What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My favorite exercises definitely had to be the Flickr and the Flickr mashups. Seeing all of the tools and toys out there as well as image generators. This is definitely something I will play with in the future, as well as the del.icio.us tagging, and the rollyo search engines.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It assisted me by opening me up to technology and Web 2.0 that I was previously ignorant about. This has definitely affected my lifelong learning goals because it exposed me to new tools that I can use to develop my knowledge about emergent technologies.
Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was amazed by all that there really is out there. I consider myself to be someone who is pretty well-versed in new technologies. This will only inspire me to work harder to keep in touch with what is available.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I would definitely say that most of these activities took a lot longer than 5 minutes a day to complete. I started late, in December because I only started working with Queens Library in November, but I can say that the activities required a lot more time (for registering and actually exploring the website/activity) and reflection.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Most definitely I will take any other learning opportunity that I can get. The more I know, the more I am equipped with, the better job I can do every day. And that was the whole point, wasn't it?
Friday, December 21, 2007
eAudiobook update
Ipods are not compatible! Argh! Hello, they are only the most popular portable music players out there!
#22 Digital Media -eAudiobooks
I was aware that Queens Library has a digital media subscription, but I am not really that familiar with it, so I especially looked forward to this exercise.
Most of the patrons that come to my particular branch don't have home computers or access to the internet at home, so I haven't gotten many inquiries about this service, but I do realize that it is important to know about all of the services that Queens Library has to offer.
Searching through what was available, I was happy to find that our most popular authors at this particular branch, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, Nicholas Sparks, Dean Koontz, J.D. Robb, etc. all had eAudiobooks available through our site. I will definitely take advantage of this in order to stay up on my bestsellers. Hopefully this is compatible with Mac computers. :)
Most of the patrons that come to my particular branch don't have home computers or access to the internet at home, so I haven't gotten many inquiries about this service, but I do realize that it is important to know about all of the services that Queens Library has to offer.
Searching through what was available, I was happy to find that our most popular authors at this particular branch, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, Nicholas Sparks, Dean Koontz, J.D. Robb, etc. all had eAudiobooks available through our site. I will definitely take advantage of this in order to stay up on my bestsellers. Hopefully this is compatible with Mac computers. :)
#21 Podcasts
I was first exposed to podcasts by my reference services professor in grad school. She recorded our classroom sessions and put them in a podcast so student's could study. She also synced these podcasts with a power point presentation that also covered the materials she went over in class.
The podcasts I subscribed to on Bloglines include:
Book Voyages - a podcast about children's literature, from the point of view of a school library media specialist. This podcast includes reviews, and interviews with students.
The Florida Folklife Collection from the State Library and Archives of Florida - This is interesting to me as a native Floridian
Radio Sausalito's Check It Out - Includes book reviews, author chats and library news.
Now, lets see if I actually have the time to listen to any of these on a regular basis. I think there is an Ipod shaped box under the christmas tree this year, so if there is, than I will!
The podcasts I subscribed to on Bloglines include:
Book Voyages - a podcast about children's literature, from the point of view of a school library media specialist. This podcast includes reviews, and interviews with students.
The Florida Folklife Collection from the State Library and Archives of Florida - This is interesting to me as a native Floridian
Radio Sausalito's Check It Out - Includes book reviews, author chats and library news.
Now, lets see if I actually have the time to listen to any of these on a regular basis. I think there is an Ipod shaped box under the christmas tree this year, so if there is, than I will!
#20 YouTube, ITube, We all Tube!
I am sort of feeling like instead of a learning experience this is turning into a twelve-step program and I am having to admit all of the things that I am addicted to.
I use YouTube on a regular basis to:
Watch the Next Top Model series from: Canada, Australia, Britain and also Brazil (I don't know Portugese, but they have subtitles), watch my favorite British soap opera Hollyoaks (user crumpetsandjam has all of the episodes), and watch my favorite Japanese anime about bread making, Yakitate Japan!
So I decided to share with you some of my favorite library YouTube videos:
Conan the Librarian
Library Workout Videotape
And for no reason in particular:
I use YouTube on a regular basis to:
Watch the Next Top Model series from: Canada, Australia, Britain and also Brazil (I don't know Portugese, but they have subtitles), watch my favorite British soap opera Hollyoaks (user crumpetsandjam has all of the episodes), and watch my favorite Japanese anime about bread making, Yakitate Japan!
