Useful Tech

During the (almost) three semesters I've been working on my master's, there have been a handful of times that I've been able to immediately apply something I did in class to something I need to do at work. Today was one of those times. I worked a shift on Ask Here PA again today, and found myself using Google Scholar to try to find the information the patron was looking for. (I finished an assignment over the weekend that required I use Google Scholar.) It was a helpful tool, although I didn't find exactly what he needed. I guess some things may not be available on the internet, even using Google Scholar.
Last week I used Google Sites to start a website for resources for my staff (another case of applying what I'm learning...) My reference assistant and youth librarian will both contribute info to the site - so it functions as a wiki. I think that will be more effective (and certainly more efficient) than trying to maintain bookmarks on each of our circ desk computers.

The sound of my own voice

is often odd to me when I record it and play it back. (although I know that's what other people hear...) Here's a brief "how-to" video on downloading and installing the del.icio.us bookmark extension for the firefox browser.
Delicious Extension Installation
The video was created using Jing, a cool program that I think I'll probably use more often now that I've played with it for school. I think it would be very handy for explaining remotely to friends how to fix something or change a setting on their computers...

Tech Confession

I've been thinking about this alot over the past week. I don't think I've ever been a technophobe. I've probably been more of a technophile for most of my life. And I had some early computer experience that probably helped.
I remember the first computer I ever had any experience with - a tiny Timex-Sinclair 1000. We couldn't do very much with it, but my brother and I enjoyed playing around with it. And then in high school I took two years of BASIC programming on TRS-80 model III's. During that time frame, my dad got us a Commodore 64. That was a fun computer. It had a lot more capability than the TS-1000, and with the color monitor it exceeded the TRS-80's abilities, too.(It was a great game-playing machine, and I used it for that purpose until about 5 years ago, when it apparently received some smoke damage during my apartment fire.)
While I enjoyed using computers from the time I was in high school, I never pictured myself working with them. My brother is a programmer, and I figured he was the one who would be working with computers - I would use them for leisure. Guess again! (Of course, growing up I never figured I would be a librarian either - despite the fact that I volunteered in my school library in 3rd grade and again in high school...) I'm glad I got the opportunity to become a children's librarian and discover how much I enjoy the library. And how much technology has become a driving force in the library world.

Blogging

I've been playing with my blog tonight, trying to add the picture at the top right and get it just right. The picture is one of the doilies I've tatted, and the hands are my niece's. She asked me to tat that particular pattern for her in that particular color. (I think she was three at the time...) I wanted to make sure I got some tatting onto my blog.
While I started this blog as a class assignment for the summer, I suspect I'm becoming hooked on blogging. I'm not sure I understood the appeal before I started doing it - I'm a relatively private person and couldn't understand why I would want to journal online. Now though I think it's an opportunity to share thoughts with others. It gives me the chance to philosophize without bugging people - if a post bores you, you can always skip it, and I'll never know the difference. I may just keep this up even after class is over. Especially since I've always wanted to write - this will help me keep in practice.

Grad School and Small Children

I have new-found respect for my LIS classmates with small children. I am babysitting one of my nieces this weekend so my brother and sister-in-law can get away and have a weekend (They parcelled out the four children. I have the house and the 16-month old.) Lorelei and I were up at 6 AM this morning, and she was on-the-go until 10:30 when she crashed and I put her down for a nap - asleep by 10:45, and now I'm working on assignments while she sleeps. This is working well, especially since she's taking a really good nap, but I can't imagine trying to do both schoolwork and housework during a child's naptime. And I'm imagining the panic one could feel when the opportunity to do schoolwork arrives and the technology doesn't cooperate. (Mine's playing well with others, thankfully.) Those of you who are doing grad school with small children - you have my utmost respect. I thought it was hard enough with a full-time job!

MP3 librarian resources

While I have yet to attend one of SirsiDynix Institute’s web seminars live, I have downloaded and listened to several of them from the archive and enjoyed them. A large number of the topics really fit well with the LIS 2600 class I am taking – Intro to Information Technology. I’ve also listened to some management sessions and some Pat Wagner sessions. I’ve seen her speak live a few times and always learned something.

I really enjoy being able to download seminars (and classes for that matter!) to my MP3 player and listen to them while I’m doing dishes or cleaning. I’ve even listened at work on a closed day while I’m shifting the books or weeding the collection. Multitasking like this is a tremendous benefit that 21^st century technology offers us – and that our busy society almost demands of us so that we can get it all done – whatever that “all” may be.

I think it’s important for librarians to find free resources like these and utilize them – especially in library-budget-challenged times.

http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/archive.php

Search Engine Watch

http://searchenginewatch.com/
I've been reading Search Engine Watch's newsletter SearchDay for a few years now. While the site's main purpose is information for search engine optimization and search engine marketing, I find that sometimes I can glean information that helps me in searching. It helps to know how search engines function on a basic level, anyway. I think it also helps in working on content for the library website.

