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/