Reflections

Many, if not most, of the places that Discover 2.0 has led me have been new to me. I feel that what I've gained is not so much technological expertise in each of them, but rather a sense of what's out there.

It's no news that there's a generational divide in using social applications such as Facebook, blogging, IM, etc. I believe in many cases, it's not a lack of aptitude that causes older people to be less comfortable with them; it may be a matter of culture. Younger people gain an easy familiarity with these technologies as they interact with peers who teach and encourage them to use them. We older folks already have other well-established other ways of communicating with family and friends.

There are so many options right now technologically, so how does the library figure out which ones to embrace? I think this is a time to watch, test the waters, try out new ideas, and expect the 2.0 scene to continue morphing and settling out for some time. The variety of applications out there is fairly overwhelming, and for this tutorial we had just enough time to read a little, poke around in each website a bit, then move on. But I think the exposure to all of these things was really the point, and I'm glad for the opportunity I have had here at the library for exploration. As projects come up in the future, I'll be more likely to think beyond traditional limits and more open to utilizing elements of web 2.0.

Personally, I was surprised to discover how much I truly enjoyed creating and tinkering with my own blog. It was a much more creative experience than I expected it to be. I also am now actively using my own delicious account for reference websites (losing all my IE bookmarks when my computer crashed helped me to see the light in this regard).

All in all, this has been an interesting, sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, journey through the 23 steps of the tutorial. Whew!

Microblogging: Tumblr and Twitter

I signed up for both Twitter and Tumblr. Twitter is text-only, Tumblr lets you insert photos, videos, audio, links to URLs, etc with your text. I really liked the way Tumblr gently guides you at sign up to help you post your first few microthoughts. I found it very easy to get started creating entries with Tumblr.

Could these be useful tools for library purposes? Some libraries seem to use microblogs as yet another venue, added to a variety of others, for publicizing their events and services. At least one library seems to be using Twitter to receive reference questions; not sure how they respond to the patron if the answer exceeds 140 characters. I could see staff who specialize in certain aresas sharing interesting finds with technically advanced patrons via Twitter or Tumblr. For example, a genealogy librarian might post links to helpful websites, news of updates to genealogy databases, etc. Of course, she could also use a regular blog or a newletter or an RSS feed or maybe even a delicious account or...??? Too many options! My head is starting to ache!

Videos

I thought it would be fun to try Dabble to group together a few videos I have enjoyed from YouTube. I tried adding a video two different ways (first without, then with, the toolbar tool they provide), but neither way worked for me. There are tutorials on the Dabble website; not enough time to look at them now.

Jumpcut seems kind of like a Google Docs for video format: it provides a way to share and group-edit videos online. Even if you don't have film to upload to the site, you can create a video from clips available on the site. Strangely, most of the clips I've found so far are still photos; I've seen only one moving clip (of a kayaker). Here's a little test slide show of clips I created with Jumpcut.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a handy way to keep up-to-date with programming you don't want to miss. Awhile back, using iTunes on my home computer, I subscribed to free podcasting from NPR's "This American Life" radio show. I was surprised that the weekly show downloads into my iTunes account only after I have clicked on an icon on my computer; there's a wait of several minutes before the content is actually there to listen to.

This technology could be useful for certain library applications. Staff at San Mateo County Library suggest some interesting possibilities in their Guide to Podcasting, such as services for the visually impaired, book reviews (e.g., Sam W.'s "One Minute Critic"), and poetry readings. Emory University podcasts a Library Survival Guide to help students and faculty learn what's available at the campus library, and how to use the resources there. (For example, their first episode was "a discussion of peer-reviewed journals: what are they, how do you find them, why do you care?")

Working with a blog -- creating posts, even adding photos, audio, and video -- is at a level of difficulty that hasn't seemed overly daunting for an individual. With podcasting, it seems that while recording may be something most of us could do given the equipment and some basic instructions, the jobs of editing and uploading the podcast to a website probably would be handed off to the techies in our midst.

