Slo-Mo

Laptop Winner

2008-02-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased that Suzanne Christman was the winner of the laptop @ KRL2.0 party. She works as a page at the Poulsbo branch and is the only person I know who doesn't have a computer at home. Just ask her children, while trying to get their school reports done with their 1 hr. time limit at the branch. Also, she completed the entire KRL2.0 course from the work computers using her 1/2 allotted time per week. A feat which I personally would not have undertaken.

Congratulations to us all for completing the course and to Suzanne, a totally perfect person to win the very generous gift of a laptop.

Sites 4 Students

2008-02-07T23:48:00.000-08:00

There are some pretty good sites in this unit. But "Zoho" seemed to combine the most useful features with its "suite of applications". So I signed up with Zoho. A couple of the things I liked in the word processing section was the writer templates and the little button that inserts Html. Many of the features offered were more complicated than I would personally use. I may revisit a few of the other sites, like cheap school books. Several people in my household go to Amazon to buy their used textbooks. Maybe there's something better out there.

"Twitter" or "I Don't give a Twit!"

2008-02-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

Today I explored "Twitter" articles, links, pros and cons. Also visited KRLtwitter site and read a few mini-blogs. Posted one of my own! What was I doing? Not much. Immersing myself in this new technology and wondering what in the world to do with it. I also signed up for an account but the "find follow" link wasn't working. So I might try it again later.

I can see how this website would be irresistible to the younger generation. Those who self-esteem is derived from their social cyber-connections. It reminds me of Jr. High and seeing how many signatures you can get in your Yearbook. Not because all of those people are your friends, but because a well signatured yearbook would obviously mean you are popular and well liked. A goal even older people desire, but by different means.

I have dabbled in chat rooms with a few good friends, but that was to avoid long-distance phone charges. The conversations with friends were a little deeper than 140 characters long. I don't have many contacts in my life that need a blow by blow account of "What are you doing?" So I've concluded that "Twitter" might not be the best vehicle for me to communicate with my friends.

I'm trying to envision uses of "Twitter" for KRL. It seems to be more on the "fun" side of things instead of a useful working tool. Hey, I have fun, I'm a fun person! My blogs seem to be a little on the negative side. "Resistance is Futile" but can't I drag my feet instead of embracing every new thing that comes along? A little aside, my son just Instant Messaged me from another city, he says "Twitter" is good for people working on group projects from a distance and for people with too much free time and no real friends.

FACEBOOK

2008-01-31T21:28:00.000-08:00

My kids have "Myspace" accounts, so I have a little knowledge about social networking in reguards to looking over their shoulders at what they feel is appropriate to throw out there in cyberspace. I'm appalled at blabbing to the world your inner thoughts, private photos, confessions, secrets, and opinions.
Facebook seems to multiply all my fears of social networking. The realm of electronic communication is not and cannot be private. I read recently that e-mails deleted by President Regan could still be retrived. Privacy aside, lets talk about the "social" side of this issue.
"Facebook" is a social networking site. What part of socializing does the Library intend to do?
Do we want to be your friend? Or are we looking for another vehicle to insert ourselves into young people's stomping grounds. By the way, anyone savy enough to navigate "Facebook" is competent enough to reach any library resourses they desire.
Now I can get off my soapbox and comment on Facebook in terms of offering one site for all internet social activites. It's like the "Walmart" of the internet, one stop shopping. It works well but is not for me. I'll have to decline on the optional activities of joining Facebook.

Wiki II

2008-01-31T01:09:00.000-08:00

Playing around with the Branch's Wiki was sorta fun. I was uncomfortable adding my two-bits as the Wiki was already quite attractive, and who I'm I to think I could improve on it. So, fitting for a branch Wiki, I added a link to "Wikipedia".
I don't think I'll be using Wiki's outside of this project. But it was great to learn a little about the building and editing of a page and also adding to my Web2.0 vocabulary. I'm ready to move on!

Wiki Intro

2008-01-29T23:00:00.000-08:00

Wiki... What can I say? It took 3 visits to this assignment, trying to get up some enthusiasm to plunge ahead. I followed the links, visited the suggested "Wiki" sites and even visited all the KRL branch wiki's. (Bookmobile, I loved your music). I'm trying to think of an appropiate application for KRL. How about "suggestions" from our customers. Ideas that would be posted, not written on a little suggestion card and deposited into the circular file. That would enable us to really keep the pulse of the public.

