Friday, September 28, 2007

Reflections

What a long journey this has been in my first two weeks as a library associate.
Did I mention I ran into a steel beam today? Yup. Smacked myself silly. Good thing I have a hard head!
I really enjoyed the 23 thing process...especially the Web 2.0 awards...I am definitely revisiting that page to further explore those wicked awesome sites! I also enjoyed some exercises that I didn't think I would, like exploring Overdrive, and making my first wiki.
I don't think my life-long learning goals have changed at much, (other than opening my mind to a few new things to learn about). But I like the format of self-study, self-paced programs and would definitely sign up for another one if offered in the future. Overall this training has stretched my comfort zone slightly with regards to Web 2.0 and was a great way to introduce me to my new job's newest requirements!

Overdrive

I haven't gotten my mp3 player hooked up yet - but what a neat database for finding audio books, online videos, & e-books (I wonder why no plain music audio?)! I also like that you can browse the most popular electronic books in any particular genre simply by sorting them based on download! Too bad you have to wait for some books just like the real library.

Podcastic


I have an mp3 player and have always wanted to have time to listen to a podcast. Honestly I rarely ever have time, although I have indulged listening to mugglecast and pottercast more than once. But for those who have the time to sit and listen I can see how they might be useful. I was particularly interested in the children's book podcast from the Denver Public library system. I wonder how hard it is to get the copyright to record a reading of a book, via audio or video? What a neat idea!

My YouTube Life

I use YouTube. A lot. It's a great community to be a part of. You can view all 58 of my videos at http://www.youtube.com/russosa. Did I mention I miss my camera?
Google bought Youtube, and so I think it's going to be around a long time. I've already posted one of my videos to the blog. YouTube has some bugs from time to time, and I think revver & metacafe are catching up in that they actually pay the film makers and have a stricter copyright policy. A couple of my youtube friends have videos that have made hundreds of dollars in views. But even still, they post more regularly to youtube - not because the site is better, but because it still seems to reach the most people.

I am posting one more video... one I am particularly proud of (get your kleenex ready)

Community Events

I perused the winners list on SEOmoz's best of Web 2.0 site, looking for things that might have a practical use in our library. I stopped and browsed when I got to the "events" category.
I am always looking for fun stuff to do and Upcoming was a fantastic place to look for stuff to do. Not only can you browse by location, but by any key word placed in the event's tags.
When you find an event, you can invite friends, and then add it to your calendar with a click of a button (google calendar, yahoo calendar, ical, outlook & 30 boxes).
Wouldn't it be great to list our library programs here, or on any of the other event sites (besides our own library page). We could reach even more people! Eventfull seemed to have more events listed than Upcoming, though not as user friendly. And there are also community online classifieds where that type of information might be useful. I use craigslist all the time, and they have a community events section as well.

Diabetic Communication


I communicate regularly with my daughter's endocrinologist. He is marvelous, and a perfect example of a professional who is completely comfortable with technology.
I use a program called Google Docs, and post a spreadsheet of Julia's blood glucose levels, and all important conditions surrounding them. I can't imagine having to communicate the latest numbers over the phone (before the age of fax machines that's exactly how it was done).But with the doctor able to view the document whenever he wants, he can get up to the minute data, and we should be able to make adjustments twice as fast. Also my husband or the school nurse can put in data if they want.

You can look at them if you like
- her sugars have been high this week because we've started pumping insulin on (Tuesday) with another relatively new technology: The omnipod. This totally beats giving her 5 shots a day. The only thing that could make it better is if it had a way to communicate with my computer, and I could just upload the data into a spreadsheet, and then into google docs!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Uncyclopedia


Best definition of a Librarian ever.
Found this on another library's unofficial wiki. Had to post!
I knew about wiki's, and I used them frequently to confirm suspicions, and gather information. I have never submitted anything in a wiki before, though I am sure I am going to as I progress. And look Thing 17 has me doing just that.
Libraries definitely have a use for these things...Wouldn't it be neat to plan programs through a wiki, or post staff book & website recommendations, or "readers advisories" to use a library speak I am just beginning to understand.
I posted my blog on the MD Library Sandbox wiki. Pretty painless... my first edit of a wiki ever, and I managed not to mess anything up. I also created a new wiki page for my own enjoyment The Harry Potter Epilogue. I must admit I am a fan of the series, despite the hype (and so is my daughter). Here's a video of Julia & I on a Harry Potter adventure:

The Wiki-Sandbox was fun to play with... a bit more scary in the real wiki-world.
For the record I must be a mutant librarian as I do not own a cat, or glasses, nor am I afraid of technology replacing me. However I am afraid of being bludgeoned by a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Thanks for my new nightmare!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Thing 15

My thoughts on Library 2.0.

