23 Things To Distract Me From Homework

Thing 47. Evaluation

2009-04-17T20:10:00.002-05:00

I just completed the second round of 23 things. I have to say my favorite Things were probably the maps (I would still like to go back and map out the different bookmobile routes, eventually...), as well as the screen casting, and even the scrapbooking Thing (who knew!). I still don't understand why Twitter is so popular, and I dont think I ever will. People saying email and chatting are becoming DEAD tools, which really sucks because I love emailing people! Its how I keep in contact with people, I dont even have a landline phone, just a cell phone. I figured there was no sense in paying $25 a month for something I dont use. If you know me at all, you know how adverse I am to using phones anyway...

All in all this was another fun round of the Things, and I hope you all have time to finish it!

Thing 46. WebJunction Minnesota

2009-04-17T20:06:00.000-05:00

I think all of the classes that are offered are probably the best thing on WJMN for me. I going back to school for my MLIS, but it might be nice to take a course in "dealing with angry patrons" or "keeping your library looking good", as there are a lot of practical solutions here that look interesting.

When I looked at the section about regional library systems, it had upcoming events from December 2008, which was 3 months ago. It would be nice to have a section that upcoming events from every library system that was updated regularly. But, perhaps the regional libraries have to contact WJMN with that information, and they have not done so and that is why there is no current information.

Thing 45. Cloud Computing

2009-04-17T19:56:00.001-05:00

The WebOS tools sound interesting, it would be nice to have access to a virtual ghost of your computer wherever there is Internet access. One drawback would obviously be that your files and information could be accessed by someone else if they wanted to hack into the hosts file system, but that is true of any file uploading/sharing service. So it is not unique to this WebOS as a whole anyway. I like to carry around a USB drive whenever I know I will need to have one to back up files Im working on. This is really handy when you are in school, I usually do a lot of homework on my breaks at work, so I save my work to USB drives and put it back on my computer when I get home.

I use GoogleDocs all the time with school, it is especially helpful when your professor wants you to work in a group in order to write a paper, or do some other work. All of my school is done online so it is impossible for all of us in the group to meet in person. We use GoogleDocs, go into the chat area for our class, and start to work on the paper or project. It is updated in real time, so you can see other people working on the paper, and see what changes they are making.

Other apps that I use include Paypal and my schools file sharing system. Paypal is great if you buy and sell stuff online, but beware they do charge fees, and if you give them your checking account number they will have it FOREVER, they will not get rid of that information even if you close your account. That is my Paypal rant, do with it what you will. As far as the file sharing system I use with my school, I like to put information on that when I forget my USB drive, and I can just get to it again whenever I want to as long as there is an Internet connection. They also let you store up to 250 MB of data, which is a lot really, when you consider that most of the things I do involve Word documents, that are only usually 100 K at the most.

Thing 44. The Economy

2009-04-17T19:34:00.002-05:00

This Thing has ALOT of good stuff in it. I have used about half a dozen of these sites before, and they are all very helpful. The Retailmenot site has different coupons/codes for websites, and before you purchase anything online you should look thru them to see if there are any savings. For a lot of the sites you can get 5% off or free shipping or something, it might not be much, but it could be $5 to $10 or something everytime you buy something online. Other favorites include Craigslist and Freecycle. Both are free online trading/bartering/selling sites, whatever you want to call it. I really don't like how Freecycle is set up. Most of the time you get emails from people ASKING for free stuff. Like a couch, or a car, or money. Im not making this up, most of the people dont understand this is to give some you dont want anymore a good new home, so it can be used again. It is not a site to beg for free things. Lastly, I like the Gasbuddy site, and other similiar ones. Its nice to shop around ONLINE for the cheapest prices, rather than just driving around looking for it! After all you are trying to save money and gas, why not take the advice from others as to where the cheapest fuel is for that day?

Thing 43. Online TV and Video

2009-03-20T15:45:00.002-05:00

I guess being able to watch shows whenever I want to is probably the best thing with full episodes. I can't afford cable (and would only really want to see a half dozen networks anyway, not over 200), so I just have the standard stations you can get over the air. Now with DTV, it is even worse, not better. I don't get ABC or CBS, but do get FOX, PBS, and NBC. ABC and CBS claim they will be back on in June sometime, I will have to wait and see. So having the networks broadcast episodes of shows is actually very nice of them. I think they had to do it tho, lots of episodes were being shown on YouTube and the like, so the networks probably figured that it would be better if the viewer was to watch them on their own sites, that way the network could show advertising at the same time. Not sure what the impact will be on cable tv companies, I suppose they will have to raise their rates, but they had better be careful with that during this rough economy, otherwise they will lose people and they may never get them back.

