WEEK 22 - THING 19: MULTIMEDIA

I'm guess YouTube can be a lot of fun, can be an educational tool and can be used in many positive ways, but for me it would mostly be a waste of work time since (once again) I do not have a home computer. I have been sent some really interesting (funny) YouTube videos, but I never go to the site just to play around. That said, the video I have chosen, "Librarians Do Goga," presented by "Librarians of the Future" is one a friend sent and is a creative, eye catching way to introduce a library staff and perhaps make the library seem less of a "stogy" place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_uzUh1VT98

WEEK 20 - THING 18 AUDIOBOOKS

Beth Farrell's article was very informative, much of it mirrored some of the pros and cons I have heard before. I really enjoy listening to books-on-tape, especially on long trips, but the technology to support them can be daunting--nevermind the pricing. Her statements "All players and readers are different and everyone has a different problem" and "everything in the downloadable audiobook industry is subject to change, at lightning speeds" were right on the mark.

As I have embarrassingly and too often said in former blogs, I have chosen not to have a home computer until I retire (or change my mind) and the VCCS isn't licensed to install OverDrive's software on our library computers, but during a trial period, I did download a book to my MP3. Our local library has a dedicated OverDrive station which so far I haven't felt the need to use it. We have some signs around our library about the availability of OverDrive, but since it has to be used by our patrons at home, we don't always know for certain if or how often they are using it.

How wonderful that LibriVox is trying to record every public domain book though I wonder if listening to a different voice for every chapter would be a bit disconcerting. I like their tag line "Acoustical liberation of books in the public domain!" Oh how easy sharing all kinds of media used to be!!

WEEK 18 - THING SEVENTEEN

Oh dear, another site to join--but I love the idea of not only keeping track of what I read but being able to access the favorite reads of my friends. This is new to me; I've been keeping a manual alphabetic list which has grown by leaps and bounds and is defintely not very efficient. I looked briefly at LibraryThing and shelfari but decided to join goodreads simply because it is the only one I had heard anything about. Someday, when I have a home computer and lots of time (retirement??), I would love to create a list of my shelves, my favorites, etc. and share them with friends. I added some books that I have really enjoyed in the past year. It will remain my secret for now that I do enjoy books that would fall in the catagories of "guiltypleasures" and "chicklit" though I do try to have at least one "serious" book going at the same time.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4211271

WEEK 17 - THING 16 E-BOOKS

I don't have a Kindle or Nook and often wondered if I would like one enough to pay the original cost as well as the cost per download. My nephew has an I-PAD with lots of titles he downloaded from Project Gutenberg for a small donation. I was impressed in that he could change font sizes and background but it obviously was too big for a pocketbook size carry around. My niece who travels a lot in her job, has a Kindle and loves it. I do think it is a wave of the future for personal use but am fearful of e-books as a replacement for paper editions in libraries for the reasons given by zenbrarian who commented on St Leo's "wired library--they are not owned so vendors can raise costs, can't ILL them, etc. The main plus is that sources like NetLibrary and Safari (both of which we have) open connections to titles we would not ordinarily order for our collection. However, our students are often disappointed when a title that seems to be just what they want comes up as an "electronic resource." I played around a bit with PsychBooks and thought it a really good source especially for an advanced student looking for more than the usual casual researcher would require.

WEEK 16 - THING 15 - CREATIVE COMMONS

The Creative Commons concept is a great idea and hopefully will allow better and easier collaborations for greater project successes. I looked up "Artistic Club" on the CC Contents site and was impressed at how the lack of copyright restrictions allowed so much creative sharing to take place. While I understand the idea behind the law that makes everything one does automatically copyrighted, it often causes problems and impedes progress in the development of ideas, etc. That said, it seems to me that the four categories necessarily allowed under CC could also have the potential to be a bit cumbersome. Flickr has helped to make that easier.

I think this is wonderful information for a library to be able to share, so I am glad to have had the opportunity to learn about CC. It seems our professors could benefit from being familiar with how to find "free" materials to present to their classes. I don't think I would hesitate to allow whatever I do to be shared. I remember presenting a program several years ago, and being asked to write it up for publishing. Because I had used material (ideas) from many sources, drawing from memories of things I had read or discussed, etc., I couldn't be sure that I had not crossed the copyright line, so I declined. The program had involved considerable work on my part, and I would have loved to have made it available for others to use. (Perhaps I'm so willing because I'm pretty sure that nothing I create has a real monetary value!!)

WEEK 16 - THING 8 SCREENCASTING

This is going to take a bit of time, so hopefully, more later!

WEEK 13 - THING 14 - ONLINE SURVEYS

Okay, I had to "mess" around a bit, but in the end this was a fun and informative project. I had a lot of trouble saving the survey to be accessible through a URL.

My survey is located at:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dEt5UmFZZEZvdmNoWlcyNUg0M09XSlE6MQ#gid=0

or better yet, the shortened form:

bit.ly/d92v9p

THING 13 - DOCUMENT SHARING

I really like the idea of using Dropbox--just imagine not having to keep up with my flash drive, not worrying about backing up my documents on my home computer, being able to access what I need from wherever I am at the time, etc., etc.!! I think Google.docs could be a big help in sharing information with fellow library staff as a substitute for emailing attachments which they then have to print out or save. The documents would always be readily available to whomever needs them from a shared site.

I am sharing one of my favorite poems by Edward Sill.

http://bit.ly/cYIdGy

WEEK 12 - CLOUD COMPUTING

I like the idea of being able to access what I need "on-demand," though I wonder about the costs involved. I think the ability to access docs from anywhere fits in with our on-the-go society. I enjoyed Mama Z's library instruction doc which she uses to instruct English classes on library policies, etc. It is always nice to see how other libraries handle certain situations.

