#30 Driving in the Dark

This lesson is designed to help library employees use computer storage resources more appropriately and efficiently. We have already learned that enhancing back up drives to protect stored files is not an inexpensive proposition. Because of this, it is important to move work such as photographs to public storage sites when we can. Flickr, Photobucket, and Imageshack are options to consider. It is also a good idea to make a habit of looking at stored work on the library's P, S, and Z drives from time to time to see if any files can be reorganized or deleted.

If I am unsure about whether to delete a file or not, I now know that it is reasonable to keep it for about two years. I can also save files on a CD or USB drive, and thus avoid at all costs the dreaded "to delete or not to delete" angst. The S drive is a place to temporarily park work that I would like to share with others. Those files are deleted if they remain on the drive for over 14 days.

I copied a file from the P drive, placed it on the S drive, and then deleted it. Very easy. My files stored on the P drive are fairly streamlined and organized, and I never use the Z drive, because I didn't know I could. How about that? Usually being in the dark is not advantageous, but today it saved me some work.

#29 Email

My email accounts overfloweth, so I'm really glad we're talking about ways to get them organized. Thanks again to iHCPL, I am learning to remedy a problem and work more efficiently at the same time. I already have separate accounts for work and personal emails, so without delay I moved on to the next exercises. I spent alot of time working on my library email account. I deleted many many old emails, and then clicked on "purge". Presto! Like magic, my "quota usage" percentile is much better!

There is something extremely satisfying about putting everything away, where it can easily be found again, all while sitting at my desk! I am continuing to work on my storage system and moving emails into folders. I cleaned up some files I frequently use on the P drive as well.

# 28 Spring Cleaning and Getting Things Done

Spring in Texas is a beautiful, wondrous time of year. The weather is great, and innumerable wildflowers burst forth in magnificent splendor. The world renewed seems clean and fresh. Traditionally, this has been the time for homemakers to throw open the windows, beat the dust out of carpets, and scour every surface of the house until it gleamed. In the 21st century, we must keep our "houses" of information clean as well. iHCPL pointed out that we are spending about 20K of taxpayer's money to enhance our backup drives for storage. That little tidbit of information is quite the motivator!

There are numerous resources which describe ways to organize and use time wisely in order to be more productive. GTD, or Getting Things Done, is the system David Allen writes about in his book. He promotes the idea of stress-free productivity, and believes that the first step in GTD is to move things out of the mind and record them somewhere, thereby freeing one to concentrate more fully on the task at hand. This is unlike other time management systems, which emphasize setting priorities first. (Ironically, I skipped iHCPL exercises 26 and 27 because doing the required training is my priority...haha.)

As a library employee, I feel it is important to be familiar with computer applications, but at this time I do not feel the need to use the Google calendar or the Ta-da list. I would like to use the Ta-da list, just because I find the name so amusing; however, I am a circulation assistant and my job is fairly uncomplicated. I have used an agenda to keep track of appointments and important occasions for approximately 30 years. That has served me very well. It is also highly portable, inexpensive, and energy efficient.

I looked over one of the other organization systems called Zen Habits. Most of the ideas discussed involved Mac applications. I read the article "The Zen of Tech: 12 Powerful Ways to Keep Your Online Life Simple and Peaceful", which listed many common sense techniques such as: focus on the essentials, do one thing at a time, set limits on what you do, and my personal favorite...have periods of disconnectedness. I enjoyed the post entitled "3 Ways To Claim Your Life Back - How to Step Away From Your Computer". The author recommends planning specific activities away from your computer, such as taking a walk or reading a book. Ummm.....we've become so dependent on and addicted to technology that people actually have to be reminded to do these things? I would laugh at that, but I don't think the author was joking.

There are links to popular posts, by category, at the bottom of the page. I'd like to go back and read some of them in my free, slightly better organized time.

#25 Music Pirates

Dictionary.com defines the word "pirate":
1.)a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea
2.)a ship used by such persons
3.)any plunderer, predator, etc.
4.)a person who uses or reproduces the work or invention of another without authorization.

After clicking on the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) link, I read and read and read and read. Gee there are a lot of rules, and some really harsh penalties for violating them. I did not know that duplicating copyrighted material you have purchased, even if you don't do it for financial or commercial gain, is illegal. Now more than ever I have reason to wax nostalgic about my youth, an innocent time when my friends and I shared homemade cassettes dubbed from the albums we purchased, with selfless naivite. Now if we did that we would be considered criminals! I also did not know that plaintiffs may bring claims against the parents of children who allegedly infringe on copyrights. Eeek!

