Thing #23: Take a short survey

Goodbye to my 23 Things friends. I enjoyed spending this time with you.
I would definitely recommend this program. I think it was the people, not just the technologies that made this project interesting and successful.

Thing #22: Staying Current

The first Thing I posted to my blog was that I thought Thing 1 was simple and straight forward. I don't think my post reflects how nervous I was taking this on or how relieved I was that I was actually able to complete Thing 1. I had never blogged before.

Since then I have found my voice and realized that it's the personal touch that makes blogs interesting to me. I have really enjoyed reading your blogs and seeing how they morphed over time as you became more comfortable with the medium.

It wasn't the fact that you completed the Thing that made your blog interesting. For me it was the honest ways in which you described your foibles, your frustrations, your hard fought successes and candid observations that made your blogs must reads. I felt that I was right there with you. Some of you made me laugh out loud.

I realized along the way I didn't have to love all the Things equally, but in order for me to be credible I had to be honest and open about the process and my experiences with the Things.

I don't have a library to call my own right now, but I will continue to learn about new web tools and I will try to find the ways that they can add to my life to make it simpler and easier or simply more interesting. I am planning to walk my parents through the 23 Things (I had to wait until now so I could give my full attention to them.)

Every day I usually try to ask myself what I am grateful for. I have so much - my health, family, friends, food, shelter, my faith...asking that question regularly has changed my life.

I think if I ask myself, "What did I learn today?" it would also have a great impact on me. I love to learn. I love to see things from different perspectives and see how they fit together. The 23 Things experience has not only introduced me to some of the Things, but has introduced me to 350 people - most of whom I did not know before. Learning about you and your libraries has been the best part of this class for me.

Some of your points of view were new to me. Many of your hobbies and interests were fascinating: goats, cupcakes, aprons, Hugh Laurie, haiku...

And even though we all live in FL the descriptions of where you live/work were very different - some people live way out in the country, some by the beach, by the river - we were a diverse group. Thank you for sharing bits and pieces of yourselves with me. I enjoyed it!

I learned so much from you! We had people of all ages and people with varied levels of experience with the web. So far we have had 104 responses to the 23 Things survey and only 22% had ever watched a YouTube video before. And that is the one Thing that the most people had done before they began this class. So although some people were questioning why YouTube was a Thing - 78% of the survey respondents to date had never seen a YouTube video before this class.

I had fallen in to the trap of getting caught in the day to day. I worked hard and stayed focused in order to meet the demands of many people. I enjoyed my work, but became myopic. I did not take the time to sharpen the saw, as Covey would put it. 23 Things has shown me that I should make time for my development. There will always be patrons clamoring for information. I will serve them, but I also need to serve myself. I know that all of these Things will not survive, new trends and products will emerge, but I think it's important to have some understanding and hands on experience so I can follow the changes and more quickly grasp the next Things.

Thing #21 Student 2.0 Tools

How might the RPC and the Teacher Guide help you help students plan and manage research projects?

I don't work with students (except my own children), but I think it would take a little training to get the most out of this tool. Once they used it a couple of times I think they would continue using it.

The more mature student is likely to see the benefits of this tool. The organized, responsible student would gravitate towards it more quickly than the habitual procrastinator. For many students the problem isn't that they forget about projects, it's that they don't want to do them and avoid them. For these students the thought of adding another step to a project would not be appreciated.

This kind of tool would be best suited towards a student who is discombobulated, a hard working student who just isn't organized. The teacher would probably need to set aside some class time to help the student enter the correct dates, etc. and should probably look over the settings and everything before the project starts. The well organized responsible student would probably be the student most likely to adopt the tool because they enjoy being organized.

Can you think of any uses for library projects—could you use it to help manage a timeline for a project of your own?

I have a project that I need to plan. I added it to the calculator and found I have 99 days until the final date. It's not a paper so all of the information about sources and citing doesn't apply. I'm not sure if this is the best tool for the job, but I do like the thought of setting up automatic reminder emails. I could do that through my Google Calendar though;)

Thing #20: Books

About 10 years ago I was told by a boss that I could start getting rid of all of the books since they would all be online soon anyway. I didn't. But I've been reading some of your blogs and a few of you seem surprised that some people are calling for the end to print media. It is true. Right now just about every newspaper in the country is working on a plan to go fully online in the not so distant future. The main reason is paper is expensive.

What are you observing in your library about books and reading?

I'm not in a library setting, but I know that my family and friends are still reading books. I have a pile of books that I will get to! On a recent trip to visit friends and family I brought 2 thick books with me. I was given 2 good size books as gifts while I was away. My luggage was pretty heavy and now that they charge extra I was nervous. I stuck 2 of them in my carry on. For the first time Kindle was looking really good to me. I think it would have been lighter and more manageable.

