The first thing I did for Thing #4 was to check out the 23 Things Flikr account, and there I recognized a co-worker on pictures from the MEMO Midwinter Conference. Then I took a peek at the Library of Congress account and know that I will want to spend a lot more time there. I absolutely love what the St. Ben's and St. John's libraries have done with the "add a note" feature. It would be awesome to be able to browse a whole library that way! The Common Craft video was, as usual, fairly simple to understand. I need a lot of that! Simple, I mean.
Even though I chose to do the first option for Thing #4, I did eventually create an account in Flikr also. That was fairly easy, and then I spent some time exploring and doing the Flikr Learn More tour. The pictures are so interesting. I think I could have too much fun looking at "just one more page", and then "just one more"! I would feel some degree of vulnerability sharing my own personal photos, I think, but that's what makes it so interesting for the viewer! I probably will limit my sharing to the occasional picture that is extremely special or has some important message to share. My teenage son uses Shutterfly to store and share our family pictures, so I'll probably leave that up to him for now. I experimented with using a few keywords and then located the picture I had in mind for my blog. I did manage to upload it, but I really didn't feel confident at each point to know where to go or what to do next. It seems like I take the long route for everything I do and probably add so many extra steps because I don't understand how to take a shortcut. Hopefully I can become more efficient, and it will go more smoothly each time.
Just one more thing. I have discovered another one of those "unintended consequences", and it's a good one. While I am doing my 23 Things on a Stick I get so absorbed in it that I don't even think about snacking! No mindless eating. Wow! I wonder how long that will last.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
God's Smile
Last week I was in our local medical clinic for the routine lab tests preceding an exam. As the technician was sticking the needle in my vein, I looked up and saw this amazing picture. Great timing! I was happy to find it in Flikr so that I can share it in my blog.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Thing 3. Set Up an RSS Account & Add Feeds
Reading about RSS was at first hard to understand with so much new terminology. It is like learning another language. I did find a dictionary of Web 2.0 terms at www.webopedia.com/Web_2_0, which should be helpful, but I found the video at Common Craft to be just what I needed to start. It was very simple, but well done and entertaining. I just had to show it to my husband and son who weren't familiar with RSS either. RSS is obviously a great shortcut. I chose Bloglines to set up my account. After scrolling through the Favorite Feeds, I selected three news sites and then added 6 co-worker's blogs, a political site and the Shifted Librarian. My son showed me how to copy and paste some of the URLs, but later I found some good directions in the CNET Video and Feed Me. RSS makes the web more personalized and manageable and would be a terrific time saver for anyone.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Thing 2. What is Library 2.0?
Before starting Thing #2 I decided to change my template and also add sunglasses and a dog to my avatar. That was fun.
What is Library 2.0? This is all very new to me, and I feel that any observations I have will be extremely elementary and obvious. The thought of putting myself and my thoughts out there to be seen and read by who knows who, especially by my co-workers, is somewhat intimidating. Perhaps that is relevant to the "trust factor" discussed in the article, "The Ongoing Web Revolution". Having watched the video of Stephen Abram, my limited understanding of Library 2.0 is that it is a presentation of what already exists in the web world, Web 2.0, translated into something that can be used in our library work settings and in our personal lives.
John Blyberg's blog and the comments that followed indicate that there are those who question the need or usefulness of Library 2.0, not only those who are just hearing about it and have no interest, but those who are accomplished Web 2.0 users who think that Web 2.0 is enough. Library 2.0 is a bridge for the rest of us to learn to use the tools that are already out there. Our library users that are tech savvy are aware of the possibilities and will be looking for our libraries to adapt accordingly. Of course a balance has to be maintained where one age or interest group isn't appeased at the expense of another, but those tech savvy youth are going to be around for awhile! Followed by more of the same. Furthermore, even though not everyone will want what we can offer through Library 2.0, there's a good chance they will in 2 years or 5 years. Obviously not every aspect of Library 2.0 is going to be useful or beneficial in every setting, but there certainly shouldn't have to be an "all or nothing" acceptance or application.
