Lisa's 23 Things Blog

Fine!

2009-01-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have finished this 23 Things self-paced workshop, and I have learned quite a lot. I was not necessarily technologically challenged, but I had not taken the time to really work with some of the technologies.

I am very excited about several technologies that we could use in the library. I was very impressed with the concept of using IM and Wikis for staff communications. I see that this oucld save us quite a bit of time. I can also see that using Del.icio.us could work quite well with my teens or with my staff to come up with webliographies. For now I am using Del.icio.us to bookmark in such a way that I can access it anywhere.

For our patrons I can see a multitude of possibilities. While we currently have a wiki, we need to get permission to have a blog and some sort of IM for reference. Our main problems here are working within the rules of our city. We are trying to determine if IM would constitute
"public record." If it does, then we would have to keep logs of everything. What a mess. I can certainly see many of the "fun" web based programs being used in programs for our patrons. I personally loved the trading card maker to make librarian cards to hand out to teens. I have also been won over to having library sites in mySpace, Facebook, and flickr. I now have a much better understanding of how to use them as marketing tools.

I have also started using some of the things that I learned in this class for myself. Del.icio.us, the RSS, the iGoogle, and the blog are the things that I use the most. I enjoy getting google updates about Harker Heights and our Library. For purely personal reasons, I have started my own blog about role-playing. For Christmas my daughter and I used the trading card maker to make sets of cards for our role-playing group.

I would definitely take another, more advanced course like this. I think that many of my staff were so knowledgeable to begin that they would like advanced material. If I were going to change anything for this workshop or institute changes for upcoming workshops, I believe that I would look at breaking workshops into smaller pieces so that "attendees" could feel completion. To be done right, this workshop took far more than 15 hours for even my most technologically advanced staff members. We thought that individuals could work on the workshop when they were not busy at the desk, but we soon found out that wouldn't work at all. We had to schedule staff members the time to complete the workshop. I had my entire staff take this online course. About half the staff has completed the program. I firmly believed that everyone needed to take the course regardless of their prior knowledge. By doing so we now can refer to technologies with which everyone will be familiar.

Podcasting

2009-01-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

I have tried several times, but was unable to get into the podcasting and videocasting website.

Our Library has just received permission from our IT department to work on podcasting and videcasting. We have several ideas for services.

We are interested in doing videocasting of portions of our storytimes. We are currently contacting the publisher of a book to see if we can get permission to use it.
We want to imbed short helpful hint videos to help patrons with Internet and computer based questions. The idea is that if they get stuck on something like searching in the Tex Share databases, then we could have a short video right there.

Downloadable Audiobooks

2009-01-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

Our library has been marketing downloadable audiobooks for several years. We have enjoyed CTLS' NetLibrary consortium. We have had only limited success getting our patrons to use the service. I feel that things are changing for the better. We've recently had several individuals ask for information abouthte NetLibrary program. Here are our major concerns with the NetLibrary eAudiobooks.

Right now most of the interest is coming not from those who are technologically savy, but from individuals who have relatively little knowledge of the technology. It is very difficult to get individuals prepared for NetLibrary since every player seems to work differently.
Individuals who are using downloadable audiobooks in area tend to like Audible better.
Right now most people still have iPods. I keep hearing the NetLibrary is working with Apple, but I never hear that anything is actually happening to allow iPod users to use NetLibrary.

On the other, more positive hand ...

NetLibrary is affordable.
Once you start using it, it is relatively easy.
The collection is sizable if not necesarily the "best."

I was very impressed with the Libravox site. I searched for Jane Austens and could certainly see downloading it. I would also be interested in volunteering to read for the project. I wold especially like to do children's books if I can find stories that are in the public domain. Our storytime parents would love to be able to download books read with our voices. The children are used to them.

Our library also circulates MP3 players. This has not been a particularly well utilized service because most people who are familiar with the techonology already have their own and those unfamiliar with the technology are reticent to check them out. Now we even download the NetLibrary eAudiobooks for them. We also have car adapters available.

