On vacation......

No, I haven't gone anywhere, but I've been taking some time off from the computer. I did add cover pictures to the rest of my "uncovered" books on LibraryThing. My mother in law is giving me a lifetime membership to LibraryThing for my birthday :) , so I'll probably be spending a lot more time there..... I downloaded an image re-sizer tool from The Windows XP Powertoys site. It allows you to resize the pictures in your computer. I have been using it to make my pictures smaller to make them faster to send via e-mail. Otherwise, I have been enjoying summer and spending time at work and in my garden.

June Update

Participating in the 23 Things on a Stick helped me to overcome my fear of joining online groups or websites. As of right now, I think I am a "member" of about 20 different sites on the internet, something I never would have dreamed of doing before. Two of the sites I just joined this past week. I became a member of a Yahoo group to connect with others in the area that share my interest in letterboxing. I also joined Dave's Garden , which is a fabulous gardening site, offering plant information, discussion groups, book and supplier reviews, etc. Members can keep an online journal of all of their gardening activites, and even have a personal gardening blog on the site. Lots of fun, and a great source for information, too.

Spring is Finally Here

I've been spending most of my "free time" lately doing Spring cleaning and getting the garden ready for planting. Everything plant-wise seems to be running 1-2 weeks late this year. I did learn something new about Library Thing today--You can add your own pictures of books in your library if they don't have one on file. It was easier than I thought. Just take a close-up picture of the book with a digital camera, load it from your camera into the computer, and then upload it to Library Thing. So far I have done 2 books, both worked fine, so as time permits I will do some more.

Still Moving Forward....

Since I joined the Anokaberry group on the 23 Things Ning, I've been spending a lot of time reading and reviewing books for the Anokaberry award. So far I have finished five books, three of which were pretty good reads. Everyone is welcome to contribute-take a look at the Anokaberry blog to get more information. I have also discovered a new website that I love- Fantastic Fiction. On this site you can get comprehensive information about all of your favorite authors. They list all books published by the author (by year and series), pictures of the covers, awards and nominations received, new and forthcoming books, etc. Its nice to have all of the information in one place.

Beyond the 23 Things - The Open Library

I decided not to number my "things" anymore, since no one will be keeping track and checking them off. Today I explored the Open Library, whose vision is to build an online library that makes all the published works of humankind available to everyone in the world. The Internet Archive plans to do this by digitizing books using high end digital camera technology, and then loading them onto their site. The library went online in July 2007, and there are already over 7 million records in their catalog, and over 230,000 full text books. Of course, there are copyright issues, so most of these items are either in the public domain, or used under a creative commons license. You can take this guided tour of the Open Library to see how it works. The magnitude of this project is staggering! If they include every edition of every book ever published, it will take years and years and years......, even with today's technology.

Thing #23 Final thoughts

I just finished filling out the online survey--it's hard to believe I'm really DONE! I went back to Thing #1 and read all of my blog posts over again. Pretty much all of the 23 things were new territory for me. At times it was frustrating, but I had a real sense of accomplishment when I finally got things figured out. If I hadn't been a part of this program, I would have really missed out on a lot. I know so much more now than I did just 2 months ago! I especially enjoyed creating my own blog and adding pictures, slide shows, videos, links, new posts, widgets, etc. I liked reading other people's blogs, too. Even though we were all working on the same things, each person had their own unique perspective and ideas. I would definitely take part in another program like this if one is offered in the future.

Thank you, 23 Things on a Stick team, for all of your hard work in putting together such a great learning program!

Thing #22 What Did I Learn Today?

I have really learned a LOT about Library 2.0 tools over the past two months, yet I know it is just the "tip of the iceberg". I will continue to post the new things that I learn in my blog, and I will keep on reading the blogs of other 23 Things participants, so I can learn from their experiences, too. The only difference is that now I get to make up my own "things"! I will continue using GoodReads and LibraryThing, and will remain a member of the 23 Things Ning as well. I found a new monthly podcast by the Library 2.0 Gang on Libraryjournal.com that I can use to help keep up with new developments. This month's podcast was about the Open Library, which is a new interactive online library with a wiki format. This really looks interesting to me, so I will be making "The Open Library" my Thing #24!

