Thing #23 Summary

I patted myself on the back, for this was an interesting but challenging experience. Here are my thoughts:
--It is important for librarians to be aware of the up-to-date technology, so if this program continues, it should be completely up-to-date (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, and others). I do appreciate the opportunity to learn about technologies I was unfamiliar with --how to blog, RSS, avatars, tagging (although this wasn't very clear), and wikis.
--There was too much emphasis on Flickr
--I feel more "in the know". Perhaps somebody could look into updating it from time to time.

Thing #22 - Audiobooks

I have explored these before, so this was a review. I have a Net Library account and have downloaded to the computer and then to an MP3 player (a Clive Cussler bestseller). This time, I searched for Dan Brown, and was surprised to see that THe Da Vinci Code was not on Net Library at all. It was on Maryland's Digital ELibrary, although you had to put a hold on it. Browsability is good on both, and it's nice that there is always something available in the "always available section". These are useful and well-used by our patrons (but I prefer to read, visual learner that I am).

Thing #21 Podcasts

I learned quite a bit here, but was also frustrated. None of the links provided actually worked, so i found another podcast link, www.podcast.com, and searched for children's book reviews.
I found "Bookvoyages", which was interesting, stories read aloud, and NPR book reviews. All of these were interesting, but since I am more of a visual learner, I prefer to see people who are talking to me. But I guess this is the future, and there will be no more radio as we know it today.

Thing #20 - You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFHaHEEiENM
This is the link for the video of Rockville librarians running through the fountains outside of the library. I have used You Tube many times. This time, I explored at leisure and found episeodes of old tv shows like Dick Van Dyke, Star Trek and The Outer Limits, 60's tv commercials that made me relive my childhood, and episodes of an Australian tv show called "The Librarians", which is hilarious.

Thing 17 - Sandbox wiki

This seems like it would have been entertaining, but I gave up trying to get into it. I would like to see people's "favorite" books, blogs, wikis, etc. This is a good tool for nosy people who like to know what other people think without actually asking them.

Thing #19 - Awards

For this assignment, I selected the category of real estate, and the site called hotpads.com, since I am currently looking for a place to live. Hotpads.com was very cool graphically. It is map-based, and you can zoom in on a location. The graphics are very cute--cartoon-like buildings representing available rentals or homes for sale. You can zoom in on a particular listing, and it links you to the relevant information on that property. It's very similar to other sites out there, but the attractiveness of the site was the draw here.

Test document-Thing #18 - Online Productivity Tools

This online word processing tool is intriguing, since I can access something I have saved from any computer with access to the internet. My immediate thoughts on using this involve typing up a list of books I have read so I have easy access and can recommend them to patrons for readers advisory. I can never remember anything I have read, so I have typed-up lists at the information desk. But I often find myself at another desk, or outside of the library, with no access to this list. Library THing is useful for this, too, but I think I may store my lists here.

Thing #16 - Wikis

I think that wikis are probably the most intriguing and potentially useful of the web 2.0 tools we're learning about. They represent the power of the people, rather than a chosen few. The fact that they don't require any knowledge of HTML language or other technological expertise, is very encouraging. Libraries are starting to use them, and I'm confident that this trend will continue, as patrons becoma an integral part of the library online community. Sharing ideas for reader's advisory and programming, book reviews, and having an online bulletin board of community contacts/activities that is constantly changing and evolving--these are the most exciting uses of wikis for the library.

Thing #15 Web and Library 2.0

The concept of Library 2.0 brings up some interesting thoughts. First of all, coming from a marketing background, I have always thought that libraries need to be consumer-oriented, just as a business must be focused on its customers. Having catalogs where customers can give feedback on books, giving customers the power to interact with librarians, to initiate book discussions, and to be an active participant in library service, is very much in line with the "marketing concept" that all marketing students learn. However, I am also concerned that having all of this information available at the flick of your finger will make libraries and librarians as we know them now obsolete. From a children's librarian perspective, though, the type of programming that is only available in person in the form of storytime will still be the best way to introduce young children to language and literacy.