I would like to mention that some MP3 players such as some Sansa's are not great for library use. The downloadable audiobooks HAVE to be removed from those players by connecting to the same computer from which the title was downloaded. Consequently, we have players on which patrons have downloaded eAudiobooks form home. Those eAudiobooks can only be removed form those players if the patron remembers to remove them.

YouTube

2008-12-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

I am probably the last librarian in the world to use YouTube. Actually I have attempted to use it several times before, but it was and still is normally blocked from use on staff computers. I first saw the purpose of YouTube when I was at a friends house. We were trying to play Dance Dance Revolution without much luck. We finally foudn some helpful, and many not so helpful, You Tube videos of people playing Dance Dance Revolution.

I was able to get into YouTube for some strange reason today. In so doing I was able to find several helpful videos. I particularly enjoyed videos showing other librarians presenting bilingual storytimes. Those short videos helped with ideas for future programs.

Here's Tanya and Rosie leading a bilingual storytime.

I also found a very nice animated short of Teddy Bears Picnic. I just have to find out if I can show it or use it in my storytimes. If not, at least I have the song that I can sing at a later date.

We are excited because we have just been given permission to record soe of our storytimes to plac eon YouTube.

Web Awards

2008-12-31T08:48:00.000-08:00

The Web Awards offers users a tool to find some interesting and often unusual "things to do" online. Many of the "23 Things" are also listed. I looked at several sites.

1. Comiqs (Beta) -- I can see that this site could offer excellent programming opportunties. Users can create comics. Unfortunately the site does not appear to do a very good job of explaining what photos can be leagally used. The site is limited, but fun.

2. Lulu -- This site offers opportunities to self-publish. Membership is free, and it appears that users can work on projects without paying any fees. This site reminds me a bit of an online Kinko's. I could imagine several programming possibilities. For example, we could do a cooking class and then publish a cookbook designed by the class. I coudl have a child's photography class and then make calendars from the photos produced.

3. Biblio.com -- This site offers librarians and others free accounts to search for rare books. This site is very easy to use. I often look for storytime books that are no longer in print. This would be another excellent source for obtaining those materials. Most of the materials that I found were at incredibly low prices. The main drawback that I saw was that often large lists of items are not available. For example, I clicked on a link to graphic novels and almost none of the long list were available.

ZOHO Writer

2008-12-31T08:38:00.001-08:00

ZOHO Writer Blog Post

I am excited about the possibility of using online applications. I just purchased a laptop computer for my daughter, and I think that using these applications could be very helpful for her as well.

At this point inthe process I am finding that the ZOHO Writer is quite intuitive. The Welcome information gives you just enough information to get started. I have heard, however, that the help functions are not as good as we might like.

Technorati Tags writing,online,application,ZOHO

CTLS-23-Things-Sandbox

2008-12-31T08:23:00.001-08:00

I have just added some content to the CTLS-23-Things-Sandbox. I was surprised at how easy it is to do. I can see that something like this might be useful for our staff to add their favorite books. Our patrons are always interested in what we like to read.

I have added content to blogs and wikis before. Unfortunately they have never been in particularly well used sites. I have found that the ALA wikis are harder than necessary with which to work. I have lately been editing a page about technology outreach for ALA, but the site is so controlled that I cannot add audio or video content.

Wikis

2008-12-31T05:07:00.000-08:00

Wikis are excellent sources for information and applications for planning.

I checked out several of the Wikis listed. Of course we have been using Wikipedia for years. The hardest thing is getting our patrons to understand that ANYONE can add to the wiki and that often information is incorrect. I found that for my purposes the Library Success wiki at http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page will be an invaluable source for information.

I see that libraries can use wikis for a variety of purposes. In our library we've attempted to use a wiki for book discussion and writing sharing. We have had moderate success only. Most of htat success came in the summer when we were really pushing the wiki. Our main problem right now is getting the work out that we have a wiki. Right now we are attempting to host a Winter Teen Reading Club on our Wiki. We are working with Killeen Public Library to have a dual city club. Check out our site at http://http//www.ci.harker-heights.tx.us/hhplwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page.

