Method 12 - Evaluation

Well I did it! I finished! And I have to say this was a very worthwhile endeavor on my part. While there are some things I most likely won't be using in the near future (pod casts, wiki) there are many things that I found very useful. First, just being introduced to blogs. Sure I read a lot of them for fun, but to see the professional application and get hands on experience using them was invaluable. In fact, because of this blog, I actually transferred out "suggestion box" into a digital one that is now a blog posted our homepage. If I had not had the experience I had here, there is no way I would have had the confidence to get my own started at work. While I'm going to need more practice with some of these tools, my professional goal is to never "fall behind" when it comes to technology. With the tools I have from this experience, I feel more confident in learning even more applications for these things Ive learned. I loved that the format allowed me to do this program at my own pace. When it is quieter (like it has been the past two weeks) I can give my full attention to completing things like this. When it is really busy I don't have to worry about  making sure I'm still making time for activities like this. It really allowed me the freedom I needed to get it done on my schedule. Thank you for that!! I look forward to participating in beyond two steppin' and hope to see more programs like this in the future!

Method 11 - Podcasts

While I don't have much experience creating pod casts, I do have quite a bit of experience in using them. When I used to have an hour long commute (each way) on public transportation, having a subscription to pod casts got me though a lot of those long trips to and from work. What is easier than updating your ipod at night and then when you jump on the bus in the morning you have a whole group of new and interesting things to listen to. One of my favorites was *nerd alert* the podcast from the creators of Lost where they would discuss all aspects of the show. For a large library and maybe even for public libraries, pod casts could be helpful in lots of different ways. They can be used a tutorials, updates on current things going on, recordings of programs, book reviews al la NPR and many other things I'm sure I haven't even dreamed of yet. With a limited staff that has a focus on teaching, I don't think we have too many options for integrating pod casts into our library currently.

Method 10 - Wikis

Up until just a few years ago, I was a snob when it came to wikis. I thought they were useless and that there was no one anyone could use them for good reliable information. Having had more experience with them in both my personal and professional life, I have changed my tune. Would I recommend a PhD student use it as a reference for their thesis, probably not. Is it a good place to get quick definitions, info on current events, pop culture or the order of books in a series? By all means! Especially after reading the material and practicing with a real live wiki I can see that there are even more uses that I had ever imagined. While we probably wont use a wiki in our library any time soon, I can see the applications in the library as a quick place to post things and get the public interacting with the library. I look forward to seeing more uses and hopefully being able to integrate them into our suite of technology offerings.

Method - chat it up

I am a HUGE fan of chat. I use it personally on Gmail as well as on facebook and also I like using it when shopping online as well. Chat is a quick way to get questions answered if you have a question about a product (I use a particular clothing retailer that allows you to get exact measurements of items via chatting with an associate) and I also use it socially to talk to friends while on facebook or while checking my email. In terms of libraries I think it is an invaluable tool. For those who may be too shy to come to the reference desk, or are afraid to "look silly" but still need help it is a great way to get help without being under and kind of pressure. The fact that you can use it from anywhere is also a great feature. We have even had students use it to tell us that a patron near them is being disruptive and could we please come ask them to be quiet. One downside I can see to chat is the ability to type quickly. Students now are used to instant answers and responses. When I am answering questions via chat, I feel that there is a pressure to get the answer out there as quickly as possible and if someone is not used to that, they may not know that the spelling does not have to be perfect and taking too much time to correct spelling etc may leave the patron hanging.  Also, you can't take too much time to let them know that you are there. A quick "hello" while you try to find the answer to their question is a great way to say I'm here and ready to help. Otherwise you may encounter the problem of the patron may think no one is there if you take too much time to formulate a response that answers all of their question at once. Overall, chat is a fabulous tool and as long as you have the staff to do it, I am all for it.

Method 8 - Social Networking

I am a frequent user of facebook and have been for a few years. I think there are some great uses for social networking that libraries and other institutions/businesses etc. I do have concerns about privacy and as a result have different groups set up so that certain people only see certain posts. I try to keep work and my private life separate, but even with these privacy features activated, it is still difficult. I am curious about the introduction of google + and how this may change the social networking scene. Since I am still very new to google response to facebook, I can't really say too much about it. Ive only been on it for about a week as of today and have not had the opportunity to explore all of its features yet.

Method 7- Tag you're it!

Tagging, to be honest I was on vaguely familiar with it and it looked a little on the complicated side at first glance. After having watched the videos, read the articles and looked at the other libraries that have made use of it, I can see the value in them. We actually have a new catalog that allows users to tag items and we have been making use of that to create lists for our patrons. One such example was a list of fun summer reading suggestions and another list of fun summer movies that we have available to check out at the library. I think it will take some practice for me to start integrating this into what I do at the library, but I think if I keep seeing what others are doing and keep practicing it could become a very great tool for us to use. It is also handy to be able to access bookmarks from everywhere.

