No. 23 - The End

I think my favorite discovery was Del.icio.us. I was somewhat cynical about this, but then Ellen Ward pointed out that you can open it at any public computer and have your favorites with you. I can't say that I've tried this, but I really like the idea of it. Probably the most fun thing for me was creating my avatar. In the past, I have made myself into an M&M, but it had less options for customization.

While I had heard about a lot of these things, it was nice to use them and have a hands-on training. I read about these programs a lot so it's nice to have a more concrete idea of their capabilities.

I was surprised by the willingness of staff to help one another get through the program. Once or twice I got stuck and people were very eager to work with me and encourage me to keep going. I think the Randallstown staff was very good at recognizing people who completed the program and applauding their hard work, especially the ones who were not so techno-saavy in the beginning. I think staff are more confident in their abilities and deserve a big round of applause.

In the future I would like the program to begin at different times for different staff members. It was hard having so many people working on it at once. There were scheduling conflicts and then limited computer availability. It was also better when MySpace was blocked on the public computers. Several of the applications were a lot faster afterwards. I would also like to see a more basic curriculum. While it was nice to have people blog, I think more people could benefit from the information just by visiting the sites and becoming familar with the offerings.

I am not sure if I would participate again. I just found it difficult to make time to blog. I would recommend offering the program at a different time. Perhaps after the summer, the purges, and the replacement lists. There was a lot going on that seemed more important.

I am glad to have completed the program. I learned new things and had a good time doing it.

No. 22 - Overdrive

I was lucky enough to have Tina Pickens show me how to use Overdrive when I visited Information Services. It helped clear up some questions I had regarding its use. I would love to use this service but unfortunately I have an iPod so it can't be downloaded. I am thinking about another brand of MP3 player and who knows I might be lucky enough to win one.
I did find Fahrenheit 451. I think I will recommend this to people as an alternative to the book since it is THE BIG READ for October. We have a display up with talking books, books, movies, and the reader's guide. I will find a way to incorporate the Overdrive option too.

No. 21 - Podcasting

I really liked the Yahoo Podcasts. I found it much easier to search and had better luck looking for things I like. It was very clean and simple. I also like how it shows you what else is popular.
I am a big NPR junkie and like listening to Diane Rehm and Nancy Pearl for book suggestions. I was able to find their podcasts.
I tried using Apple before to search for podcasts but didn't have success. A lot of the podcasts were too short or the results were way off base. When I tried this, it was a while back. I was looking for podcasts to put on a website I had to make for young adults about relationships and sexuality.

No. 20 - YouTube

I love YouTube. You can find so many funny clips and videos. I looked for a few of my favorites like Star Wars Kid and Lazy Sunday, the SNL video. I settled on Lazy Sunday to write about because it talks about Google Maps and Yahoo Maps. They search for movie theaters using this feature on their cellphone. This is an aside, but I went to Magnolia, and was disappointed. I thought the frosting was way too sweet.
I have seen librarians do interesting things with YouTube. Joyce Valenza of Springfield Township HS has her students create videos that review the rules of using the library for younger students like those coming to high school for the first time. So were quite comical. It gets the kids involved. If you get a chance, you should check out Joyce's website.
The library could tape Verizon Helping Hands doing a Word class so a student could access the video at home and follow along. The possibilities are endless.

No. 19 - Web 2.0

I looked at Medstory which won a 2007 Web 2.0 Award for Health. Medstory includes articles from the Wall Street Journal and is a very user-friendly search engine. It helps you refine your search and asks you questions as you click different topics. It doesn't seem like it would bog users down with medical terminology like more sophisticated medical research databases. Their is a button for clincial trials and research articles, as well as links to databases like MedlinePlus for basic definitions. There are also other websites, which I assume would be selected because of their accuracy and credibility. At least that's what it looked like at first glance. While I think this would have limited use in a public library, I think it would be very useful for an academic/medical librarian or someone in the medical or nursing field. To be honest, I wish I knew about it when I was working on my final for Medical Bibliography.

No. 18 - Google Docs

Google Docs saved me over the summer! I was at an out-of-town public library working on a school assignment. I had no disk and my time was running out. I was afraid I was going to lose my work. Then, at the last moment, I remembered Google Docs! I could attach my assignments and open them from anywhere I was without having to bring disks, papers, etc.
It is a great feature and if I remember correctly, I first heard about it from Monty Phair in his Branching Out column.

No. 17 - Sandbox

Well, it took about half an hour to figure out how to add my blog to the favorites list. I was trying to add a new page instead of editing the current page. Luckily, a staff member who completed this part helped me through.
I really click the interface. Once I got going, it was easy to add my blog.
I didn't complete the optional part because at this point I am just trying to finish. Maybe once I am done I will go back and try to do it.

No. 16 - Wikis

I really liked the SJCPL Subject Guide. I think this could replace our Research Databases and Web Resources option on the BCPL home page. Since they basically use the same headings, we could combine them using a Wiki. I think it would make more sense to the customers and be a one-stop shop for them. Think of all the information we could easily organize.
I also liked the Book Lovers Wiki. This would be a great opportunity to have staff and customer feedback on books. It could replace the Recommended Reading bookmarks and would involve no printing. It would also create a community. I think this would work especially well with younger kids. At Randallstown, the Friends Group asks kids to write book reviews. It makes more sense to have them write them on the computer because then it seems less tedious and can be shared with more people.
I guess the only catch is that someone has to monitor wikis for incorrect information and inappropriate comments.