I think I like Hulu the most, every thing there seems very well organized. This is a funny clip from the tv show The Office. Michael Scott sets up a role playing session between Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert to help them with their customer service skills. Take a look.

Thing 42. Music 2.0

2009-03-20T13:16:00.000-05:00

I use the Internet radio for NPR/MPR pretty often, probably a few times a week. I like to have it on in the background when I'm surfing the web or doing homework. My favorite show on NPR is either Car Talk or The Story. Never say never when it comes to the Internet. A few years ago most people would have thought you were crazy if you told them that newspapers would cease to exist, and would be entirely online. However, this is true for some newspapers now. They found it wasn't feasable to keep operating both a print and online version of their paper. So, someday radio may be entirely online, but I don't see it happening real soon at any rate. I can't really recommend any radio stations, but I can recommend iTunes. It is really one of Apple's better products. Not only can you listen to download and listen to music, podcasts, as well as TV shows and movies, you can also listen to streaming radio. They have several hundred stations listed in iTunes, and there are some good ones on there. Check it out when you have time. Although, with many online tools, streaming radio is best listened to with high speed Internet, unless you like being frustrated by a dial up connection, don't say I didn't warn you.

Thing 41. Mashup Your Life

2009-03-20T12:50:00.000-05:00

Do these services make life easier? For me, NO! Unless you are really into the social networking aspect of the web, which I'm not, these devices and websites ultimately make life harder, as I would still have to check the one site I wanted to use in order to control all of my other social websites I use. I tried signing up for one, and the problem is, is that I forgot a lot of my user names I used last year for the first 23 Things on a Stick program! At least this year I was smart enough to use the SAME user name for every site or thing, if possible. But, I at least see the point of them. We get a lot of people in the library using Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. It might be a good idea to direct them towards these resources and see if they might be able to help those interesting in maintaining all of the social sites from one place.

Thing 40. Mashup the Web

2009-03-19T17:15:00.000-05:00

I tried out this TimeTube site, and it is really neat. It is like a timeline of a bunch of videos, in order by when they were put on Youtube, or another site. In honor of the ALS bookmobile returning to service next week after being down for almost 2 months, I present this video.

YouTube: Bookmobiles on Dipity.

I also wanted to make a picture of the bookmobile. I used another picture of it, similar to the one I posted on my blog last year.

The Wheel of Food is a neat idea too, but it was not imbedable (is that a word?), so you can just explore it yourself if you want to. You put in your zipcode and a query (lunch, dinner, etc) and it spins a wheel with all of the places in your area. That way they wheel can decide for you.

Thing 39. Digital Storytelling

2009-03-19T06:46:00.000-05:00

I picked the Scrapblog to start with. It was very easy, just pick a template, and add your photos. I picked a tree background to showcase some pictures I took when my family stayed at a cabin on Lake Superior in May of 2007. I had no problems at all.

I think it might be nice to try and hold a class for this, and see if we can get some of the people who do physical scrap booking to give this a try and see how they like it. I hear a lot of people in Gilbert talking about scrap booking, so this might be a good way to try and draw a crowd in and show them that the Internet has some creative uses available for them to try.

Thing 38. Screencasting

2009-03-18T20:47:00.000-05:00

I used the Screen-o-matic software. As an aside, I also like the Windows Movie Maker that comes standard with Windows (they finally got something right). You can drop in movies you made, and add text, sound, and other actions to create really good looking, and professional movies. While its not the same as this, check it out sometime if you feel like you want to post something on Youtube.

Anyway, this video took forever to make, as I wasn't really sure what to do. I finally decided to make a movie about how to suggest a book for us to buy at the Gilbert Public Library. I didn't use any sound, so hopefully my actions are clear enough.

The Screen-o-matic seemed to work the best out of all of them. All of the rest of them to have too many hoops to jump thru.

Thing 37. Photo Tales

2009-03-18T20:23:00.000-05:00

I decided to try a slide show as I don't think I have done one of those yet, but I'm not sure who really wants to look at any photos I took. These are of a tree that feel down at my last crap hole (I mean apartment). Luckily I wasn't there when it happened or my car would have been crushed. I happened to decide to go visit my parents at the last minute, so luckily it worked out. No symphony from my landlord either, he could have cared less, and to my knowledge the tree is still there 1.5 YEARS later. Anyway, I used the Rockyou creator, and it was very easy. I uploaded all 10 pics in about a minute, and you could select how they were displayed, I picked "revolver". I also picked the slowest speed, as I always have trouble looking at the pictures in other slide shows because they go too fast. I guess I see a use for this for me at home, not so much at the library. Although I think the kids would be really interested in this.

