Rebels' Librarian

Thing 47. Evaluation

2009-06-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I got through over 10 more Things. Things 36 through 46 are enticing to me, so I hope to keep coming back and finishing this round over the summer. There were just too many things that took so much time for me to spend anymore time during this round to get them all in. Some of them took hours just to get into and the ones I really liked, I would have liked to have explored more deeply. At any rate, the possibility for this round being like a part-time job was very real! It was great to have someone pick out the best of the best and put all this together for the rest of us to get acquainted with. I really would consider participating again, but I would like there to be fewer things so there is not quite so much pressure to spend SO much time during the period of the course. Thank you for the exposure to some terrific and useful and just plain nifty tools!

Thing 35. Books 2.0

2009-06-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ahhh! Here we go! This is a great Thing. I have got to be honest. I think I've spent the most time on this Thing and I haven't even visited all the sites listed and haven't gone too deeply into any of those that are new to me. What a valuable list! This will be my challenge Thing to come back to again. There is a lot to learn here and so many useful tools!

What do I see in my library? Kids love books. Even among the kids that hate to read, most of them love books. Most kids check out the maximum number of books allowed as often as they can come to the library. People love stories. I like to think I play a role in establishing that love in my students and I try to keep the students' interest in the years I have contact with them. I think if I do a good job, and keep them even somewhat interested and knowledgeable about books and how to find what they want from ages 5-14, they will be life long readers and hopefully library users!

Books 2.o helping or hampering? HELPING!! Many of the tools listed in this Thing are going to be so helpful to me in my work. I already know which ones I'll be demonstrating and promoting to involved parents at our first reading night next fall!

Sites I visited and other thoughts:

It was way to much work to begin to keep up on the LibraryThing and Shelfari pages I started. Valuable tools and certainly useful in my school library, there is just not enough time in the day to keep them up. Maybe someday... There is also not enough room in the brain to remember about them all!

Books on your phone: Very cool. Get the stories to the "reader" in any form should be the goal of every librarian. I will never be that reader unless they make a screen as big as a book and portable enough to curl up in a chair with. I don't even enjoy reading much on my computer screen for too long, anyway. I'm a big fan of listening to books, however and have always wished that form was as availble as print. From a hygenic point alone, I prefer to touch the cd or whatever, once over holding a book used by dozens of hands. I don't mean to get off track here, but it always amazed me that my ultra-germ-avoiding mother even allowed us to use library books! I guess she valued the books more than she hated the germs. I guess that rubbed off on me a little, just a little... A free download for a limited time from library for a "two-week check out" onto my iPod would be the perfect way for me to 'borrow' books. Is that technology already available somewhere?

Reader's Advisory: Wow! This is an excellent list of resources I can use with my students and teachers at school. If I had a nickel for every time a student asked me for a good book recommendation, I'd be a millionaire, for sure. I already use What's Next, but several of these from this list are going to be bookmarked and used next fall. I am certain they will prove to be very helpful. I feel so bad that I can only get to about 1/3 - 1/2 of the kids asking for recommendations during "check-out" time. This might help speed things up. I have a lot of lists recommending titles and series, but BookLamp, for example, really allows tailoring to individuals. I love this list!! Thank you!

Online Book Communities: I've used Target's Bookmarked and like the reviews and I've participated in the "favorite books" on living social. That's fun but not so useful, just interesting...

Book Group Resources: This will be worth additional time later on... My first reaction to Reading Group Choices and Booksprouts is that these will be great resources for me in my work with students in a school library. As a teacher-librarian, Wired for Books has some interviews that I can use, too.

Book Swaps: Thank goodness! Now I can refer people to these sites when they try to give me their old books. Also...might be where I find a few treasured oldies I've been looking for... Book Crossing-what a cool idea. I don't see myself participating, but how interesting it would be to find one of these!

Thing 34. Is it Competition? Online Answer Sites

2009-06-16T10:03:00.001-07:00

Well, I have been called a PollyAnna many times, but I don't think there's a need to panic here... Yes, there are bazillions of sources for "answers" bombarding the Internet and that's just great. I don't see it as a threat. People have always sought casual advice and answers from their friends, family...even their mother-in-law (if the young married is wise!) If they are silly enough to take that advice over, say, their financial planner or physician, well, they'll live with the consequences. This is nothing new! There are just more opportunities for gathering opinions.

Where we DO need to scramble is right where we always have, provide the resources (many good ones are subscription-only), organize the ease the accessibility and keep EDUCATING on how to use them, how to evaluate them, etc...

And then there are the BOOKS! Who cares if they are in print or electronic. I don't want to buy them all, but I do want the library to buy them all!!! I want them to keep them easy to find and available when I want to read/listen to them, whether for information or pleasure. And I'm probably always going to be asking the librarian on the other side of the desk for suggestions and help! A little more PR may be called for from our libraries! Slam the boards is a great way to do this! Somebody is really smart in thinking of that one.

I love having all the great resources available at my fingertips. I think evaluation is key, but I will never be an expert. It all changes too fast. However, if I'm concerned about keeping up, I had better be doing a good job of letting my patrons know they're no experts either (not in those words!) One of my on-going goals is to convince educators that there is a big difference between googling it, and using SIRS, for example. When my daughter got to college, she was so relieved that I had taught her how to use and provided access to online databases and helped her learn how to evaluate information on the internet. Even in her senior year, the school allowed her to use Google as a primary point of research. She learned how to use search engines, checking relevance and reliability, as well as databases and print sources. When she got to college, guess what. She was actually expected to know how to do this.

