10 Random Things

A little birdie told me that there are bonus points if I post 10 random things about myself.. so here they are:
1. Some of my favorite authors are Alice McDermott, Anne Tyler, Charles Baxter, Barbara Kingsolver ... just to name just a few.
2. I was born and raised in Philadelphia - and have always been a city girl at heart.
3. I love Italy... and cannot wait to go back.
4. I worked in 2 small public libraries in New Jersey (at the same time) right out of library school.
5. I've been married 25 years and have children born 10 years apart. (Two only children!) .
6. Two of my grandparents were immigrants from Ireland - my father was first generation.
7. I like to read novels set in England between the wars.
8. I love strawberry milkshakes from Steak n' Shake.
9. My husband, Roger is a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church.
10. Here are my jobs at CML - outreach librarian at CFD, Ass't Manager at Parsons, Job swap as Children's Services Coordinator, Librarian I in HFAR, Temp position as Ass't Mgr in AV, Manager of Popular Library, Manager at Dublin, and now Mananger at Gahanna.

The End.... #23

A few thoughts for my last and final exercise:

• Favorite discoveries - Shelfari, Flickr & podcasts ... finally understanding what a Wiki was.
• Least favorite discoveries - RSS feeds and bloglines ... I gave up on that one!
• Unexpected outcome - Decision to include a Wiki as learning tool for our Readers' Advisory T.P. Obj. 5.4.3.
• Benefit for me - opened my awareness of the vast array of 2.0 tools out there and increased my understanding of the ways our young people are communicating and how technology is having an impact on the way we think, work and learn.
• Major concern - the amount of time it has taken to do this. As an exempt staff person, I have been able to work on this almost entirely at home. (I did do a few things and always needed to update the tracking log at work though.) This really wasn't an option for the non-exempt staff - many tried to fit it in - but just gave up. For a part time CSS or CSA who doesn't have much time off the floor or scheduled tasks - it's a crunch. We did offer to schedule folks the time to complete - but our staff are also concerned about the ever growing loan list, getting books back on the shelf and those darn blue boxes. I also heard from staff that setting so many accounts and passwords up began to be a big drag.
• And another discovery program ... would I participate? Well, maybe ... it depends.

So now we have spent time developing our technology skills and awareness of the 2.0 tools ... yes - I would say, with a few minor reservations that all in all, it has been a very good thing. But now....let's take the time to work on the skills and confidence we also need to be seen as the book experts in Central Ohio. So can we do that... concentrate on reading and books, too?

#22 - Digital Media - MOLDI

Good idea to include this exercise in the program. I've reviewed MOLDI several times in the past couple years - and think I get it - but then when a customer asks me a question - I'm at a loss since I don't use myself. And I even took one of the OverDrive webinar classes!
I was very happy to see the addition of iPod titles -- in fact I added a few to my wish list to borrow when Santa brings me one later this month. I see most of the iPod titles are classics -- which I will remember to refer students to when they are scrambling at the last minute to get an audio version of a reading list title. As it turns out, our daughter was looking for a copy of Great Expectations on CD just yesterday, and I put a hold on it for her via MOLDI today. Won't she be surprised?
Wish this exercise had come a little sooner in the program - since it is the only tool/resource in "Learn & Play" that I have ever been asked about. I know staff often are at a loss when asked. And for the staff who stopped midway through the program ... having this towards the end means they never saw it.

#21 - Podcasts

I looked at the different podcast directories... the Google directory & Podcast Alley. I see how you can find by category, etc. Saw large list of library related podcasts - loads of university libraries. Lansing Public Library uses podcasts to teach basic tech skills. (Also noticed the popularity of sex and pornography related ones...hmmm... I will be careful how I share podcast directories if the question comes up.)
I did make a great discovery - Podcast Bunker. This directory's slogan is "... we're all about quality, not quanity.." I think I will use it as my reference point as I use podcasts more. It was easy to use and I found loads of podcasts I would listen to...once I HAVE THE TIME! I decided to skip the step using bloglines .. as I find it way too confusing to use and I would never go back there to keep on top of my podcast subscriptions.
Yes - I'm glad to know how many options there are out there for this technology.

YouTube - #20

For my thing #20 exercise, I became more familiar with YouTube. Search engine is pretty straight forward and I found everything I was looking for - videos of the Phillies win last month, Obama's speech on race in Philadelphialast March, and Annie's clarinet trio video. It was nice to be able to send that one on to the family back East ... they rarely make it out here for a concert, so being able to do this is great!

Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-LYUSCYPs

No matter what I tried ... I wasn't able to do the embedded tag copy and paste.... I kept getting error messages... oh well....

CML Power Tools

Thing #19 - Yes, today I explored CML’s own Tool Box of great Web 2.0 tools. So I did not realize that these included some of the tools we have been looking at, like del.icio.us & Twitter & Library Thing, etc. Looked a little closer at Gmail and StumbleUpon.
However, I am done with setting up accounts and creating passwords!! So I didn't go too far. But I am glad to have looked at the entire Power Tools Page - just in case it comes up, I will be able to steer customers here.

Web 2.0 Awards - Thing #18

Took a look at the awards list at: http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0#cat_107 and tried several... imcooked, urbanspoon, Yelp, Farecast, Boo.. recipes, cooking, travel and restaurants. (see a pattern here?) Also noticed how many of the sites we have been using are on this list as well - flickr, twitter, del.ci.ous, etc. So what did I think? Having a list by categories is helpful.. if you are a geneaologist, or cook, or are in retail, then using this list would be a good way to narrow down the handy 2.0 tools for you. Then you stick with one or two. Otherwise.. way too much.. too many passwords and logins, etc. Since I explored some of these sites a few days ago... even now, I can't remember which was what and if I would go back to use.
As for uses in the library setting.. these tools offer options for customers searching for information and referrals to services and products. These sites would probably be good supplements to standard google searches and premium resources.

Google Docs - Nice to Know!

Nice to know about these online applications... never knew that they existed. I'm working at home on this today.. and was unable to open the Common Craft video about it...but will take a quick look back at work. I like those videos.
Anyway... I do have Google account since I am using Blogger for my blog.. and logged into Google Docs. Took a look... and made a sample Holiday Party invitation using the template. I think I may be able to use those templates in my day-to day work.. so will make a point of remembering that they exist .. lots of options and will be good to review for ideas. I can see us incorporating these tools when doing tech training .. having access to these online apps will be very helpful for customers needing tools for work, school, community groups, etc.

#16 - Playing with Wiki's - Thing #16

Had a little trouble with this one. First I requested access to the Learn & Play pbwiki - got access - added an entry to favorite books section... so far, so good. Then I tried to add link to this blog.. and even though I see that note that that section was edited by Mary Kelly... did not see addition of the url for my blog. Also did not see how to put the link in the right part of the page. So I will just trust that I did it okay... hmmm.

Wiki's - Thing # 15

So now I know what's in a wiki! This was one of the most useful exercises for me.
Here is a 2.0 tool we can really use... in fact, our 2008 5.4.3 obj project team is setting one up for staff as a place to go for training activities and memory aids for readers' advisory. So... stay tuned!

Library 2.0 - Thing #14

Thanks for the Library 2.0 assignment - it's important to know the "why" of what we are doing. I found Rick Anderson's article interesting.. as I agree that we need to throw away the "come to us" model ... and if we do not adapt to the changes in the marketplace we become obsolete.
Yet - I can't help but wonder how we manage this challenge without ignoring the still very sizable group of our customers who count on us in more traditional ways. I hear it every single day - ".... why are you spending so much money, time and effort on technology and computers.... what about those of us who still use you for books? "
It really is tough on staff ... and we need to address it. Any thoughts?

#13 - Tagging, etc

Looked around del.icio.us.. then I set up my own account and downloaded saved favorites. To make this more usable for me, I will need the time (there's that word again..) to tag and write the descriptions. Otherwise, having folders in my favorites list does bascially the same thing.
Looked at the hfar account for RA.. great list of sites.. and all together.. but they need descriptions .. and how do you organize them using the tags, anyway? I couldn't figure that one out.
Can see how this would be a useful tool to have for information and public service work. We could access the lists of frequently used sites from any reference pc.

