Week 10, Final Post

Hooray, we have reached the finish line!!! The finale video is most appropriate. It has been a great ride, both enjoyable and informative. At times it was tough finding enough time to get the exercises done, especially since we have been shorthanded recently, but the effort was worthwhile. I saw many possibilities during the program that previously were unfamiliar to me.

The information on internet safety was timely. The safety concern is my primary objection to the proliferation of social networking sites. I think the Flickr site and photo editing tools might be fun to play with more. Also the avatars were fun. Zoho is a great word processing program that is available free. If I didn't already have Microsoft Office, I would be very interested in using it for word processing. It would be way too easy to waste a couple of hours on YouTube. There are some funny things on that site. I like Bloglines because it lets me access a lot of sites of personal interest from one location, but I probably won't use the podcast audio feature much. I would have more opportunity to read the posts than to listen to them. I had already been looking at some of the library blogs occasionally, but having them all right there at my fingertips is nice. I will use this site frequently. Library Thing has definite possibilities. I don't like the way Library Elf displays in Webmail. If I switched it to go to my home email, I would probably like it better.

I read one post suggesting a Wiki for Harriet, and think that is a good idea. Wikis could also be used for patrons to post book reviews and suggestions for other patrons to read. Of course, we are already posting pictures on our website using Flickr, so hopefully, that will continue and become more widely used. Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 are the wave of the future, and we must adapt and respond to the needs and interests of our patrons if we want to remain viable. I don't think libraries are in danger of extinction, but if we remain mired in the past and refuse to adapt to our changing world, our influence is sure to be limited.

Week 9, #22 Downloadable Media

I was impressed with the variety of material available on Overdrive. I think the selection is better for audio books than for videos. The selection will only improve as funds become available to purchase more titles. I love to read, but have never acquired the audio book habit, so haven't investigated the service before now. If I spent more time in my car, I would definitely be interested.

I was not impressed with LibriVox or Wowio. LibriVox might be fine if you need to find an old classic, but since all of their books are in the public domain, there are no currently popular authors included. I noticed that the books are read by volunteer readers and sometimes each book has multiple readers, with different chapters assigned to different readers. This could be a bit annoying if some are poor readers or have less pleasant speaking voices. I don't know what the company does to monitor the quality of the recordings. Wowio did not appear to have many interesting titles available. One of my coworkers noted that the publishers and authors seem to be mostly unknown. I also found the search feature to be very imprecise. All searches seem to be keyword searches for any of the words you list. A search for John Grisham brought up any book with either "John" or "Grisham" anywhere in the summary. There were 36 pages of results, but no books by the popular author. When I searched for "John Grisham" with the quotation marks, it found no titles, so this is a more accurate search. One nice feature was that when you move the cursor over the picture of the book a dialog balloon pops up with a blurb about the book. This makes it possible to get basic information about that title quickly. I didn't see much on the site that I was interested in pursuing.

Of the three options, our HCPL Overdrive service is clearly the best. Way to go, Harris County!

Week 9, #21 Podcasts

I took a look at Podcastalley.com and was able to add two podcasts to my Bloglines account. I chose to add SirsiDynix Institute and Uncontrolled Vocabulary. I also added LibVibe on the recommendation of one of my colleagues. I don't know yet how much I will use them because usually if I have time for things like this, it is between customers while I am at the circulation desk. For obvious reasons, it is easier to read a blog under those circumstances than to listen to an audio feed. Anyway, it is nice to know that this is an option. I am sure there is some interesting information which is available in this format.

Week 9, Post 20 You Tube

Well, this is supposed to be about You Tube, but I just discovered how to change fonts and print colors on this blog, so I have to mention that. It is amazing what you can figure out if you open your eyes.

I looked around on You Tube and saw lots of entertaining things, but not a whole lot of substantive content. I especially looked at some of the library related things. The "get a library card" commercial where the boy uses his library card as a noisemaker in the bicycle spokes is cute. He really gets "the look" from that librarian. I also like the Super Librarian. If I could shelve as fast as she does, we would get things done a lot more quickly! Cookie Monster was bemoaning the absence of cookies in the library. He obviously missed storytime at Crosby today. The Thanksgiving party for the children featured lots of cookies plus popcorn, fruit, and lemonade.

It is frustrating to navigate the site since our site restriction query keeps popping up. "Press continue if this is work related." Too bad this annoying question couldn't have been suspended for the duration of the exercise. Also, after watching some of my coworkers pull their hair out for the last two days trying to open accounts and download videos to their blogs, I decided to avoid the optional exercise altogether.

As far as application of this technology to the library website is concerned, maybe we could have a contest to create a commercial to promote the library system. The creations could be downloaded onto our website and then judged for originality, humor, or other factors and the winners could be given special recognition on the website. Perhaps we could even get some of the TV stations to air the winners as public service announcements.

