An Exit Interview of Sorts

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I'm really glad I was "coerced" into setting up my own blog. It's something I've meant to do for a long time, since I've always enjoyed writing, but I haven't really tried it (aside from a blog I created during my first graduate program that I posted to, maybe, twice). I hope to continue posting on the blog and make it a place where I discuss programming ideas that have and haven't worked, etc. A lot of these same topics were skimmed over during library school and it was definitely nice to explore them a little more in depth.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It just reinforced the importance of keeping up-to-date on new technology and trends when you work in the library and information science field. I know a lot of the things we talked about really aren't super new themselves, so it helped me realize how much I need to get caught up on. I also wanted to learn more about web 2.0 since I work with teens and they know so much more about all of these things, having, essentially, grown up with them.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
It was definitely more interesting than I thought it would be, especially since we got to explore things for ourselves and at our own pace...instead of sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture or viewing a powerpoint presentation.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think it would be nice to have different "levels" of the course, for those with different levels of knowledge about the internet or, perhaps, for those in different positions (i.e. a children's or teen librarian might need to focus on different elements of web 2.0 than someone who works mostly with adults). Maybe you could have even more lessons in which learners have a choice of which activities to complete; that may help tailor it to their specific jobs a little more.

And last but not least…

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
I would definitely participate because, like I said, I need to learn about new technologies and trends, and I sometimes, like many of us, have to be given a little push in order to do so.

Digital Audiobooks

I've always thought the idea of downloading an audiobook was really cool, especially when I walked to and from school/work while studying for my MSLS. Downloadable books were available at the library system in the town where I went to school. My old MP3 player has minimal memory compared to most (512 MB), however, and could probably have held only a small part of a book at any one time, so I never tried it.

I am excited to be getting a device that might actually hold a full book.

I knew the basics of how the files work, i.e. that they deactivate after a certain period of time, but I had no idea that you could put holds on digital audiobooks just like you do "regular" library items.

Overdrive was easy to download and install.

We have a very helpful menu on the side that breaks the e-books down by genre. Plus, we seem to have quite a varity and even have some titles for children and teens. Cool! The first thing I listen to will probably be Alice in Wonderland, one of my all-time favorites.

I'm glad I've had the chance to investigate this more, so I can tell customers about it.

Searching for Podcasts.....and Some Griping

I decided to search for podcasts using itunes, since I already have it on my computer. I've actually never used it to search for podcasts, so it was a new experience. I am an avid fan of NPR, so I looked through their list of NPR podcasts first. I like the convenience of podcasts. You can listen to your favorite show whenever you want. I know I hate it when I can't hear the last few minutes of a program because I have to get out of the car for one reason or another and it would be easy to listen to the rest if you got a podcast. We have definitely come a long way from the days when you had to order a transcript of a show to revisit something you had missed or something you really liked.

I also attempted a search with Podcast Pickle, simply because the name got my attention, but I didn't really like it. I can't explain why. I could see that there were some podcasts there--including downloadable audio books, which I don't think really count as podcasts--which you had to pay for. The site just wasn't appealing to me, so I didn't look at it for long. It seemed a little disorganized to me, though you did have the option of limiting the podcasts by genre.

Podcast Alley seemed too focused on the supposed "best" podcasts and the search box was small and strangely placed. It took me a while to see it, which I don't think is a good thing.

I liked itunes the best of the three podcast searching tools I tried and found an NPR program to subscribe to. I think would also tend to go directly to the sites for certain networks, organizations, programs, etc. to find a podcast. I guess I like to make things difficult for myself. : )

On YouTube, you can find...

...an ad for a Library Workout Tape...from 1987! I think the staff at this library must have been really bored. Of course, we all have our weird library in jokes don't we? :p



Okay, so I'm sure others of you have posted this (I haven't had a chance to look at everyone's blog), but I just found it amusing. I love the old school library technology, giant 80's glasses, and classic as well as synthesizerish (my new word) music. Ahhh....brings back memories.....