Technorati

2008-12-31T04:23:00.000-08:00

I've been playing around in Technorati. I found that I most enjoyed looking at the reference type information "about" blogs rather than at the blogs themselves. I was very impressed with the relatively simple usage of larger and bolder letters to indicate the most used tags. This intuitive concept shows that simplicity is often best. It's completely intuitive. As I discovered tags and posts, I was also amused to find that at least the titles of most of the the top ten blogs indicate that those blogs are self-help in nature. Those at which I looked ended up being entertaining as well.

I did look up "learning 2.0" in Technorati. I found vastly varying sites, most of which were not at all what I wanted to read. I suppose that it just part of this type of open tagging.

I did claim my blog and I am going to attempt to tag this blog for Technorati as well. My concern is that I am not sure how useful my blog can be to other people. Since I have gone to the considerable trouble of tagging it, then I feel that I now have an obligation to make the blog educational or informative or entertaining. After reading several blogs, however, I see that other people do not feel the same pressures that I feel.

CTLS

Del.icio.us

2008-12-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

I started my own Del.icio.us account. I have already found a multitude of uses for this sort of organizational tool. Not only are my bookmarks now available to me virtually, but I can also quickly find numerous links to sites of interest to me on particular topics. Because we are not allowed to download to our work computers, I was unable to install the bookmark bar. I am still able to add the bookmarks as I find useful sites, though. I just have to take a longer route to do it.

I can also see how I can find authoratative information as well as "well reviewed" information by searching for tags from other individuals. That is something very new to me.

I am also interested in the concept of building lists and working on projects with other individuals through the use of specialized tags. I can already think of several ways that our staff can use that feature.

Doubtlessly I will find many other possibilities when I begin to use this service more and more.

Web 2.0 for Libraries

2008-12-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

I can certainly see the many positive aspects of utilizing web 2.0 concepts in and for the library. I am particularly insterested in using blogs and IM within the library structure to let staff know what is going on and to communicate quickly without disturbing patrons. Our library must work closely with our IT department to explain why these features would be helpful.

We find that by discussing these matters with the City's IT department, we are able to increase understanding to to get the IT department to buy into our service needs. Our IT department is very supportive of the library and works very hard to help us. We just have to remember that the IT department must be concerned with security and City of Harker Heights rules and regulations. For example, we have to own our own wiki. We cannot use one of the free wikis because of the advertisements. In the article that I mention below, I was impressed with the concept of value added blogging. We want to have a blog, but again our City will have to purchase some software to do it. On the other hand I have found that with continued explanation of our needs, the IT department is more and more willing to allow us to use some of the already excellent free applications.

I read "Tools for 'Web 2.0 and Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software' Revisited." This is chapter 2 of the Sept/Oct. issue of Library Technology Reports. I found the discussion quite helpful. I have reflected some of my thoughts in the above statements.

Gaming

2008-12-18T03:35:00.001-08:00

I love to play games at home. I am a role player. Our family plays cards, board games, and more. I find, though, that I am not as interested in playing games online. I think that the reason is that everytime I get started I end up spending so much time getting relatively few things done. :) Also, I really miss the in person interaction that I get from some other in site games.

I found that if I am going to game online, I pretty much want to be doing it with my family members. I enjoy the short games that my kids play to win pretend points in Neopets and other such sites. I do not mind watching other people play. My favorite kids game sites are http://www.neopets.com/ and http://www.webkins.com/. Really I think that we enjoy the taking care of pets more than anything else in these sites.

I tried http://www.jigzone.com/ and enjoyed myself quite a bit. The game itself was relatively short. Also the site has options to upload your own picture. I am sure that I would also like strategy games.

I also like hearts and spades online. I do not mind playing with other people that I do not know, but it is so much more fun to play with people that you know.

I have some friends who do online role playing using IM and webcams. They seem to like it, but they do admit that it is not as fun as playing in person.

