23rd Thing: Looking far ahead...

I didn't think that I would finally reach this point, but I'm done!

I'm really proud of myself that I actually completed this program, albeit a little later than planned. ;-) I must say that doing this program in league with my coworkers really helped propel me to reach the finish line and stay on target. Being able to reassure myself of how I was doing by taking a peak at other individual's blogs was a great boost as well. I'm looking forward to going back and reading everyone's blog now that the program has ended.

I've always felt as though my knowledge of technology falls comfortably between novice and hypergeek, and that while I'm naive about some more advanced forms of technology, I've always been able to get a handle on situations that arise at home and at work. And thanks to 23 Things, I feel confident that my knowledge has been brought forward to the present. Web 2.0 technologies are incredibly exciting, and I look forward to seeing them increasingly applied in the library world. Plus, doing this program collectively means that our entire system is aware of these technologies as well, so that should make it easier to bring about change.

I hope to keep posting, so stay tuned...

Overdrive and NetLibrary

I've never checked out an e-book or digital audiobook until today, and, well...frankly I don't see myself doing so in the near future.

It's a shame that these programs are not compatible with iPods, for if they were I'm sure that I would be more interested in them. But who wants to listen to an audiobook from their computer? Hopefully both of these databases will make nice with Apple someday and we will be able to listen to free audiobooks and rejoice. Merrily. With enthusiasm.

As for my overall reactions, I must say that Overdrive's interface is a lot more user-friendly than NetLibrary. I couldn't even figure out how to just browse NetLibrary's collection...maybe I missed something.

On a side note, I have only rarely suggested audiobooks to patrons and in return have usually encountered the same response: frustration and confusion. Overdrive and NetLibrary are clunky applications that could learn a lot from iTunes. And I think that our patrons feel the same way.

Podcasting

First, I have to say that my ALL-TIME favorite podcast is the Ricky Gervais Show...you can check it out on iTunes, or go to www.rickygervais.com for more info. Go check it out! Seriously. You will laugh for hours!

Phew! Got that out of the way!

I really enjoy listening to podcasts. It's like NPR 24/7 on your computer. And searching for podcasts under the keyword 'library' via Podcast.net was really interesting. I listened to a mother goose storytime that was posted by Sunnyvale Public Library, and a discussion on boy book clubs by a teen volunteer from the Hennepin County Library. Listening to podcasts produced by other librarians is a great way to get a feel of what other systems are doing.

I love the layout of the Denver Public Library Podcasts. No one has commented to any of the posts, however, so I wonder if the public has had much response to this digital service.

P.S. James Kelly, Julie Tobiason and myself did a wicked cool podcast at the MLA Conference in May. I cannot find it for the life of me....will post it if it is ever discovered.

A Day in the Life of a Library

Check out this awesome video!! It's 24 hours of activity at a library condensed in a couple minutes! AND it's set to a Madonna song...awesome!!

I would love to do something like this at our library. This video (at the time of this posting) has already had nearly 35,000 views and 45 comments. Just think of the great marketing opportunity this would be for FCPL. Not to mention that it looks like a lot of fun and a great morale booster!

And the winners are...Web 2.0 Awards

I can't wait to explore these Web 2.0 sites. It's interesting to note that some of the sites that I already use are actually 2nd or 3rd place in the rankings; it will be fun to check out those first place winners!

I checked out iContact, which allows businesses, non-profit organizations, and associations to easily create, publish, and track email newsletters, surveys, blogs, autoresponders, and RSS feeds. I thought that it would be a great idea to send Bookends out to our patrons as an email newsletter. Programs requiring registration could be hyperlinked to Evanced. You can also email surveys to contacts and easily illustrate the results as a graph. Cool!

This might also be a great way to alert our patrons about program cancellations. I know that a few moms would appreciate that!

GoogleDocs

I really love the idea of Google documents---I'm always wishing that I had access to my files on my work computer from home. And it's great to be able to access something you're working on from any computer.

One question I have is regarding privacy: If you allow someone else to work collaboratively with you on an online document (such as GoogleDocs), do they need access to your password? Maybe someone has some insight to that dilemma...

Playing in the SandboxWiki

How neat to have access to blogs of librarians across the state!

Love it!

Wicked wikipedia of the west!

So, are librarians still outlawing Wikipedia, or are we over that yet?

I was just curious.

I really liked this quote from an article on Web Junction called "Using Wikis to Create Online Communities:"

In public libraries, where the technological skills of employees can range from high to non-existent, wikis can allow everyone the ability to develop the website. The resulting website would reflect the imagination and good ideas of the entire organization, not just a select few with the requisite “tech-savvy.”

I would really love to see FCPL use this approach as we explore revamping our website. We all use it everyday and know what we like and dislike about it, so why not pool all of our resources together on a wiki?

Knowledge Spa

Does the image on the right give you the creeps?

Yeah. Me too.

But I think that's the perception of 'the library' by many of our patrons and non-patrons. You know, those people that never walk in our doors.

Even some of our most "i (heart) the library" patrons feel this way: the library is not an access point to information, but more rather a barrier.

And many times we don't make it any easier as we relish in our librarylandtalk.