Thoughts on YouTube

Wow, how great to have Cookie Monster at the library, Mr. Bean at the library, and the library detective from Seinfeld all in one place! : )

I think YouTube is a fun site. It's a good place for people to be creative and have fun. I like how they show "videos being watched right now" on their homepage. It is always fascinating and sort of boredom alleviating to see what other bored people are doing on the internet. Was it google that used to let you look at what people had recently searched for? Can you still do that??

In addition to the aforementioned classics-from-TV library videos, I also watched some videos made in real libraries. There were library pranks captured by peeking through the stacks. There was a Japanese game show set in a library and a musical set in a library. I tried to remember if YouTube was where I had seen footage of some students making a coordinated, multi-vehicle effort to slow down traffic outside Atlanta--talk about angering people--but I couldn't find said video right away. I glanced at some other videos as well, but my favorite was one of the first I watched. I'll include it in my next post.

Web 2.0 Tools - Zillow.com

I decided to check out Zillow.com. I am considering selling my condo and moving to a different neighborhood, so I wanted to see if Zillow made property searching any easier than looking at individual realty company sites or MLS listing sites. I really liked the fact that Zillow allowed you to limit your property search in various ways (i.e. bedrooms, price range, price, lot size, etc.). Plus, when you search for properties in a specific areas you can look at lists not only of what's for sale (which the site partly pulls from numerous realty websites), but also of what has recently sold in the area (among other things). It is very convenient to be able to get this information without having to go to a separate site or actually talk to an agent, etc. You can get a decent feel of what property values should be in a particular area. They also have real estate guides and discussions with supposed real estate professionals; I didn't enter a discussion, so I'm not sure if this part is legit or not. The site also includes information on current mortgage rates and has calculators to help you determine what you can afford to buy, etc. You can also get online quotes, but I'm not really comfortable with the idea of this, even though the site says the lenders won't call you (you call them).

Overall, I think this site can be really helpful, especially if you are in the early stages of looking for a home (and don't want to talk to an agent, etc., yet) or just want to get a general feel for the market in an area or get general information real estate.

Zoho Test Document #2

This would also be a cool program to use if you have a Mac and your school or workplace has PC's. You could easily work on your documents on both platforms.

I think using tags as folders is cool too. Some documents do fit into multiple categories....

I did have one problem with the tags though. Once I added tags with the add button and saved the document, I couldn't remove them. If you right click on the tag entry box, you can undo tags you've recently added...but only if you haven't saved the document! I guess you shouldn't tag your document until you are done with it, so you won't need to make changes! Lesson learned.....

Technorati Tags Zoho Writer,JPL 2.0,online working tools,group working tools

Test Post Authored w/ Zoho Writer

Zoho Writer seems pretty cool. I especially like the features, like inline commenting and chatting, that allow for collaboration. I wish I had known about this in library school. It would have made group work so much easier! I know that, in at least one course, we had Yahoo groups that we used for sharing documents, but that involved uploading documents you created somewhere else. Plus, if someone else wanted to change the document, they would have to download it, make changes in another program, and reupload it. The ZOHO Writer format eliminates several steps from this process. Cool!



Technorati Tags online writing tools,jpl 2.0,Zoho Writer, group work tools

PBwiki

Sometimes I feel like I'm undergoing library 2.0 psychoanalysis, since I have to explain how I feel about things so much! Now I am going to emote about the Learning 2.0 PBwiki.

I am glad that someone posted the invite, because I had no idea what it was. The way this wiki was set up made me think that wikis, like many of the sites/programs with which we have experimented, might be a good place for certain groups from libraries to keep in touch and to also share information with the general public (stating the obvious, I know). I guess what I had in mind was all of the children's librarians sharing resources amongst themselves for the benefit not only of one another but also of other children's librarians somewhere out there. I also noticed that the promote the use of the program for education on their homepage. If I were teaching, I might turn something like this into a group project, especially if students wanted others to be able to benefit from their work (i.e. if they posted the results of research or an experiment and also discussed the process, what did and didn't work, etc.). Maybe I could use it as another forum of exchange for my teen writing group at the branch.