The Wizard of Oz

2007-12-05T01:55:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWq_6s-lJY

This is a charming "Circulation Wizard"

YouTube

2007-12-05T01:03:00.000-08:00

I love YouTube and visit the site regularly. Not for education, enlightenment or self-improvement but for pure entertainment! My favorite is Bollywood musical clips but I also visit other music sites. I've had an account for awhile now and quite a collection of favorites.
I've enbeded a YouTube video and a "Circulation Wizard" into my blog. This is really fun.

Choli Ke Peechay

2007-12-05T00:45:00.000-08:00

LibraryThing

2007-12-02T01:36:00.000-08:00

LibraryThing is truly a place I will revisit often. What I thought was great about the website was the ability to find other users with common interest in books that I'd enjoy. The feature, "Interesting Libraries", will unable me to find a user whose tastes match mine, and see what else they recommend, or are reading. An easy way to find a good read. I'm not ready to find my reading "soul mate" yet.
Adding the"LibraryThing" widget to my blog wasn't easy to figure out. There's an assumption that you already have a 2.0 vocabulary. I also noticed that looking up titles, authors, etc. was a lot faster on "LibrayThing" than "KitKat" All in all, a great intro to something that can hold my interest.

Flickr

2007-11-26T22:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a site that can occupy your time and imagination. I searched "Costa Rica" and got 420thousand hits. I've been to Costa Rica 5 times and taken a million pictures. They are on my personal computer under files labeled by date. It's a cumbersome filing system. I can see where tagging and grouping could come in handy. It would be fun to make a grouping of "the best of" my experiences in CR. I'm still just a lurker on Flickr, no account for me yet.

Pod Casts

2007-11-24T23:22:00.000-08:00

Searching around for something interesting to watch on Podcast. Asked my son for some ideas, he recommended Digg.com. There's a tab to just view podcasts, many catagories. I checked out a few, but they're not what I'd call work related. http://digg.com/podcasts/Diggnation/579147 Here's a link if you wanna check out Digg.

RSS Thoughts

2007-11-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, all this is info is overwhelming. I've never desired to be connected to strangers but it feels OK to lurk around, tagging people more interesting than myself. I've asked my 20-something son a few questions about 2.0 and he seems to already be living, breathing, existing on the web in all the nooks and crannies. Now the rss feeds are a new concept. I've always gotten up in morning and listened to the news, amazed that nothing went on all night long on the other side of the world. Not True! Now I can get the info I need. But will I log on while having my morning coffee? Iv'e gotten feeds to a few sites, (all the assigned sites) but I wonder if I will revisit them or how I might manage my time on the web.

del.icio.us

2007-11-22T02:15:00.000-08:00

Have recently registered with del.icio.us. It looks like endless entertainment but I haven't thought of any KRL uses as of yet. I really like the idea of the "tags" to ease the legwork of exploring the net for my personal interests.

"The Other Librarian"

2007-11-20T22:41:00.000-08:00

"Library 2.0", as a program for libraries to use for learning and embracing the new technologies, has been in the forefront for about a year now. This article empathizes its intended purpose. Not to change libraries but to change librarians.

The article espouses that libraries as institutions should not change with the rapid pace of technology but with the slower pace of society. I understood this statement to mean that libraries don't need to be on the "cutting edge" but should offer user-centered changes as needed or demanded by the public when necessary for information gathering.

The purported changes undergone by librarians are just more tools for information gathering and sharing. These alternate ways to reach out, share with others, and communicate with the public have increased with the disappearance of "library walls". Our librarians are no longer confined to their local space, but are out there, on the web! This is a good thing. But perhaps our public is not ready to totally abandon all traditional aspects of the library. Change is good, rapid change is disturbing.

wikipedia Library 2.0

2007-11-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

I chose this article for my first blog because the whole concept of "Wikipedia" represents Library 2.0 to me. Wikipedia is not a stable, static source for information. It evolves, changes by public input, opinion, and constant editing, similar to Library 2.0.

There isn't anything constant about 2.0, the technology can change, mutate, and evolve daily. There isn't a structured organization as users are encouraged to participate, improve, and therefore constantly restructure the 2.0 tools. The challenge of 2.0 is to learn to relearn.

That's not to say that it's not a great idea to keep abreast of new technology, but it will be difficult to master it. Are we as Libraries trying to keep up with the public or are we forcing the public to keep up with us?