Week 8 Social Networking

In order to learn about online social networking, I clicked on the links included in the training exercises. There are many options for networking, including MySpace, Facebook, Ning, Yahoo!360, LinkedIn, Xanga, Rate My Space, MyOpera, Dogster, and more. Whatever you're interested in talking about, there seems to be a forum where you can meet cyberpeople (or even cyberanimals) of similar tastes. I liked some places more than others; my favorite was Rate My Space because the participants seemed to be mostly adult women, like me, who hope one day to have a beautiful, organized, clean, functional home, but actually have no idea how to go about creating one. There was very little drama there, or serious work; people were not trying to climb the corporate ladder or find support to deal with a life-threatening illness. It is merely a place to relax and share opinions about colors and home accessories. Some of the personal blogs on sites like Xanga and Facebook were interesting to read; it's understandable that these applications are popular among young people and students who want to stay in touch, meet new people, and share photos. I have to say I'm impressed by the creativity with which individuals promote themselves on these sites. Some are truely artistic. Then there's My Space...the perfect spot where already at-risk latch key children can find trouble, without having to leave the comfort of their own homes. The only reason I can think of for the popularity of MySpace with teenagers is that it's currently THE cool thang. They certainly make the MySpace im page THE most offensive thang.

Week 7, # 17 Deep Thoughts

Our discovery assignment is to post thoughts about technology. Since starting this training, I've been thinking alot about technology. (Especially) today we have some time to gather those thoughts, as we are unable to access the Horizon digital library in order to perform our normal circulation duties. Books to be checked in are achieving mountainous proportions, and delivery tubs sit in queues, anxiously awaiting attention. After much contemplation and hours of moody brooding, I've come to the following conclusion: Technology is good and bad.



www.comicstripgenerator.com/

Whining about Wikis

Wikis are wonderful. I'm a little upset they weren't around when I was a student. Boy, doing research and group projects sure would have been alot easier. Finding a summer job between semesters could have been a breeze too. Hunting down that ellusive, cheap, off campus apartment...and travel to distant unknown lands, unencumbered by children and on a shoestring budget might have been easier with a city wiki guide to help! Professional conferences would have been more interesting/fun, and less exhausting/stressful. Whew! There are just so many uses for wikis! But nooooooo, I had to be born in the mid twentienth century when wikis weren't even close to being a glimmer in someone's imagination. Waah!

On the other hand, two words that make me smile today are: Distance Learning. Wooohooo! St. Joseph's County Public Library System has an incredible wiki. Can we have one like that? I was wowwed by the ALA Best Practices wiki as well. That would be a good one for me to bookmark on Del.icio.us because its site is loaded with so much information that I could not read it wikily (heh heh).

Poor Richard's Almanack 2.0

The term library 2.0 is used to describe the way libraries are moving towards serving their patrons and communities in the 21st century. The concept is based on current trends in the use of the internet, where there is an explosion of information, in order to access collective intelligence and promote collaborative learning. Library 2.0 is a dynamic, multi-directional system that encourages users to participate and provide feedback. When information flows freely, services have the ability to constantly evolve and improve to meet individuals' needs. Free access to knowledge through books was the original purpose of public libraries, but libraries today cannot possibly house, in print form, all the information which is available on the internet.

The challenge for librarians is to eliminate the barriers between this wealth of information and those who wish to access it. In addition, communities need to support libraries so that free public access to computers is available to those who do not have PCs.

Libraries are an investment in the future. In my opinion, the health of a community is directly related to the importance it places on maintaining a vital, well-staffed library.

Week 6, # 14 Technorati

Babies are amazing. They have an extraordinary capacity to absorb and process all kinds of complicated information from their environment. People frequently compare them to little sponges. On the other hand, adults often have difficulty learning new things. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it may take awhile. This weeks' discovery exercises have been a little more challenging for me, because unfortunately I am not a little sponge, and haven't been for a long time. The web sites Del.icio.us and Technorati each contain enough information and obtuse jargon, on a single page, to make my head hurt. And with our library's power failure, it is a daunting task to find time to "absorb and process", as well as play catch-up with our work routines.

A wonderful kind patient coworker pointed out to me how I can set my Del.icio.us bookmarks to "private", and thus put to rest my concerns about privacy. She also pointed out that with Del.icio.us, I can bookmark my favorite sites and easily go to them from any computer with internet access. For some reason, that concept went right over my head when I initially explored the site. Now, the whole Del.icio.us world seems much more palatable!!!

Thus reassured and enthused, I braved Technorati. Egad. This is yet another universe of labyrinthine (is that a word?) information. But I bumbled onward, on my unsteady baby feet, into the advanced search. I liked the blog directory search better than the tag search because the results seemed less overwhelming. I got sucked into an interesting blog for awhile, fought my way out, and plunged into Top "Favorited" (does anyone else take exception to the way the English Language is constantly being mangled in naming these sites?) Blogs. I looked at one: Top 10 Distraction Stoppers from LifeHackr ...gee I wonder what attracted me to that? There I found an incredible little tool, called The Chatter Blocker. It's supposed to filter out backround noise, conversation, etc. with white noise, so you can more easily concentrate while working. Ingenious! I can't wait to try it. I also want to try the "Bozo Filter", which is supposed to help you avoid spam. I am hopeful that at some point in the future this will evolve into a more sophisticated site with the capacity to filter a wider variety of bozos.

