Soma On A Stick

Thing #25--Bloggers' Toolkit

2009-02-11T14:42:00.002-06:00

I spent about an hour on this "thing" without a whole lot to show for it. I added an RSS Subscribe gadget to my blog, because I want to make it easy to for people to read updates. While I'm on the topic of RSS, I must say I'm astounded at the number of people (librarians and otherwise) who don't use RSS. I've become somewhat of an RSS junkie.

I had added a Meebo widget to my blog during the first 23 Things and I really love that, so I'm letting that count as my widget.

While I love Flickr and other online photo sharing sights, I didn't feel they were appropriate for this blog.

I tried adding the worldcat.org gadget, but it didn't fit nicely in my side bar and it got lost at the bottom of the page. I intend to keep working on this.

I also intend to set up the ability to blog from my mobile device. I love my Palm Centro and if I can get this to work I can blog from anywhere!

Thing #24--Refresh Your Blog

2009-01-29T19:16:00.002-06:00

I refreshed my blog about a week ago, but am just getting around to writing about it! I opted out of using an avatar, I'm just not an avatar person. I prefer real people to fake ones any day.

So, although I had the best intentions to keep blogging when the first round of 23 Things was done, I haven't blogged a word until now. I do, however, follow several blogs using the Bloglines feed reader. Some of my best technology tips over the last year have come from Lifehacker. My goal when I'm done writing this post is to add all of the NLLN blogs to my feed reader so I can keep track of what everybody else is doing.

Another goal I have for this round is to add blog entries that aren't "things" but reflect on other aspects of librarianship that I am currently working on.

I'm looking forward to more learning and reading what others are learning!

Thing #22 & 23 On A Stick--Staying Current & FInal Thoughts

2008-04-07T14:13:00.003-05:00

I do want to stay current with new technologies. I think if I can keep up with reading my RSS feeds I'll do a pretty good job. During my participation in 23 Things I've added Lifehacker to my extensive list of RSS feeds. I also plan to continue participating in webinars and attend presentations whenever possible. Web 2.0 seems here to stay (until web 3.0 comes along)so I might as well embrace it.

This was a great learning opportunity and I can't believe how many of these tools I've incorporated into my personal and professional life. If you can believe it, I recently was a "Library 2.0" co-presenter at the MnPALS Reference User Group Work Day.

I think the best part about this program was actually USING these tools. I heard about them all the time and had vague ideas about what they were, but until I actually experimented with them and started reading blogs from other participants I hadn't really taken the time to think about how these tools could change my life. Occasionally I'd be an "old pro" at one of the "things", but I still enjoyed the activities and even had the chance to help out a few colleagues!

Thing #21 On A Stick--Other Social Networks

2008-04-04T09:44:00.002-05:00

First of all, the link to the article in Publisher's Weekly didn't work. I did log use Academic Search Premier to look for the article and think I found what I was supposed to read.

I joined Ning and added the NLLN 23 Things Group. I'm not sure if I'll like Ning. I'm already pretty heavily invested in Facebook and I don't want dozens of those types of accounts. The Ning environment seemed a lot like a course management tool (i.e. Blackboard, Moodle) and didn't really seem to have applications you could add. The problem here is that I've already figured out professional ways to use my Facebook account and I don't have a need to translate these uses to another environment. However, it is nice to know about Ning so I can keep it in the back of my for a possible future need.

I've looked at last.fm before and thought it was really cool, but I opted for membership in Pandora, which feeds you non-stop music based on artists that you like. You can rate songs thumbs up or thumbs down and Pandora takes that into consideration when generating your playlist. I've been using this for about 2 weeks now and I really love it. I always have it playing softly in the background while I work. Right now, I'm listening to Aerosmith!

Thing #20 On A Stick--Facebook & MySpace

2008-04-02T11:34:00.002-05:00

At one point I had accounts with both Facebook and MySpace. I opted to delete my MySpace account because it was just too easy for people I didn't know and didn't want to know to get information about me. I kept the Facebook account because it feels a bit more secure and because so many of my students use it.

