Thing Twenty-Three

All done!

Thing Twenty-two

At the beginning of 23 Things, I remember thinking that it was long time until mid-April and the end of this adventure. Well, we're almost there, and it's been really fun and really useful. Time well spent.

I've been able to keep up with the assignments by simply adding the next "thing" to my list (yes, a piece of paper, not electronic!) of things to do for the day. That way I don't forget or let something else take its place. Now that I won't have a specific assignment or a due date, I'll have to stay more self-motivated to keep up with Library 2.0 tools. Friday afternoons seem like a good time for this because I'm winding down for the week and ready for something different. I plan on making a notation on Friday afternoons on my calendar (again, paper) that says "Library 2.0" and then use that time to explore. Then I'll want to actually do hands-on stuff because that's how I learn.

I admit that it may be challenging to do this. Currently I don't work in public services, so the knowledge is really for me, not to use with patrons. But, who knows where my next stop will be career-wise, so I gotta stay sharp!

Thing Twenty-one

As I've mentioned in previous blog entries, I love lists. So, the Assignment Calculator and Research Project Calculator were very appealing to me. Number one: easy, easy, easy to use. No long instructions, etc. Love that. Number two: very applicable. I think these tools would be particularly useful for students working on a group project, which as we all know, is the norm these days. This lists would help divide up the assignments to the group members. One thing I liked in the Teacher Guide was how the RPC pointed the teacher in the direction of the media specialist, who was labeled as a "partner." There was even an instructional planning guide for the media specialist.

I can see library staff telling individual students about these tools, but I think staff would have better luck selling it directly to teachers and media specialists. Teachers could introduce it to their classes at the onset of an assignment like a project or research paper. I'm just thinking if a whole class is told about RPC at one time, the students would be inclined to give it a try.

These tools lend themselves to being used for project management at the library also. Often divisions and departments have major programs to implement that involve staff, vendors, etc. This kind of tool could be beneficial; definitely worth trying.

Thing Twenty

I visited Twitterlit. When I laughed out loud at one of the first lines of a book, a coworker came in my office asking what was so funny. If it cracks me up, I like it. Next I visited BookStumpers because as a former children's librarian, I often received this kind of inquiry from adult patrons. "I remember this book from when I was a kid in the '70s. It had a red cover, and the little boy in it had a blue tricycle...." This site could help when a librarian can't. TheBookCalendar also has some merit by introducing members to a new book each day via RSS or email. It might be worth checking out to see if I'm interested in the titles introduced.

Personally, I'm not interested in joining a book club because I like to read for my personal enjoyment or education. There are really few books I want to dissect with a bunch of other people. I read something, enjoy it, and move on to the next one. Anyway, I looked at BookGlutton and Bookmarked. I thought LitLovers was pretty cool. The free literature courses could be worthwhile and I thought the link to Book Club menus was a great idea. I do hear book clubs have good food!

Although the One Minute Critic reviewed somewhat esoteric titles (at least the ones I saw) that didn't appeal to me, the clips I listened to were good. Kinda casual presentation, yet good. I think the site is an interesting concept. BookSwim was very interesting -- didn't know those kind of sites existed. I investigated the college textbook rental section, and thought it would be worth checking into if I were a student (which thank goodness I'm not anymore!). I still think the public library is a better bet for other stuff. But I realize lots of people want what they want now, so they might not want to wait for the library's copy of the newest best seller. I also looked at Visual Bookshelf which a coworker swears by, and SwapTree, which sounds incredibly fun. That one is worth spending more time looking into.

I had no idea all these sites existed, so this thing was incredibly educational.

