a project where I have to visit multiple websites and/or download photos around lunchtime (or on extremely hot days when the whole world is inside using the computers) while at work. It appears that the band width just struggles with the burden of such high usage. This aspect has created challenges, but I am learning alot--and getting good practice in exhibiting patience!
*My son constantly sings the praises of Comcast--I've come to see its value if I have time constraints!

week 3 thing 6

My creation
Originally uploaded by msharple

Very frustrating: I originally had a mosaic of 9 of the cutest westie pictures and they just DISAPPEARED into that "black hole"! The computer response time was SO SLOW I only had time to do a "4-square" to comple this entry. GRRRRRRRRRR!

week 3 -- thing 5

Happy Furry Friday...It was too hot so I HAD to ...
Originally uploaded by scotbig

I registered with flickr and used this photo because it reminds me of my dog Casper after he fell off the dock and into the lake last summer--however, he DIDN'T have a smile on his face!!!

week 2 -- thing 4

I've registered my blog so I'm truly "official". Post #4 is done!! Only 19 more things to do--woohoo!

week 2 -- thing 3

I've set up my blog and have already posted 3 times: I guess the show has begun!

week 1 -- thing 2

I watched the slide show about the 7 1/2 habits of highly successful lifelong learners. I've decided the easiest habit for me is to accept responsibilty for your own learning. Being raised on a farm you were brought up to "git 'er done"!
The most difficult habit for me will be to use technology to your advantage--old habits are hard to break!

week 1 -- thing 1

I read about the blog and learned about the program: let the show begin!!