#24 My thoughts

Well, it's been quite a journey through technology! I'm not sure I really believed that I would complete the whole thing. I can't say that I understand (or remember) everything I did, but as several of us have discussed, at least we've been exposed to it. Because of this, I have had several ideas that will help be accomplish some of my goals for 2008. There are so many opportunities to share with others through blogs, wikis, etc. --they seem almost endless! Because I have benefited from other libraries who use these technologies, I want to put them to use for us so that others can benefit from what we have done. I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to Jerianne for putting this all together and keeping us motivated all along the way. I also want to thank Laurel for supporting us and to the Friends for providing the MP3 incentives. I also want to say thank you to all the staff who participated and supported their co-workers in their endeavors to accomplish what for some of us was way out of our comfort zone. If you haven't finished or even started, I want to encourage you to take that leap into the unknown. I can't wait to see what great things come out of this!

#23 Podcasts, Smodcasts

After listening to an introduction to podcasting by Jason Rhode from NIU, I took a look at Podcast.net. The type of presentation he did I think could be used for online staff training (then you wouldn't have to look at someone like me!). I first went to entertainment and listened to an 1938 broadcast of the Lone Ranger--"The Abilene Horse Thieves"--pretty cool to listen to an original broadcase that's almost 70 years old! It was very easy to search the sites and listen to just about anything I could possibly want to listen to. I decided to type in "library" and got quite a lengthy list of choices. I picked one called "Engaging youth on their own terms: instant messaging & gaming in libraries" by SirsiDynix Institute. I guess my computer was tired because it never fully downloaded. I have marked it to go back and listen to because I would like to hear what they have to say since this has been a hot topic among libraries lately. I have seen podcasts on the NPR website and they frequently mention it on their broadcasts daily.

#22 MyLibraryDV and R.E.A.D.S.

Interesting that this should be the next exercise. When we first got the free trial for MyLibraryDV I "checked out" several old movies. It worked fairly well, but it was slightly distorted. I don't know if it's my computer (it is slightly old and slow) or what. I did try downloading it to my computer at work, but still had the same problem. I have talked with several people who looked at some of the how to films that worked quite well. Hum, I'm still not wild about watching a movie on my computer screen though.

I have downloaded a few audios to my computer, but I'm not much of an audiobook person--I tend to prefer print books. I guess I'm just more visual. Since I don't have an MP3 player, only an iPod, I don't have a way to take it with me when I walk or work out at the gym. I do know that we have one of the highest usage rates in the state for R.E.A.D.S. --and how cool is that?!

#21 You Too Can YouTube

YouTube has lots of choices, but I decided since part of our assignment was to see what we might could use for library projects I put in "library" and got lots of choices. The sight seems quite easy to use and it was simple enough to search. I chose the "UNT Libraries' portal to Texas History" to look at because I have always wanted to create some form of digitized historical photographs that could be searched and looked out without having to dig through them in the Historical Research room. This might also be a good tool for online training. We could produce video clips on different segments that we want to train staff on. I am going to try to put the clip on my blog--we'll see how it goes!
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#20 Discovering Other Web 2.0 Tools

In looking at the award winners, I went to the organization category. I had used google docs before so I chose zoho to play around with. I liked the fact that most of the formatting tools were right there on the toolbar--very easy to find the tools you needed without a lot of menus. I added a template for a booklet and played around with it thinking it might be a good tool to use for the staff directory. I think this might work--not really sure though. I wasn't quite sure how to get back to things I created--maybe I was just too tired! I plan to go back and work with the staff directory idea and see if it would work although the privacy issue might be a problem. I looked at the spreadsheets and planner. This particular site got the best ratings. It's really an interesting process. I am amazed at how bright these folks are that created all this. My mind just doesn't work that way. I'm interested to see what others picked and their thoughts on it. So much to learn and so little time!

#19 Social Networking

I took a look at the different library "spaces" and enjoyed finding out how they used this new technology. The online instant messaging reference "librarian" was quite interesting and seemed to be quite popular among all the libraries. Browsing from any screen, book reviews, and even discussion areas seem to be quite the standard. I was a little disappointed with the look--there wasn't much flexibility to provide a more unique look. They all had that "canned" look. I think it might be fun to begin with maybe some book discussion lists and the online reference (available during certain hours--not 24 hours to start with).

I was surprised at all the different venues that were available--everything from religion to music to books and movies--just about any subject you want to explore. I never realized that there were comparable networks for different age groups. I decided to try the Eons site (for over 50!). It was easy to sign up, although I have to say I was a little uncomfortable putting in much personal information. I know there are security measures in place, but I didn't fill in a lot of personal information. I'm not sure how many "friends" I will have, but I was interested in some of the other features like the health articles and in particular the brain games. It sounds like a lot of fun. I'll keep you posted.

