Corner View

Virtually There

2007-12-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

Amazing! It seems like a miracle to be able to just pick out a book and download it. I "checked out" an Elizabeth Peters title as I have enjoyed her mysteries. Can't wait to listen to it. It's really so easy.

I also checked out some of the recommended public library web sites....wondered why Skokie Public Library wasn't listed there. I did find some interesting things. On the Ann Arbor web site, I thought that their "Picture Ann Arbor" idea would be good for us with SkokieNet. I liked their blogs with links to recommended music---sampled YouTube videos of Habib Koite, a musician from Mali and Pauline Croze, a French singer I had not heard of. Her music is quite nice and to my liking. On the Morton Grove site, I liked the "Don't Click Here" warning. Of course, people will click on it and it turns out to be an ad by Proquest for online resources from the hidden web, available through your library. "And don't click here either" is a link to the actual databases Morton Grove subscribes to. A clever way to attract users. Humor always works online. Kansas City had a lot of author links and a nice events display with seven choices that each lead to screens such as we have on the plasmas.

All in all, I had a good time and have learned a lot from the 10 Things. You have to be willing to explore and try things. All it takes is a little time.........

Productivity

2007-12-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finally gotten to Thing 9. I should have used Google docs ages ago. It operates a lot like a Wiki, but you can specify who can edit and contribute (collaborators) vs who can just view. It will be great for committee projects with ILA and PLA. Tobi and I were jointly working on a report for the Board and Google docs would have simplified things although I do use the edit features in Microsoft Word.

I used Google Earth to look at images of Madagascar where my niece will be in the Peace Corps. Also some of the amazing images from the Hubble telescope.

Lifehacker has some great tips! I signed up for a hassle me reminder for something that I need to do and never seem to get around to. I won't say what it is, but some of you who have been in my office might guess......

Flickr Photos

2007-11-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well, you can see I had fun playing with the photos on Flickr. I ended up blogging the whole page of each photo and the page with the thumbnail as well, rather than just the photos themselves. I imagine that someone can tell me what I was doing wrong. At least they are pretty photos of the coast of Maine so you don't much mind looking at them multiple times in different sizes.

Flickr Photo Download: IMG_0233

2007-11-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

Flickr Photo Download: IMG_0233

Flickr Photo Download: IMG_0234

2007-11-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Flickr Photo Download: IMG_0234

Flickr Photo Download: IMG_0235

2007-11-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

Flickr Photo Download: IMG_0235

IMG_0235 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2007-11-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

IMG_0235 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

IMG_0234 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2007-11-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

IMG_0234 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

IMG_0233 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2007-11-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

IMG_0233 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Wikis

2007-11-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

I like the concept of Wikis, especially for the kind of information as set up on the 10 Things site. It's fun to see everyone's favorite movies and restaurants. The site becomes more valuable as more people add to it. While I appreciate the entries in Wikipedia and have used it on occasion for basic information on a topic (especially in technology), my Reference training leads me to respect the authority of a credentialed individual authoring an article on a subject. Of course, in many cases, the authors of Wikipedia articles do have credentials for what they are writing. I enjoyed seeing some of the other Wikis out there such as the Biz Wiki at Ohio University or St. Joseph County Business Wiki. These have ideas that could be useful to Skokie's business community.

Tuning in

2007-11-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

OK. This thing on Podcasting and online multimedia was great fun. I had listened to some podcasts before eg from National Public Radio, but this was amazing to see the range of content that is out there and the sheer amount of it. I could have spent a lot of time on Learning Out Loud. It's a listening/viewing library that has something for everyone. I listened to a piece on disruptive technologies from Penn State, to a book review of The People of Paper from Grand Rapids Public Library and to a videopodcast about oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. This audiovisual material is rich and would definitely be appreciated by folks in Skokie. We could have podcasts of some of our programs (that are not taped for cable), book reviews by staff, tips on searching or using reference tools, stories for kids and greetings/news of Library events in different languages. There are wonderful opportunities for outreach programming and time shifting ie making Library offerings convenient for everyone.

Instant Messaging

2007-11-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

I discover that this communication mode isn't always so instantaneous. I have tried several times and find the 10 Things Team offline. To me, this is more like a committee meeting where you need to make arrangements for people to be online at a certain time. Once achieved, different people could have an interesting conversation and perhaps make some decisions collectively. So far, I still find e-mail preferable because each participant communicates in accordance with their own time frame and picks up messages relatively often, if not in real time.

Yummy

2007-11-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

I moved on to Thing 6 re social bookmarking. I like this one a lot. I can see where it would be very helpful to see what other staff have bookmarked. I contributed two sites---one related to data and its analysis and the other related to privacy. Both may be helpful to other staff. It was interesting to see what's popular---not surprisingly a lot of the recommended sites relate to technology. Staff sites seemed to be all over or at least the tags are. Nothing is too prominent in the cloud. I gravitated to the food sites, whether because I was on del.icio.us or because I am anticipating dinner tomorrow......

Moving along

2007-11-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

I read up on Instant Messaging, but didn't find anyone online at the moment to connect with so moved on to Social Networking. I signed up for Eons, but don't see myself looking for friends this way. I have some friends from high school and college with whom I sometimes communicate as well as friends from previous jobs. In addition, I have siblings and other relatives. I can barely keep up with all these folks, so why would I want to go out there looking for people I've never met to start communicating with? I did have a big high school reunion recently and they started a list of classmates. It has been fun to hear from some of them occasionally re who is doing what, who is a grandparent, etc. However, I know that some people spend hours in communicating on these sites. I would only do that if I were planning an event or had some specific purpose. As far as the Library is concerned, I see the ratings and reviews as being more helpful than general chat.

Picking up the Thread

2007-11-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's been almost four weeks since my last post. Where do the days go? I have just finished Thing 2 re RSS feeds. I love the concept. Without having to go out and look for things (often a waste of time), you can get interesting news and articles delivered right to you. There is that serendipity of discovering something you wouldn't have gone looking for. The only problem is that each feed still gives you a bunch of stuff you could care less about. So much to sort through....a bit like the mail at home with one interesting thing for every seven pieces of junk. I liked the Henepin County use of RSS to give a variety of information---even things like catalog tips. I wonder how many people subscribe. Maybe with SPL's "New@" RSS people will discover some services and programs they wouldn't have known about otherwise. I like the SkokieTalk site. Keeping everyone in touch with what's happening locally is a good idea. Our weekly community newpaper can't really fill that role. I discovered several sites that would be of interest to local business: Elance, an online marketplace for small business to hire web designers, writers, admins and other freelancers, Duct Tape Marketing podcasts and Brian Clark's Business Pundit.

Getting Started

2007-10-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Better late than never! I'm finally getting underway. It is not in my nature to ramble on like this so I'll have to see how well suited I am to blogging. Just now I am looking out at a lovely sunset which is distracting me. Got to check off Thing one and move on to.....dinner!