#23 Finished...for now....temporarily

This was fun. It was great for me - I knew some of these, but also learned plenty.

One thing we didn't cover was the online "radio" shows - like BlogTalk radio, etc. These are archived as podcasts, so can be available anytime, but could be utilized as another online offering for our patrons. We could do a Children's Librarian storytime every Tuesday evening at 7:00 or something. Then they'd still be archived for later listening.

One thing I wished I'd known before I started was how many different things I'd need to set up user names/passwords/emails/etc. I think I have dozens of sign-ons all related to this 23 things exercise. I now need to go back and try to standardize these - a Single Sign On would be nice.

But, overall, I really enjoyed doing all the tasks, and I'll be using lots of these applications in the future. It will be easy to think of these things when I need them, now that I've played around with them a bit.

So - thanks to the O! What a Geek team for putting this together.

#22 Media and Book Downloads

I've been using the OverDrive and MyLibraryDV software since we got it. I even used to have a NetLibrary account years ago. I always tell patrons the story of my daughter leaving her Pride and Prejudice book at school over Christmas break - all copies were checked out - and she read it online for her class.

So, I tried the one I didn't know about - TumbleBooks.

How easy! Holy Cow! In five seconds flat, I was listening to "A Little Princess"!

This is so much easier than our other audio and video formats - no software to download, no waiting lists. Wow!

I'm very comfortable offering this to patrons, and explaining how simple it is.

Glad to know about this resource!

#21 - Podcasts

I did a class assignment a couple of semesters ago on Podcasts and Videocasts, so that was when I discovered Podcastalley. At that time, I subscribed to a couple of Harry Potter fan clubs that had podcasts, and I'm still subscribed. I enjoyed it, my kids enjoyed it - just for fun. I check it out on occasions, even now. I also discovered that lots of libraries are using podcasts. I remember PLCMC doing some great teen podcasts, and also the Orange County FL library doing a podcast of the author Avi doing a reading at their library. That's very cool, and a nice thing for libraries to offer to patrons. I'm thinking online storytimes, how-to's, etc.

Now, I'm not so sure that we need to do those types of things in-house. We have mylibraryDV for the how-to's and travel and movies and more. I think we could best use podcasts and videocasts to demonstrate our own systems - video walkthroughs of using the self-checkout machines, or using our online catalog and databases. Maybe tours of each of our libraries.

So, here's my podcast post:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/LibVibe



(Dang! I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong on these links! I'm on my home computer - the one that coughs and chokes a lot. Maybe that's the problem?!?)

#20 YouTube

Yahoo, it's YouTube time!

I love the classics. Evolution of Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg, The Machine is Us-ing Us: http://mediatedcultures.net . The Wil Farrell skits from SNL: (Cowbell, Jeopardy, Pearl the Landlady and I can't get these linked.)

So I searched YouTube for "Library". Over 500,000 results, including Sesame Street, Seinfeld, and the current copyright infringement exhibit A - Michael Stephen's "Ray of Light" video (only in the listings, the actual video has been removed from YouTube).

I eventually settled into watching Brewster Kahle's 20 minute presentation at the 2008 TED conference in LA. Very nice. (Again - I tried four times to get this video posted/linked here - failed.)

#19 Discovering web 2.0 tools

I was at the NLA/NEMA conference, and I saw Annette Lamb give her 100 mph presentation. Wow! But I never did go back and look at her presentation notes, so I'm glad to have the link through OPL's 23 Things.

It's overwhelming - her long long long list of tools and apps - but it's well-organized. If I have a need for something, I'll be able to find it.

I picked Twitter as something to try. Actually, I've been on Twitter through this other "group" I belong to, but I never really saw the benefit or the fun of it, so I haven't used it much. However, I decided to "follow" someone I know, so maybe it will get better. (I had one follower, and some stranger wanted to follow me - I declined that one, thank you very much!) Sounds like stalking!? Anyway, I'm going to give Twitter another try, although Facebook does the same thing, plus lots more.

#18 Web-based Apps

I have used some of the Google Docs, but when I went to Zoho....Wow! I liked a lot of the extra things they offered - like a to-do list. Maybe I've just never run across it in the Google offerings, but the Zoho menu seemed extensive. I emailed myself a to-do list on my gmail account.

I checked out some of the PowerPoint templates, and saw some fresh new designs. I snagged one that I may use for my lecture and class handouts for the Online Health Information class I'm teaching in a couple of weeks.

I also looked at some of the Google templates for schedules - we're always on the lookout for an easier way to do staff schedules and desk schedules at MB.

I am addicted to my flash drive - I carry my life around on it, and I'm always worried that I haven't saved updates to my home, work or other work computers in case my flash drive goes missing. So the concept of Web-apps is great - I can just work in Google or Zoho or...OpenOffice (is that a web app or just an open source Office-like tool?)...and get to my files wherever I am - that's fantastic! No more flash drive "necklace" getting left in whatever workstation I was last at. This has great promise for me. How secure is all this info?

#17 PBWiki

Now that was funny! In my last post, I just linked to a wiki I set up on pbwiki, and now this week, we're supposed to play around on pbwiki!!!

I had trouble getting my blog linked on the PLCMC site, though. Hope I didn't mess it up too much!

I really think wiki's are the way to go in sharing our information. UNO has done a really great wiki that they use as their intranet. I'd love for OPL to look at something like that.

