Week 10 The End!! 23 Things

I've discovered so many things through this program! I didn't know anything about rss or wikis, at least not how they worked and why they were useful. My favorite activities were avatars, movies and photos. I already had a myspace page and used youtube but it was still fun to look at other sites. I post a lot of photos online but I didn't have a clue that there were so many ways to enhance, animate and use them to make posters, trading cards and such. Just blogging and adding all the elements to my blog was so much fun.

I think this program has made me more curious about new technology and I will definitely look for updates and new programs that make the internet world more exciting and productive.

I've passed on several of the 23 Things (like Zoho Writer, Flickr Toys) to friends and family. Actually, one of my grandsons is doing the online program for customers. He thinks it's all very cool!

This is certainly something that should be incorporated into computer classes! I think people would be amazed to learn the fun and interesting things they can do online. It could be billed as "Beyond Microsoft!!"

This has been a great program. It was something that brought staff together, competing for bling and helping each other work through the exercises. The fact that you could get behind and still catch up was nice too. Perhaps this is something that could be made available to all new hires to get them up to speed with all the latest trends. Since it would be hard for Grace or Fay etc to monitor ongoing progress, perhaps it could be offered once a quarter and the participants could notify someone when they had completed the 23 Things and the blog could be read then and training credit given.

Congratulations to all who were involved in producing this program! Beth's videos were hilarious.

Week 9 Post 4 Downloadables

I took the OverDrive training when we first added it to the collection. I've demonstrated how to download to customers and have recommended it to several of our regular cd users. Everyone has been very pleased with OverDrive and judging from the circulation stats it has become one of our most popular services. The addition of movies this year has been a big hit too. I have downloaded music to my pc at home and enjoy listening while I work.

Week 9 Post 3 Podcasts

There certainly is a lot out there to look at/listen to! I found a piece on NPR by author Annie Lamott, "An Ode to Libraries in the Age of the Patriot act" She had wonderful things to say about how libraries were something we could be proud of and how wonderful they were, especially for children. I found a good one for teen librarians. Now I'm working on getting the rss on here. And, I found a good one for SirsiDynix. They offer lots of neat training.

Week 9 Post 2 Animoto

This has got to be one of the greatest things out there! I made a movie in about 5 minutes then I made another and another. I've told everybody I know who loves pictures to check it out. What a fun thing to do with all those photos just hanging around flickr and my computer! And unless you want the longer videos, IT'S FREE!!!

Week9 Post 1 YouTube

I'm a big fan of YouTube. My sister and I are always trying to outdo each other at finding really outrageous videos. I also enjoy finding clips of old bands or my current favorites. A posting can make an instant celebrity out of an ordinary person or can record a celebrity's less than stellar moments for posterity.
The clip I chose is Sparta or The Mean Kitty Song. There is a series of these little vignets featuring a cute little kitty who looks and acts just like my Bandit.




Sparta Mean Kitty Song

Week 8 Post 2 1/2 Google Docs

Tried Google docs and didn't like it nearly as much as Zoho. Looked almost like MS Word. Also, I tried and tried to post my doc here and never could get it loaded. With Zoho it was a snap. The great thing about several of the new tools we've tried is that you can store your stuff (spreadsheets, photos etc) off your computer which saves space and allows you to access your things from any computer anywhere. And your friends can see it too if you choose. They really make sharing and editing work so much easier and faster.

Week 8 Post 2 Zoho

Welcome to My First Zoho Writer Document

I had no idea something like Zoho existed. What a great thing for people who don't have a computer at home. Also, since MS Vista doesn't seem to recognize it's older siblings, these types of tools would help solve that problem. Since I have no idea what I'm doing here other than trying out all the neat features, ¢Ω I'll try some more things to see if I can make them work.

This program seems to have many more features than Microsoft Word, such as HTML, smilies, etc. Inserting that image was very simple. Now I'm going to try to get this into my blog. Hope it works!

Week 8 Post 1 Social Networking

I love myspace! I have a page and enjoy keeping up will all my friends who are artists and musicians. I have several library sites as "friends" including ALA, Banned Books and Ask a Librarian. Many of my favorite authors also have myspace pages and it's fun to keep up with their book signings and progress on new novels. Plus, I have discovered many new writers and musicians because they "find" me and ask to be my friend. I've also been invited by people I wouldn't want to be associated with and it's easy to deny them. I have a blog on myspace and there are actually 7 people who have subscribed to my blog. http://www.myspace.com/pattijanel

I checked out several of the other social networking sites. I read that Yahoo 360 is undergoing some changes and there's lots of buzz about that on their site. I had no idea there was a networking site for cats! I'll have to create a page for Bandit cause I know he'd like lots of new friends! I've browsed Rate My Space on HGTV before. I didn't really think of it as a social networking site.

