Find the answers to these questions by installing a site meter on your blog from sitemeter.com This little button monitors the traffic on your blog. Give it a try and spy on your readers. I was surprised to learn that I have visitors almost every day!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Is Anyone Out There?
We librarians have been blogging away about our Web 2.0 experiences. But we may ask ourselves, what is the point besides CEUs? Is anyone actually reading our blogs? And if so, who are they and where do they come from?
On the Fourth of July I decided to "get a facebook." I'd heard scary things about the lack of privacy on Facebook, but wanted to try it for myself. I entered all the information required to create an account and then felt a chill of horror when I saw my full name, birth date, location and email address pop up on the screen. What have I done? I'd spent so much effort being anonymous during the Explorations that seeing identifying information posted was a shock. When I was done freaking out, I realized that the whole point of Facebook is to network with real people as a real person. After all, my husband has a facebook and it hasn't sent any crazed stalkers after him. So I calmed down and ran downstairs to ask my husband to be my friend.
For a while I had no friends other than my husband. He informed me that having no friends was pathetic. My brother, to my astonishment, is on Facebook, and at our Fourth of July party he agreed to be my friend. Apparently he rarely checks his facebook, however, because he still has not confirmed me as a friend. (I guess it is the thought that counts.) In the following days, some of my husband's friends became my friends, and I've acquired quite a few library friends. In fact, the easiest way to get friends is to glom on to the friends of others. By using this strategy, I am catching up with my husband on my number of friends!
I played around with the search feature and actually found a real life friend with whom I'd lost contact about 4 years ago. And a friend from high school recently found me. So far, I haven't emailed my re-discovered friends, and they haven't emailed me. It makes me wonder: if we are "friends" on Facebook, are we really still friends? Should we make more of an effort? Is it too easy to coast along in Facebook?
For a while I had no friends other than my husband. He informed me that having no friends was pathetic. My brother, to my astonishment, is on Facebook, and at our Fourth of July party he agreed to be my friend. Apparently he rarely checks his facebook, however, because he still has not confirmed me as a friend. (I guess it is the thought that counts.) In the following days, some of my husband's friends became my friends, and I've acquired quite a few library friends. In fact, the easiest way to get friends is to glom on to the friends of others. By using this strategy, I am catching up with my husband on my number of friends!
I played around with the search feature and actually found a real life friend with whom I'd lost contact about 4 years ago. And a friend from high school recently found me. So far, I haven't emailed my re-discovered friends, and they haven't emailed me. It makes me wonder: if we are "friends" on Facebook, are we really still friends? Should we make more of an effort? Is it too easy to coast along in Facebook?
Tonight my husband gave me a lesson on adding applications to my facebook. How people got the little games and quizzes on their pages was a mystery to me. My husband calls Facebook a giant time waster. He prefers the immediacy of Twitter, and I must say I agree with him. Still, I might add a few photos and become a fan of some favorite authors. I've written on some walls and some friends wrote on mine. One even sent me a space alien greeting. Is this all really cool or really dumb? Not sure. . . .
Anyway, time to check my facebook. Who wrote on my wall today? Do I have new friends? I hate to admit it, but Facebook might be a just a tiny bit fun. Sorry I can't share my Facebook with you--must remain anonymous.
Anyway, time to check my facebook. Who wrote on my wall today? Do I have new friends? I hate to admit it, but Facebook might be a just a tiny bit fun. Sorry I can't share my Facebook with you--must remain anonymous.
Friday, July 4, 2008
More Cuddling
I'm learning a few things about videos. For one thing, not everyone can stand to watch more than 30 seconds of cats grooming each other. So videos are better kept short. This next video is short, I promise you. And see how I employed a fancy zooming technique at the beginning and end of the clip? Maybe I should get a real video camera. But then I'd need to find something to film besides my cats as cute as they are. . .
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Social Networking Sites: the Last Exploration
As I write this post I'm listening to music through Pandora. I now have one station based on Madeleine Peyroux and one on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Hard to concentrate with the Dirty Dozen playing, however. I was interested to learn that Pandora is considered a social networking site. After I signed up, I interrupted my manager's paperwork to log him on to Pandora too. He listens to music all the time in his office. If you can believe it, he actually smiled. A win for Web 2.0!
I liked the sample Myspace page designed to attract teens to library services. We could certainly use something like that in our system, especially if we will be emphasizing services for teens. The only problem was the music on their page overroad my Pandora music and for a few minutes I thought Pandora had gone wacko. I need to go into Facebook and see if I can find my husband's Facebook page. I don't think I'm interested in having my own page, but that could change, since I didn't really think I was interested in blogging and now I have this enormous blog. As I said in an earlier post, I just want all my stuff in one place so I can use it and share it easily.
I liked the sample Myspace page designed to attract teens to library services. We could certainly use something like that in our system, especially if we will be emphasizing services for teens. The only problem was the music on their page overroad my Pandora music and for a few minutes I thought Pandora had gone wacko. I need to go into Facebook and see if I can find my husband's Facebook page. I don't think I'm interested in having my own page, but that could change, since I didn't really think I was interested in blogging and now I have this enormous blog. As I said in an earlier post, I just want all my stuff in one place so I can use it and share it easily.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Last Exploration Second to Last
I jumped ahead to the last exploration just because it looked interesting. I still actually have one more exploration to go. But I was curious, and this is not like reading the last page of a book and spoiling the ending since really, exploring the web is a continuing endeavor.