Thing 36. Comic Relief: Generate Some Fun

2009-03-16T19:58:00.001-05:00

I like the free PDF makers, as well as the READ posters, even though I couldn't get that link to work. I even searched ALA's site, and I couldn't find it so maybe they have taken it down. I know I used it last year at one of our teen events in Gilbert, so maybe they are updating it or something. The dewey decimal generator with your name and birthday was okay, mine came up as two different choices: 517 (unassigned) or 704 (special topics in fine & decorative arts). I went to Stripgenerator and found these comics.

This reminds me of every library job I have had so far, this was created by infomaven.

This one was made by orgmonkey.

I really think that the kids would enjoy this more, and we could do it during a teen tech week event, or during a teen reads week event.

Thing 35. Books 2.0

2009-03-16T19:47:00.000-05:00

Alot of patrons these days seems to enjoy the DVDs we rent out at the library, and the books almost seem like technology of the past to them. Perhaps if we can introduce them to the Books 2.0 idea, they might enjoy that because of the technology associated with it, and it might make them want to try reading paper books again. The What's Next link, is really a great idea. Often times I try and look up a series of books, and this would be a very quick link for that. The BookMooch and PaperBack Swap links seem to be interesting. Since I take college classes, I might try and see if I can swap books for the summer session that starts in a few months. The printable postage on the PaperBack Swap is a good idea, similar to that you can do if you are a seller on eBay. I have a lot of paperback books Im looking for, for one of my collections, so I might be able to find them here, rather than paying ALOT of money for them.

Thing 34. Is this Our Competition? Online Answer Sites

2009-03-16T14:20:00.000-05:00

I think the appeal is that you can get an informal answer to an informal question. If Im looking to find out who one the World Series in 1994 (this is a trick question btw), I would just google it, and find out who it was right away, rather than trying to go to a library to find out. Its just a quick reference to a quick question. The answer is of course, nobody, because they had a lock out that year. But, lets say I wanted to write a paper about that lockout and about the MLBPA salaries that year, then I would try and find some books, or even articles about it at the library. So I guess the appeal of these sites is that they are informal, quick, and you don't have to jump thru hoops to find the answer. I have seen questions about how to change spark plug wires, questions about Windows XP/Vista, questions about Barack Obama. Just about anything you can think of will probably show up on these sites. Yes, these questions should be directed towards a library if the person asking the question wants a solid, concrete, 100% correct answer. Remember that Wikipedia is editable by ANYONE and EVERYONE who wants to do so. There are many wrong answers on Wikipedia, but there are those who try and police the site and make sure that the references provided are accurate, but this task is probably like trying to find a needled in a haystack the size of Minnesota. I think sometimes they probably do use these sites because they don't know what the library has to offer. On the other hand if you have a question about how to beat a video game at 2 am in the morning, are you going to wait until the library opens up the next morning at 10 am to try and look at a tips and tricks book, or are you going to try and find the answer online at a video game cheat site? To me thats a no brainer. I did not answer any of the questions, but I have for other ones, like for the question I posed about about the 1994 MLB season.

Thing 33. Travel 2.0

2009-03-16T13:24:00.000-05:00

I really liked the Hotspotr link. I didn't see any in the Quad Cities area, but since I have my own Internet access, I don't need to find other places to use it. I know the Virginia PL has it, and there are a few other places in the area too. The Gilbert PL currently does not have WiFi, and we get a huge number of people asking for it in the summer, so using this we could point them to other places in the area, but this only works if anyone and everyone who knows where there is free WiFi in the area adds it to the map. I have added some, if you know of any others, please share yours too. I really liked the Green Routes link, it had some interesting places to go in Minneapolis.

Sesame Street

2009-03-16T13:11:00.000-05:00

How sad it is. I will always remember what my cousin would call Sesame Street before she learned to speak in full sentences, just plain old "street", we all knew what she meant by it!

These are dark days indeed...

Sesame Stre et's word of the day is layoffs

Thing 32. Google Maps and Mashups

2009-03-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

First of all, this is so cool! I decided to make a map of one of our bookmobile routes, I only do 4 of them on a regular basis, as I have more time I will add more of them. This would be a good thing to have for our patrons to look at on our website to see where we go to each day, and each route. But, do yourself a favor, only use this when you have access to high speed Internet, otherwise it is a lesson in frustration 101.

View Larger Map

Thing 31. More Twitter

2009-03-16T09:22:00.000-05:00

I like the Power Twitter add on for Firefox. Of course I like just about any add on for Firefox, but it works with Youtube, Google Maps, and many other websites that I like. Im still not totally sure about Twitter, it might grow on me in time. I thought this was an interesting Internet quiz, What Punctuation Mark Are You?. I was a dash -. Whatever that means. Hmm, no specific category for Librarians, but there is a sub category under Education. But I added my name to it, so we will see where it goes from there. I put down where I worked, so we will see how many people from NCLC notice me on there. Im definitely in the denial stage of Twitter, I see its purpose, but Im not quite there yet. I think Twitter is a beginning, a new way to look at the web and social interaction. Here is a neat Twitter badge/icon I found.

