Thing #18 Google Docs

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1jvndvabcePYUYdHEgwC86P5zKn-TrHBBUaEHvEVO7h8

Thing #17 PBWiki

And again it has been a looong time since I've done any of the 28 Things but I thought I would again attempt to complete it:)

This "thing" was to post to TCCL's PBWiki. I've never actually added to a wiki and I'm not sure that I really like it. I frequently use Wikipedia if I'm curious about a subject but not needing it for professional or educational purposes. But that is the extent of me uses wikis; I've never really viewed any others and can't think of a reason that would necessarily warrant it.

I don't like that in this case there isn't a uniform look and it kind of seems disorganized. BUT - it was relatively easy and fast to post which was a plus.

Thing #16 Wikis

Well, it's been a LONG time since I've done any work on this and I've been wanting to start back up so I finally bit the bullet. Pretty much the only wiki I use on a regular basis is Wikipedia (what a surprise!) and that's to look up historical stuff I've seen in movies or to learn more about an author or some person of interest.

I most enjoyed the Library Success wiki and found a few good links for book clubs which also led me to a couple of new titles that I may want to read. I was let down by their kids/teen programming section which was severely lacking in all areas except gaming (not something I do with my storytime kids). I think this wiki would be the most useful in my job with all the different topics it covers.

The Book Lover's Wiki by Princeton Public Library was last updated 2 years ago so that was a disappointment.

The Bull Run Library's wiki led me to Gnod which is a site I'll want to try out and see if it's worthwhile. However, I'm not a fan of a library's home page being a wiki - the layout seems wierd and I prefer the traditional web page.

That's all, folks!

Thing #15 Library 2.0

Wow, the readings made my head spin! I really like what Riemer said about adopting web features and expanding delivery. I feel that TCCL has made real progress in the 3 years that I've worked here and it's always exciting to hear about the new things that are going to be implemented. Web 2.0 has created expectations that ALL services should be 2.0 and I find customers as well as myself being frustrated when a company or service is behind the times. Library 2.0 is good for giving customers a feeling of ownership in their library as well as a voice.

What Schultz had to say about Library 3.0 and Library 4.0 is so hard for me to imagine. I guess I'm not good at visualizing things of the future and I have to admit that it doesn't sound very appealing. I guess I'm resistant to change but after a while I always find myself preferring the new way over the old. It will be neat to look back in 10-20 years to see how far libraries have evolved from where we currently are.

Thing #14 Technorati

Hmmm....I claimed my blog but I feel as if it's not very interesting so I doubt anyone will decide to read about it based on my claiming it:) I searched the popular links and enjoyed the 'Books' tab most (what a surprise!). Side note: I was really surprised to see that books about roses are so popular! 9 out of 30 of the top books were about roses. Wierd!
Other than that I think I'm just going to have to spend more time on Technorati because it seems to be SO much more than a search engine for blogs.

P.S. I may come back and complete the optional part of this 'thing' but I may have to consult others on exactly how to do - not my thing!

Thing #13 delicious!

I'm such a nerd! I was very excited about this "thing" because I have a delicious account and LOVE it! I was introduced to delicous by a fellow librarian when we were studying for comps and found this to be the easiest way to share websites that were relevant to our studying. I use delicious mostly for personal use but I have bookmarked some storytime websites that I like to use. I also like that it allows you to add a bookmark without the delicious buttons.

Delicious is great for research purposes because you don't have to email yourself or write down every single website you search which is what I did before I discovered delicious. It's also very handy for accessing websites away from home. If I think I'm going to visit a website more than once I usually just bookmark it so it's easily accessible.

I hope everyone else finds it just as useful!

Thing #12 Rollyo

Well, this one was completely new for me. I had never heard of Rollyo or rolling my own search engine. I decided to create a search roll for looking up recipes. This is not necessarily something I'd use for work but I thought it could be helpful anyway.
I do have to say the one thing I didn't really like is when you conduct a search the sponsored links seem to be a little more prominent than the actual search returns. Plus, I like browsing recipe sites so this hinders doing that. But, below is my searchroll. Enjoy!

http://rollyo.com/wren83/recipes/

Thing #11 LibraryThing

Well, I was already familiar with LibraryThing b/c I had to catalog some of my books in a cataloging class that I took in college. So this step was pretty easy for me. I've had a LibraryThing account for a little over 2 years now but don't actually use it much. I did decide to recently update all the books I have at home so when I go to the bookstore if I'm unsure of whether I own the book or not, I could get online and check. I haven't really used any of the rating or tagging features so maybe I'll paly around with that soon. Here's the link to my bookshelf:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/LaurenReeves

Thing #10 Image Generators

Hmmm.....well this one is a first for me. I found this to be kind of confusing at first. It's also kind of time consuming b/c all the sites seem really slow and you don't know whether you can save a URL or not until you create the imge. But it's fun to mess around with. One amusing tidbit is that a Coin image generator I clicked on was in German!