So our work is certainly not done. We are called to provide access, organization, and instruction, just as we always have been. It just is bigger and feels a little differently now. If we are stuck in our ways and only deliver from a traditional reference desk to phone and walk in patrons, we are only causing the problem ourselves.

Thing 33. Travel 2.0

2009-06-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

What fun! I really enjoyed the blogs by Cranky Flier, Lost Girls and My Kugelhopf. There was nothing personally useful to me...but they were entertaining, to say the least!

I have used TripAdvisor several times and like to read reviews. The instant maps makes it all very useful. I hadn't heard of Virtual Tourist before and really was impressed with that site. It encompasses so many aspects of travel and is so easy to navigate. Well done site!

I also checked out Sheraton's page. That would be helpful if you were staying at a Sheraton! It is probably a good PR tool for them and helpful to travelers at the same time!

My favorite was Mapness, however, because if I had a cool portable internet-access travel tool, this would be my constant companion on travels short and long. I almost always journaled when we went on family trips. With kids grown...family trips are few and far between, but who knows...someday (not TOO soon, I hope...) maybe I will be stealing grandkids and repeating all those wonderful weekend trips around the tri-state area that I used to do with my own family. I love that the maps and journal are together. A great recording tool. I will be doing a few trips to South Dakota this summer and will do the best I can to really try this out, even without instant access on the road.

Several of the other travel mashups listed were also useful looking! I don't see myself planning a trip based on fast food locations (most of my trips are in areas where there are no fast food restaurants...) but this was still a cool map, although pretty baron looking in the upper midwest...so far!

The taxi fare estimator would be valuable to me (if I ever travelled where taxis were available...) because I have no clue how to hail, ride in or pay for a taxi fare! All of these specialized maps just go to show that whatever you are interested in, somebody has most likely already done a lot of your work and research for you.

I can see these types of sites as being as popular as the Frommers shelf always was in my public library days. In my own library, in a K-8 school, I see them as possible sources for popular information about states, but not as a research tool. I hardly ever get a student request for travel information that is not assignment-related... All work, no play!!

Thing 32. Google Maps and Mashups

2009-06-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well, here you go! A long time fan of Google Maps, I had missed this cool little feature. Feel free to check out my tour! No really, take a drive! You won't be sorry. I can think of several ways I will use this in my personal life. I love making trip itineraries and I think this is the perfect tool for future trips. In my library...I'm not sure how this tool could be used, but I am going to see what others have written on the topic to see if I can incorporate it in useful ways.

Thing 31. MORE TWITTER

2009-06-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Okay...I'm sorry, I'm just skipping this one. Unless Twitter grows or I have an epiphany about it and just suddenly "get it," I'm not spending more time on More Twitter at this point in time... It's just not my deal.

Thing 30. More Ways to Use RSS and Delicious

2009-05-27T12:58:00.001-07:00

Okay, I am starting to feel like a kill-joy instead of the info-geek I believed myself to be. I think my reaction to some of these tools might just be because of where I am in life, in my career...not sure. They are all cool, don't get me wrong, I just don't feel compelled to adapt my life to many of them.

I thought RSS was really the cat's pajamas when I first learned about it. However, it now falls into the same basket as Twitter with me: the Who Cares? basket. If I were researching a topic and wanted to keep getting information on certain things or from certain sources, it would sure be useful. If I had a lot of time to read interesting news, it would be probably pretty valuable to get feeds on library- or author-related topics. I sure see the interest and the value, I just don't want to or can't take the time to spend on more information. The exception to all this is rssweather.com, which I really love, probably because I'm always looking at the weather! (Is my geekness showing NOW?) SO, thanks, "More Things" for introducing me to rssweather...

Delicious was a big surprise to me. When I first learned about it from a presentation Ruth Solie did several years ago now, I couldn't wait to get home and start organizing my bookmarks. However...you knew there'd be a however...I just found it clunky and frustrating. I like the folder set up on the locally stored bookmarks within IE. It's a pain to have to set them up and keep them up on several computers I use, which is why I though Delicious was the ticket. I kept revisiting and revisiting and I've revisited them again with this "Things" go round and just still find the format to not be organized enough for me. I am not a naturally organized person and need to use tools that keep things neat and tidy for me. It just seems like it takes too much mental energy and time to get all the labels and bundles and all that right so I can find stuff later. I don't know...it just seems like the perfect solution for bookmarks. Maybe I better flag this one and give it a shot again this summer when there are fewer fires burning...

Thing 29 Google Tools

2009-05-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

I'm playing catch up on the blog today! This is a fun one to write about. I am totally impressed with Google Docs and have used them many times. I love that I can store documents and presentations and retrieve them in a different location without a flash drive or anything like that. They are anywhere I can get online and I don't have to worry about software versions or compatibility. I especially appreciate the sharability of what I create. You could collaborate or rewrite curriculum with your colleagues while toasting marshmallows at the lake!

Web History-I personally did not find this useful, at least at this point in time. I know that there I tools I rely on heavily now that I had no use for years ago. (Maybe Twitter will be one of these...I just don't get the appeal.)

I DO like the Google alerts. I can have different alerts sent to different email so I get the work related alerts at work, for example. I don't know why I chose to try this over Yahoo! Alerts, which is where I have two email accounts... I plan to set up some alerts there when I revisit this.

