last post...end of blogging for me, anyway #23

My favorite exercise was the bloglines account, because that's the only one that I will actually use after we're done here (well, I do like my youtube). My least favorite was pretty much everything else because I'm not comfortable having more accounts than I can keep-up with.

I guess what surprised me most about the exercises was how uninterested I was in the new technology than I originally thought I was going to be. No offense, I'm just not a hi-tech kind of person. I'm old; security and privacy are my main concerns here.

I don't have any ideas for using these tools in the library, but I'm sure that HCPL has some ideas. That's good enough for me.

I will say that as far as trainings go, this was by far one of the best, even if it turned-out not to be my cup of tea. At this point, I'm done with web 2.0; life's too short to be spending it in front of a computer screen. I'm sure the younger generations will get more out of this than me.

downloadable media #22

I will say that downloading ebooks is a lot easier when the right software is already loaded, and about 20 less steps in the process. With some help, I was able to download "The Cat in the Hat" onto our branch MP3 player. I wanted to download "The Historian", but because of time-constraints, it was suggested to get a smaller book. Finding the books, music, etc. was easy on all sites, but the look of the Wowio site was the most eye-pleasing to me. Everything was more compartmentalized on that site than the others, and more graphically pleasing.

podcasts #21

This was pretty easy to do. I forgot to look for library-related podcasts, but I did find some interesting music podcasts instead. My only interest with podcasts would be for radio or music. The Yahoo directory was a little vague. Searching the other 2 directories was quicker.

YouTube/other... #20 (3)

For the more hi-tech version, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-UX01Jqns

YouTube/other... #20 (2)

For the one individual who may be boring him/her self with my blog, the youtube video I attempted to add before is "Something Weird Teenage Strangler". It's easier to just look it up on youtube at this point. Enjoy!

YouTube/other video sharing sites #20

I chose this video because of the cool, d-grade horror bit edited (badly) with the very hokey 60's song. I was already somewhat familiar with youtube before, to catch clips of band performances on late-night talk shows that I missed, and funnies. I can see how the library could use this to showcase past in or out-of-library programs/performances for patrons to experience examples of what each branch has to offer. Maybe even goofy staff videos for fun!

Intro to Zoho

It's great to know that there are other programs to use (for free, too!) for creating documents that are translatable anywhere.  This is yet another reason to get a MAC computer and get off of the Microsoft-monopoly train!!

social networking #18

I'm going to sound like a party-pooper here, but I can safely say that I won't ever be using any social networking sites. I looked at the ones listed, and none of them stood-out to me. I thought maybe the Threadless site would be fun because of the t-shirt designs, but no, nothing. Besides, everything I write sounds stupid and I don't trust the security of the internet. I really don't want to be on the "blacklist" at any point for any reason, either.

I don't have the desire to "social network". I feel the fun thing about interacting socially with others is actually doing physical things with them, like going to the movies, dancing, bike riding (the bicycle-type), social drinking, going to dinner parties, or parties in general, catching live bands at small venues, etc. I feel like I would only get a flat sense of what the people out there are like, whereas in person I'd have a better sense right away about the whole person, and that can save a lot of time, energy, and regret. I'm not afraid of taking risks in this way. I'm much stronger and wiser because of it, and for that I have no regrets.

technology #17

Technology...it's helpful for many tasks, not so for others. I've only used computer-related technology since my 1st semester in college, and I can't say that I'm a natural. I remember back when pc's were first introduced, and how everyone said that they would cut-back on paper usage. So far I haven't seen much evidence of that.

I LOVE music, and I thought the most brilliant invention for recording/listening to music ever was the minidisc player. I think it's now extinct, but it plugged into ANY source to record and was tiny enough to carry anywhere. The minidiscs were also very tiny and cute. Plus, the discs were re-recordable for up to a million times before they would break down. MP3 players just aren't the same, and nowadays one has to pay for most of the music that's downloaded onto them. On the minidisc, the music's recorded for free because it's from whatever one has laying around. But hey, what do I know.

I've also heard just recently that the MAC computer is the best system to use for the creative types. Sorry Microsoft, I'll be using the MAC in the future.

wikis #16

Wikis look like another way to find/display information, but with text only instead of an html website. It seems easy enough for anyone with little tech knowledge to use. It's a 2-way street with the flexibility of editing: great to have the freedom to do it, but not sure if what's added is true/correct. I would hope that there are back-up editors that do fact-checking, and I'm not crazy about the idea of attracting spam.

