I am on assignment number 10; the end is in sight.
This assignment seemed to have clumped together a wide array of things, some of which we had touched on earlier. I did, however, use our library as the jumping off point for visiting and revisiting the various sites. I needed an excuse to re-watch that absolutely hilarious video of our staff attempting to sing a tribute song about the Indianapolis Colts. [Aside: Ana deserved a raise for getting that group to the point of almost carrying a tune.] And it was a little scary to discover that all of those cable TV blurbs we agree to do under pressure on the occasional Thursday morning live on forever on the Internet.
The online ask-a-librarian-your-question was an interesting experience. I spent a lot of time waiting, not knowing if I was still connected to the librarian or not, since there were long, long gaps with no "chat" occurring. As it turned out, my question was a real one (it relates to a project I am working on at the library) and the librarian unfortunately didn't find anything additional for me. I was hoping for the proverbial killing of two birds with one stone (a rather grisly saying, if you think about it), since I could in theory fulfill my assignment and get info for my project, but alas and alack, my hopes were in vain.
I will continue to think about what we should be doing at the library with all these cool new tools.
Logan enjoys the library's Early Learning Center.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
More Books
I'm a Luddite, and I admit it. For the Social Media blah-blah thing, I really just did things about books. I like Goodreads, and even joined a group (I can get the messages as a digest, for which I am eternally grateful). My reading list is short: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1405950?shelf=%23ALL%23
I suppose it would be longer if I weren't turning into a couch potato because of, ironically enough, the Olympics.
The Goodreads site seems to have more functionality than the Visual Bookshelf, which I joined through Facebook, and the discussion groups are cool. I was disappointed that the assignment wasn't for LibraryThing, which intrigues me, but c'est la vie. I do like it that the group I'm in is made up of parents and teachers, as far as I can tell. It's a different forum in which to discuss kids' books. In terms of a library application for this, Goodreads certainly offers more than functionality than Innovative reading history does. Maybe we should have it pop up as an option for our users, linked to their account somehow. Fortunately, I don't work in IT and don't have to figure out how this could happen.
I suppose it would be longer if I weren't turning into a couch potato because of, ironically enough, the Olympics.
The Goodreads site seems to have more functionality than the Visual Bookshelf, which I joined through Facebook, and the discussion groups are cool. I was disappointed that the assignment wasn't for LibraryThing, which intrigues me, but c'est la vie. I do like it that the group I'm in is made up of parents and teachers, as far as I can tell. It's a different forum in which to discuss kids' books. In terms of a library application for this, Goodreads certainly offers more than functionality than Innovative reading history does. Maybe we should have it pop up as an option for our users, linked to their account somehow. Fortunately, I don't work in IT and don't have to figure out how this could happen.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Welcome to Wikis
The world of wikis is larger than I expected. I visited a bunch of them, but my favorite was http://childrensbookreview.pbwiki.com. Having retained my previous lessons, I of course bookmarked this site on my del.icio.us page. I also saw a cool children's literature wiki out of the University of Calgary, and the ChildLit wiki, which has a "what do I read next" type feature.
I also made an entry in the Tapestry of Freedom Wiki and found it to be surprisingly easy. The features that allowed me to underline, etc., were very windows-y and intuitive.
I'm not sure I see this as being as useful a tool for our library as some of the others we've learned about, but if we do use it then the Tapestry project, as a community event, was a good application. In terms of trying something new and exploring the virtual world, I'm still glad we had this assignment.
I also made an entry in the Tapestry of Freedom Wiki and found it to be surprisingly easy. The features that allowed me to underline, etc., were very windows-y and intuitive.
I'm not sure I see this as being as useful a tool for our library as some of the others we've learned about, but if we do use it then the Tapestry project, as a community event, was a good application. In terms of trying something new and exploring the virtual world, I'm still glad we had this assignment.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Virtually There
This was my experience with podcasts: finding a good one that is easy to hear, relevant, and doesn't require a subscription or some sort of hijinks is a challenge.
The LIS one either requires registration or is very non-intuitive. The other choice for our assignment involved bad phone connections and even worse humor--plus it was LONG. Dear people who designed this assignment, I have a True Confession: I found a substitute podcast, and I liked it (well, I liked the part I found time to listen to). I recommend childrensbookradio.com. In fact, you should be impressed that I posted it to my very own Del.icio.us account, in case I want to find it later and have become so addled I can't remember where it was. I liked the concept. I listened to part of an interview with an author, and it was fascinating--and the fact that I wasn't available at a specific time had no impact on my ability to listen to it. Most of them had weird, whirly things on the screen while I listened and those really bugged me. I felt as if I were having an opthalmologic occurrence that should involve medical intervention.