So I decided to share with you some of my favorite library YouTube videos:
Conan the Librarian
Library Workout Videotape
And for no reason in particular:
#19 Web 2.0 Awards
Okay. For fun I have to mention One Sentence. This won in the category of Fun Stuff. At my library, we have a little fascination with the PostSecret books and the secrets that people share. One Sentence is the same, it allows users to write one true sentence about themself and post it on the site. There are some that are harrowing and dark, some that are funnier and light, like this sentence from Krista that read: "The bane of my becoming a vegetarian was bacon."
Now, for something that might actually be useful to the library. Medstory is a site that allows you to search for medical/health information and gives you the option of refining your search for drugs and medications, conditions, people, procedures and personal health. The site is an easy way to search for medical information, but it does require you to register, which might be a little time consuming. It is an offshoot of WebMD and currently in Beta, so hopefully some of the bugs will be worked out in the final version.
Now, for something that might actually be useful to the library. Medstory is a site that allows you to search for medical/health information and gives you the option of refining your search for drugs and medications, conditions, people, procedures and personal health. The site is an easy way to search for medical information, but it does require you to register, which might be a little time consuming. It is an offshoot of WebMD and currently in Beta, so hopefully some of the bugs will be worked out in the final version.
#18 Sharing means caring
I have to admit that I am already familiar with GoogleDocs, and slightly addicted to it. In college, I would type papers up on my home PC on Microsoft Office, email them to myself, and then I had to print them from my sister's computer ( I was sans printer at the time), and my sister did not own Microsoft Office. The first time I did this I nearly had a heart attack, because I was on my way to class and had to turn a paper in that day. But then, my Gmail Account lovingly announced to me that I could open the file as a Google Document! Huzzah!
This is obviously an incredibly useful tool, and one that we actually use already. Instead of scrambling for the disk that houses the Powerpoint presentation that plays on the Monitor above the Customer Service Desk, or the Laptop Loan Agreement Template, or just creating lists or ideas for projects in the library, we can log into our Google Documents account and all of these things are available to us. This is great, and incredibly useful. It allows a group of people to have access to the same information, change the information as they need to, and collaborate. Yipee!
This is obviously an incredibly useful tool, and one that we actually use already. Instead of scrambling for the disk that houses the Powerpoint presentation that plays on the Monitor above the Customer Service Desk, or the Laptop Loan Agreement Template, or just creating lists or ideas for projects in the library, we can log into our Google Documents account and all of these things are available to us. This is great, and incredibly useful. It allows a group of people to have access to the same information, change the information as they need to, and collaborate. Yipee!
#17.5 Facebook
Facebook and Myspace are social networking applications that I am definitely familiar with. When I was in college, I had (and to this day) still have accounts on both social networking sites. I use them in order to stay in contact with and also to regain contact with old co-workers, family and friends.
However, I am not as savvy as my young patrons, who have fancy profile pages with glitter and animation, and I really don't have any applications on my Facebook account, save for a horoscope one. (Yes, I know.)
It was interesting to take a look at the Top Facebook Applications for Librarians.
Books iRead was a pretty cool application and I think its a great idea. I believe there is also a movie application that is like this. Sharing what you are reading with your friends, along with reviews and recommendations is a great way to stay connected. My favorite feature is seeing who has similar tastes to your own; this is a great way to pick up some titles you might not have known about and will probably enjoy.
Another one of my favorites was MyFlickr, which allows your profile to stream Flickr photographs from your account of your choice. Much fancier and much more fun than uploading profile pictures, and it seems to save time!
Last but not least, of course, there is the LOL Cats. I just couldn't resist. This is the sort of thing that will definitely get you through one of those dreary mondays!
So thats where all my pens went!
However, I am not as savvy as my young patrons, who have fancy profile pages with glitter and animation, and I really don't have any applications on my Facebook account, save for a horoscope one. (Yes, I know.)
It was interesting to take a look at the Top Facebook Applications for Librarians.
Books iRead was a pretty cool application and I think its a great idea. I believe there is also a movie application that is like this. Sharing what you are reading with your friends, along with reviews and recommendations is a great way to stay connected. My favorite feature is seeing who has similar tastes to your own; this is a great way to pick up some titles you might not have known about and will probably enjoy.
