Friday, December 14, 2007

Thing # 24 Revolution OS

Learned alot about what "free software" means and where the term "open source" came from. I had not sense of the magnitude of the movement and that it was so HUGE. The movie detailed the history/ timeline of the movement and inspired me to do some research on things like , Free Software Foundation Richard Stallman, gnu, Red Hat Linus, copyleft .
Very interesting characters, some of which I seem to remember as the geeks and nerds from my high school. After viewing this film I feel that I have a better idea of what the Open Source movement is all about and where it is going. The end seemed kind of abrupt and the most recent history seemed to be missing.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Thing # 23 The End- The Beginning

OOPS, I was going to title this post the END but it isn't the end, it the Beginning!! I feel like I am almost as smart as my 10th grader! Hey that could be a game show!! I say "almost" because I have only scrapped the surface of the technology that he is using daily without much thought. It has been a eyeopener in a good way in that I have learned about so many things that are out there that can make my job easier and more enriching. Tagging is everywhere if you look, almost every website has a tag search feature. How much easier could it get than that? More information is being fed to me in one day than I could read in a week, a month!! I intend to continue on with my newfound interest and use my new skills to just get out there.

Thing # 22 audiobooks

I spent some time exploring Overdrive, and found the tutorial very helpful. Audio books are wonderful, I use them all the time. I even bought an Ipod just for this purpose. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that Apple doesn't support free downloads etc. so I am really looking forward to the day when they do. I keep hearing that they are in negotiaions blah blah blah but no agreement has been made yet.....stay tuned. I will also be trying to download cd's and videos wow that sounds great. We must have Microsoft media player to do this so I guess i"ll have to do it at home since we are sans Microsoft here at HCL.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Thing #21 Podcast

Been exploring podcast lately and finding my impressions mixed. Yahoo pod cast directory will no longer be active after October 31. similarly I found that Podcastally listed podcast that were old-er. aug 2006 I found some interesting things. Then I took a different route to locate interesting podcast. At the Baltimore Symphony website there are podcast for recent concerts. Thats more like it. It also advertised upcoming podcast for upcoming concerts Nadja Salerno Sonnonberg with Marin Alsop. Yeh, thats what I am talking about!!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Thing # 20 You Tube

I have seen and used You Tube for some time, never really liked it. I find its is too hard to find the good stuff. This time I used the tag Library, thinking that surely more wholesome useful stuff would come to the surface, WRONG. There are some twisted people out there. I get that its fun to see your friends on the computer ripping a tune on their guitar, or doing the daring skateboard stunts. It is hard and time consuming to find the good stuff unless you really know what you are looking for or if you are looking for someone or something specific.
I did attach a video from Karma Tube (You tube relative) that if very worthwhile. It's called Johnny the Bagger and I hope you enjoy it!

Thing # 19

Web. 20 Award Winners
Upcoming
this is an event calendar a service of Yahoo.com. It is comprehensive, and very much like alot of the services we find on yahoo. (think flickr) Some of its features are Maps with locations all around the US and the world and click on a location and events there will come up . Organized by date. Today Tomorrow yesterday next week next year. whatever. Site is very easy to maneuver through. some is its most useful features are tags for searching for related events, sign up or reservation link, photos, comment field, watch list, and maps (mentioned above) There is a link to related events and a My Event page as well as a my scrapbook. Of course there is a networking feature so you can plan with friends and relatives anywhere in the world.
Libraries could certainly put their events programs on the site, its free did I mention that? I checked out an opera concert at the Peabody Institute in baltimore. And could easily find other music or opera events coming up.
I give this site a 3 thumbs up. and if it could generate enough business or hits would be a terrific success.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Thing #18 volunteer program

The volunteer program at Howard County Library is active. There are over 200 volunteer volunteer over 600 hours per month.

Thing # 17 Sandbox

Knitters are everywhere!! I always enjoy reading about what knitter are up to. They are so busy, with their latest project!! I have quite a stash now, so I am always looking for new ways to use it. Sandbox is so much fun!

Thing # 16 wiki

Wikis and the Library- A One Stop Shop
Wiki's are an ingenius way to collect information and have it be easily accessed by many people. I looked at the SJCPL wiki and found it very interesting. My first impression is that the intial interface was not very attractive or eyecatching. But after using it which was very easy and intuitive, I didn't care that it was not appealing because it was so useful. I looked at the subject headings and was impressed with the extent of the contents. For example, under the subject heading Legal Information was a list of what librarians can and can't do, weblinks to lots of government agencies (social service and judicial, police) , local, state codes, law related websites, free forms, library materials by catagory, related periodicals etc. It is very extentive and EASY TO USE. The subject heading "pets"had the library materials (books, periodicals, DVD) as well as local shelters, adoption centers, related blogs, etc.
Wiki and Library seem to go hand in hand here. Information is plentiful and easy to access
It is also centrally located. In the last discussion about the future of librarys Rick anderson suggest that librarys find a way of brining the information to the customer instead of relying on the customer visiting the library. This appears to be part of the answer to this.
It is a One Stop Shop for customers looking for information about a certain subject.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Thing # 15 Future

Rick Anderson has nailed it. His article Away from Icebergs aptly describes the future of libraries in a simple easy to understand way. Three problems with the way we presently provide service are highlighted
"Just in case" collections (those collections we keep just in case someone, somewhere may need them ) make us feel as though we have to row faster and faster, trying to keep up with growing feeling that libraries must have everything.......the fast moving tide of new technology and the every growing and changing wave of resources and the ways we access them. He makes those just in case collections sound very..... well unnecessary, archaic and well just obsolete.

