wyo4me

All Good Things Must Come to an End

2007-05-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the learning opportunity.

If Wikis and Del.icio.us indicate the direction in which KCLS is moving. I think I'd better go back and review those lessons. I had some trouble with those.

What I Think

2007-05-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

My gut reaction is I'm so glad it's over! At various times I found the whole experience overwhelming, exciting, frustrating, intensive, thrilling, way too time consuming, and fun. I'll never be a total computer nut, but I'll also never be as afraid of the computer and its mysterious ways as I was. There are wonderful things out there in cyberspace; and if I get in a mess, at least now I feel I can get out of it. Why I might even take a few classes after I retire.

I enjoyed embedding a video in my blog from YouTube. I was thrilled to discover Google docs & spreadsheets and Zoho. I loved the LibraryThing Search Box. I wish I had time to read all of the RSS feeds. I was so proud of my Google custom search engine. I loved playing in Flickr Retrievr and relaxing with Flickr ColorPickr.

I'm surprised how this experience sharpened my computer skills (such as they are). I'm also a little surprised at my reaction. I really did enjoy it and I liked sharing the things I learned. I enjoyed telling my daughter about Google Docs and Zoho. She was really excited about using it for PTA newsletter contributors. I'd definitely like to stay active in some of the areas introduced. That surprises me. I thought I'd be the first one back in deleting everything.

There were certain things I could never have done without help. Thanks to our inhouse advocate, Sarah, and Steve I was able to post pictures on my blog. I could never have done that alone. They provided enough support that I didn't need to go outside the branch.

I would like to have seen the lessons spaced out a little more. Some were just too overwhelming. If you alternated between difficult and easy lessons it might have helped. I know some people lost interest towards the end. I believe that personalizing the lessons a little more would hold people's interest a little better.
The most memorable lessons (the ones that really stayed with you)were the ones where we were granted a little more license.

Would I like to see more learning opportunities of this sort? Yes, but not for awhile. If I could go back, would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

Podcasts, eaudio (overdrive)

2007-05-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

I can almost see the finish line.
I listened to a couple library-related podcasts. I liked the Johnson County Library Presents Writer's Place Poetry Reading. The Thomas Ford Memorial Libary has Click a Story, but in today's world why just listen when you can see Dewey and Sketch on YouTube? Hennepin Co. Library TeenLink Podcast was good. My favorite and the one I subscribed to was KCET Podcast: Aloud at the Central Library. This is a series of author talks, discussions, interviews from Los Angeles. I subscribed to their feed.
http://www.kcet.org/explore-ca/on-demand/podcasts/

I'm ready for my M3P player. My very first download will be Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. I can't wait!

You tube fave.

2007-05-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

This is a famous 1958 video I never thought I'd see again.

YouTube was very entertaining. I did see Dewey and Sketch there. But YouTube seems like such a broad venue. There's everything under the sun there. Dewey and Sketch are entertainment so I can understand their presence. But other than that, why would a library want to be there? I'm not very imaginative, but if a library was buidling a new branch, patron's could follow construction via YouTube. I will say that I might go back to be further entertained.

Web 2.0 Awards

2007-05-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

I saw some old friends here: Flickr, Library Thing, etc. After viewing some of the other categories, I can definitely say you've given us the best of the best.

I explored some new categories--Travel and Events. I was especially intrigued by the Travel category. Kayak, http://www.kayak.com/ put all discount travel sites together in one place--a real boon for comparison shopping. Travbuddy, www.travbuddy.com was a nice site for sharing travel experiences thru unbiased travel reviews. Tripmojo, www.tripmojo.com, did a real fine job of comparative pricing of hotels. The Wayfaring site, www.warfaring.com was beyond me.
I might suggest the Kayak site to someone who wanted to do comparisons. I'd personally use Tripmojo.

In the area of Events, I couldn't link to www.evnt.org The link was broken. www.Zvents.com brought up poor results. But I really liked Eventful, www.eventful.com I searched dog shows for the Bellevue area. It came up with some wonderful (and weird) competitions in the surrounding area, not just Bellevue. It also is a site I might use for event info.