I hate extra toolbars, Yahoo!, Google, or whoever's. They inadvertently get set on our lab computers at my school and I find them irritating and interrupting to my work and teaching. ...just my opinion. I'm sure there are those who find them wildly handy. I bet those people love Twitter, too...

Thing 28 Customized Home Pages

2009-05-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've been using My Yahoo! since the late 1990s and I like it a lot for its ease of use. It's like there was nothing to figure out. Once I log in I have weather, news I'm interested in, email and a bunch of fun things that are entertaining only to me. I like many of the features of iGoogle, but find that the one I want to use is the one I've had my email account through for so many years. I hate having to log into so many different things when I go online. If gmail had been available when I started using Yahoo!, I probably would be a "Googler" now. I really prefer Yahoo! as a home page, email and search engine, but I'm a big fan of Blogger (thanks to Things on a Stick), Google Docs and the fact that you can share them. If Yahoo! came out with these productivity tools, all my needs would be met--well... ;)

Thing 27. Twitter

2009-03-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

This is just my first reaction to Twitter: I don't need it. I don't even think I like it. I am making an early judgement, but I think this is just one more thing to remember to log into each day and who really cares what I tweet about? I see that it could be one more useful tool, but only if everyone I choose to communicate with in this way is also logged into Twitter. Maybe it's because I'm not a real bird fan... Yes, it's instant and all that, but do I need another way to communicate instantly? I always think about reference questions when a new quick communication tool is introduced and in my own situation, my students are more likely to email a question or stop in my library. There's sort of a peer pressure to use all these networking tools, but this is one I think I'll just leave to those who have had their "a-ha" with it. If I ever have a Twitter a-ha, I'll be sure to re-post about it! I'll make a conscious effort to log in and follow it for a while to give it a fair chance.
http://twitter.com/msreadsalot

Thing 26. Join the Ning

2009-03-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

I joined the 23 Things On a Stick Ning during the first round of "Things." I added the Ning badge to my blog and commented on a couple of threads, but that was all. This round I commented on a couple more threads and also on someone's video that they posted that I thought was valuable and I updated my photo. I also am displaying a member badge on my blog. I didn't add anything else from the Ning to my blog because I think I have too many things there already! In addition, I joined the NLLN group. Being the only librarian in my school and one of only two in my district, I see value in the possibilities of this tool. I think it's always valuable to have people to share ideas and opinions with. I am not an anti-social person, but it's still a little big and a too little Facebook-y (too much going on for a job-related tool) for me to feel comfortable asking a question or posing an idea there. It would feel like walking into a room filled with people from 100 different libraries and many different departments and shouting for them all to give me their attention and consideration on something that most of them wouldn't care about. I know...they can ignore me and no one is forced to comment, but if I joined really, really defined groups (like the one just for NLLN members or one just for MN school librarians/media specialists, etc...) I would probably be more apt to be comfortable participating.

Thing 25 Bloggers Toolkit

2009-03-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

I really thought I'd be at least close to Thing 30 or so by this time, I have been overdosing on widgets. You can't even really call Thing 25 a thing, because it is causing me to learn a lot of new things! I have been embedding videos and games and all sorts of things and feel like I'm just scratching the surface. I'm just posting this update in case anyone is checking to see if I'm doing anything thing-related. I will be adding more about this thing later, but feel I need to move on to the next Thing soon.

Thing 24-Update Your Blog

2009-02-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

It appears that many of us who worked on the first 23 Things have not been been diligent in continuing our quest in these idle months between "Things"--or at least we're not reporting! I do not have big plans on becoming the next big blogger and really only intended to keep this blog for the "Things." But I did intend to come back once in a while... Last night I spent some time "updating" this page. I've made some changes to the layout, template and content and have to admit that it took me a little while to remember how to make some of those changes. Then I took some time to read some of the previous "Things" posts and found myself saying, "oh yeah" a lot. One of the best things about the first round of Things was reading the reactions from other people's blogs. It was helpful to hear how they mastered challenges, whether they enjoyed or found a new Thing useful. I'm looking forward to learning about some more new tools and I also hope to revisit the ones that seemed impressive the first time around.

The First Next Thing...

2008-04-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well, not to be an over-achiever (those who know me, know better!) but I just finished the 23 Things yesterday and already today I have started my continued quest for knowledge by visiting a few NLLN blogs to read (and added a comment) what others are experiencing. I even followed a link to a LibraryThing library and sent an invitation for her to be my friend. (I hope she's already my friend, so adding me as a friend in LibraryThing shouldn't be too big of a stretch!) Anyway, that's day one and I didn't even have the time scheduled...I just gifted it to myself-and it was more than 15 minutes!

This is something that I really wish I would have had more time to do during the "things" because these people are people I can learn a lot from! It is interesting to see what others liked or had trouble with and compare that with my own experience.

Thing 23 - Final Thoughts

2008-04-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

For this final post, I'm just going to answer the questions from the "ideas" and "prompts" from the "Thing" description page:

Go back to your thoughts/ideas about Library 2.0. Has anything changed as a result of this experience?
I have changed my opinion some about joining communities, opening accounts. I think I feel a little more comfortable about signing up for things. I'm still overwhelmed trying to remember all the passwords and user names I'm using. There has to be an easy, secure way to manage all that...

What were your favorite Things and discoveries?
Photo sharing and editing was my favorite Thing, and one I know I will use again and again! online productivity tools and Del.icio.us are a close second and third.

