Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Week 10 #23 The End
Well, here we are. Frankly, I'm surprised that I finished. Thoughts on the journey: I knew less about some things and more out about other things than I anticipated. Zoho is my favorite new thing... I'm going to introduce Zoho to the high school and junior high students that come into our branch. I still prefer my Yahoo avatar but I'm glad to know about Meez. I'm still sorting through my issues and concerns about online privacy. Sometimes, I wish I could be more open on the web but I am afraid that I will inadvertently get myself in trouble.I'm glad I have a better understanding of new technologies...even only so I don't have to say "I have no idea what you are talking about!" to a patron who asks me for assistance with one of them. Thanks :-)
Week 9 #22 Downloadable Media
I investigated the Overdrive offerings several years ago when Overdrive first became available from HCPL. I downloaded an audio version of Fahrenheit 451 to the player provided to the branches and then I ended up reading the hard copy version anyway (I needed to reread it for Books on the Bayou). I don't think this service will be useful to me unless I purchase a device so that I hook an audio book player into the sound system in my car (if one is even available). I pretty much prefer to read using my eyes (& by turning pages) unless circumstances prevent me from doing so such as when I'm driving. That said, I love having audio books to listen to in the car and my eyesight may not enable me to read text formats forever. LibriVox is really interesting. If I had more time, I would love to volunteer to record for the project WOWIO I am unlikely to use unless I or a patron need to get a hold of something quickly that isn't available any other way.
Week 9 #21 Podcasts
I added feeds to my Bloglines account for http://www.hpprogs.com/ a Harry Potter discussion & news podcast and for http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ a National Public Radio show. I looked at the listed podcast directories and noticed that many of the podcasts I found using keywords seemed to have only 5 or 6 episodes created and then the creators stopped adding them. I think I'm more likely to find podcasts because of word of mouth referrals than I am by searching the directories. That said, I did stumble across the hpprogs podcast because I was searching the directories and I'm glad I did!
Week 9 #20 Discover YouTube
I really like YouTube. It would be easy to spend too much time exploring the site. I'm not sure what features could/would be effective on a library website. I'm including a video from Vanessa Paradis. I was introduced to this artist recently and I am turning into a rabid fan.
Vanessa Paradis "Divine Idylle" making-of Épisode 1 : Studio
The embedded clip is showing up when I look at this posting using a laptop set to nofilter. I'm not sure why it won't show up on my library staff computer but I know I'm not the only person who has encountered this glitch.
Vanessa Paradis "Divine Idylle" making-of Épisode 1 : Studio
The embedded clip is showing up when I look at this posting using a laptop set to nofilter. I'm not sure why it won't show up on my library staff computer but I know I'm not the only person who has encountered this glitch.
zoho blog post
I sure would have appreciated Zoho when I was in graduate school. I was using Juno's webmail to access my papers both at home, at work, and at the library so that I could add to documents wherever & whenever I had a chance to edit them. Once, while working on a particularly difficult project, a disaster occurred. I accidentally overwrote the "main document" e-mail in my draft folder instead of saving the new information in a separate "additional research" e-mail. I lost several days worth of work (during a summer session)!!! According to Helene Blowers' "Welcome to Zoho Writer" article, Zoho would have let me restore the information I accidentally saved over. Boy, that would have been handy. :-)
Week 8 #19 Web-based apps
I posted my comments on Zoho from Zoho after writing them down in Zoho. Pretty cool.
Week 8 #18 Social Networking part 2
Well, I've looked at several of the sites listed for discovery purposes. I think I like Yahoo 360 best. Ning is interesting because of its flexibility. I may look into creating a Ning page for EV's anime club. Linkedin frustrated me because payment is required fully use the site. I had hoped to find some of the people I worked with when I was in the MLS program I graduated from.
Update... It turns out I just had to click the link in my e-mail to use the Linkedin feature that I needed. :-)
Update... It turns out I just had to click the link in my e-mail to use the Linkedin feature that I needed. :-)
Monday, December 10, 2007
Week 8 exercise #18 Social Networking part 1
I had a MySpace page once upon a time. But I rarely visited it and it went away. It was very frustrating because, while my login still worked, all of my friend connections and my pictures and my profile went poof.
It's probably just as well. In truth, I am afraid to have a recognizable profile on the web. Working as a public librarian, I interact with all sorts of people. I have had to deal with a couple of minor stalking situations. And, because I work in a small community, everywhere I go I'm recognized.
