Wrap Up and Celebration! - Thing #23

Awwwwwright! Think I'll have a half-a-cup to celebrate!

The best part of this whole exercise was just learning something new each day--or each thing! I loved the "strain your brain" part of this. The Reader is keeping me occupied in the Lab each day. I love the LibraryThing--I hate starting a book and discovering I've read it already. WorldCat on the OCL website is terrific; a number of patrons are coming in talking about it. Sharing what I've learned with my guy has been lots of fun. We're both learning. He's discovered Google Docs. And knowing that my kids ("the boys") are following my blog tickles me.

So, thanks OCL WebThings team. Even with a late start, it was easy to catch up and accomplish all 23 Things without too much stress. Looking forward to Web 3.0!

ListenNJ - Thing #22

So the last task was the hardest for me. Since I was loading new software on our home computer, I asked my own Techie to take part in this one. Sometime I'll tell you about googling a Prohibition-era whiskey to find its value and consequently downloading porn--which took over our computer.

After fits and starts I was able to download Down in New Orleans by Billy Sothern. It's as clear as any CD I've taken from the library. I was disappointed that so many of the books I wanted to download were unavailable. Where did they go? Does ListenNJ just have the copyright to only one "copy" of each book? Frustration aside, looks like I'm going to be enjoying this Thing.

Podcasting - Thing #21

Looking for "coffee talk" I wound up finding this podcast and thought it would be more interesting to me than coffee news for dealers. Many of the podcasts have "old news" but this one was from Friday. Swedes love coffee; it flows in their veins! So this is almost as good to me as "coffee talk."


Swedish News in English

YouTube Latte Art - Thing #20

Again I spent too much time having fun on YouTube. Of course, I searched for coffee and Gevalia (some very funny Swedish commercials), but this video for latte art was the best. No sound but wow! That's some steady hand. There were other videos done by different people, but none as good as this one.

Web 2.0 Awards - Thing #19

So I spent far too much time playing with this! For City Guides I tried Yelp.com and discovered the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago as the second entry under Education--where my son is Director of Marketing. It had so many rave reviews that I had to forward it to him. My Lab computer got locked up on Wayfaring maps site when I tried to locate my house--not too impressive. I discovered on the Philanthropy site that I could order "planet friendly" underwear from Care 2! Wouldn't it be more "planet friendly" to go without????

But the worst was Zillow.com, a real estate site. Since I've been trying to sell my house for what seems like 101 years, I thought I'd check it out. The aerial map showed the house across the street and said my house was worth $66,000 more than we're asking. Or maybe the house across the street is worth that much more than mine. (I don't think so!) Apparently they are not reflecting current market conditions!

So I wasn't too impressed by these sites. Pandora is next on the list. I've heard rave reviews.

Web Apps - Thing #18

I love it when I can show my computer-savvy guy anything "computer!" He plans to submit his Power Point presentation for the June Artist Guild show to Reference this way.

As an SLA and not terribly creative(!), the best use of Google Docs that I can think of for the library would be to put Circ procedures on a Google Doc and have a committee work on getting every step down for each task. I know the Albany Public Library had this on a wiki. Google Docs seems to be a more familiar tool, particularly to those who did not do the Web Things Challenge. I've found that procedures change constantly in TR. Anyone who comes in new and hasn't performed a particular task or doesn't get to do a task frequently needs written procedures for some of the more complicated tasks, such as running mailers or counting money. Being able to update frequently and with ease would make life so much simpler for the new employee and those who work with them and must answer 101 questions.

Playing in the Sandbox - Thing #17

Playing in the Sandbox was fun. I think OCL needs an Austen group where we can all sit around and talk about Mr. Darcy. Maybe an Austen wiki!

However, frustration became my emotion of the morning when I tried to leave my blog link on the OCL Webthings Blogs page. You know it's insanity when you keep trying the same thing over and over and over again. Nobody told me all the links have to be blue. I spent far too much time trying to make my half-a-cup link with a brown background and white letters. So it's brown and blue--mentally I am black and blue!

Wikis - Thing #16

Wikipedia is a tool I've been using for quite awhile--introduced to it by my son a year or so ago. So Wikis are not a foreign concept.

The Common Craft videos are all terrific. I've loved all of them. They could make just about anything seem simple and easy to understand.

The OCL Wikipedia entry is one of the best I've read. Love the photos of the library and the discussion of the art pieces.