How did you connect with others doing the 23 Things On a Stick?
This was not very successful, partly because I didn't seek out a lot of communication with others. I did connect with a former co-worker and also received a comment from one other participant. I think that so much time was already taken up with the activities that I didn't really feel the need to spend more time connecting with others. I am sure that participating in more comments/discussions would have increased my learning, though.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Not really.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or content?
I think this program was great just the way it was!

If we offered a 23 More Things On a Stick program like this in the future would you participate?
Absolutely.

How would you describe your learning experience in one word or in one sentence, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things On a Stick learning activities to others?
This experience led me to explore and use or consider using many tools I never would have on my own.

I will maintain this blog as I continue to learn more about these tools, but I don't think I will repurpose it to my library's blog or advertise it in my email signature. Maybe someday I would make a new blog that was less about me and more about my library. Our webpage software has a blog capability, but I've never been able to figure it out. Maybe I could just put a link to a blogspot on that page. I think maintaining this blog just for the 23 Things exploration is good for me for now.

I have mentioned sharing some of these tools with teachers at an inservice or after school training opportunity. I think classroom teachers could find many valuable uses for many of these tools..

Thing 22 - What Did I Learn Today

2008-04-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

How do I plan to keep up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools? Well, better, I hope, than I keep up with housework! Seriously, the only way I keep ahead of laundry at my house is to do two loads minimum every night. Using a similar plan, I think I should start out with actually scheduling a Thing or two a day, or most days, on my Outlook calendar for the next couple of months. Then I will have a good shot of continuing this pursuit of expanding my understanding of some of these tools. I use the Outlook reminders for countless deadlines at work. I should probably make an alert for the whole RSS thing at least once every week, as that is one tool that took me by surprise. Another priority is podcasting, as that is a goal for our news crew broadcasts. This blog, and Gather are also "things" that I want to give more time and effort. If I don't do so regularly and right away they are more likely to slip into the category of "The Past." The Web 2.0 Directories were great. Visiting one of the three listed once a week and checking out a couple links there will also go on this schedule. I bet I could even use the spreadsheet in Google Docs to make a dated checklist so I get everything on it that I want to revisit. I will try to keep adding an entry here and there about what I'm learning. The first thing I need to do is go back to the "Here are the Things" list and review all the activities. Then I'll get my schedule started and then, I suppose, I'll keep getting smarter...

Thing 20 - Libraries and Social Networks

2008-04-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Because FaceBook and MySpace have been around so long, I was familiar with both of them. I registered for an account on FaceBook and created a profile, added a couple friends, wrote on my daughter's wall, joined a couple groups, and looked around a little. I feel pretty comfortable with the way FaceBook is arranged. It's not hard to navigate. That is one reason it has gained so much popularity. Also, I think FaceBook gained a lot of popularity because of security issues with MySpace and Xanga. "Everyone's" on FaceBook now. I was talking to my daughter about it, since she's had a FaceBook account for years. I told her about the Gather community I joined. She took a look at it and agreed with me that it seems a little more grown-up and slower-paced. I think that I will continue to try participation in that one, but I highly doubt that I'll keep up with the FaceBook one. I might keep the account so I can check in with my daughter there next year at college, but most of the people (kids) I know on FaceBook probably don't want a 45-year-old mom hanging around. Right now I don't see myself using either the Gather account or the FaceBook account with my library, but we'll see...my mind is open...

Thing 21 - Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

2008-04-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

I had intended to start the 20th Thing during lunch today, but that will have to wait until I get home, as MySpace and FaceBook, of course, are blocked at my school. So I am jumping ahead to the next Thing.

I created a profile in Gather and I think I really like that site. I will maintain it for a while and see how it goes. It kind of seems like a FaceBook for grown-ups.

I had joined WebJunction when it was created and although I think there are some valuable resources there, I rarely go to it. I keep thinking if I had more of a specialized job I could use some of these more because I would just have one topic to keep up with on the site. But because I do everything in my library, there are just too many learning opportunities for a 24 hour day!!

Ning seems a little weird to me, but it is another place to gain from being in a group. I created a profile, put the badge on my blog, left a comment on a discussion about "where are people finding time to do the 23 Things" and joined the 23 Things group. I hope that I can keep up with this one for a while to see what it's really like. I also joined the Teacher Librarian Ning, so I will try to see what that's about, too.

Here's a funny little thing... Finding time to learn all these new things is impossible. Remembering all the accounts and profiles and passwords and groups is impossible.
...Unless it's something you're really interested in! I was pretty happy to have finished perusing all three of these "other social networks" and was just going to stop there. But...then I saw the link to the social networking community of Dogster and guess what... Yes, I created another account and profile and can't wait to get home so I can spend some quality time there. They say you lose your mind when you get a puppy and I guess that's true!! I'll feed him treats while I am at the computer--it's how I am teaching him "stay." ;)

Thing 19 - Podcasts

2008-04-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm very interested in podcasts right now because we are considering creating podcasts of our elementary morning news broadcasts. Our original intent with the news program was that the broadcasts would eventually be shown over the local access channel so mom, dad and grandparents, etc...could watch at home. This has never come to fruition, so we are now looking into the podcast possibility. The logistics haven't even been explored, but I am hoping this will be an attainable goal for our project.

Of course, I'm not able to visit Gcast's website here at school, as it is a blocked site. I will have to try that out at home.

I liked the layout of the MPR podcasts. It was extremely user friendly. (Any site or list that makes my eyes go BLAM is one I usually don't go back to. One for instance is del.icio.us. I am trying to adapt to that, but I do NOT like the layout at all.)