WEEK 11 - SEARCHING TWITTER

Okay, I'm late with my postings; it's way past time to try to catch up! Admittedly I went into this topic thinking "I know what this is; I'm not really interested in another social network; I'll finish this in less than an hour." I viewed the YouTube "Twitter ruined my life" and found it not only hilarious but a justification of my opinion that twitter is frivolous and not really useful. It just "enables inane interaction" as one site noted. Then I read some comments about how it helped in research to instantly share information, and that some felt it was a way of learning to be brief with your thoughts (I could profit from that!). That the Library of Congress is archiving tweets is impressive since it will allow a searchable history of comments on events as they happen and can be used much like we now use old diaries and letters.

Since today is the big announcement day when LeBron James will let us know where he will play next year, I searched for tweets that gave opinions on his probable decision--not so important, all conjecture, but fun. I also searched Bozeman MT weather after I received a note from a friend there talking about a recent hail storm--in July for heaven's sake! I also looked at the VCCSlibraries site but couldn't bring myself to join still another network.


WEEK 11- URL SHORTENERS.
Amazing and useful. I used a library site http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=107&sid=ad961edc-b30c-4f86-ac96-2b8d994c607a%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=9611116444 and got http://bit.lylbnKr7P.

Week 8 - FLICKR

Though I got a bit lost at times when trying to upload a picture, I had a lot of fun playing around with Flickr. The library could use it to highlight a specific section such as our Lease Books and add a picture with brief information about the collection--mostly fiction, rotating, etc. I looked up Montana because I often visit there and think it has incredible scenery.

http://www.visitmt.com/

Our director showed me a really fun part of Flickr. Search Google for idee: Multicolor Search Lab, arrow down to the picture set and play with the colors--too cool!!

WEEK 7 - SHARING SLIDE PRESENTATIONS

I liked the information in Tara's SlideShare Class Project and thank her for sharing it since Overdrive is available to our students and patrons. I tried to access the audio portion which it indicated was available, but instead, got a message saying "Your SlideShare account not yet verified." I was a bit surprised since I set up the account yesterday. It gave me an instruction to resend my information saying the verification would be sent to my email, but so far, it has not appeared.

I tried to go into a cite called "Importance of generational awareness for libraries," and it took forever to load. Once the first slide appeared, my computer locked up with the hourglass working and working. Since I went completely out of the program and tried again with the same results, I'm assuming there is a glitch of some type! I'm going to wait until Monday to try again.

http://www.slideshare.net/pizidoro/beatiful-libraries-in-the-world I loved the pictures of how libraries used to be constructed with so much architectural beauty!

WEEK 6 - CHAT

OMG! IMHP ("in my humble opinion" for those like me who don't know the lingo) IM could be useful if as with LRC Live, there are specific times when you know those you want to "talk" with are online when you need them. I can see where it would be nice to have a chat room with other VCCS librarians whose duties correspond with mine so we could occasionally discuss how to handle new policies dealing with the specifics of our jobs. I do this with a counterpart at one of the community colleges, and it has been very helpful, but I use email and the telephone--the old fashioned way!!

Years ago when chat rooms were new, we put signs on our internet computers saying, "NO CHATTING" in order to keep them free for student research. A patron called me over to ask if it was okay for her to "talk quietly" to the person at the computer beside her. I can see why she was confused!

The "Web-Based Instant Messengers: A Mini-Guide" was really helpful in listing all the possible sites to use, and it's great that IMs now have cross-platform communication, but I will whine again that it is just soooo time consuming to have set myself up with still another social network.

WEEK 5: WIKIS

Friday, May 7, 2010

WEEK 5: WIKIS
Wikis bring a new dimension to information gathering and dissemination. The "Wikis in Plain English" video was really helpful in introducting the concept to me as I was not familiar with the term (except as in Wikipedia, of course). My first thought was that this is a great way to organize and communicate. My next feeling was that interesting though it may be to contribute to a wiki, is this just another website requiring time to monitor, and should each library/librarian/patron just decide on the best method to use and not go in too many directions. I was happy to see that some of the sites, while allowing lots of input, keep editing privleges to those responsible for the site.

Week 3 - SOCIAL & PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING
Thank goodness for Week 4 "catch-up" time; I needed it! I have a Facebook account but seldom use it. I have 4 email accounts which keep me too busy to use social networks--once again, my lament about choosing not to have a home computer. I regularly check my work email, and try to keep personal friends from using it. I have 2 yahoo emails, one of which I established just to head off a friend who seems to work fulltime sending comments, pictures, vitriolic political statements, etc. etc.--over 600 items the last time I checked. Now I also have a gmail account for the RSS feeds!!I visited ALA, MySpace and Ning and found them all interesting, but since the MySpace and Ning sites are more social, I will probably use ALA more than those for facts, library information, tips, etc. which have more to do with my library position.
Posted by grazing.notes at 5:41 AM 0 comments

Week 2 - RSS
This was fun. I had often thought about connecting with RSS feeds, but then put it off until I "had more time." I subscribed to BBC and NPR news thinking to start slowly and also keep up-to-date on what's going on around the world with brief subject lines which I could pursue as I was interested! Wow! I found that brief does not do it as since I did not check the site daily, I had over 300 hits when I finally logged on. I'll probably say this in every blog, but choosing not to have a home computer sometimes limits what I would really like to do!!

Grazings

Just getting started. Hopefully successfully. This will be an interesting way to learn new stuff!