Thing #21 Other Social Networks

I took a look at Gather, and didn't really like it. It reminded me of the social media sites like Digg, where everyone could comment on news articles, etc. I liked Web Junction much more. It looks like a good site to go to for professional development and to connect with staff from other libraries. I joined the 23 Things Ning a few weeks ago, and had fun customizing my page with pictures, etc. I joined the "Mock Newbery" group, left several comments, and added a Ning badge to my blog. I felt safer joining this social network than I would MySpace or Facebook, because it seems more private. I also belong to a group called AtlasQuest , which is kind of like a social network for those involved in letterboxing. The site offers clues, online discussions, mail, tutorials, etc. as well as allowing you to set up your own page with a profile and logbook to keep track of your finds. I use LibraryThing to catalog the books I own, and decided to join GoodReads as well, to keep track of the books I have read. I like the ratings and reviews, and you can even discuss the books you're reading with others.

Thing #20 Libraries and Social Networks

I elected to explore MySpace, because I didn't have to sign up for an account to have access to the site. I really don't need to be part of another online social network--I joined the 23 Things Ning a few weeks ago and that is enough for me. I was surprised by the number of libraries using this site. I looked at pages from both public and college libraries. The group "Libraries on My Space" has 391 members, and the ALA page lists 4,746 friends! Libraries included book reviews, YouTube videos, contests, blogs, groups to join, etc, on their pages, as well as access to the library catalog and reference services. The LA Public Library offered a database "Learning Express" to help students prepare for exams. Two of my favorite MySpace pages are those from the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Library and The College of St Catherine Library . By having a My Space page, libraries can reach out to teens and make the library seem more relevant to them.

Thing # 19 Podcasts

I found a very interesting Podcasting site that offers serialized audio books in podcast form. You choose a book, subscribe to it, and the site will send you the book, one chapter at a time, at a rate you choose--daily, weekly, etc. The service is free. For more info, check out http://www.podiobooks.com/ Although I am not a big fan of audio books, I know that they are very popular, and also very expensive. Could podcasting be a future way of delivering affordable audio books to consumers? Audio books could be downloaded to IPods, etc. for a fee, similar to the downloading of "printed" books to e-book reader machines like the Kindle.

I listened to a Podcast called "R is for Relaxation--Bestselling Author Sue Grafton Talks to Yarncraft". She discussed her books, and how she uses knitting as an escape from the stress and intensity of her writing career. ( And I also heard a lot about Lion Brand Yarns, which sponsors the podcast). It was kind of like listening to talk radio. I looked at the G-Cast site and decided to pass on creating my own podcast. It's hard enough for me just recording a voice mail message on my answering machine!

Thing #18 YouTube Videos

I had fun browsing the many, many videos on YouTube. I wish that I had a faster internet connection, though. It took a long time to get videos loaded so I could watch them. I chose this one because it shows a real library cat who "works" at the Pine River Library. His name is Browser (cute). I also chose it because it is relatively short. It was very simple to add it to my blog. Libraries could create YouTube videos to promote services or special events, and then add them to their websites. Patrons could be referred to this site if they wanted to view short videos on a certain subject. For example, YouTube offers over 200 videos under the subject of "Knitting Instruction". The site also offers music videos and interviews with authors, etc.

Thing #17 ELM Productivity Tools Part 2

More "Fun With Databases"

2. Academic Search Premier - I did the challenge on this one, because it made more sense to me to do a search and add articles to my folder before creating a web page--then I would have something to put on my page! I did a search for "Kindle", which is the name of Amazon's new electronic book that was recently released. I used the Page Composer to create my web-site, added several of the articles from my folder, and named my site "Kindle vs Real Books". Is it really possible to curl up with a good eBook? Once I find the time to read my articles, I'll know more.

