New Blog

I've just added a new blog to my blog list and that's the blog for ALA's virtual presence. They have an island on Second Life and are hosting programming there!

I was hearing a lot about Second Life and libraries back before I knew what Web 2.0 was and then I stopped hearing/reading about it, but here it is, back again.

I was fascinated when all my various crime television shows began working all the new Web 2.0 technology into their story lines. A live murder of teenage girl on web cast, could that be Michelle Trachtenberg otherwise known as TV Buffy's little sister/key, Dawn on Law and Order? Then Gary Sinese's Mac from CSI: NY had to have help creating a sexier, more appealing Second Life Avatar to track a killer. It is pretty funny that all of the shows felt the need to have the younger cast members be the ones hip to the new technology.

Though I certainly fit the bill of this ageist stereotype, I'm willing to be thanks to ELL and an unbridled addiction to television, that, come the holiday family time, I know more about these new technologies than, even, most of my younger family members. I can't wait to find out.

The Learning Continues

Here's a great PDF presentation I found on Librarian in Black blog.

It has some great tips for adding services and some things we didn't have time to explore in ELL.

Worst Halloween Costumes Ever!

Alright, ELL is over, but I can still blog. Only now my blog can be more personal or pointless. You decide!

I actually got this link from a blog I've subscribed to called Shelf Talk, but to check out the terrible costumes from bygone days go here.

Journey's End

My trip on the ELL is finished! It has been quite a learning experience, too.

I have to say that while parts of it were fun, it was a lot more like work than I think it was intended to be, at least for me. Even though I am a full time employee, because at EPL we all spend most of our time, at least in the public service areas, on a busy public service desk, I think I did quite a bit of this trip on my own time. Staff with no access to technology at home I think would've been at a disadvantage to complete the "trip."

I have ended up being quite an RSS feed addict. I am regularly following a few library and library-related RSS feeds. I haven't discovered too many that support my personal interests, but that's okay.

I have found that my desire for a new computer or laptop for myself has increased.

A really good by-product of this whole experience has been the opportunity to read some of my colleagues' blogs. It was great to see the creativity, intelligence and personality of some folks with whom I don't get to work as closely as those in my own department. (I already know how smart, creative and funny they are.)

I think this has been a great look at uses of technology and Web 2.0 applications for fun, work and lifelong learning. I now feel like I have some new tools in my toolbox.

My Media Mall

So this exercise was probably the most practical exercise. I have been trying to "sell" the e-audiobooks without really understanding them.

I downloaded the player to my laptop at home, selected an e-audiobook, but alas, didn't have my card to check it out.

Well, I'll have to get that far after after the ELL has ended it's journey.

I will comment that I'm glad Apple or Overdrive have come to terms and are now offering Mac compatible books because I'm much more likely to use this on my iPod than the laptop. I listen to audiobooks mostly in my car, and don't see myself using these from my laptop from home.

Once I am able to give this a try at home I think I'll be a better salesperson at work.

Finding Podcasts

I checked out Podcastalley, iTunes and Podcast.com. Of the three I have to say iTunes seemed to have the most tempting selections. I was very tempted to subscribe to Pandora and NPR books, but since participating in ELL I am already spending way to much of my limited free time on the computer. Before ELL I had never even strayed into the Podcast portion of iTunes before. Oh the lure of new technology!

I did find my Just One More Book podcast source in the Podcast.com directory.

I could get as badly addicted to these as I am to my RSS feeds, but I dare not.

Web 2.0 Tools

Podcasts

Okay, I know I've skipped number 19, but I was just so excited by this new website that I received an e-mail about and it's podcasts related to children's literature including interviews with authors and book reviews.

Check out, Just One More Book!

I am still puzzling about how I got the e-mail, but I suppose I'm on enough library-vendor mailing lists, my e-mail was bound to leak out. How can I complain about that when it turned me on to this great site?

Newbery Speculation

Let the masses begin the Oscar buzz on the new crop of fall films.

It is our time for Newbery (and Caldecott) Medal Buzz.

Check out SLJ's Mock Newbery blog, Heavy Medal.

Happy reading and buzzing!

Web Tools-Thing #18

I tried using Google Docs. It's a very handy thing. Though I, unlike many posters about this topic have only one place I usually use word processing, and that's right here at the library.

I have, on very rare occasions, used word processing for home use, but I tend to use my home computer for home and my work computer for work.

While I have enough work that I could work at home and still never get ahead, I resist the urge to take library work home. So, while being able to access word documents from anywhere, I won't be using it much, it's good to know the application is there.

As the proverbial, "They" say, "No one ever died wishing they spent more time at work."

I did type up the minutes from our Staff Development day in Google Docs but then I selected all and copied them into the Shared/Everyone Inservice Folder.

I share the concerns of other ELL bloggers, in that, I am not completely convinced these documents are secure.