I was pleased that I recognized many of the sites from the 2008 Web 2.0 Awards. I guess I really have been learning something! I was the most intrigued by the Start Pages section and intend to play around with making my own start page at Netvibes. Now that I'm signed up for so many 2.0 sites and services, I spend all day opening and closing windows and logging in and out of sites. I'd like my stuff all in one place! I'd also like to log in just one time and be good everywhere. There is an internet movement called OpenID whose goal is to give people a "single digital identity across the internet." Many web services are starting to give users the option of logging on with an OpenID login. I've noticed the OpenID box when I post comments to Blogger. Maybe I'll have to join OpenID myself.
In the early 1990s I contributed some web pages to an Archives website. Back then, I had to learn HTML and enter the little formating codes by hand. I'd save the page, open it in Netscape, and find out that I had mis-coded something. So then I'd search through the document to find where I forgot to close the < > thingies, or where I forgot to put in the P for paragraph.
The web is so much easier now. And much more fun.
I was pleased that I recognized many of the sites from the 2008 Web 2.0 Awards. I guess I really have been learning something! I was the most intrigued by the Start Pages section and intend to play around with making my own start page at Netvibes. Now that I'm signed up for so many 2.0 sites and services, I spend all day opening and closing windows and logging in and out of sites. I'd like my stuff all in one place! I'd also like to log in just one time and be good everywhere. There is an internet movement called OpenID whose goal is to give people a "single digital identity across the internet." Many web services are starting to give users the option of logging on with an OpenID login. I've noticed the OpenID box when I post comments to Blogger. Maybe I'll have to join OpenID myself.
In the early 1990s I contributed some web pages to an Archives website. Back then, I had to learn HTML and enter the little formating codes by hand. I'd save the page, open it in Netscape, and find out that I had mis-coded something. So then I'd search through the document to find where I forgot to close the < > thingies, or where I forgot to put in the P for paragraph.
The web is so much easier now. And much more fun.
Companies & Twitter/Libraries & Tweeters
A funny thing happened to my husband last night. He posted the following message to Twitter:
Several hours later he got a tweet from a Comcast customer service representative. The tweet apologized for the problem and gave contact information for resolving the situation. Comcast is apparently monitoring Twitter and trying to head off negative tweets about their company! Who knew?
They might be using a service such as Summize. Summize is fun to play around with. Put in a keyword and it pulls tweets out of the Twitter stream. If you put in the word "library" you will discover that many Twitter users are about to go to the library, at the library, or just returning from the library. A few of them have issues with fines or snacking in the library. Good to know Twitterers are heavy library users!
Several hours later he got a tweet from a Comcast customer service representative. The tweet apologized for the problem and gave contact information for resolving the situation. Comcast is apparently monitoring Twitter and trying to head off negative tweets about their company! Who knew?
They might be using a service such as Summize. Summize is fun to play around with. Put in a keyword and it pulls tweets out of the Twitter stream. If you put in the word "library" you will discover that many Twitter users are about to go to the library, at the library, or just returning from the library. A few of them have issues with fines or snacking in the library. Good to know Twitterers are heavy library users!
Social Bookmarking Sites & Folksonomies
Last night I explored Social Bookmarking Sites & Folksonomies. I played around with del.icio.us and linked my new del.icio.us account to my blog. I'm not sure how much I will use del.icio.us. It would be convenint to always have my links handy, and I think it is a great idea to have a branch del.icio.us account to use for homework assignments and links that are not on Recommended Sites. I spent years in my branch trying to ensure that each workstation at the Information desk had the same list of bookmarks. I finally gave up. Del.icio.us would be a solution to that problem. Unfortunately, the del.icio.us buttons don't work in the library so you have to cut and paste all your links.
Although I'm not really interested in seeing everyone else's links on del.icio.us, I thought that the psychology behind tagging is fascinating: order from randomness. Like the internet is coming to life. Maybe we will find life on the internet before the Phoenix Lander finds microbes on Mars. Scary!
Personally, I'm discovering that it is hard to be consistent in my tags. I'll use a singular word one day and a plural the the next, and the day after, an abbreviation. Then I have to go back and fix them all. Maybe that is just librarian pickiness. Should I worry about using "Young Adult," "YA," "Teen," and "Teens" when I mean the same thing for all of them? I need my own personal authority file! That is why we will never ditch the Library of Congress subject headings.
Although I'm not really interested in seeing everyone else's links on del.icio.us, I thought that the psychology behind tagging is fascinating: order from randomness. Like the internet is coming to life. Maybe we will find life on the internet before the Phoenix Lander finds microbes on Mars. Scary!
Personally, I'm discovering that it is hard to be consistent in my tags. I'll use a singular word one day and a plural the the next, and the day after, an abbreviation. Then I have to go back and fix them all. Maybe that is just librarian pickiness. Should I worry about using "Young Adult," "YA," "Teen," and "Teens" when I mean the same thing for all of them? I need my own personal authority file! That is why we will never ditch the Library of Congress subject headings.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Our New Branch Wiki is Working!
