Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Thing #23: Wrapping Up

I found this challenge to be a lot of fun. It definitely was a challenge at times. Especially finding the time to do it and a free computer! That was probably the biggest challenge. My favorite thing I learned about was probably bloglines. This has really made a difference in how I organize blogs and look for new ones. It has helped with work related blogs. Especially by cutting down the time spent looking at them. I have added a bunch of more blogs to it since I started the challenge. I also really like the Web 2.0 awards by SEOmoz. This was really great to see the best of the best for topics like social networking and visual arts. This is an award I will follow! There wasn't much I didn't like in the challenge. As I mentioned in my post about podcasts I didn't find too much use for them. I think this is an area I need to explore more. I think using wikis is a great thing the library should get involved with for staff projects like committees. Wikis are great for communication. They would also be great for non committee members to look at (not edit)to see what committees are up to and what projects they are working on. It would be interesting if this was a link on oceannet to see all the committee blogs and wikis. I immediately shared Library Thing with my Mom. She is an avid reader and is always asking me if the library got in certain books or telling me about reviews she read. She loves Library Thing now because she created a very large to read list. Overall I learned a lot and was refreshed on a lot of things, like Netlibrary and Worldcat that I have used but not in a while. I also have really enjoyed the blogging process. I think I will miss this...I guess I have 3.0 to look forward too!

Thing #22 : ListenNJ

Listen NJ was a lot of fun to use! There are so many titles! I think this will be great for children and teens to use if the books they need aren't in the libray. I downloaded and listened to some of the Magic Tree House Collection Books 1-8. I browsed the children's books andd couldn't beleive all the different titles available. I also like how you can search Listen NJ. I searched by subject and I also tried it with the search by what was available for check out. I think this is an extremely user friendly site. It tells you everything you need to know, such as how long you have item for, how many more items you can borrow, how to download the software. I don't have a compatible mp3 player (yet) to try downloading it onto it. But I think I will try it when i get one (soon). I could see downlaoding a book and listening to it when I am at the beach. Even though I like to read at the beach I think listening to a book will be just as enjoyable.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Thing #21 : Finding & Listening to Podcasts

I am very new to listening to podcasts. I am not sure how much I will listen to them. Maybe I will explore more of the music podcasts. When I am on my computer I usually listen to music. I have trouble focusing if I am listening to someone speak and working on the computer. However, I came across a bunch of NPR blogs. There are a lot of shows on NPR I like to listen too but I am not in the car that much to listen. I think podcasts of the NPR shows I enjoy, like fresh air and all things considered. I came across the NPR: Story of the Day. I found it interesting to look at all the different stories I could choose from. I listened to one on Booksellers Suggestions for Summer Afternoons. It was with the Henry James from Novelist and it was an interview about great books to read from independent book publishers.

Thing #20: YouTube & You

Today I was having a conversation about Popples which led to a conversation on Wuzzles. So I guess I have the 80's on my mind and I began fooling around on youtube looking for old 80's cartoons and commercials. I came across a very long clip of 80's Cartoon Openings. It was fun to see how many opening songs I remeber. I was shocked to see the obscure Gilligans Planet opening. There were other fun ones like Danger Mouse, Inspector Gadget, and Voltron to name a few. Watching these clips really makes me miss my Saturday mornings!

Thing #19: Web 2.0 Awards

I am going to use the Im Cooked website that was awarded first place under the Food category. This site is made up of video recipes. The recipes are recorded so you can watch each step, sort of like watching a cooking show but you get the convenince of watching it while you cook.. I like to watch cooking shows but when I go to make the recipe I sometimes think how did they do that...well know I can look up recipes and have a video to watch. I look up a lot of recipes online and print them out but I think I will start here first so i can benifit from having the video and recipe. The site has a mix of videos, some are serious and look like they came from tv and others are more homade videos. There are a lot of fun ones to watch. The site offers other features too like connecting with other cooks. My main use will be for the videos!