I'm listening! (Audio sites)

Pandora is "radio from the Music Genome Project." You create a "station" based on a favorite song or artist, and Pandora provides a steady stream of music that the genome project's analysis shows to be similar. So you get an interesting mix of songs. Right now, my Beatles station is playing Pink Floyd's "The Wall," which I do like. My "Heart of Gold" station (based on Neil Young's song) just played "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin, which I'm not too crazy about. Still, it's interesting to hear Pandora's range of choices. One complaint: maneuvering around in Pandora seems a little clunky, with pages taking a long time to load. I keep finding myself routed to their FAQ page, and unable to back out. Maybe this is a temporary computer glitch?

Last FM seems for the most part to allow you to listen only to parts of songs. It does have some interesting features, though. Type in an artist name, and you get a bunch of information organized under tabs, such as "Bio" and "Similar." The Similar tab for Joan Osborne lists Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morissette and others. With Last FM you can create a Pandora-like custom radio station, but you need to download software for that feature.

IMEEM does allow you to select individual songs to listen to all the way through. I wondered if IMEEM is providing this access legally, but didn't find an answer to my question on this website. My colleague Sam thinks it may be that songs have been purchased by other users, who then share them online. Possibly it's legal to share for listening (but not downloading) purposes.

Mango Languages looks interesting, but I couldn't try one of its language lessons without first downloading updated Adobe software. Maybe later, as IT will have to enable the download.

I'd like to try downloading one of the classic, public-domain books available at the The Gutenberg Audio Books Project. Some of the texts here are read by human voices, others use computer-generated sound. The audio formats available vary title by title; I didn't see a way to search for all titles that are available in, for example, the format for iTunes or MP3.

Google Docs

I'm glad to learn about Google Docs. I can see how knowledge about this type of application could become necessary in the workplace in the not-so-distant future. For awhile now, many jobs have required you to know the basics of software such as Word or Excel. The future may be that you'll also have to know how to edit and share these formats online.

This would be an extra challenge for those who are still getting their bearings on such basics as email. Technological change has come so quickly. You just acquire tentative proficiency with one new item, when something even more innovative pops up and gains favor. Many of our patrons are struggling with computer basics. They probably won't have to worry about something like Google Docs this year, but in 4 or 5 years, if they are looking for a job, or submitting a document to a government agency, how much more will they be expected to know?

I must say, though, that Google Docs appears to be very easy to use. It's pretty remarkable, really -- the folks at Google excel at avoiding unnecessary complication in developing their applications. When I first opened up Google Docs, the familiar Word interface put me at ease. So if you know Word, creating a document isn't too scary. Sharing and publishing require familiarity with the Internet, of course, and some online reading to figure out just how it all works.

I typed this entry in Google Docs, as well as a cheat sheet for Word.

"Cool Stuff"

1) Blog Readability Test (BRT)
A couple of other people here have mentioned their blogs got a "Genius" rating from this test, and mine did too. The BRT gives no information about how it assigns rankings, so I suspected that it gives EVERY blog a genius rating. I tested it with three blogs that I thought would be readable by the average high schooler or below. Here are the blogs and their ratings:

--Paris Hilton fan blog. Rated: College (Post-grad)
--Steven Seagal blog. Rated: College (Under-grad)
--Hannah Montana fan blog. Rated: Elementary level

The Hannah Montana blog was definitely elementary level, so BRT gains a little credibility with that one. But only a little!

2) Sketchcast
I created my masterpiece, "Spring," with Sketchcast. It expresses the simple beauty of a lovely spring flower sprouting up through the ground and growing steadily in the alternating warmth of sun and raindrops from cloudy skies. Seriously, though, Sketchcast is basically an animation device for an etch-a-sketch-quality medium. Not much choice in line, color or any other effects.

3) Delicious redux
My computer's hard drive has self-destructed. Among other things, I lost all the bookmarks I had carefully saved in folders on my browser toolbar. So I feel more motivated than I was earlier to learn how to put my bookmarks on an external server. I started to set up a wiki (using Peanut Butter Wiki), but then thought I'd try delicious instead. So I'll see how it goes.