Wikis

I think Wikis would work well for internal applications. I know that Christie used a Wiki for the Teen Reading game instructions. I think this would work well for the Children's Summer Program Instructions, too.

When we were discussing Wikis at a Youth Library Managers' meeting last fall, some libraries used Wikis to develop procedures for a variety of things.

I liked the idea of a Best Practices wiki, but the one we looked at was a few years old. It would seem like there are always a lot of good ideas out there, and for the purposes of determining "Best" Practices, shouldn't there be some sort of control of the type Wikis lack? Maybe the wiki should be named "Good Ideas" instead.

I thought the St. Joseph library adult reading club Wiki was another good use. I don't think it would work for a children's program without alternatives to publishing on a Wiki. Children who are still learning to write might find this too much of a chore to participate, otherwise. Though, it might encourage others, for the chance to be "published" and use the computer, the opportunity to practice their writing skill. I don't know how much other kids would be interested in reading the reviews of others, particularly if they are poorly written. (Sometimes it's a challenge making sense of children's writing when they are still learning, and I'm not talking penmanship, either.)

I added a restaurant to our ELL Wiki and it was very simple to use and I think my favorite use of Wikis had to be those communities having a Wiki of just this type of information. Restaurants, Things to See, Things to Do. I wonder, though, if a community or library hosts this type of Wiki for the public, what happens if someone posts something negative about a local business. Could a business take legal action if they perceived an impact on business?

I think some of the personal issues I've had with so many of these interactive technologies have to do with my own personal control issues. I never considered myself a control freak, but I think I'm discovering that I kinda am one.

Libraries 2.0

These are exciting times for libraries, I think. Can we keep up?

Again, I'm enough of an "old timer" to still appreciate the value of information, subject heading, and even opinions of people who have some expertise. I'm not such a fan of the opinions of the unvetted masses. So it's hard for me to say, "Hooray!" to the big changes that are coming.

But, on the other hand, I do like change. I get bored easily. I used to just change jobs, but now I just wait for the change to come to me.

I think that all of these new, interactive technologies the future generations of users will want libraries to include them in there services, so we should be learning them and looking for ways that they enhance our services. They certainly make it possible for libraries to reach new or different target audiences.

Children's departments around us are already taking advantage of things like blogging as a way to reach parents and, perhaps, older children. I'm not convinced that too many kids younger than Middle School age are going to read a library blog. They might be interested in getting in learning and using the technology, but finding ways to use this new technology to grab their interest and keep them as library users. We have challenges ahead and the better I understand and keep up with all this the more we can avoid the "icebergs" that Rick Anderson referred to in our readings. Full speed ahead!

LOL Kitties!

Okay, okay, so this has nothing to do with ELL (even though I'm falling further and further behind..)

One of the Library RSS feeds I've been following had this link posted and insisted readers would have to turn in their MLSs if they weren't wasting some part of the day here. How could I resist?

Twitter

I have to confess, Twitter wasn't as user-friendly for me as some of the other things I've tried as part of ELL.

I could see enjoying this if I were one of those Must Be Connected folks. I also could see using it, if my sisters, nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews were on board. For people I'm close to this would be great. I'm just not into the minutia of the lives of people I don't know.

Again for the right audience for libraries, I suppose, it would be like a Facebook or MySpace page, in that you could promote library services, programs and collections in more personal way than just a website. I'm not sure how that would work.

Mary just forward an invite to an Adult Reading Round Table program for Reader's Advisor's in Chicago that's right up the ally of all of us ELLearners. It's going to talk about using all these Web 2.0 technologies for Reader's Advisory. Sounds really fun, but I figured I see if anyone else from Children's is going. MamaWitch is going so I think I'll let her represent us at this one.

Back to my frustrations with Twitter. How do I enter a profile? Make my posts private? How do I search for anything other than other Twitter-ers from Evanston? That one I did figure out on my own and I'm currently following the "trend" of season premier of Heroes.

Actually this Heroes "thread" is both idiotic and fascinating to me. I am a watcher of Heroes and I'm taping tonight's premier, since I'm working, but really there are hundreds of comments already of folks just saying, "I can't wait," "I'm so exited," "Tacos then Heroes," and on and on. Also many that are counting down. Tweets are appearing now saying they are watching the show. I guess part of me is "geeky" enough that I find this an amusing way to feel as if I'm part of the premier excitement even though I can't watch it until I get home.

I did try looking at the top 10 librarians on Twitter. I can't say I found anything to follow in their minute to minute musings. In fact I find the "individual" pages difficult to follow and understand.

The Heroes thread is a lot more like eavesdropping on a conversation and now with the season two recap finishing and the actual premier about to start in 10 minutes it's incredible to see how fast the Tweets are posting!

del.icio.us

I enjoyed the opportunity to learn a bit more formally about del.icio.us. I have to say the 8 minute tutorial was very helpful. It showed me some uses I wouldn't have considered.

