Harry Potter Challenge

I am participating in the Harry Potter Reading Challenge. I will begin rereading HPSS on the 1st of August. It's going to be fun!

You can get more information here!
You should sign up too!

The 24th Thing....

Watching Revolution OS was interesting in that it showed the difference between the Open Source and Free Software movements. In a way it kind of vilified Bill Gates and his team. Really they were just trying to make money on ideas, in the same way authors and artists do.
The idea of giving information away for free is a hot topic right now with internet piracy and licensing being the issues more with entertainment venues (music, movies & torrents oh my!).
But who doesn't love free stuff? I looked up the meaning of Ubuntu the other day, According to Wikipedia:

The name of the distribution comes from the southern African concept of ubuntu which may be rendered roughly as "humanity toward others", "we are people because of other people", or "I am who I am because of who we all are"

In all I think the idea of Open-Source and Free Software is a good idea, but because it essentially relies on peoples willingness to commune and contribute with no deadlines, or direct financial encouragement I think they will continue to lag behind Microsoft in lots of ways - but I can feel them catching up in a lot of ways too... I think about the years since that movie was made how far the technology has come. It should be interesting what the next 5 years brings for open source. My predictions is that as free technology reaches more people, more people will be able to contribute to free technology and as more people develop it, GNU and Linux can only get better.
Also from Wikipedia:

The cost to redevelop the Linux kernel version 2.6.0 in a traditional proprietary development setting has been estimated to be US$1.14B

Julia Featured!

Julia's picture is featured on the main page of TuDiabetes.
I'm tickled that she was chosen. Tudiabetes was also recognized as a best of web 2.0 site for diabetes related issues.
Congratulations all around!

Just Plain Silly

Silly book titles....this lady has a great list of them...can you add any?
http://www.amazon.com/My-Favorite-Silly-Book-Titles/lm/7Q3JYLEZSJYP

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!

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!

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.

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