Twitter - Thing #12

Looked at Twitter today... so now I get it. I set up a Twitter account and posted what I was doing which is looking at twitter and now blogging about it. Why do I feel so stupid doing it? I think it's not a good use of my time. Can see how it would come in handy if you were travelling and away from home. I understand that it is handy tool for folks who do care what you just ate and if you got enough sleep and when you will be home. So I do see we could use this with Annie ... instead of texting which I abhor because it takes me so a long time to reply to a message. Twitter might work better for us. We can give it a try. I do worry about these technology tools and the affect it may have on the way we are processing information. I can't help but think we will begin to lose the ability for sustained attention and deep concentration. hmmmmmm
Here's my twitter account link: https://twitter.com/cmlreader

Thing #11 - Shelfari

Since I began with Shelfari a few weeks ago - I am using this instead of LibraryThing. I think it looks nicer too - esp. the different options for bookshelf stains. Anyway - I had a few tech issues with Shelfari - partially due to user error. I started adding books to my shelf from my reading log notebook and then linked to my blog... but somehow, I then deleted my original account. So I reopened and started again. Cataloging and adding titles has been a good RA exercise - jogging my memory about titles read and reviewing the synopsis for titles I couldn't remember. Also a bit emotional - since doing this brought back feelings about what was going on in my life at the time when I read a particular book. As I've always known, reading is quite a personal experience and books and characters have great meaning in our lives. So far, I have about 350 titles added and I still have more to do. I began keeping a log in 1990 - with a gap of a couple years in the mid-nineties. So far this has been my favorite "thing."

Thing # 10 - Image Generator

Okay.. so I couldn't resist trying out the Read poster image generator. I used a family photo from our Disney World visit in 2004. I thought the layout and colors would fit. And it did! As for this exercise, I can tell there is soooo much to try with images and pictures .. I spent a little time looking at some of the other sites. Speaking of time... as I've mentioned before -- time is the biggest issue/challenge I have with our learn and play project ... I just don't have enough of it!

Thing #9 - Finding Feeds (Not for me!)

I used the search tool on Bloglines with term Hurrican Ike... loads of results of course. I guess I am wondering why I just wouldn't go to any search engine i.e Google News for this..? I found Bloglines confusing to use.. not very intuitive at all. I suscribe to PW Daily, USA Today Books and a few other book related e-mail alert listservs subscriptions .. and even though they do fill up my e-mail box, I prefer the reminder I receive in my e-mail box during my work day. (I do delete them every day.) I realize that I can set up notifications on Bloglines.. but I found it very confusing and I don't have the time to spare to explore. Also tried to add feeds from the Dispatch as recommended by discovery exercise, but kept getting error message. That's okay... I check the print copy of of the paper every day with my morning coffee! ;-)

Favorite CML Technology for 2008 - Thing #7

We've been asked to blog about anything technology related that interests us. How 'bout AquaBrowser? http://catalog.columbuslibrary.org/ The changes that this new catalog has made in the way we help customers has been remarkable. Yes.. it just took a bit of getting used to...but I can't imagine how we ever were able to juggle transactions with all the time it took with DP's keyword searching, figuring out subject headings and spelling the author's name correctly, etc. The ability to go from those broad searches and then step-by-step narrow them down so easily ... the way a customer who can't remember exactly what that book was they had a few weeks ago, can look at the thumbnail, etc... I could go on and on. It certainly has made our lives on the public service floor easier. And.. I confess.. I ignore the cloud, and tell customers to do so as well. Aquabrowser - my favorite technology for 2008!

Venetian Jigsaw Puzzle

My creation
Originally uploaded by mkelly294

Ok.. this is for #6 - Flickr fun and 3rd party sites... created this puzzle with a third party site. I am doing this at home - with a photo from our trip to Italy a few years ago. I uploaded from my home pc.. not my Flickr photstream. It's very cool, but frankly, it is taking way too much time and I am not able to do it at work. I do love playing with our digital photos, but just can't spare the time at the branch. Also.. having some technical issues going in through CMLsi at home. The Smart Filter keeps popping up and I am unable to unblock on my home pc... very wierd. Anyway... love the jigsaw! When I have a little time... I'll come back and try something else.

New Patio August, 2008

New Patio August, 2008
Originally uploaded by mkelly294

After seventeen years, we finally have a backyard space to enjoy!!

Gondola on Canal, Venice, Italy

Gondola on Canal, Venice, Italy
Originally uploaded by DragonWoman

Well... now I'm learning how to play around with Flickr. I've set up an account... and really hope I can remember all these paswords ;-) I uploaded a few of our pictures. And I've searched for some of my very favorites spots. And here is one.. ah....Venice. To be back.. but when?

Set up the blog... finally.

Well... I finally set up the blog.. and here is my very first post. I probably spent more time than I should have choosing font colors, etc, but I couldn't help myself. And choosing the template was another big decision..which became easy when I saw that the photo in the header is from one of my favorite scenes in the world .. looking down the Ben Franklin parkway from the Philadelphia Art museum back home. Yes, I'm doing a week 2 thing in week 3... but I'll eventually catch up.