I am planning to go to the Alachua County Friends of the Library book sale and buy a large number of books. Even though my husband says we have no room for more bookcases.

Do you think these Book 2.0 tools hamper or enhance one's reading experience?
I think 2.0 book tools should only enhance reading. If one of them hampers you stop using that tool and find another.

For instance I would not read a book on my phone unless I was stranded on a desert island.

I do not read book reviews at all. I do not want anything added or subtracted from the content of the book as the author intended it to be read. If it is a translation or it is from a different period and there are words or actions that require a note that's fine, but otherwise please let the author speak to me. I will decide for myself what I like and what I don't. I find that critics are oftentimes biased.

I read a book and then I am finished with it. I don't belong to book groups or discussions. I find that while many readers enjoy ruminating over every last detail - I don't. I mainly read for ideas, inspiration or a chuckle. But I'm also the kind of person who watches a movie once - I know people who watch the same movies over and over again and quote from them - they usually go right over my head.


Which of the sites/tools did you visit?
I visited all of the sites.

What are the appealing features?
I think there were many. Finding books to recommend based on someone's taste is a requirement for a librarian. Once someone finds out I'm a librarian they immediately ask me for a recommendation. If the person is a relative stranger this would help me.

Many people book swap. I tend to pass mine along to friends and family and pass my kids' books to their younger cousins.

Any features seem unnecessary or just there "because"?
With all of these Things there are portions I will probably never use, but I've been surprised that others really like those same features. To each his own!

Do you know of other tools around books and reading we should know about?
No, I've included all I know and then some. But I'd be happy to learn more from the rest of you.

Thing #19 Other Social Networks

Are you a member of any online communities?

I was not a member, but joined Gather, Ning and WebJunction. There I found a post that the Illinois State Police issued an Amber Alert for two brothers from the central Illinois city of LeRoy in McLean County, but there were no pictures posted of them so I don't know what good it's going to do.

Nothing posted on Gather - Recent Posts, Highest Read, Most Discussed or Highest Rated had anything to do with me. I looked at a few of them (a boat ride at the Columbus Zoo, a discussion of a woman getting her husband a birthday present) and was sorry I wasted that time.

I created a Ning page. It is UGLY! But I decided to keep going because I was spending too much time on it and wasn't sure I'd ever use it. I've got to keep my eye on the clock with these tings I've realized.

I joined WebJunction (at this point why not, right?) and was disappointed to find that Web Based Tools only had 5 discussions. Hopefully this group will add to it.

Are any of these social networks appealing to you?

Not really. I will play around with WebJunction some more because I hear people talk about it (mostly Patty) and it sounds like something I should know more about.

What did you find that was interesting and that you might use later?

Brad and I watched the 23 Things Summit they had on March 3rd and that was interesting. I would really suggest checking out the Archive and related resources for the 23 Things Summit, presented on March 3, 2009 that is posted on WebJunction. It was worthwhile and over 300 people tuned in to check it out. The vast majority of them were thinking about starting a 23 Things program!

Thing #18 Facebook and MySpace

I am a user of Facebook. My sisters-in-law were the ones who talked me into it. I am far from my family so I check it everyday. I see photos of my nephews and nieces and get to read top of head thoughts from family and friends. They post to videos and we chat on occasion.

If I had just read about Facebook I would not have that much interest. It's the USING it that is fascinating. If I want to know after all these years who is still friends with who from my grade school or high school classes I can see - and not let them know I'm being nosey. I no longer believe there are 7 degrees of separation. I think it's more like 2 or 3 thanks to Facebook.

If I want to reconnect with an old friend. I find them on Facebook and become a part of their day to day life, instead of just reading their Christmas newsletter.

Facebook has a feature that tells you how many friends you have in common with others and will even create a list of people you may want to add to your friends list based on how many people you know in common.

I was back home for Christmas. We were in Church and I looked up and saw this guy coming back from Communion. I knew I knew him from somewhere. His face looked SO familiar! Then I realized he had been recommended to me on Facebook because he was a friend of a few of my friends! Not exactly what you're supposed to be thinking about in Church, but that's what happened.

I can see who is picky about their friends. Maybe they only have 20 or 30 as opposed to people who have 400 or so. To me those are acquaintances. I have high standards for the friend threshold. I believe I only have 40 or so on my page. Some from grammar school, a few from my high school days, a couple from college and then my family.

It's hard to tell people that you don't want to be friends with them when they send you a notice. You can chose to ignore it which is easier. If you don't you can end up with really strange people who you are not close with telling you sordid details of their lives. However it can sting if someone rejects your request or ignores your notice.

Which groups did you join and why?

I belong to the O'Neill Clan group and the Max Creek group. Max Creek is a band we would go to see when I was in college some moons ago. I think it's great that they still play and that others can see them today.