Since I went to the class on Sensitivity of Seniors yesterday, I checked out the Services for Older Adults on the Library Services wiki. Enjoyed the blog from a librarian in Australia who addresses senior and boomer issues. Also article from Chicago about seniors, loneliness and the library--a universal topic.

Why doesn't OCL have a blog listed on the public library blog section?

Library 2.0 - Thing #15

Hey, I'm not a librarian, but I know a good library when I see it! I hope that OCL will continue to meet the challenge of Web 2.0. Michael Stephens article about the new world of librarianship was down to earth and made a lot of sense. Keep up, but don't go overboard. I loved the terms "technolust" and "techno-worship." Continuous monitoring and conversations with our patrons is the only way to go. We have to be realistic in budgeting and purchasing. After all, it is the Ocean County taxpayer who is providing the funds for our growth.

I keep going back to that conversation with a "senior lady" who insisted that we as a library are doomed. Kindle will do us in. There are two extremes at work here--those of us who love to curl up with a book and those of us who are information junkees. The library is the place for both groups.

Technorati - Thing #14

I found myself going in circles on this site. I kept coming back to the "Library Ladies" videos. It's election night in NC and IN so I thought I'd check out some political blogs. "Doh! The Technorati Monster escaped again!" was the error message I got. Must be lots of people out there looking up political commentary. I've been reading Craig Crawford's blog and I might add Arianna Huffington. Time is the issue. So much to read; so little time!

Del.icio.us - Thing #13

I was hoping for chocolate!

It's just not to my taste--am I too old for this? If I were in a corporate, educational, not-for-profit situation (or, for that matter, a library!), I might be really excited about this. But I'm afraid this is TMI for me. I'm not doing serious research in my mundane life. Had I had this tool 20 years ago when I was teaching, wow!

NetLibrary and WorldCat - Thing #12

Setting up the NetLibrary account was a piece of cake. Finding a book to look at wasn't hard. But moving around the "book" was maddening. I'm used to Adobe Acrobat. The book looked like Adobe Acrobat, but it took me forever to realize that you turn the page by clicking in the upper right hand corner, not at the bottom of the page as in Acrobat. I could easily show a patron how to use this--I'm waiting for my first opportunity in the Lab!

WorldCat was fun to play with. Most of the items I searched for were part of the OCL system, but I had fun with my old friend, Swedish mystery writer, Henning Mankell. When I looked up Faceless Killers in large print, I found the nearest copy to be 10,200 miles away in Griffith, Australia!

Does our ILL Department use WorldCat? Will there be a time when the Circ Department does their own ILL work? Hmmmmmm?

Library Thing - Thing #11

Library Thing rocks! I got carried away. I'm into books on Afghanistan and Swedish mystery writer Henning Mankell. Of course, Jane Austen, Jodi Picoult, and Janet Evanovich are favorites. I kept adding books and lost track of time. Two hours later it was time to stop. The reviews were pretty much what I expected--except for Henning Mankell whose reviews were in German and Spanish!

I plan to use the Library Thing recommendations in the future and I love being able to keep a record of books I've read.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/half-a-cup

Technology Blogging - Thing #10

Yikes, I'm overwhelmed! My brain is totally fried by what's out there. How can anyone keep up with all the stuff? Reading the 20 Things to Watch bought up these random thoughts (on the stuff I could comprehend):

What's a Mobile Crackberry? Google sent me to a site for Blackberry addicts--how sad. Let's talk!
Spent this weekend in a car with a GPS--that woman's voice was so annoying and she got us lost!
Microblogging looks like a fun tool for extended families--an electronic family reunion.
A very smug elderly lady came into the library recently to tell us we'd never see her again. Her son was getting her a Kindle. Oh to curl up with a book by the fire with a glass of wine!
DVD's are making way for streaming video. I haven't gotten all our family videos on DVD yet!

David Pogue's blog had a terrific article, Turn Those Bytes Into Books. I've been working for years on a family cookbook complete with family photos. I was so proud when we put it on CD for our family members. Now I'm going to check out these new ideas.

Then I hit the technology blog and checked out a review of Skype's phone service. Our son gave us a webcam and Skype account because he and his wife were working in South Africa for 6 weeks. We just love it. We have "skyped" friends in London, Sweden, Slovakia, Missouri and, of course, Johannesburg. We only use the phone service when we are trying to contact someone.

I want to be a lifelong learner, but I can understand how too much information can turn you into a Luddite!

