Wk 10 #23 The End

All adventures must come to an end, hopefully not broken at the bottom of a deep ravine nor eaten by a large snake. The trip through iHCPL has been an interesting and informative one, enjoyed much of the time, frustrating at others. I have discovered things like delicious, and Library Thing, Zoho and Youtube, some things to play with, others to use or learn from. I have learned that I will probably never be into podcasting, or use Library Elf, or ever feel comfortable with blogging. But it has been a learning experience, knowledge is always good, no matter what it is. This hasalso been one of my more interesting training exercises, and I hope that HCPL will consider using this type of thing in the future.

Wk 9 #22 Downloadable Media

I took a look around Overdrive and the other downloadable media sites, and found them to be a good thing. As so much of our society uses technology to amuse themselves, it stands to reason that the ability to download books and even videos would be an added plus. With the advent of MP3 players, now one can listen to books or music on something smaller then a CD player, without all the equipment, or watch videos on their computer, not having had to pirate them or rent them.

I looked at Overdrive, but opted not to download it at this time. Searching through the content, I thought the Series Starters section was great, the question of "what's first in the series?" is a constant question here at the library. I was fascinated by the extreme obscurity of many of the videos, not being sure if they were considered "special" or could't get hold of items that were more recent or better known. All the classical music was nice, and I noted a new Gregory Maguire Book that I hadn't seen before. Lots of kids stuff, be able to sit them in front of the computer and listen to a book. All in all, I think the availabity of this type of technology is a good addition to the library setting and to the web itself.

wk 9 #21 Podcasting

http://feeds.feedburner.com/mugglecast

I did find this podcast for Harry Potter, all Harry all the time,and a co-worker helped me figure out how to put it on my blog. However, I don't find much use in podcasting, at least not for me. Too much information being force fed to people.

Wk 9 #20Youtube, the Dramatic Chipmunk

Youtube is fun, and it took me two minutes to put this video in my blog on my home computer. The work computers constantly blocked me, and doesn't even show the really cute video I chose. Youtube and the like are fun, but you have to be careful that you dont end up on it as a subject. It could also be addicting to constantly watch.

Wk 8 #19 Online applications

I thought Zoho was pretty interesting, not terribly easy to understand, but I was able to work in it, with a little help from my friends, and even publish a short,(very short) story on it. I can see where this application, along with Google Docs would be very beneficial to those that need to produce a lot of paper work and share it. I may be using it in the future.

Wk 8 #19 Created on Zoho/ Spooky story

One of my favorite Halloween stories is about the time, a few years ago, when I had a truly spooky experience. I was sitting outside with a friend, (this was in California and it was warm out) passing out candy, watching kids and just talking. I was telling her about the recent movie Sleep Hollow and the headless horseman, a literary character that i had been afraid of since I was very small. Probably thanks to Disney. Anyway, we were sitting there feeling a bit shivery, when I noticed something coming up the street that was rather large. At a distance, we realised it was a horse and rider, moving slowly. Odd thing to see in a subdivision! As the horse moved closer and became clearer, I realised that it was actually a Headless Horseman, carrying his pumpkin head under his arm!! I was so shocked and delighted I couldnt see straight. There he was, in person, one of the creatures I was most afraid of. I and my friend added it to the litany of crazy stories in our lives, and it has been a favorite ever since.

Wk 8 #18 Social Networking

I wandered through the various social networking sites, and I have to say that I believe My Space has the most interesting pages and people. Or should I say weirder. I myself have a My Space page, with 7 friends, and dont really use it much, except to put cute stuff, or tacky stuff on it. Its neat, but unless your are really in to the networking world, or youngish, I dont really find it of much use. Facebook looks a bit more "normal", and I don't have any desire to share blogs with a network. I did enjoy the Rate My Space website, since I am into decorating to some degree, it was fun. What a person can do with an old double-wide trailer is amazing. All in all, it was an informative experience, and a direction to go if at some point I need less people in my life, and more computer time.

Horizon is down!!!

