#23

I DID IT! And I'm really glad I did. It has been an enjoyable learning experience and I feel I learned a lot.

Each of the 23 "things" was clearly explained and the podcasts that were included were an added bonus. The additional resources really added support to the "thing" being learned. The posting/assignment requirements were also clear.

I loved making the WIRED cover with Zilpha's photograph and posting photographs to the blog from Flickr. Also enjoyed visiting YouTube even though I was somewhat familiar with it already. I was surprised I enjoyed the NetLibrary downloaded audio book. It was fun to listen to it while I worked on the remaining 23 Things but I've never been one to listen to music while I work so I probably wouldn't download to my desktop again. Perhaps I will to my new MP3 player! Learning about wikis coincided with a wiki assignment for my class so that "thing" was very helpful.

I still am not sold on the podcasts, RSS feed, blogs, IM, etc. It just seems like too much information for me. I don't want to be continuously bombarded with info; I feel my brain is overloaded enough. I still enjoy reading a newspaper and have no one to IM- I just use the phone. I'm glad to have learned about everything and in fact I was impressing my YA children with much of my knowledge, but I will not use much of it. Call me old school. I guess I just feel that I spend enough time at my computer and while I appreciate the knowledge gained, for the most part I won't be an active participant in many of the technologies. Despite my personal misgivings, I encourage everyone to complete the 23 Things.

I enjoy learning so there was no question I would participate in the program and probably will participate in future programs. What made this fun was that there was really no pressure and lots of support to "hang in there" and the availability of help when you hit a snag.

Thanks for the opportunity to learn about things I might never have pursued on my own.

#22

Viewed the tutorials for Overdrive and NetLibrary and created a NetLibrary account. Downloaded Maria Shriver's "And One More Thing Before You Go." Must admit this is the first audio type book I have listened to (see #21). Enjoyed it immensely. Didn't have any real trouble dowloading although there was a long wait while the license was acquired. Visted the Project Gutenburg site and found it a fascinating and worthwhile undertaking.

#21

I visited both podcast.net and podcastalley.com. I actually had some difficulty with a podcast I wanted to hear about the Pittsburgh Penguins; it just never played. So instead I moved on and added the RSS feed to my bloglines account for the Kankakee Public Library's BiblioTech from podcast.net. I listened to a portion of the 50 min. podcast of the "History in the Movies" by Dr. Cathy Schwartz. There are regular podcasts on a variety of topics from KPL. I then listened to the Irish & Celtic music podcast on podcast.net. The podcast was #27 from Dec. 2006. Quite enjoyable and soothing. This was also added to my favorite feeds on my bloglines account.

I'm not sure podcasts are for me; I have yet to listen to an audio book! As I scrolled through the listings of the different genres or when I did a search I wondered how I would know what a particular listing was about. I then discovered, at least on podcastalley that if you click on the listing, a brief summary of what the podcast is about is revealed. That helped a lot.

#20

Visited YouTube. Some great and some not-so great. I'm amazed at the variety of videos and the some of the quality. I watched "Liviving in Dingle: A Walk with Mike Barry" and this is very artistic, almost like an independent film (yes the title is spelled exactly the way it appears on YouTube). Some of my favorites are the controversial Will Ferrell one about Pearl the Landlord. Does that baby really say those bad words?? Also enjoy some library/book related videos. For real laughs visit "Behind the Scenes: Technical Services" and "Monk Needs Help Opening a Book." You will laugh out loud. And of course, "Wren's Day" about a holiday parade in Ireland, Dunquin in fact, which is featured earlier in this blog. I actually know a few in this video.

The concept of YouTube is great. Do worry about being filmed without permission though.

#19

Went to the Awards List and looked at several of the headings. Clicked on a few. Nothing really caught my eye. Decided to click on GAMES, don't know why since I don't really play any games. Found Guess-the-Google. What fun. Really enjoyed it and had 135 points overall. I recommend you check it out http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google/. I'm sure you will find it fun too.

#18

#18 Read about online apps. Used Google docs and found a word document (shamrocks) to upload. Followed the directions and had it posted directly to the blog. Very easy to do.

#17

I tried to register my blog on the Sandbox wiki but for some reason it would not accept it. I even have a witness to my many tries and she agrees it was not ME!

So instead I am writing about posting to the wiki for my Serials class. We were each assigned a serials term to define and were to post our definition to the Serials Definition Wiki. Had no problem cutting & pasting my document; even the links in the document were ok -something Maurice told me to check. When I tried to create a hyperlink to the main page, I nearly messed the whole thing up. Spent 2 hours trying to figure out that piece. Totally forgot that Irmgarde had told me to make a new page for my definition and go back to the main/front page and link from there. After a good night's sleep I realized I might know how to make the link. A video instruction sent by my professor after a frantic email the previous night confirmed I was on the right track. All is now well and my definition is on the wiki! I have another to do for this class and one planned in FY08 at work.

#16

Read several of the discovery resources about wikis and printed a few out since I need to create a wiki for a class and then another for a committee I am on.

