New Dog, New Tricks

Overdrive - (Where's Bachman-Turner?)

2007-12-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

Alas, I am blogging my last "thing"! I'm going to miss TLC 2.0 :( So about Overdrive. . . I would say that from my personal experience, its fairly easy to use. There are a couple of things that I would change such as the ability to return things early so that you can check out more and of course the ipod compatibilty issue. My experience with Overdrive as a librarian has been some what more challenging. Teaching/explaining Overdrive is not too difficult (just time consuming) when customers have their laptops with them and you can download the software and take them through the process. But trying to explain the steps without their computer present in the hopes that they will remember and duplicate the process when they get home is another things all together. Let's just say - Its a great resource for the computer literate, but lets not stop buying those books on CD too soon!

Facebook

2007-12-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

I'm doing this before the "thing" actually became available because I am leaving on vacation and want to get this done before December 29th. I messed around a bit with facebook and I didn't find it that different from Myspace (which I have had an account for a couple years). In fact, Myspace seems to be a little more democratic. . .less exclusivity with the networks and such. From a personal point of view, social networking sites are fun/entertaining, but I could definitely live without them. Professionally, its useful tool to locate and network with fellow librarians(But to be honest I use it more for fun.) Of course, in the pursuit of library 2.0 some libraries have jumped on the social networking bandwagon. However, I think that they could do a really bad job with this. I wonder if students/users might find the library's presence on these sites to be a bit intrusive. Even if that's not a problem, a poorly done site could just look pathetic. If there isn't an attempt to socialize (ie. actually ask for feedback) with them then what's the point? People ages 12-25 aren't going to think your library is cool just because its on Facebook or Myspace. They certainly can tell a fake from the real thing!

Podcasts

2007-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

I had a little bit of a problem figuring this "thing" out :( I thought that digg.com was by far the easiest podcast directory to use. It was the only one that let me listen to podcasts. (wait- I will amend that, I hear talking coming from my head phones. I must have figured out Podcast alley!) Podcast alley isn't very clear. I kept clicking on "Get Podcast" and it would tell me that I needed a Podcast aggregator. I have no idea what that is and I was getting aggravated with the aggregator. Finally I clicked on details and there was a button that said "Download Podcast". Of course that worked perfectly. It just took me forever! I will say one good thing about Podcast Alley- the feed was very easy to locate and it was accurate. Digg.com and Podcast.net were not so apparent and bloglines said it could locate no such feed. I was probably looking at the wrong thing. I never did figure out Podcast.net. It told me that it was downloading the podcast, but I never heard anything. Oh well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad! I've been babbling on enough about the process, instead of tellin y'all what I found. I found a very interesting series of podcast called "Uncontrolled Vocabulary" about various library issues. There was also a podcast called "Library News". Sometimes it feels like I don't have enough time to read the professional literature, but i think that it could be really useful to listen to these podcasts while I am doing other tasks/activities.

YouTube

2007-12-06T10:40:00.001-08:00

I picked this video because I love cats (I have 3 of them!) I tried several times to embed the html in my post,(following the seemingly simple Blogger directions) but it didn't work. I then noticed on the dashboard that you could create an account with YouTube and post videos to your blog directly from YouTube. It was very easy and more importantly it worked! I can see using YouTube as a library application. You could create library tutorials and library tours. I have even found some very good instructional videos that I think my customers would benefit from. Some times customers come in and ask for a book on how to do something. We are a small library and many times we simply don't have the resources. It may not be a bad idea to check out YouTube and see if there is something available to help them.

Goowy

2007-12-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

I decided to take a look at Goowy - an online desktop. This seems kind of like what I heard referred to as a Portal (kind of a one stop shopping experience). Creating the account was a snap and it seemed fairly easy to use. Goowy enables you to access most of your web 2.0 applications, email, IM, etc. from one website. I also was impressed that it had 1 GB of free storage. I could see libraries doing something similar. Right now you can access your account to see what you have checked out or on hold, but in the future these accounts could be personalized. Customers could create accounts that not only accessed their library records, but updated them on new movies or books based on their preferences. It could have a calendar where they could record the library programs they want to go to and it would then alert them to the upcoming event. Customers could save their favorite websites. . . Heck, they could even have the free virtual storage! How many people still come to the library unprepared to save the documents that they are creating. "But I saved it on the computer!!!!"

Zoho Writer

2007-12-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

It's funny that the first time I tried to use Zoho there was something wrong with the site and I was denied access. Not a very good first impression, but it demonstrated very effectively the potential hang ups of web-based anything. I think web-based applications should have a place in an office because they make information so much more accessible. But I was also wondering how secure documents are in something like Zoho compared to being stored in your computer. However, as a public reference librarian, I wouldn't mind if more people used applications like Zoho just so I wouldn't have to deal with issues of converting Microsoft Works to Microsoft Word. After I was finally granted access, I played around with Zoho writer a little bit. I didn't find the interface to be particularly intuitive. When I would click on "export" the screen would automatically scroll to the left; thus I suppose hiding the "export" options. It would also do this with the email option. You could just see enough of the dialogue box to figure out what you were doing. I realize that it has more bells and whistles than Google Docs, but I find Docs to be much more user friendly, and I will continue to use it. I went back and tried to post my document to my blog, but it said my blog was unavailable- whatever that means. The "export" bug seemed to have worked itself out- just another web-based application glitch!

