Summary

Well, this will probably be my last post on this blog, since I am just not interested in maintaining such a site. I have, however, enjoyed learning about some of the tools that I hear people discussing. I have found that some of the terms / tools are creeping more and more into our discussions at work, so that is a good thing. I know that it is vital that I keep up with new tech tools and trends. I most enjoyed learning about wikis, which seemed very practical to me; in fact, one of our staff members created one for staff feedback on our Halloween costume ball.

I am a bit frustrated by the huge amount of staff time that has been invested in this project. While I think continual learning is vital, what was supposed to be a very quick and easy project has consumed huge amounts of time for staff. It think any future projects should be tested with "regular" staff, not IT staff or techies, to determine real time that will be required.

MOLDI

I am impressed by the number and variety of titles of audio books on the site, though there were many not available of the titles I was most intersted in. I can see why this would be great for anyone in a rural area or any other place that does not have easy access to a library with lots of audio books or for someone who used a portable device for listening. Since I have access to many audio books and listen to them either in the car or at home with several CD players, this is not a service I envision myself using any time soon. I have, however, recommended it to many of my friends and customers, and some of them have told me how much they appreciate it.

PodCasts

I added a book review podcast RSS feed called Much Ado About Books to my bloglines account. It was fun to hear some short sections of books being read, though without an MP3 player or other such device, I don't think I would be interested in sitting in front of my computer and listening to them. I would rather read the book or the review.

I can see where it would be great for customers to be able to hear short clips of books that are featured on our webpage before they reserve them.

YouTube

I can certainly see why people are infatuated with YouTube. There are hours of entertainment, although the quality varies greatly! I watched clips from trips in Botswana and Zambia, the Sarah Palin clips from SNL that I had heard about but not seen, and various other categories. I was impressed with how many clips there are that show you how to do something. I can see where such clips, if well-produced, could be a real asset in explaining a process to a customer - even a short clip on how to use self-checkout on a help screen.

In honor of the upcoming presidential election, I chose to imbed a clip on how to interview a candidate for presidency!

CML's Tool Box

We have recommended gmail to people who need an e-mail account. We also have a gmail account at the branch that we use to attach people's documents when their computer is about to reset and they have no email account or flash drive. It's a great tool.

Web 2.0 Awards

I was interested to find that WorldCat is one of the award winners in the Books category. We certainly use that several times a day.

I had never been on CraigsList, though I had heard much about it. I have friends who have located roommates through the site. I enjoyed perusing it, though remain skeptical about wanting to contact people unknown through an internet site.

I didn't see that the travel sites were much better than the well-known sites, at least the prices for travel weren't any better than Expedia, etc.

Goggle.Docs

I like the idea of being able to share documents. In fact, I created the beginning of a document that I may use for a personal project. I can see where using these shared documents could be very helpful for task force members. I had a little trouble creating the document because the size of print kept changing back to the original size each time I started a new line, even though I chose a different size; I had to change the size on every line. A pain!

I listened to an NPR article the other week that was talking about shared documents and documents and other materials such as e-mails that are stored in clouds rather than personal computers. The issue is that there is no guarantee that one can always be guaranteed access to these documents; they are at the mercy of the provider, and if the provider denies access, you are completely out of luck. Many people are not reading use agreements before using a provider's "cloud" and thus have no idea they no longer own the documents stored there; they are now owned by the provider.

The other concern I thought about is that, as a supervisor, I like to track the work of my employees (i.e. know what each person contributes) so that I can hold them accountable. I wonder how that happens when each person is just going in and making changes. Is there some sort of tracking that tells you what changes each person made?

Still, it seems like a great tool for collaborative work, as long as people realize the limitations.

Playing with Wikis

Well, adding to the Learn and Play wiki was fun once I finally figured out how to do it. I think I was making it too hard! Just edit and type. I'll be especially interested to read others' favorite vacation spots, since I'm always looking for a good travel idea.

Wikis

I think Wikis seem to have lots of possibilities; in fact, I am considering setting up a wiki for use in planning my next trip to Upper Peninsula.

Since I am a reader, I especially like the idea of people being able to post reviews and rate books for other readers. This summer, we had a book display where the branch staff put their favorite books on display with their name on a book mark (e.g. Ronda Recommends ...). It was extremely popular. People told us frequently that they loved reading the books that were our favorites. I even had people track me down and tell me how much they loved the book. So I can see where a wiki that allows people to recommend titles (which we already do on our homepage, but not locally in a branch) could be very popular.

Library 2.0

I certainly agree that Library 2.0 and Web 2.0 has / will affect the way we acquire and maintain collections. Certainly many of the juvenile nonfiction book collections that used to be wiped out during a large assignment no longer see the traffic; the students are getting their information online. But having helped fill over 700 reserve requests last Wednesday after being closed 2 days, I know very well that many customers are still asking for books and other actual materials, and we need to make sure they are getting what they want.