Facebook is huge and getting bigger everyday. People like to stay connected. But it's easier if they only have to go one place to do it rather than call a bunch of people on the phone or email different people.

It is a public venue, but there are ways to have conversations between 2 people on it also if that's what you need (if there's info you don't want to put out there for everyone.)

I looking at a Facebook group from my hometown in NY. Someone gave a description of a guy and where he used to work and asked if anyone knew what ever became of him. I knew the guy had died in 9/11. I sent the NYT online obit to the guy who had been wondering and this is what he sent back:

"Wow, his name had just popped into my head when that girl started naming people...I haven't really set foot in the place since I was around 18. I always remembered him because he had such a strong presence but seemed like a nice, fun loving guy. Can I post this article in that discussion topic? Thank you very much.

It never ceases to amaze me as to how strong this little network is within this group I started. What are the chances that you looked at that topic board the night I first thought about Michael in almost 20 years."

Chris

It IS a small world after all!

Thing # 17 Podcasts

1. Which podcast(s) did you listen to?

I had trouble thinking of a subject I would want to listen to, so I looked for "most popular" podcasts to see what others thought was worth their time. I guess I have different taste than the majority of people.

So, I listened to one on laughing yoga, but it got annoying after a while. It was too long (1 hour) and I think there are some topics where video is important and I think that is one of them. Although some blind people in a video I watched said hearing laughter was great for them and they enjoyed going to the movies to hear a comedy, for me it just wasn't the same. Maybe I am a more visual person than I realized.

I listened to one from the local newspaper and it was short and to the point, a roundup of events going on for the weekend. It was great until I realized they were talking about last weekend and I missed all the events. I guess they haven't posted this week's yet.

I listened to "Coffee Break Spanish," but it was being broadcast from Scotland and the people speaking had beautiful Scottish accents. It was also basic, but I was listening to lesson #9 and growing up in NY you learn that much Spanish before kindergarten.

I'm trying to read the Bible again this year (although I've fallen behind in my readings). I thought I might listen to some reflections on the Psalms. I searched Psalms at http://www.odeo.com/ (which was listed as a podcast directory on gcast.com) and I ended up with Jerry Goebel's Psalms Reflections. I listened to a reflection of Psalm 1:3 which was very good. The player didn't show how long the podcast was though. I like to know up front what I'm getting into. It turns out it was only 5 minutes. It was about slowing down and enjoying life. Here it is



2. Which of the directories did you find easiest to use?

Podcast.com I liked that it had a most popular section and a recommended section. I listened to the WSJ podcast. It had jazzy music and today's headlines and top stories. Bad economic news, more bad economic news...It was 35 minutes long. I think they could post the same podcast tomorrow and no one would notice. I don't think I would listen to news podcasts too much because I would fear missing breaking news.

I also thought it was interesting that one of the most popular podcasts on Podcast.com is lessons in Latin language. I'm not sure how that could be true having taken Latin for 3 years. Agricolae, agricolarum...

Podcastalley.com had a lot of adult content on it's home page. I wasn't thrilled. I kept getting nervous when my kids came in the room.

Yahoo Podcasts the podcasts that were listed as popular were all music and not my cup of tea.

Educational Podcast Directory I liked that they had a list of classes from different schools that were doing podcasts. The kids must get a charge out of that. I couldn't think of any podcasts that I would want to listen to. I think dancing and math especially require video.

iTunes U. I have this on my computer already. I checked out some free podcasts. Most seemed to be from NPR. I'll go back and listen to a couple of Prairie Home Companions if they are there.

3. Has this Thing inspired you to do any podcasting yourself or to subscribe to a podcast to listen to it regularly?

For me the best podcasts would compliment something I was familiar with. If I enjoyed a show and it said, "For more information on this topic listen to the podcast at..." that would be valuable. Or if I were taking a class and the professor pointed us in the direction of a podcast, that would be helpful.

I guess my main problem with listening to random podcasts is the age old question of authority. Who created the podcast? What gives them the authority to speak on the topic? What credentials does this person have? Is this going to be a waste of time?

I think many podcasts spend too much time setting the stage and should just jump right in. The quality of podcasts vary. The WSJ for instance was very polished and professional. There wasn't any self conscious giggling or inane banter. The broadcasters understood their medium.

Thing #16 YouTube

What did you like or dislike about the sites you explored?
When I first started watching these videos years ago they were funny, but had no real value to them. As time has passed though some of them became more political and socially relevant. Many are still funny, but humor is a good way to get a point across.

I chose a couple of videos that made me think.







Why did you choose the video that you did?
I saw the piece on laughing yoga on Oprah and thought it was interesting.