What could we at our library podcast? Good question. I can see vodcasting as having more applications here. We don't do much that involves only audio. I guess we could podcast Board Meetings, although I don't see those being in high demand.
In terms of library vodcasts, I liked this one by the Denver Public Library:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AppCIzJD84. Since it offers me the chance to subscribe to Denver Library videos, I think I even found the right category.
In addition to vodcasts that would help our public, I think we should also consider how we can interact with the library community at large. Our funny Confidentiality training video could be helping other libraries!
The LIS one either requires registration or is very non-intuitive. The other choice for our assignment involved bad phone connections and even worse humor--plus it was LONG. Dear people who designed this assignment, I have a True Confession: I found a substitute podcast, and I liked it (well, I liked the part I found time to listen to). I recommend childrensbookradio.com. In fact, you should be impressed that I posted it to my very own Del.icio.us account, in case I want to find it later and have become so addled I can't remember where it was. I liked the concept. I listened to part of an interview with an author, and it was fascinating--and the fact that I wasn't available at a specific time had no impact on my ability to listen to it. Most of them had weird, whirly things on the screen while I listened and those really bugged me. I felt as if I were having an opthalmologic occurrence that should involve medical intervention.
What could we at our library podcast? Good question. I can see vodcasting as having more applications here. We don't do much that involves only audio. I guess we could podcast Board Meetings, although I don't see those being in high demand.
In terms of library vodcasts, I liked this one by the Denver Public Library:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AppCIzJD84. Since it offers me the chance to subscribe to Denver Library videos, I think I even found the right category.
In addition to vodcasts that would help our public, I think we should also consider how we can interact with the library community at large. Our funny Confidentiality training video could be helping other libraries!
Friday, July 25, 2008
It's Del.icio.us
Social bookmarking is cool. I can see it being very helpful for our department staff, and also for the teachers we serve. In fact, I not only did the Gail Borden Learns assignment, but signed up for my very own account and installed the handy icons so that I can easily post new bookmarks and otherwise get to and fro. I want to fiddle with the "bundles" feature, but alas, time eludes me. I already talked to one of our part-timers about using this feature to assist with our reference work. And it's a perfect fit for her very part-time hours, especially since finding appropriate sites to bookmark is a neverending task. It's not as much fun as Facebook, but so far it wins the prize for being the easiest to apply in our day-to-day work.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Putting the Net in Networking
This is my critical analysis of Facebook: it's fun! My profile (slim as it is) had barely been up when two of my nieces who live hundreds of miles away found me--with no prompting and no hints. Others were soon to follow. The suggestions displaying people to consider as "friends" were often actually helpful, and the applications are cool. I'm already helping to save the environment. :)
I can see how public libraries--especially teen services--could use a social networking site. The automatic notification when a "friend" changes his/her page or posts anything new would be perfect for getting the word out on teen events. Check out http://http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seattle-WA/Seattle-Public-Library-System/7511741338 to see a successful-looking page. Also, because of the ability to connect various online tools, I can imagine that online spaces serving teens can be designed to work in a way that is compatible with the way today's teens approach information. Libraries, I think, have been too slow to adapt and have spent a lot of time trying to force people to do things our way. By connecting our Flickr photos or the various other online sites and tools with places that kids already are, like Facebook, we could be connecting with teens in their natural element, so to speak.
I can see how public libraries--especially teen services--could use a social networking site. The automatic notification when a "friend" changes his/her page or posts anything new would be perfect for getting the word out on teen events. Check out http://http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seattle-WA/Seattle-Public-Library-System/7511741338 to see a successful-looking page. Also, because of the ability to connect various online tools, I can imagine that online spaces serving teens can be designed to work in a way that is compatible with the way today's teens approach information. Libraries, I think, have been too slow to adapt and have spent a lot of time trying to force people to do things our way. By connecting our Flickr photos or the various other online sites and tools with places that kids already are, like Facebook, we could be connecting with teens in their natural element, so to speak.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Logan tries out chess.
The giant chess pieces in the library lobby look even bigger next to sixteen-month-old Logan. How fun to send photos around the Internet.
The only hard part about learning to do this was the hidden secret: the only way to get to the "blog this" button was to click on the picture. Nothing told me that, not even the Flickr FAQ about blogging. Fortunately, a colleague who had had the same problem managed to remember the solution.
While I had posted another photo to my blog without using Flickr, I can see the advantages of putting the photo both places, and connecting the Yahoo service to this blog was easy and painless.
The only hard part about learning to do this was the hidden secret: the only way to get to the "blog this" button was to click on the picture. Nothing told me that, not even the Flickr FAQ about blogging. Fortunately, a colleague who had had the same problem managed to remember the solution.
While I had posted another photo to my blog without using Flickr, I can see the advantages of putting the photo both places, and connecting the Yahoo service to this blog was easy and painless.
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