Week 9, Thing 23

I really enjoyed this experience. It was very helpful for me because it gave me a reason to take the time to really explore and use tools that I may have only heard of or used a bit. I really feel that spending the time to learn more about them was very beneficial to me. I would definitely try a program like this again in the future.

The drop-in sessions at North Point were SO HELPFUL. It was nice to have a time that I could go work on it without the interruptions and distractions that I have here. It would seem like working at a computer all day would've made this very easy, but in reality, being at my desk meant that I had a steady stream of interruptions while working on it. Thanks to the staff who organized and helped with those sessions

The only thing that I found difficult about the program was that it gave me an excellent opportunity to procrastinate (and it sounds like others did this as well), and I actually ended up completing it in 2-3 weeks. Something tells me that was my own fault. ;)

Finally, thanks Ellen and Jim for working so hard on this project and reading all of these blogs.

Week 9, Thing 22

Downloadable audiobooks are not a new and exciting concept for me at this point. I've heard about them and our technological woes and issues with vendor(s) for a couple of years now. I think that they're really a great service to our customers. I had a friend that was shocked to hear that we offered them. Last year, she was training for a marathon and had been getting the CDs and putting them on her computer and then her mp3 player. It seems like despite our efforts, our customers are not hearing about this service as quickly as one would hope. I think, though, that the content that we are offering our customers is growing and getting much better than it was when we embarked on this venture.

I really wish that these titles were iPod compatible as that seems to be the predominant mp3 player in the industry. I also love the idea of being able to eventually offer customers a kiosk set up that would allow them to do the downloading at the library or at a library kiosk set up anywhere.

Week 9, Thing 21

I found that the easiest tool to use was the Yahoo podcast search, but it will only be in operation through October. Bummer. I set up an NPR feed to my bloglines account. I also listened to a really interesting interview of the author of a book I recently bought. It was The Unheard by Josh Swiller. Hearing the author talk about his life and read from the book really made the title much more interesting than the boring old review I had read before.

I love the idea of podcasts of discussions and interviews with authors. That was the subject of a discussion that I went to at Book Expo a couple of years ago. I think that more and more publishers are including podcasts with authors on their websites, and they were encouraging libraries to use them or market them to their book clubs. We should really think of a way to get that information to our customers, many of whom would really enjoy it.

Week 9, Thing 20

I'm a frequent YouTube user. I love it. The amount of junk on there can be overwhelming, but there are a lot of video clips that you might never have seen otherwise. (Good ones, actually.) The great thing about YouTube is the volume of entries. The horrible thing about YouTube is also the volume of entries. I really wish that there were more useful searches. They almost always bring back a huge number of hits, most of which aren't even close to what you want. I guess that this is the price that we pay for having a site that allows anyone to post their videos, but it can be incredibly frustrating.

I've never done anything with it like posting it to a blog. Here's my first try with my favorite clip ever. I give you...The Dramatic Chipmunk (who is not a chipmunk at all).

Week 8, Thing 19

As you can see, I tried Spring Widgets. Why? Because I love the word. Anyway, I found it very simple to use, particularly because it has a feature that pulls it through to Blogger without me having to go through that pesky copy/paste part. The bad news is that I had trouble fitting my beautiful widgets in the old layout and had to change to one that worked with the decor better. It was a small price to pay to provide my reader(s?) with some Etch-a-sketch fun. Enjoy!

Try it!

Get this widget!

Week 8, Thing 18

Here is my document published on Google Docs. I like this idea a lot, and I see it as something that would have a lot of possibilities for libraries and library customers. The biggest way that I see it benefiting us is that it would eliminate some of the problems that librarians face in working with customers who are bringing work from home or work. It would help with the issues of how they've saved things (and where) and also the issue of software compatibility among their various locations. The interface is very easy to use, and it makes it easy to publish documents to the web, which is useful to customers trying to apply to jobs online. Two thumbs up!

Week 7, Thing 17

I added my fantabulous blog to the Sandbox Wiki. It was fairly easy. The interface is pretty similar to the Blogger interface. They're no harder to work with than most email programs.

The only thing that I found tricky was that in making my link, I had to choose URL from the dropdown menu to paste in my link. I'm sure that y'all put that in the directions somewhere, but at that point I'd moved on from that page. The good news is that it's also quite easy to edit the wiki and fix your link when you've messed it up like yours truly. ;)

Week 7, Thing 16

I am a daily Wikipedia user, so I do have to confess that I already had an interest in using wikis. However, when I found the BookLovers wiki, I fell in love! What a great idea (that we should totally steal...). I think that this is a great idea of a way to move forward with RA, and it would be something that I think a lot of customers would like. "Staff Recommends" for the 21st century. This is an area in which everyone having the ability to add info would really be beneficial to us. Since the beauty of a wiki is that a community is adding information to create the end product, this would be a great idea for a library. With our staff's varied interests, we could easily build a very interesting and diverse book wiki.