It's hard to imagine what libraries, and ours in particular, will look like in 10, 20, or 50 years. However, we likely have clues presented to us every day that are either ignored or considered to be an intrusion on what we are currently doing. We too readily associate change with disruption and cost and don't try to envision the benefit. Change does involve cost and choices and I'm thankful to not have to make those hard decisions. Change also involves attitudes, and that does include us all. We can say, "We have never had or done that, and never will", or we can allow some room for speculation and at least put the idea on the back burner. Something that may seem foolishly unnecessary today has a way of becoming essential in time. The future isn't something or somewhere that we will suddenly, magically arrive at in 10, 20, or 50 years after vigorously defending and maintaining the status quo. The future is today, tomorrow and next week.
I was especially intrigued with the idea of potentially being able to browse a "wall of books" via the web instead of just retrieving books as we do now. I also think it would be fun for our library to provide a way for our local library users to submit reviews of books, similar to what Amazon has. The reviews would be especially meaningful and interesting coming from people that may be known to each other. Another practical application might be to make it easy for library patrons to maintain a list of all material they have checked out in the past.
I am ready to tackle the next stick in the 23 sticks and am still enthused about the endeavor. I can see where it can become addicting. Maybe that's one of those unintended consequences! Since I work part-time I am more able than some to find the time. I am looking forward to learning how to do more of those things that, at most, I've only heard about before.
What is Library 2.0? This is all very new to me, and I feel that any observations I have will be extremely elementary and obvious. The thought of putting myself and my thoughts out there to be seen and read by who knows who, especially by my co-workers, is somewhat intimidating. Perhaps that is relevant to the "trust factor" discussed in the article, "The Ongoing Web Revolution". Having watched the video of Stephen Abram, my limited understanding of Library 2.0 is that it is a presentation of what already exists in the web world, Web 2.0, translated into something that can be used in our library work settings and in our personal lives.
John Blyberg's blog and the comments that followed indicate that there are those who question the need or usefulness of Library 2.0, not only those who are just hearing about it and have no interest, but those who are accomplished Web 2.0 users who think that Web 2.0 is enough. Library 2.0 is a bridge for the rest of us to learn to use the tools that are already out there. Our library users that are tech savvy are aware of the possibilities and will be looking for our libraries to adapt accordingly. Of course a balance has to be maintained where one age or interest group isn't appeased at the expense of another, but those tech savvy youth are going to be around for awhile! Followed by more of the same. Furthermore, even though not everyone will want what we can offer through Library 2.0, there's a good chance they will in 2 years or 5 years. Obviously not every aspect of Library 2.0 is going to be useful or beneficial in every setting, but there certainly shouldn't have to be an "all or nothing" acceptance or application.
It's hard to imagine what libraries, and ours in particular, will look like in 10, 20, or 50 years. However, we likely have clues presented to us every day that are either ignored or considered to be an intrusion on what we are currently doing. We too readily associate change with disruption and cost and don't try to envision the benefit. Change does involve cost and choices and I'm thankful to not have to make those hard decisions. Change also involves attitudes, and that does include us all. We can say, "We have never had or done that, and never will", or we can allow some room for speculation and at least put the idea on the back burner. Something that may seem foolishly unnecessary today has a way of becoming essential in time. The future isn't something or somewhere that we will suddenly, magically arrive at in 10, 20, or 50 years after vigorously defending and maintaining the status quo. The future is today, tomorrow and next week.
I was especially intrigued with the idea of potentially being able to browse a "wall of books" via the web instead of just retrieving books as we do now. I also think it would be fun for our library to provide a way for our local library users to submit reviews of books, similar to what Amazon has. The reviews would be especially meaningful and interesting coming from people that may be known to each other. Another practical application might be to make it easy for library patrons to maintain a list of all material they have checked out in the past.
I am ready to tackle the next stick in the 23 sticks and am still enthused about the endeavor. I can see where it can become addicting. Maybe that's one of those unintended consequences! Since I work part-time I am more able than some to find the time. I am looking forward to learning how to do more of those things that, at most, I've only heard about before.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thing 1. Set Up Your Blog
I did it! I finished Thing #1, and so I only have 22 left to go. I started the process highly intimidated and not sure if I was even interested in doing it at all. I usually rely on a family member to do any "computer thing" for me, so I have to admit that I am feeling pretty good about this. Since I was home alone, my only option was to proceed step-by-step with the patience that I am most often lacking. The instructions were excellent, thankfully, and everything went well. I am looking forward to Thing #2 with an unexpected enthusiasm.
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