I could see if I was ever teaching, or a student again, it could be a big help to be able to create a shared reading list or suss out resources by using what others had found.

I still have to admit, however, that I liked the old MyBookmarks account for the EPL Reference bookmarks much better. Give me a formal taxonomy over a folksonomy any day.

Tag clouds may be cool looking, but I prefer an outline. I like to see the organizational structure. I like categories and sub-categories, not infinite tag combinations. It just seems so chaotic to me.

I like the idea of bookmarks that follow me from work to home on various computers so I may give it a try at some point in the future, but just not now.

Thing #12

I liked poking around on Hennepin County's website and Ann Arbor's, too.

While I don't think Library Thing's for me, I do think it adds value for a great many people, so having the option for library website users to add tags or comments or create reading lists would probably draw more folks to a library's website.

I know that CCS is exploring adding Library Thing to IBistro. That would be great if they can make this happen.

I wonder a bit about the "virtual communities" that are created. For example, it looked like there was book added in Hennepin by an HNorborg. Is that our Evanston librarian H. Norborg? As a selector here at Evanston Public Library, it would be interesting to see what our taxpayers were saying about what books they were reading, but it really loses it's usefulness for me as a selector if I'm looking at comments coming from across world. I'm not selecting for a virtual community, I'm not selecting for a real community of users and I'd love to know what they were thinking. I'm not so interested in selecting for the whole world.

Library Thing

I first looked at Library Thing a while back when I a colleague here or at a meeting really talked it up. I was not as taken with it as many seem to be.

I love to read. I'm a compulsive reader. I have an irrational fear of being caught without something to read. Usually I read fiction, sometimes nonfiction. The majority of what I read is for children because it's hard to keep up with this. I'm not a fast reader.



I wasn't taken by Library Thing at all because I guess I don't care how many people have copies of what I've read, or have read what I've read. I don't use the "other readers who purchased this book.." feature in Amazon or Amazon's reader reviews or other's book lists either.



When I'm looking for something new to read I prefer the serendipity of browsing the stacks in a library or bookstore or the reviews from more vetted sources like NYTBR, Hornbook or Booklist or my colleagues on listservs to those of the nameless masses on Library Thing.

While I could see some use in cataloging my home collection, I just don't feel the need to take the time to do it. It doesn't matter that Library Thing makes it fairly simple. It's just not how I want to spend my time.

As the t-shirt says, "I'd rather be reading."

Social Networking

Call me an old fogey, and it's true, but I really don't get the "social networking" phenomena. Maybe it's because I'm not a true "techie." I'm not prepared to spend hours hunched over a computer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Luddite. I love computer catalogs vs. card catalog; I love my new IPod, but most days when I leave work I don't want to spend anymore time on the computer than I already have.

I only just got a personal e-mail account about a year ago and I did that to subscribe to two work related listservs that were clogging up my Inbox on my work account because I never had time to look at them here. Now they clog up my Inbox on my Comcast e-mail account at home because I have to fight the computer away from my spouse, but mostly because I can't bear the thought of being the computer after being on almost all day at work.

Also, even though most people who know me through work think I am an extrovert, it isn't true. I know I am an introvert because when I get home after a day of computers and people-contact, the last thing I want is more people contact, even if it's virtual. Social, I'm really not.

Despite all the protesting, I might consider Facebook, because I know several of my lovely colleagues and former colleagues are on Facebook and I liked the idea of keeping my privacy. MySpace looked like a meat market. Reminded me of my brief stint as a Bally health club member. Young people cruising to meet other young people, looking for more physical, than social contact.

LinkedIn might interest me if I knew other librarians were on board, but I couldn't find a way to search by profession, or maybe that option is only open to members.

So, some day you might see me on Social Networking site, but not just yet.

Pondering Mashups

I'm glad that we weren't required to make our own librarian trading cards or anything for this exercise. I'd have to make my character "fictional" because I truly dislike having my photo taken, in fact it's almost an irrational phobia.

I have to say that if there's one thing I don't like about my chosen profession it is the unfortunate fact that I have to appear on camera or in print photos, at least sometimes. If I could avoid this altogether, why my chosen career is practically, perfectly suited to me.

As far as the mashups go, they looked fun and I loved the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Motivational Poster link that Heather shared with us. I can't see that I personally would use many of these. (Hello, the woman with dozens of pretty pitiful photos still trapped in her digital camera, here.) In the hands of others, though, I enjoy seeing the end products that others have created.

Heather shared the Flickr page of the Lester Public Library in Wisconsin and I have to say I found this mosaic of "This morning from Youth Services" very beautiful.

Now if anyone would like, I can get working on my mosaic from Youth Services featuring pigeons, or possibly pigeon parts, undigested by peregrine falcons?