Week 6, Thing 15

Library 2.0 is the library world's version of survival of the fittest. I don't think that it's revolutionary, and it's certainly not new. I think, though, that it is even more imperative than ever before that we adapt and keep in close touch with our users' needs. Library 2.0 ideas are necessary to keep us relevant in the world that is changing around us. We live in a very different world than we used to. In the past, libraries were what they were, and users HAD to come to us. Now, we're trying to find ways to attract users to us and keep them.

Week 6, Thing 14

Wow, what a great way for my Not Creatively Titled fan base to find me and my dazzlingly witty thoughts. (And yes, of course, my blog is listed on Technorati.)

I liked learning about tagging in blogs. I've read blogs that had tags, and I just didn't know how to use them or what they were being used for. I think that tagging and using something like Technorati is a great way to maneuver through the millions of blogs that just keep growing all the time. (Thanks for having us make a few hundred here to boost the next quarter's growth stats.)

Week 6, Thing 13

My most Del.icio.us post ever....

I played around with del.icio.us for a while. I like it. I see how it can be really useful for groups putting together info. I really liked the idea of using it for a syllabus in the podcast. Online syllabi were not so very great in the dark ages when I was in college/grad school. ;)

I'm not sure that I see it as much as a research tool as a way to create lists of links that are accessible by multiple people from any location.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day

My pirate name is:

Iron Bess Bonney

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Week 5, Thing 12

Select Search Engine...Hollywood DirtSearch The Web

Powered by Rollyo

Here's my fabulous search box for celebrity gossip and news. Very important for anyone who wants to know everything there is to know about Paris, Britney, and Lindsay.

I'm not sure that this is a very useful tool in job, but I think that it could be useful if branch staff wanted to put together some sites that they use most frequently for Ready Reference. I think that in most cases you have a core set of sites that you use most often. I think that it might be good to put together a search based on the sites on the Fast Facts page to work with. It would probably save some time.

Week 5, Thing 11

I put some random titles into Library Thing and played with it for a while. To be fair, I put in a small group of titles with little in common. Then, I tried the recommendation feature and got nothing useful. I'm going to add more titles later and see if it's more effective. I probably didn't give it a fair shot with what I put in.

I think that this would be something that could be useful for customers. It's a great way to find new authors/titles based on things you like. Someone here suggested that it would be a good way to keep track of and find titles for a book club. I remain somewhat unimpressed with it right now, though.

Week 5, Thing 10

Well, as you can see (I hope), I made a yahoo avatar. She's hanging out, waiting to have tea with the queen. (Maybe a little casual, but stylish as can be nonetheless.) This wasn't my first time making an avatar, but it was infinitely easier this time. Either I have improved or the program to make one was much easier. It was actually pretty fun.

Week 4, Thing 9

I used Syndic8 to find some additional RSS feeds. It was really easy. The link at the side to add it to Bloglines made it very easy. I found a lot of feeds that I added just to try, and several of them were interesting enough that I plan to keep them.

Week 4, Thing 8

I love the idea of RSS feeds. I spend a large part of my day trying to find out what book/movie titles have been featured on tv, are in the news, have been blogged about, or have appeared in book sections of any paper a customer may have seen. Obviously, this is harder now than ever before because customers have access to many more information sources than ever before. The idea that I can have so many of them waiting for me in one location just seems so much easier.

Several people in our department have been using RSS feeds for a while now to monitor things like the NYT or Washington Post book sections. I definitely plan to continue to use this.

Week 3, Thing 7

Something techology related...

Well, I think most things are technology related in our lives these days. I work at a computer all day long. At home, I'm an iPod, DVD, and DVR junkie. I think most of us have a cell phone on all the time. It would be hard to avoid technology at this point.

My current favorite toys are my iPods (which I'm using right now, btw). It's becoming a bit of a little kid's blankie kind of situation because I always have one on me. I'll most likely be deaf by the time I'm 30. I have two, and I have to admit that I'm interested in getting one of the new video Nano ones that they announced the other day too. I hate to fall into the trap, but it seems inevitable. They're so convenient, and I love having music on all the time. There's no way I could've dragged my entire CD collection around, but now I can do it with my cute little iPod.

Ok, enough of the love fest.

Week 3, Thing 6

I've used some of these before, but the one that was new to me was Colr Pickr. I loved it! Some of the pictures are really cool looking with the color scheme applied to them. I'm definitely going to show this one to my husband who is already photo crazy. I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot more of it in the future. :)

Week 3, Thing 5

Sunshower
Originally uploaded by oncidium

I was looking for a photo of a beach scene to put here, and instead, I found this. It's a really cool shot.

The weather may not be great, but I think it's still better than the view in the North Point computer lab. This makes me want to go back to Jamaica.

Flickr is lots of fun, and I'm sure I could waste A LOT of time there looking at the pictures, but onward to the next thing!