Thing #15

I have seen the "Machine is Us/ing Us" before in a graduate course. It is fascinating.
I read different perspectives on Library 2.0 and am a little confused because it seems to mean different things to different people. Maybe that is the point. Everyone can have personalized service and immediate access.
I am excited to see what will happen with Library 2.0. Hennepin County Public Library has enabled its patrons to rate books and write little comments. The feature is similar to what Amazon.com offers.
I also think we shouldn't get too carried away with the idea of everything being offered digitally. It involves learning a new skill set and educating people to think differently, i.e. those teachers that think information from an electronic databases is not "print" resources. At the same time, it will enable the library to improve collections that change rapidly and help reduce the amount of material that is purchased and then purged.
This is a little off topic, but Alan Greenspan was on the Daily Show and he said he is no better at predicting the market today than he was 50 years ago and that was before computers. The reason being that you can't predict human behavior.

Week 6

I quickly browsed the Technorati site. I don't quite understand it, but I did like looking at the popular searches. One of the ones I clicked on was Ron Paul. I understand he has a lot of buzz on the internet. I was clicked on the Post Secret YouTube link. I had seen that book and then found out about the website at the MLA convention during the main speaker's presentation.
I really liked del.icio.us. I didn't make an account but I will think about it in the future. I like that you can organize your sites. It talked about how useful this is in academia and for graduate students. It is too bad I am graduating at the end of the month. I wasn't sold on this site until Ellen Ward came and said you can open your favorites at any computer. This is great for those who do AskUsNow. It's also helpful for the information desk. You can save great sites you come across and you won't clog up the computer's favorites.

Rollyo

I just got back from vacation today so I have travel on my mind. This was very easy to do and fun!
http://rollyo.com/lguenthner/travel/

Week 5 - LibraryThing

I had heard of LibraryThing before, but had never used it. I was not that impressed because the internet connection was slow and all my books could not be added on the first try. Maybe if I would try this at home I would feel differently.
I added several Great Books for Teens that I am reading. Some were new so they didn't seem to have very many people connecting to them. If I had to guess, I would say adults use this service more than teens.
Personally, I keep a reading journal so this isn't useful to me. But, there are people who do not remember what the last book they read was so this could help them. I will recommend it for that.
I didn't understand what the Suggestion link did. It said loading but nothing appeared. And, I had a hard time finding books because I tried putting the author's last name first. It seemed to work better when I did first name and then last name. It is a new way for me to think.

I forgot to add my link in my earlier post, so without further ado, I give you my library:

My avatar

This was my third attempt to get this thing posted. For some reason, I was having difficulty saving my avatar in Yahoo. While it is nice to customize them, it would be helpful to have a search box for the things you are looking for instead of having to flip through all the pages.

This picture is part truth and part wishful thinking. The scooter and the puppy are the latter.

Discovery - RSS Feeds

Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?

I liked Bloglines newsreader because of the way it was organized.

I am going to stray from the prepared questions now. I have seen the orange logo on many websites before. When I added Merlin, I first tried to click Subscribe beside the logo. All that did was show a page that had HTML. I'm not sure what that was about. However, I was able to find the listing by searching feeds in Bloglines. But, I noticed that I could not pull up Google feed that way. Maybe searching by feed was not correct. If someone could let me know, that would be great.

While I think the RSS idea is cool, I can't say I would use it all the time. I would rather type in the web address and see that new material hasn't been posted than log into Bloglines. However, I am glad to know what the orange icon means because I see it a lot.

Week 3: Technology-related post

I own a digital camera, an iPod, a PDA, and a cell phone, but I wouldn't say I am techno saavy. I can use the most basic features of each of these devices without reading the instructions. I just wish there was a way to eliminate batteries. Each of these things has to be plugged in and I am not good at remembering that part.
The best technology to me is email. Lots of information can be conveyed that way and it is accessible almost anywhere there is an internet connection. I often find myself checking my work email at home. I'd say it's an addiction.
In other technology related news, the iPhone was released this week and the AL Direct newsletter had an article about 15 or so laws of blogging. If any of you subscribe to it, it might prove to be an interesting read.
Over and out.

Stephen Colbert in Lego

Stephen Colbert in Lego
Originally uploaded by lleugh

Could there be anything more American than Stephen Colbert in red, white, and blue? I should add that the picture was done by Lachme.
Flickr is like a flea market. One person's junk is another person's treasure.

Polar Bear Cub Knut

Polar Bear Cub Knut
Originally uploaded by TheTings

I think Knut is the most adorable thing ever! I wish he'd come and stay at my house. My apartment has a pool for him and I have a nice tree outside my window. I am just worried how he'd get on with the cats...
It took me like 30 minutes to figure out Flickr. I say the easiest way to do this is to add your blog and then blog the photo. So far I have showed one other person how to do this. I am being a mentor like one of the steps suggested. Go me!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits

I feel very tense and have writer's block. Should I be funny or serious? I know I am putting way too much pressure on myself. I should just take the advice of Habit 7 1/2 and play!

Because I take graduate classes online, several of the habits come easily to me. I think all along I have been practicing Habit 1, begin with the end in mind, and habit 2, accept responsibility for your own learning. (As a side note I would like to mention that I am graduating in September so the end really is near).

The hardest habit is number 3, viewing problems as challenges. I'm not really finding the words to describe why I feel that way. I think sometimes I want a quick fix or I want someone else to deal with the problem if it's really complicated.