But that's why I believe Library 2.0 is so exciting. It gives us the tools to dissolve the barrier between our collection and our patrons. It transforms our services from being opaque and cumbersome into that which is transparent, easy, and streamlined.

The bottom line is that when we allow our patrons to collectively contribute to our services (as these Web 2.0 tools allow), our ability to help them increases ten-fold.

Oh, and I just want to throw out the new Library 4.0 label that Dr. Wendy Schultz suggested in her article:

knowledgespa

Now, who doesn't want to go there?????

technorati

I guess that because I'm not a big blog reader (yet) I feel a little lost using this tool. It's great to know that we can specifically search blogs...i'm a little ashamed to say that I believed a Google search could accomplish the same thing (aghast!)

Oh well...that's what this whole 23 Things is about...

Tag! You're It!

Del.icio.us is definitely delish!

I really believe that folksonomies and patron generated tagging will revolutionize the way that libraries serve their public. By releasing our collection from the restrictions of LOC subject headings and welcoming patron input on how to label our items, we remove all the rules, the jargon, the librarianese that ultimately keeps our patrons away from what they want.

I've always thought that it would be a great experiment to let teenagers tag our teen collection as a model for what tagging an entire collection might look like in the future.

And oh boy, would they be up for it!

Yo! You Rollyo? No!

Is it just me, or does Rollyo make locating what you want on the web even more frustrating?

Plus, I hate the search result layout. If I want sponsored links as my first 3 results..well, I can just use Google for that!

Not for me!

LibraryThing

WOW! This tool has inspired me to do something I never thought might be possible, or, at least didn't want to put in the effort to make it possible.

Drumroll please...

My new personal goal is to keep track of everything that I read. I never wanted to attempt this before because I'm not a big fan of clutter and hate collecting things around the apartment (like notebooks/3x5 cards, etc.) This is a perfectly streamlined and efficient system that will eliminate wasting paper, while at the same time encourage me to keep track of my reading.

You can now expect to measure my life in books! Check out my LibraryThing!

Too much of a good thing (OR) Fun with image generators

Check out this new addition to our children's collection!

If you would like to share in the fun, click here.

RSS feeds

Instead of setting up a Bloglines account I actually created a Google Reader account.

This is actually more convenient for me as I already have a Gmail account. Google Reader also uses an interface that is similar to Gmail, so it's nice to work with something that is familiar!

After setting up my account I set up a feed for School Library Journal, as well as for one of my favorite teen reader's advisory blogs, interactivereader.

I really love that Readers allow you to avoid annoying advertisements on new websites: CNN.com is practically a circus for sponsors.

If anyone finds a RSS feed for statewide/national library conferences, post a comment with a link!

Librarian's next love: mobile phones

Email via computers is so 90s. Text messaging is where it's at.

According to a CNN article, the number of teenage cellular subscribers has grown by nearly 26 percent in the last 2 years. The article notes that 47 percent of teenagers take photos with their mobile device - that's twice the industry average. Young adults also access social networks, share pics and videos and browse the mobile Web a lot more than their older, less tech-savvy counterparts.

Hmm...I have a feeling that we librarians fall into that category of "older, less tech-savvy counterparts."

But all hope is not lost! Check out Jyngle, a free voice and text messaging service that helps users easily share information with groups of people.

The possibilities of using this free service in libraries are endless! For instance, in addition to emailing patrons that their book on hold is available, we can now send a text message to their phone as well. Most of our patrons probably only check their email a few times a day, but many of them always have their cell phones on hand.

Looking toward the future, text messaging may become a main method of communication for libraries.

ttyl!

Book of a Different Color: Searching books by Color

Now that's a book of a different color!

Or...actually the same, when it comes to this unique photo mashup.

Check out Dave Pattern's blog on searching books by the color of their cover. Included is a prototype where you can search books by the hex value of the color you want (for hex values, go here), or by a random color the tool selects for you!

If you want to see this concept taken to the extreme, check out this photo of Huddersfield Public Library's Reading Area.

Kitty 2.0

Meet my new cat, Dakota.

After moving to Maryland I was suffering kitty deprivation and decided to take the plunge and adopt a cat. A very, very fat cat. He is three years old going on 80. What does he like to do, you might ask?

Chase string? Nope.

Run around the apartment? Nope.

Like his belly rubbed? Double nope.

Think of a crotchety old man covered in spontaneously shedding fur and then you have my cat.

And yet, I love him.

Lifelong learning strengths and weaknesses

Without a doubt, my biggest lifelong learning weakness is beginning with the end in mind. It's very easy for me to brainstorm new ideas or encourage myself to try new things, but frequently I lose sight of my main goal and consequently leave my new project unfinished. I've learned to restrain my enthusiasm for leaping into every new project or opportunity that comes my way, but sometimes it is hard to focus on completing a project without getting distracted with what's on the horizon. Hopefully this '23 Things' program will help me understand what 2.0 technologies can realistically be used for youth programming.

As for strengths, I consider myself to be a good teacher. The opportunity to help and instruct others is one of many reasons why I became a Librarian. I know that I always appreciate it when someone is patient and understanding when they are trying to teach me something. While people are generally used to encountering horrible customer service, I believe that we as librarians have a great opportunity to be a "refreshing alternative" for our patrons who are seeking instruction.