The second video a came from a friend of mine who told me that they did this at her Church and said it was so powerful it gave her "chill bumps." She said some other Churches had done it and posted it on the web so I seached under cardboard testimony and came up with a few. This was my favorite.

Can you see any ways to use video--YouTube or other sites--on your library Web site?
I am a pretty serious minded person, but I think humor is a good thing. It relieves stress. (Who didn't like watching the dancing guy on the Great Wall?) I also know there are a range of videos out there that are not just the joke of the day kind of thing.

A YA librarian just told me she is planning a summer program for teens to make their own videos to post. I think that program will have a lot of interest. I think kids today are tired of being advertised to, they would rather create their own messages than be force fed them by Madison Ave. Video sites will play a big part in their generation.

I found a cool site at archive.org which is a 501c3 that was founded to build an Internet library, with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in the Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in our collections.

Most of the collection is scholarly, but I found the cartoon vault! I found this Casper the Ghost cartoon from 1948 entitled Caspar The Friendly Ghost in There's Good Boos Tonight. The site also had Mighty Mouse, Betty Boop, Felix the Cat. The collection also includes classics such as Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Porky Pig, The Three Stooges, and others.

Thing #15 Rollyo

Can you see a potential use for Rollyo in your library?

Not really. So far this is my least favorite thing. I searched "japanese gardens" and came up with one roll which had a couple of sites about gardens in general.

I searched homework as instructed and then narrowed it to multiplication and came up with a few sites that had tips for kids that were strugging and tricks you can use if you don't have a good memory - but nothing fascinating.

I am a researcher and I like to start with the whole world as my source and narrow it down on my own. I treat each search individually and am sometimes surprised where I am led. I'd hate to narrow my focus from the start.

However if I were teaching someone whose skills weren't too polished maybe I would narrow the focus for them by setting up a roll.

Thing #14 Online Productivity Tools

Which start page did you choose?

I use iGoogle. I love my museum art tour, Monet, and Bible quote of the day. I like to see the weather where my family lives so I can laugh. I look at my rss feeds on that page. I have also added a ToDo list, but so far it's just annoying. I don't think it will last long. I complete the tasks and then forget to delete them and they stay there.

I just started playing with Google Calendars. I will now get a reminder of my brothers' birthdays for the next 30 years.

Why did that one appeal to you?

Sad, but true I'm already on Google everything else so I thought I use iGoogle. It goes along with my gmail. I can read my mail when the page opens and see any new mail that comes in.

Will you make it your permanent home page?
It has been. So far no problems, so I'll keep it.

Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the library or at home?

I like the countdown widget. I usually send out emails to my sister telling her how many days till Christmas or until we go on vacation, mostly just to be a nudge. Her 3 kids are younger than mine and she can't think that far out. (I also send out her Christmas card the day after Thanksgiving every year.)

A better use for that tool would be to build excitement for a program or a new building opening.

Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?

There was nothing I couldn't live without, but I think when you're used to doing things the old fashioned way it takes time to embrace new habits. That being said I think it's good to know these things exist.

I looked at lifehacker and somehow ended up watching a couple of videos on cooking in the depression with a woman named Clara who is in her 90's. I'd recommend her series of videos if you have time. She talks about how they had no icebox and used to keep their food buried in the snow outside.

I also ended up doing part of a yoga practice through lifehacker. It appears anything can happen to you as you go to that site! I finally stopped when I got myself into a position where I couldn't see the computer screen and wasn't able to follow just by the verbal instructions.

How can the online calendars be useful to you?

I'm just starting to use one so I'm not sure if it will be useful or not. I am a Franklin Covey fan and have used his calendars for years. We'll see if I can transition.

What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…?

I think the to do lists are too much work. I'm sure my husband would love that the Remember the Milk site says with this tool I can, "Remind your significant other to do their household chores." I think it would be fun to try the Remember the Milk and send my husband reminders. I don't know if he would think it was fun though.

I can simply create a list on a piece of paper. Although I guess if I were collaborating with someone else it might make sense so they could see what has been done and what still needs doing.None of the sites mentioned the number one reason to make your list online, as far as I'm concerned, which is you won't misplace your list.

I may be planning an event soon and I'm seriously considering using backpack to organize it.

Did you try out Backpack?

I am considering using backpack to coordinate a family vacation for 18 members of my family. We all arrive at different times, by different means and this way we would all be able to access each other's plans. We each take a night to cook dinner for the clan and this way we could see the menus. I also try to babysit for my nieces and nephews and this way everyone could see my schedule.

I think it's interesting enough to try. If it doesn't work all I've done is opened another account and performed an experiment. If it works it would help me integrate my plans with those around me. Hopefully making us all more efficent and that makes me happy:)

What did you think?
It seems like it would work if everyone would commit to using it. It might take a little arm twisting, we are used to sending emails. But I think it may be more efficient.

