23 Things

#23: Absolutely, the beginning...

2009-01-22T13:08:00.001-08:00

This has been such a fabulous experience. I'm so glad that I completed this program for several reasons. Most importantly, I've learned the basics of these technologies. I've also discovered how I can use the various 'things' personally and for my job. It's also been interesting to find out how other libraries are implementing them.

My favorite discovery would have to be Facebook. I already have over 50 'Friends,' many of which are highschool classmates I haven't seen in over 15 years. I also plan to make use of Delicious, Zoho Writer, Flickr, IM, and well, probably most of the things I've learned about.

The only improvements I would make to this program is to make it a longer time frame and tell folks upfront that the 'things' get easier as they go along. I think many people started and dropped out, because it seemed like too much work, and they wouldn't be able to finish. Otherwise, the explanations and discovery exercises were excellent. I would definitely do another program like this. Thank you, Kam and CTLS!!

#22: Audiobooks

2009-01-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

I'm really almost done now!!!

Again, I can't say enough how wonderful this program has been to introduce me to websites, technologies, etc. that I wasn't aware of before, or at least, hadn't fully explored. Where have I been???

Anyway, I knew my library subscribed to NetLibrary, so I took this opportunity to check out LibriVox. I am always interested in children's materials, so I found some nursery rhymes and fairy tales as well as classics such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Peter and the Wolf. It was also interesting to see the wide selection of materials ranging from the "9/11 Commission Report" to the Bible.

#21: Podcasting

2009-01-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

I'm almost done, I can't believe it!!! OK, now to my post about Podcasting...

I listened to Abilene Public Library's Podcast as well as to "Librarian Live." I was very impressed with both of these productions. I can see how important it would be to use a person with a good "radio voice" as the host. And I found the two search tools, Podcast.com and Podcastalley.com very easy to use.

It is exciting to see how libraries are using these tools. I would love to see our library make a podcast of a special author visit or event as well.

#20: YouTube

2009-01-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

This is one of the few 'things' that I have already used a fair amount. (Who hasn't with all those e-mails going around linking to favorite videos?) But, it's always fun to have an excuse to take a look around the site and view some fun clips. I loved seeing some of those old comercials from the 70's!

Here's the video our library created from our summer reading program in 2007, "Sail Away with Books." That's my son, Ryan!

#19: Web 2.0 Award winner for me is...

2009-01-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

Lulu! Being in the book industry, so to speak, I'm a little embarrassed that I wasn't aware of this site. I went through the "Demo" and took a good look around. I absolutely love the simplicity of the site, and if I actually followed through with creating a book or other item, it looks incredibly easy. In fact, I already have thoughts in my head of making a cookbook, or scanning all of my kids' artwork and making one book instead of having the huge piles that I have now.

It looks like the price for a paperback book is around $16.00 for a 50-page book, a hardback is $28.00, and a calendar is about $13.00. It is possible to purchase one book or purchase an ISBN so that vendors such as Amazon can sell your book.

From a library standpoint, it is good to know sites like this are available for people who want to self-publish. Also, perhaps the library's Friend's group could use Lulu to do a fundraiser by making calendars or cookbooks.

Zoho Writer Blog Post

2009-01-08T14:06:00.001-08:00

#18 - Zoho Writer

I'll try to post to my blog from here! This tool seems to be incredibly useful. I compare it to having the shared network at my library. When I began to work at RRPL over seven years ago, I thought it was so incredibly useful to be able to see and edit documents from every computer. Now, it's all on the web! Plus, I love all of the features of adding comments, pictures, etc.

#17: Playin' in the Sandbox

2009-01-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

This was a fun and easy exercise, although I found the instructions for putting up my blog confusing. I simply typed in the name for my blog, highlighted it, clicked on the 'link' icon, and entered the URL. I also easily added a few of my favorite movies.

As mentioned earlier, my library tried to have a wiki for staff use, but it didn't really get off the ground. This was a nice refresher to see how easy it is, and hopefully, I can try another one again soon.

#16: Wikis

2009-01-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

I checked out some of the Wikis listed, and my favorite was the ALA Annual Conference Wiki. That's such a great way to disseminate lots of information while also providing an opportunity for attendees to discuss the event.

I can see so many possibilities for Wikis, even within my own library, for sharing ideas, resources, policies, websites, etc. We did try a Wiki at my library, but it was only used to discuss library issues, and very few people took part. I guess that's probably the most difficult thing about new technologies...showing people how useful they can be.

#15: On Library 2.0...

2009-01-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

I've been reading some of the articles from Library Technology Reports and I'm proud to say that our library and City and have been getting on board with some of these technologies. We have made great use of blogs, RSS, and Flickr thus far. We also have a MySpace page.

My library recently closed for a month for renovations. This was the perfect opportunity to still communicate with patrons about the progress via a blog. The authors used many photos to tell the story, and it even gave fellow staff members an interesting chronology to show 'before' and 'after.' We use blogs to help promote programs as well and I think they are slowly catching on.

Our City has put in RSS feeds which link to news events and the City calendar. This is so great for the library, since we're featured in the news quite often and our programs are all listed on the caledar. Patrons can subscribe and see at a glance what is going on for the week.