Wiki-ed

I have problems accepting a public wiki as a source of authoritative information. Although Wikipedia is wonderful in that it covers so many topics you won't find in a traditional encyclopedia, I think it's really most useful as a starting point to lead to other sources that have been more reliably fact-checked.

But a staff wiki is another matter . The example of an internal library wiki at "Wikis: A Beginner's Look" I actually found exciting (maybe I need a hobby).

Aha! I thought, as shivers ran up my spine. Now THAT could be useful! The wiki in the example is used to pull together lots of different kinds of staff resources. In other words, a bunch of stuff that I have a hard time remembering where and how to access (what folder is it in, what password do I use) could all be kept in ONE PLACE. A wiki for IS could house, for example:

-- Our Fugitive Facts file
-- A link to our blog
-- A link to our delicious account (Or here's a heretical thought: abandon delicious and add our subject bookmarks directly to the internal wiki instead. Wouldn't be available to the outside world, but does the world care?)
-- Software and other specs for SAM and PAL
-- Known machine problems & fixes (Internet, PAL, printers)
-- Resources for the homework topic of the moment
-- A link to the staff schedule (if we can link to the Yakima server)

According to the Online Community Report, 87% of organizations say they use wikis for internal purposes, and only 27% use them externally.

For me, one of the most stressful aspects of technological change here in the library over the past few years has been the proliferation of technological issues to remember solutions for, and the proliferation of places where our work-related information is now stored. (And many of those places require different passwords. AARGH@!&#) If we could get it all under one roof (and have a single password that applies to everything there?) how much simpler and sweeter life would be. And when we have something to add -- another blog, another 2.0 application of some kind, or whatever the heck else comes down the pike -- maybe we could put a link on the wiki, and not have to add another bookmark to every one of our computers.

On the downside, it would take time to set up. And if not maintained well, there's the risk that instead of centralizing everything, the wiki would become just one more place that you need to check when you're looking for some bit of information. The maintenance concern is touched upon in the report referenced above; it says that wikis work best "with a clear final product in mind," and that "aggressive co-editing of content is harder to effect using wikis."

LibraryThing

I chose to set up an account in LibraryThing rather than Goodreads only because:

a) LibraryThing claims to be "the world's largest book club." If I'm going to do this online book stuff, baby, then I'm going to do it up BIG!!!

b) The instructions were shorter, and I don't have much time.

I've figured out some basics of adding, reviewing and rating books for my LibraryThing "library" through trial and error. I do wish some things were a little clearer. For instance, there are two icons that seem to lead you to the exact same editing page (one looks like a rolodex card, the other is a pencil).

As an old-timer, I have mixed feelings about tagging. Yes, it's very useful to be able to search for books (or photos, videos, etc) using combinations of tags. But to be really effective, the tags people attach to the item need to be well-chosen. And thorough. When tagging the book "Touching the Void," I realized that to maximize its findability, I would need to use multiple tags for a single concept: mountain climbing, mountain climbers, moutaineering, mountaineers, etc. Library cataloguers address this issue by using standardized headings. I'm thinking that online tagging could possibly evolve to where a single tag could automatically link with other synonymous tags, so that if you tag a book "mountaineering" all those other tags will be searched as well. Maybe it already does this, and I just haven't noticed? Maybe later on I'll have a chance to explore this...

Anyway, here's a link to my profile on LibraryThing:
http://www.librarything.com/profile/lunamonty

Swizzle

This entry is dedicated to Swizzle, our beautiful companion of almost 20 years. Her spirit was strong, her body increasingly frail. Yesterday she passed away. My heart feels so heavy now. I will always love my amazingly valiant and sweet "Sissie".

Blog search tool - Technorati

The Advanced search of Technorati is nice. I like the specificity it allows -- e.g., you can ask Technorati to find keywords in the tags of posts, or the actual text of posts, or look by subject heading, etc. This works similarly to the advanced searches in periodical databases that the library subscribes to, such as Proquest or OneFile (although of course the databases don't include users' tags).