Thing 18 - YouTube & Other Online Video

2008-04-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Our student news crew that does our morning announcements has used the audio from YouTube videos on Mondays when they play the national anthem. I'm sure there might be some broadcast copyright issues there...and that makes me wonder if there are copyright issues with embedding someone's video in a webpage. Hmmm... Anyway, this was (finally) a "thing" I felt pretty comfortable with, as my daughter posts videos here...more than I would have imagined and she has subscribers and "friends" that we'll be talking about... I created my own account and subscribed to her page, so I'm guessing she'll be asking me about that! I put two of her videos on my page, which would embarrass her--although having one of them viewed over 1700 times by strangers doesn't embarass her, I'm sure MOM showing them off won't be the same somehow.

I put the help desk-book video in my favorites. I'll be using that one again! There are lots of great usable videos in YouTube. For instance, we used a 50 Nifty United States one for a program about a reading challenge. This is a fun "Thing." (Plus it didn't give me a headache to explore it more fully!!)

Thing 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

2008-04-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

I think that ELM is one of the greatest uses of tax dollars in recent history. (I have much more to say on the use of tax money. If you're interested, feel free to contact me and I would be happy to share my opinions on that!) However, it is not my first stop when I'm doing research with students. We use SIRS as we have subscribed to that database for many years. This is partly out of habit and partly because I am so comfortable with its simple interface. You may be wondering why I still subscribe to SIRS when ELM is available for free. That's a good question. The answer is...partly out of habit and partly because I am so comfortable with its simple interface! Originally, SIRS was loaded on our CD tower. In those days, Internet service was truly not always reliable, so I kept paying for SIRS, after ELM was available, because we could always access it. Now, of course, we access SIRS through the Internet, so that no longer justifies it. Many students use SIRS independently, so I know they could become familiar with ELM. It is a little overwhelming to use at first, I think. Why do keep getting SIRS? I don't completely trust that the MN state legislature will always come through with ELM. Whether it's gone next year or not, we already have taught the students to use SIRS-nothing is new. However, I do use ELM resources as a back-up to SIRS when we aren't finding enough there. I have it bookmarked on our computers and do see students using it themselves. Will I keep getting SIRS now that I am learning just how nifty the ELM resources are? Well, probably...

1. Gale - Yes, I do remember well Thing 3 and so it didn't surprise me when I had trouble doing the search alert. When I paste in the URL, I get a big red error message that says NO FEED AVAILABLE. I also got a broken link when I tried to watch the assisting video. So...I guess I will try that one again at a later time.

2. EBSCO - I'm sure there's a brilliant and helpful use for this exercise, but it escapes me...

3. Proquest - I'm really trying to follow these directions. I don't see a radio button for "suggest topics" on the basic search page. However, a box with suggestion topics appeared in the search results screen. Also there was no "View Documents" button, but I did click on the link for Web sites AND Social networks. I followed the rest of the directions without any problem.

4. NetLibrary - I had instant success with this activity. I liked the "notes" feature a lot. This would be really helpful if you needed to refer back to a search for more information after your initial research.

These tools are complicated and seem to have a bigger learning curve than I expected. I think that once my comfort level grows using them, I will be more impressed. Anything that takes a long time to learn and requires remembering many steps has a hard time making it into my regular tools category. I will use my vice-grip anytime it will get the job done, rather than hunting around for the right size wrench. The same is true with online research. My patrons usually have a limited time to spend searching and don't need every available bit of information on their topic to do their assignments. I will continue using SIRS as a starting point just because it is so simple to use and usually has what we need. However, I'm very glad to know that we have all this massive amount of information available.

Iunderstand that there are valuable tools in the ELM resources that ease and enhance collaboration, too. I think that for very big projects or lengthy research papers, these are more valuable tools than I need for most reference questions in my situation.

Thing 16 - Student 2.0 Tools

2008-04-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another "...oh really..." activity... I was unaware that ELM has this calculator. It is great. I have used a similar resource with students from the Oregon School Library Information Systems that is similar in theory, giving planning and research assistance to the online user. It has a great citation maker that we use a lot. There are guidelines for evaluating resources, along with suggested resources. They have really done a nice job with this. Guess I need to spend more time with the ELM resources because it looks like they have done a nice job, as well! These tools really help the student who is already organized and plans ahead. They also give the less organized student a guideline to follow. That extra help may give procrasting student incentive to plan a little better.

Thing 15 - Online Games and Libraries

2008-04-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

Second Life is very impressive (definitely an Oh, Wow) and I can surely see that it has it's place. I also see how libraries have a place in Second Life. However, I'm not sure that this would make the high priority list for my library. I think it would be more justifiable for a big university, where it's possible a higher percentage of patrons would be using it. I don't think it would be important for my library to have a presence there in order to meet my patrons where they are! I also think it would take a lot of time for me to include Second Life within my "comfort zone". I like playing dorky games like Blast Thru, Mowin' Maniac, Roof Rats, Mahjong and a few others, but I have not felt comfortable playing online. I think it's due in part to the whole "don't put yourself out there-don't leave footprints..." mentality many of us have had drilled into us since we began wandering around in cyberspace.