I've joined several groups, and my co-workers and I have even created a few. For example, we've created groups for our work study workers. We use this to post discussion topics on the discussion board and carry on a work related dialog with our students. Also, we've found if we send our students a message on Facebook (such as, we have an emergency shift to fill) they receive the message faster and are more likely to respond to it than they are to an email.

Of course, my favorite Facebook application has nothing to do with work. I spend quite a bit of time at home logged into my account playing Scrabulous with all of my friends. I like to look at it as an exercise in vocabulary building.

I do also use the iRead application and photo sharing. I probably don't do as much with my account as most people, but it has become a standard part of my day.

Thing #19 On A Stick--Podcasts

2008-03-26T10:05:00.003-05:00

I've listened to quite a few podcasts previous to this, but never intentionally sought them out. I occasionally find a reference to a great podcast in some of the blogs I read, so I follow up and listen to them. I had never used a podcast directory before, which is really kind of sad, considering I'm supposed to be an expert on tools that help organize and locate information!

First I chose to listen to one of the local podcasts--MPR's Grammar Grater The most recent podcast was about the saying "moot point" and if you ever wanted to know the history of the saying and how it is misused in society today, this is the podcast for you. Since I am a former English teacher, I actually did enjoy the podcast and added Grammar Grater to my RSS Feeds.

Next, I tried searching Podcast.com. I tried a basic search using the key word "libraries" and found a podcast called "Quiet Library" which (I thought) was supposed to be comedy sketches about libraries. Turns out it is indeed comedy sketches, but not about libraries. Apparently they thought it would be funny to have the word library in their name, because everyone associates libraries with humor, right? I didn't find it all that humorous myself, but what do I know?

Anyway, this was an excellent learning experience for me and I'm glad to know about these podcast directories. I will add them to my del.icio.us account.!

Thing #18 On A Stick--YouTube

2008-03-20T13:45:00.003-05:00

I love YouTube and have recently started posting some of my own videos there so I can share them with friends and family. I usually keep my videos of my kids private so only people I invite can look at them. I do seem to have problems with the playback of my videos. Usually when I play them at work they are very jumpy and full of pauses. When I play them at home they work well. Other YouTube videos work fine at work, so I wonder if I need to play around with compressing my video size or something. I will embed one of my new favorites into my blog when I'm done writing this post (see the bottom of the blog).

At work, we've used YouTube videos to get students thinking about a topics and engage them in instruction sessions. I've seen some really great library videos and would like to make one at some point, but I want to make sure I master the process before I start putting the library out there!

Thing #17 On A Stick--ELM Productivity Tools

2008-03-20T13:11:00.002-05:00

While I love the resources that ELM provides, I've never really used the productivity features in these tools. I decided to explore the Page Composer feature of Academic Search Premier, because I use this database on a daily basis. I suppose the page composer would work if one had no access to anything else, but I found it clumsy and awkward. It works, but not very well and I wouldn't use it at work. Our students also have access to much better tools, so I wouldn't bother to teach it to them. Personally I'd prefer it if Ebsco spent some time improving some of their content and left the web authoring tools to people who are better equipped. I suppose this tool might be used more by public library patrons, whose needs and access issues are more diverse. I like the idea of sharing folders with articles with colleagues, but again, I think we've all developed ways for doing that that are less complicated. All that said, it was great idea to take some time to explore more features of the ELM databases just to know what is there.

Thing # 16 On A Stick--Student 2.0 Tools

2008-03-19T16:34:00.002-05:00

I've heard a lot of students talking about these tools, but haven't really checked them out myself. If more professors asked their students to utilize this tool, I wonder if we would get fewer frantic students the night before an assignment is due.

I especially liked that the Research Project Calculator provides resources for teachers. I think teaching the research process can be daunting, especially if it is not an area of expertise.

I also looked at several of the U of M's instructional sheets that accompany the research plan. Some of these appeared very helpful and others seemed to have so many details that I wonder if they would overwhelm more than they would help.

I tried using the RPC to create a plan for a presentation that I am working on. While I think the tool is great for undergraduates and those who maybe need a way of building structure into their lives, I'm pretty structured as it is and didn't find it terribly useful. I guess I've done my fair share of research and am pretty aware of how much time and effort is needed.