Method 6 -Youtube

Anyone that knows, me knows Im a sucker for a good youtube video. If that is the case you probably also know that I love the TV Show Parks & Recreation on NBC. Not only is this show funny and original, it also portrays librarians in, how shall we say, not the best light. To the members of city government, the library is the most evil department there is. They are conniving, backstabbing and just plain mean. I find this hilarious, because generally the sterotype for a librarian is a sweet older lady that wears pearls and has a collection of cats that rivals their collection of books. Since I am not the sterotpical librarian, I love seeing funny portrayals of librarians like that on Parks and Recreation. Id like to share a short clip from the show that I found on Youtube to illustrate what their true feelings are for the library:

Ok, now back to business. I really think that youtube is a great resource that libraries can take advantage of. With an inexpensive videocamera (or smart phone) the library can make a wide variety of videos. We can do tutorials, tours, post programming, create skits etc to advertise the library services and just overall show that we are "cool". While there is quite a bit of junk on youtube, if you can create a really great funny video, it can be priceless.

Method 5- Photo sharing

Eze sur mer from Eze hilltop garden, a photo by evissa on Flickr.

I use flickr to find and post this beautiful picture for this particular blog entry. My next vacation will hopefully be to France, so I went and did some searching to find a beautiful photo of the area I want to travel to, the Cote d'Azure. This week I looked at photo sharing. I love pictures, and I love traveling so one would think I would be better about keeping my pictures organized. WRONG! I have been fortunate enough to have been to numerous states and also to a few foreign countries as well, however I do not have the pictures to reflect this. I seem to come and go in my regards to online photo sharing. I had an account with yahoo's old photo sharing site, however they closed that site down and because I did not transfer my photos in time, I lost about 5 years worth of memories. I am trying to be better about it now. Part of the problem is downloading and organizing photos onto your personal computer from your camera can be troublesome and time consuming. Now that I have a smart phone, it is almost no work at all to snap and then immediately post to my facebook account. I did take the trip of a lifetime last summer and that inspired me to get back on the photo sharing bandwagon with google's photo sharing, Picasa. I have a few friends that use it so I decided to give it a try. It was a great way to share my vacation photos with family members that were far away. Having looked at flickr and having experience with Picasa, I'm torn as to which one I like better. I do like the ability to send photos from flickr directly to snapfish for printing, that is quite convenient, and since Picasa is linked to my google email, that's pretty convenient, too. I guess Ill just have to keep practicing in order to figure out which one is best for me in the long run.
As for libraries, I can see how using flickr or something similar can be helpful to showcase different activities, events even the art and architecture of a building. For the library I work at, this might not be the best use of our time since we are a relatively small library in terms of physical space and we rarely offer programming and exhibits. In our case our efforts might better be spent on youtube or facebook efforts.

Method 4 - RSS

Oh RSS feeds, where have you been all my life? I just started reading blogs consistently in the last year and would always find it frustrating when I would check back after some time to find that the blogger hadn't updated their blog with any new posts in a while. This RSS feeder thing is going to be a game changer! No more dissapointing checks to blogs! No more wasting time going through my list of "favorites" on my browswer to only find old post after old post! I'm free! I subscribed to two blogs that I read regularly,
http://captainmonkeypants.blogspot.com/ 
http://temptalia.com/
and then also subscribed to a librarian blog that had been reccomended to me a while ago
http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/
Im pretty excited to get even more familiar with google reader since it looks like there are so many uses for it. And how fun to have all of your blogs most recent posts all in one place to read!

Method 3 - The Cloud

The Cloud. It sounds so, ominous. Not just A cloud, a white fluffly cream puff in the sky, but The Cloud. The one Cloud to rule them all . . .ok too nerdy. But really, what does The Cloud mean? Well, it can mean helping libraries cut some costs. It can mean not having to purchase a fleet of office suites for hundreds of computers. It can mean an easy alternative to being tied to just one machine. I mean who of us hasn't lost a term paper or other important document when our computers decide to crash? The cloud can mean freedom and the ability to work from anywhere we choose. It can also mean having to think about who REALLY owns our ideas. If we post or save something to The Cloud, will we EVER really be able to say that it is only our own property? Without any agreements or contracts we could be opening the doors to some really tricky intellectual property arguments. Also, what if we decide to go with a company that isn't the big G and they get bought out by someone else, or if in the worst case they go bust and we aren't able to get our documents back? What about security? What if someone hacks the site and steals our ideas? There are a lot of really important questions we need to think about before diving head first into the cloud. While I take the time to ponder what I think I should do personally and professionally (My personal experience is limited to a few photo albums and a handful of google docs) Ill just keep the wise Keith Richards in mind, "Hey you get off of my cloud".