I didn't have much luck in finding images I could post so here is my one and only!

Lauren "Jane Air" Reeves

Thing #9 RSS Feeds

So I have to confess that I don't have a very adventurous spirit. I've added quite a few RSS feeds to my Bloglines account but wasn't too excited about searching for more (!) things to keep up with reading. But I tried out the RSS feed search tools and here's how I feel about them:

Syndic8 - Do NOT like it! It is not very visually appealing to me and that may seem shallow but it turns me off of using the site.

Topix: I liked that it feeds local news to me, very cool.

Technorati: I looked through their Top 100 Blogs and searched for some others by topic. I have to say as far as searching for RSS Feeds, this is my favorite.

That's all folks!

RSS Feeds

I just completed Thing #8 and created an RSS aggregator at Bloglines. I like that many of the sites I check daily are now in one spot and I don't have to use a book mark or search engine to go to them. But I do dislike a couple of things about it: 1) I'm one of those people who HATES when a website changes its look b/c I always hate the new look until I get used to it. Obviously, Bloglines displays the site differently so I'll be in a funk until I get used to it. 2) Some of my sites don't have an RSS feed to subscribe to which is irritating. I was introduced to RSS a couple of years ago so I'm actually kind of surprised to find a few well-known sites that don't have an RSS feed.

I can use RSS feeds to keep up with sites I read frequently for both my work and personal life. I've subscribed to a couple of library related blogs that I read once in a blue moon but now that it's easier for me to get to it, I will probably read it more often.

Libraries can use this technology in obvious ways that TCCL already has by posting feeds to new books or movies or new featured services. I would be interested to know how many customers actually subscribe to the library's RSS feeds. Not many people I know use them, though clearly plenty do since so many sites offer RSS feeds.

Technology

Hmmmm....what to say about technology. Sometimes I love it and other times I find it a complete pain in the rear. Those times when I find it a pain are either b/c 1) It's not doing what I want it to do or 2) I don't possess the knowledge or skills to use the technology. That's one of the reasons I'm doing 23 Things. I know about RSS feeds, wikis, Web 2.0 but never use these things so I'm forcing myself to do it.
I do have Shelfari and LibraryThing accounts but rarely use them b/c Excel is so much easier! I don't have to log in to it. My favorite Web 2.0 thing is delicious; it was introduced to me by a classmate and I have tons of bookmarks! I highly recommend it to anyone who is always bookmarking sites on computers.
I'm not sure that I'll change my life by constantly using all of these "things" but at least I'll know about them in case someone asks. Of course, that's until the next big thing comes along:)
I think the downside to all these advances in technology is how time consuming it can be. I feel I never have the time to blog about my personal life, upload recent pics for family or friends, or even religiously keep up with other friends' or family's blogs. I'd rather spend time with my family, reading a book, or watching movies.
That's about all I have to say about technology!

Valentine's Day

So in honor of Valentine's Day I decided to look up "kiss" on Picasa and blog about my findings and here are a few of my favorites....

Sweetest
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=kiss&psc=G&filter=1#5140605895029549458

A kiss I hope to never get!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=kiss&psc=G&filter=1#5302178413142898946

Best dip
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=kiss&psc=G&filter=1#5083559175577910674

Most scenic
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=kiss&psc=G&filter=1#5224591477130177954

Most theatrical
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=kiss&psc=G&filter=1#5227782383236625330

Hope everyone has a LOVELY Valentine's Day!

The Beginning

Hello everyone! I am creating this blog for work purposes but after it has served its purpose it will most likely become our family blog (which we will probably update only once a year!). I am currently earning con-ed credit by taking TCCL's 23 Things which is a learning/playing experience with Web 2.0. The first thing I'm supposed to blog about is which is the easiest and hardest of the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners.

Easiest: #6 Use technology to your advantage. I'm very comfortable with technology and I'm somewhat familiar with most of the 23 things on the list but don't use them on a daily basis. I feel there's too many to keep up with!

Hardest: #3 View problems as challenges. I'm not a patient person so I have a tendancy to want to give up when the going gets tough unless I view it as something that's VERY worth it. Then I have a tendancy to be quite "stubborn." :)