Another one of my favorites was MyFlickr, which allows your profile to stream Flickr photographs from your account of your choice. Much fancier and much more fun than uploading profile pictures, and it seems to save time!
Last but not least, of course, there is the LOL Cats. I just couldn't resist. This is the sort of thing that will definitely get you through one of those dreary mondays!
So thats where all my pens went!
#17 A Travel Wiki
I decided to play around with WikiTravel, since I have traveled a bit, and decided to perhaps create an article for a certain small Czech town in southern Moravia that I visited that did not have an article. However, I found myself with a huge lack of information to input.
In the end I decided to edit the article for my home town. When I tell most people that I am from Miami, they ooh and ahh, and ask why I came to Queens. What they don't know about is the particular area from Miami that I am from, Hialeah Florida, far removed from the glitz and glamour of South Beach (but still accessible by a 20 minute car drive or an hour long bus journey). Hialeah is an interesting place, and I think in New York it is sort of a tropical hybrid of Spanish Harlem, Jackson Heights and Jamaica Queens.
So take a gander at my edit (keep in mind there was no information in the article, only a listing for the hotel, so all of the info is my input, enjoy my home town.
Hialeah on Wiki Travel
I must say that this was a lot of fun. I kept just typing and typing and astonishing my co-workers and as I get more information I will probably continue to edit the article.
In the end I decided to edit the article for my home town. When I tell most people that I am from Miami, they ooh and ahh, and ask why I came to Queens. What they don't know about is the particular area from Miami that I am from, Hialeah Florida, far removed from the glitz and glamour of South Beach (but still accessible by a 20 minute car drive or an hour long bus journey). Hialeah is an interesting place, and I think in New York it is sort of a tropical hybrid of Spanish Harlem, Jackson Heights and Jamaica Queens.
So take a gander at my edit (keep in mind there was no information in the article, only a listing for the hotel, so all of the info is my input, enjoy my home town.
Hialeah on Wiki Travel
I must say that this was a lot of fun. I kept just typing and typing and astonishing my co-workers and as I get more information I will probably continue to edit the article.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
#16 Wikis! Woo hoo!
I have something to admit. I am a Wikipedia junkie. I have been schooled many times on how it is an incredibly unreliable source, even my husband refuses to take any statistics or information that I have gleaned from the source because he thinks it just can't be right because its free and anyone can edit it. I love wiki's, however. I find that they have details that you wouldn't be able to find in any other reference source, something a trivia/information junkie like myself lives for.
I took a look at the Book Lovers Wiki put up by Princeton Public Library. This particular wiki provides book reviews for books in the libraries collection, seperating them into genres, like romance, mystery suspense, etc. I think that this is a great idea. Often, OPAC's leave little to be desired when it comes to giving a review for materials that is more accessible to patrons and their sensibilities. This is a great way to provide reader's advisory, but again, how practical is it? Is it really used by the public? Apparently, this particular wiki was started as part of an adult summer reading club project, but it seems to have been abandoned since then. Decide for yourself.
I also took a look at the St. Joseph County Public Library System wiki for Subject Guides. This is great especially for me, a librarian who was weaned on Library of Congress and is slowly but surely getting used to Dewey Decimal. I also love the pictures of book covers. How often have you been asked for a book on photography, but the "blue" one. Kudos SJCPLS! While I think this is also a great wiki, I wonder really how useful it is or if it is just truly superfluous, especially since we already have an OPAC? Again, I think it comes down to whether or not it is worth it to take the time to do this, or if we just need to modify our OPAC's and websites so that they are more user friendly.
The wiki resource in this activity that I found the most useful definitely has to be the Library Practices wiki. As a librarian, having universal standards that I can take a look at. I will definitely add this gem to my toolbox.
I took a look at the Book Lovers Wiki put up by Princeton Public Library. This particular wiki provides book reviews for books in the libraries collection, seperating them into genres, like romance, mystery suspense, etc. I think that this is a great idea. Often, OPAC's leave little to be desired when it comes to giving a review for materials that is more accessible to patrons and their sensibilities. This is a great way to provide reader's advisory, but again, how practical is it? Is it really used by the public? Apparently, this particular wiki was started as part of an adult summer reading club project, but it seems to have been abandoned since then. Decide for yourself.
