#27!!!!

Seattle - Spaceneedle,
originally uploaded by The Beauty Of Irony.

What comes next? Well, I suppose we see which web 2.0 technologies we can adapt to use with and for library patrons, get feedback, and go from there. I have a co-worker who is going to start a technology wiki as soon as the capability exists within KCLS, which I am really looking forward to. Increased efficiency in communication and collaboration, I hope, will be a result of us adopting some of these technologies.

As for what else may have been covered...the list is endless and constantly changing, because new things are popping up all the time. The real challenge will be continuing to learn about new technologies and tools as they come out, which means keeping up with some of the library blogs and news feeds (with your handy RSS aggregator, perhaps?). Maybe the Learning 2.0 blog could be continued and updated when new and exciting things develop, so that our learning doesn't end with thing #27.

It's been great, thanks for the opportunity to grow!

#26 What 27 things means to me

I remember when I first heard about the 27 Things project. I was pleased that other staff would have the opportunity to become more aware of these technologies, but I didn't really think that I would learn anything new. Well, contrary to what my husband thinks, I can admit to being wrong...so, okay, I was wrong (a little).

There were definitely several lessons that covered technologies with which I am already closely familiar, but even these were a nice refresher. They also allowed me to think more deeply about how libraries could use (or not use) these technologies to their advantage.

I think the lesson that was the most helpful to me was on RSS feeds. I had always been just a tad uneasy with this technology (I have no idea why) and this forced me to figure it out. I now use an aggregator to see most of the things I used to have email subscriptions for, which has significantly reduced the volume of my inboxes, thank goodness!

I also never blogged before, and I can't say it's something I will continue. I used to keep journals, and that was very therapeutic, but I would never be able to use a blog that way, since it's so public (and there's just something about a pen and blank journal that appeals to me more than typing, even in pink). And I don't have a strange mission (like cooking every recipe in Julia Child's Art of French Cooking within the span of a year) or a passion I wish to share, or that I think anyone but my own friends and family would want to read.

This was a nice way to explore some new technologies in a laid-back and safe environment. I know I am not expected to be an expert in everything, but I like knowing a bit about most of the most popular developments of online communities.

Overall, this has been a positive experience. I would do it again, if only to have the opportunity to play with new things, and on work time, too!

#25 Audio books on Overdrive

I started using my own MP3 player just so I could listen to audio books in the car. I have neither CD nor tape player in my car, so I listen to one earphone and drive, hope that's legal! I am very familiar with both of the services KCLS offers for eAudio Books, NetLibrary and Overdrive.

I find the Overdrive site a pain to use. The advanced search is the only way I use it, but this feature is a bit hidden. If you browse using the left-hand tool bar, it can be very confusing and overwhelming (just like all our other web pages, there are just too many options in that 10-mile-long left-hand column). It's a little easier to go through the OPAC, though many patrons are confused by the difference between the pre-packaged audio books on Playaways, and the eAudio Books accessible through NetLibrary and Overdrive. Here is my take on these services:

NetLibrary - Pros

Easy browsing options

No additional software to download

eAudio books only (rather than several types of format together

Popular titles (including the Amelia Peabody mysteries read by Barbara Rosenblatt)

All titles are always available

You can download as many titles at a time that you want

NetLibrary - Cons

Files are not subdivided, so you have to trust pausing on a single 13-hour track (and G-d help you if you accidentally bump your player and have to fast forward through 12 hours to get back to your place)

I hear rumors that this service might not be with us much longer :(

Overdrive - Pros

Files are broken up into tracks so easier to bookmark

Lots of titles, including young adult and children's

Overdrive - Cons

Hard to browse/search

Have to download their software in order to download eAudio book files

Poorly designed web interface

Many titles have limited number of available copies

You may only have 20 titles checked out at a time

That is all.

#24 Invasion of the Podcasts

I use an MP3 player to listen to audio books (which I download through KCLS), but I have never downloaded a podcast before. I used Podcast Alley to find the podcast called LibVibe. I listened to one of their posts, it was pretty good. It mostly covers the same news stories I read from my text feed of LISNews, but there were a couple interviews which were interesting. I added this to my Bloglines account, but I honestly don't think I will listen to it much.