The key here was ease of navigation and familiarity. I did check out the categories of Books and Personal Organization. Nothing can hold a candle to www.Librarything.com and I thought the Personal Organization sites didn't have much imagination. http://voo2do.com/ was the only one that looked even halfway inviting.

Google Trends, Suggests, Transit

2007-05-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

This was kind of fun. It took me awhile to get the hang of the kind of terms it could provide comparisons for. Democrats and Republicans brought up some interesting graphps. Iraqi War and the peace movement, too. My favorite was global warming and recycling. I think if you can come up with the correct search terms, you'll do fine with it. The trends that come up can be interpreted many different ways, so I'm not sure of what value it would be.

Now Google Suggests (search terms) was fantastic! I put in a search for the mountain, Changabang, and it came up with all the information I would ever need on the subject, plus links to photos and climbing history. I was really impressed at how simple it was. A winner!

Google Transit was confusing. It offered alot more--maps, traffic, satellite views, than I expected. So much so I got sidetracked into finding my house via the satellite views. I found it easily, but I don't think that's what the site is for. I'm going to go back and give the bus routes another try. I returned to Google Transit. Wow! How easy is that. Much better than Metro's site. This is a winner!

Google/Zoho for me!

2007-05-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to discover these features. I feel stupid that I didn't know about them. It is to my everlasting relief that something akin to Word and Excel is available to me. My home computer has some old Lotus Suite on it. This is absolutely the best thing we've done yet. It is so easy to use and so available.

For my example, I was able to write a letter to my homeowners' association. Now I can access it at home without emailing it to myself. It's great! Here's my facetious letter to the association:

" Dear Neighbors,

Guess what! I've decided to paint my house chartreuse and persimmon. I think it will liven up the neighborhood. Don't you?

I'll also be putting in a cyclone fence, huge metal butterflies and an innovative searchlight lamp post that will be, I think the hit of the neighborhood. I will also be removing all gutters and use instead those quaint rain chains at all corners of the house and in between.

In the conservation mode, I've decide to use a clothesline instead of my dryer and will be reusing my old toilet and bathtub as innovative planters. Don't worry about the engine in the driveway. They'll be fixing it soon. Pimp my Ride is going to overhaul the old Oldsmobile.

P.S. Bright purple awnings will be going up over the windows too.

Yours in the hood!"

This has simplified my life. Thank you!

2.0 and Beyond!!!

2007-04-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed reading all 5 articles. The 3rd and 4th articles were over my head, but the other 3 were provocative. I found Rick Anderson's article frightening. Thanks to the background this course has given me I understood what he was saying, but I felt he was throwing the baby out with the bath water. His suggestions seemed a little desperate to me and I wondered if financial difficuties in the Nevada libraries contributed to his vision. The most interesting thing about this article to me was my reaction. For the very first time, I could visualize myself reading a book from a palm pilot or other such device. It's amazing to me that this course has brought me to that.
Michael Stephens' article rather pleased me. I felt he was describing KCLS and the way we are approaching the future. It was a good solid article, full of the future, but tempered by the past. I thought it presented a moderate view, one that could be accomplished.
Dr. Schultz' article was wonderful! I loved her visions of Web 3-D, Libary 3.0 and 4.0. Her library of the future (with it's avatars. etc.) spoke to me as a patron. The library she envisions is one that beckons to the patron to explore and enjoy. It is user friendly and beyond. I want to be there!

My Google Custom Search Engine

2007-04-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

I chose Google because it seemed more user friendly and I'm more familiar with it. I liked the format. And while I was looking--how about that great online library card application for kids at SPL? What a great idea. The form was so simple and attractive. But back to the point of this lesson.
I lost my Google Custom Search Engine twice before I finally completed it. So much for being user friendly. My search engine is finditfaster and on the 3rd try--it really works! I'm jazzed.
With a little more experience, I think I could really turn this into something!
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=015841992063433249010%3Arzaumbpbesw

So much for fun!

2007-04-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

I could never do this without help.

The caption is supposed to read.

A second on the lips, a lifetime on the--oops!

