Monday, June 18, 2007

#25, #26 and #27 The Finale

KCLS eAudio is something I am pretty familiar with from answering patron queries at the Answer Line but will look forward to trying it out once I have a new MP3 player.

This program has expanded my horizons as any lifelong learning effort should, and given me a sense of pride and satisfaction with each new lesson. I often refer friends and family to my blog site and only wish there were more comments. Pictures on Flickr have been one of my favorite new things, to say nothing of winning a photo contest for cookbooks on LibraryThing (hip, hip, hooray for LibraryThing & thanks to Meredith who first sent out a staff email announcing it) with a Flickr photo submission. That would not have happened before starting KCLS27Things. The success of my accomplishments in this program encouraged me to try other new projects . I think all of us have raised our "technological IQ" and it shows in our interactions with patrons and friends.

The mashups were a surprise to me, as was the ease with which you could hyperlink things on the blog. I had made an attempt at trying to subscribe to an RSS feed about a year or more ago and failed miserably, thinking I had to have a website to accomplish it. Now I'm adding all kinds of RSS feeds (even podcasts) to my Bloglines account (another favorite for keeping abreast of sites of interest). I was probably most tickled with the photo and slide show capabilities of Flickr but hope to spend a little more time on Zoho developing a common history and tools for my book club. And what would we be without Delicious for keeping track of all of these amazing new sites!
The wikis are the area where I'd like to spend a lot more time, understanding, applying and seeing how these will be useful. For instance, this might be a smarter alternative for the book club but I'm not as confident with wikis as I would like to be.

There were moments of getting stuck and being unable to find the solution on my own, but Matt, Peggi and Jen (our youthful compatriots) were generous and helpful in moving me along and I salute each of them with heartfelt thanks. At least one of them was usually available to soothe my ruffled brow. Time constraints were perhaps the major frustration in that the picture would be all ready to download and I'd be stymied and then have to return to the phones. This happened with the MySpace site and the blog when Matt had to walk me through the Paint schemes to reduce the picture size but we created a usable photo.

I would like to see more speakers on Web 2.0 since I missed most of the talks. But what a nice thing to have them linked on the blog.

David & Laurel, you have done a great job and given me a boost both career-wise and personally. There are few things more satisfying than learning new things and applying them. I would definitely do this program again and look forward to similar opportunities.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

#24 Podcasts

Podcasts are *so* appropriate to the library. I just listened to one from ASU called "Don't Panic: Information Resources For When Your Deadline Looms!" which is addressed to the pajama-clad student searching frantically for resources at 2am. We have those same patrons, and many of the same resources, i.e. Ask a Librarian 24 hours, Google Scholar, and various journal article databases. A couple of databases they mentioned were Academic Search Premier (formerly called EBSCO Host) and one called Polling the Nation. This is an ideal way of reaching patrons. Also heard a brief bit of an "un-microphonegenic" speaker (uh, ahhhh, ummmm) which was dreadful so that is something to keep in mind when planning library podcasts. Of course, David & Bruce were audible and pleasant-sounding.

Podcastalley wouldn't let me listen to the first library podcast I selected without downloading an aggregator, and further searches required more and more downloads and mysterious error messages. The Yahoo Podcasts were easiest to search and listen to. After perusing several relatively dull library podcasts, I subscribed to Mr. Nice Guy (a former reference librarian) http://mrniceguy.org/who provides fairly animated reference tidbits, and listened to an interesting piece on sleep studies and the importance of naps. It appears that many libraries are using podcasts to give instruction on library use or tours of the library, library services, collections, as well as revisit public talks and lectures.

I also added a podcast of San Francisco's KQED public radio host, Michael Krasny http://www.kqed.org/programs/program-landing.jsp?progID=RD19, who recently interviewed Michael Chabon, and another episode with his listeners' Summer Reading recommendations. First title listed is Roberto Bolano's The Savage Detective http://www.elliottbaybook.com/product/info.jsp?isbn=0374191484 which is on my list, too.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Video - #23

The addiction factor is a real concern here! I've already spent half an hour watching dogs talk, babies fall asleep, fashion icons blabber and the only chance I can see for the library is replication of interesting talks and presentations. To wit, the Ninja Librarian, below.