Ning was interesting. There were groups for firefighters, high school and college alumni groups and people with various diseases. Looks like anyone can start a group and have their own pages and members.

Week 7 Post 2 Technology

I posted a comment on Native Reader's blog. Could be fun to randomly go around and comment on different avatars, libraries etc. Everyone has been very creative.

What amazes me about all the tools and technology is that it's FREE! I spend a lot of time on the net at home and most of the things we've discovered through IHCPL are totally new to me. So much for me being any kind of net savvy expert! Because I'm an avid photographer, I am tickled pink to find all the free photo editors and especially the extras at flickr. I have a lot of old photos of grandparents, great grandparents that I've scanned and stored on a flash drive. Now I have the tools available to restore, enhance, enlarge, embellish and share those pictures with the rest of the family. I can also do a lot more with the pictures I take. And one thing that's great for someone like me, many sites take the fear and worry out of having to know html codes because they do it all for you with the click of a mouse! Amazing! And it's FREE!

Week 7 Post 1 Wikis

I've had fun looking around at various wikis. I added my blog to the list and then I added a favorite book, movie and music. I came across an article in USA Today today that brings home the power of wikis. Seems a tv show could have been canceled after a couple of episodes this season but the network is now looking at more than viewers at air time. People are watching tv differently since they can dvr shows or watch full episodes online. Network brass are also monitoring blogs and wikis that talk about a show to gage how much buzz there is or how people feel about it. Can you imagine saving your favorite show by starting a wiki ?
The only real problem I see with wikis is that there is no "authority" control and some things like wikipedia have to be carefully monitored. But the good thing is, if there is an error, someone can come along and correct it and the editing shows.

And, having something like the Marketing and Programming wiki available through Harriet allows us to keep up with print and sign requests and to follow the status. That is a good thing!

Week 6 Post 3 Library 2.0

That was a lot of interesting reading! I try to think of myself as a progressive person, somebody who is willing and able to change mindsets and adapt to new thinking. However, as I read through the topics, I couldn't help but recall the prediction of 15 years ago that computers would make libraries obsolete. While I whole heartedly agree that we should provide our customers with the latest best techology, downloadable books for example, I do not think we are yet at the point where brick and mortar buildings filled with books are going to disappear.
Anderson is at a university library and I can understand how college students will rely more heavily on databases and online services than the general public. A decrease in book circulation of 55% at a university does not translate to a public library. A university does not house large fiction collections, foreign language collections, books on cd or books for children. These items aren't available online and I see the circulation of these mateials rising rather than falling. Also, until the schools stop limiting the number of internet resources a student can use for a report, we will still have to keep a large number of nonfiction books for them to use. And it really doesn't matter how much we offer in terms of data bases if we don't have twice as many computers to allow more access. And judging by the use of our computers, the notion that everyone is connected at home is foolish.

"Come to us", now that's an interesting topic. Seems to me we go out of our way to get people to "come to us." We have programs for kids, teens and adults. We celebrate Hispanic Heritage, Poetry Month and have a huge summer reading program. We want the community to know that we're not just about books or computers but that you can learn to scrapbook, start a business, build a robot or write a book. I think that library 2.0 disounts all the things a public library can be and should be to a community. While we have a great ebranch with all our resources available from home or office, the public still wants libraries open more hours and they want more staff to help them. In our neighborhood there are hundreds of new homes under construction. The builder told me that one of the "perks" they are using as a selling point is the library.

While I think we are and should be planning for future technologies, I don't think we should cancel the book budget just yet! And just a little blast from the past. The local community college went to CDROMs back in the 90's when those were the hot new thing. They didn't buy books for four or five years. Then CDROMs became the new dinosaurs and the school was stuck with a book collection that was out of date and they have never been able to catch up.

Week 6 Post 2 Technorati

I liked the reference to Technorati as the "World Live Web." It certainly does keep track of what's being said in real time. An interesting tracking module is how many times a topic, 'learning 2.0" for example, is blogged per day. While searching around, I found a couple of interesting blogs that sent me out looking for further information. In the WTF section, the top blog was about a free audio website for material in the public domain. So, I just had to go check out librivox.org. Then I found a blog on delicious library 2.0, a product for Macs. It's a program that allows you to scan the upc code from books, audios, dvds and the item appears on the shelf in your virtual library. Looked really fun but I don't have a Mac......plus you can do books for free at Library Thing. I always wondered how I could find blogs about topics I might want to learn about or get other people's opinions on, now I know where to go.