The age of online information gathering is upon us. The recycling plants must be overloaded with piles of obsolete reference books. Not all information online is the same quality, and it has always been a librarian's job to help patrons recognize good places to gather information, virtually and otherwise.

The idea of "icebergs" referenced here by Rick Anderson talks about the mentality of the "just in case collection". My husband helped me realize I had a touch of that mentality when I mentioned someone's complaint about the drastically shrinking reference section. He said "yeah, but they can probably just find all that information online". That "just in case" section does have a purpose - catering mainly for those patrons who may be intimidated by or just plain out refuse to evolve into the digital age. This blog makes a good argument.

Another "iceberg" he referenced is "the come to us" mentality. There are some patrons that really should be coming to us, and not vice-versa - mainly children. They probably fit more into the idea of Library 4.0 referenced here by Wendy Schultz. You could have an online story time in Second Life, or download an audio book, or video of someone reading you a story, and the information stays essentially the same. But there is something to the experience of holding a book in your hand, sharing a learning experience with a loved one that is impossible to replicate virtually.

My dad always made me look up spellings and especially definitions in the dictionary...dragging out the unabridged monster, slipping through the alphabetical pages. How strange it will be for me when I ask my daughter to look something up and all she has to do is type the word and press enter. But that is the beauty of her generation. She will have everything faster, and with that will come additional pressure, as every moment of time will become more powerful.

Oh Loved This Article: 33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians are Still Extremely Important

Monday, September 24, 2007

technocracy

Played around with the Technocrati website today...
I don't typically like spiders, but in this case I'll make an exception.
Pretty interesting to see what the most popular blogs are...but then most people who use this tool are probably very "techy" to begin with.
Hope the spiders don't byte LOL~ #14
Technorati Profile

Tag You're It

Del.icio.us
Now I know why that song by Fergie was so popular...just kidding.
This website is so handy to access home bookmarks at the different workstations and vice-versa.
Tagging is kinda bothersome, but as my list of bookmarks grow I am sure the time I've taken in adding them will pay off when I want to quickly find the link again.
I can see it as another way to look for "popular" websites about a topic (ie ones that people use more often than others).
Check http://del.icio.us/russosa to see what my latest bookmarks are!

Search Me?

My Rollyo experience was, in general a positive one.
I can definitely see the potential in this tool. Some times it seems the searches run a bit on the slow side, especially when you have lots of websites referenced.
I just created a Maryland School District search where I inputted all of the school district websites, and now I can search all of them at once rather than visiting each individual school district and looking them up. You can check it out here: http://www.rollyo.com/russosa/md_school_districts/
or just use the searchbox below.

Powered by Rollyo

Sunday, September 23, 2007


Library Thing...wow what a cool site. It's kind of an organizational tool and social networking site rolled into one.
I just added my first 5 books, and joined the Librarians group. RSS'ed the discussions as well. Should be fun creating my "dream library" :)

The start of my Librarything collection.

Images

Playing with some image generators:
Meez

Spell With Flicker

My Favorite!

Merlin and More

I added the Merlin RSS to my bloglines account. It seems like a great resource, and I am sure it'll come in handy when I'm looking for training in an unfamiliar technology.
I also subscribed to Unshelved as it seemed like a funny idea (but I really didn't get the triathlon bit - out of the loop I guess!). Also to a couple of other library & book related sites, but seeing as I am new to the library, I am not sure if I'll actually be following these subscriptions that closely.
I liked Bloglines search engine for news feeds, but I think doing a simple Google search still is more useful at this point. (#9)

RSS-eses

I subscribed to Bloglines. Not sure why the library preferred this one over google's or any of the other RSS readers. I'd be curious to hear an answer.
Prior to this exercise I had been using my firefox live bookmark toolbar, but there is only so much room on a tool bar and I can see where if you're heavily into news & reading blogs how a site like this would help you.

