Week 7 Thing 16

I like the fact that Wikis are a shared resource. I can see where an internal library wiki site would be very useful. I am anxious to see our children's programming wiki when it becomes active. Rather than each librarian recreating the wheel, we can all share our resources. I can also see the benefit of using wikis as a knowledge base. This would be an efficient method to instruct staff and library customers on library resources.
The community guide wikis also intrigue me. This would certainly make the library more valuable to the community. It would also raise our public profile which is important in these trying economic times. Overall, I was a little surprised to see that wikis are so organized. I wasn't expecting that. And it was interesting that the members self-police the site.

Week 6 Thing 15

I enjoyed reading Dr. Wendy Schultz's article on Library 2.0. I liked the coffee analogy of progression from commodity to product to service to experience. She says, "from selling coffee beans to selling Maxwell House to serving coffee at Dunkin Donuts to providing an exotic Starbucks' coffee permutation in its chattering, WiFi, jazz cafe atmosphere." This idea is superimposed on the library. The fundamentals of Library 2.0 state "the need for libraries to adopt a strategy for constant change while promoting a participatory role for library users." In summary of Dr. Schultz's article, the libraries commodity are books. The next factor is the product. How do we package our commodity? Even as we evolve and our barriers are eliminated, people will still need help navigating their way. Examples of how our barriers are eliminated are providing digital downloads, tagging and reader contributions. Going beyond Library 2.0 to Library 3.0, books will enter the "virtual graphic world...where books themselves will have avatars and online personalities."

The Library 2.0 concept is very interesting. Technology is changing so rapidly and is affecting the way we do business in the library. Our library has adapted in many ways in the past few years with email notifications, a patron blog, rss feeds, ebooks and audio, streaming music, ask-a-librarian service (live, email or phone), wireless technology and twitter.

As the economy tanks, the library's sense of place is becoming more important once again. People are flocking to the libraries for help during this period of economic upheaval. So we have one eye to all the future advances but also provide a comforting, helpful destination. I'm sure there are ways we can improve, but it seems to me that we are balancing the needs of our community fairly well. We seem to have gone from just dealing in books to the more exotic downloads and various digital formats to providing pleasant places to visit. The nature of libraries is change and we must continue to adapt to stay viable in the community.

Week 6, Thing 14

Answers to Discovery Exercise:
1. Yes, there were different results for searching "Learning 2.0" in Blog posts, tags and in the Blog Directory. The blog had one post, there were none in tags and the directory had one post.
2. The "popular" section is unavailable but will return in the near future ... so I couldn't explore it.
Learning about Technorati seems vital since blogs have really taken off. This will help both professionally and personally. Two features that I particularly like are the popular videos and the annual review of the technology.

Week 6 Thing 13

This week I looked at Del.icio.us and Technorati. I can see where it would be useful to have your bookmarks available on whatever computer you are using. This would be handy as you move from one information desk to another. Also, I like tagging, because unlike folders, you can assign more than one descriptive term to your subject. And lastly, I like the sharing aspect; the fact that you can see what others have done and you can share what you have done.

Week 5 Thing 12 - Rollyo

I've created a roll with Library craft websites. I can see where this would be useful professionaly and at home.
http://www.rollyo.com/index.html

Week 5 Thing 11

I've discovered Library Thing. I would like to keep a running list of the titles I read so I can refer to them when I am doing reader's advisory. It seems to me, though, that I will have to pay the subscription fee because they don't allow you to catalog too many titles for free. I can see where this site will be very helpful.
http://www.librarything.com/home/nixdorf

Week 5 Thing 10-Image Generator

This is from Word Mosaic. It is in the shape of an apple.
http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/word-mosaic.html

Week 4 Thing 9

The easiest way to find the feeds is when there is a newsfeed icon to click on and of course if you go through the directories of newsfeeds. At this point in the program, I feel as if I am signing up for so many new information sources. Will I have time to keep up with all this information? I am very happy for this program because it is exposing me to new sites that I was not aware of.

Week 4 Thing 8

RSS & Newsreaders
I have set up a Blogline account and added several newsfeeds. Since I am new to this, I am wondering what happens to all the new postings? Do you have to delete them like you do in email? Or will they just go away after a time period? Will it become overwhelming?
Certainly looking at the library oriented news feeds will keep me current with library happenings. In the public library setting, I like the ability to send patrons newsletters of new books of their interest. This is a terrific feature that should probably be promoted more enthusiastically.

Week 3 Thing 7

I recently got Skype installed on my home computer. It is truly amazing technology. You can see and talk to friends overseas for free!

Week 3 Thing 6

I like the trip planner site. I will use this the next time I'm planning a trip. The home decorating/color site also looked fun but you had to sign up for it. I'm not too sure I want to do this because I'm wondering if I'll get a lot of junk that I don't want?

IMG_0875

IMG_0875
Originally uploaded by camtb

This is a very clever book display. Now I can use Flickr to search for display ideas.

Week 3, Thing 5 again

2009craftsignSpring&Summer 006
Originally uploaded by kidslibrarian

Ok, it helps to work with younger people who know what they are doing. Here is the same photo, but now it comes from flickr and is tagged! Yahoo!

Week 3, Thing 5

Ok, I figured out how to work the digital camera, and get a picture loaded onto my blog. My next quest is to find out how to add my flickr photo to this blog.
We are just about to finish our 6 week summer craft program at the library. We did it every Monday from 1:00-3:00. The kids seemed to really enjoy the program. (I did too!:))

Week 1, Thing 2

Pointers from lifelong learners: The hardest part for me will be Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage. Participating in this program will help me become more comfortable with newer technology and help with the constant advances in the future. Habit 7: Teach and mentor others will be the easiest for me. I enjoy working on a team and will share what I know with other staff and our library customers.

Week 2, Thing 3: Yeah!

This is my very first post. I'm looking forward to becoming technically literate!