Week 8, Post 19

This is the first time I have used Zoho Writer. 

It looks like it has some pretty cool features. 

I like the idea that a program like this is available without purchasing software. 

For students and those on limited incomes, this is a great equalizer.

I am having fun playing with all the colors and fonts.

These features would be useful in making signs, party invitations, etc. 

I would probably not type a business letter in orange, but it would be great for a fall party.

It is also easy to change font sizes if you need a caption or headline.

 I have used Microsoft Word many times, but I like Zoho, too.

It is intuitive and easy to use.

I like Zoho very much and would consider using it it in the future.

 

Week 8, #18 Social Networking

I was somewhat familiar with Myspace before this exercise, but I am not really interested in this type of communication. My idea of social networking is lunch with a couple of friends or a potluck supper with the church ladies. I think it is a generational thing to a great extent. I look at my daughter-in-law's Myspace page occasionally. I might be interested at some point in a group that addresses a particular health concern or personal interest, such as those available on Ning, but right now I just don't have time for that sort of thing. Also, I think I am a very private person and the idea of putting personal information out there for everyone to see just goes against my nature. In looking at Myspace, I found some 18 year old girls who were using the site as a way to meet guys, which just blows my mind. They obviously don't realize how much danger they are in. I am glad my children are adults and are responsible enough to be cautious. I know that if I ever decide to participate in a site of this kind, the information posted will be very general in nature.

Week 7, #17 Technology

I think technology is wonderful! There are so many things we can do that were impossible a few years ago. I sometimes worry, however, about our vulnerability as individuals and as a society. So much of what we do depends upon computers and internet access, and we must be vigilant to safeguard personal information to discourage identity theft and protect our personal privacy. However, I believe that an even greater danger exists for society as a whole. As we have seen several times, virus attacks can bring major portions of the internet to a standstill. Banking transactions, airline travel, utility services, government, and other vital portions of our infrastructure, rely increasingly on internet transactions. The more dependant we become upon computers, the greater the impact such attacks may have. It is frightening to think that a highly intelligent, but mentally imbalanced terrorist sitting at a PC in a third world country could bring society to a standstill with a few strokes of a keyboard.

Week7, #16 Wikis

I think this idea is great for sharing ideas and general information, but is not a good source for factual information. If accuracy of information is critical to the project you are researching, you should not rely on Wikipedia or other similar sites. I experimented with the ihcpl wiki and added to the favorite board games and favorite books pages. This is a fun way to share information about things like this. I have used Wikipedia for general information on subjects of interest, but would verify information elsewhere if the accuracy was critical.

Library 2.0 continued

I didn't have time last week to read and comment on the Wikipedia article on Library 2.0 last week, so I wanted to revisit that issue today. The article gave some good information about the origin of the term and about Michael Casey's intent in coining the phrase. His ideas about involving library users and requesting feedback from them when evaluating and updating services are the essence of what we should do and of what HCPL is trying to do. Too many times, changes are made based upon the opinions of a few library administrators, or based upon what other library systems are doing. What Library 2.0 encourages us to do is to find out what our library users need and want, and to attempt to meet those needs. HCPL has made a great effort to do this in recent years with our comment cards, focus groups, and customer surveys. I believe we are on the right track to providing excellent customer service.

Week 6, #15 - Library 2.0

Rick Anderson's article, "Away from the Icebergs" aptly summarizes many of the issues facing libraries today. I am not convinced that every library is experiencing the declines in circulation that are occurring in his library, but there is no doubt that libraries are changing, and must adapt. Harris County's circulation still constitutes a major part of our business, but I do agree that it is reasonable and necessary for the make-up of the collection to change in response to the internet resources available today. I think, however, that we must remember that many people are not comfortable with technology and still want books. We must also remember what happens when the computers fail, as they inevitably will do. Mr. Anderson makes a valid point when he states that we rely too much on user education. Making databases and websites simple and intuitive should be the goal, making training unnecessary in most cases. This will become less of an issue as our society becomes more computer literate.

Dr. Wendy Schultz expresses her vision of libraries, past, present, and future in "To a Temporary Place in Time...." She expounds upon all the technological innovations and advances that have occurred or could occur in the future, but surprisingly comes back to a vision very similar to the traditional library of the past. I believe that it is important and even necessary to keep up with technology, but with all the emphasis on the future, we cannot forget that the library has an important place in the community. It is up to us to find a way to remain relevant and vital in our communities. Library 2.0 is an attempt to keep the best parts of the traditional library system, but to also move into the future and embrace it.

Week 6, #14, Technorati

I have been playing around with Technorati searching as suggested in the assignment. When I searched for "library 2.0" under keyword search, exact phrase, I found 1,034 hits for the search. When I did a tag search for the same phrase, I found 484 hits. The blog directory search yielded only 145 hits. Obviously, the keyword search results in the most information being found, as would be expected. There are many posts which have the phrase somewhere in the article, but it is not used as the tag or blog name.