There is always a small risk in sharing private details in a public forum. I think that risk is magnified significantly when you work directly and intimately with the public. And that is the nature of our work. There is nothing we can do to change it.
It's probably just as well. In truth, I am afraid to have a recognizable profile on the web. Working as a public librarian, I interact with all sorts of people. I have had to deal with a couple of minor stalking situations. And, because I work in a small community, everywhere I go I'm recognized.
There is always a small risk in sharing private details in a public forum. I think that risk is magnified significantly when you work directly and intimately with the public. And that is the nature of our work. There is nothing we can do to change it.
Week 7 #17 Technology
We learned during the horrible week when our systems were down that technology is something of an Achilles' heel. When it works it's great. When it doesn't it's tragic. Or can be tragic. I tend to be melodramatic. :-) All of my life, I have heard my father say that technology doesn't make our lives easier, it just increases the standards we are expected to live up to. Before indoor plumbing, bathing once a week was perfectly acceptable. Before automated washing machines, clothes could be worn more than once before washing. When most clothes were "homemade" rather than "store-bought" a little girl would wear the same dress every Sunday to church until she outgrew it and then it would be passed down to her little sister to wear. Now, there are whispers of negligent parenting if a child is seen wearing the same outfit several weeks in a row. (OK, maybe that last one was a little melodramatic too.)
Now, cell phones are so prevalent that pay phones are disappearing. E-mail is so common it can be nearly impossible to find a customer service phone number on a company's website. "Don't call us. Just send us an e-mail." Some magazines and journals are only available electronically because they are no longer published in a text format.
I know that economics plays a huge role in determining what happens in our society. Payphones are no longer a profitable venture. Providing phone accessabile customer service requires employing more people so that someone is available to answer the phone. Effective E-mail customer service probably requires a smaller staff to provide the same quality of service as the phone version. I can't argue that paper is not expensive. But, not everyone can afford a cell phone, not everyone has access to the Internet (libraries are limited in the quantity of access they can provide) and sometimes the power goes out during the block of time you have scheduled to do your research for a paper.
My point is that our society is structured in such a way that if someone doesn't have access to things that many take for granted, such as a telephone or a car, many(if not most) people will be unwilling to make accommodations for that person and may think less of them; may even judge that person as inferior or unworthy. MLK Jr. had a dream that his children would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. While we work to eliminate racism I hope we don't allow classism to creep in and take racism's place.
Now, cell phones are so prevalent that pay phones are disappearing. E-mail is so common it can be nearly impossible to find a customer service phone number on a company's website. "Don't call us. Just send us an e-mail." Some magazines and journals are only available electronically because they are no longer published in a text format.
I know that economics plays a huge role in determining what happens in our society. Payphones are no longer a profitable venture. Providing phone accessabile customer service requires employing more people so that someone is available to answer the phone. Effective E-mail customer service probably requires a smaller staff to provide the same quality of service as the phone version. I can't argue that paper is not expensive. But, not everyone can afford a cell phone, not everyone has access to the Internet (libraries are limited in the quantity of access they can provide) and sometimes the power goes out during the block of time you have scheduled to do your research for a paper.
My point is that our society is structured in such a way that if someone doesn't have access to things that many take for granted, such as a telephone or a car, many(if not most) people will be unwilling to make accommodations for that person and may think less of them; may even judge that person as inferior or unworthy. MLK Jr. had a dream that his children would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. While we work to eliminate racism I hope we don't allow classism to creep in and take racism's place.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Week 7 # 16 Wiki Wiki
It was cool to learn that wiki means quick. I was curious before, but never took the time to find out where the term came from. I've added my blog to the iHCPL sandbox. My thoughts on wikis: It's obvious that the quality of a wiki is dependent on the efforts of the contributors. Garbage in = Garbage out One of the things that I like about Wikipedia is its focus on popular culture. It might be fun to start a wiki to share horror stories, humorous reference questions, and touching moments in the library.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Week 6 # 15 Library 2.0
It's slow so I'm attempting to do this at the circ. desk. Hopefully I can keep my thoughts straight because an interruption or 5 is likely.