Honestly I am not heavily into news & blogs. I use my "iGoogle" desktop to get my online news, and the few blogs I do read...I am happier with them RSS-ed in my live bookmarks. Rather than be forced to go to a 3rd party website to read the latest, I can have them right in my browser.

You can check out my sample blog roll here...not sure if I'll actually use it in my daily life but it was fun playing around with it:

http://www.bloglines.com/public/fourrussos

Camera Blues

I MISS MY CAMERA!

The last video & pictures I took with my digital all-in-one video/still camera are officially one month old today.
Shortly after this picture of Katie was taken, we made a very enjoyable trip to Rehoboth Beach.
Upon arriving home my husband shook out the beach bag, and ended up shaking out our camera down our brick steps. It never "woke up".

When my husband bought the camera at Christmas, I was skeptical... would I use it? Would I find it too difficult to use all the features.
8 months later, I found myself a regular YouTuber, and shooting more video of my kids than ever before. I carried my camera everywhere, and was constantly coming up with ideas for movies I wanted to make. It became my major creative outlet. I was attached emotionally, and even one month after it's destruction I feel constant urges to go record Julia's latest puppet shows and silly dances, or Katie's new words and latest meal mess.

And here's the kicker - Fuji doesn't even make my camera any longer. So now I am forced once again to upgrade...ah ever the lifelong learner. Until I can afford to buy my next media capture device, my YouTube life is pretty much on hold. My collaborative video that I once had in the works indefinitely posponed, due to the fact that my former video camera is a dinosaur (even though when I bought it in 2002 it seemed okay?), and my computer is not stable enough to edit with that firewire port (I had an XD card in my Fuji).

I miss my digital camera.
May it rest in pieces. (Thing #7)

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

#6


okay... I guess I'm officially a big geek now...LOL! No really this was a fun web app to play with, and if it had the ability to adjust the pan & zoom on the uploaded picture while in the frame it would be even better!

I also played around with FD Toys' badge maker... it had the same issues. When I use snapfish software, I can pan and zoom to get the best shot in a frame, as small as a standard calendar square.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

23 Things - Item 5 (Flickr) and TuDiabetes

This picture of my daughter is on Flickr - an image sharing site, which I am sure most of you have heard of. I'm still kinda new to that thing. I belong to a Ning community called TuDiabetes.... think myspace on insulin. They had a photo activity to post a picture of you or the diabetic you love with a word that describes what diabetes means to you.
Check out the link here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/tudiabetes/pool/

Some are done in photoshop (like mine) and some are done in henna, sharpie, or whatever the artist has handy.
I chose the word "growing" for lots of reasons...from the description:
"We've grown so much this year, in so many ways. Strength, intelligence, understanding, compassion. We're still growing in regards to diabetes, even faster than our insulin requirement. The number of people we know with this disease is growing even faster!"

When I think about all I've had to learn in the last 4 months of her condition, it's scary - and for Julia it will necessitate lifelong learning...until a cure is found that is ;)

23 Things Items 2 &3

I recently was hired as a Library Associate in the Children's Services department at Glenwood Library. As part of my development, my colleagues here have recommended that I start the "23 things" exercises as a fun way to improve my internet savvy. This post should count for thing number 3... wish me luck!

On the 71/2 Habits of Life Long Learners:
Exercise number 2 involves my commentary on life long learning, after going through an online presentation on that subject. It was pretty straightforward...and talked about things you should be doing as a life long learner.

Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind

Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning

Habit 3: View problems as challenges

Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner

Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox

Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage

Habit 7: Teach/mentor others

Habit 7 ½: Play


I have always valued my education... so I'd say accepting responsibility for my education has been an easy habit to keep, because it was instilled at an early age that nothing is more important than a quality education.

My most difficult one to keep is habit 3. I have a tendency to stress when things don't go as anticipated. I have a hard time dealing with setbacks, and I should strive to re-evaluate and take in lessons, instead of being hard on myself and the people around me.