#18 Web-Based Apps Increase Productivity

Well, this is my first attempt at one of the web-based applications--Google Docs. It seems to be set up much like Microsoft Word. I like the idea of creating a document or spreadsheet that can be shared with others no matter what "version" anyone has or program. You also don't have to know HTML or try to create a PDF version to send, read or edit. You don't have as many options as you do in other specific programs--your fonts are limited, but many of the other features are the same. I think this might be good to use for LINK articles--especially if we start producing it online. I can also see it being very valuable for presentations so that you don't have to make sure that it works on a specific computer or load it on a flash drive, etc. I think I'll try out a presentation next. I'll be interested in seeing what kind of options are available there.

Well, I tried to post the above doc from Google Docs, but I didn't have much success. I changed my blog settings, but couldn't put in Blogspot.com as the blog provider. I don't know if that's the problem or not. Oh, well. I'll keep trying!

#17 Creating the LPLS Staff Wiki

Mission accomplished! Maybe not the best I've ever done, but sitting at home trying to recreate the whole memorial process in my mind was a challenge. I may have to edit it when I get back to work 'cause I'm sure I forgot something! This is such a great idea and what better way to involve the whole staff in the process. It sure beats one or two people doing the whole thing. I was very impressed with the processes that have already been posted. They are well thought out and easy to follow. Once the whole manual is posted, it will be invaluable in searching quickly locating information. As a process is changed or becomes obsolete it can be updated quickly and easily. For the ones of us that don't use some of these procedures on a daily basis, it will be a great way to refresh our failing memories!

I would like to pursue the idea of including a calendar for everyone to access that would show library closings, rotation schedules, leave time, paydays, staff and supervisor meetings. This would be easily accessed from home or anywhere by any staff. I would also like to get the policy manual and job descriptions there as well as I get them redone and approved by the Library Board. Wow, such exciting possibilities are awaiting us! Thanks to you, Jerianne, for putting all this together and to you, Laurel, for giving us the opportunity to learn. Thanks to all those who have participated in the process--we have such an extraordinary staff. I'm proud to be your co-worker.

#16 Wikis

Well, I now know where the term "wiki" came from--never dreamed it was Hawaiian! I'm still not sure how I feel about them. I liked the video clip by Common Craft and can see that wikis can be easily managed and edited by more than just a select few. I think about all the many "meetings" that staff often have to participate in (with not enough time in the day) and wikis or blogs for that matter could take the place of all those meetings. The ability to edit material through the wikis is a real benefit over the blog and could save countless hours and emails (to say nothing of the trees!). I have to say though that I'm not sure how I feel about everyone being able to change the content (if it's set up that way) and in the case of Wikopedia--I wonder about the accuracy of the content.

As I looked at the different library wikis--St. Joseph County Public Library and the Library Instruction Wiki --I had lots of ideas whirling through my head. I think of all the many revisions and copies printed (and recycled) over the past two years as I have worked on revising the policy manual and job descriptions. Whew! A wiki would have been so much easier--and available for all staff to view. It would have also been much easier for supervisors and other staff to review and provide input on updating their job descriptions. But since I'm nowhere near finished, I may try this out!

I have made a note of the Memphis Public Library's Staff Development wiki that has a wealth of information and ideas that I would like to try out. They post their computer classes with PDFs of the handouts and online registration, a section on public internet computers, staff training opportunities and much more. I had an idea that we might want to try out with our staff training and orientation that we have been trying to develop and implement over the past several years. It may be that we can create an online training that staff (new and established) could participate in and complete by writing up something to show that they have completed the course--like distance learning. Hum--something else to think about!

There are so many possibilities and so little time--what to do?!?!? Guess I'd better get started!

#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

I chose to look at “Into a new world of librarianship”, “To more powerful ways to cooperate” and “To better bibliographic services” to get different perspectives on Library 2.0. Michael Stephens in his “Into a new world of librarianship” talks about how librarians need to use Librarian 2.0 to plan for their users by finding new technologies or new materials their users need. They need to embrace Web 2.0 tools to reach their users wherever they are and they need to understand that the future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content. I think he sums it up best when he says, “Librarian 2.0 also listens to staff and users when planning, tells the stories of successes and failures, learns from both, celebrates those successes, allows staff time to play and learn, and never stops dreaming about the best library services.”