I don't really have any thoughts on this topic that are new or interesting, so I'll stop now; I do see how programs like this can be useful to libraries and librarians though.

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS : Library Edition

Remember that show on which Bill Cosby interviewed children to see how hilariously they responded to his questions? He should have observed a preschool storytime!

One of the first things I do during preschool storytime is ask the children to guess what we are reading about that day. I always provide them with some clues to help their guessing, most often a poster featuring the letter the topic starts with and pictures of the topic.

On one occasion, the responses went something like this:

Girl: I know! I know! I already know what we we're going to read about! I knew before you asked even!

Boy: Well, I already know what we're going to read about too! {Pause for thought.} I knew in the van on the way here!

Poor girl, how could she top that!?

Thing # 16...

My random thoughts on wikis....

The library best practices wiki is pretty cool. I found a lot of useful job searching resources on it that I wish I had know about when I graduated from library school.

I think a good use for a wiki in a library--which has already been done, I know--is to provide a forum where people can talk about new materials the library is getting and post reviews of them, etc.

I like how the Bull Run Library had a section on the wiki about whether people are getting their money's worth for the $33 that the library costs each citizen.

We could probably use something like this to show how much of in-county residents' taxes go towards the library and what they get from it. We could add this to our arsenal of defenses against anger about the out-of-county card fee (I work at the MAX branch, so we have LOTS of out-of-county card confusion, ire, etc.).

I definitely see how wiki's could make a library more "2.0." They can extend the library as a gathering place or community space onto the internet. Libraries can now surpass their physical boundaries, in a sense.

#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 ...

I would like to comment on the following excerpt from "Away from the Icebergs:"

"We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need, so they can spend as little time as possible wrestling with lousy search interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning. Obviously, we’ll help and educate patrons when we can, and when they want us to, and the more we can integrate our services with local curricula, the better. But if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons. One-button commands, such as Flickr’s “Blog This,” and easy-to-use programs like Google Page Creator, offer promising models for this kind of user-centric service."

A lot of this commentary seems more relevant to an academic library, but I think the concept of eliminating barriers to certain resources is important in the public library environment as well....perhaps, even, more important. It is an iceberg we must avoid hitting as well. Public library patrons may not have to regularly conduct research. When you don't do something often, it is difficult to keep up with the current trends and techniques, so it is even more important to make things like databases more accessible and easier for them to use.

A public library patron who hasn't had a lot of higher education--in contrast to the majority of college students--may not even know that databases and other such resources exist. The issue moves beyond that of making these resources easy to use without training or that of struggling with lousy search interfaces to that of making them easy to recognize (making their existence easily acknowledgeable or increasing knowledge that the search interface is even there, whether it is lousy or not), to understand, AND to use. In a sense, several steps in the current research chain need to be eliminated or combined. We have a lot of extra things to consider. Plus, it is not just students we have to worry about, but every patron. Everyone should have equal knowledge of and access to these resources...if they want it.

In the public library, as in the academic one, research would no longer be something one had to be "skilled" with/at/in/on if we removed some of the barriers to it. At the least, it would not require as complicated a set of skills if all of the above issues were addressed or it would make use of skills patrons already have.

I'm not trying to eliminate the librarian, though it might seem like it. Advanced research, would still require skills, acquired through specialized training. Plus, library and information professionals' understanding of people and their searching habits would be a vital resource for information on how to intuit the best way to make services easier to use and the best way to adapt services to users instead of users to services.

Also on Technorati....

The most popular post...

Bernie Mac died of sarcoidosis!

Someone actually had the disease they misdiagnose almost every patient with or at least mention twice on every episode of House, M.D.