Thing Nineteen

I had a blast looking at some of these recommended sites. I actually had to force myself to stop and get back to work. I'm very familiar with WebJunction thanks to NEFLIN, but all the others were brand new to me. If the site had me register before I even knew anything about it, I moved on to another one. Not that I have a problem registering for something I'm interested in; I just want to know more about it before I commit. I love love loved BakeSpace.com!! (OK, that's the one I had to quit looking at to get to a meeting on time.) I plan on registering, but I was able to find all kinds of neat things without even doing so. I got a killer recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Cake. What's not to love about a site that gives you that?! Can't wait to share BakeSpace with my teenage daughter, a Mario Batali groupie. I also visited OpenSourceFood, which has changed its name to a hipper Nibbledish. It was fine, but not as easy or fun as the BakeSpace. Still worth visiting again. And, because I work in a library, I felt compelled to visit GoodReads. It stressed me out (not really) seeing how many books I want to read and haven't yet. I liked the quotes that kept popping up on the homepage, too.

From this Thing I learned there are lots of fun and helpful social networking sites out there. I also learned that this paperwork on my desk isn't going to take care of itself on its own!!

Thing Eighteen

I'm very familiar with Facebook because both of my children have accounts. My oldest created his once he got to college, and my youngest asked if she could have one last year in ninth grade. I was concerned about privacy and security issues, so before agreeing to her request, her dad and I discussed it. We finally said yes, but set up some strict guidelines for her to follow. I even discussed some of these with my son, but because he's an adult, he can basically do what he wants! Yet, he listened and actually agreed with several of them. I'm not naive when I say I have good kids, so I trust them. So far, when they've pulled up their accounts and shown me photos they have posted, I've not seen anything outrageous or inappropriate.

I chose not to create a Facebook profile myself only because I'm not interested in maintaining one. I have to admit that my son's opinion of the site and its audience also affected my decision not to participate. He is incensed that so many adults are involved with Facebook. He does have a point; the site originated for kids in college. His actual quote when an adult family member and mother of his friend wanted him to friend them was "What's this world coming to?!" I told him to reject them if he didn't want them as friends. After further discussion, I came to realize his beef is adults wanting to be his friends, not that adults are using Facebook. I explained how some coworkers use it professionally and that made sense to him. Just don't ask to be his friend!! My daughter is of similar mind, but sometimes feels pressure to accept friend requests from older family members and friends. I think we older adults need to be mindful of what's on our teens' sites, but at the same time, respect their privacy by not making them friend us. I'm not their Facebook friend, so why should their aunt or a family friend be one? If we as adults have an account, I think we should be friends with other adults and professional colleagues unless we have a teen who is begging us to be their friend. I have a good friend and colleague who told me that she never asks anyone younger than her to friend her. But if a younger person initiates it, she'll accept. I like that.

I spent time looking into MySpace because I hadn't really done that before. I know my library system has a page, which I looked at for the first time in awhile. I even found a picture of myself on it! OK, well it was the back of my head, but still! We have some neat video and audio clips on it, which were fun. The publicity was about a month behind, but it's probably one more thing for someone to keep updated. The audience was all ages. I then went to JPL's MySpace page which targeted teens only. I really liked that about it. They also promoted the use of Library Thing, which, thanks to 23 Things, I knew all about. Then I looked into some college pages, but one was geared strictly for the college students in a particular program at the school. The page was all black and white, which at first was kinda cool, but then it was boring. A search for Colby College MySpace just led me to a place for job postings, which I think is a great way to use this site. Lastly I investigated an Ellen Degeneres site, but it wasn't created by her show, but by a fan. Still interesting.

MySpace is a great tool for libraries to use, and I think Facebook can be used for groups that you have something in common with (committees, projects, librarians). I liked how JPL targeted a particular age group with their MySpace page -- perfect for teens. We need to use any available avenue to reach patrons, and social network sites are another opportunity.