I do work with several writing instructors on a regular basis and will suggest that they check out this tool for use in their classes.

Thing #15 On A Stick--Online Gaming

2008-03-19T14:24:00.003-05:00

I'm afraid I'm going to sound like the stereotypical librarian, complete with bun and low on the nose eyeglasses on this entry.

I decided to look at Second Life because I've been hearing a lot about it lately and hadn't taken the time to see what all the fuss was about. First of all, I didn't find the video about Info Island helpful in the least. A "person" skating around a virtual world with some annoying music in the background only helps the viewer see what the virtual world looks like, it doesn't provide information about how the world functions and why on earth a non-virtual person would want to function in it! A big part of my problem is I've never been big into video games or roll playing games, so when the two morphed into this type of game, my interest level was ZERO! I have to say, I don't have enough time for my primary life, so I certainly don't need a Second Life.

Perhaps if I had taken the time to sign up for an account so I could more thoroughly explore Second Life, I would have developed a better appreciation for its potential. However, this is so far from my realm of interest that I really don't believe I'd become an enthusiastic adopter of this tool. I realize (and believe wholeheartedly) that we have to "put ourselves out there" and do things that we are uncertain about at times in order to reach our patrons. However, every person has to know his/her limits, and Second Life is mine. I would be so hopelessly miserable using this tool that I would be little use to anybody.

Finally, as I was exploring Second Life I came across the Marketplace. If my understanding is correct, people actually PAY MONEY to buy virtual products and real estate in this virtual world. You can earn a living in Second Life. There are so many REAL products that I need or want that I can't afford, so I can't imagine being inspired to buy virtual ones. If a person has so much money to throw around that he/she is investing in Second Life, perhaps a little philanthropy is in order.

As I sign off, I will put my finger to my lips to shush all you Second Life lovers out there booing me.

Library Thing Update

2008-03-14T13:02:00.002-05:00

Well, the wishlist importer DID NOT WORK. It added three completely unrelated books. We all know that libraries are more than just books. Oh well, it was just a thought.

Thing #14 On A Stick--Library Thing

2008-03-14T12:36:00.003-05:00

I was really excited about trying Library Thing, and ended up being a little disappointed. It seems Library Thing either does not work with or does not search for media items, and I was interested in creating a catalog for some DVDs. I did try searching for the DVDs in Amazon.com and adding them to my wishlist and uploading my wishlist to Library Thing. I got a message saying that it would take 30-50 minutes to process my request...an hour later I'm still waiting. I will keep you posted as to how this works.

I do like the idea of using Library Thing as a marketing tool for a smaller collection within your library. There has been some discussion among some of the librarians that I work with about using the RSS feature of Library Thing to advertise when new books arrive in the library. It could be incorporated into the website and let users know about recently added books.

As as switch from the ordinary, I can think of more professional uses for this tool than personal uses. I really don't want to take the time to catalog my personal materials. I know what I own and I know where it is, I don't need this tool. As for as the social networking aspect, a few months ago I added the "iRead" application to my Facebook account, so my friends on Facebook can see what I read and I can see what they read.

Thing #13 On A Stick--Online Productivity Tools

2008-02-29T18:54:00.002-06:00

I spent quite some time getting my iGoogle page set up, but now that it is done, I think I'm going to love it. To begin with, I've rolled all of my email accounts into my GMail, then put the email, calendar, etc. into my iGoogle. I also added the Meebo gadget to my iGoogle, then decided to embed a Meebo widget into my blog so all of my fans out there can IM me when I'm online. This is all to get my work life organized, then I added a Flickr gadget, a Netflix gadget, a del.icio.us gadget...all of the wonderful Web 2.0 tools that we are using for "23 Things" seem to have a gadget you can use to customize your iGoogle page. I LOVE IT. I don't know how productive I've been so far, but once I actually get to using it, I'll be the most productive person around!

Rather than trying one of the "To Do List" programs suggested by the 23 things people I've added the "To Do List" gadget for my iGoogle page. It sure beats the heck out of sticky notes stuck all over my paper planner.

