Secesh1860

Number 23

2007-08-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I've enjoyed this, in that there were several things that I knew of, but had not used, or explored. I believe there are a few that would be useful for the library to use, and the one that truly stands out to me here is the rss feed, for keeping up with all the new additions to the library website. I also believe the podcasts could be valuable, for the reasons I enumerated in my blog on that exercise. There are some of the more social things that I do not believe would be particularly useful for the library to actually participate in, but nevertheless were useful to me as a reference librarian to know about, so that I will understand what customers are asking for, and be able to help them better.

Great fun!

Numer 22

2007-08-09T10:25:00.001-07:00

Since I am a user of Overdrive, and we are no longer going to subscribe to NetLibrary, I took a look at the Gutenberg book site...excellent choices of books, etc., and could be very useful for our customers as well. I would suggest we make this available to them on our homepage so that there is another choice for them, especially for those books that might not be "popular" and therefore picked up on OverDrive. I also like the fact that there is an rss feed available, so you can keep track of the new books that are added there.

number 21

2007-08-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Podcasts....can be annoying and useful! I've been a fan of them for several years now, since they are a great way to find information on something, and listen to various broadcasts, etc., that you might have missed in other searches. The problem is finding them...and I was not really thrilled with the directories given. I tried a search (with variations) on Tut and the exhibit that is in the US right now, since I'm going up there next weekend. The ONLY directory that had anything was the yahoo directory, and yet I had already viewed several prior to this, so I know they are out there. I found that I did almost as well by doing a plain ol' google search for them. The one good difference in using the directories is that ALL you get are podcasts, instead of podcasts and queries about finding a podcast! I think I like the yahoo best of the three given, since it allows you to search for series and episodes as well, and will also give you that "did you mean" feedback in the same way google does...and that can lead you to other directions. I do think the search styles could be better, since I tended to get the same hits using King Tut in quotes as I did when I just entered the words...there is no way to really search for a phrase.

Now....how can libraries use podcasts? Personally, I believe these could be a great asset to a library...everything from book discussions to various types of programs and speakers, to make these things more accessible and visible to people, as well as making them available to homebound people who might want to come to some things, but are unable to.

Number 20

2007-08-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

I was already very familiar with youTube, since many of my friends post various CW videos there, so I thought I'd look at another one. I went to yahoo videos and found this one that made me laugh! Keep your eye on the baby panda!

And I figured I'd try and embed it here as well, so we'll see how this turns out!

Number 19

2007-08-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

I played around with the health sites, and found them to be a good way to consolidate a medical/health search in one place. I tried several topics, and the first sites that came up were always legit ones from medline, etc., although wikipedia was pretty close to the top there as well....however, I do think it is a good way to get nothing BUT the medical info when you're looking for stuff.

Number 18

2007-08-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Actually, I've used google docs, and shown it to customers as well...it's great that people can use this tool if they don't have a good word processing or spreadsheet progream on their computer at home...this is so convenient for that, and also since it is attached to google, it's then very easy to attach it to your gmail without having to download it and save it anywhere.

Number 17

2007-08-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I had problems adding my blog to this list...I did manage to get it there, but it does not appear to be a live link...oh well.

I did manage to add a comment to the "rather be knitting" blog that was there.

Number 16

2007-08-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Wikis....good and bad....and it's nice that libraries are getting involved in them, but it is STILL personal opinion and information. Just because it is under the auspices of a library, etc., does not mean that it is accurate information that is being given. I do see a great deal of potential for use, particularly in book discussions and recommendations, but there's not a lot of difference there between using a "wiki" for this or a blog, except people tend to look at the wiki as having a bit more validity, and therein lies the danger of assumption again.

Wikipedia.....bane of the masses.

Number 15

2007-07-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Library 2.0.....well, my first thought? it needs to tie somehow to the traditional library user as well....do I think there are great advantages? Absolutely....some of the things such as the rss feeds, blogs, etc., will translate beautifully to those folks who want to participate in various discussions, and to keep up with the latest things in the library. But we need to be aware of folks who are NOT computer oriented as well. We sometimes jump on the "new" bandwagon without remembering that there are a lot of very loyal users who should not be forgotten. There's a compromise in here somewhere.

