THING 20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1seGlhCSGJs
You Tube is too much fun. I can really see how kids can spend hours on this site. There is just so much to see and look at. Of course, in keeping with a theme I looked for Colin Firth videos and was not disappointed. I am a little curious about the copyright issues raised by this site. For instance, this link connects to a slideshow of pictures. Have these photographers released permission for publication of these shots? It seems like a hazy and unpoliced arena.

THING 17

Frustration! Tried to add my blog to the favorites blog at the Maryland Sandbox, but for some reason I just couldn't get it. It was fun to look at the different blogs and wikis and I did peruse them and added my 2 cents on the favorite dogs wiki. Will seek help tomorrow to try to get my blog added correctly. I'm sure I'm missing something very basic.

THING 16

I have used wikipedia, always with the knowledge that the authorship can be unknown and unreliable. However, I think generally wikis are a great concept an allow for multiple users to comment and add information to topics. While the potential for vandalism and error is there, I noticed in my exploration that some wikis, like the Library Successes, A Best Practices Wiki now requies e-mail verification before permitting posting. I think wikis should definitely be utilized by a public library for a variety of purposes -- such as readers' advisory or book club support as used by the Princeton Public Library, or to promote a specific event like the ALA did for its 2006 conference. Perhaps we could use a wiki in some fashion to enhance the Summer Reading program.

THING 15

I was worried about this assignment, because I thought that some of the discussion would be talking about things which I didn't know about and didn't understand. That is why I found Rick Anderson's article about the icebergs in library 2.0 to be so interesting. Even though he is in an academic environment, his language and presentation was simple and down to earth. Further, the icebergs he cautioned about are things that I think we are facing currently in the public library environment. The "just in case collection" is something which is on the minds of some BCPL librarians as floating collections becomes a reality. This kind of mental change is difficult, but librarians need to embrace these new ideas in order to continue to be relevant. I enjoyed reading Dr. Wendy Schultz's vision of the future of libraries. I think her ideas are fun and important, but the idea of meditation and relaxation in a public library seems quite unlikely! To me Library 2.0 means embracing all ideas for the future of the library. Thinking about the library as a repository for print material is a stale way of describing the library and all ideas should be discussed and all technologies incorporated to better serve more demandig and aware customers.

THING 14

Explored technorati and found it interesting. The searches definitely changed depending on which search used -- blog posts, tags, or blog directory. It seemed that the blog posts was the least useful, but that was a very preliminary observation so I could be wrong about that. I was surprised to see what were some of the top favorited blogs, top searches and top blogs were. When I was looking at these it looked to be very technology heavy as far as the searches and favorted blogs. Did try a search for someone's blog using technorati, but was unsuccessful.

Found an interesting blog all about Colin Firth and was able to post the link on my blog!

THING 13

Explored Del.icio.us, watched the tutorial and checked out the PLCMCL2 account. It wasn't that thrilling, but I think mainly because the content bookmarked was not very interesting to me. So I decided to create an account for myself. It couldn't have been simpler (after finding a user name that wasn't already in use) and then I got to have some real fun. I think this is a good tool as a "bookmarking anywhere" option. My understanding is that I should be able to access my account at any pc, which is what separates this from traditional bookmarking. The second reason this is good is because you can spy on what other people are looking at and check these sites out. This kind of access can keep us current with information needed to perform our jobs better as it gives another opportunity to find out what "people are talking about."

LIBRARY THING

Was able to add the link to random books on my Library Thing bookshelf. I'm really enjoying checking all this stuff out and getting a sense of accomplishment when something actually works.

THING 12 -- the sequel

Ok, so it couldn't have been much easier to change the layout of the blog and move the Rolly searchroll to the bottom. Now I know!

THING 12

Finally, success with Rollyo!! I was finally able to add my searchroll to my blog. It took a while, but I perservered. Of course, in this case I made a for fun searchroll which wouldn't have too much use in the library, unless someone was researching celebrity gossip of course. But I can see where a personalized search engine could be quite useful professionally and personally. A reference librarian who comes across various useful sites could put them in a searchroll rather than the old fashioned bookmarking. Also many different searchrolls can be created covering a variety of topics which make up the librarian's frequently asked questions.

Now to trying to move the physical location of the searchroll in my blog . . .