A Happy Little Stick Person

2008-03-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

I had a great "on a stick" moment this weekend. I have started fund raising for the annual Relay for Life in which I participate. I have started getting emails from people I have asked to consider donating through me. I started putting all these related emails in a folder so later when I have time I can start a list of who's donating or not or if they are purchasing a luminary and what they want on it, etc... Then I received an email in my work email account, so I started to forward that email to my other email so they'd all be together, and I thought, hmmm-there's got to be a better way. So I decided to start a spreadsheet and save it on my server at work, because I can access and update documents stored there when I am at home. But then I thought...there IS a better way even than that. Enter Google Docs! Ta-dah! I whipped up a little spreadsheet and I am all set. If I were keeping track of everyone's donations on our whole team, it would be easy to share this document so we could all access and/or update it-collaborate on it, etc... Very cool "real life" scenario of how these "things" can enhance our productivity!

Thing 14 - LibraryThing

2008-03-27T14:47:00.001-07:00

Well, you got me right off the bat with the "you don't even need to know MARC." I've met MARC and I don't like him. I use him all the time, heck, I often steal him from other libraries. I understand MARC--I even appreciate MARC, but I still don't like him. I AM NOT A CATALOGER AT HEART! So any "library thing" that lets me have my very own little online collection without that sounds like a good thing.

When I was little I hated to read (mostly because it required sitting still instead of playing outside) but I did love books and I had a lot of them. About in third grade, I "organized" all my books, made checkout cards like our classroom library had and pretended to loan them out. I guess it was writing on the wall... I organized them by numbering them-in whatever random order they happened to be on my bookshelves. There was not an easy way to locate a certain book, so I made a list, numerically, which made the hunt take up less room, but didn't speed up the cause. I guess I've just been waiting for LibraryThing!! I will definitely be adding my own books, books I want to read, want to own... This is great...if I can just find all my books!!!

In my library, this tool would be a great way to collect student reviews on books they've read or for them to create lists of what to read, or to put favorite subject matter lists out there, the list goes on! We have some lists out in paper format on flip charts and displays that sometimes include student recommendations. We're always looking for reasonable ways to promote "good book lists."

Thing - 13 Online Productivity Tools

2008-03-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is another great list of tools--available anywhere you use a computerAND with some of them, you don't even need a computer. Your iPod or phone will suffice. The tools I liked the most that were easiest to navigate. I guess I'm to lazy, inept or pressed for time to spend the time needed to dig into some that seem to require more investigation.

PageFlakes was very cool! I actually may create a page for myself there. I liked "Don't Forget the Milk" but I would like it on My Yahoo! page or if I created a spot in PageFlakes. Of course, we want all our productivity tools, news, entertainment, email, etc...all in one place.

I have been using My Yahoo! as my homepage since it has been available. I chose that one simply because Yahoo! has been around a long time and I'm used to using it. I didn't consider any others because I didn't know of any others! It's where I have my email and have created several groups. I use the calendar feature for events regarding these groups, as well as other features offered through Yahoo! It would be just fantastic if everything I wanted was on the same page and I could link to all these tools from one common place. Hmmm...I bet there's a tool for that... I will be exploring that possibility with PageFlakes. I use the calendar in Outlook, too, but exclusively for work related items and events....like when the lunchroom is serving turkey gravy!

I think that Zamar was great, but it had a lot of pop-ups that I found pretty irritating. I think, though, that once you get past that, Zamar has a lot of potential as a useful tool. You don't need to install anything or sign up for anything and that is the trade-off for sifting through the pop-ups and banner ads.

Thing 12 - Do you Digg

2008-03-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

I've only scratched the surface on these. Like so many of these great sources for information, who has time to peruse them, even after you've taken the time to learn all the features! I like that there are votes to show users' popularity. I also like that the source of the news is given. The layout of Digg was my favorite. It seemed pretty organized and the several columns made it more likely that I will see more of the headlines offered. The columns on Newsvine actually made it easy to ignore all but the main feature story.

I think that if you can take the time to really become familiar with one or more of these sites and make the habit reviewing it regularly, you can stick a lot of this in your brain for future reference (pun is intended).

I have My Yahoo! set as my homepage and one of the sections is news stories that fit a list of selected topic that I have chosen. I occasionally read the story or watch the video. It's not that I don't like to keep up. It's just that in my life, the news does not drive my day. I rarely even watch the local news. Again, it's not that I don't care about what's going on, it's just that it doesn't make my Top 100 of the day. On the other hand, I read almost every story online from my hometown weekly newspaper... Keeping up with that news apparently does make my Top 100!

Thing 11 - Tagging and Del.icio.us

2008-03-25T14:30:00.001-07:00

Well, here we are... I've been waiting to get to this Thing because since I first heard about it from Ruth S. a few years ago, I've wanted to start using it. But, like everything else, time is a huge issue here. I have created an account and imported bookmarks from one of my computers at work. I also have looked at the Minn23. I think that this is a useful, a REALLY useful tool for people like me who use several different computers, both at work and for personal use. I always think that I should take the time to update my bookmarks to make them more easy to find and delete outdated ones, but never seem to have that TIME. The tag feature in del.icio.us will really help me, but, again, where is the time to clean up this mess! The other features in del.icio.us seem pretty amazing, too, and I hope that the 23 Things website stays active for a LONG time. I have great intentions for revisiting it and exploring and learning more when I have TIME!

The same considerations I've mentioned earlier seem to come to mind again with this. One more account to remember a user name and password for, one more "out there" place I've left a footprint. Also, I am unable to download and install the buttons for the toolbars on my computers at work. At home, however, I finally beat my daughter to the punch on this one. She's been comfortable with social networking online for years, which gave me incentive to learn a lot already. The buttons hadn't been on the toolbar for more than an hour and she wanted to know all about this. As she goes off to college next year, there is a possibility that a site like this may become as important for her as FaceBook!