Number 14

2007-07-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Ah...voyeurism made easy...search other people's blogs!

Although I guess not much different than being able to search other people's pictures on various photo sites....and I know you can look at people's blogs, etc., on myspace, etc.....the age of sharing *TMI!

I can see how this would be useful in some ways...looking for other people's opinions on everything from consumer information to books, etc., but I doubt it gets used for that as much as for just seeing the blogs of other people who might share common interests, etc...and even that has its own usefulness!...and there's that social aspect again....interesting how much more social we seem to be on the computer than in person!

Doubt I'll use this much.

*Too Much Information

Number 13

2007-07-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I tried del.icio.us (harder to type right than to use!), and I like some of the aspects. You can do the same thing as far as having access to your bookmarks, by using myYahoo.....totally private, and you can put them on your yahoo home page if you want; so that takes care of being able to access your bookmarks from anywhere...I've been using this for years.

A couple of up sides to the del.icio.us bookmarks...you can share them with a group without having to give anyone access to your email password, and it is easy to bookmark a page by installing the "post to del.icio.us" on your toolbar......other than that, I don't see any advantage over what I already use.

Number 12

2007-07-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well...have to say I'm not extremely impressed with the rollyo. It would take a good bit of time to set up, and even then I don't appear to be getting many more results than I would get searching google, and then just zeroing in on the reliable sites I want to look at. Plus...you get results from some paid sites!!

Think I'll stick to google.

Number Eleven

2007-07-09T12:02:00.001-07:00

Ok, so this was pretty cool....Just out of curiosity, I entered nothing but some of the non-fiction I'm reading now, even though I know I am VERY specialized. I was actually surprised to see that two other people had listed one of the books, and they actually gave me a few recommendations that were within the category of things I have been reading. I entered one book that was published in 1888, just to see what would happen, and of course, it was not in amazon, but you can search other places, including LC, so you can get all of the information if you really want to add it. '

I'll try adding some of the fiction/mysteries I read, and see what happens.

This one I can see being useful for myself, as well as for the prolific readers we have among our customers!

Here is the link.

Number 10

2007-07-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I FINALLY got this generator to work, I believe. I learned a few years ago how to actually write the script for a rollover image, but who remembers that unless you use it all the time....I found an online generator here
that allowed me to use images I uploaded to my yahoo geocities "holding" page for pictures, and then generated the script for me! It seems to be a bit slowloading at times, but it works, and I didn't have to look up the script!

What you're looking at is a dress my friend Anna, who is also my dressmaker, made for another client...the rollover is the original image she copied. You can see what wonderful work she does!

Number Nine

2007-07-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ok...been on vacation for a week in the backwoods of Virginia and West Virginia....combo of vacation and research for a topic I'm speaking on at an 1860's conference (what else?) in another year.....so...been away from the internet and even cellphone in most of the places...and haven't missed it a bit! (except for the 300 email messages I had to clean out!! That's what happens when you are on various listservs!)

So...back to 23 things and Merlin!

Hmm..."social networking", huh? Never been much for that, in general...I DO have a myspace page myself, but only because one Goddaughter lives in California, and the other in Arkansas, and they both urged me to get one so I could read THEIR blogs and see pictures of their activities, child, etc.

And this is getting to be SOO much that we are subscribing to, and getting feeds from...I'm going to have to keep track, so I can UNSUBSCRIBE to some as soon as we finish this exercise....Not all, as I've found some are good for keeping up with current info, but right now, it's like I'm subscribing to everything I happen upon.

Number Eight

2007-06-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm still playing with this on a bit, and finding it somewhat unwieldy. I think that rss feeds can definitely be used both in my private and professional life, and the library system can certainly use them for our customers as well. Perhaps I'm finding a few problems here simply because this is one thing I have never used, but one of the things that bothers me is that there is such an inconsistency in where to FIND that little rss symbol on any given page. I've had to actually do a search for it on two of the pages I subscribed to. I don't know how it would be monitored, but it's too bad there is no way to make that consistent...always at the top, bottom, or side of a page.