Social Networking

2008-12-18T03:27:00.000-08:00

Our library does a "Theirspace" workshop for parents and caregivers. Our workshop attempts to familiarize adults with the social networking that children and teens are using. We try not to scare parents. Instead we hope to get them to use the tools themselves. We also give helpful and practical tips for keeping children safe.

I did not make a Facebook or Myspace account. Our staff computers do not allow access. I did use the patron computers to look at those and other social networking sites. I have quite a bit a familiarity with children's sites such as neopets.com. I decided that I just didn't have the interest at this point in making an account. I am considering a library account, but I have been reading articles about the problems with library Myspace accounts. I also am concerned about children and teens wanting to "friend" me. We have had some problems with out young patrons finding out staff Myspace accounts and then sending very ugly messages.

I did look at the Myspace music. Though I thought that it was interesting, I do not think that Myspace is the best choice to find music. There are other sites that offer easier access to music.

Chat and IM

2008-12-18T03:24:00.000-08:00

I tried chat and IM yesterday. I feel that IM would be a great solution to our staff communication problems with the new library. We are so used to being close together that we are not sure how we are going to cope with a larger facility. The new facility is roughly three times the size of our current building. We think that IM would be a good way to communicate.

I also see chat as a good reference tool. My only concern is the frustration that patrons will feel if they do not get immediate responses. I know that I was anxious to get a response from Kam when I used the Meebo Me.

Both reference and staff centered IM would have to be approved by our IT department.

IM and Chat

2008-12-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

I believe that our library could certainly use chat and IM as reference tools. Currently our City does not allow chat or IM access from our work computers. In order to use those features, we will need to seriously consider how and when we would be able to implement this virtual reference. We would need to submit a very good recommendation to our administration in order to do it. I think that the work will be worth it. We would not, however, want to offer the service if we cannot man it. Now our small library simply does not have the staff. We are rarely sitting at our computers.

Newsfeeds and RSS

2008-12-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

I have found that Topix.net is an interesting place to find local news. I did like that it did not get its information from blogs.

I thoroughly enjoy the Google Reader concept. I was able to look through many things quickly. I think that you could easily become overwhelmed if you do not limit the number of feeds that you receive.

I prefer to find feeds and blogs through searches. I can see that you might find one from a particular website that you enjoy. Again, there are still so many that it is hard to choose.

Dewey Decimal Generator

2008-12-15T06:00:00.001-08:00

Here's a fun generator that tells you what your dewey decimal number would be.

http://spacefem.com/quizzes/dewey/score.php

RSS

2008-12-13T05:55:00.001-08:00

I love the idea of the RSS. I do not have the time or, frankly, the inclination to spend hours looking through sites. I am lucky to be able to spend even thirty minutes looking for up to date information. I am adding the following feeds to my Google Reader RSS.

"Unshelved" at http://www.overduemedia.com/rss.aspx
This comic strip will hopefully give me a laugh. I would never otherwise take the time to search or even read the strip. Usually co-workers hand a strip to me. I always find them funny.

"Library Stuff" at http://www.librarystuff.net/index.rdf
I believe that this site has a variety of posts. The list is general rather than specific in nature.

"YALSA" at http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/
The Young Adult Library Services Association is one of the few blogs for which I have already added content. I am always ready to hear new information from the members of this association. Though I am a Library Director now, I still have quite a bit of Young Adult Librarian left in me.

Jigsaw Puzzle and other Generators

2008-12-13T05:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a jigsaw puzzle picture that I made using FD's Toys product at http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/jigsaw.php.

I like the jigsaw visual. I can see the library doing a "fun stuff with photos" program for adults, children, and/or teens.

I think that some of the poster generators are intersting as well. We can do quite a bit of interesting publicity with these generators. Unfortunately time is an issue. While it did not take me long to do this puzzle picture, I can see that it would take a while to find the right generator to do the sign that you want.

Trading Card

2008-12-13T04:57:00.000-08:00

I used FD's Toys Trading Card Maker at http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php to make this trading card. If I were to give these out, I would have to get a better version of the avatar. I would also put my contact information on the back. I could not help using alliteration in the description section. I guess that is the storyteller coming out in me.