I find it interesting that libraries use wikis. I was under the impression that librarians didn't approve of wikis, especially Wikipedia, because of the questionable content added by anyone. Since it seems to be ok with libraries, I can see where a wiki site that lists a library's branch information and community events would be useful. I think it would be helpful to have links to instructions on how to use the print card machine, the computer printer, the photocopy machine, and other areas where most of the repetitive questions are asked on a daily basis. Maybe even links to maps/addresses of places nearby to send faxes, make photocopies, find notaries, get tax help, etc.

library 2.0 & web 2.0 #15

Library 2.0 to me seems to mean that libraries around the world are updating their technology. Until all of this new technology is in place and being used on a regular basis, I won't be able to relate to much of it.

I like the sound of Library 4.0 the best, because I can relate best to physical reality and an actual space to find and process information. I think the description of chairs to lounge in and the brandy especially intrigued me. I also see the point that even when libraries achieve these new changes, their work will never be done because of the speed of updated technology.

I personally don't have a problem with the way libraries have existed for the past couple of centuries, in this country at least. I will have to see these changes take place in order to believe that they will be improvements. It's just my own opinion, but I feel like identity theft needs to be addressed and prevented before moving forward with technology. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I also feel that we, as a civilization, may have more basic needs in the near future other than the use of technology in libraries. I'm pretty sure that these changes won't come without resistance.

technorati #14

Advanced search of "Learning 2.0" brought up:
-Blog posts: 6,908 posts
-Tags: 668 posts
-Blog directory: 699 posts

There wasn't much difference that I could see, except in the amount of posts found. Searching the popular blogs was more interesting because I could go directly to blogs with subjects I was interested in. I located some art and music review blogs that could be useful. Basically, it just looks like another avenue to find blogs, unless I missed the point altogether.

tagging #13

I can see that this tool is ideal for research purposes. It looks like a little personal cataloging system of one's own. It seems to save a lot of time in finding certain sites, along with help from other users' tag suggestions and comments. Reading reviews on products and issues helps me to make more sound decisions, so I see the comments feature as useful. Having access to these from anywhere adds convenience.

library elf #12

Library elf seems like it has some useful features for those who may need it. I couldn't get it to work, but it looks like I wouldn't need to use it anyway. I already get reminder emails through our system for everything, so I prefer not to double or triple them. We do get a lot of patrons who want a list of past items that were checked-out, and I think that feature on elf is ideal for them.

library thing #11

I was excited to find a few of my favorite books on Library Thing. You can see most of them to the right, under the magazine cover, and at the link http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php.

image generators #10

I liked FDToys the best, http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/. It did take some time to get the thing onto my sight. It's the magazine cover on the top right of the page. I'm not crazy about little animated people, but everyone's raving about them, so I may give one a try later. I didn't care for the other generator options.

finding feeds #9

The easiest tools to use were Bloglines & Feedster. Topix was fairly easy, but I didn't find anything interesting for Houston stories. Technorati was easy to use, but didn't give me many results for anything. By the time I got around to Syndic8, I was on "information overload"; it was the least interesting site for me; my eyes didn't no which way to look because there wasn't much delineation between areas on the pages.

Feedster did help me find a couple of promising music blogs. They look like they may have information on types of music I'm interested in, which is not easy to find. One of the music blogs, Tables Turned, even gives instructions on how to start-up a podcast radio station!

I didn't pay too much attention to other ways of finding newsfeeds because of the reason above, "information overload":P

rss feed/newsreader #8

This exercise was easy enough, and I appreciated that. I probably won't have enough time in the day to look at all the feeds I subscribed to, but I will at least attempt it. I was surprised at how many feeds are out there in the world. I'm sure that I've only scratched the surface.

photo editing #7

more flickr fun #6

I really like "Colr Pickr" the best. It incorporates 2 things I love the most: colors and photos. The "Trippermap" and "Trip" planners would also be fun to set-up with some free time.

"plane" day 2

success!

"plane" day

online safety & privacy

I'm not at all comfortable sharing any information about myself online. I'm new, so maybe with time and use I'll grow to be more at ease with this, to a point. So far, I only trust the old way of communicating ideas: face-to-face and pen to paper. However, I'm williing to learn the new ways.

It's a little more comforting to know that there are prevention tools in place for some security purposes. I appreciate most of all learning about these tools, which I didn't know existed before today. Knowing how to use them does put my mind slightly at ease. I do my best to use common sense when using the computer for anything, especially email (spam, etc.) and online purchases.

learning habits

Laughing, positive thinking, and organization/setting goals are the easiest learning habits for me. I naturally use these on a regular basis. Listening to music at a low level also helps me to drown-out distracting thoughts that get in the way of learning.

Motivation can sometimes be the hardest habit. Some days I'm more motivated than others to learn and/or accomplish goals. Having some fun along the way generally keeps me on the right track.

hello world...

Bare with me, I'm new. It's a surprisingly beautiful morning for the Gulf coast in September. We usually don't get dry or coolish weather this early in the fall. So, have a swell day everyone!