Weird!

Technorati

I got many fewer hits when I searched for "Learning 2.0" in tags than I did when I searched for it in blogs and blog posts. I did find that results with the tag "Learning 2.0" were more focused on the topic than blog entries with the phrase "Learning 2.0" somewhere in them. This reinforced, for me, the whole point of having tags: to make the subject of a post more specific and clearer. The concept is similar to finding the appropriate subject terms--and multiple subject terms--with which to catalog any item in a library in order to make it as easy to locate them as possible. It's all about making information more manageable and accessible. I'm starting to sound like a textbook now, so I'll move on to a different part of the exercise.

I was curious why the number one search when I was looking at Technorati was "taskbar." It actually beat out "olympics" and the subject of many a blog and many a conversation: "men," as well as various actresses that must be cool right now. Maybe a lot of people are having problems with taskbars??? Another popular search was "arab." Arab what? People? Culture? Who knows. I guess the searchers were trying to be too specific.

"Boing Boing," which I've never looked it was a highly ranked blog on both the fan and authoritative list. In the description, it is described as talking about "culutural oddities," and that is definitely true. I decided I would visit the blog, and a post from August 9 discusses a book that is about Franz Kafka's stash of porn. Hrmm.. Puts a whole new spin on his writings doesn't it? All those poor Kafka-obsessed PhD candidates. Now all their interpretations of his work will have to be changed.

There are also many fans of blogs that deal with making money off blogging. That would be an interesting career if you were really good at it...and since I am not, I am going to wrap up this post.

Yum...Tags are So Del.icio.us...

Yay! How's that for a cheesy title.... Anyway...



I took a look at del.icio.us and thought it was pretty cool. I could see how it would be useful in helping you narrow down which websites on a particular topic you visit by looking at whether or not other people found them useful or relevant, especially if you find another user who has similar interests/abilities as you. I don't know if I would rely too much on it while doing serious research....



The idea of accessing bookmarks from anywhere is probably the best aspect of del.icio.us. I know that when you use multiple computers during the course of the day (at work, home, etc.), some of which are not your personal computer, you can't install your favorites or bookmarks on the browser on every one of them. Having them in one spot on the web would be very convenient, and I might actually give it a try

Adding the JaxCat Search Gadget

How else can a search box to our catalog be useful outside of our library's webpage?

One possible use for this search gadget: JaxCat Search Gadget could be added to educational pages or websites created or used by local schools. That way, if the child is using the website for some sort of research project, they will be reminded that there is a whole other world of resources to be found at the public library. Another option: put a bunch of similar search gadgets on one page as a sort of...for lack of a better term..."pathfinder" for doing internet research--maybe the schools could have there own iGoogle setup where children using the computers would see a library search box near the Google search box. Maybe they would be reminded to search the library as well as the internet....????

LibraryThing

My catalog is sooooo super awesome! Click on the button below to be amazed!
: )




Well, conveniently, I actually have about five books, besides a couple of dictionaries and a desktop encyclopedia, at home that I catalogued (the rest are in storage at my parents in WV).

Overall, my meager collection is a little weird and boring. I have an interesting combination of books here, and I would like to know if anyone has a closely similar set. I might catalog them all, one day, to find out.

I did catalog the required five, though, and, of course, tons and tons and tons of other people have Pride and Prejudice in their libraries. I was surprised to find out, however, that more people have Sarte's Nausea than Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke. I guess there are a lot of existentialists--or wanna-be existentialists--out there (or not many people like German poetry)??? Actually, I'm also surprised that more people don't have The Best of Lewis Carroll.

I also have a few leftover-from-graduate-school titles about Spanish language translation (from my comparative-literature-studying-at-UGA days [don't ask me why I hang on to them]) and library services for children and teens, but I didn't catalog those. Hrmm.... Maybe I should. I wonder how many people out there have Fundamentals of Children's Services in their personal collections? *grin*

Generating Images = Hours of Fun

This post is pretty random and consists mainly of my thoughts on and experiences with several image generators...