Thing #14 - Technorati

Exploring Technorati was very interesting, as I am looking for blogs dealing with children's literature. These often have very good ideas for books for book discussion groups, booklists and just ideas for books to read in genres to keep up with what's hot out there. I found "Kidlitosphere", "Booklights", "Scrub-a-dub tub", "Wizards Wireless", and other blogs on inspiring kids to read.

Thing #13 - Tagging and Delicious

I sense that this tool could be more useful for researchers/students. For me, it's only possibly a more convenient way of storing my favorite websites, but any time you have to go to yet another account you've set up, it seems to me that this just takes up more time. Having said that, I created an account and looked around for sites that would give storytime ideas, using the tag "storytime" and found many that looked good, that I will probably use in the future. But I want to say that this tool needs better "marketing"--neither I nor several of my colleagues are able to understand it's usefulness from the descriptions that are out there.

#12 Rollyo

I made a searchroll for my favorite tv soap opera One Life to Live, and this is it:
http://rollyo.com/createroll.html?sid=572343. Since I never get a chance to watch it, I search several sites for updates, spoilers, etc., and this search engine searches the ones I use frequently.

#11 Library Thing

I had actually discovered "Library Thing" before, and so I revisited it. It's a great way to keep track of what you've read and see what others have read who have read and liked your books. I also answered a question about King Arthur books for a 5 year old on a group discussion, so I made myself useful. I love making lists and looking at lists in different ways, so this type of site is very exciting for me.

#10 Image Generation

Well, I created an avatar in Yahoo --now how to use it? I put my favorite things in it--a dog and books, and I tried to upload it to my blog , to no avail. But I did manage to import a "neon sign" and I had a lot of fun creating tee shirts, crossword puzzles, evil clowns, etc. So my neon sign will light the way to "Reading and Resting" and now, drinking...( you have to go to my blog to understand)

#9 Library related blogs/newsfeeds

I searched for blogs relating to children's literature and will continue to do so for up to date reviews and ideas for booktalks and storytimes, from people who had success with different titles and different approaches. This will make my job easier.

THING #8 - RSS FEEDS

I have set up a Bloglines account but I think this exercise would have been more useful if we did this in our Blogspot account (i.e. this one). I have subscribed to some useful and/or interesting feeds, but to be honest, keeping up with what I'm interested in has never taken up too much time, and I don't think I'm focused enough consistently on particular topics to take advantage of this. Now, if the internet could read my mind and constantly update what I'm interested in without my having to tell it, that would be more useful. Oh, well...saving time is what it's all about, I guess.

#7 Technology-Related

My favorite technology advancement of the last few years has been the ease of downloading music and putting it onto CD's and MP3's. I'm able to listen to my favorite music whenever or wherever I want, and to organize it by genre, so that I can easily listen to whatever I want depending on my mood. I seldom listen to the radio anymore, unless I want to hear the news or weather or traffic reports. And I don't have to listen to songs I don't like if I don't want to. Of course, I never hear anything new this way, so I'm just stuck in my rut, but I'm happy there.

Week 3 #6 Flickr Mashups

After looking at all the incredible things one can do with Flickr technology and photos, it strikes me that true artistic talent will become redundant. If anything is possible using this technology (mosaics, color schemes, creative use of color, light, design), then the natural talent of an artist, interior designer, architect, will become a thing of the past. Sad if you're an artist, but not said if you're artistically challenged (like me).

Relaxing among books

Relaxing among books
Originally uploaded by siriusmosaics

Ahh..a dog to cuddle with and books to read...what could be more perfect?

#5 Explore Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowdeal/8760410/
I love this photo because it is never too early to read in bed. If I could spend all my time reading in bed, I would be in heaven (with occasional breaks for eating, drinking and actually sleeping).

7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners

The hardest of the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners for me is to view problems as challenges. I tend to throw up my hands and give up at the first problem. The easiest of the habits is to PLAY--to use what I've learned to enrich my life, which is, of course, fun!