Week 10 - #23!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If someone would have told me in January that I would have an active blog in December I would never have believed them! However, amazing things happen everyday and here am I to prove it. Moreover, I have an avatar! (which I did enjoy making). A blog and an avatar are things that I would never have done if not for the 23 Things. Sometimes it was very frustrating, mainly because the instructions were minimal. However, thanks to a co-worker (Gloria) I was able to get through them. I have explored areas of the cyber world to where I never would have ventured. I am glad of this learning experience even if I probably will not be doing all these "things." I liked being able to do it at my own pace, but with a final date in mind. This is something to be proud of. Fait accompli.

Week 9, # 22

I first looked at the HCPL digital media site section on audio books. The broad subject categories are great for browsers, keeping in mind that one can also search by title, author, etc. I then looked at Agatha Christie mystery books and found all the info. given very thorough with the exception of the "reader" who is listed right below the author wtihout denoting that he/she is the reader. This may seem minor but patrons like some readers better than others and I tend to agree that a reader can make or break a book. The movies seem to be a little of this and a little of that but nothing too popular (our own branch's collection is better) and maybe movie buffs can find here titles which are not easily found elsewhere. I found that our HCPL digital media catalogs to be more attractive and easier to use than Librivox. The way the headings are displayed with categories and colored covers makes one want to find out more and stay longer exploring other titles.

Week 9 - # 21

Here is the podcast from Rick Steves travels. It would be more interesting if I could see the video also. I also went to "libraries" and visited Dynix Institute from whom I've taken classes before.

http://www.podcast.net/show/62421

Week 9, # 20

Watching the Librarian video was like going back in time! So that's how it used to be! I had never actually looked for anything in YouTube so I did a search for a historical person and voila! early 20th century movie clips and also slide shows. Amazing! I would like to explore more on YouTube, but at the moment we are not encouraged to do this since it slows everything down for the patrons. Maybe I can come to work early one day and look at this more in depth.

Week 8 - # 19

Zoho Writer is convenient and free! The fact that it can be shared, for example at work, is also very good. I created a document and sent it to my email, smiley face included. (I like this feature).

Week 8 - #18

Being a fan of HGTV I visited ratemyspace.hgtv.com which I had never done before. It was interesting seeing this other side of the TV show. I enjoyed being able to choose which room I wanted to view, for example kitchen, bathroom, etc. This gives it some kind of control. I also enjoyed other people's comments and seeing which ones agreed with my opinion and looking at others' viewpoints. I also went to myspace.com and found so much foul language that I left it and I'm not interested in it.

Week 7, #17

Technology is a wonderful thing, it enhances our daily lives continually. When it is good it is very, very good. When it is bad, however, it can be disastrous in so many ways. For example: last week when the HCPL catalog server experienced an outage. Its negative repercussions will be felt for a long while. . .Enough said.

Week 7 - # 16

I went to iHCPl wiki and added a couple of favorites (restaurant and vacation spot). It is fun reading the categories that interest you, but that is all. The lack of control makes it hit or miss. Also the fact that anyone can add or edit can be problematic. When I searched by the word "restaurant" it did bring up the list of entries, but it was probably because one of the entries had the word in it and not because the list is together as a subject.

Week 6, #14

One of the best articles I have read so far in these 23 Things is Rick Anderson's "Away from Icebergs." He makes powerful points with very few words and strong illustrations. It is true that we are struggling with the "remnants of a bygone age." Because we serve a clientele that includes older people that cannot, either physically or mentally, keep up with a continually changing technology, it becomes increasingly harder to make good choices of what and how much to acquire in which format. He states that there has been a significant drop in circulation at his library. At least at my branch, this has not happened yet; on the contrary it has increased. A valid point that Mr. Anderson makes is that libraries have no longer a monopoly on information access. This competition of other sources is what must keep us on our toes.

