Electro-Librarian

(23) Evaluation

2008-03-11T13:37:00.002-05:00

I plan to work with the new blog I have created for a while. I have added my blog URL to my work email signature. I plan to experiment with a new blog - I am still defining its purpose in my head (I have several ideas). I also plan to tell my librarianship classmates at Univ. of North Texas about the 23 Things website. Since it will be up all 2008, those interested might find it useful. This has been a useful exercise. Thanks.

(22) Keeping Up with Technology

2008-03-11T11:31:00.004-05:00

Technology has changed our world in the library. Just as we keep up with new interfaces on Proquest or Google, we need to understand the other options that many young library users are comfortable with and use. They are going to come to us with questions when things do not work. And if we can show them that there are good tools then we are doing our job.

One thing that was not covered per se, is scanning pictures. I was able to do all these Things without scanning in a single picture. I have had teens ask me how they can upload a picture, scan a picture, move pictures to Flickr, etc. We should know how to do that.

I have added some of these tools to my Favorites folder on my home computer, and I plan to add them to del.icio.us so that I can easily access them at work. However, I don't know how well-received it will be at work to spend any time on these tools even now that I know how to use them.

(21) Other Networks

2008-03-11T11:30:00.010-05:00

NOW we are getting to the good stuff.

Gather (http://www.gather.com/) looks like a reasonable place to search for information and possibly get to know people. I don't know that the articles here are accurate. But there is a broad range of decent stuff. I did a search on JFK and came up with some good information.

WebJunction (http://www.webjunction.org/do/Home) is something that I want to keep and use. I have never heard of it before now.

I used to have an account on LinkedIn after I saw a piece on ABC about how useful that is for professionals. It is hard to tell how useful this is for anyone. I am no longer using the account.

I already had a Ning account, but I joined the 23 Things Ning. I was not able to load the badge, because Blogspot did not recognize it as valid HTML code. Oh, well.

I also already use GoodReads, which I recommend because of the reviews.

(20) Facebook & Myspace

2008-03-11T11:30:00.006-05:00

I have a Myspace account, which I did not put my last name in, and I have not found a use for it. I created a new Facebook account today, and joined the Minneapolis/St Paul group. I found 2 guys I went to college with already, but I did not contact them yet. Joining a library group might be useful, as well as groups for hobbies.

(19) Podcasts

2008-03-11T11:30:00.005-05:00

I listened to a couple MPR podcasts, but at first a condo ad popped up and I got distracted ... Radio & TV could profit from podcasts. It is another way to entertain us. I was unable to load the St. Cloud State University podcast page. Families could also use this to keep in touch - something to go back and watch many times. Library applications could be made here - "How-to's" could be added to a library blog for setting up an email account, finding certain types of information, etc. Since some library users are visual learners, they might find this very helpful.

(18) YouTube

2008-03-11T11:29:00.013-05:00

I can see that YouTube and iGoogle could end up consuming the whole day for some people. It is more reality TV, plus you can comment on it.

One video that is good is: My Favorite Minnesota Camping Campsites
by Paul Sundburg, who is a park ranger.

I did a search on "Minnesota", this one was at the top of the list, and rated highly. YouTube is certainly a place for people to experiment as film makers. I think a few people have had their 10 seconds of fame: the dance guy, the singing group that used treadmills in the video, etc.

This video is by Kirby Productions & shows how technology moved from the scroll to the book:

(17) ELM Tools

2008-03-11T11:29:00.007-05:00

I have used these databases before, but did not realize they had the ability to create webpages, etc. Very cool. I suppose if I was a teacher, this would be very useful. A creative librarian could make the standard library search page more student-friendly.

(16) Student Calculators

2008-03-11T11:29:00.005-05:00

I like the Assignment Calculator (http://www.lib.umn.edu/help/calculator/) & the Research Project Calculator (http://rpc.elm4you.org/). But don't kids in school learn about these?

When asking students how many sources they need, or how long their paper has to be, most students seem to keep it as small or short as possible. But I still show them what we have and encourage them to take home more than they might need in case some sources do not work out. That usually goes over well with the parent.

(15) Games & Libraries

2008-03-11T11:27:00.006-05:00

With all the junk on the internet, it is about time that libraries started helping library users find the good stuff. For example, the game Puzzle Pirates has good points, such as teamwork, cooperation, doing your job, etc. It would be easy enough to add links to games on the Teen page of the Library website. I watched the Second Life video. Hmmm.

(14) Library Thing

2008-03-11T11:27:00.005-05:00

I heard about Library Thing a few years ago, because I was looking for a way to list the library books in my church library without doing all the work. Try this link to Library Thing by entering "weasel" in the box below.