I also took a look at the St. Joseph County Public Library System wiki for Subject Guides. This is great especially for me, a librarian who was weaned on Library of Congress and is slowly but surely getting used to Dewey Decimal. I also love the pictures of book covers. How often have you been asked for a book on photography, but the "blue" one. Kudos SJCPLS! While I think this is also a great wiki, I wonder really how useful it is or if it is just truly superfluous, especially since we already have an OPAC? Again, I think it comes down to whether or not it is worth it to take the time to do this, or if we just need to modify our OPAC's and websites so that they are more user friendly.
The wiki resource in this activity that I found the most useful definitely has to be the Library Practices wiki. As a librarian, having universal standards that I can take a look at. I will definitely add this gem to my toolbox.
#15 Library 2.0
Reading the different blogposts on Library 2.0 was incredibly interesting. I decided to take a look at both the Annoyed Librarian's rant and also the much more PC answer to Annoyed Librarians post from Cool Librarian.
While Annoyed Librarian's post was amusing to read, I found the sarcasm a bit harsh. Annoyed Librarian raises several points, one of which I found the most relevant, that if we try all new technology before it has been tested, or if we are too willing to throw ourselves into every new thing that is created, then we run the risk of wasting money, time and resources on technology that won't work or that will prove ineffective.
I much preferred Cool Librarian's cool headed response. It is true, often, especially in the public library arena, that many of our patron's are not tech savvy, or that blogging might not be the most effective way to reach patrons. In my final year of graduate school I did an internship as a part-time reference librarian at a college in Miami. We had a blog (that no one ever read, ever), as well as an Ask-a-Librarian feature (that was also rarely if ever used), and I spent the day showing my students how to navigate the cumbersome OPAC and databases as well as showing them how to attach files to their email address. Most of our students preferred physical books, because they were frustrated by the databases and the e-book selection we had. And, our college president got a budget for Ipods and wanted us to download audiobook versions of the classics for literature classes as well as classical music for our music appreciation classes. Never mind that I was the only librarian in my library who owned or knew how to work an Ipod.
I think that as librarians it is our duty to stay abreast of new technologies, and always keep the user in mind. We can take the Library 2.0 statements or missions and apply them to our libraries in the most practical way.
While Annoyed Librarian's post was amusing to read, I found the sarcasm a bit harsh. Annoyed Librarian raises several points, one of which I found the most relevant, that if we try all new technology before it has been tested, or if we are too willing to throw ourselves into every new thing that is created, then we run the risk of wasting money, time and resources on technology that won't work or that will prove ineffective.
I much preferred Cool Librarian's cool headed response. It is true, often, especially in the public library arena, that many of our patron's are not tech savvy, or that blogging might not be the most effective way to reach patrons. In my final year of graduate school I did an internship as a part-time reference librarian at a college in Miami. We had a blog (that no one ever read, ever), as well as an Ask-a-Librarian feature (that was also rarely if ever used), and I spent the day showing my students how to navigate the cumbersome OPAC and databases as well as showing them how to attach files to their email address. Most of our students preferred physical books, because they were frustrated by the databases and the e-book selection we had. And, our college president got a budget for Ipods and wanted us to download audiobook versions of the classics for literature classes as well as classical music for our music appreciation classes. Never mind that I was the only librarian in my library who owned or knew how to work an Ipod.
I think that as librarians it is our duty to stay abreast of new technologies, and always keep the user in mind. We can take the Library 2.0 statements or missions and apply them to our libraries in the most practical way.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
#14 Technorati
Technorati is another great way to filter out and do searches for what you want from a particular blog. I also took the time to register my blog, giving it tags such as library, learning 2.0, and Web 2.0. It definitely reminded me of RSS feeds and Bloglines, but I actually preffered Technorati's search. Although the RSS feeds and Bloglines are subscriptions, I am not a fan of reading through RSS feeds that I have ordered. Usually when I get an email with lists or feeds, I just delete it, it seems like too much work to go through. I like to be updated with news and current events, but I am much more a person who likes to read the headlines, and I found the Technorati format much more to my liking, because of the Top Stories, the categories, and then, if necessary, searching for tags or other sources. Fabuloso!
Again, I am now becoming familiar with new resources that will help me become a better librarian.
Again, I am now becoming familiar with new resources that will help me become a better librarian.