My cat Liesel has been "Warholized"! I decided to use this generator for purposes of my post, because I realized I was spending way too much time playing around with all the generators featured on the Generator Blog. I haven't really looked at anything like that for years. I really liked the insult generator the blogger mentions (www.insultme.net), but, I will warn you now, it isn't the least bit tasteful. If only I had had that when I was in junior high (hahaha)! The bar soap generator [www.redkid.net/generator/soap] is so random and pointless that it really amused me too. And can you believe there is a "Black Adder Quote Generator" [www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/quotes/index.html]? I haven't seen that show in years. My brainscan generator image is amusing, though I can't figure out what the thing in the middle is [ See my brainscanner results]. I guess I'm predominantly sad or angry or something. Being the former literature and writing scholar that I am, I also really love the "Homespun Analogy Generator," which can be found at http://www.generatorland.com/generators/homespun_analogy_gl.php#.

After this one, I decided it was definitely time for me to move on to the next task...

JPL 2.0 # 9="Finding Feeds"

Feedster- The page would not work for me.

Topix.net- I thought it was interesting how you could go to the source of one of the news stories you liked or thought was interesting and subscribe to their feed. At least, I think that's how it works. Also, it's cool that you can change your location and get oodles of feeds related to that location (...yes I just used the word oodles...). I've lived several places and like to keep up on news for all of them.

Syndic8.com- I guess I'm lazy, but, right way, this site turned me off because it wasn't really obvious how to get to the feeds or list of feed sources. And once I did figure it out, sort of, it involved way too many lists and way too much clicking. There was a lot of small print that could not be enlarged with my browser settings or anything like that. Plus I don't think my browser liked their use of php too much. It tried to access some of the lists and then just died. And what does DMOZ stand for (am I embarrassing myself by even asking)? I guess I need clear explanations and big print or big cartoonish icons to gain and keep my interest and attention. Sigh...and I thought I was above that. : ) I did find it an interesting coincidence that one of the random news feeds (or is it newsfeeds?) listed was from Huntington, WV, where I lived for a while.

Technorati- I think this site has some potential, and I will probably be returning to it. The advanced search is cool. I searched in all blogs for posts that contained the exact phrase "children's librarian." I made a mental note to look more closely at the blog rolls (or is it blogrolls?) of some of the folks whose blogs came up during my search. I might find some fun stuff to read. Do I want to find and add my blog? I don't know. It's kinda boring right now. Maybe I can get some ideas for posts from some of the other children's librarians' blogs (that's a mouthful) I just found.

JPL 2.0 Thing #8 : RSS

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
It is really convenient to be able to get all of the news, gossip, info., etc., that you want in one place, especially if you have a lot of sites that you like to keep up with regularly. It beats taking the time to go to each of the sites. Plus, you will know pretty quickly whether a site has been updated or not when you get the feed. You won't end up going to a site only to find out there is nothing new on it.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?
To really keep on top of things as a children's librarian, you have to keep up with new developments in the field, what other libraries and librarians are doing, and book reviews--amongst other things--and it is hard to find the time to always go to multiple web sites to access this information. Again, having it all in one place--and without ads and other junk to wade through--is very convenient.

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
Well, if a library has a blog, staff can recommend that internet users subscribe to the feed. That way, patrons can stay up to date on what's happening at their local branch, get notices of new materials that have arrived, etc. Plus, libraries within certain regions could subscribe to one another's feeds--granted they all actually had feeds--to keep up on events happening in the area (just for general knowledge and to prevent overlap). It would increase inter-library-system awareness and cooperation.

JPL 2.0 Post About Technology

This is a looonnnnggg post, but if you are diligent and read to the end, you will see that it IS library related. : P

In one of my undergraduate creative writing courses, one of my assignments was to write a poem about technology. At least, if I remember right, that's what the assignment was. My topic of choice was cell phones, and I can't post the poem here because it wasn't so nice.