(13) Online Productivity Tools

2008-03-11T11:26:00.006-05:00

I use lists for many things - I make a calendar for classes I take; I have a calendar at home for work schedule, appointments, vacation days, birthdays; I keep a list of what needs to be done this week at home; I keep a list of exercise I do. I tried Ta-Da, but really, that is just a set of very simple Word files - online. I am not impressed. I think I would have to be a really, really disciplined person to start lists on one of these websites and follow through with actually using it. Not for me.

Library applications? The only one that seems to be useful is Zamzar (http://zamzar.com/) because our library system does not have a lot of word processing software installed on the public internet stations. When library users try to download a PDF job application or email attachment, it does not work. Perhaps Zamzar would solve their problem.

(12) Social Media Sites

2008-03-11T11:26:00.004-05:00

Sorry - you can't possibly be serious. These are wikipedia-look-alikes, only for opinion, not even news. These are similar to doing a Google search for "news". Waste of time. Period.

(11) Tagging

2008-03-11T11:25:00.002-05:00

I already had an account on del.icio.us. This is a useful tool for me as a substitute librarian, because I work in several buildings. I can't save Favorites on the computers at work, so I set them up on del.icio.us. Also, I noticed today that someone else was using the same tags as I was for a subject, so I checked out what else that person had bookmarked on my subject.

(10) Wiki's

2008-03-01T13:25:00.004-06:00

OK, I admit it, I have not been a fan of Wikis. But I can see now that there are other users for Wikis other than Wikipedia. I like the Princeton Public Library Book Lovers Wiki (http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library) because it is clear these are personal opinions about a book read, and this information can be useful to other readers.

I also like the Library Success Wiki (http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page#Programming) because it is a place to share ideas and things that have been tried somewhere else. This Wiki had a note posted at the top that vandalism had become a problem, and they were asking for email verification before a user is allowed it edit. Good lesson.

The Library Bloggers Wiki (http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Public_libraries) is a good resource to have as a library is creating their own blog.

Wikis can be useful for libraries in several ways:
1. Start a book review wiki where library users can add their own reviews.
2. Solicit input from library users about improvements or needs at the library.
3. List FAQs (frequently asked questions) and the answers.
4. The video was great - it illustrates that wikis can be used effectively for internal projects.

I edited the 23ThingsonaStick wiki.

(9) Document Collaboration

2008-03-01T13:24:00.002-06:00

http://www.zoho.com/ is great. I had unexpected results when I saved a file in Zoho, then published it into my blog. I thought the link only would show up in my blog. Instead, the entire document was inserted into my blog. I removed it. While this lesson emphasizes how library staff can use this tool to work on a document together, there is also an application for users:

Students creating a Word document can save it on Zoho from school or home, come to the library, do their research, and update their document at the library!

I will use Zoho in the future both personally, for documents my husband & I work on together, and I plan to introduce it to my classmates at school (since we are taking classes online from all over the U.S.).

(8) Share Photos

2008-03-01T13:13:00.004-06:00

My father-in-law got married for the third time in August, 2007. Freida loves to cook, attend church, and talk with visitors. She passed away a few months later.

(7) Web 2.0 Communication Tools

2008-03-01T11:24:00.002-06:00

So what does this include? Blogs, wikis, Flickr, Photobucket, podcasts, videos, Myspace, Facebook, email, Google groups, web conferencing, Good Reads, and more!

This group of tools can be very useful in libraries. This is the kind of stuff that libraries can make their patrons by including it on the library webpages. The more information about this we can include there, the more we can refer patrons to that written information instead of explaining things verbally one patron at a time. I would suggest we include how to set up a free email account, how to use a flash/stick drive, how to create a blog, how to use Google effectively for searches, and many more. Email would also be a great way to solicit book reviews from patrons. If the reviews are good and useful, the librarian could decided to post it on the library website.

I have a Myspace account, that I created as a class assignment. It takes time and patience to figure out how to find people that have things in common with you. I also use www.goodreads.com to keep track of books I read, along with a short synopsis attached. I can assign friends and share good books with others. My husband, son, and I have gotten rather competitive! I have participated in a video presentation of a guest speaker. The picture quality on my home laptop was bad when I enlarged the viewer, and the sound lagged behind the picture, which was very distracting. But it is a method that has potential. Even with the problems, it was still better than simply reading a paper by the author.

IM-ing is useful for groups who need to meet, but cannot all get together in the same room. It is like a computer conference call. I have used it for class projects, where my team mates are in ND or TX or WA. With a little patience, it can be used to accomplish a lot. Libraries could offer "online" IM service for reference questions. It would be necessary to advertise it well and make sure the directions are clear how to use it. From experience, I know that it has to be clear what types of questions can be asked using IM (such as "I need books on alligators" and "how do I find magazine articles on my subject") and librarians need to be taught how to interact with the patron on IM. Do not expect patrons to be any more literate when they type a question than when they are standing in front of you - ask questions of them to clarify what they want, reflect back what you think they are asking, ask for age and reason for the material needed, etc. I am writing from experience, but the Library Journal article has a lot of good hints also.