Did you try any of the other tools in the list?

I watched the tours of Zoho Project, Basecamp and Backpack. I think I would use Backpack because it's free. I don't like signing up for trials and then getting harassed about signing on for membership.

They all seem to do more or less the same thing. I'm sure if you used them all there would be subtle differences.

I find it interesting that kids today are working in teams and with partners more than we used to and think they will be the ones who take this kind of concept to the next level.

Any good ones we should all try?
We should give Clara's poor man's meal a try. Hot dogs and potatos O'Brien.

Thing #13 Library Thing

I found LibraryThing to be really simple to use. It took no time at all to get the books added. I think it would be a nice thing to use with my siblings/parents/friends who are always telling me what they're reading when we're in a restaurant or someplace where it's not convenient to write it down. When I got home I could look at their library and remember the title and add it to my list of "to be read."

I would have liked LibraryThing better if there were pictures of the covers of the older editions of the books, but I guess I'm a perfectionist. For my uses now it doesn't make much of a difference, but if I were compiling a collection of my library's holdings I would need the exact cover. Otherwise my patrons would say, "But it didn't look like that on the computer," and that would get tiresome.

How can you use LibraryThing for your library? I would have loved to have used it in my previous position. We had a relatively small collection that was kept in a back room and many people forgot it existed. We never had the time to catalog it properly and many of our patrons wouldn't want to get up out of their chairs to look on a shelf. They would have preferred looking on the computer first and then getting up if necessary. Sorry, it's the truth.

How else do you share booklists, etc. with library patrons? Since we didn't have an up to date list I would take the patron by the hand and bring them to the shelves. Or ask them as if it were a great secret I was letting them in on, "Have you seen our book room?"

Would LibraryThing offer an alternative? It would have been great. If we could have done 10 books a day or gotten an intern to add books it would not have taken a ton of time and I think I could have gotten the staffing approved for it.

How can your library use LibraryThing Local? I'm not much for events besides the friends of the library sales, but if it were automatically updated I would look at it and perhaps add an event to my list of things to do.

Could you use LibraryThing to organize your home book collection? If I did I think I would come to realize that I have a lot of weeding to do:) But it would save me from buying my kids the same book multiple times.

Thing #12 Wikis

What did you find interesting about the wiki concept?
I found wikis interesting when I first heard about them years ago. In my former life where we were hiring people straight out of college, who were not native to Jacksonville, I thought a wiki would be a great idea. I envisioned it as a place where people could store their knowledge of Jacksonville and others could find it and use it. The drawbacks were trying to entice employees to do "one more thing," and the thought that after all of their hard work, someone with less knowledge, could delete or edit their information.

What types of applications within libraries and schools might work well with a wiki?
There seem to be many group projects given in school now. Many times it is difficult for parents to drive their kids to a friend's house because they are at work or their child has other commitments after school. Time is valuable. I think it would be a good idea for kids to work together on a couple of projects using wikis. I also think it would help with the problem of one kid doing the majority of the work assigned. By using a wiki the teacher could readily see who did what. I think it's a great idea.

Many teachers/faculty "ban" Wikipedia as a source for student research. What do you think of the practice of limiting information by format?
I am a professional researcher. I love research and when I have worked on subjects that I know nothing about I have started with Wikipedia. I do not stake my reputation on it. I do not take it as the gospel truth. I simply use it as a starting point to get keywords or to get a basic understanding of the topic at hand. More often than not it has been helpful and accurate.
I don't think it's a good idea to ban it. I think we should teach kids about it and make it a lesson in sourcing. Find things that are inaccurate and show them how easy it is to manipulate and change things on Wikipedia. What a great opportunity.

Which wiki did you edit?
I edited our pb wiki. I just added my 2 cents. I also kept the email notification on so I could see when it was being edited. It was cool to know people were working on it and to wonder what the final outcome will look like.

Thing #11 Social Media

I read 2 stories on the Washington Post site both were in the Faith section. Then I read the comments. I think that is where I went wrong. On things like faith and politics people believe what they believe and they are not going to be disuaded or educated in that forum. More times than not it becomes a shouting match. I don't enjoy being a witness.
I read Jacques Berlinerblau: Bible Not For Beginners
and Lisa Miller:Is It Immoral to be Rich now?

One woman said,
"God doesn't give a RAT's A. whether you're rich or not...IF you earned it in some decent way, hit the lottery or inherited from a good family who earned and sheparded it for generations, good manners flying.But if you're some greedy crooked Wall Street type with a $42M penthouse,strutting around and keeping only to your own, wearing $3000 t-shirts and eschewing anything not your ethnic clan...God hates you. And you should fall off the earth. That's the final word.And history, in a few years, will back that up, at least as evidenced here on earth. "

I thought it was funny that she said God would hate someone. Again - the comments are nothing I would WANT to share, but I often share news stories with people.