Here is a screen shot from the FrontPage of our new branch Wiki. After the Quick Links you see above, I posted silly photos of the branch staff so that everyone who will be using the wiki has a photo on the FrontPage. It took me several days to get the Wiki up and running using pbwiki.com. At first I had a hard time conceptualizing the whole thing. I listened to two of the pbwiki tutorials, but they were not very helpful. Viewing other examples of wikis helped much more. And pbwiki has been emailing me helpful tips.
So now Bookpusher and CoreyandGriffie are writers, and Asimovstruths is a reader. Theoretically wikis are unkillable, but previous disasterous computing incidents involving Asimovstruths have left me nervous. I can always change him to a writer later.
I've asked the circulation staff to read Exploration #7 and watch the little video. Then I'll send them all invitations as well. Originally we thought this wiki would just be a programming plan wiki, but then we decided to make it useful to everyone in the branch.
Today Bookpusher made several edits (yay Bookpusher!) so our branch wiki is now officially up and functioning.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wiki Ideas
Before I read the Exploration on Wikis, I didn't really think they a had any application to my job. Then Bookpusher, CoreyandGriffie, and I were talking, and we think it would be fun to do our Annual Programming Plan as a Wiki. Currently, we keep the programming plan on the common drive and the 3 programmers edit it and save the changes as needed. It might be much easier to do as a Wiki. And if someone makes a mistake, we can go back and see the original document.
For the library system overall, I think it would be fantastic to let the patrons contribute to our catalog by writing book reviews or comments. It would really help people select books and foster a sense of community. If patrons could follow the posts of individual reviewers, they could even find people who share their reading tastes and get suggestions from them.
I will let you know how our Wiki experiment goes. First we have to convince our manager that this is a good idea. He just made a face and says he hates Wikis because they contain incorrect information. I reminded him that we will be posting the information, not strangers. I think he thinks random strangers will be contributing to our plan. . . .
More to follow on this exciting experiment!
For the library system overall, I think it would be fantastic to let the patrons contribute to our catalog by writing book reviews or comments. It would really help people select books and foster a sense of community. If patrons could follow the posts of individual reviewers, they could even find people who share their reading tastes and get suggestions from them.
I will let you know how our Wiki experiment goes. First we have to convince our manager that this is a good idea. He just made a face and says he hates Wikis because they contain incorrect information. I reminded him that we will be posting the information, not strangers. I think he thinks random strangers will be contributing to our plan. . . .
More to follow on this exciting experiment!
Zoho
Well, back to business. It is really easy to get diverted in this Web 2.0 stuff.
Last night I posted a document that I created using Zoho Writer. Of everything I have learned so far, I think Zoho has the most immediate relevance to library patrons. While we have Word on our computers, we don't have Excel or Powerpoint. Patrons will find Zoho very handy. I think even the skeptical librarians will agree it is a useful thing to know about. However, the patrons who don't bring a diskette or a flash drive are probably the ones that will have trouble using Zoho. So we will be doing lots of teaching.
I was reading an article in PC Magazine that referred to the internet as "the cloud." The article suggests that in the future we may get both our content and our software from the cloud. It is called "cloud computing." I guess Zoho is an example of this. I made my Zoho Writer document without ever uploading or downloading. Visualizing the internet as a cloud is a neat metaphor.
My husband routinely saves his work to Google Docs when he is going on a trip. That way, if there is a problem with his laptop, he can get his presentation again from the web. He is always ahead of me in Web 2.0!
Last night I posted a document that I created using Zoho Writer. Of everything I have learned so far, I think Zoho has the most immediate relevance to library patrons. While we have Word on our computers, we don't have Excel or Powerpoint. Patrons will find Zoho very handy. I think even the skeptical librarians will agree it is a useful thing to know about. However, the patrons who don't bring a diskette or a flash drive are probably the ones that will have trouble using Zoho. So we will be doing lots of teaching.
I was reading an article in PC Magazine that referred to the internet as "the cloud." The article suggests that in the future we may get both our content and our software from the cloud. It is called "cloud computing." I guess Zoho is an example of this. I made my Zoho Writer document without ever uploading or downloading. Visualizing the internet as a cloud is a neat metaphor.
My husband routinely saves his work to Google Docs when he is going on a trip. That way, if there is a problem with his laptop, he can get his presentation again from the web. He is always ahead of me in Web 2.0!
Thank you for sharing Cookie Monster, Orangerful
Just got a tweet from Orangerful about this Cookie Monster clip. I love Cookie Monster. I do a cookie storytime that the kids always ask me to repeat. Two of the stories star Cookie Monster. We also sing "C is For Cookie" during Babies in Bloom. It is so good to see Cookie defending cookie eating. And thanks to Orangerful, I'm now a Hulu member!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Zoho Practice
HCR
June 24, 2008
I'm now learning how to use Zoho as part of my Web 2.0 Exploration. The Writer looks alot like Word. I think it would be easy for anyone familar with MS Word to figure out.