I understand that it is sometimes necessary to protect copyrighted digital material from unauthorized duplication. Turning a blind eye to the street sale of bootleg CDs does not seem fair to musicians or the people who contribute to music production; however, if what I read about the RIAA is true, they seem to go overboard when it comes to defining the limits of what is and is not acceptable use of the media, and then stoop to extremes to insure "an artists' continued revenue stream". For example, because the RIAA may begin a lawsuit with no other information besides the ISP identification of a user, they have subpoenaed even a dead grandmother. When their legal fees were sharply cutting into income from settlements, the RIAA decided to direct internet "abusers" to a web site, where the alleged perpetrator can conveniently pay a fine by credit card. These practices seem greedy and underhanded, and oh, what was that third definition of a pirate..."a plunderer, or predator"? Who, according to definition, is the "pirate" now?

I think musicians and artists benefit from copyright protections, but I would like to see this issue discussed further, and current standards of legal and illegal music sharing revised. Presently Congress is considering a bill called The Artist-Museum Partnership Act, which would allow artists to deduct (on their income tax) the fair market value for their works when they are donated to a non profit organization. The IRS uses an Art Advisory Panel to set standards and review appraisals of art work, based on free market sales. If the value of a work of art can be appraised, why can't a song? Once the value is ascertained, parameters for sharing, and therefore, acceptable use could be easier to establish.

#24 Here We Go Again...or The Hills are Alive but My Patch Cord Died

I am excited to begin a new training. Yay! Onward! Here I go! My first steps into "The Next Generation" training are: (swell of music, trumpet solo and...hummm) to register for Passpack Online Password Management and a free email service? (badda boom) Okay, I know this is for my own good, and even though I already registered on no less than a dozen different sites for the original iHCPL, I took care of the preliminaries. I concentrated and created a really silly password, which caused me to smile inwardly and begin to enjoy myself. (Actually that's not exactly true. I used the first phrase that came to mind, and it was an inanely silly one. It just goes to show, you don't really want to know what I'm thinking when I get that mysterious glazed expression on my face from time to time.) Then I began reading. The article on Password Strength and Security was actually very interesting and informative.

Now, on to activities:
"1. Look at the different types of pay sites, comparing features and prices."
check
"2. Download a song from your computer..." skip until I get home and can borrow
daughter's MP3 player

I was thrilled to discover that my favorite radio stations DO offer listening through their web sites. That made my day!


This weekend I worked on completing the 2nd exercise. I attempted to sign up for EZTracks, a free music sharing site. In my opinion, they should change their name to IncrediblyAnnoyingAndDeeplyFrustratingTracks. After signing in to create an account, I had to wade through probably 50 surveys. After each one a message said, "Just one more step!", but for some reason, I never could reach that final page where I actually HAD an account. Wow! Was that a waste of time. I did not want to even think about opening a "Pay to Play" account after that experience, so I uploaded some favorite songs to my computer's hard drive and then...my computer would not recognize the MP3 Player! I tried several times but for some reason it did not want to work.

Maybe it was in the stars. I do believe in climbing every mountain, but today this was like dreaming the impossible dream.

Postscript: I used my library's MP3 player to practice activity #2. It was fairly painless. Thank you, helpful coworker, for walking me through the steps.

Week 10 What A Ride!

While it's always nice to come home again after a trip, I usually feel a little disappointed when the adventure is over. That's how I'm feeling today. The iHCPL 23 Things Training has been an eye-opening journey of discovery for me. I didn't know much about the internet, web resources, or current technology when I started this program (and I'm still amazed at all there is to know!). It was hard to know where to even begin to try and understand it all, or which direction to take. The 23 Things Training has been like a having a map and compass to chart my way through unknown and sometimes frightening territory.

We began by creating a blog to learn how to blog. LOVE that concept. I struggled with decisions as if I were packing for an expedition to Everest. Which template is best? If I forget something can I add it later? Do I really need a widget? Thank goodness there were coworkers who, like Tenzing Norgay, provided guidance, endurance, and led the way on to Flickr, RSS, and finding feeds. Week 5 was like reaching base camp in the Himalayas. I breathed a sigh of relief and recharged by playing with image generators. Those exercises were great fun and definately a favorite. Then it was onward to new challenges: technorati, tagging, library 2.0, and wikis. Discovering Del.icio.us and Zoho was like coming across an unexpected and resplendent vista...beautiful! I can't imagine not using these invaluable web applications. Then came my personal challenges....face your fear of podcasting and digital media. Yikes! I looked around for my faithful sherpa, err...coworkers, and there they were, so we forged ahead, pressing on until, finally, we achieved The Summit. Hooray! Tally-ho! Pip Pip!

Maybe the best thing for me about this training has been that it's given me a solid foundation to build on, and knowledge of some useful tools that I can use to continue learning. Thank you! I'm ready for another adventure and the next 23 things! When can we leave?