after 23 1/2 - still playing with this

#23 and a half

This has been quite a journey! I truly did not expect to discover and learn so much. I feel rather "techno-savvy" right now although I can see it's an ongoing process. At the beginning, I thought,"Create a blog? Me??" Not growing up with computers, I had to struggle with some of these "things" but it was in the end really worth it. I definitely see me continuing to keep up with these and hopefully utilize them when educating and informing customers.
My favorite exercises involved the visual side of things. Flickr, YouTube, and the Generator Blog all appealed to me. (And please check out www.swivel.com ) Also, I had always thought I would have no use for reading blogs but when I discovered what's out there, it was amazing to me. There's some wonderful creativity out there and now I can view it and be inspired by it.
I also found myself thinking of ways to incorporate all this with librarianship. One thing that struck me is that so many librarians I meet have interesting backgrounds. We have diverse areas of study under our belt. I can imagine perhaps using this to the library's advantage by finding venues to share what we know. Maybe those knowledgeable on a topic could work together create area specific guides and have them posted.
What would I change about this program? Maybe a little more time would be nice. Also, initially, I did not get much validation at work for spending time on this (although my aclm was encouraging). I felt vaguely guilty about it ( I was the only one in my library working on it.) Perhaps if it was better promoted and endorsed, this would not have happened. I don't know.
Yes, I would definitely participate in another discovery program of this type. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and the guidance. Thank you, QL Learning 2.0 Team!

Audiobooks

I'm at my home computer so I checked out an audiobook from the QL collection. I downloaded the OverDrive Media Console software first. I suppose I'm just not really an "audio" person because both the audiobooks and the podcasts don't personally interest me. I think it was useful for me to check out an audiobook because I can now better share this service with my customers. I had no idea that customers can burn some of these to a cd too. I noticed an audiobook of Wayne Dyer's is popular and can see why. He's a popular motivational speaker on PBS and to hear the words in his voice would be nice for some.

Podcasts

I looked through the directories with the keyword "library" and then added a podcast, Rock and Roll Librarian, to my bloglines account. Talis has some interesting library speakers/discussions. The truth is this doesn't interest me as much. I can see how it would be a useful way to present an offsite panel discussion to a group. The fact that it's an ongoing feed of current information is good too.

You Tube

I chose the Duke Ellington video below (also check out the ones streaming below once you start it...Satin Doll is nice) because I remember all the school children coming in for information about jazz musicians for a school project. We quickly ran out of books. I love the way they could have actually heard and seen these musicians as well. I can imagine putting something like this in with a guide to books and other reference resources. The multiplicity of all these resources just blows me away sometimes. Making them more accessible seems imperative. (For what I dislike about this site, well, I can see there's some really dumb stuff on there too.)

Don't Mean A Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing

Web 2.0 Award Winner

2nd place in the Visual Arts category went to Swivel. What a fun site! Basically it provides graphing of information. There are some fascinating facts along with graphs that make comparisons easy. Could this be useful as a reference tool? Yes, perhaps for those really pesky arcane reference questions but it also just makes for some cool perusing. Take a look at this... as the site says, "may your love of data guide you".

Google Docs

I used Google Docs to post the previous blog. It was so easy! I truly feel like some of these things are becoming more and more seamless here. Woo-woo!

Collaborative Web-Based Docs

Here is a test of the web-based applications versus using MicroSoft Office Suite. I had to disengage my pop-up blocker to do this. That bothered me a little. I can see how this would be a better way to post blogs as I hope to do here. The end to MicroSoft? Maybe no time soon but gosh...things do seem to be going fast! This seems like a great real-time sharing feature and would certainly work in an office environment where many are collaborating on the same project. Input of information on collections, circulation, and programming at individual libraries could all be set up on one document without asking for information and then having to repeat it again for a final published document. Let's see how this posts.

facebook

After exploring the Facebook Apps for Librarians, I think JStor is a great addition as a reference tool for librarians and their customers by providing those full-text articles they are often searching for. I believe there is an ARTStor too. BooksiRead seems good too but there are other resources for reviews and reader's advisory. The site I found to have the most appealing idea is LibGuides. I noticed that the guides were tailored for a highly specific audience, for example, students in a specific academic program at a particular school. However, the idea of creating and gathering together resources on one subject could be useful for YA and children librarians. Adding a constant stream of updated and interesting news on this topic would not only be helpful for homework but help create ongoing interest in the subject. I noticed quite a few guides included short videos. That would add to the interest level as well. p.s. I'm learning so much here!!