Anyway, you guys can tell when it is spring break for me, can't you? I have done more on this blog in the past day, then I have since I started it back up again in January! Pretty sad really, but school and work have to come first...

Thing 30. More Ways to Use RSS and Delicious

2009-03-16T09:12:00.001-05:00

I don't use my RSS feeder regularly, I do however look at my RSS feeds on my blog pretty often, but like everyone else its sometimes hard to find time to do these "virtual" things online, especially when school and work get in the way. I really like the ones with information about libraries, and related topics. I have the del.icio.us/minn23 that I follow the most. I had some sports ones on a for a while but they made my site too cluttered. I guess the feature I use the most for the del.icio.us thing, is that of the tagging. It somehow seems very important to tag the stuff, and group things of similar nature together. Im not really sure why tho, maybe because it reminds me of DDC or LOC call number systems, who knows! The biggest suggestion I have for RSS feeds, is to start small. Then once you see if you are using it regularly or not, you can add more, or take some away, depending on how often you use it.

Thing 29. Google Tools

2009-03-16T08:12:00.000-05:00

I picked the Alerts.com > alerts page. I had them send updates to my email address about the cheapest gas prices, and top local news, one time a week. I had them sent updates for both gas and diesel prices, just so I know what is happening for both types of fuel. There were many other types of alerts you could get, but I decided to try these out for a while and maybe add others later on. The movie/dvd alert would probably be one I will try next, especially to know when dvds come out, this would be very useful. The second option I picked was the Google calendar, I would not want to share this with anyone, but it would be useful for me to add entries to it since I work two jobs, so this would be a good way to see where I need to be each day. I think the week option would be nice for school, I usually just make an excel spreadsheet each semester, but this would save some time, since the dates were already there, I would just need to update the days with whatever assignment was due.

Thing 28. Customized Home Pages

2009-03-16T08:02:00.000-05:00

I picked iGoogle, mainly because I feel that their services are better than the others. I hadn't even heard of Netvibes or Pageflakes, so I figured iGoogle would be the best choice. It was very easy to set up, much easier than Twitter, it only took a few seconds. Google had a bunch of choices to start your webpage from, so it was very simple to start out with. I added a bunch of RSS feeds for my gadgets, some for videos, comics, joke of the day, and one for Sports Illustrated. I really liked the GoComics feed from iGoogle, the only problem with it is that you couldn't get Unshelved on their, just the regular comics like Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield.

Thing 27. Twitter

2009-03-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

I could see a use for this for myself in a library setting, if only to talk with the kids and teens about it, since they seem to be using it once in a while. Perhaps Twitter would best be used better for me in a social setting, so I now need to try and get some of my friends to join. My username is "23 things". I would not want to use this on my phone, because I do not have enough money to buy a real phone, I had to purchase a pay as you go phone, so I cant get unlimited texts, I have to pay 5 cents per text. It would be okay to try it out a bit, but using it too much would not be cost effective for me. I liked just the basic "what are you doing" question, people were driving home from work, doing taxes, riding their bikes, it seems weird but even tho I have no clue who these people on they want to share with the world what they are currently doing, kinda neat really. I added a Twitter badge that would keep everyone informed on what Im currently up to.

Thing 26. Join the Ning

2009-03-15T16:25:00.000-05:00

I joined the Ning last year during the first round of the 23 Things project. I actually have a couple of videos on my profile here, they are one of a grouse and of a car "burning out" at the Grand Rapids, MN car show in 2007. My account is just under the name Chris. I added a Ning badge to my site, as well as commenting on a forum question about initial impressions about the Ning. No, I have not joined any groups yet, but I plan on doing so. I think it would be great to collaborate between librarians, especially those outside of the NCLC area.

Thing 25. Bloggers' Toolkit

2009-03-15T15:49:00.000-05:00

I decided to add the Vozume gadget to my blog, I noticed YouTube implemented a speech feature to their site a while back that allows the user to hear the posting before it is submitted. Kind of interesting, but it has problems with the proper pronunciation of certain phrases, but it does pretty well for being a "robot speaker". I also added Clustrmap not only to see how many people actually look at my blog, but where they live too. Next I added a search bar to my page so that things or blog posts I added could be looked up quickly if they wanted too. Lastly I added a poll to my blog asking if people were either: inside of the ALS region, or outside of the ALS region, just to get an idea of who (if anyone) is reading my blog.