A note on calendars...I love the Google Calendar, but I still need a paper planner to haul all over the place with me so I can write down an appointment any place, any time. Plus I like having a hard copy to page through when I'm going through the evaluation process to remind me of all the meetings, conferences, and projects that I've worked on. I think I'll eventually find this a bit redundant, but I just can't get rid of the paper copy yet.

Thing #12 On A Stick--Do You Digg?

2008-02-29T14:59:00.002-06:00

I hate to be a stick in the mud (no pun intended), but I found this "thing" AWFUL! While watching the demos, I kept thinking "what an enormous waste of time!" I really can't imagine using these tools at all. First of all, I prefer to get my news from editors and journalists who are trained in their field and know a thing or two about news. All of the recently added and popular news items on Mixx, Digg, and Reddit were absolutely nonsense and Reddit was visually unappealing as well. Newsvine looked like it might have some potential but by the time I got there I was put off by the whole idea.

I was struck by the idea that I spend a good deal of my time teaching students to properly evaluate websites for authority and accuracy. Judging from the recommended news stories and websites on these pages, I am failing miserably and so are my colleagues.

Maybe I'm just stupid and don't get the point, but at this moment in time I have no intention of using one of these tools for my personal or professional use.

Thing #11 On A Stick--del.icio.us

2008-02-22T15:25:00.003-06:00

I've been using del.icio.us since November, but until now I had never really explored the social networking aspect of it. As I've stated before, I have multiple work stations at work, plus my home computer and I was constantly frustrated because I couldn't remember the name of a website or a URL when I was at one computer, knowing that I had bookmarked it on another computer. del.icio.us solved all of my problems! I did add the bookmarklets to the computers I use most frequently and it has been smooth sailing from there!

Because I had not explored the social networking side of del.icio.us, I didn't understand the advantages of tags over folders. I'm a pretty linear thinker who likes to organize and I was a bit frustrated with the messiness of tags. I've made attempts to organize the tags into bundles, but I don't really like that either. Now that I've watched the video and explored some of the tags other people have assigned to my links and then other websites associated with those tags, I get the point. I still think my links page looks messy, but I get the point. However,I do think tags are kind of a free-for-all and the tags I assign are not going to be terribly helpful to many people. For example, I'll assign the tag "reference" to links that I think I might be helpful for answering questions at the reference desk. This tag is only going to be helpful to me. I doubt very seriously that most people searching this tag are going to be thrilled to find Library of American Civilization Titles - Quinnipiac University but this linked list of Library of American Civilization Titles that have been digitized is valuable to me. However, I guess the majority of the world isn't thrilled with LC Subject Headings and tagging makes more sense to them, even if it is less organized. You can take the librarian out of the library, but he/she will still want to organize!

Thing #10 On A Stick--Wikis

2008-02-22T14:00:00.002-06:00

I enjoyed the Common Craft video. They make things so simple a baby could understand it. I added a comment to the comments page of the "23 Things" wiki, but since it concerns a practical way to use wikis professionally, I thought I'd post it here as well.

One of my duties is supervising circulation & ILL at an academic library. We have been talking about putting our student worker manual into wiki format so that it can be easily edited. Policies change, software is updated, services are added and each summer the circulation manager spends time updating and printing the manual and putting it in a three ring binder. We also usually have our summer students look through it for clarity & missed topics. If we turned it into a wiki we could immediately edit it and update it at the point of need without killing half a forest. It could be bookmarked on the circulation computers and when the students had a question, they could use it easily. The key here is for the circulation staff to become comfortable enough with wikis to create the wiki in the first place and to trust the students to update it and edit it accurately. I think we will give it a try this summer. Wish me luck!

Thing #9 On A Stick--Online Collaboration Tools

2008-02-19T19:38:00.002-06:00

Try as I might, I was not able to edit the Google doc of the Declaration of Independence. It kept telling me that I was not allowed. Then I created a Google Docs account and tried searching the documents, but none of my searches got me the document. I had a flash to how my students feel when the database they are searching yields no search results! However, I am now signed up for a Google Docs account, so that is the good news. I just received an email from a colleague at Metro State that I am working on a project with and we are going to set up a Google Doc for our presentation, so in no time at all I will be Google Doc-ing like crazy.

