Amid a myriad of changes for patrons to access eBooks and eAudiobooks, I consider an accomplishment to have completed this. I also thought the presentations were helpful and appropriate to each topic. The exercises opened my mind to options that may be valuable now or in the future for staff/patrons/organization.
I still don't "get" most social networking, but like the idea of being able to lead someone to an instructional tool that provides the same information every time, can be repeated as many times as needed and can be easily updated. Some of the web2.0 tools can certainly do that.
Thank you for the opportunity to learn on our own collaborate if we felt like it.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Method 11
I listen to live streams but have not subscribed to any podcasts...and could not download software on my work computer. So I didn't get much of a hands-on feel to this, but did find the written information useful. I may have to play with this at home to get more out of it.
Method 10
It has been a few days since I used this blog so spent 15 minutes trying to login...but I'm in.
Wikis seemed pretty easy to use, but the ones I looked at had a tendency to overwhelm. I can see a wiki being used with library staff to keep many people up-to-date, but this was not my favorite exercise so far.
Wikis seemed pretty easy to use, but the ones I looked at had a tendency to overwhelm. I can see a wiki being used with library staff to keep many people up-to-date, but this was not my favorite exercise so far.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Method 9
I used to chat a lot socially, until I started spending so much time in front of a computer at work. I think chat/IM is easy and what I like best is that it is one-on-one. I have used it in a library reference context and would consider doing so again...only if staff off-desk are responding to incoming questions. I believe it is difficult for a public library user, standing in front of a librarian at the reference desk, to be understanding when there is not another person visible, or a phone ringing. Otherwise, I think chat is fine for libraries that want to use it.
Method 8
This was an interesting overview...except for the screencast which was barely audible.
How do I feel about social networking sites, in general? That they are, in theory, great for social people, those who want to connect, be recognized, believe that there are people out there who wait with bated breath, and bloodshot eyes staring at a screen, for their next important event. I have been amazed and appalled at the level of detail that I found with just a few minutes of searching a few names...without my having to sign up for an account. Definitely not my cup of tea, but perfectly fine for others.
Do I have security concerns? Absolutely. I am tempted to begin communicating only by smoke signal and hope it is a very windy day so all traces of messages dissipate. I won't go into all of the security concerns for there are many.
Do I see usefulness for a public library to use social networking? Surprisingly, yes. I see it more as a broadcast method, not so much interactive because of staff time necessary to respond to incoming comments. I looked at several library sites in our area and not many are using social media or you have to create an account to access (not helpful.) It was also interesting to look at three libraries' blogs, going back over a month and none of the posts received more than one comment.
I am not sure who wants to "friend" an institution or "follow" their favorite snack food on a social media site, but I suppose there are people out there who do. I see no harm in putting basic information out there for people who are unfamiliar with what the library has (announcing events) or even where it is, so it is something to be considered.
How do I feel about social networking sites, in general? That they are, in theory, great for social people, those who want to connect, be recognized, believe that there are people out there who wait with bated breath, and bloodshot eyes staring at a screen, for their next important event. I have been amazed and appalled at the level of detail that I found with just a few minutes of searching a few names...without my having to sign up for an account. Definitely not my cup of tea, but perfectly fine for others.
Do I have security concerns? Absolutely. I am tempted to begin communicating only by smoke signal and hope it is a very windy day so all traces of messages dissipate. I won't go into all of the security concerns for there are many.
Do I see usefulness for a public library to use social networking? Surprisingly, yes. I see it more as a broadcast method, not so much interactive because of staff time necessary to respond to incoming comments. I looked at several library sites in our area and not many are using social media or you have to create an account to access (not helpful.) It was also interesting to look at three libraries' blogs, going back over a month and none of the posts received more than one comment.
I am not sure who wants to "friend" an institution or "follow" their favorite snack food on a social media site, but I suppose there are people out there who do. I see no harm in putting basic information out there for people who are unfamiliar with what the library has (announcing events) or even where it is, so it is something to be considered.
Method 8
I had heard of Delicious but now have a much better understanding of it. Without setting up an account, I found it useful as a search engine. I then went to IPL.org, which I had not visited in ages, and found the hits from Delicious to be better than those from IPL for my purposes. I think natural language tags are wonderful and is the reason fewer and fewer libraries make available to the public or even own Library of Congress Subject Headings.
This one makes sense to me and I imagine I will set up an account when I get more time.
