Monday, August 20, 2007

Thing 23 - I'm finished!!!

Finally!!! Completing the 23 Things program while working on the desk has been an experience. I enjoyed the "fun" components the most. The online image generators and the music websites were a lot of fun to explore. I think the program has given me the opportunity (and direction) to explore sites that I probably wouldn't have found on my own. One of the ideas that I'm taking away from this program is that there are still so many ways that the library can use technology to provide new/better services to our patrons.

The pod casts at the beginning of some of the "things" weren't really useful because it's difficult to have the sound turned on or the volume level very loud when you're on a public desk (the only time many of us had to work on the program). I think if the program incorporated more fun things (where participants can play while they learn) people would be more likely to do it and maybe less intimidated by all the technology.

I would probably participate in another discovery program like this if one was offered in the future. I'd be more likely to participate if there was a specific incentive or prize that you knew about in advance for completing the program.

Thing 22 - downloadable books

I had to look at several of these sites for LATI earlier this year. Our library links to Overdrive, so that's the site where I set up my account. I understand the appeal of downloadable books. You can find titles that your system might not carry and you may be able to get a new title faster than you could going through the normal holds lists at the library. Some titles allow you to burn the file to Cd's, making the experience similar to checking out an audio book at the library. I like the fact that you can see how many people would be in line ahead of you before you place a hold on an item that's already checked out. I searched for several different titles and was able to find them all in one format or another. It would be nice if they carried Young Adult books as well. This might be a good way to introduce teens to the audio book format.

I didn't find any titles that I really wanted to try to download. As with traditional audio books, I think I'd have a hard time focusing on listening to a book while I was driving or working on something. I don't think I'd want to read a book off my computer screen either. I end up staring at a computer screen for a large part of my day already. It's not what I want to do for hours at home just to read a book.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Thing 21 - podcasts

For this "thing", I explored Podcast.net and Yahoo! podcasts. I had a hard time finding a podcast series that I actually wanted to add to my bloglines account. I could find individual episodes about subjects that interested me, but not an entire series. I ended up with a commentary series about the Baltimore Orioles. I understand the value of having podcasts but they aren't all that appealing to me. I tend to get distracted or start doing or thinking about something else and miss parts of the podcasts. I also don't really have any desire to create my own podcast any time soon.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Thing 20 - YouTube

I've used YouTube before. People post videos there for just about anything. More recently, I've started using it to find music videos from artists or groups that I like. I wasn't sure how licensing worked with posting a video to my blog and I found out quickly that just because they let you post the video, doesn't mean they'll let you play it on your blog. The first video I posted gave me a message that said due to licensing agreements (or something), I would need to visit YouTube to view the video. So, I tried another of my favorite artists and his video plays just fine. I chose Jason Aldean's video for Amarillo Sky because I thought I'd add some of my personal interests to the blog, even though I've kept it mostly work-related so far.

Integrating a video feature into the library's website could allow us to share programs with others via the Internet. We could also post book talks done by staff members. If we were to share videos created by other people/organizations, we'd probably have to be careful about licensing agreements and copyright infringement.

Jason Aldean- Amarillo Sky

OK, so I tried to post a video from Sugarland but they wouldn't let me play it from the blog, just post it. So, I'm trying again with a song from Jason Aldean.

Thing 19 - my own personal radio station

I love music (country music mostly) so I decided to check out the Web 2.0 awards music category. I chose to explore the category winner www.pandora.com, a site that creates a "radio station" just for you based on an initial song or artist input and any feedback that you supply on subsequent songs. You may not hear the initial song or artist you entered right away. I thought the site was really cool because it tried to focus in on the specific type of songs I was looking for, not just a general genre. The only drawback I found was that it only lets you skip so many songs per hour. So you can't see what else is next on the play list for your station. I think patrons could use this site if they wanted to listen to music while using library computers. I don't think it's very useful for library staff members while they're helping the public but it does provide an option for listening to music at your desk (if you have one).

Thing 18

The post below is an online document that I create with Google Docs and published to my blog. I have contributed to an online document created by someone else before and viewed documents from other people through Google. This was my first experience creating my own document in Google Docs. It's pretty easy and if you're going to be sharing a document frequently, it's definitely easier than having to attach files to email and download a new version each time someone sends you an update.

I'm creating my first document in Google Docs for 23 Things. The program seems easy to use, though it lacks a fair number of font options that typically show up in Word. One of the major benefits is that you can just share your document online so you don't have to worry about file sizes for email attachments.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Thing 17 - Playing in the Sandbox

So, after exploring the wiki for a little while, I decided to go ahead and add my blog to the list. It was really easy to add anything I wanted to the wiki pages. Conversely, I could have really messed the site up (at least temporarily) if I had accidentally deleted stuff. I did stumble across blogs from a few people I went through LATI with while I was "in the sandbox", which was cool. I still don't know if I'll be posting on too many wikis any time soon. Maybe if I find one that actually seems interesting...