How do you think you can use these tools in your library or at home?
While I like to read comments by readers about some stories, many times I'm disappointed by the quality of discussion that takes place.

Also headlines like "The Herbs Which Can Help You Improve Your Sexual Health," will probably always receive more votes than a story on education or foreign affairs. Am I a news snob? I never thought about it. I guess I don't trust the anonymous masses to tell me what's important, although these are the same people that vote in my elected officials. Maybe I don't trust American education? A topic for another day.

Do these tools seem to be a productivity enhancer or a productivity detractor? I'm not sure if these tools are supposed to enhance productivity. If I'm looking for straight information I'll look for it in the sources I trust. However, if I want to see what is "hot" or "trendy" or "weird" I would look to one of these sites. It's like People Magazine. I don't buy it, but if I'm at the doctors office and it's there I'll pick it up and catch up on pop culture.

Have you ever read a story/item as a result of seeing it on one of these sites? I read a story about Clint Eastwood by accident because the headline that I could see on the homepage was
The Top 10 Awesome Things You Didn't Know About...
Well, of course I want to know what I don't know so I clicked on it and the full headline was The Top 10 Awesome Things You Didn't Know About...Clint Eastwood. I like Clint so I read it, but I wouldn't have ordinarily. The comments that followed were somewhat stupid. A back and forth about the misspelling of the word "lose." Discussion of being a vegan. Nothing worth my time.

I read another story on Amex offering $300 to people who pay off their balance. The comments were pretty bland aside from one reader who asked if that meant their slogan in the future would be, "Leave home without it." The article lead me to a poll which asked With the economy doing so poorly, will more people resort to crime to make ends meet? The majority (53%) of people voted "absolutely it will." which was bad enough, but then there were the 4% who voted "I already have." I'm not sure if they are funny or scary. This poll lead to a discussion on keeping your guns. All of this because Amex customers are not paying their bills!!!
Newsvine was full of a racial debate about apes and Obama. I didn't feel that I got any smarter there.
Reddit was so filled with profanity I didn't want to.

Thing #10 Tagging and Del.icio.us

I've been tagging my posts as I've been going along. I guess that will help others who are searching for information on our experiment down the line. It's not time consuming and if I can help someone else save time I'll do it.

I love the idea of de.icio.us! I had been asking for something like this for many years in my former position as a researcher. I had a ton of bookmarks for sites that I used on a regular basis for each department. I wanted to share them with the appropriate people. But back then the best my IT people could do was import my bookmarks as one static all encompassing list and shoot it out to everyone.

It wasn't user friendly. Everyone got everything whether it pertained to them or not. Also the list couldn't be manipulated. Once it was sent that was it. If I wanted to update it I had to send the entire list out again.

I can see a lot of reasons to use this product. Why reinvent the wheel? If someone has taken the time to save bookmarks on a subject I'm interested in I would take a look at theirs and add some of my own. I'm a great researcher, but why waste time?

I think this product would be especially for someone who wants an easy transition from work to their home computer. Also not to get too morbid, but in this economy you never know when it could be your last day at work and one of the first things they do is freeze your computer. It's smart to save to the web.

Someone was asking me about Flickr badge and I hadn't tried it yet. I found it and cut and the code. Let me see if it works. I'll paste it here




Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is not closed: If anyone wants to let me know what I did wrong please email me at 23things@neflin.org

Thing #9 Share

OK I just played around and created a slideshow in Zoho.

It wasn't too bad although their clip art is lacking.

I'll see if I can link to it or post it or whatever down the line. Right now I'm going to take a break.

Okay, let's see if I can embed this code. It's was under publish on the Zoho site. I took advice from the A. Nonymous' 23 Things Blog and went to advanced options to copy the html. Here goes nothing!



I decided to play around in picture trail. I uploaded the sample photos that were on the computer since I wasn't at home when I did this.

This is what I came up with

Success!

Note to those who meebo'd me: That was fun! I enjoyed hearing from you. The anonymous part of it was a little weird, but I had a good time. Keep it up.

Thing #8

Communicate your thoughts on these tools in this communication tool--your blog!
Describe how your library uses email. Has it improved productivity?

I love email! It makes my life easier. The older I get the more I like to have reference questions in front of me. As I get pulled away I can return to what I was doing more quickly.

I can also write down some initial thoughts and save them as drafts and come back to them and fill them in when I have time.

When I'm talking to someone and they ask me a question I'm afraid I'll forget I ask them to email me. Most people are fine with that and then I don't wrack my brain trying to remember what they asked me.