Thing 10 - Wikis

2008-03-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

The only exposure I've had to wikis is Wikipedia and the TIES wiki from that conference that contains handouts and presentations and so forth from the conference. The TIES wiki was helpful and I've referred to that several times when I've needed information I didn't note during the conference. Wikipedia can be useful, taken with a grain of salt, as it's intended to, I guess. I've never made an entry to it or anything. In looking at Library Success, the best practices wiki, I found several fantastic resources and also was lucky to come across a link to another wiki, http://booktalk.pbwiki.com/, that looks like a great idea to explore for my own library webpage. I always try to get kids to recommend books they like to each other. A wiki for that purpose for just our school seems like a reasonable project to consider... I think wikis with a limited audience and a specific purpose seem very useful--another WOW of the Internet.

The Common Craft video on wikis is my favorite Common Craft video so far.

Thing 9 - Collaboration

2008-03-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Zoho Writer and Google Docs are fantastic--easier and way more versatile than creating or converting to pdf. Attachments in email certainly had and have their place-they're great, but for collaboration, these are the ticket. Both have a familiar enough interface that it was pretty easy to upload existing documents on my computer and create new ones.

Considerations that come to mind here, for me, are that people still have to agree to use the same software and if they don't want to sign up for all these accounts, that may impede progress. The other consideration is all these accounts to sign up for! I'm trying to keep track, but it's getting ridiculous. We've been sort of conditioned to be wary of flipping that email address out all over the Internet, so this is a shift in thinking for me. Also, just remembering all the account names, passwords and even all the different accounts I have created is a challenge. I suppose in a few years when we've got an easy way to manage these accounts and have gotten used to it, it will be like any of these other skills we've learned. (Of course, this is what I tried to convince myself about MARC records, too, but the jury is still out on that one!)

Thing 8 - Share Your Creations

2008-03-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

I love messing with photos, creating presentations, video editing, anything like that. So, these tools were a real playground for me. I see these as immediate fun for personal use with my friends and family for sharing photos especially. Using the photo tools or slideshows on my library webpage for orientation, new book promotion, general news, and event photos would be easy. Remembering all the different tools and what they do would take a lot of learning time. Time...that's always the enemy. This experience only was a taste of the capability of these online tools. I know that I will be moving some of the lessons I teach using PowerPoint to this web format. It removes the need to log on to a certain account, carry a flashdrive, worry about compatibility, etc... Zoho was very easy to use. The interface was similar to PowerPoint, which made it pretty familiar. Picture Trail does some pretty nifty tricks, but I would have to spend a little more time with that to feel comfortable with all the features. Lots to explore here...

Thing 7 - Communication Tools

2008-03-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Email is the greatest thing! Well, it's certainly close to the greatest. I hate talking on the phone and really don't like to leave a message on an answering machine. The very climate of email makes it a much more efficient communication tool than any other. With email, I can just ask or answer the question, or I can type a whole long story if I want. You're not expected to deliver all the pleasantries and small talk of a phone or in-person conversation, but you can if you want. There are the situations when a tone can be mistaken, but for the most part, it is the clearest way for me to communicate. With phone messages, I will need to take notes to deal with later. With in-person conversations, I may have to make notes and get back to the person. With email, I don't get interrupted. I can open the message when I get to it and deal with it when I get to it. I love it! My students, co-workers or students' parents can send me a note in the evening and I may get it answered even that same evening. They didn't have to interrupt me at home and I can email them back without interrupting them at work. Most teachers contact me, and vice versa, through email, too. That way, we aren't interrupting classes with phones ringing either. I don't remember exactly when I first started using email regularly, (maybe 1991, 1992?) but it has allowed me to keep in touch with relatives and to catch up with old friends and classmates. It is probably my favorite way to communicate.

Text messaging is not a tool I use a great deal personally and not at all at work. In the examples on the "Thing" instructions, the texting and IMing with reference is very neat. That would be a great service. In a school library media center, mine anyway, there would not be an opportunity for me to serve my patrons this way. I can imagine in a perfect world that I would be available 24/7 for students diligently working on their research papers and seeking out my professional assistance through this means. In my real world, I'm with actual students all day and wouldn't be available to use this tool. The only kids that might contact me that way are right upstairs in study hall, so...we'd just invite them to come down and get in line... Personally, I have caught a friend or two online occasionally, but I have a pretty weird schedule, self-induced, and by the time I get on the computer at home, most of my friends and family are in bed. I think next year when my daughter is at college, this might be my best chance for a conversation with her. Of course, she IMs while she's doing homework and six other things, so probably I should just leave her alone and hope she contacts me!

The podcasts are pretty cool. I like that they allow a person to hear a special speaker or learn some new skill or whatever right in your own home or office and at a person's own convenience. This and the ability to create such products could be really useful for self-guided orientations to the library, new books that we've received and so forth.

Thing 6-More Fun

2008-02-22T07:45:00.001-08:00

These tools are really addicting. I can think of some fun uses for these in my "job life" and even more personally. I don't think I'll ever send a plain photo again! Here at school, I advise our elementary news crew, who put on a morning news program. Part of the news is a "Who Are You" feature where they show a photo of a baby or toddler version of an adult in our school and give clues. The viewers make guesses and a winner is drawn from all correct answers. I saw many frames, even the mosaic, that would make this feature a lot of fun. In the library media center, the first thing that comes to mind with this trading card format is to make trading cards of new books with highlights as to genre, plot, grade level, etc... listed. Other ideas are already coming to mind, too. Again, it's the time factor...