As noted in my last blog entry, I'm already signed up for and using the Zoho products. I didn't sign up to get invited to edit the document, but I'm a big fan of the Zoho product. I found it easy to use and really no different than most word processing programs.

I really like the idea of creating documents that aren't dependent on another person having the proper software installed on their computer. I do a lot of traveling, a fair amount of presenting outside of my institution, and I have at least 6 computers in my library that I work from regularly. At this point not all of the computers at my institution have been upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007, to say nothing of the people off campus that I communicate with. I really wish I had paid more attention and known about these products last summer when I spit out the big bucks for the new Microsoft Office Suite for my home computer!

2008-02-18T11:21:00.000-06:00

Flickr Update On A Stick

2008-02-18T11:09:00.002-06:00

Isaiah Snowboarding

While I can think of few professional applications for Flickr, I've become addicted to it for my personal photos and am considering an annual membership. I especially love mashing my pictures with the Mosaic Maker and creating a montage of pictures related to one another. I especially love doing this with pictures of my sons snowboarding when I start snapping at the top of the hill and finish at the bottom of the hill. I thought I'd show off some of the fun we had during the warm weather this weekend.

Thing #8 On A Stick--Share Your Creations

2008-02-18T10:40:00.002-06:00

I chose to use Zoho Show to create a slide show. I'm really interested in these online tools that allow one to work and present on any computer, especially since I've recently run into problems with people and places not having Microsoft Office 2007. How convenient to have a URL for your document or to embed the presentation in your blog. I chose to import one of my existing Power Point presentations to Zoho Show just to see how well it worked. The first presentation I tried was a complete disaster, with a bunch of my text not transferring. The second presentation lost some formatting, but it wasn't too bad. I edited some of the slides that looked REALLY bad due to the loss of formatting, and I think that the Zoho tool was quite simple and very similar to Power Point. Other than the loss of formatting, which could be overcome by starting from scratch, my main frustration was there seemed to be quite a bit of lag time between clicking or selecting something and the program actually applying it to the slide show. This is definitely something I will keep in mind for when I have to present on the road. I've embedded the slide show at the bottom of my blog for those of you interested in checking out my thrilling presentation on copyright. You might also want to check out Zoho's spreadsheet, word processing, wiki, and planner tools.

Thing #7 On A Stick--Web 2.0 Communication Tools

2008-02-10T15:26:00.000-06:00

Email Productivity
I found the information on email productivity interesting. I could see myself in some of the descriptions of people distracted by incoming email. I've been emailing since 1995 and I quickly became addicted. To this day, it is by far my favorite means of communication. I was interested in the idea of shutting off auto-check, but don't know if I can actually follow through on that. My voicemail is set up to send a message to my email when somebody leaves a voicemail, which I find very useful when I am out of my office (say, at the reference desk) but still able to follow up on these calls. This doesn't happen frequently, but I've gotten messages from the school nurse telling me to come get a sick kid, so it could be not so good to delay that message for an hour. While this is an example of my personal life infringing on my work life, who hasn't been there? I have vivid memories of lying on a cot in the nurse's office for an interminable length of time because the school could not reach my parents. With all of the communication tools at our finger tips today, there just is no reason for that! Also, I'm pretty good at discerning from the subject line if I need to read an email right away or if it can wait. I do "batch read" most of my messages, but I frequently drop what I'm doing if a message comes across that seems important.
Instant Messaging
First off, I got a message that the video we were supposed to watch is no longer available.

We started IM reference in our library about 2 years ago. Although I once used IM alot, in recent years I had really gotten away from it and I had never used it for anything other than fun. The first time I got an IM reference question I got sweaty palms and my heart rate tripled. Since then I've mostly been able to handle it. However, the timing of this "thing" was pretty serendipitous, as I had a near nervous break down with IM reference on Friday. I was dealing with 2 IM reference questions and a phone call at the same time. To make matters worse, people were milling around like they wanted to (gasp) ask me a question in person and were just waiting for me to look a little less frazzled. Luckily another librarian came by and I hijacked her into saving me! Most IM questions are not as involved as in-person questions. The majority of the ones I deal with involve problems with accessing the databases off campus or the need for a password. As the article indicated, there have been a few times when I've had to tell students that we have a great print source on their topic and they will need to come to the library, but at least they know before they visit that they will be satisfied with the trip.

