LibVibe: the library news podcast

LibVibe: the library news podcast

THING 23!

Hooray! I'm at the end of the road that is only the beginning!

This project was interesting, frustrating, useful, discouraging and a whole bunch of other words. Last week I was completely overwhelmed and had decided that I was just not going to complete the program. But that little nag that lives in my head said I couldn't give up, so I redoubled my efforts. I finally had to accept that some things just weren't working for me, but it was all about the process, not the product. So my next goal will be to go back and revisit some of the steps that gave me trouble.

For me, having a guide to show the way would have been appreciated. It was too easy to say "I just can't do this". I liked the collaboration with fellow travelers, but sometimes we were all having the same problems, so we were just spinning our wheels.

I'd like to step up onto my little soapbox now and say that while we as a system enthusiastically embrace the technology, we need to remember that not everyone has the means or desire to do so. We still have customers who come in looking for a card catalog, and if we hit them with a bunch of blogo-wiki-podcast lingo, we run the risk of alienating rather than serving them. I realize that in order to keep with the times, we have to offer these options, but I worry that we will leave someone in the dust.

I am currently reading Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, in which author Richard Louv addresses "the staggering divide between children and the outdoors". A fourth grader in San Diego is quoted "I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are."

So ta-ta-for now. I plan to unplug, get out of town for a few days, and go play outside!

Thing 22

Project Gutenberg

I had successfully used this when looking for an obscure title a customer needed. Of course, not every title in the world is in here - my husband just had me look up one that he has been unsuccessful in locating but alas, no luck. Project Gutenberg is easy to use and doesn't require that you set up an account, etc. HOORAY.

So I just started scrolling through titles and came upon : Saved at Sea A Lighthouse Story by Mrs. O.F. Walton. I loved that images were included and added one to my blog (it was originally in png format so I had to copy, paste in Publisher and save as a jpeg)

I didn't have much luck when trying MyLibraryDV from out website, but will try again sometime soon, as I will surely get a customer question sometime.

Although I'm not a big fan of reading from a screen - I'd much rather be holding a real book - I can see that this format is useful.

Thing 21

Podcasts -

This was interesting and I can see how it would be a useful tool for communication. I went to LibVibe, which was previously under my radar screen, and listened to a podcast about the "mudflap" promotion that Wyoming libraries are using. We had discussed this at a Marketing Committee meeting, so it was interesting to hear what an administrator in their system had to say (basically, that it was meeting with mixed reviews, but was successfully reaching an audience who previously didn't think of the library that was relevant to them).

Yet again, technology is not my friend! I tried to upload the podcast, but when I tried logging in, it wouldn't accept my password. So I tried registering, but it said that account was already established. Unless there is someone out there with the exact same e-mail address and password as me, I can't figure out why I am not successful at logging in.

Thing 20

OK, it's 5 AM and I just spent about a half hour trying to upload a YouTube video. I went through the whole process of signing up for a YouTube account, which I didn't really want, confirming my e-mail address, etc and now I can't log in - aaargh!

I've viewed YouTube (and other) videos that folks have sent me before and found some pretty amusing (the video I had chosen - Michael Jackson's "Thriller" done in Legos - had been recommended by one of my sons). But just going to the site and searching for a video was disappointing - there's some really lame stuff here. I'm not sure what motivates people to spend the time creating and loading their videos, or what makes them think anyone else wants to watch.

Thing 19

Web 2.0 Awards List
...after doing my exploring here, I went back to recap the discovery exercises. "Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?" hmmm...since I went to Cocktail Builder, I'm not sure how well that would go over. But it was a fun diversion. I really liked the In My Bar feature, where you could type in items that you have, and get a list of cocktails incorporating the ingredients. Unfortunately, none of the choices incorporated all the ingredients I had, and all required other I don't have. Cheers!

Thing 18

OK, set up the the Zoho account. I tried importing a saved document, but found it needed to be saved as a jpeg (or possibly something else) since you can't upload anything created in Publisher. It worked, sort of - only one page of my double-sided document showed up. So then, I tried posting it to my blog - eek, it was like the document that ate Manhattan! HUGE, and cut off on the side. So you won't be seeing my "creation" (think Frankenstein) here...

Thing 16

Wiki Wacky...

Of the wikis I explored, I was most fond of the Princeton book review. For me, it was more focused whereas many of the others were of a more random nature. I really need to explore this whole process more fully - I'm one of those who learns best by doing (over, and over, and over...)and I guess, a bit of a control freak, since the whole idea that anyone can edit makes me nervous. But I see the great potential for sharing information.

Thing 15

Guardian of the Old Library
Originally uploaded by mikey6p

I was deep into reading my 3 selected articles, thinking "well, this is just so much techno blah, blah, blah" when in the article: To a temporary place in time..., Dr. Wendy Schultz makes the point that this too shall pass and we will eventually reach
"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." Take me away...

Thing 17

tra, la, la. Skipping around the 23 things...