#13 tagging is del.icio.us
So now I've found a way to replace my bookmarks! I must admit that before this exercise I was completely ignorant of before I embarked on this lesson. I was excited to learn of the possibilities for categorizing and tagging some of my own favorite sites.
I had a great time looking at and playing with the tags set up under the QL 2.0 site, and I will definitely add them to my del.icio.us account when I get the chance.
As a Mac user, for whom Internet Explorer or any other Windows based browser is not available I often find myself juggling between Firefox and Safari, with bookmarks on both browsers, often not categorized well. I can't wait to get home and create a detailed del.icio.us account that will help me when I am surfing and looking for specific website.
However, I don't see how this really could be applied to working in the library, or assisting patrons, other than putting certain search tools at the librarians disposal a little bit faster.
I had a great time looking at and playing with the tags set up under the QL 2.0 site, and I will definitely add them to my del.icio.us account when I get the chance.
As a Mac user, for whom Internet Explorer or any other Windows based browser is not available I often find myself juggling between Firefox and Safari, with bookmarks on both browsers, often not categorized well. I can't wait to get home and create a detailed del.icio.us account that will help me when I am surfing and looking for specific website.
However, I don't see how this really could be applied to working in the library, or assisting patrons, other than putting certain search tools at the librarians disposal a little bit faster.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
#12 Sarita's Recipe Rollyo
In library school, my reference service professor spent hours talking about the evils of Google. She forbade us to use the search engine for her class, and told us that many librarians use it as a crutch. Working as a professional librarian, however it is something I use on a daily basis.
I had never heard of Rollyo before, but I find it to be another great tool to add to my repertoire. I created a Rollyo search roll for recipes. This is for my own fun and use, but I can see how this could be applied to the library world. Creating a rollyo search roll for homework help, for job or career search engines, for travel information/reservation web sites, etc. etc. The list is endless, and I see how it could be much more useful than just using the google "crutch".
If any of you all are interested, you can take a look at my Rollyo Search roll for recipes here:
Happy recipe hunting!
I had never heard of Rollyo before, but I find it to be another great tool to add to my repertoire. I created a Rollyo search roll for recipes. This is for my own fun and use, but I can see how this could be applied to the library world. Creating a rollyo search roll for homework help, for job or career search engines, for travel information/reservation web sites, etc. etc. The list is endless, and I see how it could be much more useful than just using the google "crutch".
If any of you all are interested, you can take a look at my Rollyo Search roll for recipes here:
Happy recipe hunting!
#11 Una Cosa de Bibliotecas
For those of you who do not speak Spanish the title of this blog is "A Library Thing." I am one of those people, a la Party Girl who has most if not all of her collection cataloged and categorized at one point. However, since I have moved cross-country recently, I was forced to part with my large book and CD collection (the DVD collection is not so large, because I have a Netflix subscription, and a queue with 500 movies on it.
Library Thing excited me a lot. Maybe too much. Entering my books (and my husbands! I am a newlywed) was more fun than I bargained for, and the options to view how many other Library Thing members owned the same titles as me was pretty cool (Suze Orman is popular, Hungarian poetry, not so much for everyone else, but I still love it.)
The idea of sharing my list, as well as viewing the tags that others have created as well as my own is just entirely to much fun. I think this could be a great tool for reader's advisory. As an adult services librarian, I often get asked by patrons about what would be a "good" book for them to read, and this could be another way of answering these sorts of queries. Alls I know is that I will be emailing the Library Thing link to many, many friends, including my BFF La Cathy, whose house is furnished partly by Ikea and mostly by the towers and towers of books that will hopefully never topple over during one of her Los Angeles Earthquakes.
Library Thing excited me a lot. Maybe too much. Entering my books (and my husbands! I am a newlywed) was more fun than I bargained for, and the options to view how many other Library Thing members owned the same titles as me was pretty cool (Suze Orman is popular, Hungarian poetry, not so much for everyone else, but I still love it.)
The idea of sharing my list, as well as viewing the tags that others have created as well as my own is just entirely to much fun. I think this could be a great tool for reader's advisory. As an adult services librarian, I often get asked by patrons about what would be a "good" book for them to read, and this could be another way of answering these sorts of queries. Alls I know is that I will be emailing the Library Thing link to many, many friends, including my BFF La Cathy, whose house is furnished partly by Ikea and mostly by the towers and towers of books that will hopefully never topple over during one of her Los Angeles Earthquakes.