Our library uses Meebo to provide IM reference. Personally, I have Trillian loaded on both my work and home computers. Students rarely IM me personally, although they have my contact information. I do, however, communicate with other librarians in my building using IM. For reasons I can't explain, I hate using the phone, so it is nice to IM somebody and ask them a quick question or ask if I can bop up to their office for a longer discussion.

Text Messaging
I don't text because I'm cheap and I don't want to pay for the extra service. Occasionally my sister or my neighbor will text me and I will text back and pay a few cents for a text, but I don't need to add to my monthly expenses on a regular basis. I'm not at all quick, but I am getting better, as basic texting skills are needed just to program a number into my phone. With the amount of texting that students do, I can see why there is a temptation for librarians to enter this sphere, but how much information can you give in 160 characters or less? I'd hate to think we were dumbing down our profession that much.

Web Conferencing
I think web conferencing is both a blessing and a curse. As someone who obtained my MLS via a distance ed. program, this type of communication was a great facilitator. The ability to connect people far and wide around a common goal or purpose is almost Utopian. UNTIL you actually sit through one of these sessions. The vast majority of them are enough to kill you with boredom. While the technology is great, most leaders and teachers have not yet figured out how to successfully translate a live experience into an online environment. I have used Adobe Connect to participate in conference calls for some working groups that I am on, and this seems to work pretty well. The key seems to be active participation by all group members, not a lecture delivered by one and listened to (or snored through) by the rest.
I have signed up to participate in a Minitex Webinar in a week, so I'll check back in to let you know what I think!

Thing #6 On A Stick--Online Image Generators

2008-02-10T12:57:00.000-06:00

Oooo, this was fun. First I made my trading card, then I played around with the mosaic creator. I keep thinking about how useful some of these tools could be for our marketing committee as they create brochures and signs for events in our library. Also, the tools might give a snazzy zip to some of our help guides. The trading cards are cool, and I'm reminded of how a few years ago we created posters of ourselves that we plastered in the buildings that housed our liaison departments so majors in those departments would have no doubt about who they should contact for their information needs. I wonder if the trading cards might function similarly, although I have a hard time imagining college students going gaga over them. Maybe if you attach them to a candy bar...

Just a Miscellaneous Comment... ON A STICK

2008-02-04T16:50:00.000-06:00

Is anybody besides me discovering as they work their way through the "23 Things" that they suddenly have more usernames and passwords to keep track of than they ever really thought possible? I used to keep a little secret list of passwords in case I ever forgot one. Once or twice I a year I'd have to pull the list out of hiding and look something up. Now I have to consult it daily! Is anybody out there aware of some techno-jazzy way of keeping track of your passwords?

Thing #5 On A Stick--More Fun with Flickr

2008-02-04T16:42:00.001-06:00

href="http://www.flickr.com/people/23298070@N03/">jizmommy

I thought I'd use this learning opportunity to show the world how much fun a person can have during the winter in Minnesota. I'm also showing off my daredevil middle child on his own kind of "stick".

I didn't think more fun with Flickr was really all that fun. These are the kinds of distractions that are precisely why I wanted to get away from traditional photos and into digital photos. I was sick of cutting and pasting together scrapbooks and falling further and further behind in my efforts to preserve my family's memories. In addition, I tried two other attempts at mashing Flickr with other programs and could not figure out how to upload them to my blog, so by now I'm a bit frustrated...

But now I'm stepping back a bit and trying to think about this from a library perspective. I read through the Monkey Wrench Top 10 List and tried the captioner. That could be really cool for a marketing committee, but I couldn't figure out how to get it in my blog. I'll have to work on getting a little more tech savvy with my blog.

The Color Pickr application could be totally cool. I can't tell you how much time I've spent trying to find the perfect image to match a web page I'm putting together. I usually end up matching the web page to the image and I'm liking the idea of matching the picture to my web page. This is a tool that could end up being a real time saver. I think I will give the Color Pickr a try when my frustration with this experience eases a bit.