Wk 7 #17 Technology

As we are doing these discovery exercises to learn more about technology and its use in the work-a-day world, I would like to comment on some of the problems I have been having with it. For one thing, Horizon was down today, proving that connections and machines don't always work well, and can leave our jobs in the lurch as far as getting anything done. I could not get into my blog yesterday, Blogger insisted that I didn't exist. My home computer, hooked up with Comcast, tells me most of the time when I try to get onto the internet that the server isn't available. Yet when I push the go button, google comes up. I don't understand, my settings are all correct, so I am assuming its a problem with Comcast. I placed my blog on the iHCPL wiki, and now my mailbox is full of notifications that someone has altered it. I find no use whatsoever for this. There is not a day that goes by that at some point I have a messed up machine, and I have to "turn it off and turn it back on." Now my cell phone is not receiving messages. Technology has brought alot into our lives, making it simpler, more information, and being more involved with the rest of the world. But I also think it has added a lot of frustration, confusion, hair pulling, frown lines, and general tension when your machine's technology, regardless of what it is, is not co-operating with you. Probably should add some stress relief along with all this technical know how.

Wk 7 #16 Wiki Wiki

Wiki's are kind of neat, the name is fun at least. I took a look at the different wikis that were offered, and it is an innovative way to share information, with the ability for everyone involved to get their two cents in. I don't personally think they are a good source of general information, like Wikipedia, because one isnt sure if the facts are correct, or something that Joe Schmo came up with and Esmarelda Irma Toot decided he was incorrect and made her own statement. I can see where they might be of use in the library world, communicating ideas amongst staff and other libraries. But to consider them factual? I would check a second or third source.

Wk 6, #15 Library 2.0

The library will change, it must be able to keep up with the technological world. However, in all these essays on services and librarianship, about "harnessing collective intelligence," and "lightweight programming models, not much was really said about people. We do need to simplify our catalogs and our databases, making them easier to use. There are many other search engines on the net that are easier to use then a libaray catalog. I have found, through some years of working in libraries, that many of our patrons want what they want, get it and leave. Whether its the latest John Grisham, or information for a child's report on bread mold. They need to be able to do this, either with our help, or a computer, quickly and efficiently. Do they really care how much metadata they can access, or the model being used? I personally don't think so.

I had to agree with much of the essay labeled "icebergs," stating that the library world must be careful in its desire and push to go completely hi-tech, because you forget about the people you are trying to help. If they dont know how to use these resources, and there isnt the staff to teach them, whats the point? I also agree with the idea of cutting back on huge print collections, many reference tools are now online, do we need all these large, dusty tomes? And do we really need 10 copies in one library of a Danielle Steele book? Libraries are now "community centers," loud, bustling, often filled with screaming children and cell phone talkers with the constant clackity-clack of keyboards in the background. This, in terms of clientle, is what libraries have become. More computers would help serve the millions of people who still don't have computers in their homes. More time and staff to teach computer classes on how to use one, let alone how to create a blog or make avatars.

The technology will and must come, but whether it actually helps patron's library experience remains to be seen. The libraries themselves may have access to this massive amount of information, but can it be accessed by our patrons?

wk 6 #14 Technorati and the like...

I can't imagine why people need to have so much to say about everything in the whole world. I did find some interesting blogs pertaining to learning 2.0, but to be honest, some of it was way over my head. Found a blog called librarygarden.blogspot.com, which made some thoughtful comments. In general, I found Technorati confusing to try to move around in, and I am not all that motivated to share my thoughts with the world. The voices in my head are telling me its not a good idea. I can see why people might like it, and it certainly has its uses. But not necessarily for me.

Wk 6 #13 Del.icio.us

I have to say I was really skeptical about this exercise, because I don't do bookmarking or tagging. However, when I discovered all the neat websites that I could feasibly put in one place and read and explore at my leisure, I decided to create my own account. So far, and with the help of a co-worker, I have learned to place links on my favorites from other accounts, but haven't quite figured out how to pull it off the web itself. Have to have a link to elizabethan insults! I will mostly like continue to play with it, and add to my favorites, its just very time consuming, and I am expected to do my job after all.

wk 5 #12 Library Elf...not Legolas

Library Elf looks to be a really interesting tool to use to keep track of your library stuff. It appeared to be easy to use, and had explanations for pretty much any questions that could arise, including privacy and the patriot act.

I opted not to sign up for this service, not wishing to have another username and password to have to remember,and, since I work in a library I have the access to my account on a daily basis. Had I other family accounts, I would have tried it.

Wk 5 #11 Library thing

This was great fun! I managed to put 34 books on the shelf, and should have no problem adding all the way up to 200.

wk 5 #10 Night job at the Moulin Rouge

Creating avatars was great fun and easy to do. I need to have the time to play with it more, but just kind of whipped this one up from Yahoo. Always wanted to be a can can dancer.

Its pumpkin time...