#10 Image Generators
I already played around with this earlier on Flickr, especially when I created my library trading card, but I played around with the Generator Blog and found one that might be fun for our young patrons, a Harry Potter Character Doll Maker.
You can find the link to the website at:
http://elouai.com/chibi/harrypotter/icons.php
So take a gander at my generated character:
I'm guessing that she would be a member of the Slytherin House, but that is just a guess.
This also reminds me of the Simpsons Movie generator.
I think these image generators might be a fun tool, and probably something we could show to your tween and teen patrons, as a cool activity for them to do to.
You can find the link to the website at:
http://elouai.com/chibi/harrypotter/icons.php
So take a gander at my generated character:
I'm guessing that she would be a member of the Slytherin House, but that is just a guess.
This also reminds me of the Simpsons Movie generator.
I think these image generators might be a fun tool, and probably something we could show to your tween and teen patrons, as a cool activity for them to do to.
#9 Newsfeeds
As you can tell from my previous email, I wasn't too happy with the usability of Bloglines, since half of my feeds links did not work, and also the other half of the newsfeeds required a second party viewer for the feeds. So because of this I decided to take a look at the other feed search engines that were available, and post my thoughts on them.
Feedster: Feedster was currently unavailable because they are doing a new beta search.
Topix: Topix has a great feature that allows you to set your homepage to your neighborhood, and then filters in news stories that are relevant to your neighborhood. This could be a great tool for community libraries to keep their patrons and themselves in on the local news stories, or local goings-on. A very nice extra feature.
Syndic8: Seems pretty bare-bones, but also seems to have a lot of international feeds. This is an excellent resource, especially considerning the multicultural nature of Queens. I did a basic search for Ecuador and was delighted to find RSS feeds about travel, politics, news, etc, along with a tag to show which language the feed was in (English and Spanish were the two choices available for this particular search.) Excellente!
Now I have three more resources I can add to my lifelong learning toolbox!
Feedster: Feedster was currently unavailable because they are doing a new beta search.
Topix: Topix has a great feature that allows you to set your homepage to your neighborhood, and then filters in news stories that are relevant to your neighborhood. This could be a great tool for community libraries to keep their patrons and themselves in on the local news stories, or local goings-on. A very nice extra feature.
Syndic8: Seems pretty bare-bones, but also seems to have a lot of international feeds. This is an excellent resource, especially considerning the multicultural nature of Queens. I did a basic search for Ecuador and was delighted to find RSS feeds about travel, politics, news, etc, along with a tag to show which language the feed was in (English and Spanish were the two choices available for this particular search.) Excellente!
Now I have three more resources I can add to my lifelong learning toolbox!
#8 RSS feeds
I have a limited knowledge of RSS feeds, having individually subscribed to news feeds through individual websites (including Rolling Stones), but Bloglines was something interesting and seemed like a great way to get all different kinds of news in one place. However, while playing around with it, I noticed that it still left a lot to be desired. None of the links in the Washington Post book review feed that I subscribed to worked, and some of the feeds that I subscribed to could not be viewed through Bloglines, and required a third-party software or news feed reader, something which is challenging to me because I own a Mac, and not a lot of software is compatible with my computer.
However, if they could get this to work, it would be a great tool for librarians. This is a great way to stay abreast of current events, as well as having book, movie and cd reviews from several different sources at your fingertips.
Another interesting feature on Bloglines is the ability to blog on different news feed "clips". This would be a great way to perhaps create a reader's advisory blog based on different book reviews or related to current news topics.
However, if they could get this to work, it would be a great tool for librarians. This is a great way to stay abreast of current events, as well as having book, movie and cd reviews from several different sources at your fingertips.
Another interesting feature on Bloglines is the ability to blog on different news feed "clips". This would be a great way to perhaps create a reader's advisory blog based on different book reviews or related to current news topics.