Thing Seventeen

I used Podcast.com and YahooPodcasts to look for interesting health-related/running podcasts. The hits I got were really broad, so instead I just thought about websites I visited regularly, radio programs I like, etc to determine a podcast I wanted to add to my blog reader account. Every morning driving into work, I listen to the Bob and Sheri Show out of Charlotte, NC. I know they do the podcast thing, so I went to their site and added a RSS feed directly to my iGoogle page. Somehow I added it 3 times (still don't know how that happened!), but it was simple to remove the extra 2. I didn't link it to my blog, though. I took a look at Gcast mainly because I liked their slogan "it's so easy, your grandma can do it." Personally I'm not interested in podcasting, but I appreciate all the ways this format can be and is used.

Thing Sixteen

I absolutely love YouTube!! I choose this particular video "The Evolution of Dance" because it is the very first thing I ever watched on the site. Plus it remains one of my favorites to this day. I visit YouTube on a regular basis either to view something someone has sent me or to just look around on my own. Mostly it's for fun, but I do use the site to educate myself. For instance, my son recently recommended I go to YouTube to look up the Cupid Shuffle, a dance he said his group was using during a presentation in one of his marketing classes. Let's just say he was impressed when I demonstrated my dance moves while he's been home on spring break. I didn't even have to tell him what I was doing; he knew! Thank you, YouTube! Don't worry, I'm sticking with my day job!

I think the site is easy to use, and the only problem -- if you can even call it that -- is slow loading at times. But I just pause the playing, let it get ahead and click play. Very minor issue. This site has so many personal and professional uses. Our library even used a library recruiting video found on YouTube as our inspiration for a commercial we filmed last year. What's not to love?!!

Select...Song lyricsSearch The Web

Rollyo was interesting, and easy to use in terms of creating a searchroll. Mine is song lyrics and I imported 4 websites to search. When I did a test search, 2 of my websites gave me a message saying they couldn't find anything. And this week and next are pretty crazy work-wise, so I don't have time to see what's up with that. I did have trouble getting the Rollyo icon into my blog. I searched awhile through the website looking for answers and trying some things, but I couldn't make it happen until I enlisted the help of a very smart coworker. He said he had a little trouble himself with this same process, but figured out a way to make it happen.

I'm really not sure how a library could use this site. I guess doing reference work with a patron, but there's probably other search methods library staff would go to first. I see more personal uses for people, I think. Oh, and here's hoping you can search my searchroll now that it is linked to my blog. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works!

Thing Fourteen

I had a great time investigating the online calendars, lists, etc. Plenty of extremely neat things out there. Awhile back I created an iGoogle account, and had fun personalizing it. Incredibly easy to do, too. Because I'm a Google fan, I choose Google calendar for this thing. Easy, liked it. Went back into it and edited some entries with no problem at all. I can see myself using this handy dandy tool.

Like I've mentioned before, I'm a big list maker. So, I was very interested in exploring the online list tools. Remember the Milk is a cool name, so I picked that one to look at. I think I'll stick with my primitive paper lists, but I can definitely understand the appeal of using the online tools especially if you're attached to your blackberry or cell at the hip. Backpack looked pretty neat and appeared to have application in the workplace. I can see people using it for meetings, sharing info -- kinda like wikis. Didn't get into Zamzar. Am sure I could figure out ways that it would be helpful to patrons, but kinda lost interest.

I spent some time looking at the Online Education Database (or Top 25 Web 2.0 Apps...) and found the list to be pretty impressive and useful. I can definitely see students utilizing the various tools.

Thing Thirteen

When I first went into Library Thing to look around and view the tutorial, I was very impressed. Easy to follow and intuitive. I easily created my library of 5 books, but didn't get fancy by tagging, etc. Then I started working on creating the widget for my blog that would allow readers to link to my library. That's where I ran into problems. When my first try didn't get me anywhere, I called a coworker who had successfully completed this thing. Thank you, Mr. Anonymous! He walked me through the steps over the phone. Thank goodness he was helping me because one thing he had me do was something I would have never ever figured out.

