Method 7 Social Bookmarking and Tagging

I am still not as clear as I would like to be on this skill set. Maybe it is my lack of social skills in general that makes me a little slower on the uptake. I need to spend more time learning about tags and the Library Thingy. I do love the idea of Libraries having a list of links available to patrons. We have various school projects that launch in our area and with those launches we find desperate parents and students fighting over limited books. It would be wonderful to have links on our website that could provide additional support for students.

Where Is the Slide?

On my home computer my slide with youtube video appears on my blog but at work it doesn't. Is this about permissions? I'm curious.

Method 6 Using Video

I totally agree that there is both trash and treasure on video sharing sites. I do think that using video enhances communication. We all are familiar with learning styles. The more varied the approach in communication the greater the impact.

The point of blogs, newletters and websites is to communicate with an audience. Libraries use these methods to communicate with their clients about programs, policies, events both special and ongoing. The more varied the presentation, the more dynamic it comes across the greater the impact and the retention.

I loved adding the skin. It really made it fun. I selected the Toy Story Trailer because it seemed to fit perfectly into the View Master skin I located. Frankly, video is fun and skins add to the entertainment. I really enjoyed this lesson!

Toy Story Trailer with Fun Skin Method 6

Method 6 Domino Days with Skin

Flowers on Flickr Method 5

IMG_0013,
originally uploaded by Stacey's stuff.

My friend Flickr, sorry, but it keeps repeating in my mind. Flickr is my friend and I love the blogging tool. I did find some pictures on flickr that were of our library, but I didn't have consent by the parents, so I decided against posting them. They weren't uploaded by our library but by a parent of one of the children pictured.

I learned a lot in this section about gaining permission and what is and is not legal. It all makes me nervous. I am a strong believer in consent forms. I wonder if it is possible to add a line to a library application that asks if photos of the individual may be used for publicity purposes. But then what do we do about events where the general public attends and there is no way to get everyone's permission?

The law definitely needs to catch up to technology unfortunately as fast as media is evolving I don't see that happening.

Method Four RSS or "Olly, Olly, Oxen, Free"

Love readers!!! I have so many blogs that I find interesting, but there just aren't enough hours in the day to actually keep up with all of them. Now that is not an issue!

If only I had a reader to manage my address book and handle daily, weekly, and monthly correspondence.

The Reader is like home base where all the bits of information that I used to spend time chasing around the internet can be found. " Olly, Olly, Oxen, Free "! I go to home base and all the information is waiting for me. I love it!

I added the following links to my google reader:
Austin Public Library :

http://austinpubliclibraryblog.blogspot.com/

New York City Library

http://www.nypl.org/links/

and then
The American Library Association's technology blog

http://www.alatechsource.org/blog

Method Three

I enjoyed learning about cloud computing. I wasn't sure what the term meant but now it makes perfect sense. I thought the information from the blog entries and articles covered good ideas as well as voicing some legitimate concerns. I hadn't considered the privacy issues. It would be nice to know if the cloud is in a gated community where our information is protected and where the gate keeper isn't sharing it in order line his pocket.

I think it is vital that libraries over training to users and also help them understand the consequences.

I have a lot to learn as to how to fully utilize the various features of google and zoho as cloud sites, but the portability certainly seems to support the mobility of our society.

Method 1 and 2......Check moving on to Method 3

Well I still want to tweak my blog, but I can do that as time goes by. Now I'm headed for Method 3 which is:


Method 3: Cloud Computing
Explore the topic of cloud computing and play with some popular online productivity/cloud computing tools such as GoogleDocs and Zoho writer.

Impressions of Library 2.0 and Web 2.0, Ice Cream or Shepherd's Pie

There was a moment in my life when I realized I was an adult. That moment came one day in college when I didn’t like what was being served in the cafeteria. As I stared down in the unappetizing pan of shepherd’s pie, I thought, “I wish I could have ice cream for dinner.” The light bulb appeared over my head and I realized with total awe and elation that I could have ice cream for dinner. It was a revolutionizing moment. The world opened up to me and I realized I was now sitting in the driver’s seat and could steer my life down the road or into a ditch, but I was in control.

I had a similar feeling as if the world was opening up to me as I watched Michael Wesch’s video on YouTube, The Machine is Us/ing Us. I felt amazed at the connectivity of the ideas and the way in which technology is still evolving. It is amazing how the internet has gone from a dusty electronic form of an encyclopedia to a video of an actor dressed like Charles Darwin explaining evolution. Libraries have the capacity to embrace this new manner of gleaning information. Some learners will always opt for a more conventional material, but the potential for reaching out and aiding in the development and accessibility of dynamic, personal forms of information is mind boggling.

I felt that both suggested articles had very good information in them as well. I liked the concrete examples of how a radio station and museum have embraced incorporating their consumers into their product. The question is what is a library’s product? I thought both article and YouTube interview by Stephen Abram helped to clarify this and keep my wild wandering mind focused on how new technologies can be utilized to better serve the clients of libraries.

As with any business, and a library is a business, it is important that each institution look at their current customer base as well as where the gaps are in that population. In other words, who do we have and who are we missing. Once that is established the question arises as to what barriers exist in order to help customers engage in accessing this technology when added to the services that the Library provides. Will there be a need for training? How can computer and technology anxiety be minimized and overcome? Where is a good place to start and allow the personal applications to grow out from? What will it cost? How do we protect personal privacy? With individual input how do we manage content while also respecting censorship concerns?

As with all new journeys there will always be barriers and obstacles. It is important to look at what services are currently being provided while building a new understanding of the Web 2.0 technology. Once the technology literacy of the population of the customer base is established then the institution can launch one application then grow from there learning by trial and error what works and what doesn’t.

• Book Reviews seem a great place to start. I know in our library we have a great deal of avid readers who could easily compare their impressions of one author’s works to another. A bookstore in Austin, Book People, actually posts personal reviews with their books so that an average person, such as me, can benefit from an opinion other than that of a literal critic.
• An online book club would also be far more accommodating to individuals who work and don’t have the energy or perhaps the time to attend a club meeting during the week.
• A weekly podcast of new arrivals or authors who will be in the area would peak some customers’ interests.
• A Welcome to the Library information video on YouTube that explains the various features and policies of the library would no doubt provide more consistent and thorough inform to new patrons.
• A pod cast about new features being added to the library would keep people informed and give them the option to jump in from the start.
• The library has a huge influx of children during the summer, so perhaps working with the school system students could work on their summer reading projects over the summer with additional instructional materials, so that they could benefit while reading the material instead of reading it and then having to re-read it in order to pass a test the first week of class.
• Perhaps the schools could also work with the library about upcoming student projects so that special databases could be established for students to use.
• There are also a lot of questions that come up concerning the history of our library’s location, perhaps it might be a good idea to have a database where historical information could be maintained including stories from long time residents and personal interviews, in order to keep that valuable information intact and available for generations to come.

All of these ideas, both good and bad, are dependent on many factors and money is not the least of these. Money is no doubt one of the obstacles, but it is important to see the big picture and do what we can to insure that the view of all libraries evolves from THE Library to MY Library.

I’m excited to explore the various technologies and see where libraries are headed down this social, interactive highway. Web 2.0 to me is the ice cream and not the shepherd’s pie.

And I'm off......

I had already created a couple of blogs using blogspot so this part was easy. I'm excited to see what new skills are out there to learn and then incorporate into my personal life and job.