Week 4 #9 Feeder tools

I have been messing around with the four tools that were suggested by iHCPl, and found them all to be interesting. I have to say, I didn't care much for Feedster, just found it confusing and can't even explain why. I really liked Topix, it was easy to manuver around in, in fact, I pulled a feed to my bloglines account on all things Colin Firth. He is an exceedigly good looking and talented British actor, who is probably best known for his portrayal of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. The definitive portrayal according to most of the ladies who love Jane Austen. He is one of my favorite actors, and the fact that he looks fine in Edwardian attire is an added plus. Anyway, I digress. I didn't care for Syndic8, the blogs appeared to be older, and in alphbetical order. Technorati was fun, got caught up in reading all different kinds of blogs. All in all, it was a good experience, and I discovered all kinds of ways to find information. Now, where is that Colin Firth feed...

Week 4 #8 part 2

As I neglected to read the instructions correctly, I realised that I did not add my co-workers blogs to my bloglines account. So I added a few that I did know who they are, favorites all, and one whom I didn't know. Its funny that so many of my friends and co-workers keep the name of thier blog a state secret, of course, I dont advertise mine either. Nor did I put my own blog on my bloglines account, just not a really spectacular endeavor. I also noticed while scrolling through staff blogs, that many of them have only the first lesson on them, so it will be fascinating to see if there is a sudden bloom or technological artistry on them the week before iHCPL is due to finish.

Week 4 #8 RSS feeds

I managed to create a bloglines account, and chose 11 different feeds, mostly from the list offered on the page. Chose some world news, cat info, Quotes of the day,weather, of course, which were pretty interesting. All in all, it was probably the simplest thing I have done during all these exercises. Checked around for other websites with feeds, and had some problems subscribing to feeds that ended up on my browser rather than my account. Did find one blog that talked about Extreme Pumpkins, what with Fall and Halloween just around the corner, it was a good choice. Next time, its using tools to find feeds.

Week 3 #6 Mashups and other things

I looked around the Flickr links, mashups are pretty cool, and I did enjoy putting grass on the chia heads. I also liked the color generator. And one could have a lot of fun with the Captioning tool, giving speech to those that can't speak. I must admit, I found it all rather confusing and time consuming, not easy to navigate around. And for someone that is using it for the first time, not very user friendly or explanatory.

Week 3 # 7 Emma as an oil painting...

elizabethsignature

elizabethsignature
Originally uploaded by cheshire5354

This is my second try to download a picture from flickr to my ihcpl blog. aarrgghh...

Posting picture/Week3 #5

This was my first try at posting a picture from flickr to my blog. After much head banging, we discovered, through the help of my our boss, that one needed to get access granted through google and flickr, and have your blog registered that way, to be able to download a picture. It took a couple of hours to figure this out, way more time then I wanted to spend on this today. But its done.

There once was a puffin...

I have loved puffins ever since I was a wee child, when my mother taught me the poem of "There once was a puffin..." It was probably the idea of a bird eating pancakes that stuck in my mind.

My day...

Gee, this feels good...

Week #1 Learning Style

I learn and absorb things best when I can listen to someone teaching a subject, taking copious notes. do something over and over again until I can do it without thinking about it. Then, a week later, I forget it.

Why would you want to?

I go by the theory of, if you don't want people to know things about you, don't put them out there. I do not understand modern society's need to tell the whole universe every detail of their personal lives, sexual affairs, thoughts on Britney Spears latest error in judgement, or their opinions on the price of onions in Peru or what they had for breakfast. I am not sure at what point everyone had an opinion and needed to share it.

I have a friend that posted some personal issues of a difficult nature on their My Space page, and received comments on that issue. While the comments were supportive, this person was angry because anything was said about it at all. As I said, if you don't want folks to know these things, don't put them out there.

No one knows, unless it is personal friend, who they are chatting to in a chat room. The news has proven that the Internet is rank with pedophiles and liars and even murderers. People who want to cheat you out of your money. Crazies with political opinions. Be smart, don't tell folks personal things about you rself or your finances. Dont give them your credit card number or Pay Pal account information, unless you are darn sure its a secure site. And even that can be faked these days. We tend to trust people too much I think, maybe the old American ethic of you are who you say you are, handshake deals and everyone is decent are outmoded ideals. We need to be more wary, ask more questions, and sometimes keep your hand in your pocket, especially if all we have is screen name to go by.

Online safety is important, especially for our children. But, we need to take responsiblity for some of our own actions and not be stupid. That cute picture of you in half clothed in the shower could be on YouTube next week. In the words of Alistair Moody...Vigilance!!!

Blogging for bling

This is the first time I have ever written a blog, and to be honest, I am finding it rather confusing.