Visited the Book Lover's wiki- Princeton Library. Thought it was interesting that they included FAQs (a good thing for those beginners) and had raffles going on, to which local merchants donated goods. This wiki was well-organized and had a link to the library catalog, which is quite convenient if you've just read a good review and want to now read the book. This type of wiki could be used for library book discussion groups or for reader's advisory.

Visited the Bull Run Library wiki. This wiki is maintained by a library patron and is not affiliated or supported by the Bull Run Library in any way. I was really curious about that; it seems that the wiki could be a positive thing for the library as long as the patron was happy, but what happens if the patron is not happy with the library. There are links to other county library systems in VA as well as links to resources such as LibraryThing and Library elf. The general idea of library news, resources, and links work well but I am concerned about ownership and relationship with the library.

Visited Library Success wiki. It looks exactly like wikipedia and is easy to follow. Topics are relevant to any library system. The links work. It is available to staff and patrons alike.

#15

I've just learned that I have been posting my "things" not according to the directions so starting with #15, I will do it right.

Totally enjoyed "The Machine is Us/ing Us.' Besides the message, which I thought rang so true, it was well done. Always fascinated by videos/presentations like that. Always wondering how do they do that.

Read the 5 perspectives on 2.0. I totally agree with Anderson's "icebergs." His comment that "it no longer makes sense to collect information products as if they were hard to get" has been the basis for some changes to the way we have handled cataloged magazines. I also think he is correct when he says it is important for us to "find new ways to bring our services to patrons rather than insisting that they come to us." Just 2 weeks ago I heard a radio personality say to a caller, "Does anyone even go to libraries anymore?" Made me crazy and I nearly called in.

Zilpha Smith

Technical Services will lose a wealth of knowledge on June 29th when Zilpha Smith retires after a long and wonderful tenure at HCPL. Technical Services will never be the same and we will certainly miss her.

Creating this picture (#10) using the Image Generator was great fun but getting it to the blog was difficult. Many thanks to Maurice for his guidance and to Debbie Ruth for her support. Could not have done it without them.

Dún Chaoin

Dún Chaoin
Originally uploaded by Oistín

I will be heading once again to Dunquin (Dun Chaoin) Ireland in August. Plan to take my new digital camera to share photos on my blog.

2.0 Discoveries

Week 1
Well here I go. Enjoyed the Tech Fair so I'll give this 2.0 thing a shot. Got through the Lifelong Learning Habits without difficulty.

Week 2
Created a blog. WOW! Was even able to find it again and post to it. Will wonders never cease?

Week 3
Was on Flicker. Posted an Irish photo from Flickr to my blog. I created a Flickr account recently to post family photos. Surprised at how easy it was. Included some tech talk. Visted mashup of librarian trading cards. Viewed NextGen photostream. Very interesting. I actually might be becoming tech savvy! Who knew?

Week 4
Have been off for a few days so am just getting back to 2.0. Created by bloglines account (#8), which wasn't difficult but a call to Maurice was in order to clarify how bloglines fit into this blog. Think I get it now. Subscribed to MERLIN and LibraryBytes (#9) via Bloglines. There must be a better way to get to this stuff, it feels so cumbersome with the numerous clicks. I'm really struggling with the bloglines piece - am I the only one who prefers to read a newspaper each day?

Week 5
This was FUN! Be sure to see my WIRED cover of Zilpha Smith (#10) created using an online image generator. My catalog of books from LibraryThing (#11) is posted on my blog. Thanks to Irmgarde for her guidance in getting it there. Explored Rollyo (#12) and posted to my blog. Be sure to view Shelley's favorites.

Week 6
#13 Visited the Del.icio.us site and listened to the podcast. Not sure if I fully understand how this works. Went to the site set up for Mecklenberg and clicked on the link about creating you own library card catalog cards http://www.blyberg.net/2006/09/06/roll-your-own-catalog-card. Very interesting. Who knew so many would miss the card catalog enough to make their own in fun. This can be done similarly to LibraryThing.

#14 Headed to Technorati after posting above. Technorati Monster was on the loose and they had to search for it in the blogsphere. The tab said "Technorati was borked right now" so I guess I will try again later. What does any of this mean??? Visited again and got through. Typed "Learning 2.0" in the search box and it took me to many, many blogs with "learning" and "2.0" highlighted. Clicked on 2.0 Lessons Learned by Blogswithoutlibraries.net. This is the blogging libraries wiki. Latest postings are about getting the 2.0 program going. On the Technorati homepage checked out the Top Favoried Blog (Boing Boing), Top Searches (YouTube), and Top Blogs (Engadget). Technorati is interesting but I still don't get it and don't think I'll be using it. I'm just not a blogger. Sorry!

7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits

The easiest learning habit for me is "accepting responsibility for your own learning." I continue to seek knowledge and welcome new learning opportunities.

The hardest learning habit for me is " use technology to your advantage." While I am computer and technologically literate in many ways, more often than not, the latest technology is beyond my realm of understanding(I'm still trying to grasp how your TV can record when not turned on, I know it's a signal thing but I still don't get it). Maybe 2.0 will help.

Can't forget "PLAY" by far the most important of the lifelong learning habits and one I try to live by.