At this point in my life, I just haven't caught the blog-reading bug. (Though I thoroughly enjoy tinkering around with my OWN blog!) I do really like to read newspaper editorials and columns. But blogs and blog postings are like a gazillion letters to the editor thrown in with a few good editorials. I guess this just highlights the necessity of a tool such as Technorati to help separate the grain from the enormous amount of online chaff. For now, though, in my personal life, I will admit that I don't often feel the need to seek news and opinion outside of traditional sources. And our internal work-related library blogs are already at my fingertips.

Delicious aka del.icio.us

Thoughts on del.icio.us (the website, not the pie):

1) Unfortunately, a permissions problem blocked my efforts to add the two delicious buttons to my toolbar in both Explorer and Firefox.

2) User Notes. Hmmm. What is their purpose? I suppose they're intended as the electronic equivalent of a yellow post-it. But with good tagging, many of the notes I saw today seemed pretty superfluous.

3) I can see delicious being helpful with projects I've had that involve creating lists of URLs on particular topics. I may try using delicious with an upcoming project, depending on how much time it takes me to figure out the particulars to do it right!

4) This is one 2.0 application that I need to practice when time allows. I want to be able to add & tag websites easily, when I have spare moments here and there.

Image generators

Some of the image generators are fun and easy to use. I tried several, including the Warning Sign Generator (see image above). Using the Add Letters website I also created a street sign with my husband's name on it, and some other silly stuff. I got nowhere with the Reflectionmaker tool; it didn't work with any of the images I provided, and I couldn't find a "help" feature or other guidance at the site, so I don't know what I was doing wrong.

MySpace rant

First impressions upon setting up a MySpace page:

1) Ads, ads, ads!!! I didn't expect my own MySpace page to be so full of them! I'm told you can screen them out, if your browser is Firefox. Should you find yourself using MySpace much, that's a good thing to keep in mind.

2) The MySpace interface isn't intuitive, at least not if you're trying to figure out how to add a "Friend."

3) I'm disappointed by the heavy-handed emphasis on helping MySpace grow and make money. (See #1). The "Invite" tab turns out to be just a way to ask other people to start their own MySpace page, so that (warning, cynical remark ahead) they too can begin generating advertising revenue for the website. I don't disagree that MySpace should be able to make a profit. But I'm surprised by the degree to which that goal is apparent on my individual page.

4) It's very helpful to have someone personally show you how to use MySpace. I'll bet even most teens learn the basics of MySpace from one another, rather than puzzling it out on their own.

5) I now realize that my experience with Google Blogger has spoiled me. It turns out that not all popular 2.0 tools are as well-designed and user-friendly (at least for me) as Blogger, with freedom of choice regarding advertisements.

Social Networks

I thought the comments at Librarian in Black , and elsewhere, regarding the pros and cons of libraries' creating a profile on MySpace and other social networks were very interesting.

Cons ranged from the practical (e.g., who's responsible, privacy concerns, links to questionable content on "friends'" pages) to the more philosophical (e.g., we may think it's cool for the library to be on MySpace, but will the kids see us as authority figures invading their domain with unwelcome clutter?) I thought these were valid points for consideration.

On the pro side, users of MySpace can choose to be "friends" of the library, or ignore us if they really do find us intrusive. And I liked some of the ideas on how we could use a library MySpace page: a blog/feed for upcoming library programs, YouTube videos of library events, and podcasts of new teen books. Looking at our own YAAB page on MySpace, it also seems worth noting that the library's presence there gives teens who love reading a ready place to plug into. We can be there for the already book-oriented, regardless of how many young adults can be persuaded to consider us cool.

Instant Messaging

So far, IM is the only item in our 2.0 tutorial that I had previously used. (Exodus is on the computer at my desk).

New technologies eventually seem to settle into their own niches, and over time those niches can shift. Isn't this true of everything from horses to radio to computers? And a new technology may not supplant an old one exactly as expected. For instance, IM hasn't functioned all that well as a substitute for phone contact in our department, partly because a phone can be answered by anyone who hears it, while IM (at least as we have set it up), must be directed to a single individual. And that individual may not be the one available to answer queries.

However, I've found IM to be ideal for directing a quick question to a specific person, when you don't want to interrupt with a phone call, or when you'd like to transmit a URL or other info best suited to text form. I like IM in this context. For me, IM is finding its own place in my work routines and serving a different purpose than phone or email.