Under the popular search, I could see that it is possible to search for the most popular music, videos, games, DVDs, news, or blogs. This option yields some interesting results, especially in the news section. It looks like this would be a very quick and easy way to zero in on the most important news stories of the day

Week 6, #13, Del.icio.us

I have been looking around on the del.icio.us site today, and can see a lot of potential for reference use. I added an entry for www.preciousmoments.com, using "collectibles" and "gifts" for tags. Since there is no category for this, the tags are still at the bottom of the list under unbundled tags at the moment. We will create a category for this later. One of the librarians told me that she really likes being able to access her delicious account when she works at another branch. Since I am not usually doing reference, I won't use this as much, but it is nice to know it is there. I can see why it is a valuable tool for sharing bookmarks with everyone in the system.

Week 5, Library Elf

My Library Elf account has been created. I'm not sure I need this, since our system does a good job, and I usually keep up with things pretty well. However, it is nice to know it is available, and the information appears to be displayed on a nicer format than Horizon. It is amazing what we can do on the internet these days. Hurray! I've caught up with what I missed on vacation last week, and finished this week's assignments, too! I wasn't sure I would make it!

Week 5, Library Thing

I have now completed the registration for Library Thing, and added 8 books to the list. This looks like it will be a pretty nice way to keep track of books I have read. It was very easy to use. I haven't tried to use the tags yet, but I think dividing up the listings by series or subject will make it easier to keep track of things. I didn't know that anything like this was available.

Week 5, AVATAR

I went into Yahoo Avatars and created my "Library Lady" avatar. She has been posted on my blog, in an appropriate library setting. I like her outfit, but I would NEVER work in those shoes. OUCH!

Week 4, Tasks 8 & 9, Part 2, RSS Feeds

I think I have finally finished with the activities for this week's assignments. I have been looking for library paraprofessional blogs on the search engines, but have not yet found any valuable links. I don't think there is much available in this field that I hadn't already found. I will work on this again as time permits. I like the functioning of Feedster and Topix better than Syndic8. Technorati is also nice to use, but did not produce as many hits as the first two.

Week 4, Posts #8 and #9 RSS Feeds on Bloglines

After being on vacation last week, I am finally trying to catch up with the program. On Saturday I created my Bloglines account and loaded 11 feeds from the list on the site. It will be fun to have explore some of these when I have more time. Today (Thursday) I added feeds for 6 library blogs that I like to read sometimes. I have had these sites written down on a slip of paper, which stays on the computer at the circulation desk. It will be nice to be able to access these through Bloglines, so the paper copy is no longer necessary.

Jason and Harry, Cropped and Flipped

Jason and Harry, Cropped and Flipped
Originally uploaded by m.risinger

This is the same picture, but we cropped and flipped it. Harry is now meowing backwards!

Week 3, Photo Editing

JASON AND HARRY
Originally uploaded by m.risinger

This is my son, Jason, holding the boss cat, Harry (named for his long hair, not for the library computer system). This is the original picture, which I took with my digital camera.

Week 3, Flickr Mashups

I haven't had a lot of time to play with these, but have looked at a few of them. I think Colr Pickr is fun to play with, but it doesn't really look very useful. I don't know what I would do with 8 or 10 pictures of red doorknobs. Maybe it is just great stress relief, and we can all use some of that. Findr looks like it has the potential to be useful for kids doing school reports, who need pictures of various things. Trippermap could also have great applications in the classroom. I'll have to share this one with my daughter-in-law, who is studying to be a Social Studies teacher.

Week 3, Flickr Photo - Crepe Myrtle

Crepe Myrtle
Originally uploaded by m.risinger

This is the beautiful crepe myrtle outside our library. As you can see, I have successfully downloaded this, but only with a LOT of help from a more tech-savvy supervisor. A lot more explanation on this process would have been VERY helpful.

Week 2, Task 4 - Internet Safety

There is a lot of good information here, and it will take some time to digest it all. I think the most important advice is to post only what you want to share with the world. Once a photo or comment is made, it is impossible to retrieve it. This information is especially timely for those with children or teens still at home. Although my children are adults, and very savvy about internet use, the dangers are very real. I find myself just not accessing certain sites or offers just because I want to guard my personal email address and other information. Many free coupon offers and other sites of this nature are just smoke screens for obtaining emails to sell to spammers and other businesses.

Getting Started

This is a new experience for me, but it is going to be fun learning some new things. In terms of technology, I am most comfortable with the things that are familiar to me. It is easy to stay where I am comfortable unless there is a good reason to learn something new. However, once I get started on a new learning experience, I always enjoy the process. This program is just the incentive I need to get me started.