Now I'm going to add a cool picture of an iguana:
Why I chose and iguana picture:
- My sister had an Iguana when we were kids
- His name was Allison
- He liked to nap on the curtain rod
- The dogs were terrified of him
- The cat liked to sleep under his heat lamp
- One day I found the cat sharing the windowsill with Allison, both sound asleep
- Allison grew to be about 5 feet long, mostly tail.
| iguana | cat | dogs | |
| Hours sleeping in the sun in the morning | All Morning | Most of the Morning | Part of the Morning |
| Hours sleeping in the sun in the afternoon | All Afternoon | Most of the Afternoon | Part of the Afternoon |
Now lets see if I can publish this to my blog!
More Animoto and Our Branch Manager
Turns out that Animoto just really doesn't work with the library. You can't upload from the library computers, and you can't share a link by emailing it to library email accounts. Animoto will email links just fine to outside email accounts such as yahoo, gmail and comcast. Oh well. . . .
I've posted the Kickoff Animoto video to the library Programming Blog, if anyone would care to view it.
By the way, our reluctant branch manager started his anti-blog. Take a look at http://asimovstruths.blogspot.com
I've posted the Kickoff Animoto video to the library Programming Blog, if anyone would care to view it.
By the way, our reluctant branch manager started his anti-blog. Take a look at http://asimovstruths.blogspot.com
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Animoto for Library Use
Well, it took most of a Saturday afternoon, but I made an Animoto video of our Kickoff pictures. I ended up paying to make a longer video. I am already imagining groups of my personal photos I'd like to animate.
However, you need lots of patience with Animoto since it is still a beta site. Things often don't work on the first try but inexplicably work on the 2nd or 3rd try or after you sign out and sign back in. Also some things are a bit slow. It took 2 days to publish Cat Faces to Youtube, for instance. But the Kickoff video worked overnight (it is marked private). For a while Animoto wouldn't let me download my video to my laptop, and then later it did.
However, Animoto updates you on the status of your projects with either on-screen messages or email. For instance, this morning I got an email saying the Cat Faces was now on Youtube. I'd actually forgotten about sending it. It is very easy to email links of you videos to friends. That part always seems to work consistently.
Overall, Animoto is very cool and worth the time and effort.
However, you need lots of patience with Animoto since it is still a beta site. Things often don't work on the first try but inexplicably work on the 2nd or 3rd try or after you sign out and sign back in. Also some things are a bit slow. It took 2 days to publish Cat Faces to Youtube, for instance. But the Kickoff video worked overnight (it is marked private). For a while Animoto wouldn't let me download my video to my laptop, and then later it did.
However, Animoto updates you on the status of your projects with either on-screen messages or email. For instance, this morning I got an email saying the Cat Faces was now on Youtube. I'd actually forgotten about sending it. It is very easy to email links of you videos to friends. That part always seems to work consistently.
Overall, Animoto is very cool and worth the time and effort.
Cat Fight!
It has taken me several days of lurking about to catch my cats having their daily wrestle. Annabelle always attacks from the landing and Henrietta always defends from the hallway. Here they are:
Saturday, June 21, 2008
It Worked, Sort Of
This morning I again tried to post my animoto video to my blog. First I tried to send it to Youtube, figuring that from there I could easily post it. But I got a Whoops! message from animoto. Next I tried their feature that lets you post directly to Blogger. This feature did not work yesterday in the library, but as you can see, it worked today from home. I also thought to download the video to my computer first, but you can't download unless you pay the 3 dollars.
I brought home some photos from our Kickoff to try in animoto. Filled my library issued flash drive and a colleague's flash drive. Obviously I'm going to have to get my own, large capacity flash drive if I'm going to do this stuff. 512 MB didn't cut it and 64 MB was just pitiful! And don't even try to use these drives for video!
I'm deleting the failed sidebar widget I added yesterday.
I brought home some photos from our Kickoff to try in animoto. Filled my library issued flash drive and a colleague's flash drive. Obviously I'm going to have to get my own, large capacity flash drive if I'm going to do this stuff. 512 MB didn't cut it and 64 MB was just pitiful! And don't even try to use these drives for video!
I'm deleting the failed sidebar widget I added yesterday.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Animoto Test
This afternoon I made a video using Animoto.com. I wanted to use our Kickoff pictures, but Animoto can't access the library's servers. So I used cat pictures from my Flikr account (yes, more cats). A 30 second video is free, and anything longer costs 3 dollars, so I chose a 30 second video. Animoto animates your photos and lets you select music. Once the video is done, it emails a link and posts the video to your account. I am impressed with the video and very excited to show it to you.
But. . . .
I've been trying to post the finished video to my blog with no success. When I give Animoto my blogger email and password, it says I need my blog! And while it lets me make a widget, the widget, unfortunately, is pretty useless. As you can see, it only shows a quarter of the video image. I'm wondering if this will work better from home. There is an option to post it to Youtube, and from there I know I can post it to Blogger. Still, the system is pretty glitchy. If you stick with it the results are fun and might even be worth 3 dollars for a long video. I'll have to experiment a bit more.
But. . . .