I can see lots of people really getting into using this site for their personal use. But to me, it's just one more thing to keep track of. What I mean by that is it's one more list I have to make. Trust me, I love my lists, but not of books I've read, books I like, books I want to recommend, whatever. I don't have time for that, nor do I really feel like it's information I have to have. Life's too short to keep track of every little thing I do. I read for enjoyment, not to spend hours writing down the books I read.

I do think the Library Thing feature of being able to create your own private online book club will be very popular. And I think this site could be used to market your public library's services. Creating my library was very simple to do, which was nice.

You know what it is -- I'm feeling overwhelmed by all that is available via the internet. So much of it seems like just one more thing to do, to know, to use instead of something else. What I have to remember is that by participating in 23Things, we are all being inundated with technology week after week for learning purposes only. It doesn't mean I personally have to use all this stuff; I just need to get acquainted with what's out there.

Thing Twelve

I enjoyed Thing Twelve. Loved looking at Book Lovers wiki, Albany Co. PL's staff wiki and Blogging Libraries wiki. All were easy to use, contained some useful and interesting info. Blogging Libraries was fun cuz of the myriad libraries listed -- neat to look at what everyone's up to. I posted on NEFLIN's wiki which took about 2 seconds; it was incredibly easy. Kinda scary easy. Which is my only concern with the wiki concept. Excellent way to communicate info to a group, pass on ideas, get ideas, plan. But, I'm not a fan of using wikis for in-depth research. Who knows who put what in the body of the text, you know? There are so many excellent reference sources available for research, so use them. Save the wikis for the group planning, ideas exchange, that kind of thing.

Thing Eleven

I spent some time getting acquainted with Digg, Mixx, etc., and realized that, while I won't personally use them, it's good to know what tools are out there and how to use them. I also played around some with StumbleUpon.

Here's my take on them: I don't see a use for them in my personal or professional life, nor can I figure out how a library would use them. I'm not interested in reading random stuff that any random person can put up on a site. I get my news in the usual places like local newspaper, cnn.com and from items sent to me by people I know and who know me and what I'd like. So much of the stuff at these sites is simply useless information that I really don't have any interest in. And besides, how much "news" does one person really need? If you aren't careful, you can spend every waking moment in front of a computer screen getting informed. Don't get me wrong; I love my computer. But I also like living life instead of just reading about it.

Thing Ten

I'm not impressed with the whole tagging thing. I went into some of my past blog postings and added tags, but only cuz it was part of the assignment. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I can't see myself searching blogs for certain topics. I'm following blogs for the purpose of 23 Things, but when this is over, I won't be searching on the internet for topical blogs. Next I looked into Delicious. BTW, I love the videos by Commoncraft Show. They are entertaining and helpful. So, I started with registering at the site. It took me 5 times for it to accept my registration because, I guess, I kept retyping the funky letters at the bottom incorrectly. I swear I was correct, but it kept rejecting me. And then each time the letters were harder to decipher. I'm talking letters on top of letters. What was up with that? Finally, I got registered. Needless to say by then, I was really (no, not) excited about continuing. Honestly, I don't really know what I did. Now, let me insert here, that I'm an intelligent woman, but some of this stuff we're having to do isn't intuitive and the directions on the sites sometimes leave a little to be desired. Anyway, I wanted to custom import because I didn't want all my bookmarks coming over to Delicious (which I'm not even sure would happen cuz it never explained what would happen). Well, they all came over, and I just deleted the ones I didn't want on the site. But, I'm still confused as to why when I click on the Delicious bookmarks button on my toolbar, a list of all my favorites appears on the left side of my screen. But when I log into the site, only the ones I wanted to stay appear. I've got to be honest; I don't really care enough to find out because I can't see the use for this. Maybe cuz I don't bookmark a bazillion sites. I did go in and tag my saved bookmarks just so I could say I did it. Wow, I sound like I'm in a yucky mood, but really I'm not. I guess I'm simply underawed (if that isn't a word, it should be!) by Delicious. But, to end on a more positive note -- I will say it's good to be aware of what's out there so that we can assist patrons. I don't have to like something to be able to help.