PBWiki Sandbox

2007-11-29T11:28:00.001-08:00

Urrrrgh.... I've found that most of the things on this tutorial have been very easy, but adding my blog to the NSULibs Wiki sucked! It took me about 7 minutes to figure it out! Yeah, once you know what you're doing its really easy- but I would not say its intuitive. Of course, signing in to the bcltlc wiki was a snap once I had edited the NSULibs Wiki.

Wikis

2007-11-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

I decided to take a look at the SJCPL Subject Guides wiki. At first, I thought it was a great idea because it would enable the library users to add their own links to the subject guides (Who better than the people that have to use them in real life?). However, I soon found out that this particular wiki is restricted and only SJCPL staff are allowed to edit it. I'm sure that allowing library users access to this wiki might pose some problems with appropriateness and relevance, but I still think that in the spirit of Library 2.0 it would be worth it. I find the idea of library users helping eachother to be very cool! Isn't that what an online community is all about? (Maybe they could have a disclaimer) As a wiki it is still very useful because it allows for easy access and editing by SJCPL staff - this is important because of the tenuous nature of Internet links.

I also looked at library success.org. I'm think this could be a really useful tool for librarians, but it needs more people to contribute. I found many topics that I searched for had yet to be added. Maybe I could put in my two cents worth!

Library 2.0

2007-11-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

One of the opinions about Library 2.0 that really caught my attention was "Away from Icebergs" :http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm
The author discussed 3 potentional icebergs for libraries if they do not go gentle into that good library 2.0. "Just in case" print collections, user education and the expectation that library users come to us. I can see where he is coming from with these potential hang ups, but I think his ideas about user education were slightly off the mark. He writes, "We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need..." Yes, of course things should be easy to use - that's a no brainer. Intuitive interface is essential, but library users first need to know where to locate these tools, secondly, they need to formulate a concise and effective search strategy, and thirdly, they need to be able to evalute the resources that they find. Providing easy access to information cannot and should not replace research skills. Information literacy should be the cornerstone of library education and library 2.0.

Roll over for Rollyo

2007-11-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

I really dig this! I created a search roll for Education resources because I get a lot of reference questions on this topic. When I tried a search on my newly created search roll, it worked really well. I also like that you can see what search rolls other people have created about similar topics. I added my rollyo search engine to my blog (its under "Recent books from my library") , but you can also visit it at: http://rollyo.com/acmcguire/

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that its not hard to move your page elements around. When you are in Dashboard click on Manage: "Layout" and all you have to do is click and drag.

Library Thinga-ma-whatsit

2007-11-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

I already mentioned Library Thing in one of my previous journals, but I'll go ahead and talk about it again! Hey, this time I get paid to mess around with it a bit more - Wicked Good! Another cool feature I have discovered about Library Thing is the ability to display your catalog in 5 different ways. Maybe when dealing with your own catalog this isn't as helpful, but if you are browsing someone elses catalog this could be a real benefit. In the spirit of web 2.0 there is also a feature which lets you create a list of random books or recent additions from your catalog and add it to your website or blog. I added one to my blog. Its on the upper left side. I think I may try to move it - wish me luck. The only thing you have to be careful about is that clicking on the image of the book will link you to Amazon. However, you can create widget lists that contain only text if you are squimish about schilling for Amazon.

So here is my Library Thing catalog. Its not much but I hope to have my whole library cataloged one day (sigh).... http://www.librarything.com/catalog/acmcguire

2007-11-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm sure we have all experienced the pain of Clippy popping up to give us unsolicited advice. I generated this image using Image Generator.net http://www.imagegenerator.net/

This site had a lot of interesting images that you could personalize with your own text. I suppose besides having fun (which is important) you could add these images to power point presentations for library instruction classes, library blogs.... (Does everything have to have a professional application? Well, I am at work so my mind tends to bend in that direction - no offense Clippy!) Although, I think Clippy should be saying something a bit more constructive. He's a cheecky little monkey isn't he?