I love that I can take one response and send it to a bunch of people so I don't have to keep repeating myself. It saves time.

I can save emails so I can look back and find information by the sender or keyword or date - much better than my filing cabinet!

I also like the fact that I can respond at my convenience whether it's at 7am or 11pm. I can get the information I need and then respond to the email.

Share your thoughts on online reference using some of the other Web 2.0 communication tools.
Are you an active user of text messaging, IM, or other communication tools?

I am not an avid user of chat.

I've had a couple of chat buddies and I find it somewhat intrusive. I'll be working on something hot and heavy and then this window pops open and I find myself on a tangent. It's distraction to me.

In one of the articles we read it mentioned that you have to be a multitasker to enjoy chat. I am a multitasker, but I guess I like working on my tasks at my speed. I don't enjoy unexpected tasks that require my immediate attention.

Which leads me to an unexpected, but I think related phenomenon. I do not like the phone as much anymore. I used to enjoy it, but now many times I find it irritating and distracting. I like to focus on the task at hand. I think that somewhere between email and TIVO we have become an "on my schedule" generation. Thank God for voicemail!

Okay, Brad asked me to monitor the Meebo and so far it's been fun. I have the volume turned up so I can hear when one of you dings me. It's pretty funny to have conversations with anonymous people. If it were with the general public I think it could get creepy, but we're all friends here.

I guess what I'm finding is when it's for fun I like it. But when I'm focusing on something I'd rather have it turned off.

Which web conference (Webinar) did you attend? How was it? What do you think of this communication tool?

In the past I attended webinars with vendors and webinars at work. What I realized is it can be hard to get a word in edgewise. It also takes a long time to get started - everyone is introduced and seems to feel the need to say something witty.
When you have a number of people at one site sitting together they start making faces and gesturing to each other (maybe that was just my site:)

I am now listening to an archived webinar on interesting books for reluctant readers which I am enjoying. I am alone and it is not live. I like it!

Thing #7 Online Image Generators

I am tired and am starting to feel like this window:)

So I read the directions for Thing #7 and decided to go back and get my stained glass puzzle by right clicking it and saving the picture - why didn't I think of that?

I'm going to come back to this post after I get some of my photos from Kodak. I took some nice ones of the Hudson River and the Rockefeller Estate in the fall when the leaves were changing. I also took some in Feb of the Vanderbilt Mansion that I think would do. I can see I may lose time here!

These are some pictures I've taken on vacations to Washington DC, the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in FL and the Rockefeller Mansion in NY. It took forever to create the Mosaic in BigHugeLabs.com, but it turns out it was my fault. When I uploaded them I set permissions to private. Once I figured that out it was easier, but still time consuming to get the photos uploaded to Flickr. I have to say it is much quicker than Kodak. Anyway after all that work I hope someone enjoys looking at them!

Who says librarians aren't fun???

Thing #6 Flickr Mashups

I made a cool puzzle with one of my photos of stained glass windows, but when I tried to upload it a warning said


fd's Flickr Toys wants to link to your Flickr account.
You should not authorize fd's Flickr Toys unless you trust them with access to your account.
By authorizing this link, you'll allow the fd's Flickr Toys service to provide:
Access to your photostream (including private stuff)
Editing of your photo or video information via fd's Flickr Toys
Uploads to your Flickr account via fd's Flickr Toys

So I decided against it.
Still if I wanted to I could take photos of my nephews and nieces and give them each their own puzzle as a gift.
That's pretty cool. Although in this culture of customizing I don't know if it would be as cool to them as it would have been to me. They are used to seeing people's pitures on mugs and notepads and such. I still think it's cool.

How can you use any of these tools in your library or media center?
What do you think of sharing photos online?

I think these tools would be cool when dealing with teens inparticular. We can catch their attention for a minute.

Sharing photos online is great - even if it is just between family members and friends. I have an irrational fear of archival images being destroyed. Not having to worry about fire or flood ruining my family photos has been a relief.

Before this I gave each of my immediate family members a fire box for Christmas one year. Imagine their joy when I told them it was to preserve their photo negatives;)

I also keep our family photo albums and yearbooks by the front door in case we ever need to evacuate - maybe I could grab a few.

I wasn't always like this. Really I wasn't! But moving to FL and experiencing wildfires and hurricanes and trying to pack all of this stuff, 3 kids, my husband and the dog into a car makes me happy to have an online solution.

I'm sure we all have our foibles...right...right???

Thing #5 Flickr

How might you use Flickr in your library or media center?
Do you use Flickr or another photo hosting service? Which one? How does it compare to Flickr?
How do you feel about having your photos public (note that you can mark your Flickr photos private, too)--any concerns?