Thing Nine

Gator Booknut sold me on using PictureTrail, and she was right about how easy it was. I encountered a couple of snafus, but nothing I couldn't eventually figure out. Well, I never did figure out how to get rid of the glitter stars that appear with each picture, but what the heck? I went for a cheesy presentation and accomplished it! The pics are some my daughter took on a trip to NY last April. I just picked some random shots to use for this assignment.

Thing Eight

I was very excited about IMing for the first time, so I pretty much accosted two co-workers and made them practice with me. They were good sports, and quite helpful. I used Google Talk, and found it pretty simple to use although I did have to get some help on how to actually start chatting with someone. Once that was figured out, I was good! It was very fun, and I can see myself really getting into it. I'm hearing library staff say they could possibly use the tool at the reference desks to communicate with each other or simply to IM back to the office asking for reinforcements at the public service desk.

I'm already familiar with texting because I use it with my kids. Although I'm not very fast at it -- but who cares; it's not like we're racing -- it's very easy and fun. I use it when I know my kids are otherwise occupied, but I need them to call me, answer a question at their convenience, etc. It lets them know I need them, but let's them respond on their schedule. In the library setting, this is yet another tool for us to use to contact and respond to patrons.

Last year I attended a web conferencing workshop at NEFLIN, so I'm very familiar with OPAL and all web conferencing has to offer. It really helped to try it out hands on, and think how we could utilize at the library. And can I just say, I looked pretty darn cute with the Brittany Spears headset on! Several other staff members have been trained, so I'm hoping we'll give it a try in the future. It has so many applications -- staff and patron training, programming. Won't be a simple proposition to implement, but worth trying for sure.

One of the blog prompts asked about the use of email in the workplace. All of us are innundated with it, but that doesn't make it bad. I do try sometimes to pick up the phone or go talk with someone instead of always emailing because email isn't always the most efficient communication tool between staff members.

I think libraries should try to incorporate technologies like IM, text or whatever whenever possible because those are ways people are communicating these days. They're just different than what we've used in the past, but that doesn't make them wrong or stupid or scary. We should give our patrons what they want, not tell them what they need. And if our patrons like it, I love it!

Thing Seven

What a blast this was to play with! This could become addicting. I can see lots of uses in the library setting. For publicity, but also as a program for kids. Set up computers and let them go to it. Toon Doo looked easy, too, but I liked this image in ImageChef, so stayed with it. You may see more of these on the blog in the future!

Thing Six

This one called Hyacinth was posted by van swearingen on flickr. I found it using the Flickr Colr Pickr. Easy.

OK, that was fun and easy. I used Big Huge Labs Jigsaw to create this puzzle picture that I already have posted.

I tried using splashr, but no luck. Couldn't figure out how to find postcard I had created. Didn't find accessible instructions on how to use. Also looked at Clockr, but didn't get into that one.

I can see libraries using these tools to jazz things up on their websites, Facebook and MySpace pages. I also see individuals using them for the same purpose. Really was simple and fun.

Thing Five

My oldest is away at college in New York, so Ilooking at pictures from that area makes me feel closer to him. I found these browsing through flickr pictures using the keyword Ithaca, and thought they were pretty cool. Below is a photo of Taughannock Falls taken by Enoch Ross and the other was taken by champy1013 of the Ithaca Commons. Very cool area full of neat restaurants and shops. Looking forward to visiting it again in April. In the winter, the Commons displays massive ice sculptures in the area in this photo.