Week 6 Post 1 del.icio.us

I've used the HCPL account for a while now and have added several of my favorite reference sites to the list. One of the great things about tags is that you might find one good resource but by clicking on one of the tags, other related things will pop up. del.icio.us can save time and keep you from reinventing the wheel so to speak when doing a search. Google can give you thousands of hits but with del.icio.us you can find resources recommended by other people.
And speaking of Google and tags, many people do not know that the way you tag your website and its content can greatly impact how high it appears in a results list or whether it appears at all.

Week 5 Post 2 Library Elf

I was going along fine to register myself until it got to the part about my pin. I don't know these people or who has access to their data bases! Since our system does email/snail mail notices, I don't see a benefit for me. However, since you can add rss or cell phone notifications to your options, I understand why some customers would prefer that. Plus you can get notices on several cards in one notice. It was amazing to see that so many libraries from all over the country offer Library Elf. Do they or we promote it or is it something people just find out about?
Do the libraries have data on how many of their customers use it? What about privacy?
I looked for information on Library Elf to see what people thought of it. I found this in the LibraryLaw Blog. http://blog.librarylaw.com/librarylaw/2005/11/my_library_elf_.html

Week 5 Post 1 Library Thing

I think this is one of the greatest things since sliced bread! I have had one for my home collection for a while now. Great way to keep track of what I have or missing in a series that I love. (like all the Dana Stabenow books including a rare scifi she wrote). For this class I just created the basics. http://www.librarything.com/catalog/pjlippold

Week 5 Post 1 Avatars

Well, as you can see, I made one! It was really easy and I had a lot of fun trying on all kinds of features. The site I used is http://www.meez.com/home.dm One of the fun things I also found was an M&M character generator. Very cool.

Week 4 Post 2 RSS

I subscribed to some cool stuff and have posted another rss feed here. I didn't find the search tools all that helpful but bloglines "top 200" was full of good sites. It was almost easier before I tried all the bells and whistles. I was doing this but not thinking about it too much. With some of the search tools, I couldn't get back to where I wanted to go (at least two coworkers have had the same problems) so I just gave up and tried something else. I enjoyed Technorati...amazing at how fast those posts pop up. And in searching around various feeds, I learned that the world's most expensive M&M is a single brown M&M that flew on the privately funded space trip in 2004. It sold for $1400. I most likely will not keep up with the rss feeds after this program.

Week 4 post 1 I need a KISS RSS tutor!

I must be having some senior moments because this blogging is giving me fits. I have a blog and have no trouble with that and I subscribe to some blogs. However, I have to wonder if sometimes there is such a thing as too much knowledge! What was simple and easy has now become confusing and complicated. I've set up my bloglines account with some feeds. I even by accident added an rss feed to my Google page. I did get a Fox News rss onto my IHCPL blog.
I will continue to play with the search tools though so far I haven't found them too friendly.

Week 3 Post 4

I used Snipshot to enhance this image. I was able to make the colors more intense, change the contrast and sharpen the image.

Week 3 Post 3 My creation

My creation
Originally uploaded by talespinner2002

Yeah! I made my own trading card!!

Week 3 Post 2 Who Knew?

Peace
Originally uploaded by talespinner2002

I'm having way too much fun to be at work! It's great to learn all the interesting things you can do in flickr. It's a little like trading in your Yugo for a Mercedes-Benz.

Week 3 Post 1 My Friend Flickr

I've had a Flickr account for a few months now but I'm really enjoying learning all the ways to enhance and manage my photos. I used Webshots for years but I'm slowly moving all my pictures to Flickr. Most of my albums are for family and friends but I've made one public for this exercise.

Safety and the net

Just for fun I added a photo of a bestselling mystery writer. For her safety (ha!) I won't identify her. I've been active on many websites, message boards and chatrooms for several years. So far, I've been very fortunate to have met some of the most wonderful, fun and interesting people. But there are people who haven't been so lucky. Most of them are kids/teens who don't have the skills or experience to protect themselves. However, I don't think enough attention is devoted to the older adults who are vulnerable to scam and con artists or other people who would prey on them.

An example is a net friend who's on one of my message boards. She was telling us about this wonderful woman who was cleaning her house (she found her through a net ad) and that the woman's son had volunteered to do some repairs FOR FREE. Most others on the board said gee how nice for you to get help. Not me! I posted that I thought she should NOT let the son into her house when she was gone and that nothing is free. Check them out I said. Sure enough, the pair were con artists and they stole identities as well as property and my friend didn't even have their real names.

My point is that it is not just teens looking for fun who need to be aware. Everyone who logs onto the internet needs to exercise the same caution as when at home or in public.

It's a Fast Moving World!

Just a few years ago, no one could have imagined how quickly technology would become the driving force in our lives. IPods, MySpace, YouTube, flash drives, hd tv, blue tooth and many more gadgets and websites are becoming virtual necessities to the Net Generation. Guess it's time for the "graying" net generation to catch up and get it's groove on!