Thing 5-Fun with Flickr

2008-02-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, there are a lot of fun things to do with Flickr. There are so many interesting images. Copyright has to be an issue with this. I loved the speller tool, but I can't publish other people's images without permission, although "Thing 6" in images is posted on the "23 Things" website. I made a really cute READ spelled out in images.

The color fields tool was really neat, but again, copyright will limit how I would use this. Mostly, at this point, these are just FUN.

I did not have the greatest luck finding the photos I wanted to use on splashr. I've been working with this activity for an hour and I haven't been able to use my own photos. The directions say to enter the user name of the Flickr person whose photos you want to use, so I used my user name and it said it needed parameters. So, I added two tags of one of my pictures and it just brought up a thousand pictures of other people's. Hmm...guess I'm an idiot after all.

However, Big Huge Lab let me do exactly as I desired and I didn't have to sign up, open 50 windows or spend forever figuring out what to do. It took exactly 30 seconds to make the picture below of the new love of my life. Ta Da! You can use lots of those tools without even creating an account.

Thing 4-Flickr

2008-02-21T18:20:00.001-08:00

I uploaded this picture right from within the New Post window. This was a very easy way to add a picture to the post. Posting to my blog from Flickr wasn't hard, either.

I've been hesitant to store my digital pictures online. I guess I just don't have faith in the unknown storage areas. I would love to have access online for myself and family members to view all my (would be) organized photos. It's daunting to think of the task of uploading them all, though! I would still probably keep a copy on a disc or flash drive in my fireproof safe!

Our district web sites have photo display areas (blogs, too) and I think our district patrons would look for photos there first. However, it was much easier to upload to Flickr than the website our school uses!

I loved and was endlessly impressed by the new book display we were directed to look at. Wow! This is just the format I've been looking for--much more interesting and accessible that the actual "New Books" displays in my library media center. I'm just not sure I would ever be able to take the time to do the work. I feel pretty good just keeping up cataloging all the new titles we order! (Let me clarify: I don't feel good about my cataloging...but I feel good when the titles are all in the system!)

An aside...I have learned that these new activities are hard for a person who has six things going on at once-or maybe it's that whole focusing issue. This is the third time I've typed up this post. I keep accidentally deleting it or going to check something on a different window and lose what I've typed. Does anyone else end up with fifty windows open while doing these things?

Rebel Readers

2008-02-21T17:57:00.001-08:00

Rebel Readers
Originally uploaded by Dilworth Rebels Library

Here is a picture of some Rebel Readers engaged in a favorite library activity. Aren't they the best?

Thing 3-RSS Feeds

2008-02-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this RSS item was a bit of a slap in the face. I even thought I was "familiar" with the hows and what-fors. Unfortunately, such was not the case! I set up a Google Reader account and subscribed to three feeds. I haven't figured out how to put a button on my blog so others can subscribe to it yet, but I'll keep working on that. I can see how this can be useful to librarians, library communities (patrons-book studies-sharing informationa) and also for teachers choosing to use this tool for classes. Personally, I don't really see the value of this for myself outside of these examples. I kind of like going out and seeking information when I want it or have the time or, on some occasions, watching the evening news. I'm not sure I need to be notified every time something is added to these sites. Anyway, I know that sounds like I just haven't "gotten it" yet, so that's probably true. I haven't given up on Thing 3, but I'm moving on for now.

Thing 2-Web 2.0/Library 2.0

2008-02-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Some very interesting observations, opinions and concerns are shared in the “perspectives” assigned in Thing 2. As exciting and important as Library 2.0 and Web 2.0 are, these are really just wide spots on the continuum of progress. Every new, big thing presents opportunities and challenges. I think it’s unfortunate if we are worried about people in the library and information realms being sluggish or fearful in approaching new services or ways of delivering services. It’s been my experience that, for the most part, library types get pretty excited about trying new things and ways of doing things that are more inclusive, more efficient or just MORE. There is no place in today’s world for staying in the same place. Everyone’s world is changing, regardless of age, business or status. I really believe that there will always be a place for what libraries have to offer and for the way libraries offer it. We have some work to do, and a lot to learn, but I don’t see libraries disappearing. Mine sure is busy. The small town public library I use sure is busy. In fact, I haven’t seen a useless library in my life. I don’t think we would have “survived” this long if librarians, as a whole, hadn’t figured out how to change, grow and serve.

Thing 1-Set up a Blog

2008-02-14T11:51:00.001-08:00

I guess I could have done this post when I first created the blog a couple weeks ago. I haven't set up a blog before, but it was pretty easy, using blogger's templates. Adding the Avatar was easy, too, since I use it for my Yahoo! account, too. This is a good exercise for people like me, who feel comfortable publishing to the web, but haven't done any personal pages. The exceptions to that would be my pages on our school website (listed below) and Yahoo! groups I've created for my high school class and my husband's extended family. This feels a lot more "public," being available to a wider audience.

Initial Post

2008-02-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Because this blog was created for my participation in "23 Things on a Stick", and because it will probably only used for that purpose (for now anyway!) I'm guessing that if anyone reads this, they will also be "library types." I welcome your questions or conversations.

Also, I will be purusing the registration list to see if any of my former colleages from LARL or Concordia libraries are participating. I hope that this will present some opportunities for reconnecting with some of you!