Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Thing #4 of the 23 Things on a Stick

O.k. I just finished signing up for a Flickr account. It was really easy. I put a few pictures on the account, and then posted one to my Blog.

I just came back from Hawaii and between my husband and myself we took almost 800 digital photos. My husband just spend a lot of time last weekend sorting thru the pictures and figuring out which ones to print, then we had to go out and find a photo album that would work, and then he spent HOURS putting them in the album. And then, like the short video clip I watched on Flickr suggested the photo album just sits on the shelf. This Flickr account would work great for the Hawaii photos. You could easily organize them by the tag you used, such as surfers, sunsets, valcanoes. Also many of our family members live out of state, so by using the Flickr account we could easily share photos by the computer. All of our family has computers and Internet access. Plus think of all of the money and time we would save! I also really like the idea of the photos being saved on the web. My husband tends to just store the pictures he takes on the computer.Like the video said you are more likely to have a virus or something than have your house burn. They are probably safer on the web, or at least that would be another place they would be located, so you wouldn't lose them.
I just got a digital camera for Christmas, so I know I will be taking lots more photos. This will be a great tool to have. I also like the idea of the other photos on their by other people. It might be a good place to get a photo you might need for a publicity idea.

I looked at the displays they had on the web at St. Ben's. What a "user friendly" way to browse for books at home. I would like it as a patron. Wouldn't it take a lot of staff time to keep up on something like that?

By the Light of the Moon Bookclub

Here we are a few years ago, promoting the new book club kits

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Thing #3 of 23 Things on a Stick

I have heard a little bit about RSS and newsreaders in the past, but I didn't quite understand how it worked. But now that I signed up for the Google Reader and added some subscriptions I understand how it works. It is nice, because they are all in one place. I do not have to bookmark or remember websites. If I don't want to read some of the entries, or do not have time, I can just mark them all read. I will also be able to keep up with easier with some friends that are also doing the 23 things on a stick.

This was a good exercise for me, because there were a few websites I wanted to check out any way, like Librarian Unplugged. And this gave me a good opportunity to do so. If I do find that I am using this more regularly, I think I might make two accounts, one for work, and one for personal.

I liked that there was a searching tool available. I did try doing a search for Healing Touch which is something I am studying. I did not find any good sites. so I did not add one, but when I have some more time I would like to spend some more time searching for other RSS's that I might be interested in. That is all for now. It is 11:33! Time for bed. Robin

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Thing #2 of 23 things on a stick

I watched the video and read the articles. I can understand both sides. I personally enjoy learning new things--that is one of the things I like about my job. Every day I learn something new. I also don't like to look dumb. So, I like to try to keep up with the new technology as much as I can. I at least want to try to keep ahead of most of my patrons so I can try to help them, and so I don't look dumb!
Our job is to try to meet the needs and desires of our patrons, which are constantly changing. Technology is becoming a bigger part of their needs and desires every day. We need to try to keep up with it. Like one of the articles stated the young people that are very techy are our future taxpayers and voters. We want to keep them happy. When I first started at the Princeton Area Library over 21 years ago, we did not have that many teenagers coming into our library. Today we do. The library is now a "cool" place for them to be. We want them to feel comfortable there, and they do.
I am glad they have offered the 23 Things on a Stick. It has been challenging for me to try to keep up, especially since I just had a 2 week vacation in Hawaii during part of our time. (notice my Avatar reflects my trip. But it is also great incentive to do this. There is a prize at the end, and other people in the library field are doing it with me!
The label "Library 2.0" is confusing to some, what does it mean, who coined the term? Well, now I know after doing the readings. I guess it was just a catchy phrase. Well, time for bed.. Sorry about the misspellings...
Yahoo! Avatars

#1 Thing on a Stick

O.k. I think I finally am using the right Blogger. Now if I only felt more confident about HOW to use it, and make sure I am posting to the right thing. Earlier thought I already had created a blog, but I something did not seem right ( I was signed up with NING), so I went back and read the directions and signed up for a Google Blogger. I talked to Patricia Post a few days later and she explained that this was correct. She also said there was an area on the Mother Blog to ask for help. I have not located that yet. I think I know which one is the Mother Blog. I also did make an Avatar on Yahoo, but I did not figure out how to transfer it to my Blog. Can anyone tell me how to do that?Anything else I should know? I feel pretty stupid about this. I thought I would have an easier time. I can understand why some of our patrons get so frustrated at times. Robin.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Thing #1

I think I finally got the right blogger. I hope this one is registered. Now I have to see if I can upload the Avatar I created.

Friday, February 15, 2008