#16 Wiki's

I love wiki's! I think the library needs one. I think the Millard Branch needs one. I've made a couple. Here's one:

http:\\fowlplay.pbwiki.com

It's an online book club - you don't have to meet in person, just drop in online now and then and talk about "foodie mysteries". I learned how to link to webpages, add new pages, all kinds of fun stuff.

(I made it for a class last semester, but I'd love to implement it for real for OPL! We could do all kinds of subjects...like our mission statement says, "unlimited opportunities...")

So, I hope this works for a post about my Library 2.0 wiki learning. For once, I can say "been there, done that!"

#15 Library 2.0

I'm one of the many people in the "Sandwich Generation". That is, (broad generalization coming up, here) people older than me don't know and don't want to know anything about computers, and people younger than me were "born digital". I remember the days before computers. I took a programming class in college and made punch-cards for my program. And, this was really cool...I went to the campus library and played computer games with someone on a computer at a whole different school! HA! I bought a TI 64. I played Atari. I learned WordPerfect, and all the PF functions. Then along came the World Wide Web. We got an AOL account, and we loaded it to our huge new computer (132 mg hard drive storage)from a big 5 1/2 inch floppy. Can you all relate to this?! Fast forward 20 years to today. I'm wanting a new computer because ours is five years old and its 160 gb hard drive is almost full, and the 512 RAM speed tends to choke and cough if I open too many windows too fast....

I'm OK with 2.0, though. I'm keeping up with friends and family more than I have in 20 years (I'm not much of a phone or letter person!) I'm learning how to use 2.0 tools to keep up with the deluge of information. In the five years that I've been in the MLS program, the way Missouri offers classes has kept on evolving. They are using podcasts, videocasts, Wimba and more to enhance and deliver course content. I've read the Tame the Web blog by Michael Stephens before, and he's usually got some very common sense thoughts about whatever is making news on that day.

I'm impressed with libraries that have kept up with the 2.0 in a public way - not only visible to customers, but interacting with them via social tools. I think that libraries need to keep up with all the new Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools, and use them, because our patrons (not all, but more and more of them) are using them. We have to at least keep up - or even be in the forefront - and go where our customers are: online.

#14 Technorati

I loved the "popular" tab on Technorati! Very organized by category - easy to find stuff, whether you're looking for a new funny video or commercial, or real information about serious topics. Very nice.

I will attempt to add html to my post:



[PLCMCL2]

And, it worked!

#13 Delicious

1. So glad they took out the "dots" from del.icio.us. It's just simpler this way.

2. I think I like this - although when I tried to upload my IE bookmarks, it stalled. I'll try again later.

3. Since I couldn't upload, I started entering a couple of favorites. I got KETV in, tagged it, saw what others used as tags, edited my tags (I forgot to include "Omaha", if you can believe it! I also said "sure, show my delicious bookmarks on my facebook page, then I had to make it public since I'd just never done that yet. Etc, etc.

4. I understand the social aspect of this, and I'm really interested in seeing others' tags - I think that will be really useful, and I need to know all about it RIGHT NOW because my comps are coming up in March, and this could help with my research!

So....well.....go, me!

# 12 Rollyo

Okay. It's nice. I started to create a Consumer Health Info search engine, which will be helpful when I finish it. I could probably use an Entertainment search engine, with Omaha theaters, restaurants, pubs and such. Will I remember to sign into Rollyo next time a patron asks me for Consumer Health Information? I hope so.

I can't get my Consumer Health Info to link into my blog. I made it public, because that seemed to be a stumbling block. What now?

Ah - I'll try this:

Select Search Engine...Consumer Health InfoSearch The Web

Powered by Rollyo

# 11 Library Thing

Cool. I've used it before, briefly. Couldn't remember old name, password, etc. Created new one. Will attempt to add widget now.




There.

# 10 Image Generators

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for a good old Shakespearean Insulter - like this one!


http://www.mainstrike.com/mstservices/handy/insult.html


It was found in the long, long list of possiblities on The Generator Blog. Now that was fun!

I also created my very own tartan plaid. I had difficulty grabbing an image of the official Clan Wingate tartan, but let me assure you, it was traditional, yet snappy and bold.
http://www.tartanmaker.com/


I also played with Wordle and Letter James. Letter James kept kicking me out of IE, so I'm not too fond of that one right now. My fault - should have been in Mozilla.

#9 Finding Feeds

It's easy to find feeds, but not so easy to get them into my Google Reader. Even Technorati wasn't coming up with sites I found that interesting. I was searching for my hometown, my last name, or more library blogs. Nothing great. Then I remembered something that I used to subscribe to via email - a quote of the day. So I searched, found and subscribed.

Finding a site to subscribe to is easier when I'm following links from place to place, and I can just subscribe right then and there. It was tough to sit here and come up with a website or blog I don't already have in my list. But....I did. And I like it.

#8 RSS Feeds

I've done RSS Feeds a couple of different ways over the last 3 years or so. First, I subscribed to them, and bookmarked them on my IE RSS bookmarks. That didn't work. I never went back to look at them. So, I eventually got more into Google, and figured out how to use the Google Reader. I love it. I use it. I enjoy it. Everything is in one place and easy to catch up with. So, frankly, I did not actually create a Bloglines account. I have more than enough sign-ons, user names and passwords to be going on with.

I've subscribed to mostly library-related blogs - Roy Tennant, Librarian.net, etc., but also NPR and my hometown newspaper. It's a good way to keep up, but easy.