Thing 16 - Wikis...

I use Wikipedia to find answers to trivia questions. If you need a credible source, it's probably not the best site since anyone can add or delete information. You can find just about anything on wikis, they can be create for any subject. I wiki is just a way for multiple people to collaborate/have input on one site. One thing I don't like about a lot of wikis is that they're really busy looking. Sometimes they are 3 different columns of text and it's a lot of information to digest at once.

While exploring, I saw several potential applications for wikis within libraries. The library could set up an internal wiki (not viewable to the public) where staff could share ideas and insights about library operations or information sources. Another potential application coudl be either internal or public. Much like the Book Lover's wiki at the Princeton Public Library, a wiki could act as a reader's advisory tool. Staff (and maybe public too, though adding public would require a great deal more monitoring of posts) could post reviews of books that they read. This would allow other staff members to provide better readers advisory in unfamiliar genres and possibly provide an answer to the "What did you think of this book?" question. (if someone else has read it and posted a review).

I haven't actually posted anything to a wiki yet, I think that's the next "thing".

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Release day for "Eclipse"! oh yeah, and Thing 15...

Stephenie Meyer's book "Eclipse" came out today. I've been waiting all summer for this book.

While I'm waiting for my copy to arrive, I'll share my thoughts on Library 2.0. I think there is a very real need for libraries to embrace some new technologies in order to better serve their patrons. One of the articles mentioned seeing a drop in circulation within the author's library system. I'm not sure that we're to that point yet in our system, but it's pretty obvious that our computer labs are a big draw to our patrons. I also hear from a lot of patrons who use the Internet to montior their library accounts and place holds. We already use sources from the Internet for a lot of our reference work. I think we're going to have to make more use of web-based technology in the future to improve our customer service. Some examples to consider might be teen-specific blogs/websites or even RSS feeds from the library webpage so patrons wouldn't have to pull up our page to find out about the latest programs.

I think the demand for actual books will continue to bring people into the library since many people people don't want to or unable to download books to their personal computers. However, if libraries are to continue to stay competitive in the literary and information markets they must embrace technological change.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Thing 14 - Technorati

I didn't really know what to expect from Technorati going into this "thing". After exploring the site for a while, I don't think I'll be using it very often. I think it falls into the "too much of a good thing" trap. More often then not, when I searched for a specific subject I got hundreds or thousands of results. I don't have time to sift through that many blogs and posts. I guess if blogging took up a big part of your day the site would be great. I don't so it doesn't seem like anything special in my opinion.

Searching for "learning 2.0" under blog posts brings up every blog post that contains that phrase somewhere in its text (well over 3,000). Doing the same search as a tag search brings up blogs tagged as "learning 2.0", as well as photos and videos containing that tag. A blog directory search appears to only include entire blogs that are tagged (I assume) with "learning 2.0". Most have that phrase somewhere in their titles or page descriptions.

A lot of the top "favorited" blogs and top blogs are the same. Many of the highest ranked ones are somehow related to technology. Based on those results, you'd think the top searches would be technology-related as well. However, most of the top searches were music-related (typically a specific artist) or social networking searches (MySpace, Facebook, etc.)

While the site compiles a lot of information, the volume of search results doesn't seem to make it practical for library reference purposes.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Is anyone reading this?

I know I don't have much exciting on this blog since it's a work assignment and I barely have time to get the work part of it posted. But I don't have any comments on it so I'm just wondering if anyone even looks at it...


Okay, I guess the answer is yes and I just missed the one comment until a few minutes ago. It's kind of cool that someone completely outside of our assignment stumbled across my blog! :-)

Week 6, Thing 13

The del.icio.us tutorial link on our 23 things page was broken. Thanks to Kevin, I was able to watch a different one and get the general concept before exploring the site. It's a good way to see what sites other people find interesting and useful. For instance, howstuffworks.com has been bookmarked by over 1,000 people. I don't think I use enough of the same websites at home or work to make it worth my time to create a list of bookmarks that I can access anywhere.

In other notes, I've actually ended up using my bloglines account several times a week, which is more than I expected.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Week 5, Thing 12 - Halfway finished...

Initially, I didn't see much use for a tool like Rollyo. Google, Yahoo or specific websites have worked fine for me. The Rollyo search I created was for country music news and concert information. I pulled in 4 or 5 sites that I frequently search for information, so now I can check just one site. I'm not sure how often I'll actually used Rollyo since I'm more comfortable with going directly to the sites, but it's a nice to know the option is there.

Here's my search roll: http://rollyo.com/akrumrine/country_newsconcerts/

Monday, July 16, 2007

Week 5, Thing 11

LibraryThing seems like a good way to keep track of books you've read. Sometimes a book looks familiar but I can't remember if I've read it or not. With this site, I could instantly have pictures of the books I've already read. I also added a "widget" to the left side of my blog that randomly shows books from my library (all YA right now). I don't know how often I'll remember to update my library but if I can keep it fairly up to date, it'll be a useful tool.