This one makes sense to me and I imagine I will set up an account when I get more time.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Method #5
http://www.flickr.com/photos/-skipper-/3443714148/
If every photo I own was burned, soaked in water and run through an industrial blender, I would not care...I am not a photo person. That being said, it seems great to have a way for photophiles to save, organize, edit photos without taking up a lot of space on personal computers. Regardless of my own feelings about photos, I am glad to know a little more about flickr in case anyone asks about it. Most requests we get are how to upload photos to dating sites.
If every photo I own was burned, soaked in water and run through an industrial blender, I would not care...I am not a photo person. That being said, it seems great to have a way for photophiles to save, organize, edit photos without taking up a lot of space on personal computers. Regardless of my own feelings about photos, I am glad to know a little more about flickr in case anyone asks about it. Most requests we get are how to upload photos to dating sites.
Method #4
Okay, I decided it was time for a new attitude. Since I do not connect online socially, there were no personal rss feeds to follow, things that I am passionate about I am generally private about, so the rss feeds that I (think) I added to this blog are ones I visit occasionally.
I can see the usefulness of using rss feeds to help manage information overload. I do not imagine myself sitting down to peruse feeds at a computer. From my phone, yes, but not a laptop. This exercise was fairly painless. In 11 years of working in library land I have never once gotten a question about rss feeds, where to find them, how to save them, their general purpose. But if I ever do, I now know a teeny bit more about them than I did yesterday.
I can see the usefulness of using rss feeds to help manage information overload. I do not imagine myself sitting down to peruse feeds at a computer. From my phone, yes, but not a laptop. This exercise was fairly painless. In 11 years of working in library land I have never once gotten a question about rss feeds, where to find them, how to save them, their general purpose. But if I ever do, I now know a teeny bit more about them than I did yesterday.
Method 3
I first heard of "the cloud" at a library conference a couple of years ago. I was simultaneously intrigued and turned off by the presenter who envisioned everyone living in the cloud and everything anyone had ever created being available with a couple of keystrokes, or voice commands. The intriguing part was the idea of a personal computer crash not being a personal disaster. The turn off was the magic show quality that I left with, I was not exactly sure how things, which were impressive, were done, and what exactly the assistants were up to behind their screen of smoke and mirrors.
Now, after playing around some with google.docs I can see first-hand the advantages of being able to update and access documents from many places and the relative ease of learning how to use google.docs. However, for the cloud to work, a thousand different pieces must work perfectly and it is a rare day that I do not experience a technology glitch (or worse). Recently our library acquired a new platform for downloading eBooks and eAudiobooks (great!), and there was a free app for my phone so I did not have to an iTune user (great!), but the app required an update and the update would not finish loading, so I do not download to my phone...which sounded so great (!) in the beginning.
I am sure the cloud is here to stay, but I wonder who really knows what goes on behind the scenes, how expert must one be to work around the glitches and the things that don't quite mesh, and exactly how many self-educated hackers it would take to bring the cloud crashing down on our Chicken Little heads.
Now, after playing around some with google.docs I can see first-hand the advantages of being able to update and access documents from many places and the relative ease of learning how to use google.docs. However, for the cloud to work, a thousand different pieces must work perfectly and it is a rare day that I do not experience a technology glitch (or worse). Recently our library acquired a new platform for downloading eBooks and eAudiobooks (great!), and there was a free app for my phone so I did not have to an iTune user (great!), but the app required an update and the update would not finish loading, so I do not download to my phone...which sounded so great (!) in the beginning.
I am sure the cloud is here to stay, but I wonder who really knows what goes on behind the scenes, how expert must one be to work around the glitches and the things that don't quite mesh, and exactly how many self-educated hackers it would take to bring the cloud crashing down on our Chicken Little heads.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Methods 1 and 2
The conventional wisdom of being connected has changed even since the articles were written and videos created and it seems that all types of boundaries are being changed or erased. Certainly libraries are no longer limited by brick and mortar boundaries, though many people still view the library that way. It was interesting to see Wikipedia being quoted by the experts, when even two years ago most reference librarians looked at that as a starting point from which to move on to a more legitimate source.
For many people with adequate access to up-to-date technologies, the globalization of communication and transparency of information seems to be quite desirable, but for many, the digital divide continues to widen and creates a greater disparity between the haves and the have-nots. I particularly lament the overwhelming use of connective technologies for people who cherish their privacy and prefer not to put thoughts and lives on the internet where anyone can corrupt the information or worse, but there is little way to preserve privacy without going off the grid, a step few people can afford to take.
That being said, it is an interesting time in the land of libraries as we continue to provide what patrons want in the formats they want and communicate with them via varied communication paths.
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