Thing #18: Web Apps

I really enjoy google docs. it has made collaborating at work easy! my coworker and i have used it for summer reading program planning. We could type our ideas, list of what we need, and what to do and contact info. Then we could update it and see all the changes. A great thing about google docs is I can use it at any computer and not have to locate my memory stick or remeber what file it is saved it. And by sharing it my coworker always has access too!
I think using google docs with our branches SAIL coordidnator could be great. the children's dept provides the SAIL volunteers with lots of jobs in the summer. Sometimes we email the jobs to the coordinator, other times we tell her in person or fill out a form. If we keep a google doc going for the summer we can type up the jobs with instructions, the coordinator could type back questions or results, plus I could see what jobs my coworker is giving. This would cut down on remeber what email the jobs are in, if i sent the coordinator a job or not, etc. There are so many ways we could use it to communicate and keep everything in one spot. Another great thing is we would have a list of all the jobs the teens helped us with!

Thing #17 : Play in the Sandbox

Playing in the sandbox was easy. I have used PBWiki before for work and it is really convenient. I think using the PB wiki for committees is a great form of communication and keeping things organized. I think using a PBWiki for my branch's youth services dept could be useful. There are 4 of us in the department and then we get some help form other staff members, but not on a regular basis. A PB wiki could organize all our homework links, community links- like the rec center and schools, and info about what we have happening in our department. What else is great about using the PB wiki is we could all add to it. So if I find a great homework site I could add it with out sending out an email to everyone or wondering where the email is that someone in my department sent me with a homework link. Having a PB wiki could be useful to the staff who help out in the department, but not on a regular basis. We could have book suggestions/reading lists on it or where we keep things so the people not in our department could find things. I think there are a lot we could do with this...as soon as I am done my challenge I am going to start one!

Thing #16 : Learn About Wikis

Overall I liked the wiki. I saved it in my del.icio.us becasue it is something I think I could use. I did find some useful information. Especially some links to websites and blogs. For example, I thought the Weeding Library Collections page had some good ideas and some useful sites of where to give books to instead of throwing them away or selling them. I thought there was a lot of useful content under "Libraries Circulating Games". It told you what library circulated video games, which games and/or consoles and the policy on it. Circulating video games seems to be a growing trend and if you were thinking of doing it at your library or writing a proposal that would cut down on a lot of research. I don't think I found anything I didn't like. However, there were some topics that didn't have a lot written on them yet. Such as the "Programs For Kids and Teens".
I like the ideas of wikis. I am on committes and workgroups where we have tossed around the idea of using wikis as a form of communication. In the past I used google docs with coworkers so we could add things and make changes. But i am now thinking a wiki would work much better.
I like that you can track changes so if someone takes something accurate away the info is stored and can be put back. I looked at several wikis and when I looked at all the people editing the page you realize how many cooks are in the kitchen and that makes me skeptical that all the info being posted is accurate. I think using wikis with the idea that you need to check the accuracy of info is great. I especially like when wikis link you up to websites and blogs. They help you find a wealth of information. The OCL wiki entry was really interesting!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Thing #15 - On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0...

I read the "Away From the Iceberg" by Rick Anderson. Just In Case collection- I know when weeding this idea comes to mind. You think about the Just in Case person who might read a certain novel or need a book for a report. When children and teens come to find our help for resources when writng papers and doing school reports they are often required to have print sources. Sometimes their topics are so obscure you wonder why teachers approved the topic. The just in case collection makes me think of these students who could use certain materials we no longer have. With that being said I try to turn every student on to the online databases. This is a concept that doesn't always seem to translate to the student who has a teacher requiring them to bring in 3 books even though the info on the database comes from a book or the book is an e-book.
In "To better bibliographic services" John Reimer discusses adopting Web features, such as the features of Google and Amazon as well as tagging and patrons submitting reviews. It would be great to have an online catalog that involved tagging. Tagging would be such a great readers advisory tool. Even to have a photo of the book on the catalog would be more engaging to the patron. When I shop online I don't buy something unless I see a picture. Working with teens for the past few years at the library I have found they love writing reviews of books. There hasn't been much of an outlet to highlight these reviews for the public. Having them on the opac would be great and another readers advisroy tool.
To me, Libray 2.0 means keeping up with the everchanging web 2.0 concepts. There are so many ways of easing the use of the library for custormer and demystifying it for those used to web 2.0. Library 2.0 also means that libraries are a place of change. Applying the concepts to our work and seeing how we can use them to better serve a community. Especially the community who uses web 2.0 such as children and teens.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Thing #14 - Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