Playing with Wikis

I looked at some lists of wikis. A wiki I found intriguing was one where classified documents could be submitted anonymously! However,I have no access to such exciting things so I created an entry to Literawiki and wrote a very short review of the book, A Free Life, by Ha Jin then classified it under "Reviews". Why was my review so short? The first time I wrote an extended version and lost it when trying to save it. Oh well.

wikis

I explored quite a few wikis....what's funny is I'm always telling library customers not to rely on the information on wikipedia because it's not considered scholarly. But I find that wikis do serve many purposes. I especially like the idea of sharing thoughts and reviews on books. That would certainly work for a library's reading discussion group. I also liked the way wikis work collaborately...where each member of a specified group can share information with each other. The ALA conference wiki is a great example. I also see this in an academic format with study groups, etc.

On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0...

I read the resources except I was unable to access the article from Library Journal. I laughed out loud at The Annoyed Librarian's Anti-2.0 Manifesto and some comments on it as well...finally, a comedic look at all the hype. I'm not ready to trash this program at all. I welcome the opportunity to learn the new technology....technology is a tool and what libraries and librarians do with it is a matter of creativity and purpose. Of course some ideas fly, others don't. Why did Cool Librarian's library blog fail to get any interest? I know a lot of people are turned off by the term "blog". Maybe a different way of marketing it would help.

Okay, I don't have much time to write here so I'm flitting around the topic plus I'm on the reference desk...

but I find it funny how parallel this librarian/customer collaboration mimics the trends in education in recent years where teachers are no longer to "teach" but to "facilitate" learning. Some good comes from that but something is lost too.

I guess I was wondering why I would want some of the library customers tagging the resources. I suppose that's what they mean by "trust".

The concepts that excited me the most and seemed to hold the most possiblities are "collective intelligence", "novel and remixed content", and hopefully "simplicity".

Technorati

I joined Technorati today and posted my blog there. So far I feel like my blog is just a documentation of what I'm learning and doing. Hopefully, I can make it more personal when I'm through learning the tools. The world of blogging is huge! I have some things in mind I would like to explore in this new world down the road...primarily how artists use these technologies. I listed one blog on artmaking as a favorite. I thought it was funny that one of the popular blogs was how to make money blogging...really? That sounds like a long shot.

As far as searching for "Learning 2.0", I found a search box and an advanced search on Technorati. I found 19,977 entries in total including posts, blogs, videos, and photos. There were 948 hits for blogs. However, I could not find how to search the blog directory or tags. I read FAQs about them and how to get my blog involved in them but not how to search for other blog. I enlisted the help of fellow co-workers to no avail. Is the site defective? Why is it easy to find what everyone else is looking at but hard for me to find things? Alas, my non-techie lament! But on the positive side, there's quite a bit to look at and explore.

Del.icio.us is stu.pend.ous

I looked at all the discovery resources listed about Del.icio.us including the video tutorial. It all seemed interesting but it wasn't until I actually went on the QL L2.0 account that it became exciting to me. Finding relevant tagged articles and websites was great. I think one of the best things about this is the research potential. I know that some librarians will find it a problem that anyone can tag but, especially when it comes to education, I can see computer-savvy patrons responding to this open and more social way of finding and sharing information. Fascinating!

Rollyo

Select...art information by evasuzSearch The Web

Hope the above will provide a link to my Rollyo SearchRoll. I have included a few websites that I enjoy looking at for art information. I like the idea of having them all in one place and look forward to adding to it. I am discovering there are myriad ways and places to organize information online.

another attempt from the generator blog

This was found in The Generator Blog .... http://www.fodey.com/generators/animated/talking_owl.asp

Letter James and FD Toys seemed more involved with adding on to your existing photos. Quite a few choices from The Generator Blog were blocked by the Queens Library. Perhaps some were pornographic. I think perhaps some might have been perceived as games as in the Christmas tree you could decorate.