The feed

I've been seeing a lot of websites that collect links to blogs, and I've been working with RSS feeds for LIS 2600, and it's been causing some thoughts. (That's a good thing, right?) A portion of web 2.0 seems to be devoted to bringing content to us rather than our needing to go to the content.
It reminds me a bit of the young adult book Feed by M. T. Anderson. (Which was incredible - I listened to the audiobook, and it was so well done!) In the society Anderson depicts, babies have the feed (next-generation television and internet) implanted in their brains, and very few people grow up without it. Content comes right to your brain - the latest styles, fashions, fads, the ability to chat with your friends, and any information you need. It was an intense book, and a bit scary how close to reality it skirted as a dystopia. I highly recommend it.
Commercials for books aside (well, I've worked in a library for 11 years now...), I appreciate the convenience of being able to have content come to me rather than always remembering to visit websites regularly. I do find there are sites I still just remember to visit once a week or so - that way if I have a busy day at work, I'm not wading through tons of info that I can't mentally process right then. Pluses and minuses, I guess.

Web 2.0 and Chocolate...

Today in our managers' meeting one manager shared about a conference she attended where a breakout session focused on Web 2.0. She talked about RSS feeds, wikis, and del.icio.us. (and much more, too.) I enjoyed knowing what she was talking about and having experience with it. Some of the Web 2.0 features I had played with before (like using a wiki to work with my group on the LIS 2000 project last fall) but others I had heard about and never used. We also talked about wireless - four of our libraries now have wireless available for the public. Eventually we all will, but we only rolled out four this year. I'm trying not to be jealous...
On a slightly weirder technology note, one of my junk emails (not spam, but junk) yesterday informed me that you can now put photos on custom-designed M&M's. Who knew?
http://www.mymms.com/
I can't say I ever thought about doing something like that, but at the same time I can see people wanting to use it for weddings or other special events. Technology and chocolate. A good mix!

Bookmarking and tagging

The more I worked on the bookmarking and tagging project for LIS 2600, the more I realize the different functions I want tags to have. I need to tag not only for subject, but also for format. I want to know if it's a blog, a pathfinder, an article, a wiki, or a general website. This tells me that format has an impact on usefulness and content of an item. I think I should have known that, but it's hit me in a different way.

Once a librarian, always a librarian?

I was working on my friends' computer last night, trying to figure out what was up with their printer, when I started to promote POWER library to her. She's a first-grade teacher, and I've shown her different website resources before. Things that would help with lesson planning, etc. Then I realized that I had never talked to her about POWER library, so I logged in from our website and started to show her all the cool things you can find there. The amazing thing was that she went and got her wallet with her library card and wanted to learn how to log in from her library's website. I realized then just how many regular library patrons (she uses her public library pretty regularly and even runs her church's library - she's not an "unlibraried" individual) may not be aware of that tremendous resource.
I also realized yesterday just how much of a librarian I am. There were a couple times as three of us were scrapbooking and talking about college days that we had questions about a trip that two of us had taken. Years ago, I would have been content to just talk about what kind of train it was that we had ridden or who the people in that picture were. I would count on my remembering at some point. Not anymore. Now I had to go upstairs to the computer and look up the train ride to see what kind it was (narrow-guage, coal-burning, steam-powered) and ask my friend to go get her yearbook so we could figure out who the people were. The power of research... there's a librarian for you!

The wonders of laptops

For a number of years now, I’ve wanted a laptop – for many reasons. I thought about being able to scrapbook digitally on my annual craft vacation. I thought about being able to take a laptop with me to meetings with clients for my side business. Last fall I thought about being able to check my email while I was out on campus and being able to read the PDF e-books on it for LIS 2000. I knew I would use it, but I had no idea how much I would use it.

My family (Thanks, family!) went together this year to get me a laptop for my birthday. It has been truly marvelous. I’m now on my annual craft vacation, and I’m able to do my homework in the evenings, check my work email to make sure things are going well there, and scrapbook digitally as well as on paper. I was able to check email while out in Pittsburgh for class this spring – and even check the bus schedule online. (I also enjoyed being able to watch DVDs in the hotel room in the evenings.)

But I’m finding that my laptop is far more useful in normal life than I ever thought it would be. Over Memorial Day weekend, I watched a coursecast and worked on schoolwork out in my sunroom, enjoying the breeze. I regularly attend class chats from my recliner in the living room, and work on digital scrapbooking and blogging (and sometimes other schoolwork, too) while my sister-in-law and I watch TV at their place on Wednesday nights. I can even work on schoolwork (or play a game) during my lunch break at work. I had no idea just how radical a change the laptop would have on my life. And when you combine it with a flash drive or two…

I’m even learning how to use the touchpad instead of the mouse (when I have to).

Firefox Happy and social computing

I really love the Firefox extensions - I installed DownThemAll! tonight on my laptop. I have it installed on my desktop computer and really have found it to be useful and timesaving, so I was glad to install it on the laptop - just haven 't taken the time to do it before.
On another note, I joined Facebook this week. It's an interesting site - I'm still exploring it. Based on what I've seen so far, I can see why the teens tend to go for MySpace and the demographics on Facebook skew older. I can also see why some employers are choosing to look at people's MySpace or Facebook pages before interviewing prospective candidates. I find myself being very conscious that anything I say or do on Facebook (or here, for that matter...) are visible to the public and being monitored by people I know (and maybe by people I don't know as well...) It's definitely food for thought.