Flickr mashups and tools

2008-12-13T04:32:00.000-08:00

I have been playing around with Flickr mashups and tools. I find several of them interesting. I am most intrigued by the trading card maker. As an old player of Magic, I immediately came up with ideas for making fun gifts for my friends. I could also see using the cards as fun "business cards" to hand out to the teens.

I was also drawn to the Flickr Color Pikr. It would be nice to figure out a way to use the color pikr to find photos that can be used throught the creative liscense to make collages that could be used. I will have to play around some more to see if that feature is there.

Sunrise Over the Library

2008-12-12T14:36:00.001-08:00

Sunrise Over the Library,
originally uploaded by lisas23things.

Here's a photograph of the new Harker Heights Public Library and Activities Center. It was taken in June of 2008. This is posted on my Flickr account.

Flickr

2008-12-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

I have just started a new Flickr account. I have added a small number of photographs of our new Library and Activities Center in various stages of construction. I enjoyed looking around the site. I was careful not to include photographs of individuals, though I imagine it would be OK if I had permission. Most of my patrons are reticent to allow their photographs to appear anywhere. I was particularly interested in the map feature. I enjoyed seeing where in the world some of the photographs were taken.

Without trying in anyway I kept coming up with photographs that were inappropriate for work. There was nothing wrong with them in content, and I wouldn't say a thing to a patron about them being on a screen. I would not have been happy if a patron saw it on my screen. In one case I clicked on a very interesting picture of a girls face. When I got to the actual picture, though, other pictures on the screen would have been considered inappropriate for an office setting. Of course I did not linger, but I could not get a good look at the one photograph because of the others that came up on the side.

I also looked at the Picaso photo site. I thought that either Picaso or Flickr would work well for a library's purposes. I had to search for some things on Picaso that were pretty evident in Flickr. I did like Picaso's game in which you guessed where in the world a picture was taken.

Take a look at one of my images.

Avatars

2008-12-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about the concept of avatars. When I play games with my children, they are usually more interested in working on their avatars than in playing the actual game. I find that I have little patience, and I want to use just any figure so that we can start playing the game. I am seeing now that avatar creation is part of the game for preteens and teenagers.

My daughter helped me make the avatar that you see on this blog. If it had been up to me, I woudl have chosen quickly. I just didn't want to scroll through pages of options. In the end we came up with something that looked eerily like me -- though much skinnier of course. I think that I actually own the same suit or at least one that is similar to the one that the avatar wears.

7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits

2008-12-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I viewed a video about 7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits. The information presented was informative. As with most of these types of sessions, the points made are practical. I found that I really am a lifelong learner.

Of the 7 1/2 habits, I found that I was already able to “accept responsibility for my own learning.” I love to learn. I know that a lot of people say that, but I truly set out to do so. I sign up for training. I am usually an active participant. I make comments, though I cannot attest to how productive or well received those comments are. I love to ask questions, read books, and listen to books on tape. The Teaching Company produces incredible courses on DVD and CD on a variety of university level topics. I have even found that I take a rather academic approach to enjoying my favorite hobbies including NFL football. Currently I am reading "How Football Explains America" by Sal Paolantonio. It is a discussion of how the game of football reflects the values and needs of the American public.

I have a hard time “beginning with the end in mind.” I love to learn, but I do not necessarily have a goal other than finishing. I like to know things, but I do not often start out with a plan for what I am going to accomplish. In many cases I will take a class or sit in on a workshop without any preconceptions about what I am wanting to learn. I often come out with great programming ideas. Well maybe those ideas are not always "great," but at least they are seeds. I suppose that if I did have some goal or goals in mind, then I would feel accomplishment at the end.

New Things to Learn

2008-12-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to be starting on the 23 Things online workhsop provided by Central Texas Library System (www.ctls.net.) I am hoping that this workshop will help me make the time to explore some new technologies. I can already think of a million ways to use the technologies to communicate with coworkers, friends, and family.