Number Seven

2007-06-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

"anything technology related"....well, I agree with the sample....I DEFINITELY love digital cameras, and part of the reason is that my parents live all the way down in Arkansas, and yet I can upload pictures to my computer, then upload them to Walgreens website, call my parents, and they can pick those pictures up in an hour!! I LOVE it, and so do they!!

Another thing I love? IM!!! I have friends all over the county, and it's a great way to actually chat with them! In addition, (and here's a TRULY practical use of this!) I'm president of a large living history group with members scattered across 5 states. Once a year, we have an online meeting in a chat room, and that way our members can meet their "one meeting a year" requirement, all from the comfort of their own house!!

Number Six

2007-06-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'll admit I had great fun on this one! You can create a customized magazine cover through "big huge labs"....We had a presentation at the 1860s conference in March on 19th century picnics, so I used an image from that presentation, along with a couple of the subjects explored (and yes, "don't shoot the duck" makes TOTAL sense to everyone who was there and anyone who know Susan Hughes,director of education and living history...and "protector of the ducks" at Shakertown, KY)

At any rate, here's the magazine cover!! Don't you wish you could "read" those articles!!

Number Five

2007-06-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, leaving the "weeks" heading off, since I'm obviously not following THAT dictate! So...just the related number from here on!

And Flikr again, is not a new thing overall to me...I have lots of friends that publish pictures there, so it's one way to keep up with that, and I even have a folder on there as well (along with webshots, dotphoto, photobucket, yahoo pics....well, let's not EVEN get into all that..so many I have to keep the folders and passwords straight by sending emails to myself!!!)

Anyway, here's one of my favorite places, from a picture found in Flickr.....you might recognize these as the ruins of Windsor Plantation in Mississippi.

Which once looked like this:

This is a sketch historians discovered in a Union soldier's journal. It gives us the only image known to exist of Windsor Mansion.

If you've ever seen the old film, "Raintree Country", you've seen Elizabeth Taylor's character stand in the front of these ruins

Week Two, Number 4

2007-06-04T12:16:00.001-07:00

"Register your blog and Track your progress to journey into Learning 2.0 together"

Just sent the link to Albert, so all you lovely people can share my thoughts!! And I"m SOOO glad the tracking log is a Word document, so I can type it!!! I really wish all of our various forms, etc., for the system were this as well..it would make life so much easier (and no problems with reading handwriting, either!!)

Week Two, Number 3

2007-06-04T12:09:00.001-07:00

"Set up your own blog and add your first post"

Hmm...putting the cart before the horse here?....Considering that posts needed to be made concerning Week 1, numbers 1&2, but you don't set up the blog until this post? Oh well, it's done, it's here, and that's that!! I guess if I were REALLY concerned about being anonymous, I should set one up that has NOTHING to do with my personal interests, but where's the fun in that???...so you might even get pictures of my cats here

SO.....blog is set up (one more to keep up with!!), and several posts already made!

Week One, Number 1.

2007-06-04T12:02:00.001-07:00

"Read this blog and find out about the program"

Actually, I think this is a great idea....we are always being asked questions dealing with various technologies, and this is a very painless way to acquaint ourselves with those, as well as allowing us to discover things that we might want to use in our OWN lives!

Week One., Number 2

2007-06-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

"Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process"

Well...I don't see that any one will be either harder or easier than others for me...I love technology, am always wanting to learn something new, and I'm pretty organized, so in many ways that covers all of them!

I'm just looking forward to playing with a few different technologies that I know about but don't currently use!

My brother called me a "perpetual student" as I was growing up, grown, and STILL taking classes in things, so I guess I fit right in these these "lifelong learning" goals...should I tell him just how right he STILL is??? :-) I think if I could I'd probably have a half dozen degrees in as many disciplines, just because I have such varied interests...think that qualifies me as a "lifelong learner"??

Just a test

2007-06-04T11:31:00.001-07:00

Just a test post to see how it looks here!...considering I already have two online blogs, but don't use this particular one.....