Quilting

2007-11-20T12:08:00.001-08:00

They suggested blogging about a hobby, so I guess I will talk about a sort-of love/hate hobby of mine which is quilting. For some reason, I decided to hand-stich a quilt about a 2 years ago. I guess I though it seemed romantic or some such thing. Also I don't have a sewing machine! So I patched together the whole thing and began to do the actually quilting and it looked terrible. I am a bit of a perfectionist and when I realized it wasn't going to turn out the way I wanted it to, I just stopped. About a year later a friend asked me if I wanted to go the Gees Bend quilt exibition at the Fort Lauderdale Art Museum. I had never heard of Gees Bend and I was expecting these perfectly done quilts. Boy, was I wrong. While they were beautiful, they were anything but perfect. The quilts were created to be used and a couple misplaced stiches wouldn't hinder that in any way. These women had created works of art, not because of perfection but because of the distinctive touches that they gave to their work. Going to the exhibition really inspired me to start again. I do not think so much of my quilt as full of mistakes but as something only I could have created.

Take a bite its Del.icio.us!

2007-11-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

I have heard other people talk about del.icio.us, but I never got around to trying it. From what people were saying, I thought it was just a way to store your bookmarks in a web-based format. Easy access it great, but it didn't really spark my interest. I'm glad that this activity "forced" me to try it! It is so much more than just a bookmarking tool. I absolutely love the sharing feature. I just type in what tags I would use to look up info. and voila, I get a list of websites other people have saved on the same topics. (Some of the results were off the mark, but what do you expect when there is no controlled vocabulary.) Del.icio.us tells me how many people have saved this website and lets me read the person's comments on the site. Another helpful feature is the common tags for the website. These tags give me new ideas for keywords when I search online databases and even the catalog- that I might not thought of before. I think that del.icio.us can be a valuable reference resource.

Let's Talk Technology

2007-11-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure what to write about... I'm not a super techno person and I'm certainly not a Luddite but... well ... Okay I'm stalling... I'll write about LibraryThing.com. Its really cool how you can catalog your books according to how the world makes sense to you, and not how it makes sense to a cataloger. An added bonus is that it is open source software! This means that it is free to the individual and costs almost nothing for non-profit organizations. I also really like the sharing component as this is very important with any web 2.0 application. We don't want to just store information anymore, we want people to accesss it, comment on it and maybe even learn from it. It would be nice if libraries OPACs could offer similar features.

Flickr mashups and Trading Card

2007-11-05T16:20:00.001-08:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by anna.mcguire

I'm not sure of the professional applications of this (business cards?) but it was a lot of fun to do.

Speaking of professional applications for Flickr? I guess you could use the Flickr groups option for your library- maybe create a sense of community? Or you could take your BI class through a virtual tour of the library with pictures of the important places (restrooms!!) The personal applications are very apparent and the mosaic and color matching sites were great. It makes attaining step 7 1/2 easy peasy.

Sparkling Clean Floor

2007-11-05T15:49:00.001-08:00

Sparkling Clean Floor
Originally uploaded by mesastreatexit

I was curious to see if there were any pictures of Broward County Libraries on Flickr and as it turns out there were several pictures. This one is of the Main Library. Gee, I thought that photography of any kind was against library policy unless you got permission (maybe they did)! Well, sites like Flickr do let you see how people perceive the library both visually (pictures) and in written form (comments). Anyways, I like how easy it is to search for pictures and upload them to your blog. Until, I get a digital camera that's about all I will be able to do.

Useful blogs & feeds

2007-11-02T11:43:00.001-07:00

Let me first say that I did not understand how Feedster worked! I kept trying different search terms and the results were completely unrelated. It just looked like they were trying to sell me things. I'm sure this is due to my own ignorance, but its certainly not an intuitive design. Bloglines Search Tool is very easy to figure out and I got the results that I expected. It is also simple to subscribe to these feeds. Topix.Net is a useful site in that you can use it to get the latest news or you can use it to find news feeds. It is organized well with a list of topics or subject headings that made browsing possible. However, adding the feeds to my Bloglines Account was not straightforward. Syndic8.com is a bit clunky, but the results are relevant. I especially liked that the provided the feed URL. That made adding it to bloglines nice n' easy.

RSS

2007-10-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

I've used Google Reader even before I knew what an RSS was, but I have never used bloglines before this activity. I can definitely see the convenience of both although I don't pretend to understand the technology behind them! I think that bloglines is more user friendly and I will continue to use it in the future.

It took me a little while how to figure out how to make my account public (username ????? What username??????), but here is the URL:
http://www.bloglines.com/public/StarsUponThars

Successful Lifelong Learning Habits

2007-10-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess the most difficult habit would be #1 - begin with an end in mind. I tend to start things without a specific idea of where I'm going or when I'll get there. Yeah, I want to grow professionally/personally, but as to the concrete details or arrival times. . . ???? Even with this TLC 2.0 course, filling out the Goals worksheet was hard for me. Don't get me wrong - goals are great; however, flexibility is important. Don't let goals blind you to the opportunities that present themselves along the way. I guess that would defeat the purpose of lifelong learning. The easiest habit would have to be # 7 1/2 PLAY! I am by nature a curious person (no that doesn't mean nosey :) and I think that's what interested me in Library Science. I love to ask questions and find out answers for myself and being a librarian lets me help others as well.