I've been trying to post the finished video to my blog with no success. When I give Animoto my blogger email and password, it says I need my blog! And while it lets me make a widget, the widget, unfortunately, is pretty useless. As you can see, it only shows a quarter of the video image. I'm wondering if this will work better from home. There is an option to post it to Youtube, and from there I know I can post it to Blogger. Still, the system is pretty glitchy. If you stick with it the results are fun and might even be worth 3 dollars for a long video. I'll have to experiment a bit more.
RSS Revised, More Twitter, and a Podcast
I went back to Google Reader and deleted all the BBC feeds I subscribed to a few days ago. I realized I just wasn't going to have time to read them every day. I replaced them with the URLs of my co-workers blogs so they would be easier to check. I found a couple of new posts, but then discovered I couldn't comment from within Google Reader. I understand from a fellow blogger that you can post comments directly from the RSS feed using LiveJournal. That would be much more convenient.
Last night my husband introduced me to a podcast called The Sword and the Laser. It is a Fantasy/SciFi podcast. They announce the book they are going to discuss, then after awhile have a podcast where they discuss the book. I recognized lots of my favorite books. It is hard to find people (besides my sister) who have read and enjoyed fantasy and science fiction. It is definitely the underdog genre in the library world--just look at the minuscule science fiction section in my branch! Only the westerns have smaller shelf space! I'm always happy to find a patron I can help with recommendations. Unfortunately, sci/fi fans also tend not to return their library books and there go my favorites, out the door, never to return. Anyway, the point is, I added the RSS feed for the podcast to Google Reader and I got the upcoming book today: Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco. This book is elfpunk. I've read some of the Dresden Files and Emma Bull; is supposed to be similar.
So last night my husband was sitting on the couch listening to the Sword and Laser podcast with me and then he says "They just found ice on Mars! There could be life on Mars!" He'd just gotten a tweet from the scientists on the Phoenix Mars project. Well, I think that is just the coolest thing. So now I'm following the Tweets from Phoenix Mars as well. In his blog this morning, my husband says he thinks that was how the news got out first: through Twitter. Because of that, the twitter page containing the tweet might be considered an historical record! See his blog at http://friendstoldme.blogspot.com.
Last night my husband introduced me to a podcast called The Sword and the Laser. It is a Fantasy/SciFi podcast. They announce the book they are going to discuss, then after awhile have a podcast where they discuss the book. I recognized lots of my favorite books. It is hard to find people (besides my sister) who have read and enjoyed fantasy and science fiction. It is definitely the underdog genre in the library world--just look at the minuscule science fiction section in my branch! Only the westerns have smaller shelf space! I'm always happy to find a patron I can help with recommendations. Unfortunately, sci/fi fans also tend not to return their library books and there go my favorites, out the door, never to return. Anyway, the point is, I added the RSS feed for the podcast to Google Reader and I got the upcoming book today: Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco. This book is elfpunk. I've read some of the Dresden Files and Emma Bull; is supposed to be similar.
So last night my husband was sitting on the couch listening to the Sword and Laser podcast with me and then he says "They just found ice on Mars! There could be life on Mars!" He'd just gotten a tweet from the scientists on the Phoenix Mars project. Well, I think that is just the coolest thing. So now I'm following the Tweets from Phoenix Mars as well. In his blog this morning, my husband says he thinks that was how the news got out first: through Twitter. Because of that, the twitter page containing the tweet might be considered an historical record! See his blog at http://friendstoldme.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Youtube Brings Back Memories of the Good Old Days
I've been exploring youtube a bit more. This clip reminds me of stories told by my branch manager about the "old days" in our system's main library. He and several other librarians used to make spoof videos of all kinds of funny library things. The videos were very irreverent. When one of the videographers retired last summer, we checked to see if he still had the videos, but alas, he did not.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Manager Gets Involved
TodayI impressed our computerphobic branch manager with our movie of Sneaks visiting the elementary school. He thinks it could be used for outreach or publicity. Then I teased him that he is waaaay behind in his Web 2.0 explorations, like, not even started yet. He then explained to me why blogs are dumb and are ruining society. I told him he should put his opinions in his blog. So tonight he wants me to help him start his blog. I'll keep you posted on this exciting adventure. (Bookpusher, you said you were going to help him too . . . . help!)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tweet, Tweet, Tweet
In my branch we are discovering that it is possible to waste a lot of time on Twitter and that it is very easy to convert other staff into Twitterers. So far not our Branch Manager. Is that good or bad? Do we want him to see our tweets? I think he would get a kick out of it. He just returned from the Alaskan wilderness where he saw bald eagles and some bear poop. Maybe he is rested and ready to tweet?
What if we could Twitter all those disorganized parents the morning of a program: Storytime at 10 AM! Make a rabbit puppet! Babies in Bloom this afternoon! I wonder if we could get more spur of moment attendance that way. The people who mean to attend, but keep forgetting, would have their quick reminders. Many times caregivers walk into the building as the program is ending and say "Oh, I totally forgot!"
What if we could Twitter all those disorganized parents the morning of a program: Storytime at 10 AM! Make a rabbit puppet! Babies in Bloom this afternoon! I wonder if we could get more spur of moment attendance that way. The people who mean to attend, but keep forgetting, would have their quick reminders. Many times caregivers walk into the building as the program is ending and say "Oh, I totally forgot!"