THING 11

I actually had heard about Library Thing a few months ago. I think this is an awesome tool for librarians. One thing that has always been recommended to librarians who do readers advisory is that he/she keep a journal. I really tried to do that the old-fashioned way, but found it hard to maintain. I would utilize Library Thing as a readers' advisory tool as a quick way to find similar books or refresh my memory about a certain book, or even when a book's title and author has escaped my memory. I find the tag cloud and author cloud to be excellent resources for me in my personal reading, even though the tag cloud will probably be more useful when more titles are added to my library. I think this is such a great idea, I could even see upgrading and paying for the unlimited usage!

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php

THING 10

So I had a lot of fun playing with the different generators. I started at The Generator Blog, which seemed like a very comprehensive site. I can really see use for generators in library programming with children and young adults. For example you could use the pirate name generator when hosting any pirate themed program. The librarian could generate names ahead of time or utilize the computer if available during the program. I think these generators are also great to direct young people to when they ask for some good places to go on the computer. I had to tear myself away, so I'm sure they could waste quite a bit of time playing with these fun tools.

As far as the avatar -- not so successful. I did create one at dookyweb.com, but couldn't figure out how to save/copy and transfer. I went to several other sites, but was put off by the need for registration.

THING 9

So I went to Merlin and tried the site, but it didn't seem very useful to me. Other than the frequently asked questions, it seemed to be a collection of blogs that those in the library field may find useful. I suppose having a nice list of these blogs is useful, in that it saves time in searching. Additionally, it's much more of a tech focus, and while I find it fun to explore the growing technologies available to us, some of the language and discussion was much more in-depth than my tech challenged brain can handle.

THING 8

I created an account at Bloglines and thought it would be a fun, useful tool. However, I'm not finding it that great. It seems like the sites offered are just as easily accessed individually and I like doing a little bit of searching and finding the unexpected. But I can see where these RSS feeds could be of great use in the library setting. An account could be set up for example for all librarians to check with some regularity utilizing The Shifted Librarian, NY Times Book Review, etc.

I couldn't figure out how to do the first option of creating a blogroll, but here is the link to my subscription. Hope it works!

http://www.bloglines.com/public/mroberts@bcpl.net

Still not sure why this doesn't work . . .

WEEK 3, THING 7 -- TECHNO STUFF

It's hard to keep up with all the technology. It seems like everything changes so quickly -- I just got HDTV! I have not been that excited about digital cameras, because it just seems that everyone just takes the photos, looks at them immediately and never actually prints them out. I guess I'm still old-fashioned, but I like the idea of photo albums and pictures in frames. But now that I've explored Flickr and the unending resources available with photos, I can really see the advantages of a digital camera. Just like with everything else, you just need to keep up with it.

WEEK 3, THING 6 -- FLICKR REVISITED

Success! I created a billboard and will try to upload it now. It seems after one hurdle is completed, another one is right around the corner, but it is fun trying these things out.

Ok, so I wasn't able to upload the image. This is the message I received:

We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.
When reporting this error to Blogger Support or on the Blogger Help Group, please:
Describe what you were doing when you got this error.
Provide the following error code and additional information.
bX-bpumck

WEEK 3, THING 6 -- EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN

Having not yet moved into the world of the digital camera, Flickr was a complete unknown to me. I tried to understand the language used in the description on Flickr and Wikipedia about mashups, etc., but have to admit it did not make to much sense to me. I tried to work with the Flickr fun stuff like billboards, trading cards, etc. at www.bighugelabs.com/flickr.com, but did not have much luck. Will have to go back and try again. When I went to the drop-in session a couple of weeks ago, I was able to create a magazine cover, but no such luck today!

WEEK 3, THING 4 -- BLOG REGISTERED!

Successfully registered blog. It's fun to see mine, along with other participants from BCPL. Some staff are incredibly skilled and creative at this. It should be a fun process to do myself and learn from others.

WEEK 1, THING 1 -- BLOG REVIEW

Learning about emerging technologies is a great idea for staff at all levels of the public library. I think this will help us offer better, updated customer service, both external and internal. I'm looking forward to exploring some of the things mentioned which I have heard about, but am not familiar with.

WEEK 1, THING 2 -- LIFELONG LEARNER

Lifelong learning is something which I embrace. I found this tutorial to be particularly interesting since I am relatively new to my position in the library. It seems that every day is full of new and challenging learning opportunities. I definitely agree with asking questions. The experience of those around you is a goldmine of learning!

WEEK 3, THING 5 -- PHOTO FUN

I enjoyed exploring Flickr and played with the mashups. I even created a magazine cover. I could see why this and other similar sites are so popular with the explosion of the digital camera. I don't have a digital camera . . . but will try to upload a picture to my blog.