I have had a love-hate relationship with cell phones since my dad made me tote around a "bag phone" (an early model that would only work when plugged into the car's cigarette lighter and was pretty much the size of a standard office phone...conveniently mounted into a zippered and padded nylon bag) while I was in high school, so he and my mom could keep tabs on me. I think the convenience of a cell phone, especially in emergencies, is awesome, and I don't mind being able to call home while I'm at the grocery store to make sure I'm not forgetting something or if I get separated from someone in a crowd. Plus, I love using them to call my family long distance. I don't even have a land-line anymore.

I do think, however, that cell phones have blurred the line between formal and informal situations, between respect for others and the need to hear some juicy gossip. Long, long ago (in the early 1990s), a person's purse or pocket would never ring during an important meeting or a job interview. (This happened to me! I forgot to turn my phone off before I went in!!! I was embarrassed, though a lot of folks wouldn't be.) You would never have to hear someone shout "I'm at the library" into a receiver in the middle of studying or be blinded by the backlight on the screen of the person next to you who is text messaging during a movie. You could go out to dinner in a restaurant and not have to hear strange, computerized versions of classical music, rap songs, and TV themes blasting out of people's purses and pockets every few seconds. People didn't cut you off in traffic because they were too busy talking about who-knows-what to pay attention. (Back then, they just did it for pure meanness). You could even go to the public bathroom in peace. (Why do people take calls while they are using the toilet??? Weird!) You get the picture....

It all just seems weird to me. We complain so much about wanting privacy, yet we always carry around this device that lets people reach us any time, anywhere. Now, if someone doesn't answer the phone, we don't simply say, "Oh, maybe he/she's not at home or near the phone. He'll/she'll call me back later." A cell-phone carrying person is usually never far from it, so we begin having these sneaking feelings of paranoia and insecurity when they don't answer. Are they screening our calls? Is something wrong with them? We call them several times to make sure. (You KNOW you have done this. Don't lie!)

Sooooo....having been on this end of the situation, we usually feel compelled, when on the other end, to constantly be vigilant of our phones. No longer can we just call someone back when we get home. We don't want to offend them by not answering, and if we can't answer, we must call them ASAP! Even if we are in the library or the movies....or PRESCHOOL STORYTIME! (Yes, horror of horrors! Now we have gotten to the core of my frustration.)

Sigh. Moms, can't you put off answering that call for thirty to forty-five minutes...or maybe, just maybe, can you step outside of the room??

Hrmmm.... I wonder what would happen if I started taking calls in the middle of reading a story?

JPL 2.0 and Flickr Tools

First, I tried Big Huge Labs' jigsaw creator (one of fd's flickr toys) on this not so great image of fall foliage I took when I still lived farther north. This could be fun, especially for making your own jigsaws for kids.

I also thought "Spell with Flickr" was cool, so I played around with it for a little bit. I am amazed that so many people have taken so many pictures of so many letters and numbers. I couldn't get punctuation to work though, so we have no "." in "2.0." : (

Sickeningly Cute Kitten

kitten
Originally uploaded by laurettag

I tested my new free Flickr account by uploading images of three kittens I fostered last summer, soooo....since I had kittens on the brain, I searched for "kitten" on Flickr. This was one of the results.

It is very cute. In fact, it is almost too cute....

JPL 2.0 and the 7 1/2 Things...

This makes absolutely no sense if you don't know what JPL 2.0 is...but if you do....enjoy! : )

I think #2 is the easiest for me. I have always loved learning new things and think I always will. I also know that there is a LOT out there that I have never encountered or heard about before that I might be interested in or gain something from.I think #4 is the most difficult for me. I often feel overwhelmed if I don't get something right away or get easily discouraged if I feel like I am the last person to "catch on" or understand something.