While exploring this topic an interesting theme popped up several times. It is on how businesses are dealing with social computing. Are they providing staff with a policy? What is in that policy?
One interesting question I came across on eLearning Technology Blog http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/ is "If our organization doesn't have an existing policy, is that a fundamental roadblock to using certain kinds of Web 2.0 tools as part of our eLearning 2.0 solutions?" Also on this blog was a link to several corporations blogging policies, such as Yahoo's (which states "blog at your own risk") and IBM's. So not only are corporations trying to incorporate and use web 2.0 with their employees but they also have to protect themselves from it.

I found some new blogs to subscribe to. I browsed the Top 100. I like Mashable and 43 Folders. I can see why these blogs are in the top 100! I felt that if I checked out every blog in the top 100 I would subscribe to them all. I turn down very few. Maybe I have to be more selective. It is so easy to hit that RSS Feed button. Lets see how I am with continuing to read them!

Thing #13 - Tagging, folksonomies & social bookmarking in del.icio.us

I love using del.icio.us. I am a huge fan of it. I became a real fan of it after I got a new computer and I had to transfer all my stuff stored in favorites on my computer. Now I never use the favorites feature on my computer I just use delicious and with tagging it makes it so easy to find my links. Del.icio.us also comes in handy when I am at work or on another computer and need to access a website...I always have access ot del.icio.us so I never have to wait to use my home computer or work computer to find the site. I also love using delicous for organizing websites that are useful with assisting customers at work. A lot of times I come across sites that are great for answering refernce questions or a school assignment. With the right tags I can find them easily. Tagging is such a great way of organizing websites. I refer to a lot of websites to help me with craft projects for children's programs at work so I go to my craft tag and there are all the sites and it is easy to check all of them for what I need.

Thing #12 - NetLibrary and WorldCat

I have used NetLibrary before. This was a nice refresher. I came across cliff notes on there which I never knew where on there. Occasionally we get asked for them at the library so now I know where I can refer them to. NetLibrary is definitly user friendly. I think it is easy to navigate around the site, turn the pages of the books, and use the search features. Whenever I have shown customers how to use it they seem extremely happy with this. Once at an inservice for teachers I highlighted this database and the teachers were amazed with it. A few came over to the highschool that afternoon to sign up.

On WorldCat I played around with the list option. I have never looked at that before. People have created all sorts of lists, one was Armanian Children's Books. It was cool to read the list and then click on a book to see if we owned it. I think this could be a great readers advisory tool. I always forget about using worldcat for DVDs and CDs when filling out ILL forms. The details for the form are much more clear and no scrolling up and down like on B&N or Amazon. WorldCat is also helpful to see if anyone owns an item and it is neat to see where in the country has it.

Thing #11 - A thing about Library Thing

WOW...I love library thing. Can't beleive I haven't been using this. I keep a notebook of what I read, but am so bad at updating it and I only organize it by the date that I finished it on. This will be so much easier, plus having the Tag option will be so great. I have an ongoing list of what to read and am always clipping reviews from magazines and newspapers. Library Thing will be great for oragnizing my "to read" list. I was checking out some of the conversations going on about the books in my library. I find it really interesting when I come across a conversation where people don't like the book that I love.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/rocklobster76