A fellow blogger notes that teens and young adults generally opt for text messaging, rather than IM. This should be an important consideration in implementing instant online ready reference. Chat reference seems to be yet another alternative, though according to one of the IM articles, chat is prone to technical difficulties. As a consumer, I've had mostly good experiences in getting customer assistance via the chat links on company websites.

A pretty picture...

Dark-eyed Junco
Originally uploaded by sandy130

Feisty little birds with black caps have been visiting our backyard this winter. With a little research, I discovered that they are Dark-Eyed Juncos. They flock to the seeds we put out on cold days, and it's fun to watch as they jostle for eating space. Our cats like to watch them too -- but we try to make sure it's from behind the closed window!

Here's a link with more about the Dark-Eyed Junco. There's even a sound sample:
www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Dark-eyed_Junco.html

Finding some RSS feeds

Of the feed search tools suggested for us to try, I most liked Topix. It has a fairly attractive layout, and wasn't too hard to figure out how to use. It offers a keyword search as well as some category groupings.

Feedster sounded interesting, but unfortunately their website seems to be down for maintenance. I was unable to access it a few days ago, and it still didn't work for me today.

At first I didn't care for Syndic8. It looks like it was designed by techies who read the phone book for pleasure. Lots of texty links. But then I found its beauty. You put your keywords into the search box, and instead of a page full of posts from different newsfeeds, up comes a simple list of matching feed names, with some basic info for each. For instance, it gives you the date a blog was created, the language, and its URL. I like being able to link directly to a source via its URL, rather than coming in through the back door of a string of postings.

Technorati looked kind of like Topix. I'll explore it more when it comes up again in the tutorial.

How can the library use RSS? Patrons could subscribe to our newsletters, event calendars, booklists, etc, as an option along with email or postal mail. They also could build customized groupings of newsfeeds from what the library has to offer. (A library blog I subscribed to will be sending me information related to one particular topic area). Staff can use their Bloglines account to subscribe to all the in-house blogs that interest them and organize them into one spot.

Frankly, though, I think subscribing to newsfeeds can be like subscribing to listservs in our email accounts. It takes a lot of time to read them, and it is easy to sign up for more than you can handle.

RSS with ALHFMF

Whew, I managed to sign up for some RSS feeds (with A Little Help From My Friend -- thanks, EH) but it may be awhile before this makes real sense for me. I do get the purpose of RSS, but the way the whole thing works is a shifting shape in the fog.

So far, it appears that a blog also is automatically a newsfeed that anyone can sign up for. (Is every blog a newsfeed and every newsfeed a blog?) And you have to sign in to your Bloglines account -- or other news reader-- to view your RSS feeds. I had pictured these feeds somehow appearing *presto!* on my browser toolbar, in my email, or maybe somewhere on my blog, but no, you go out there and retrieve them. And, there are multiple ways to subscribe.

Once I start viewing the feeds and editing my list, the sun will come out, the fog will slip away, and I will be master of my own techno domain .... yes?

Flickr Mania

Well, I like Spell with Flickr. It's an application I can relate to! Some of the other types of flickr mashups seem quite mystifying, probably because I am still in the 20th century photo-wise. (My first camera was a Brownie. The Smithsonian probably has it now). Although I do use a digital camera -- that is, I look through the viewfinder and press the button -- I've never personally downloaded any of the photos to a computer. Maybe that should be my homework assignment!

Chickadee and the Snowman

Chickadee and the Snowman
Originally uploaded by nature55

Until we get a blizzard locally, this snowman will have to do. Looks a little like Paulie Walnuts (Sopranos fans, note the "hair"!), although I think those are peanuts sticking out of his chest.

Lifelong Learning Habits

Welcome to my blog!

My first entry is a response to a work assignment. So here goes:

1. Easiest learning habit for me? "Accept responsibility for your own learning." I was a student for so many years, this seems like a given...

2. Hardest habit? Probably "Play." In trying to learn something new, especially something confusing or difficult, it's easy to become too serious and forget to look for the fun.