RSS Feeds
This afternoon I logged on to Google Reader and subscribed to some RSS feeds: the Web 2.0 Exploration blog, Unshelved, BBC, and my husband's blog. At first I got confused by all the XML coding and couldn't figure out what to copy, then I realized you just copy what is in the address box. Pretty simple actually.
I wasn't really sure what to subscribe to, since in my personal life I mainly use the internet for shopping. I've got my credit card memorized along with that little 3 digit security code! My husband keeps up with technology as part of his work and he uses RSS to let him know when things have changed on the sites he follows. He links to all his podcasts from there which is very convenient. Then I overhear what Callie and Leo think about new technology, or listen to the crazy wine man, Gary Vaynerchuk, who coined the phrase "sniffy sniff." I thought "sniffy sniff" was something my cats do, but apparently wine lovers do it too!
Personally, I feel like I'm in a constant state of data overload, so I don't know if I'll actually use the RSS feed much. I will have to link to my fellow bloggers, however. I don't think it will substitute for going to someone's actual page, since the RSS misses all the cool sidebar stuff.
The library really ought to have a RSS feed going for its events, and it might be good way to pass along memos and information. Maybe it would be easier than faxing or emailing staff. Definitely something to experiment with.
I wasn't really sure what to subscribe to, since in my personal life I mainly use the internet for shopping. I've got my credit card memorized along with that little 3 digit security code! My husband keeps up with technology as part of his work and he uses RSS to let him know when things have changed on the sites he follows. He links to all his podcasts from there which is very convenient. Then I overhear what Callie and Leo think about new technology, or listen to the crazy wine man, Gary Vaynerchuk, who coined the phrase "sniffy sniff." I thought "sniffy sniff" was something my cats do, but apparently wine lovers do it too!
Personally, I feel like I'm in a constant state of data overload, so I don't know if I'll actually use the RSS feed much. I will have to link to my fellow bloggers, however. I don't think it will substitute for going to someone's actual page, since the RSS misses all the cool sidebar stuff.
The library really ought to have a RSS feed going for its events, and it might be good way to pass along memos and information. Maybe it would be easier than faxing or emailing staff. Definitely something to experiment with.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Library Bloggers
I spent the afternoon reading the blogs of other librarians engaged in Web 2.o exploration. I saw some great blog pages and found some interesting ideas. I hope the library will use some of our discoveries-- Twitter, RSS feeds, LibraryThing--to better our service to the patrons. Librarians are already using some web 2.0 featues on their own, such as sharing LibraryThing accounts with patrons (I know Book Pusher does this). But none of it has been used system wide. Hmmm. . . . Maybe we should keep all this quiet or there will be some new entries to the Policies and Procedures Manual and more rules to follow! Shhhh. . . .
And I think I'm going to have to get me a great avatar like Happier Blue has (but with a cat, of course).
And I think I'm going to have to get me a great avatar like Happier Blue has (but with a cat, of course).
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I haven't posted to this blog since I started playing around with Twitter. I'm now following and being followed by several library staff and friends and it is fun to get little tweets or microblogs during the day. The branches are so isolated from each other but with Titter you can find out that one branch is really busy with school kids and that another branch is having a pizza party. If there were a way to have a branch or system twitter, it would be an efficient way to broadcast brief information system wide. For example, announcing a branch's phones are down or their electricity is out. But since Twitter is designed to be person to person, I'm not sure how well that would work.
At first, I didn't realize that it is normal to be followed by complete strangers. I freaked out and blocked the first unknown person who was following me. My husband informed my that I'm not supposed to do that. Poor etiquette. I'm sorry, whoever you are! Now several other strangers are following me, but I've decided not to follow them. I think it is more fun when you know people. You can see that I figured out how to embed my tweets in my blog.
At first, I didn't realize that it is normal to be followed by complete strangers. I freaked out and blocked the first unknown person who was following me. My husband informed my that I'm not supposed to do that. Poor etiquette. I'm sorry, whoever you are! Now several other strangers are following me, but I've decided not to follow them. I think it is more fun when you know people. You can see that I figured out how to embed my tweets in my blog.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Sneaks Live!
Today at work I turned the Sneaks video clips into a movie using Windows Movie Maker. It was really easy and only took about 40 minutes. Then I posted it to our Area Programming Blog. That blog is restricted to library staff, so I figured it would be okay. Now I need to get a CD so I can burn a copy to give to the school. I will surprise Book Pusher with the video tomorrow. Movie Maker has a special effects feature that allowed me to rotate the movie back to vertical. Viewers will no longer get a crick in the neck!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Annabelle on the deck
Okay, I've set up YouTube so that I can post videos directly to my blog. Let's see if this works. . . It seems to work, but if I try to edit it once inside blogger, it gets all messed up. So don't touch!