Week 5, Thing 10 - Lots of cute kittens and more!

I've had an avatar for my Yahoo account for a while, so I added that to the "my profile" space on my blog (upper left hand corner of my blog page). You can save favorite versions of your avatar (other outfits, different backgrounds, etc.) or specific favorite items in the favorites section on Yahoo so you can easily find them later.

The generator blog listed on the Thing 10 page is cool too because it lists a while lot of different types of generators available on the Internet. The "World Famous Random Kitten Generator" is by far the cutest generator I've found thus far.

Week 4, Thing 9

I checked out the MERLIN site, but didn't find anything really exciting as compared to some of the other things we've explored (maybe I just viewed it on an off day). I also tried out all 4 of the recommended feed search tools. I think if I'm searching for a feed and I'm not already on the website for the feed I want, I'll stick to the Bloglines search engine. Several of the other sites were visually very busy. Feedster and Technorati gave me way more search results than I wanted or needed and not the feed that I was looking for. This may have been a result of my unfamiliarity with using the sites. The local information on topix was interesting, but not enough so to make me want to use the site regularly. In the end I found (and subscribed to) feeds from the Baltimore Orioles, CMT (county music television), and the Discovery Channel. I think the search tools are nice if you want to see what's out there or available. However, if you have a specific site in mind, I think it's easier to go to that site and see if you can find the RSS icon.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Week 4, Thing 8 - Bloglines

After going through several of the tutorials, I decided that the bloglines thing seemed fairly straight forward and simple. I had my account set up and was subscribed to 10 feeds within 15 minutes of starting the process. I might have been able to do it faster, but I was working the desk too. I'm not really clear on why I would want to provide a public link to my RSS account, so I don't plan on doing that right now. I'm not sure how often I'll actually use the feed reader since I have to go to a site I don't normally visit to long into my reader, but it's a nice program. I set up a feed from CMT and actually found out as a result of the feed that a group that I'd like to see in concert is going to be in the area this fall.

Personally, it would be useful not to have to visit music websites and online comics and just get the page updates sent to me instead. Professionally, I think the Young Adult feed that I subscribed to will help me find out about titles that our library doesn't own or that I haven't gotten a chance to read myself.

I think libraries could utilize RSS as a marketing tool. If the library created an RSS feed that patrons could subscribe to, we could send information about new programs and other library news directly to patrons. Also, RSS feeds could help staff members stay informed about new books and authors.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Week 3, Thing 7 Technology...

I really like my digital camera, but our pictures end up on our computer, not printed out or posted to the web. But since a lot of people might talk about cameras, I'm going to post about a different technology: farming technology. Technology has helped farming to become a lot more precise. Many tractors and harvesting equipment now have GPS technology, which allows farmers to map yield levels throughout an individual field. This can help them to make more informed decisions about planting and fertilizing in future years. The Internet also gives farmers access to up to date market information and prices. I could go on... ;-) Technology is already impacting farming in major ways and, as with other aspects of our lives, its influence is growing.

Week 3, Thing 6

I explored a lot of the Flickr mash-up sites but I think one of my favorite sites was the CD/DVD cover creator on fd's Flickr Toys website. You can take any picture and create a CD or DVD cover. So, you can burn a CD with a personalized playlist and make a personalized CD cover to match. I had a friend who gave all of her wedding guests (small wedding) a CD full of songs that meant something to her and her husband. This site would have been a great way to personalize the favors even more by adding a picture or a note on the case.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Week 3, Thing 5


New born
Originally uploaded by Essjay NZ


Flickr is a lot of fun. The number of pictures found for just about any search term is amazing. I even tried some of my favorite country music artists. I chose this Jersey calf picture from Flickr because I used to show Jersey cows for 4-H when I was younger.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Week 2, Thing 3

Since you're reading this, I've obviously completed Thing 3, setting up a blog and posting. I had to use Blogger as part of an assignment for LATI so I was already somewhat familiar with the site. It's fairly user friendly.

Week 1, Thing 2

I started listening to the online tutorial last Tuesday evening while we were slow at RIS but about 2/3 the way through we had an influx of patrons and I had to stop. I just finished it today (almost a week later). Trying to complete this "23 things" program may be challenging without any off the desk time. I think one of the easiest habits for me is beginning with an end in mind. I find that I work better when I have a definite plan or goal that I'm trying to accomplish. One of the hardest habits for me may be creating my learning toolbox. It doesn't seem like I have time for courses most of the time and I don't like to spend money of things (like new technologies) that I might not use very often.

Week 1, Thing 1

I read the introduction to the program. I've played around with some of the technologies we're covering before but some will be new to me.