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...