In “To more powerful ways to cooperate” Chip Nilges, Vice President of OCLC, states that Web 2.0 really confirms OCLC’s mission and vision of cataloging cooperative, resource sharing network, and virtual reference cooperative. By providing services such as tagging, list creation and sharing, citation management and personal cataloging libraries can collaborate in new and powerful ways.

John J. Riemer (UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center) in his article, “To better bibliographic services,” discusses a number of ways library services can and should change. By using various web tools, libraries can broaden relevance ranking, adopt Web features by using Amazon and Google features, expand delivery by incorporating User-initiated services like renewal, recalls, and interlibrary loan requests, and streamline metadata creation by collaborating on cataloging. These tools give libraries a competitive advantage and will support the bibliographic services of the future.

It’s an exciting time for libraries, but I think we need to be cautious in using these new tools by doing our homework. We need to take into consideration the stability, dependability and reputation of these new resources as with any website.

#14 Explore Technorati

Okay, I have to say there’s a lot of information on Technorati. I’m not sure I totally understand it all, but I gave it a whirl. I tried searching for Learning 2.0 by keyword in all blogs and had 6,742 results—a bit daunting! When I search for it by tags, I got 664 posts. In searching in the blog directory, I got 772 blogs that talked about Learning 2.0. Whew! There are some interesting blogs out there. I did watch the video from Charlotte Mecklenberg County announcing their grand prize winner. I don’t know that I want to look through all that much all the time, but at least I know it’s available and can do some minimal searching. I wonder about searching for book reviews—depending on the source, it could be quite helpful. There is so much out there to learn—I guess we can’t expect to grasp it all on the first go ‘round.

#13 Tagging and discover a Del.icio.us

The concept of tagging is easy for me to understand because it shares many similarities with cataloging in the library world. The idea of creating “tags” or “subject headings” where anyone can find information has been around for a long time. When carrying this “cataloging” tool over into the computer world, the idea of compiling multiple websites in one place where you or anyone else can search them is like putting as many subject headings in a card catalog or file without taking up a lot of space. The Del.icio.us site is easy to use and I really liked the video clip and tutorial.

#12 Roll Your Own Search Engine

Very interesting concept. I want to spend a little more time looking for out of print/hard-to-find books, but of course, I couldn't come up with a single title while I was doing this. I think I will start a list when I'm looking for specific titles and try again. I had fun creating my own searchroll for knitting patterns. But so far, I have only gotten one site put in because I got so engrossed in looking at the first site I found, I had to stop so I could finish my assignment. I plan to go back and add more. For all those knitters out there, I found a neat website--check it out at www.knittingpatterncentral.com.

I tried to add the searchroll to my blog, but I must have done something wrong. Guess I got in too much of a hurry. I think I'll go back later and try again. It sounds like a cool idea. What a wealth of information all in one place!

#11 A Thing About LibraryThing

Wow! I can't believe I actually did this one and it worked. I really like this site. There is so much to do. I am part of a book discussion group at our church and this is a great way to post our new list. This was an easy site to use--especially after going through the short (and easy) tutorial. This could be used with all our many book discussion groups through the library since you can rate books and write reviews. I think this would be a great thing to try on our website--kind of a "staff pick" or "patron pick". I want to do some more exploring--let's see, who said it would only take an average of 30 minutes for these sessions?!?! I hope that I will have the discipline and opportunities to go back an implement some of the many ideas that I've had as I have learned some of these new technological "toys".

#10 Image Generators

It just doesn't seem right to have so much fun while you're working! I reallly enjoyed "playing" with all the different possibilities that I found. I found some great sites where I can create the library calendar that I want to use for the annual report. There are so many things I want to tray---and so little time! I really had fun creating a M&M librarian at http://www.becomeanmm.com/.

After a good 30 minutes, I still hadn't gotten half way through the comic sign makers! I did create a couple. Don't you just love all this creative technology! I have to start working on them a little earlier in the evening. Check this out at www.ComicStripGenerator.com.

#9 Finding Feeds

Well, my first try was not successful since Feedster is temporarily down. Topix.net was interesting since you can narrow your searching to local news quite easily. I was able to look up several recent local events that I wanted more information on. Although, since I get the Murfreesboro Post online each day by email, I’m not sure how often I would use it. I didn’t have as much luck in locating book reviews, but maybe I was just too tired to look in the right place! Syndic8.com was not my favorite—it seemed to be more confusing than the others, but I plan to go back and give it another shot. I found a little more on Technorati. I was able to find some great knitting patterns that I want to try out. I tried to use the Technorati tutorial but it kept going to a blog that was all in German (I think it was German—it certainly wasn’t English!).