The library has uploaded many pictures to Flickr. We're still experimenting with tags to make the photos more accessible, but we have a good start.

And, I agree with one of the articles which talked about these technologies, blogs in particualar, making the library's website more dynamic. This is so true!! In our case, we have virtually no control over the design, colors, font, etc. of our website, so we're looking at ways we can get around that.

I think libraries need to take advantage of these technologies, because they help market our libraries, help us learn what our users want, and help us communicate more effectively with our community.

#14: Technorati

2008-12-31T07:22:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm going to very honest here. This was not one of my favorites. I feel like the site itself is very overwhelming and I guess I already have information overload in my life. However, if I someday want to publish a blog or find information via blogs, I have discovered the key is to tag, tag, tag!

#13: Del.icio.us

2008-12-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't been using some of these great resources before! I did set up my own account, which was very easy to do. Now, I will no longer be frustrated when I'm sitting at my home computer wanting to get to a website that I can't quite remember, but is bookmarked on my work computer. Fantastic!

#12: Games, Games, and more Games

2008-12-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

Ahh, so many games, so little time...I really love the jigsaw puzzle site www.jigzone.com. It would be fun for all ages (I'll definitely introduce my son and library patrons to it). I also had fun with Bejeweled and Minesweeper. My five-year-old son has some favorite games sites already: www.noggin.com, www.nickjr.com, and www.starfall.com. The last one isn't so much a gaming site as a reading site, but it is very good for young kids.

#11: Facebook

2008-12-29T07:39:00.000-08:00

Facebook is great! I have just connected very easily with my many late teen to early 20 something nieces and nephews. As stated in my notes: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&preview&suggest&note_id=40630239153#/notes.php?id=1093001959 Facebook will quite possibly be the 'thing' I use the most after I have completed all 23 Things.

#10: Chat and IM

2008-12-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

What fun! I chatted with Kam a bit, and then I went to my g-mail and chatted with a friend who happened to be online, too. I had forgotten that she is actually in San Francisco right now, so that made the chat even more interesting. My chats didn't seem all that 'insant', but I'm guessing that the more you chat, the faster it becomes.

#9 Finding Feeds

2008-12-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

OK, don't get me wrong. As stated under #8, having the Google Reader is very cool. And I'm sure I have subscribed to way too many feeds, but I'm beginning to feel information overload! I just looked at Topix as well as Syndic8 and Technorati, and wow, those are some busy websites! I think I prefer Technorati the most for its ease of use.

#8 RSS Feeds

2008-12-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, they weren't kidding when they said this was addicting! I've added so many things that I know I'll never get around to reading them all, but oh well! My favorite three feeds?

Well, #1 would have to be Unshelved http://www.overduemedia.com/rss.aspx I used to read this funny library comic strip religiously a few years ago when a fellow librarian sent it out via e-mail everyday. And now, I can easily view it again along with some other favorite sites.
#2 http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/rss.xml Cute Overload - I think the title says it all!
#3 http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/applications/rss/index.asp Round Rock, Texas - City News Here's an easy way to keep up with my city's current news.

#7 Image Generators

2008-12-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

I really hope this works! I just entered all the code that the website indicated and it is supposed to link to my incredible Wordle! Using this website, http://www.wordle.net/ I could make a word cloud using any text I wanted. I tried to type in the website address, but I think the firewall gave me problems, so I simply cut and pasted most of the text from the Children's webpage at the Round Rock public library to give me the results. And voila! Looks great!!

#6 Mashups

2008-12-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

This exercise has been a lot of fun! I enjoyed making photo mosaics with Montagr. Also, picking random colors using Flickr Color Pickr to mirror the same vivid hues in photos was magical. However, I have to say my favorite (so far) is Retrievr. I can't draw, but seeing my hopeless pictures come alive through the ones found on Flickr was truly awesome!

#5 b. adding Flick images

2008-12-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

I've added three pictures (not recently taken, but library related). They are of the Children's Department at the Round Rock, our pet snake, and the library building. I'm going to try to put the pictures on my blog...here goes...

I think it worked! Of course I took them off my desktop instead of Flickr.

#5 - Flickr Image

2008-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

As a Children's librarian, this photo spoke to my soul. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinerdog/223820063/ I can only hope that if I do my job well, this is a common site around this community.

Flickr seems pretty easy to use. I have made an account and have added a couple of pictures. It was fun to look up Round Rock and see all of the photos added.

Well, I spoke too soon. I've been trying to upload this image instead of just providing a link, and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Google

2008-12-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! Google is so much more than a search engine! I had some idea, but I didn’t know about the Google Book Search feature or the Google Patents. And I may have to take full advantage of the Google Alerts (see I'm improving my Learning Habit #6 already)! I have been using g-mail and Google Images for a long time now, but I'm thrilled to learn more about everything that Google has to offer.

Week 2

2008-12-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a late start, but I have my blog! As for habits, my easiest habit will probably be #2: Accept responsibility for your own learning. That's why I'm here doing the "23 Things" - it's noone's fault but my own if I don't get on board with all of this new technology. And probably my most difficult habit will be #6: Use technology to your advantage. Right now, the only thing I do with my cell phone is call people - how 90's. I need to move forward into the 21st century!