Wiki, wiki, wiki

2007-04-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

It took me awhile to warm up to these. My first experience was with the Wikipedia. Right away I was in an article that had been edited up the kazoo by people with personal opinions. An authority figure finally had to come in and say that it was "just the facts" that needed stating, not personal opinions. I was glad to see that someone was paying attention! Citizendium appears to be pretty much a work in progress. I really enjoyed the SJCPL subject guide wiki-- very organized and easy to follow. My very favorite was the Book Lovers Wiki. I could really see that taking off. It would also be a good place for novices to start since everyone has an opinion on a book and is usually not afraid to give it. I liked the Rochester City Guide also. Very, very self explanatory and easy to use.

I can see wikis being used in a library setting for subject guides, tech info, and especially as a tool for patrons and staff to interactively share Readers' Advisories. It would be a great place to start.

Library Thing Search box

2007-04-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

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

Technorati and Library Thing

2007-04-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Technorati--thumbs down. Too difficult to understand just by looking at it.

LibraryThing--thumbs way, way up. This was hands on, extremely simple, and very useful. This is a site I will definitely visit often. I was so excited to see that a book I had been looking for the last 46 years was actually listed in Library of Congress and 12 other people had also listed it. Can you guess which one it is?http://www.librarything.com/catalog/riswenso

I am surprised about one thing. The two most recently published books I listed were not listed by anyone else. That really surprised me.

Del.icio.us -- not

2007-04-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this would have been easier to grasp if it had been more hands on. If you learn by doing you're out of luck here.

I can see (vaguely) how this could be used as a research tool but as a whole this lesson went over my head.

But I'll keep slogging, er blogging.

Social Networking

2007-03-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

What interesting articles and blogs! MySpace was not my idea of a very pleasant site to visit. I'm also not too sure why a library would be going there. Maybe a library would have a place under groups, but I'm not sure why it would want to represent itself as an individual. As for a blog I saw on Librarian in Black that referred to advertising and marketing in regards to MySpace, I found that way beyond the parameters of the site. This is a social site! I don't really think people on this site are looking for libraries.
Now Facebook is a different story. I was very impressed with it. I could see a library here. I even found out something that pertained to my job on this site. I think I even beat the periodicals dept. knowing about Infoworld ceasing publication.
Second Life is a really unique and entertaining idea. That they have actually created an active library presence on the site to support the site is so intriguing and seems so right! Other sites might consider following their lead. To paraphrase, maybe it's not what our presence on the site can do for us, but what we could do for them.

Who knew I needed a title?

2007-03-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well, Lesson # 8 took much less time than #7. I found the Blogline's search tool, Topix.net, and Google Blog search easiest to use. No surprise there! These search tools really helped me find things fast. The others were just too confusing.

To tell the truth, I was so busy adding feeds I had no time to look at them and am having a hard time remembering which search tool I used to find them.

I liked that Walking Paper feed. I found something on hydroplanes too. Maybe someday I'll have a chance to look around a little more.

2007-03-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

RSS feeds are a lot simpler than logging into a news site and pulling up anything and everything when you only want the latest info. You can compare info on various sites more easily and quickly.

I've already subscribed to a mystery review site that I will use personally. I'm not sure how I would use RSS for work yet, but I'm open to it.

I just wish I had more time to do these lessons. I'm falling behind. Yikes!

Mashup madness

2007-03-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

This was so much fun! My favorites were Flickr Color Pickr and Retrievr. The colors were so relaxing in the Color Pickr. I did flowers in pink and came up with a multitude of variations and tags to other fantastic images. I think the relaxation came from the appeal of the monochromatic in all of us.

My other favorite mashup was Retrievr. I'm not much of an artist so it was pretty exciting to have it recognize the images I was attempting to draw and bring up something similar.

I would definitely go back to these mashups and play again!

Finally! Photo success!

2007-03-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

I never thought I could do it, but with the help of our wonderful advocate, Sarah, I 've got photo!

Flickr Photo Download: Mactarnahan, the Scottish Terrier, 1997-2007

2007-03-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

Flickr Photo Download: Mactarnahan, the Scottish Terrier, 1997-2007

First thoughts

2007-02-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

This is fun, but definitely challenging. I'm finding navigating a little difficult. While everything is fun to visit, I wish I had a GPS!