I think I really need to go back over most of this whole concept because I feel like I’m missing a piece to the puzzle. I understand the idea of having updated information all in one place—I understood Bloglines (I think) and have several different things constantly coming through, but these other sites were not as easy to maneuver. I have seen the RSS feed logo on several sites that I visit regularly, so I think I just have to keep playing around with this particular area of the “24 things”.

I have to say this has been a really interesting project to work through. I have definitely expanded my horizons in the technology field. I think it will be something that I have to constantly continue to explore and will probably never fully grasp.

#8 RSS Feeds

Thank goodness for tutorials! I really liked the one from Nashville Public and would like to find out how they use RSS feeds for overdues, holds and new books. I would love to be able to have patrons contact to Linebaugh for new items.
The other tutorial had more detail and I really liked the way they went step by step plus gave you some additional options. I will probably go back through it another time.

I was able to create account easily with Bloglines and I subscribed to several interesting feeds on new books, movies ... even knitting! I even get daily quotes!

"The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed." C. S. Lewis

#5 Flickr

Flickr is one of those sites that I could spend hours playing with (literally). I'm still a little fuzzy on some of the areas like color picker and those types of things. I guess the more I use it, the easier it gets. I really had fun creating the posters and trading cards. I have always wanted to get into scrapbooking but never took the time (or expense). After surfing around in Flickr, I am going to work on putting my "Girls' Week in Florida" trip photos in a set and create some "online albums" that I can share with my friends! Someone is really on their toes! (Aren't you glad librarians don't look like this anymore! (Did they ever really look like that?!?!)

#7 Flickr & the Archives

I love browsing through the historical images on the Nashville Library and TeVA sites. I especially liked the postcards on the TeVA site. It makes me want to get the library's photos done! At one point several years ago, we started pursuing that with the Gore Center when Jim Neal was still there, but we never quite got it headed in the right direction. This would be a great asset to offer to the community to have the old photographs accessible through our website. We have some photos that are a one of a kind. This might be something we want to look as a "90 day" project!

#6 Mashups are what?!

I'm not sure I totally understand what mashups are, but I do know that they are totally cool! I really enjoyed creating posters and trading cards with the motivational posters and trading card sites. I can't wait to email them to my friends to bring back some great memories! My only problem at this point is trying to be creative and put the right words together. I really like being able to create such specialized posters, but I do wish I had more control over the fonts. I think this will be a great tool in putting together some great promotional posters for the library!

#4 Online databases

In looking over the many online databases that Linebaugh has to offer, I first looked at the p4A Antiques Reference database where I looked up several pieces of furniture that I owned. I enjoyed looking at the photos of the items, but didn't have much success in locating any of the pieces that I owned. I ended up going to the Biography Resource Center to see if I could locate a brief biography of Black Elk, a Lakota Sioux medicine man. Since my oldest daughter has been going on mission trips to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for seven years now and plans to move there in the spring, a friend recommended she read the book Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt, Nebraska's poet laureate (1931). Nicholas Black Elk experienced the Battle of Little Big Horn as a teenager, Custer's last stand, witnessed Wounded Knee and was part of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. He became a Roman Catholic, but never let go of the "great vision" that he had at age nine while dealing with a life-threatening illness.

I found the database to be easy to use, with access to as little or as much information as I cared to read. This would be extremely helpful in helping students with reports or anyone just wanting to find information about someone--from birth/death dates to their writings/philosophies, etc.

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

In listening to the presentation on 7 1/2 habits of highly successful lifelong learners, I found several of the habits quite easy to follow--especially the last 1/2 step PLAY!! I love to learn new ways to express myself creatively and new technology offers so many choices. Where do I begin?! I learn best by having a problem or project to work on. Typically, that's how I learn new computer programs. It may take me longer to get there, but you can bet I've hit every button I can find to see what it will do before I'm done. So I can really combine habits 3 and 6 together as probably my easiest. The hardest one might be habit 4 since I don't always remember how I did something and can't repeat the process, but I'll keep trying! The best part of all this is recognizing that we should never give up on learning--it should be a "lifelong" goal!

Staff Development Day

LPLS Has The Best Staff In the World!!

What a fantastic day this has been. I'm not sure when I have been so energized. I came away from our Staff Development Day ready to face the world and give it everything I've got to make LPLS the best library system ever--anywhere! We have such an incredible staff--all willing to pitch in and do what they can to make things work like a well oiled machine. I'm so excited to see what happens over the next 90 days. With Barb's guidance and Laurel's leadership and a staff who will DO (not try!) what it takes, who knows how far we'll go. And let's not forget our supportive Library Board, Foundation and great group of Friends! But we can't forget those fabulous patrons--what would we do without them?!