Monday, December 17, 2007
#7 Technology - A Blog/Rant
I am the generation that was raised during the computer revolution, if I could call it such. I remember typewriters and card catalogs, MS DOS, etc, but I also had a home computer and an email address at 12 years old. I didn't get google until college, and I do have a facebook page, and one of my grad school professors put their class on a podcast, so I was able to get my lectures via my Ipod (that is resting in peace in the land of broken Ipods.) Although I have been exposed to and learned a lot of most new technology, I must admit that I am still blown away by the fancy myspace pages of my teen library goers. They can, in just five minutes make pages (using html codes, something completely foreign to me) with glitter graphics, animation, etc. etc.
I try to stay as in touch as possible with emerging technologies, which is one of the major reasons that I decided to become involved in the library learning 2.0.
Playing around with Flickr was something I had never done before, and every new skill that I learn is just something that I can share with other people. I take every day as a learning experience, and I really need to get out there more and catch up, because it is so easy to get lost when it comes to technology.
We are now living in the age of blogs, wikipedia and myspace, and tomorrow it will be something new, so just making an effort to know what is out there makes sure that I won't get lost.
I try to stay as in touch as possible with emerging technologies, which is one of the major reasons that I decided to become involved in the library learning 2.0.
Playing around with Flickr was something I had never done before, and every new skill that I learn is just something that I can share with other people. I take every day as a learning experience, and I really need to get out there more and catch up, because it is so easy to get lost when it comes to technology.
We are now living in the age of blogs, wikipedia and myspace, and tomorrow it will be something new, so just making an effort to know what is out there makes sure that I won't get lost.
#6 Flickr Toys! Librarian Trading Card
Playing around on Flickr was tons of fun. When I saw the Librarian Trading Card application, I knew that I had to try it out. I think it is a great idea! I am always reminding people that Batgirl was a librarian.
I think that all of the Queens Librarians should consider having one. My branch is one that is heavily populated by "tweens" (12-14 year olds), partly because we are next door to a middle school. Even though I am adult services librarian, I often work with these tweens. Although I make an effort to get to know all of their names (particularly those who come in every day), and also many of them know my name already, this could be a fun way to let people know who I am, especially since I am a new librarian.
Or maybe I am just a dork. And super excited by the prospect of having a trading card.
I think that all of the Queens Librarians should consider having one. My branch is one that is heavily populated by "tweens" (12-14 year olds), partly because we are next door to a middle school. Even though I am adult services librarian, I often work with these tweens. Although I make an effort to get to know all of their names (particularly those who come in every day), and also many of them know my name already, this could be a fun way to let people know who I am, especially since I am a new librarian.
Or maybe I am just a dork. And super excited by the prospect of having a trading card.
#5 Flickr
NYC - Queens - Long Island City: Silver Cup Studios and Citicorp Building
Originally uploaded by wallyg
Another fabulous view can be seen from the roof of our library, the Manhattan skyline. Long Island City is probably the best place to get a picture of this famous sight. If you take the 7 train to Vernon-Jackson Boulevard, you can walk to Gantry State Park Plaza on the water, take in the view, a few pictures and also take close up look at the famous Pepsi-Cola sign (visible from Midtown). There is nothing nicer than sitting in the staff room, eating my turkey sandwich, and just looking at the beautiful skyline of Manhattan.
Lifelong Learning Habits
While doing the tutorial I realized that I am definitely a lifelong learner. I believe in that old PBS advert that you learn something new every day. This is one of my favorite parts about being a librarian is the fact that learning new things is a part of my everyday process; every time a patron asks a question that I don't have immediate knowledge to the answer, I get to learn something.
I am the type of person who is always getting her hands into new things: yoga, baking, card-making, jewelry-making, etc. etc.
The habit that I am most successful with is habit #5 setting up a learning toolbox. I will make sure to be supplied with all that is needed in my learning process and then some.
The habit that I am least successful with is #1 beginning with the end in mind. Setting goals with definite objectives has always been difficult for me. I will say that I want to learn to knit, or how to podcast, but defining a specific measurable goal has always been a challenge for me, so it is definitely something to look forward to.
I am the type of person who is always getting her hands into new things: yoga, baking, card-making, jewelry-making, etc. etc.
The habit that I am most successful with is habit #5 setting up a learning toolbox. I will make sure to be supplied with all that is needed in my learning process and then some.
The habit that I am least successful with is #1 beginning with the end in mind. Setting goals with definite objectives has always been difficult for me. I will say that I want to learn to knit, or how to podcast, but defining a specific measurable goal has always been a challenge for me, so it is definitely something to look forward to.
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