To be honest, I found this exercise somewhat stressful - dumb, I know. Until I got help from a friend, I couldn't figure out how to download the picture. But, the truth is, I went into this one telling myself I'd have trouble, and I did. What do you know, self-fulfilling prophecy I guess. I like the idea of sharing my photos this way, but I gotta say, I still love printing out my digital photos and putting them in an album. And, yes, my family does look at our albums on a regular basis.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/enochross/367505049

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattchamplin/144570650/

http://www.flickr.com/

Thing Four

You know what the best part of this whole 23 Things is? Asking for help from and talking with coworkers about the current "Thing." Everyone is having fun, everyone is helpful, everyone tells me their opinions on our current assignment. Generally I walk down the hall to the nearest department, which, fortunately, is full of knowledgeable people. I already knew that I work with such great people, but this project just affirms it.

So, this RSS thing...... Really, really easy to set up. The directions on the NEFLIN website have been outstanding -- thank you! I have to say, though, that I'm not really getting what the hoopla is all about. It seems to me I now have yet another account to check. It's basically another email account. I have very few sites that I check on a really regular schedule, so I don't see RSS as saving me time. Just the opposite. It seems to me that it's just as easy to go directly to cnn.com and browse through the pages I follow. Peruse, read and I'm done. Why go to Google Reader and pull up my account just to see a list of articles? I can save a step and go directly to the site myself. Plus I'm so used to what the site looks like that it's fast and easy. I can see the advantage of RSS, I guess, if someone follows lots of blogs and lots of news and library sites. But, for me, I don't see any advantage. I'm glad I know how to do it, though, and I'll monitor my Google Reader for awhile to see how I like it.

Thing Three

Since I just returned from watching the inauguration in HD on an awesome plasma screen TV owned by the Library, I decided to do blog searches on the Obama Inauguration. My first step was actually figuring out how to spell inauguration - I had an extra "a" thrown in there the first go round. As required, I reviewed Technorati and then picked out Ice Rocket as my second search tool because, let's face it, it has a very cool name. And as we know, image is everything :)

Personally, I can't see myself following blogs on a regular basis. The majority of them out there -- this one included -- are written by any Joe Blow sitting in front of his computer. I'm not really into listening to the random opinions of people I don't know. It reminds me of the TV commercials for recently released movies that, thank goodness, have stopped running. You see trailers about the movie and then all these people coming out of it were interviewed about how they liked it. Who cares? I don't know you. I want to hear from friends, coworkers, family, experts, not just the random guy who decided to post on his blog or come out of a movie theater.

Back to the comparison of search engines -- I thought Technorati looked and acted more professional. It probably appealed to my sense of wanting to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about. Its options seemed more numerous than Ice Rocket. I didn't get as many hits on the inauguration as Ice Rocket, but I think 22, 801 is still plenty. And I'm sure the number will multiply as the day progresses. When I searched the photos link, the ones on Ice Rocket were applicable, but not so on Technorati. What does a picture of Christie Brinkley have to do with the inauguration? I admit I didn't spend lots and lots of time on this exercise because I couldn't really get into it. But interesting to know blogs are searchable.

Thing Two

So, truth be told, I was a little nervous about what we all would have to do for Thing Two. Imagine my surprise when I found out I just had to read!! I can do that. Heck, I even enjoy doing that. And the Stephen A. video clip was fun, too. He just kinda gets right to the point, doesn't he?

Finding time to participate in 23 Things is really pretty simple: you put it on your "to do" list. I make time for the current "thing" just like I do for any other work-related task. Plus I learn, like most people, by doing something. You can tell me a bunch of times, but unless I actually do the task myself at some point, it doesn't really stick. And why am I gonna do all these crazy "things" Stephanie is putting out there for us?!! Again, it's simple: to prove to myself I can do it. OK, and I want to show off to my teenage children!!

Thing One

Wow, I'm blogging! Who would have thought?!! I'll admit I asked for some help from coworkers as I was setting this up, but I did it -- finally! A coworker and I are still not sure about the settings part (enabling comments) because we couldn't figure out how to do it before moving on to step 3 - selecting a template. We're thinking we can do it from here, but that will have to wait for now.