More RSS - Thing #9

I was stunned by the number of links in Jill's Bloglines account. How can any human keep up with so much information! And now I have the same problem. When I was going back and forth between Bloglines and Google, I used the Blogline's Search tool and Google Search. I came up with the Onion, Slate, Salon, Dilbert, About Cats and I Need Coffee! I was disappointed that I couldn't find a blog for John Batchelor, a former radio host on WABC who is now on a satellite station.

I didn't like the Bloglines Top 1000. It didn't feature a Search tool so that I could look for something I was interested in. And 1000 is just too much to scroll through, especially when you had to click on the preview of each one whose name wasn't self explanatory.

When I have time and my Web Thing work is done, I'm searching for a filtering tool so that I won't have more news feeds than I can handle!

RSS and Me - Thing #8

Learning about RSS took more time than I ever expected. I did the tutorial for Bloglines, but had been warned by co-workers that there were some glitches and Google Reader might be easier to use. So now I've used both and settled on Google Reader.

My reader now contains the OCL TR Events feed, The New York Times, CNN, BBC, Woman's Day, and some fun news accounts (at least fun for me) like The Local - Sweden's news in English and MSNBC's Chris Matthews (I've become addicted for presidential politics).

With the election coming up all too soon, I'll be checking my Reader daily to see what the candidates are up to. I'm sure the librarians at OCL are hot on the trail of what's new in libraries around the country and world. What a great tool!

Thing #6 - At Last!

Here's my favorite place in the TR Library--where I spend my break relaxing with a half-a-cup and a good book. I had a lot of trouble using the "add image" icon in blogger, so I just dragged the picture from flickr to my blog and it worked!

By the sea, by the sea - Thing #7

We are Jersey shore people! This is an old, old photo from the 1920's that I scanned into Picasa and "played" with to make it as clear as possible. Last Christmas my cousin in California sent me about 50 old photos from 1920 to 1960. I scanned them into Picasa and made them as clear as I could. Had lots of fun learning how to manipulate old photos with a tech tool.

The handsome devil on the lower right is my Dad--a true Swedish fish! He loved the shore; to fish and swim was heaven to him. Going to Asbury Park from North Jersey was an adventure in a Model T. When you got there, the adventure continued in a rented bathing suit.

I'll bet he has a half-a-cup of coffee on the blanket behind him.

Miss Mikki - Thing #5

You see I have this cat--Miss Mikki. She has wavy fur and no undercoat--so she is not allowed outdoors. Truly a delicate creature. She weighs about 5 pounds and has a thyroid condition--but that does not explain the curled back ears, her buck teeth or her throaty cry. We should have named her Miss Misfit. Shhh, she has no idea that she is not the most elegant cat on the planet.

Here's Mikki in all her glory taken by my son from his Flickr postings.


Enjoy!

Google Hates Me! - Thing #4

Here I am getting a late start trying to catch up and Google blocks my blog. The robots at Google think I am spam.

I am Sam, Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and SPAM!

Hey, I'm a Jersey girl and Jersey girls are Taylor ham people. No more Spam.

PS I finally got up and running and was able to let the Team know I exist!

Google doesn't like me! - Thing #3

Here I am trying to get a quick, but late, start and what does Google do? They block me. I AM NOT SPAM! I don't even like spam--I'm a Taylor ham girl myself! Aren't all Jersey girls?

I think I have been and will continue to be a life-long learner. I've always had trouble with "goals and objectives" when in a small group working out a plan. Setting a goal is not easy for me. I'd rather say "I'll give it a try and see how I like it." I gave skiing a try--it didn't like me and my backside didn't like it! I took on a project to type up some old family Christmas recipes for my children. It has evolved into a family cookbook. The challenge was pulling the recipes out of my mother and using technology to scan family photos and deliver the project on CDs. This has been an on-going project which has gone through many updates and has included recipes from many branches of our family from Europe, New Jersey, California and Arizona.

I am not going to "try" the challenge. My goal is to finish all of the OCL "things."

Half-a-Cup Profile Photo

I searched Flickr for a picture of me--Half-a-Cup. Through searching "text" I found over 3,000 pictures of coffee cups and all their variations. Thanks Miss Beckles for this public image that I've used in my profile!

Late Start

Getting started a month late is my REAL challenge. Not usually a procrastinator. Just too busy planting peas, cleaning up two gardens, updating Quicken and doing taxes.