Maybe when I'm older, I'll claim my blog and tag my posts, but I think right now I'm still too young for the blogosphere.

Discerning Del.icio.us

Today was not a good day for iHCPL training. No one at our branch could get the 8 minute video to load, so it was difficult for a beginner (read:ME) to get a grip on exactly what this website is all about. Also, the weather was uncooperative and our power went out! As far as I know, it's still out at the library. I am writing from my home computer where I have access to the wonderful world of electricity. A question has occurred to me: Why is a website which is supposed to help you organize and do research named for a word that makes me want to prepare snacks or run to the store for ice cream? Somehow or other, this seems like a marketing ploy, kinda like the "Juicy" clothing line, and when I feel like I'm being manipulated, I tend to resist. I really and truely want to like Del.icio.us, honest! Maybe the challenge of this exercise for me will be finding a practical use for this new site. Somehow or other, being the 691st person to bookmark the Simpson's Movie Avatar site doesn't fill me with any sense of accomplishment. Also, I'm not thrilled with the possibility that someone could "find me" through my tags, and see everything I have bookmarked. This strikes me as a potential gold mine for whoever (i.e. anyone collecting data or tracking "hits" for whatever reason) and makes me a bit leery.

Library Elf?

Today I looked at Library Elf. It is a good tool for organizing checked out materials and holds for my family. I like the way you can keep track of several people's books, all on one page. I guess if I went on an organizing rampage, I could add the site to my bloglines account, too. Oh no! Mr. Spock looks like he's ready to defeat my best intentions with a Vulcan Nerve Pinch! I think I'm about to take a long naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Buffalo Billis- The Music Man

Tribute to My Coworkers

In "The Music Man", the Buffalo Bills combine their talents to create beautiful music. I want to thank my talented coworkers for helping me so much during this training. Together we make a pretty good team!

Library Thing

I've had Library Thing on the sidebar of my blog for a few weeks now. The set up was easy and I had no problem adding books to my "library"; however, a coworker had to help me make the widget to post on my blog. I need to review that process a few more (thousand) times before I feel comfortable doing it on my own. The widget contains a link that takes me back to Library Thing, so I did not feel it was necessary to create another one.

I looked at the Library Thing Blog briefly. There is alot of information there... too much to read right now, but now that I know it's there, I'll look forward to looking at it again when I have time.

(The artwork is Books in Winter by Jessie Wilcox-Smith.)

Week 5

OK, I think iHCPL has created at least one monster. It's getting harder and harder not to become an internet junkie here, people! And now you have to teach me about image generators??? Oh I am doomed. The Meez avatars are just amazing. I am totally spending too much time on their site looking at wardrobes, backrounds, props, and animations. What exactly does one wear whilst doing the limbo? And where can I find nice pajamas for jumping-on-the-bed animation? You see my dilemma. I also LOVE the comic strip generator site. I had to really restrain myself on that exercise. It would be waaaaaaaaaaaay too easy to go overboard and post something inappropriate. (Thank goodness we've already received training in exercising professional restraint.) I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, after I had customized my comic, I had the option of purchasing a magnet, sticker, postcard, or could even mail a free ecard to a friend. Very fun!

State of the Union

president-bush-dummies-book_www-txt2pic-com
Originally uploaded by jbelle96tx

Week 5 Image Generators

Meez.com is a really fun place to explore. I'll have to look around some more on my free time because there is so much to see I won't have time at work!

http://www.meez.com

Happy Happy Happy

Born to Blog

Adding feeds to Bloglines was easy. I chose about 10 sites including MSNBC.com most viewed, New Urban Legends, and UpCheer (with KittenWars!), along with a few HCPL blogs. Maybe Bruce will change one minor word in his hit song and it could be our iHCPL training theme. He probably wouldn't mind because he is still "The Boss".

Bruce Springsteen Born to Run video

Ode to a Greek Tragedy

Socrates is said to have announced, "I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance." As we begin week 4 of iHCPL training, the fact of my ignorance blares like a foghorn in the effluvium. It not only becomes quite obvious to me, but is also dramatically highlighted as time passes and I am exposed to an ever increasing number of web sites and tools I had no knowledge of previously. In my wildest dreams I never imagined a site like Flickr even existed, or that I could edit pictures online, create trading cards and badges, or subscribe to favorite syndicated news feeds and blogs, rather than manually search for each individually. It's not the end of the world though. The bitter hemlock of ignorance is much easier to swallow when the fog lifts and enlightenment (not to mention, bling!) ensues. Salut!