Most of my photos are in Kodak so I didn't have much to post to Flickr. Maybe I'll try to get some from Kodak in order to improve the look of my page. For now I just wanted to show myself I could do it:) Mission accomplished.
The process wasn't hard though it was time consuming and registering and giving private info still makes me shudder.
Also remembering passwords, user id's etc. is not my strong suit.
I did have a problem uploading one of my photos - but the site said,"BONK! One of your photos didn't upload. Do you want to try again?" So I clicked yes and it went through that time no problem.
I think the BONK made me smile instead of fret. I realized it wasn't a big deal, it happens adn it can be rectified. Good customer service on their part. If it had kept happening I think I would have wanted to BONK them;)
I really enjoy taking pictures though and although most of them include people, these days I'm taking more architecture and landscape shots. My sister is a great photographer and I try to learn from her style.
I wouldn't feel comfortable posting pics of people I know for public consumption. My father sometimes gets annoyed that I capture so much and upload it to Kodak to share with family and friends. Part of it is that I also am very into ancestry.com and documenting my family history. Many times when we talk he says - you don't have to email that to everyone.
Whenever my husband makes a face at me these days I tell him I'm going to take his picture and post it on my blog!

Thing #4

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
I like getting competing new sources and seeing how each source slants the news. Also who gets it first.
My father is retired and this is one of his hobbies.


How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your library or personal life?
I think it is more convenient to have the headlines come to me and I know media outlets are starting to think that way so I might as well climb on board.


How can librarian staff or media specialists use RSS or take advantage of this technology?
Not sure. I guess as usual someone will get a great idea and we will all apply it to our venues.


Which tool for finding feeds was easiest to use?
I am using both Blogger and Google Reader. I haven't noticed one is harder than the other. At some point I will try to get them to compliment each other or drop one.


What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
I have most of this stuff coming to my iGoogle page. I'm not quite sure what the difference is. I now feel bombarded!


Find any great sources we should all add to our feed reader?
No, but I may down the road. I'm interested in seeing what the rest of the group came up with.

Thing #3

Create a blog post about your discoveries.
How do the features such as results relevance, search options, other features compare?

I did a search of "my hometown, home state" on The Google Blog Search, Technorati and BlogHer.com

I got 4,857 hits on Google, including a photo of the day site, which is nice. The most recent post was 1 hour ago.

I got 95 hits on Technorati, however the most recent post was 8 days ago.

No hits on BlogHer.com

I think I'll stick with Google Blog Search. I got the most hits and Google is most convenient since it in front of me all day anyway.

Thing #2 - Alice's Restaurant

We know time is always an issue--Stephen Abram shares some ideas on where to find the time for 23 Things. Where will you find the time?

I am finding that I am going to bed later at night:) Instead of watching tv I am now in front of the computer. Instead of talking to friends and family on the phone they are emailing me more and we are also keeping in touch via Facebook. I can tell by the number of people befriending me on Facebook I am not alone in this technological shift.

Why are you participating in 23 Things @ NEFLIN?

I had heard about the project through SLA but did not have the time to follow through with it. Afterwards I had the opportunity to meet a group of people who told me that they had all chosen to retire rather that learn computers and that worried me. I saw how if you weren't willing to risk looking foolish while learning new things you were putting yourself out to pasture.

NEFLIN's pitch at the annual meeting was great! I saw the environment that they were trying to create - a playful, safe place where there would be something for everyone. A place where beginners would feel free to ask questions and a forum where the more advanced could display their skills and become beacons of light. A lab where we could test things and figure out if/how these tools fit into our lives. It reminded me of the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute I had participated in where we all felt comfortable enough to be open and try new things.

This time I decided my development was worth it and I was going to find the time.


What do you hope to learn?How has the Internet and the vast resource it can be affected your use of time at work and/or at home?

I can't imagine going back to life without the Internet. It has saved me incalculable amounts of time. However it has also made me more impatient if I have to wait for information - I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

Where are you in your knowledge and use of Web 2.0 tools? How about your library?

As I said I know about most of these tools. I have used them once or twice, but this is offering me a chance to become more familiar with them. NEFLIN is giving us permission to learn in a non linear way and still call it work.

What are you looking forward to in 23 Things @ NEFLIN?
I didn't have any grand expectations when I decided to do this. However reading the participants' blogs I am realizing that we are having a ripple effect across our 20 county area and then some. There are close to 300 people registered for this project and many more who aren't registered. Most people are having discussions about it with others. Add up all of those people and I believe Arlo Guthrie would declare it a movement. It's the NEFLIN 23 Things Movement. Blog. With Feeling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7C0QGkiVo

Thing 1

This thing seemed very simple. The directions were clear cut and easy to follow. SO far so good. It's satisfying to know that I completed the first thing with no trouble. I even added a picture!I'm being lulled toward thing 2.