Access Maryland Libraries Sandbox - check
Add my blog to the favorite blogs page - check
Added my favorites - check
Blogging about my experience - check

So how was the playdate? Kind of like getting roped into World of Warcraft when all I want to do is sit in the shade and play Jacks.

Thing 14

OK - I've hit the wall of information overload! 27,755 results for a search for "Learning 2.0"? Yikes. I suggest our next training be Speed Reading. And is "favorited" really a word?

However, this exercise did illustrate that different methods of searching obtain different results. I'm sure there is a lesson here that one can become more proficient at searching, and really zero in on the desired results to avoid being overwhelmed with information. But if the entry isn't tagged with the word you are looking for, in the words of Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (I just looked that up to verify the writers), "you can't always get what you want".

Thing 13

I've created an account and added some of my most frequently used websites to it. I've got to say, I'm not too creative when it comes to tagging, and they all wound up with pretty much the same. This deserves a more thorough look.

Thing 12

Rollyo is certainly an interesting "thing". I can see how it could be a great timesaver in searching favorite sites. I created search engine for recipes, which I frequently look up. I'll be returning to this and editing my favorite sites as time allows.

Thing 9

Checked out Merlin and signed up. I didn't realize there would be a lag time between registering and being accepted, but things are A-OK now. Lots of info here; I viewed some of the linked blogs, but again time constraints limit the amount I can actually read. I'm going out of town later this week - too bad I don't have a laptop so I could browse at my leisure!

Thing 9 (no, actually Thing 10)

Yikes! Another mystery! I created an avatar right at the beginning of this whole shebang, but never really figured out where it went. Lo and behold, I logged on to the Yahoo Avatar thing tonight, and there it was (that means I also have one saved in some other Avatar thing, which I can't find either!). SOMEBODY HELP ME! Now I can't figure out how to put my Avatar in my blog...my 16 year old son tried to help me, which was an enlightening experience: "Why does your avatar have blue eyes? I thought you had green eyes....oh". So who is doing the discovering in this little exercise? (later that evening) We just spent a frustratingly long amount of time trying to figure this all out - the outcome? I am somehow comforted by the fact that my teenager was as dismal a failure at this as me...so maybe it's not just an age thing.

Thing 8

Don't let the date fool you...I actually did this RSS thing last week. Silly me, once I had put in my preferances, I lost the whole thing, but fortunately a wiser associate showed me the true path to finding it. Did I really select all of those feeds??? Don't know when I'd actually find the time to read them.

Thing 11

Library Thing is awesome! This is something I will definately use and enjoy.

Thing 8

OK, I followed the process for RSS feeds, then "lost" them. A fellow employee guided me back, so now I have them, but really don't see myself using them. There are only so many hours in the day!

Thing 7

hmmm...a little something to think about in the midst of this tech journey
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_09-16-2007/APrivacy

Thing 6

Well this was kind of fun, creating a magazine cover for my son's pipes and drums band. There wasn't a lot of flexibility to the format though: I could change the colors on the bottom band, but then it didn't go with those behind the magazine title, which couldn't be changed. And I wasn't able to get the entire photo onto the cover:

When I resized the photo, it came out looking all pixelated, and still didn't fit right.

Still, not bad.

Thing 5...again

Goldfinch Eating
Originally uploaded by Josh's Photo

...here's hoping this works!

One of the things that keeps me sane is watching the birds in our backyard. My vegetable garden (which got totally out of control this summer) was surrounded on three sides with a variety of sunflowers. The finches had a fabulous, noisy time feeding on the seeds, which are probably just about gone by now.

I discovered that I was having trouble placing a picture from Flickr on my blog, because I hadn't set up a blog account with them. This photo had a little thing at the top that you could click to "blog this", but the first photo I had chosen didn't. Anyone know if there is a reason for this?

Thing 5

Well, here I am totally frustrated with Flickr...can't seem to figure out how to download (upload?? which is which?) a photo to my blog. Tried saving it to my desktop, but that doesn't seem to be working. And since I can't seem to open multiple windows with my blog, Flickr, and the 23 Things at the same time, I am getting nowhere fast. Does this sound like a rant? Why, yes it does.

Things 3 & 4

My postings begin today, but I actually set up the blog a while back. I really wanted a picture of one my carved vegetable arrangements on my blog, but as usual, technology was a bit painful. First I don't have a digital camera. So the process got a little complex, with scanning the photo, e-mailing it myself, downloading, fiddling around with the picture editor thingy, then inserting into by blog. Then there was the whole resizing issue, but I won't bore you with the mind-numbing details...

Things 1 & 2

I started out this whole journey long, long ago, then lost momentum. So now I have re-read the introduction and the 71/2 habits. I was struck with how purposeful the learning process was viewed; for me, most learning just happens (usually when I least expect it) but I don't analyze it or use it to set new goals. I suppose I would say that the hardest for me would be mentoring others; the easiest would appear to be 7 1/2 - who doesn't like to play? But in reality, giving myself permission to play, without getting something done, is difficult. Guess I do need to analyze myself!

Baby Steps

Well here we go, trying to figure this all out. Wish me luck.