He talks about Reliance of user education. What he means is that, the tools we have now to access our information are too difficult to use. Hours and hours are spent trying figure out how to use the dang thing. If we need extensive training to use it, it is too hard to use and customers surely will go elsewhere to get what they need.
and the last problem with libraries to day is the idea of access to information. In the past customers must come to the library to get what they need. In the future, what they need will come to them. Big changes are coming. think RSS on a global scale.

He alow

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Thing # 14 Technorati

Technorati is based on a very interesting concept. Tagging is a unique way of organizing information and Technorati uses tagging in a social networking way. People with similar interest can be put in touch .

Friday, September 21, 2007

Thing # 13 Del.icio.us

Tagging and Del.icio.us. It took me a little to figure this feature out. I now have a del.icio.us account with 5 articles related to volunteering that I found interesting and useful. I have used the buttons adding and accessing my del.icio.us account. I appreciate its capability as a shared reading list, but realize that the chances that anyone will notice or use it are slim. I hope to remember to use it for collecting and reviewing resources related to my new position.
Visit my del.icio.us page at http://del.icio.us/plittk.

Thing #12

Rollyo- If one were to spend all her days searching the web this may be useful. I am not sure it is much different than having feed sent to me through bloglines. I used all the examples and discovery tools and found this whole exercise to be dull.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Thing # 11 Library Thing

Library Thing
I found this site very useful for networking with other book nuts. It could be useful for students, book clubs, librarians, school media specialist, bookstore owners and others who love books.
One of the more interesting things I learned from this exercise is how to add content to my page, other than blog entries, I hadn't added anything except photos . How did I do that? I'll have to check my blog for that Thing!! Once I got my instruction from Jaye, I was able to add other things as well. Things are easy when you know how!!

Thing # 10 Online Image Generators

Finding the generator site and creating the image was very easy, not sure how useful it will be though.
Adding it to my blog took a little more effort, but with the assistance of O Great One, Jaye Holly our 23 Things Leader I was able to get the job done. Don't want to spend too much time bloggin on it but it was mildly entertaining.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Thingy # 9

Ooohhh I am getting good at this!! I had already found Merlin but changed my feed to my bloglines account. Not too difficult, I might add. It took me about 30 sec. Pretty good!! I checked out a couple of the other library related blogs also. One related note..... imagine my surprise when I saw the photo on the front of Merlins page. Its not much bigger than a postage stamp but I was to recognize that photo to be of HCL's own Beth Tribe. Not surprising, in that she has her hands in lots of pots, I am sure! Nice to see you Beth!

Thing # 8 RSS

Well that was quite a trip. Yeh, I took the RSS training and Yeh I registered with bloglines, but the real question is why. I don't spend lots of time checking different web pages for new information, shopping, or whatever. I read my daily Baltimore Sun newspaper (the real deal!) while I have my cheerios and tea. I am not into that ....yet. not to say I never will be.... just not yet. I have interest that take me away from the computer and outside. I like to be outside, fresh air and all that. I like to here those outside noises birds, insects, dogs, roosters. I am trying really hard to find things that I would find useful. I picked from the preset subjects those that interested me, booknotes, knitting, gardening, cooking, etc. Then I went through them and promptly deleted more than half. I thought there would be no ads, but I had a hard time finding the actual feed in all the other junk that was on the page. Some feeds required me to sign on or subscribe "NYTimes" others were under constuction or failure to complete, or some sort of error message came up . delete, delete, delete. ( unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe!!)
One last thing, I found the discovery videos, especially the first one on the list, very helpful!!
I think it was RSS in plain English

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Thing #7

Had a blast adding songs 'n stuff to my new MP3 player. I first added songs from my cd collection to my computer and then loaded on my MP3. I also downloaded a book ( kabul beauty school) to listen to while I walked. sure made the time go by. I did miss hearing the birds chirping tho! It is very small and easy to manipulate, but Darn it , I need my glasses to read the screen! I 'll enjoy this new toy.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Thing #6 Mashups and 3rd Party Sites:

I found a fun site that has free screensavers (krazydad.com) that are like kaleidoscopes. One problem that I encountered was that some of the sites would not load or took a very long time.
I still need to find out how to find mashups or 3rd party sites on my own. Lots of fun to explore.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Thing #3

Setting up my blog was not as easy as I had hoped. The actual initial step was not difficult but the adding, moving, organizing, deleting, changing, choosing, customizing etc has proved more challenging. Each time I play with it things become more apparent. I like things to be intuitive and this particular blog site has not been. I have never been much of a diarist, so I am sure this sounds like a bit of a ramble. That said its done and it will grow every week!!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Thing #5 Flickr

WOW. ADDICTIVE. AMAZING. FUN. GLOBAL

Friday, August 24, 2007

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur


Basilique du Sacré-Cœur
Originally uploaded by nils ♫

Thing # 2 Life long learning

Well I finally figured it all out!! Hey, I learned something new!! I am a Life Long Learner!!
Since I started to work here, I have always said that " I learn something new everyday!". That is why I love my job. Even thought I say this all the time, I never considered myself a life long learner. That was Katy Evans, who was always taking classes at HCC or wherever there was something interesting to her. ( History of Religion was the last one, and she found it fascinating!) But now I know that I, too am a Life Long Learner, like my good friend Katy.