3. ProQuest Newsstand Complete - I did the search, refined it as directed, and created another web page. This database is useful if you are looking for newspaper articles. I liked the way you could refine your search to specific dates and newspapers. The number of papers included in this database is staggering! They have everything from the Washington Post to the Taranaki Daily News from New Zealand!

4. NetLibrary - Very interesting--- a database of e-Books! If you don't want to spend $399.00 on a Kindle from Amazon, you can still read electronic books on your own computer screen, using this database. Entire books are available here online, and you have the ability to search their content and create notes, too. After I did the assignment on the "101 Ways to Promote your Web Site", I did some searching on my own and found some great books. I even started reading one of them, but after a few pages, I decided to check out the "real" version instead and take it home to finish it. E-Books would be a great way for publishers to allow readers/selectors to preview new books, and would also be a way to preserve the content of old, fragile books or those that are out of print.

Thing #17 ELM Productivity Tools Part 1

I had no idea that there were so many databases available! I have used Ancestry.com and AllData quite a bit, but the ELM is new to me. This is a great resource that most people probably don't even know about. Searching for magazine articles in an online database is great--I remember the "olden days" searching in the Readers Guide for an article, finally locating the magazine on the shelf, and then finding that someone had cut the article that I wanted out of the magazine! Having magazines & newspapers archived online is a wonderful idea, and will ensure that the articles are easily accessible when they are needed.

#1. Infotrack Student Edition--I searched for "Youth Smoking" and found over 700 articles. I tried to set up an RSS feed, but Google Reader would not accept the Feed URL. So-- I did another search on "Online Games" instead, using Infotrack/General Science (another Gale database). This time the RSS worked and I was able to add a search alert to my list of feeds. Infotrack Student Edition is easy to use, and would be very helpful for students who need to find magazine articles for school assignments.

Thing #16 Student 2.0 Tools

Since I work in circulation rather than reference, I don't normally assist students with school projects at the library. I looked over the Assignment Calculator--it was very comprehensive, almost like a Freshman study skills course. My daughter is a college student, so I asked her opinion on it. We entered a hypothetical assignment and browsed the 12 steps. She said that parts of it might be helpful, such as the Research Quick Start suggestions, but she felt most college students probably already know how to write research papers, and the professors usually give their own timelines along with the assignments. Also, some of the steps are very specific to the U of M, and a student ID# is needed to access the information.

The RPC would be helpful for staff in High School libraries, and the information in the Teachers Guide could be used to create training workshops for teachers. In the public library, we could make this available to Home-schoolers to use in curriculum development for their secondary students.

Thing #15 Online Games Part 2

I was curious about Second Life, so I watched several videos about it on You-tube and read an excellent article about the Teen Second Life in the January 2008 issue of Odyssey magazine. The environment of Second Life has a surreal, dreamscape-like quality to it that is somewhat disturbing, but intriguing as well. I went as far as signing up and creating my avatar, but then backed out when I discovered that I had to download the game software onto my computer. I didn't want to do that, so alas, Dimity Undercroft will never walk the virtual streets of Second life-which is just as well. I have a feeling that becoming involved with this would be VERY time consuming. Unless you have previous knowledge of Java based programming and 3D modeling tools, there would be a huge learning curve in order to fully participate. I would rather spend my time in ACTUAL reality, interacting with real people, and visiting real places. Here is a link to a short video that was pretty funny--it shows how it might look if real people interacted with each other the way they do in Second Life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkgNn50k14

It was interesting how the Charlotte/Mecklinberg library was using the Teen Second Life, offering "virtual library services", and involving the teens in creating "Alliance Island".