Realistically, any of the ones that needed to create ANOTHER user account, I sort of steered away from. I have too many passwords and usernames floating around in my head. Its best to avoid creating new accounts when possible, at least for me it is. I spent about an hour sifting thru all of these tools/gadgets, but I was on dial up Internet, so that slowed me down a bit.

Thing 24. Refresh Your Blog

2009-01-25T14:43:00.000-06:00

I retooled my blog a bit, I changed the template/background, and created a new avatar. This one is straight out of a South Park episode, in terms of the style of it. When did their very first episode in grad school, they would cut out every pieces of paper for the characters, backgrounds, sets, then use stop motion to animate an entire episode. For every second of show, there are something like 24 "frames", therefore 24 frames per second. Anyway, I couldn't get the site to save my avatar, so I print screened it into Photoshop (yes I have Photoshop now, I had to buy it for a class, and it ONLY cost $250, what a deal eh?). Then I was able to save it as a normal .JPG file.

I also edited my profile, and include info as to where I live, and where I work, as well as my hobbies. I also added a few new gadgets, like picture of the day, and quote of the day. There are so many new gadgets now, so it should be interesting to change them around every once in a while.

Ninjas in the library?

2008-03-17T19:01:00.000-05:00

Here are a few interesting clips I found on YouTube. A series called "Library Ninja".

Thing 23. Final Thoughts

2008-03-16T08:54:00.000-05:00

Well, I made it!

Probably my favorite thing I learned about was RSS feeds, I had always heard stuff about them, but never actually used them before now. Because of this project I now have them on our libraries blog, as well as my own blog that I created. Plus, now I have my own blog I can write stuff about. Hopefully it will be interesting enough that someone will actually read it!

I would definitely participate again, as long as the Things were different enough that I could still learn something from them. That would probably be the only change I could suggest, but since technology is changing at such a fast rate, I'm sure it would be easy to come up with a completely different set of 23 Things for next year. Hears hoping!

If I had to describe my experience in one word, it would be: Experimenting.

I think my only regret in this program is that I didn't come up with a more original name for my blog than "My 23 Things on a Stick"!

Thing 22. What Did I Learn Today?

2008-03-16T08:39:00.000-05:00

I make a resolution, to maintain my blog, and keep it up to date. To try new types of technology, and not be left behind! I will keep up with RSS feeds, YouTube videos, with Flickr photos, and many other of the new things I learned about while doing these Things.

I think the best way to keep up with the new technology, and the blog, is to just do it. No excuses, just do it. Just set aside 15 minutes a day to try and do something or learn something new about technology. We are all busy I know, but I work two jobs, plus am going to graduate school, so if I made time, so can you!

Thing 21. Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

2008-03-16T08:12:00.000-05:00

Here is a badge I picked out from the 23 Things on a Stick Ning,
Visit 23 Things on a Stick

I also added a few videos I have taken of various things. Here is a video of a truck "burning out" at the 2007 Grand Rapids Car Show. Not library related, but its the only video I have.
Find more videos like this on 23 Things on a Stick

I'm now a member of MySpace, but I probably won't have time until the summer to keep up with it. We will see. As far as finding a new social network with this Thing, I looked at the Gather page. It looks promising, I will also start using the WebJunction page too. I liked how easy it was to share photos and movies, sort of like Flikr.

Thing 20. Libraries and Social Networks

2008-03-15T19:04:00.000-05:00

I tried out using MySpace as I know a few people who have sites on there. I never knew libraries were using them, but I guess that is part of the reason I'm doing the 23 Things on a Stick project, in order to learn more information about technology.

Anyway, creating your own page for your library would allow you to share the different types of music, movies, and books your library has. Or even new materials your library has just gotten in the last month. It shows people that you are still concentrating on being up to date on technology. It also allows you to post events to your page, the otherwise patrons might miss if they weren't in the library that much, or didn't look at your libraries homepage or blog.

Even ALA, has their own MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/atyourlibrary.

Thing 19. Podcasts

2008-03-15T18:11:00.000-05:00

I listened to two podcasts, both from the Library Survival Guide. One was about Google Scholar, and the other was about EndNote. I will try out this EndNote software the next time I write a paper for school, it sounds like it would save me a lot of time and hassle. Going around trying to remember which facts came from what sources sure takes up a lot of time, but this would probably help. Episode 4: EndNote and Citation Managers. Unfortunately, it sounds like you can only download this for free at the specific university they are talking about, but I looked it up and you can download a free trial version. But, as mentioned there is another one called Zotero, for the web browser Firefox. So, I will try both.