I think CML is striving to keep up with all the new technological developments, but when our homepage is not accessible (a friend told me CML's webpage was down twice in 2 weeks) or the internet is down or we can't get to the premium resources, we are not reliable enough to give up a large print collection that can help "just in case". And the more resources that are available online, the more computers (i.e. access points) we will need to provide to the public.

I think the idea of faster access to other's collections would be wonderful. I think we should be able to do much better than 6-7 weeks in filling ILL requests. Maybe some of the new innovations will help.

Tagging

Actually, tagging is pretty cool. If I had lots of favorite sites, I could see a real advantage in "cataloging" my sites. Since I only have about 10 favorite sites, it would take longer to tag than to use the drop-down. But if I ever get into major research online, I can see the advantage.

Twitter

I can't even keep up with e-mail. I can't imagine that I would need to know what everyone I know is doing or that my friends would be interested in my daily activities. Summaries through phone conversations, e-mails, and visiting in person are just fine! And I don't keep a cell phone on, for some of those same reasons. But I guess it's great for those who need to feel like they're constantly in touch.

Hmmm. Maybe I could twitter my manager each time I finish a task; then I wouldn't have to file a monthly report!

Library Catalog

I own a whole set of the Tillerman books by Cynthia Voigt that I keep in a special glass-fronted bookcase along with other special titles and book sets. I could spend hours calatoging all the books in my house! But I just cataloged the Tillerman ones.

Sudoku!

I was glad to find a site that will generate Sudoku puzzles. Since I am a big fan of these puzzles, it is nice to know I can generate one when I forget my black belt puzzle book. Here's the link: http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ I located this through the generator blog.

Searching for Feeds

I actually liked the bloglines subject search the best. I was able to find another travel site to add to my bloglines account.

RSS Feeds

Ever the reluctant techie, I would rather scan the newspaper than scan headlines online. I have subscribed to the required 10 feeds, but I think my favorite will be my friend's blog that tells me where she has most recently traveled. I'm going to keep looking for some sort of feed that will give me good travel deals, just to keep me interested in the feeds.

Boy, was this confusing! I could not do this without Ronda's help. Thank goodness for Ronda. She is a lifesaver!

It will be fun to have my friend's blog fed into my blogline account so I can track her travels and activities.

http://www.bloglines.com/public/ruthie86

Technology

There is no doubt that technology has enabled us to do fantastic things. But I also view it as insidious in its own way. I heard an article on NPR the other day about people depending on the clouds to store all of their files, including confidential files and "the summary of their lives" in photos, and how that information actually belongs to the site. I find those things frightening and believe many people are unaware of the situations they place themselves in. I also find that I need to evaluate each facet of technology and decide whether it really enhances my life (i.e. social interactions, confidentiality, convenience) and the balance I need to find in using it. There is no doubt it has helped us tremendously in helping people find answers, but we need to be sure they are finding correct information, since the editing process is often missing. And I have discovered that the time that is involved with staff when they get "hooked" on some really cool tools can have a real impact on work that is being accomplished. Enough said.

Flickr Tools

I was really fascinated by the montage that can be created just by using a tag. I loved the montage I created by putting in a travel tag. And it was great to run the mouse over the various photos and have them "pop up" with a clear picture.

Flickr Photo

I just went to flickr and saw this amazing photo. Wish I could be there right now!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottreither/2812158052/

Book Group Favorites

I have been a member of a book group for almost 20 years. Here are some of my favorite books and titles which elicited the best discussions over the years.

1991: Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
My Antonia by Willa Cather

1992: Walking Across Egypt by Clive Edgerton
One Child by Torey Hayden

1993: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

1994: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

1995: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel

1996: Follow the River by James Alexander Thom
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

1997: The Trees by Conrad Richter
Having Our Say by Sadie and Bessie Delany

1998: Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

1999: Color of Water by James McBride
Chosen by Chaim Potok

2000: Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

2001: Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
After a Long Silence by Helen Fremont

2002: Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

2003: Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2004: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Mountain Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Note: 2004 was an excellent year!

2005: Dreams of the Father by Barak Obama
Hidden Power by Kati Marton

2006: Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The March by E. L. Doctorow

2007:

Lifelong Learning

I think it will be a real challenge for me to keep up with the latest technology and use it to my advantage. I have no trouble learning the technology at work that helps me do my job, but I don't like to spend my own money on all the new "gadgets" that seem to be needed for this technology, nor do I like to be constantly "in touch" with the world around me. Obviously, by the title of this blog, I enjoy good old-fashioned reading. Yes, I used other forms of entertainment, such as listening to CDs, but it is very quick for me to borrow them from the library and slip them into a CD player rather than spend money and time downloading these on some sort of MP3 player. The less gadgets I own, the less money and time I need to spend on dealing with them!