Thing #15 Online Games Part 1

Here is an alternative game site for those of you who aren't really into pirates or virtual reality. It's called Neopets. This site offers a huge variety of games- including puzzles, word games, action/arcade type games, games of chance, card games, etc. By playing the games, you earn "neopoints" to spend as you explore the different lands that make up the world of Neopia. If you want to, you can adopt one or more Neopets to take care of. There are so many different activities on this site it's hard to describe. Among other things, you can buy, sell, and collect items, build and furnish a house, fight other pets in the "Battledome", and take part in special contests.

Neopets images Copyright 2000-2008 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

Thing #14 Library Thing

This site is amazing! It's my favorite "thing" so far. I've been playing around with it now for a couple weeks - so far I've entered everything from my personal bookshelf in our home office, (only about 170 books or so). I just may have to get one of those lifetime memberships..... I've enjoyed looking at other members' personal libraries, author clouds, tag clouds, etc. Since I am a very visual person, I really like being able to have a picture of each book cover along with its description. By clicking on a book in my library, I can find out how many other members own it, see its tag cloud, read reviews, and get recommendations from LibraryThing on similar books I might enjoy. You can even click on the "Unsuggester" and it will tell you books to avoid. I tried this just for fun with one of my books, "The Complete Chronicles of Narnia" and was very surprised by the results--there were SEVENTEEN knitting books on the list! Since I enjoy both knitting and Narnia, and have even read some of the listed knitting books, I thought this was really funny. There are lots of possibilities for libraries to use this tool on their websites. We could highlight newly published books, local authors, award winners, best sellers, etc. We could even promote LibraryThing as a way for patrons to keep track of the books they have read.

Thing #13 On-line Productivity Tools

I used iGoogle to set up a customized start page, since I already had a Google account. I started by deleting most of the "default" things ( like You-tube, CNN, How-to of the Day) because they were things I didn't need. Then I added a few of the many available widgets, the local weather forecast, and Google Calendar. I don't know if having this page will actually increase my productivity, but it is nice to have everything in one spot. I am having problems with the Google calendar--maybe they are related to the change to daylight savings time. All of my appointments for the week of 3/9 -3/15 are showing up on my agenda as one hour earlier than I entered them. When I go to Google calendar, the correct times are still in there, but for some reason, the wrong times are showing up on my start page. In order for an online calendar to be useful, it needs to be accurate. I guess I'll stick to the regular calendar that I carry with me in my purse. I tried TaDa list, it was easy to do, but I didn't see any real advantage to having my lists online, other than I can't lose them. Backpack looks great for businesses where people collaborate on group projects, but it was way too detailed for my personal use.

Thing # 13 Reflections on Productivity

"Despite good hearts and equally good intentions, work in the world rarely feels light, pleasant, or healing. Instead, as it all piles endlessly upon itself, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into one enormous obligation. It becomes the standard greeting everywhere: I am so busy" Wayne Muller

What is productivity? To try to do more things in less time--so we have MORE time to do MORE things? It seems everyone these days is so busy. The Chinese character for the word "busyness" is formed by combining two other characters - heart and killing. This is an interesting insight into how the stress of being too busy, always rushing to meet the deadline, "multi-tasking", etc. can affect us, both physically and otherwise. So, today I encourage you to slow down, take the time to relax with a good book, and remember that you still have 44 days to finish up the 23 Things.

Thing #12 Social Media Sites

After exploring the various sites, I decided to join Digg. I liked how you could customize which kinds of news you wanted to view. I submitted an article from the BBC News into their "offbeat" section, and browsed around, "digging" a few articles as I went. I came across an interesting slideshow of an Albino moose-the pictures were taken in Montana. This item has received 3472 diggs so far. Although I liked this site, and many of the articles were very interesting, it can really be a time-waster. Its kind of like reading an on-line magazine. I'm not convinced that social media sites are actually a better way to become "in the know" than traditional news sites or news media, but they are certainly an interesting alternative, and something to be aware of.

Albino Moose
Originally uploaded by pizzler