I liked the Podcastalley site the best, as it seemed to work fine. As far as making my own podcast, maybe someday I will, when I feel I have something relevant to contribute to society, but not right now.

iTunes itself is a great tool itself, even if you don't want to buy any music. It can organize all of your video clips, and music. It also allows you to listen to the radio online, as well as podcasts. So, with all the podcasting tools I just looked at, this is probably the best one for me, as I use iTunes all the time, so its just easy to have all of your multimedia access in one place.

Thing 18. YouTube & Other Online Video

2008-03-15T08:25:00.001-05:00

Poor Cookie Monster! He just wants cookies! You have to love the innocence that this show has shown over the years. I loved watching it while growing up, and when I saw this clip about a library I had to post it!

If we had the proper equipment, our library could make a short video about our library and how to use it. Sort of like a commercial that promotes our library. It would be a good way to show the community what we are all about, as well as show them that we are interested in technology, and know how to use it.

Thing 17. ELM Productivity Tools

2008-03-15T07:13:00.000-05:00

As far as these tools go, the entire ELM web page is kind of an unknown source for information. We as librarians must be charged with telling people about it, especially students. Anyway, I really liked the RSS feed option for Student Infotrac, because if you are given an assignment early enough in the semester/quarter you can go to the search page, search for your topic, then subscribe to the RSS feed and get updates whenever a new article is posted about your topic. The information will be very current, and fresh. Thus eliminating the need to use very old sources, with very old statistics.

I also liked the ability to be able to share documents with other peers and co-workers. It makes online collaboration a simple possibility for most people. This way you don't have to rely on a single aspect of the digital age all the time, like e-mail, or chat. Its good to use all parts of the Internet, not just a few of them.

Thing 16. Student 2.0 Tools

2008-03-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

First of all since it is electronic in nature, I think most students today would enjoy using it, just for the fact that they could be online while they are filing it out, and looking over the steps they need to complete in order to finish their assignment.

The RPC breaks down into 5 different areas, with each area even being broken down further. It really helps the student understand what they have to do, and really defines each area for them. It even has a sense of humor. I told the calculator that my assignment was due the next day, and it states that "You have 0 days to finish. You have less than one day to get this done. I hope you're just playing with this thing." Pretty funny!

I suppose you could use it for a project you are working at in the library, especially if it was for a presentation you were giving to a group of people. There are options for a slide presentation, essay, and video. But, for the "slide presentation", I'm sure that they mean powerpoint, as I don't think a lot of people still use actual slides anymore.

Thing 15. Online Games and Libraries

2008-03-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

I tried out puzzle pirates, since I had heard of Second Life before, I wanted to try out this new game.

It sure takes a long time to load, about 5 - 10 minutes, and I was using high speed Internet!

As for the game itself it was okay, definitely for kids. But it seemed like a safe environment for them to play in, and learn puzzle solving skills. It also involves chatting with other players, and this helps kids with their conversation skills as well. It was hard to get used to playing at first, but I asked a few questions, and the other players helped me. The kids playing generally like it when you ask them questions, it makes them feel part of something, and it makes them happy to help you.

Some other good games in this MMORPG genre include Diablo (classic, but still great), RuneScape (if you work in a library I'm sure you have seen/heard the kids playing it), and World of Warcraft (probably the most popular game in the world right now, it is good, but they charge you to play it, so...).

Thing 14. LibraryThing

2008-03-14T10:10:00.000-05:00

Here is my link to my library at LibraryThing:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=knightsoftheround&shelf=list

Most of my books were pretty popular, but all I have added so far are all of the books in the Redwall series. They are pretty popular among all ages, I have lots of people asking about them, even in the small library that I work at.

This would work well with sharing book lists, and series with patrons who are interested in the same types of materials. All you would have to do is add some books, and either print them off, or give the person the link to your library collection so that they could see some of the titles you liked, as you may enjoy the same genre, or even the author of the books.

Right now we just share print outs of book lists with our patrons, this would offer an electronic format for those who are interested in trying out new types of technology.

Thing 13. Online Productivity Tools

2008-03-14T09:41:00.000-05:00

I chose the MyYahoo! as my start page. I already have a yahoo mail account, so I figured I could use this in conjunction with my web mail. I really like the PDF converter, as it makes sending large file documents very easy, as it compresses space. So if you are sending a document with a lot of pictures, this makes it handy to send to someone who has a slow Internet connection. FYI, OpenOffice is a office suite similar to Microsoft Office, and one of their tools in their document program is a PDF converter! Very handy!

But, I also liked the calendar and the countdown tool. Now I know how much time I have left to finish my 23 things on a stick blog. Since I have two jobs, and go to school, the online calendar is essential of keeping track of when I work, as well as when my assignments are due.

Thing 12. Do You Digg?

2008-03-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

I "digged" this article http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/technology/22library.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

This would be a good way to share information with other people that have the same interests as you do.