Methods 1 and 2

To be honest, this blog has been created as part of an project I'm participating in, so I guess I should post what Ive been asked to by the requirements of the assignment. As asked, I did some reading on the topic of Web 2.0 and how it relates to libraries and librarians. I can freely admit that while I "knew" what Web 2.0 I probably couldn't have given you a definition of what it was or what it meant. Having read these articles I now have a better understanding of what it really means.

Really, I am in a unique position in that I grew up in a generation that explored these many of these technologies as they were emerging as part of my education. I believe that in order for libraries to be institutions that people want to keep around or in some cases save, we need to be relevant. In order to be relevant we need to interact, to see and be seen. Utilizing Web 2.0 and library 2.0 technology is a way to make sure that our voice is heard in a way that makes people actually want to listen to us. The library is no longer a place that you walk into and are automatically hit with a wall of silence, or a place to go to just to check out books. Walk into any library and you will see people on their smart phones, groups of students studying in groups, patrons typing away at the computers. While Web 2.0 technology can be seen as a way to keep people from interacting face to face with one another, it has also allowed us to be more in touch with many aspects of our society at the same time. Who among us isn't in touch with a long lost friend from high school or an old neighbor that you probably would have lost touch with had it not been for social media. We need to apply these same ideas to libraries and our patrons. By harnessing Web 2.0 we can constantly be in contact without them ever having stepped foot into the library that day, week or even month. This is especially important since many of our services can be accessed from home now as well. By letting people know about new services, contests, new book arrivals and activities that they may never had head about otherwise, we can keep from becoming that friend that you always wondered, "What happened to them?".

Day 2

So hopefully today's post isn't quite as rambling as the one I did yesterday. Lets rewind and start over. So, I'm a librarian. Yup, I love books. Ill even confess that I wear glasses, too. Since I have always loved books so much, I guess it was kind of inevitable that that would happen. I even worked at a bookstore all through college. There is just something about being surrounded by all those pages, ideas and dreams that are really inspiring. To be honest even though I love to read so much, I never even considered writing by own book an even remote possibility. I really don't consider myself to be all that creative. The only way to describe my personal creativity is in these terms, I am more of a stylist than a designer. I can sure put an awesome outfit together, but I could never have designed any of the pieces from ideas in my own head even though I wish I could. I guess we can't all win Project Runway, right? See I did it again, rambling! OK, librarians, books, glasses, now were back on track. So now that I'm in my first professional job as an academic librarian (I worked in the private sector for a while, but that's another story for another day) I've decided to give all of this Web 2.0 stuff a try. Thanks for reading my blog as I explore my endeavors into this new world!

Inaugural Post

Well, I did it. I set up a blog. Are you surprised? I know. Me too. Who would have though, that me, little old me, would set up their own blog. Actually it was pretty easy. My computer didn't spit fire, or try to tell me I wasn't cool enough, even though I'm sure it would have liked to. I apologize for the ramblings in this first blog. It may take a little while for me to get the hang of this, heck it took me 45 minutes just to decide what background I wanted, and really I'm not sure if I even like the one I choose. It was just the least obnoxious of all the ones I tried and I do need to go home sometime tonight to eat dinner and feed my dogs. Oh yeah, my dogs. As I'm sure you can tell from my blog title I have at least one, but actually I have two of them. They couldn't be more different from each other. The first dog we got is a Basenji mix named Sarah, she was quickly followed by a chiweenie named Burt. I love both my dogs, and really most dogs in general, however anyone who knows me knows that there is quite the special bond between Burt and myself. There is no explaining it, and no way to describe it. In fact, unless you've had a connection with an animal like this before, it is a little hard to explain. Obviously he is the inspiration for this blog, and you can see him in my profile picture. Pretty cute, right? Anyhoo, I'm trying to get some practice with this blog thing so if you can stand to read anymore, you might learn some interesting stuff about libraries since that's the REAL reason I'm doing this blog. In addition to have an awesome chiweeni, I'm also a librarian. I don't consider myself a typical librarian and this is backed up by the fact that generally when I tell people what I do I get one of three reactions. 1) they laugh 2) they look at me confused 3) they laugh and then tell me I don't look like any librarian they have ever seen before. That's OK, I love what I do, and hope to share some of that newfangled technology stuff I'm learning about with you.