LibraryThing

Link to my LibraryThing profile below. I used to have a huge library at home but now that I'm a working librarian and live in an apartment, I narrowed the books I keep at home down. I'm therefore including books I've recently enjoyed here from work. I don't know if I'll use LibraryThing that often as I'm pretty involved with books all day long and read often but maybe I will.

Image generators #2

I still need some practice with this. My image was transferrable only by script and that went through but the placement is off. I just assumed it would fall somewhere in the middle of the blog. There are many different options here. I will try a few more.

image generators

I used to have a "ribbon generator" posted here that was found on The Generator Blog but removed it because it blocked part of my blog.

Locating Newsfeeds-Feeding Frenzy

After looking at various newsfeed search tools, I found I preferred the Blogline's search tool for now. What really impressed me about this whole blogging process is that I can find some rather esoteric information I'd probably never know about otherwise. The idea of finding others interested in creating art and learning about events aimed at this community is quite exciting. I enjoyed the online "sketchbook" blogs where I can see what other artists are up to... not in a gallery setting but in an informal, day-to-day way. I will continue to explore this and may consider sharing my own sketchbook! So much is out there and more accessible than I realized.

RSS

RSS...I like this technology! I introduced myself first by viewing Feed Me by Palinet then read the Bloglines Tutorial which was excellent. After quite a bit of browsing, I created a Bloglines account and went with my special interests (art, books, animals, and some law, politics, word-of-the-day, and last but not least Dilbert. I found his latest book (not cartoons) hilarious. I feel so enthusiastic because I had no idea this existed before. I do remember trying to save something once and having an xml feed come up....now I know what it was! I also created another blog through bloglines with the idea that I would save some of my favorite information. At this point, I will keep it private but sharing would be fun too.

Comments on other blogs

I commented on another QL employee's blog as requested. Viewing other blogs by fellow participants about this experience is interesting in that we all come from different levels of familiarity and prior skill sets when it comes to computers. Lots to learn here!!

Blog About Technology

Well....I have a long way to go on the 23 1/2 things but am still plugging away here. Exploring technology is truly like exploring a whole new universe . When I feel I've made some small inroad, I discover how vast and multi-faceted each component along the way is. The available amount of unfamiliar detours is mind-boggling to me. However, I do see that by breaking it all down, I manage to pick up ideas and tools of interest and (who knows?) maybe even usefulness. Onward and upward, fellow late adventurers!

#6 More Flickr Fun

I enjoyed learning more about flickr....colr pickr was fun! I liked the idea of Montager but the images as a composite were not always as clear as I had hoped. On Flickr, I found these MOO cards created by a librarian for distribution to her YA patrons. These cards have book covers on them but the possibilities are endless. Great promotional idea!

#5 discover flickr

Hello fellow librarians, Here's the Ankor Library in Cambodia....
found on flickr.com. There's something haunting about this library image. This feels more like a temple than a library. Perhaps there are other libraries out there that feel just as surreal.

The Very First Time

This is my very first blog! I'm doing this as part of an employee program offered at the library system I work where supposedly we will be learning all kinds of fun, interesting web things. So far, so good.

Let's see, we watched a lifelong learning tutorial. It was not a bad video in that it was somewhat inspirational. It's always good to be reminded to have goals and work towards achieving them. Now I am being asked to say a little about what's easy and hard for me in that regard. Having goals is by far my easiest habit. Like a lot of librarians, I imagine... I have no problem with being interested and involved with lifelong learning. There's just so many wonderful things out there to know and do! My hardest habit to maintain? I think that would be overcoming obstacles...it's sometimes easy after a long day to just want to veg out instead of accomplish anything else...even things that truly have meaning to me.

Well, gosh, maybe I'll really get into blogging.....I'd like to learn how to upload images on it...what about videos or music? Looking forward to the possiblities here----- ciao