As far as it being a detractor or enhancer for productivity, it all depends on what is shared. Although, in this day and age I find that more and more people are goofing off when they are supposed to be working, and one of the biggest culprits is the Internet. So, once again we are back to the debate about whether the Internet helps or hurts libraries. It seems like a little bit of both to me.

I have read a few stories because of these sharing tools, so they are useful if they are used properly.

Thing 11. Tagging and Del.icio.us

2008-03-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

I could see this as a tool for research. If a patron needed some links, you could search for some, tag them, and then the patron could have access to them. But, it is also a good way to have access to your bookmarks wherever you go.

Our library is gearing up for our cities 100th birthday this summer. We could post links to other cities that have had their centennial celebrations, and what they have done to celebrate them. We could also have a page for reference links, or even political links for the upcoming presidential election this fall in order to get people interested in voting again.

Thing 10. Wikis

2008-03-14T08:02:00.000-05:00

Probably the best thing I learned about wiki's is that they are so easy to use. I never knew much about them, except for using Wikipedia almost daily to find random facts I had questions about, I never had too much exposure to wiki's until now.

However, wikipedia should not be used as a scholarly source for a paper. It can however be used to look up quick questions you have about something, like how many books are in the Redwall series, and what order should they be read in, or which survivor was voted off last night. You know, trivial, stupid stuff like that, because if its wrong, it doesn't really matter that much.

Wikis might work good in the classroom, a teacher could set up a wiki where students could ask questions about homework and the teacher could answer them.

I edited the 23 Things On a Stick, and posted a few of my haiku's I have been writing lately.

Thing 9. Online Collaboration Tools

2008-03-14T07:44:00.000-05:00

This was a good exercise, as I got to learn about online document editing a little bit more. I have used Google Docs lately, mainly for my graduate courses I'm taking to earn my MLIS degree. We have a group of 5 people, so we enter into a chat, and then one person makes all the changes to the document, just so there aren't 5 different people making changes all at the same time. Then after the chat we add our parts to the paper, and make a final edit, and then post it so our professor and other fellow students can view it. Google Docs is a very valuable tool for online collaboration.

I guess I would stick with Google Docs over Zoho, but that is just because I had used Google Docs before this exercise, they both have good features. As far as the founding fathers, I think that they would probably be excited about the opportunity to share information globally, but they might be scared of the technology! I guess it's hard to say for sure.

Thing 8. Share Your Creations

2008-02-11T10:03:00.000-06:00

View slideshow

This was interesting making a slideshow, although I did have problems with it. If you use Flickr make sure you post your pictures as public NOT private, otherwise the slideshow creating software can't find the pictures, and thus can't make your slideshow.

These tools could be used to market the library mainly on their website, as people could click on the links and see a neat show of pictures, or a poster of a bunch of different pictures, etc. For personal use they could be used to show pictures of a newly born baby, your trip to Hawaii, or even a tribute to someone who has just passed away.

Right now Flickr seems to be the easiest to use, but as time goes by other companies/websites will probably come out with better designs.

Thing 7. Web 2.0 Communication Tools

2008-02-11T09:12:00.000-06:00

Our entire library system has email setup through our library headquarters. We use it mainly to talk about upcoming programs at the headquarters, and library related events happening around the region or the state. One of my biggest problems is trying NOT to check it while at home! I have too much other stuff going on to be checking and responding to email when I'm not at work. I figure, if it's an emergency or something important my bosses/supervisors have my phone number so they can contact me that way if they need to.

As far as reference goes with the 2.0 technology, the instant messaging tool seems interesting. You could have a real time talk with a librarian and get some good ideas about how to start searching for a topic you need to write a paper about. At the same time you could ask the librarian where to find the material you need before you get to the library to save time, if you are in a hurry. Email and SMS have to have people present for them to have fast communication time, when you are instant messaging, someone has to be there when you are messaging, in order for it to work anyway. Emails an SMS's can be retrieved and responded to when the receiver has time to do so.

SMS seems to be the 2.0 tool that I know the least about. I have recently been using text messaging to keep tabs on people, as I just got a new cell phone. It's an interesting tool of technology, but it sure takes me a lot longer to get a message out, rather if I called someone or sent someone an email. I see teens in the library using SMS sometimes, and they usually don't even have to look at the keypad to send a message, they just know where all of the letters are by memory, just as if they were using a standard keyboard on a computer.