Library 2.0... First impressions. I have always been extremely customer oriented. Often, the amount of time I will spend with a customer to ensure they have not "an answer" but the "right answer" annoys and frustrates my coworkers. Anything that makes it easier for me (us) to give the customer what they need quickly is a good, no, is a great thing.
I'm concerned that the line between my job and my personal life may disappear if I jump too enthusiastically into the world of reference MySpace pages and librarian avatars. I don't particularly wish to be collected as a resource and I already have trouble leaving my job at "the office".
Giving up "just in case" collection development terrifies me. Maybe I should have been an archivist.
I'm all for implementing the Web 2.0 concepts delineated by Tom Storey: simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, collective intelligence, self-service, novel and remixed content. I believe the most important of these is simplicity. I also believe simplicity is the concept which is most easily overlooked when people or organizations allow themselves to get caught in the grip of what Michael Stephens calls technolust.
I also fear a tendency to patronize (in the condescending sense) the patron. Just as adults, without checking with children first, will design or buy toys they believe children should like... I'm concerned libraries are spending resources to implement technologies and trends that they believe patrons should want and need without a thorough understanding of the actual needs of the local community. This can lead to frustrated patrons as well as wasted time and money.
Of course, providing services for a diverse community requires balancing the needs of the elderly with the needs of the young and driven... balancing the needs of the wealthy with the needs of the impoverished, etc. It's hard. It's very hard. Perfectionists like, well me, need to avoid getting stuck because of our fear of screwing up.
I like the idea of content as conversation, the concept of permanent beta, and the belief that patrons should have a big role in determining new directions for their community libraries.
So, I'm afraid of bad changes and wrong guesses but I approve of the core values of Library 2.0
Library 2.0... First impressions. I have always been extremely customer oriented. Often, the amount of time I will spend with a customer to ensure they have not "an answer" but the "right answer" annoys and frustrates my coworkers. Anything that makes it easier for me (us) to give the customer what they need quickly is a good, no, is a great thing.
I'm concerned that the line between my job and my personal life may disappear if I jump too enthusiastically into the world of reference MySpace pages and librarian avatars. I don't particularly wish to be collected as a resource and I already have trouble leaving my job at "the office".
Giving up "just in case" collection development terrifies me. Maybe I should have been an archivist.
I'm all for implementing the Web 2.0 concepts delineated by Tom Storey: simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, collective intelligence, self-service, novel and remixed content. I believe the most important of these is simplicity. I also believe simplicity is the concept which is most easily overlooked when people or organizations allow themselves to get caught in the grip of what Michael Stephens calls technolust.
I also fear a tendency to patronize (in the condescending sense) the patron. Just as adults, without checking with children first, will design or buy toys they believe children should like... I'm concerned libraries are spending resources to implement technologies and trends that they believe patrons should want and need without a thorough understanding of the actual needs of the local community. This can lead to frustrated patrons as well as wasted time and money.
Of course, providing services for a diverse community requires balancing the needs of the elderly with the needs of the young and driven... balancing the needs of the wealthy with the needs of the impoverished, etc. It's hard. It's very hard. Perfectionists like, well me, need to avoid getting stuck because of our fear of screwing up.
I like the idea of content as conversation, the concept of permanent beta, and the belief that patrons should have a big role in determining new directions for their community libraries.
So, I'm afraid of bad changes and wrong guesses but I approve of the core values of Library 2.0
Week 6 # 14 Technorati
Can you say overwhelmed? I am overwhelmed. And underwhelmed in some ways. I read an opinion piece recently that said if everyone is a writer than the work of one who earns their living with words is devalued. Some blogs are just equivalent to reality TV shows for me. I'm not interested in The Bachelor or Big Brother... Give me Pushing Daisies or I Love Lucy or All in the Family. I just don't have time to dig for the buried gems in the vast mine of the blogosphere. I find myself wasting hours of my life reading the thoughts of random strangers much as I have wasted hours watching a bad but not bad enough to be good movie on the late show because I keep hoping it will turn the corner and be entertaining. Sigh. Forgive my puncuation in this post. I'm tired. And whiney.
Discovery exercise: Learning 2.0-- 835 hits in the blog directory, 1164 hits in both tag and URL search, & 1126 hits when searched as an exact phrase in keyword search.
Discovery exercise: Learning 2.0-- 835 hits in the blog directory, 1164 hits in both tag and URL search, & 1126 hits when searched as an exact phrase in keyword search.
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