I have also served as a volunteer virtual reference for 2 semesters, where we logged into a Meebo account and waited for college students to ask us questions.

Schmidt, A. and Stephens, M. IM Me. Library Journal, April 1, 2005. Viewed on www. libraryjournal.com

(6) Images

2008-03-01T11:19:00.002-06:00

Well, that was fun. I now have my own "librarian" trading card. I sent it to a couple people via email. So I read that some libraries and school classes used trading cards for different things to make it interesting. OK. Not sure how useful that will be in the long run. For a volunteer or intern to spend the time to make them, that makes some sense. But to have valuable staff making trading cards - that seems like a waste of valuable resources.

(5) More Flickr

2008-02-22T13:33:00.005-06:00

I like Splashr. It quickly creates a group of photos, whether they are my own photos or from Flickr. Here is an example: My Presentation Click on each photo to enlarge on My Presentation. I also want to save the Puzzle Maker (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/jigsaw.php). I am still pondering how to use these tools at work. For Presentations?

I am now a star with my own trading card.

(4) Photosharing with Flickr

2008-02-12T10:25:00.000-06:00

I already have a small bit of experience with Photobucket.com because of a class. My project was to create some library webpages. My philosophy of this design was to include a couple photos of library users on the new webpages. I chose 4 photos total and moved them from my home computer to Photobucket. Then in my HTML code for the new webpages, I reference the Photobucket address and the photo in automatically inserted in my webpage. This is efficient because the photos are always ready to be loaded for any computer and user that loads the webpage.

I purrrrused the Flickr writeups, impressed with the groups and security features. But I am still not quite grasping what the best applications are for Flickr and libraries. I will hang out here, on the warm monitor, and sleep on it.

After spending time on Flickr searching for photos, I can see that lack of consistency in tagging photos can make this a difficult task if I were looking for something in particular. I also noticed that some professional/semi-pros use Flickr to showcare their wares. I wonder if that works for them (i.e. was it worth all the effort?). I decided to not open a Flickr account at this time. It seems like I have an unbelievable number of accounts for email and other things, and I can hardly keep track of them anymore. So I got my photo from a public government body website.

Photo credit: Otter Tail County, MN website. www.co.otter-tail.mn.us/pics/parkersprairie33 The photo is my home town in central Minnesota.

(3) RSS

2008-02-09T15:42:00.000-06:00

Oh, so that's what that means. RSS = really simple syndication. I set up my account on Bloglines. That was fairly simple. I discussed this process with my hubby who works for a computer company, and this was all new to him. My daughter thinks I am now cooler than her Dad. Who knew?

Seriously, it does seem that technology moves faster than us older folks are comfortable with. Young people find this technology so interesting and fun and necessary to their lives. Why don't we have the same enthusiasm?

I know a college professor who has set up his blog to receive the latest updates on library technology. He uses this incoming information to stay on top of his specialty, which is reviewing articles and books in librarianship. When he described this to our class, most of us did not understand how he could set that up. But now I get it. I can now extrapolate this method so I can do the same - to keep up on new books, to find good movies, to get the latest crochet patterns, to find other cat lovers.

I am waiting now to see the updates I should get from adding those other blog addresses to my blog.

The only thing that was frustrating about this RSS process it that I could not tell who those library staff were from my area in MN from their blog names. It would have been nice to hook up with those staff from my library system. Some clue as to who they were or where they from would be nice.

(2) Library 2.0

2008-02-08T16:15:00.000-06:00

This is a good exercise, if for no other reason, than I get to bring up this topic with my peers at work. The typical question is, "What is Web 2.0 or Library 2.0?" I don't know that I can answer that question very intelligently - at least not yet.

Library 2.0 is all about using the technology hoops that different people have created, and finding creative ways to use them "in library settings". That is difficult for some of us who like to read off paper instead of a monitor, and who like to discuss library philosophy with a face-to-face meeting instead of in a blog. But I am learning to adapt!

Rick Anderson's article makes some very good points about library history and where libraries are now. Expensive, seldom used volumes can be a waste of scarce library resources. Interfaces that patrons feel comfortable using and that get the information they want are so critical. Users get so excited when we take the time to explain how to find something on the library website, but doing it one-on-one makes little sense when there is such a large library population.

Source: Anderson, Rick. Away from the "icebergs". Next Space. No. 2. 2006. http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm Viewed online February 7, 2008.

(1) Beginning

2008-02-07T19:03:00.002-06:00

So this is the beginning of my Blogging experience. As a library worker, I hope to figure out how to effectively use new tool to do my job better. As a reader, I hope to create lists of books I have enjoyed and can recommend.

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