Flickr

Well, I opted out of the "easy" route of just commenting on someone else's photo because despite the fun of ELL and it is fun (most of the time), I'm really on board the ELL because I think I need to know all this for work.

So, I started a Flickr account. I uploaded a picture. I am trying to add it to this post, but I don't think it's working. I click on the add image icon. I've tried inserting both the URL from my Flickr account and tried to add it from the computer.

Well, here he is. Finally.

This is, however, not from my Flickr account. I don't know where went wrong but I did get a picture inserted, but from the computer.

Meet Flat Stanley. He was visiting us from another NSLS library this summer. In addition to stopping to read a book Stanley also "hid" among our Big Book collection and got really caught up in our magnetic poetry.

YouTube and Book Promotion

Warning: This Video contains blueberries and a baby from Laurel Snyder on Vimeo.

So, I know I'm skipping over my Flickr photo "lesson," but I came across an RSS feed for a YouTube book trailers and who can resist adorable babies...

Searching for new feeds

I have to say that I didn't have a lot of luck finding feeds of interest to me using any of tools. I'm just not that into the news, in general, so the current events, up-to-the-minute news just doesn't do anything for me.

Again, I echo my earlier sentiments about blogs, a lot of folks with not much to say (or do?) are out there, apparently thinking they have something to say. I think the majority are mistaken. Searching using Technorati and Google Blog Search under "children's books", "children's literature," and storytelling didn't bring up anything on target or of interest to me. At least not on the first few pages of results. Storytelling did bring up a mildly interesting "Goddesses" site that was actually the blog of some romance writers, with a provocative romance novel cover in the lead post. The storyline of the poster's upcoming novel appeared to involve a woman married to three husbands. Not your conventional romance. While I may have to look for the novel, it wasn't what I had in mind when I entered my search.

Storytelling did randomly connect me to the Scientific American site which had fascinating article into research about the roots of the human need for storytelling. The Scientific American site has a lot of great news feed content, so I did subscribe to a few feeds there. (If I was really up on this Web 2.0 thing, I could include a hot link to the site here, but I don't know how to do that yet, so if you're interested you'll just have to muddle along and find it yourselves.)

I am, however, already starting to feel overwhelmed by the amount of content I'm receiving daily so some of these are going to have to go.

Whew! All caught up with Things 1 thourgh 6.

RSS Feeds

I had only learned what an RSS feed was back at an AdTeam meeting when Dave Jordan was presenting us with the new EPL web design. One of my fellow managers asked whether we would have RSS feeds for our content. Yes, we would.



Well, what are they I wondered? I did a bit of research and learned a little bit and thought they were a good thing, but not for me.



Well, I've successfully subscribed to some of the EPL RSS feeds and Google Reader's suggested Fun feeds and to couple of Blogs I was reading fairly regularly. It seems like an awful lot of reading.



I remember taking a look at Second Life when folks were buzzing about it. My feeling then was that I don't have enough time for my first life, the last thing I need is to try to keep up with a second life.



Forget a second life, I'm going to be spending my first life on the computer reading web content. Yikes!

Well, I've completed "thing 5." 18 more to go.

7 1/2 habits

Okay, okay, so I'm a little bit slow off the mark on this one. (Isn't next week our "catch up" week?)



I didn't exactly feel the 7 1/2 Habits were news to me. More like visiting old friends. They do also echo the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and I was bit of a Steven Covey "follower" back in the day.



I have to say that Play is pretty easy for me. After all, I chose a career that would allow me to shop for toys, color, cut and paste on a regular basis and view cartoons and call it job related, so that's pretty obvious.



I have to say the most challenging, again nothing original here, either, is viewing obstacles as challenges. I think my Eastern European family heritage just inclines me to the, "Why me, Lord?" And I'm not that fond of "challenges" either, come to think of it. But that's another post, or maybe another blog, or maybe a session with my therapist.

Blogging--What's it all about?

So it wasn't so hard setting this up, though I have to confess "creating" a URL through me.



I started a post I wasn't able to finish. Since I only had one sentence I opted for deleting it and starting over.



I was reading a couple of the NSLS blogs and then the EPL staff blog, but frankly, I'm not seeing what the big attraction is.



I've tried searching Google blogs for blogs on children's literature topics, and while I read a few posts on a few of them, I've not found them at all compelling. Perhaps, if I had a laptop or a Blackberry I might read them if I was desperately bored in the waiting room of the doctor's office, but I didn't find anything that made me want to look at it again.



Many blogs read like diary entry and for most folks, well, sorry I don't see their thoughts as all that interesting. Certainly not compelling or, for the most part, useful reading.



It does make me feel less like a dinosaur to be able to create and blog and know I could help someone else start one and I think I'll appreciate reading my colleagues' thoughts about their experiences, too.