Thing #10 - Technology Blogging

I was just reading an article that Netflex is going to sell a device to hook up to your TV that will instanly get you movies. It is only going to cost $99 plus the 8.99 a month fee. I get most of my movies from the library and I use the ondemand service through Comcast so I have access to free movies. However, the idea of having access to movies, including new releases any time I want is really appealing. Sometimes I am 300 on a list at the library and sometimes when I browse the movies available on comcast I have trouble finding one I want to watch. Sometimes Comcast doesn't work right and I have to call for it to reset and their system is slow. But then I was reading the article and it is going to be an interenet connection to get the movies which could mean freezing and other tech issues. So, maybe I am better off sticking to my current way of watching movies. I will definitly watch the progress on this and the reviews. I won't rush to invest in this. It is amazing to think back when my family got our first VCR. I was around 8 or 10 or somewhere in that range. There were no video stores nearby. My father worked an hour and a half away and would stop at Earl Videos in the Cherry Hill area. So I was at the mercy of what ever he picked out despite my requests. That didn't last too long eventually a small video
store opened nearby.

Thing #9 - Finding Feeds

I really liked using Technorati to find feeds. The site is designed well and easy to locate blogs by topics. I found this great blog Cupcake by Chockylit. It had really unusual cupcake recipes on it. The one I want to make ASAP is Wasabi White Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Plum Saki Filling. Mmmm...


The most unusual blog I cam across is called Logologos. It is a blog that uses pictures in the form of mathematical equations that equal a company logo. Below is the Nestles Quik Rabbit.
I tried Synic8 and did not like it. Not user friendly. It bored me. I then went on to Topix. At first I didn't care for it too much, but after playing around with it I found some things about it I liked. I like how it breaks the news into topics as specific as yoga or birds. I subscribed to the feed on Wrestling News. I am a fan of the WWE and sometimes their website doesn't give you the details to what is happening with the wrestlers such as firings or suspensions. Sometimes I Google to find out, but that's if I remember to do it. I think I will enjoy getting this feed keeping me up to date on WWE news.









Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Thing #8-RSS

I am new to using RSS. I signed up for bloglines and have been fooling around with it. So far I think it is going to streamline all my blog and news reading. Currently I do spend a lot of time going to different blogs and reading them. Sometimes I have trouble keeping track of when I have been there last. I think bloglines is going to help me at work as well. I am on the trendspotters committee and have several blogs that I am assigned to review. So far bloglines has helped me organize the blogs and it will keep me updated on new posts so i don't have to go to each blog. I frequently check out other libraries websites to see what they have going on. I see that a lot of libraries offer blogs on their websites. I will start to look to see if they have the RSS feed option and subscribe to them. I think it will be a great way to keep in touch with what other libraries are doing and offering.

Thing #6 - More Photo Fun


dragon
Originally uploaded by rocklobster76
This is the dragon that guards the J NF in the children's dept. at Manchester. He is a Sweedish Dragon (his orgins are from IKEA). I really like flickr. I have used flickr in the past to host my photos and to share them. I never used the blog feature before. I really like it. It makes it super easy. After this challenge is over I will probably continue to use the blog feature.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Some more "Thing 5"


Magnolia Warbler
Originally uploaded by violetflm
I looked up some bird photos on flickr. Here is one of my favorites. It's a Magnolia Warbler. One of these little guys has been hanging out in the tree outside my bedroom window recently. He's been amazing to watch. I am really into bird watching but haven't had much time to get out into the woods to do it this spring. Therefore, it has been great when I can catch some new sightings in my backyard.

Thing #5 - Flickr (or Photo Fun)

So I looked up some robot pics on flickr...thought this one was awsome...not just because i think robots are awsome, but because they are homade costumes from the 1950's. I could only imagine that the humans under the costumes were inspired to make them after seeing The Day the Earth Stood Still. Klaatu barada nikto. I will soon be making my own homade robot outfit for a children's program this summer...I'll have to share my creation on flickr when it's finished!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Who wants a play date?

When I was little I could play for days...but I hated clean up. No matter how many toys came out of the closet I rarely cleaned them up. My life is still like that...just not as many toys.

Play is so easy for me...I have always been a natural at it, I love to do it, & its fun! But Goals...not so easy. I meet some but others are forgotten. Kind of like my New Years Resolutions. Why??? It probably goes back to those "clean up the toys" days...sometimes its easier to leave the toys out. And doesn't clean up mean play is over.

Aside from cleaning up, my goals are the hardest for me because I def set them too big.