However, the IDEAL LIBRARY where I would wish to work is Dr. Wendy Schultz Lib 4.0.: "But Library 4.0 will add a new mode, knowledge spa: meditation, relaxation, immersion in a luxury of ideas and thought. In companies, this may take the form of retreat space for thought leaders, considered an investment in innovation; in public libraries, the luxurious details will require private partners as sponsors providing the sensory treats. Library 4.0 revives the old image of a country house library, and renovates it: from a retreat, a sanctuary, a pampered experience with information—subtle thoughts, fine words, exquisite brandy, smooth coffee, aromatic cigar, smell of leather, rustle of pages—to the dream economy’s library, the LIBRARY: a WiFREE space, a retreat from technohustle, with comfortable chairs, quiet, good light, coffee and single malt. You know, the library.
I’ll meet you there."
Source: "Infinite Sources" by Dr. Wendy Schultz

Week 6, # 14

Technorati is definitely for people who make blogging a part of their daily lives. Entries included "Granularity of Education," Topography of Formality," and "Live Streaming from the Moodle Moot." On the Top Searches I was surprised to find Library 2.0 was there right above Harry Potter.

Week 6, #13

I enjoyed getting more familiarized with Delicious. It introduced me to new websites such as Fodor's Travel Guide , Biblio Travel. and Webrary which lists books by genre , characters, etc. I noticed that creating characters seems to be very popular, something which I was only introduced to when I had to make one for the 23 Things. Planet M&M, which falls into this category, had been saved by 386 people! Biblio Travel might be enjoyed specially by armchair travellers or people who are travelling to a place. After choosing a country there are subdivisions of cities which can also be clicked on. The entries include one helpful line which includes author, year, time period and genre, so one would very easily choose the most appealing ones. This is followed by a brief synopsis of the book. Our own HCPL Delicious site is very well done and very useful for librarians. I can tell that many of the entries are there as a result of being asked for, or looking for the answers.

Library Princess

Week 5, # 12

Elf is something I really don't need. I did set up an account to comply with this "Thing" but this is not useful for me at all. This is a good example of how our modern world creates "needs" you don't even have. I do perfectly well with the receipts I get when I check out OR by checking my account online from time to time. I also did not like disclosing my library card and pin #. The good thing is that when this assignment is over I can delete my account.

Week 5, # 11

I went to Library Thing, created an account and added 5 books. This was the easiest exercise so far. It was also fun and interesting, especially reading comments by others. The list is very attractively displayed and automatically adds the picture of the bookcover. I will keep going back to Library Thing when I have time to see what are all the features it offers.
www.librarything.com

Week 5, #10

http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/

Week 4, #9

Of the different newsfeeds that I looked at I found Technorati too high tech with too much computer jargon. It was very cluttered and I did not stay there. Syndic8 was much more friendly and easy to find the information. Topix was also easy to use and my favority feature was the voting polls in which I participated and some of the results were very surprising. It was interesting to see that this one began by defauting to a city which is a different way of approaching a subject. When I looked at Feedster and put in my subject it said "The web site or resource your attempting to access is restricted . . .compliance with CIPA" etc.

Week 4, #8

Yesterday I created a blogline and added 10 newsfeeds, one of them being iHCPL. I am behind 1 week because we have been very short staffed due to two employees being ill , vacation and off days. If you are new to all this it takes a lot more than 1 hour to accomplish the tasks.

Week 3, #7 - iHCPL Public

This is my photo after I reshaped it using Pixer. I re-sized it and cropped it. It took 2 days to do this because Pixer was having "difficulties"
that day, Tuesday, October 2; when it allowed you to look at the picture (after many tries) the picture would stay up for about 20 seconds and then disappear. I was finally able to use it successfully on Wednesday without too much trouble.

I looked at the colorpicker mashup and found it very clever. All these applications seem to be for individuals who want to spend a lot of time at their computers. You must really be very interested and keep up with it if you are going to get use out of it.

• Complicating life is easy. The genius is in the simple things.

iHCPL - public

So much of our privacy has been taken away already that I would not post any personal information on this blog. The loss of privacy is one of the scariest aspects of life in the 21st century.

Last week something wonderful happened here: Donna became a first- time grandmother! She gave us reports, she showed us pictures, she BEAMED! In short, she put smiles on all our faces. Congratulations GranDonna.