My First Youtube Video
Well, I uploaded this video to Youtube but can't get it to connect to my blog from there. However, it seems to upload okay from my computer. Hmmmm. . . Here is Annabelle enjoying a good roll on the warm steps:
Disappointment
I went to work yesterday morning with the intention of saving the video clips to my flash drive and bringing them home to play with today. Then I was dismayed to discover that my library issued flash drive is 8 MB and the smallest clip is 40 MB. hmmmmm. And we didn't have any blank CDs in the branch either. I thought about making a short shopping trip on my lunch hour, but it was about to rain cats and dogs out there so I stayed put.
When I got home, (minus the video clips) it occurred to me that I own a fancy pants digital SLR that I've only used 1% of the features of. Surely it must have video too, like Book Pusher's camera. But it does not do video. . . .so I dug out my old Nikon Coolpix and it was a miracle: video! But the battery needs to be charged since I haven't used it in about a year.
So today I'm going to make a video of my cats and upload it to youtube and then link it to this blog. This blog is supposed to be anonymous, and what could be more anonymous than adding another cat video to the billions already out there? Except that this video is of my precious sweeties. So now I'm waiting for the battery to charge. Then my cats have to do something faintly interesting. My husband says youtube is full of videos of sleeping cats. My cats can to that--piece of cake!
When I got home, (minus the video clips) it occurred to me that I own a fancy pants digital SLR that I've only used 1% of the features of. Surely it must have video too, like Book Pusher's camera. But it does not do video. . . .so I dug out my old Nikon Coolpix and it was a miracle: video! But the battery needs to be charged since I haven't used it in about a year.
So today I'm going to make a video of my cats and upload it to youtube and then link it to this blog. This blog is supposed to be anonymous, and what could be more anonymous than adding another cat video to the billions already out there? Except that this video is of my precious sweeties. So now I'm waiting for the battery to charge. Then my cats have to do something faintly interesting. My husband says youtube is full of videos of sleeping cats. My cats can to that--piece of cake!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Whoohooo! The Camera is Rolling and We are Rolling with Laughter
Well, I had intended to do the Web 2.0 explorations in order. I mean, why not? But today I've changed my mind. Fellow blogger Book Pusher and I went to a local elementary school with the costume for our SRC Mascot, Sneaks the Library Cat. Book Pusher brought her brand new digital camera that records video. I brought my cat attitude.
So she documented me climbing into the costume and strutting down the hall, greeting the kids as they entered school for the day. In between photos, she took some hilarious video clips. At one point Sneaks was being hugged by about a zillion little kids, and he began to sway from side to side and, ominously, felt his feet lifting sightly off the ground. He feared tipping over backwards and crushing Kindergarteners. Luckily, the brave reading teacher intervened. Later she said she thought the kids were going to carry away Sneaks like a colony of ants with a potato chip. Seen on video the scene is really funny and --WOW--Sneaks is a Rock Star! Those kids rushed him like the crazed SRC fans we were hoping to create. So what if they tore the shirt off his back? (Not really, just kidding, but some did pull his tail.)
In another clip, Sneaks is startled to find himself on TV for the morning announcements. His fans begged for him, so he had to oblige. The camera is rolling and he hears music for the opening credits. So he bops around and pats the serious 5th grade anchorgirls on the head like the silly cat he is. On video, the music is actually the song "It's a Grand Old Flag, It's a High Flying Flag," precusor to the pledge of allegiance. Who knew? Sneaks was still deafened by the screaming mob and everything he hears is mysteriously muffled, anyway. I did wonder if Sneaks had been inadvertently disrespectful, but the reading teacher, a nice, but tough lady, did not rebuke him, so I guess it was okay. She did call him a ham, but hey, what cat isn't?
So now Book Pusher and I want to play around with the video clips, (we have like 8 of them) and maybe connect them together and share them with the school. I'm taking Skillsoft training and had a tutorial on Vista's movie maker, so we might try that. I'm sure there are websites for it as well. Maybe the software we need is lurking on the library harddrive. Plus we need an easy way to share the clips. Most of the shots are from a distance, so you probably couldn't identify any particular child, but we are leary about putting it on YouTube to share. Also, this was Book Pusher's first time with her new camera and most of the clips are sideways. We are not sure if we can rotate them like you can with photographs. Even sideways, they are hilarious. Unfortunately, Book Pusher took her finger off the button when I was teasing her by saying, "Too bad our photographer can't work her camera. . . ." because then the rest of the video would show that first trys often turn out surprisingly well! Yay for Book Pusher!
We will keep you updated on the video and maybe can attach a clip to our blogs.
We welcome any advice on working with video clips. Please post comments!
So she documented me climbing into the costume and strutting down the hall, greeting the kids as they entered school for the day. In between photos, she took some hilarious video clips. At one point Sneaks was being hugged by about a zillion little kids, and he began to sway from side to side and, ominously, felt his feet lifting sightly off the ground. He feared tipping over backwards and crushing Kindergarteners. Luckily, the brave reading teacher intervened. Later she said she thought the kids were going to carry away Sneaks like a colony of ants with a potato chip. Seen on video the scene is really funny and --WOW--Sneaks is a Rock Star! Those kids rushed him like the crazed SRC fans we were hoping to create. So what if they tore the shirt off his back? (Not really, just kidding, but some did pull his tail.)