As an aside...I got tired of my avatar. She took up way too much space on my blog and I didn't really like her all that much.

Thing #4 On A Stick--Flickr

2008-02-01T15:37:00.001-06:00

Amy & Martin
Originally uploaded by jizmommy

This is a picture of me with the bust of Martin Luther that sits in the entry of the library. I think I'm going to like Flickr. I have created photo albums that I share with my Facebook friends, but this seems kind of ideal! It is very user friendly. I've also created some private photo groups with pictures of my kids so I can share them with my family.

I love the Library of Congress Flickr account. How cool is that?!

Thing #4 is particularly timely as my husband bought me my first digital camera for Christmas. Up until recently I had resisted a digital camera, opting instead to have a CD created with my film prints. I'm usually a pretty quick technology adopter, so I don't know why it took me so long, but boy am I glad I finally jumped on the bandwagon!

Thing #3 On A Stick--Set Up an RSS Account & Add Feeds

2008-01-25T15:08:00.000-06:00

OH SO DONE! You might even say OVERDONE! I started a Bloglines account about 3 years ago, while I was in graduate school. I then ignored it for about 2 years, and recently resurrected it and began actively using it to manage my RSS feeds. I toyed around with the feed reader supplied via RefWorks, but it was inferior to Bloglines in every way. When I began actively using my feed reader I debated trying out the Google product, but I had recently taken a copyright law course from Siva Vaidhyanathan, who has a blog called The Googlization of Everything. I wasn't really in the mind frame to add one more Google product to my life, so I stuck with Bloglines. Now that I've added a few "NLLN 23 Things" bloggers to my feed reader, I have 53 feeds that I try to follow. A co-worker and zealous RSS proponent allowed me to import all of the fabulous feeds that he reads. I've weeded about 15 of his out and added at least that many of my own. I think I need to weed again, because I'm failing to keep up! Who knew collection management would follow us to our feed readers?

Thing #2 On A Stick--What is Library 2.0?

2008-01-25T14:31:00.000-06:00

I have quite a lot to say regarding library 2.o, so I'll cut to the chase.

1. I love Stephen Abram and can't get enough of him. I was fortunate to attend the Minitex Futures Forum a few years ago and hear him speak. Until that point I thought I was relatively up-to-date on matters of technology. What a rude awakening! Once I got past how hopelessly out of touch I was, I resolved to do better...which is why I'm doing "23 Things"!

2. What do I hope to get out of "23 Things"? I was actually pleased to observe that I've experimented with quite a few of the modules in this program. What I really want to explore is how to apply the use of these web 2.0 tools to the library setting. So far the tools have been great at simplifying and adding entertainment to my personal life, but I feel as if I am failing to translate the usefulness into my work life.

3. Recently I've become very interested in the capabilities and advantages/disadvantages of an open source ILS, so John Blyberg's comments on the relationship between libraries and ILS vendors were very interesting to me. I suspect this on the mind of many academic librarians in Minnesota. I've added his blog to my feed reader, so I hope the rest of his entries are somewhat insightful and intelligent! Anybody who happens to read this (and I have noticed a few of you, although I could just as easily walk upstairs and talk to one of you!) may want to check out one of his newer entries Library 2.0 Debased.

Challenge #1--Add Features from Blogger's Selections on Layout and Settings pages

2008-01-23T11:31:00.000-06:00

It was relatively painless to add a picture of myself to my blog. The challenge was trying to find a somewhat recent picture. Now I feel the need to get my camera and take a better picture to add to my blog. This could end up getting rather involved!

Thing #1 On A Stick--Create A Blog

2008-01-22T14:01:00.000-06:00

Whew! This is something I've been meaning to try for a long time and I'm thankful I now have a reason to get past my inhibitions and finally do it! As crazy as this may sound, the worst part was picking an avatar to represent me in the blogosphere. I want to get the most out of Thing #1 so I can really think clearly about how best to use this tool in my life. I intend to do some of the challenges, but right now I need a break from the stick! I'm such a wimp!