I attended the OPAL web conference Virtual Worlds, Interactive Games, and Libraries. It seemed pretty interesting, they mainly focused on Second Life, an online virtual interactive game. They also mentioned a Teen Second Life, that only Teens can use, whereas the only way an adult can attend is if it is for research opportunities, and they even have to go thru a background check. This could make for a good interactive and learning opportunity for the teens to get together and discuss things even if they are thousands of miles apart. There are even different Islands in the community, with each Island having its own unique and different purpose. This could be a great way to get teens into the library, and expose them to the different ways libraries are changing, and how we are incorporating new and different forms of technology into the library all the time.

Thing 6. Online Image Generators

2008-02-10T14:03:00.000-06:00

This is a CADD drawing picture that I found a few years ago, so I thought it would be neat to make into a stamp design using one of the online image generators. For bonus points, can anyone tell me what TDI stands for?

I was sent this comic by my father a few years ago, while he is a mechanic, he also enjoys libraries. I have my parents to thank for introducing me to the library at such a young age, who know what I would be doing now if it wasn't for them! Anyway, these trading cards would be great to hand out to teens, especially those who collect Pokemon cards, as well as those who play Magic the Gathering, and other CCG types of games.

These applications in this "thing" have limitless possibilities. These are great for doing graphic design, and other related concepts in the design world. This could really help to market the library to the community, and draw in more patrons.

Thing 5. More Flickr Fun

2008-02-10T13:21:00.000-06:00

I have always liked this word since I learned what it meant back in 8th grade English. Just like "pow", "bam", "crunch", and all those other words you read in comic books, they all help define the word:

I figured I would try out the jigsaw puzzle maker, this is a picture of the ALS Bookmobile that I took even before it arrived at ALS Headquarters, about a year ago.

Just as one of the blog prompts mentions, it would be neat to make all kinds of library related media types out of these applications, like bookmarks, posters, brochures, flyers, etc.

Thing 4. Photosharing with Flickr

2008-02-10T13:04:00.000-06:00

This was an intersting exercise for me, as I love to take photos. I did a search for a funeral and this was one of the search results. My grandmother just recently passed away, and while I was at the memorial service I took a lot of digital pictures. So, I was looking for a way to share them with family, and Flickr might be a way to do it. Uploading them to Flickr would make it much easier than burning them to a CD, and them shipping them to my family all over the country. This looks like a great tool for sharing photos online. The tag function also makes it easier to search for other photos that you are interested in viewing.

This particular picture was of someon'e iPod that had been used so much it "died", so they decided to give it a funeral. It was uploaded on 9/6/06 by Flickr user sabellachan.
Here is a link to it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabellachan/237798172/

Thing 3. Set Up an RSS Account & Add Feeds

2008-01-26T19:50:00.000-06:00

http://www.unshelved.com/rss.aspx - Hilariously funny! I don't think I've read one of these cartoons yet, that didn't make me crack up. I like the ones that spoof the Mac vs. PC ads, they start off as "Hi, I'm a library" and "I'm the internet." Too funny!

http://www.loc.gov/blog/?feed=rss2 - Some really interesting facts and articles on this page. Good photos too. Way to go LOC.

http://www.loc.gov/blog/?feed=rss2 - Go green, or go home! If you have ever met me, you know that one of my strongest passions away from libraries, is sustainability.

Thing 2. What is Library 2.0?

2008-01-26T19:30:00.000-06:00

Abram talks about a lot of topics in his video, but probably the most interesting is one of his first statements. He says that in order to really understand some of this new technology he must use it. For example, to understand blogs, you must have your own, and be able to use it and post on it. Hands on experience is the most important tool in your arsenal, in my opinion.

In the blog posting I read, I found that the statement "libraries need to work together" to be only a half truth. Realistically, librarians, more specifically staff members need to work together. During my 7 years of work in several different library settings, I have found that lots of staff members don't always get along, and end up trying to play power games with each other. This really helps no one, and in the end, the patron is the one who suffers. If we don't work together to understand this new, and exciting, but also challenging technology, it will be very hard to succeed in making libraries stand out in this new technology age.

Lastly is the article about the "Ongoing Web Revolution", I really thought the equation given was interesting. It is: Library 2.0 = (books 'n stuff + people + radical trust) x participation . That really takes you back to your days of high school algebra, doesn't it! Anyway, I like the whole idea of multiplying it by participation. Trying to get the patron involved in these new aspects of technology really makes them more comfortable in trying to find the information that they need. I try to live by that old quote about giving a man a fish vs. teaching him to fish. Teaching always seems better than giving.

Thing 1. Set Up Your Blog

2008-01-22T19:10:00.001-06:00

While I've been playing games for nearly all my life, this is probably the most I've been able to create something that looks even remotely similar to myself. The Mii's that you can make for the new Nintendo Wii system, is also pretty close. Anyway, I guess this guy will be looking at me from now on while I view my email! Maybe he will keep me on track, and on schedule, here's hoping!