In another clip, Sneaks is startled to find himself on TV for the morning announcements. His fans begged for him, so he had to oblige. The camera is rolling and he hears music for the opening credits. So he bops around and pats the serious 5th grade anchorgirls on the head like the silly cat he is. On video, the music is actually the song "It's a Grand Old Flag, It's a High Flying Flag," precusor to the pledge of allegiance. Who knew? Sneaks was still deafened by the screaming mob and everything he hears is mysteriously muffled, anyway. I did wonder if Sneaks had been inadvertently disrespectful, but the reading teacher, a nice, but tough lady, did not rebuke him, so I guess it was okay. She did call him a ham, but hey, what cat isn't?
So now Book Pusher and I want to play around with the video clips, (we have like 8 of them) and maybe connect them together and share them with the school. I'm taking Skillsoft training and had a tutorial on Vista's movie maker, so we might try that. I'm sure there are websites for it as well. Maybe the software we need is lurking on the library harddrive. Plus we need an easy way to share the clips. Most of the shots are from a distance, so you probably couldn't identify any particular child, but we are leary about putting it on YouTube to share. Also, this was Book Pusher's first time with her new camera and most of the clips are sideways. We are not sure if we can rotate them like you can with photographs. Even sideways, they are hilarious. Unfortunately, Book Pusher took her finger off the button when I was teasing her by saying, "Too bad our photographer can't work her camera. . . ." because then the rest of the video would show that first trys often turn out surprisingly well! Yay for Book Pusher!
We will keep you updated on the video and maybe can attach a clip to our blogs.
We welcome any advice on working with video clips. Please post comments!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Flickr
Today I created a Flickr account and linked it to my blog. I had a bunch of cat photos on my work computer that I use as a screensaver, so I just uploaded them. I've had a Kodakgallery Account for years but have resisted using Flickr because most of my home photos are of friends and family. I worried about privacy, though you can limit who sees your pictures. Also, uploading only 6 at a time seemed like a pain. I'll have to play around with it a little more and see how I really like it.
Part of the trouble right now is that there are too many places to put things. I have about 5 years worth of photos in Kodakgallery and now I have some in Flickr. My husband has his travel photos in Fickr, and since he just got a MacBook, he has put some photos in our iPage account. Plus we have the originals stored on an external hard drive in the basement. It is so much more complicated than a shoebox (in fact, I have prints I've ordered online in a shoebox). Is it even worth putting them in an old fashioned album anymore?
At my library branch we put photos of staff and programs on our common drive. We have folders labeled SRC, Parties, Storytime, Building, etc. Staff can go in anytime to look at them. If we made a Flickr account we'd have to be sure to limit the viewers. But then it might be easier to get actual prints made.
Part of the trouble right now is that there are too many places to put things. I have about 5 years worth of photos in Kodakgallery and now I have some in Flickr. My husband has his travel photos in Fickr, and since he just got a MacBook, he has put some photos in our iPage account. Plus we have the originals stored on an external hard drive in the basement. It is so much more complicated than a shoebox (in fact, I have prints I've ordered online in a shoebox). Is it even worth putting them in an old fashioned album anymore?
At my library branch we put photos of staff and programs on our common drive. We have folders labeled SRC, Parties, Storytime, Building, etc. Staff can go in anytime to look at them. If we made a Flickr account we'd have to be sure to limit the viewers. But then it might be easier to get actual prints made.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Archivists learn about web 2.0
I was excited to begin this web 2.0 library project since my husband thinks about web 2.0 alot in his job as an archivist. He co-authored the following presentation at the last MARAC conference. Being a real web 2.0 guy, he then published the powerpoint presentation to slideshare.com where it can reach many viewers. Take a look:
Below, Annabelle studies the web 2.0 slideshow during a test of the powerpoint projector. Even cats are getting into it!
Decisions
This is my first post for my web 2.0 training. I'm doing this at home, where I can have some quiet time. Got all settled in with a mug of Masala Chocolate Chai and a Poptart (chocolate of course) when my home office cat, Henrietta, started whining and crying. So much for quiet. Tossing a catnip mouse down the hall did not deter her so I chased her under the bed several times and now she is tired and ready for a nap.
I've named this blog after my latest food obsession, chocolate tea. I'm trying to eat less sweets so the tea is a substitute. I believe that Poptarts don't count as sweets because they have added vitamins and minerals and they are a breakfast food, not a dessert. I've had a lot of people disagree with me on that point, but I'm holding to it.
Anyway, that's how I thought up the name for this blog. My husband, who has been blogging for a long time, says lots of confused chocolate tea drinkers will look at my blog and be disappointed. So I apologize in advance to anyone who shows up here by accident. I'm not really going to blog about tea.
I've named this blog after my latest food obsession, chocolate tea. I'm trying to eat less sweets so the tea is a substitute. I believe that Poptarts don't count as sweets because they have added vitamins and minerals and they are a breakfast food, not a dessert. I've had a lot of people disagree with me on that point, but I'm holding to it.
Anyway, that's how I thought up the name for this blog. My husband, who has been blogging for a long time, says lots of confused chocolate tea drinkers will look at my blog and be disappointed. So I apologize in advance to anyone who shows up here by accident. I'm not really going to blog about tea.
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