However, I am sure many people can't live without listening to their Knit With Cat Hair podcast regularly.

There wasn't really anything I think KCLS should consider from the podcast I listened to, unless, like the Hampshire library service in England, we want to drop the term "librarian" in favor of "service development officers." Doesn't thrill me.

#23 YouTube

I am familiar with YouTube from my many friends who send me crazy videos (such as the famous Diet Coke and Mentos act and Mary Poppins recut as a horror film) and I agree that it can be addictive. I posted an old anti-drug PSA that I used to see on TV from YouTube's site (though you have to sign up to do this).

Here I'll embed my very favorite YouTube video of all time, one of fainting goats. These are goats who are genetically predisposed to "faint" (all their muscles freeze up and they fall over) when startled.



As for how libraries can get in on YouTube, they already are. There are plenty of library-themed YouTube videos, including this one that was made by a library in St. Joseph County IN for their staff day and parodies a Madonna video. I am not sure if anyone that wasn't a member of a library staff somewhere watched this, but it definitely made the rounds. Could this make libraries cooler in the eyes of YouTube audiences?

It would be a great place to post video of library programs (not sure if there would be a liability issue here, would we need permission to record and post the authors, etc. who do our programs?). Storytimes could work, though some creative videography would need to take place so that someone could actually see the book on the small YouTube screen.

"You alright? I learned it by watching you!"

My husband and I quote this ancient anti-drug PSA.

#22 2.0 Awards

I chose to look at the Web 2.0 Awards and chose the category Mapping and explored a site called Wayfaring.com. What a neat resource! Partly practical, partly social network, all fun. I looked at a cool dog walking map in Phoenix, but when I tried to go back to it, I couldn't find it. Then I tried the search feature, but the site was really slow to respond and seemed to be having some issues. Too bad, because it seems really cool. People had maps of their favorite places to shop for specialty foods, places to go when visiting NY, and Indian restaurants in San Francisco, among others.

Since this wasn't quite working the way it should I, also looked at Etsy.com which I have looked at before, but I was impressed that it won an award, so I peeked again. I mostly would use it to get craft ideas for jewelry and card making (my hobbies).

#21 Google Labs

I actually am familiar with the idea of the Google Labs. When I attended the ALA conference in New Orleans in June of 2006, I went to a Google presentation. The speaker mentioned things galled "Googlets" (not sure how to spell) which were basically the brain-children of Google employees.

When you work at Google, you are designated a certain amount of time per week to work on your own ideas. I thought this was an amazing concept, to allow an employee to spend work time being creative and free to work on anything they like. Google applications such as Google News and Google Book Search started out as "Googlets" (or so the speaker said).

So, the first thing I tried was the very first on the Google Labs page, the Google Voice Local Search (Dial 1-800-GOOG-411). How cool! And free! I called and said my city and state, then said "Mario's Pizza" (which I wasn't sure even existed) and got 2 "hits." Then I chose the one I wanted and it started to connect me (I hung up quickly because I didn't want to actually call Mario's and feel like a dork for bothering them). I didn't wait long enough to see if they actually read you the number, too, but I am guessing they do. Really cool.

Next I tried the Transit Trip Planner. OMG, again, so cool! I put in the library's address and my home address, since I have searched the Trip Planner on the metrokc.gov site for this trip before and it gave me ridiculous results (take, like, three different buses and 2 hours to get here, plus routes that only run until 8am and stop at 8pm). Guess what??? There is a bus that picks up at the door of the library and stops within 3 blocks of my house! This will be fantastic for helping patrons find bus routes. I actually emailed the Metro Trip Planner site to let them know that it is unacceptable on their part to have such a poor tool.

Lastly, I looked at Google Trends, since it was suggested. I wasn't really into it, but can see why it could be interesting depending on the search terms you choose.

#20 Online Software

First I played with Google Documents. I created a document with the poem "Jabberwocky" and then posted the document to my blog (see previous entry). It was all very simple.

I did the same thing in Zoho, and it was just as easy. However, the Zoho word processor had more features and was a bit easier to use.

This does seem like a good way to create content. I would be a bit hesitant with sensitive items, since it seems fairly easy to give others access to these documents. I know it's old fashioned to think that documents created on my own PC are "safe" from others' eyes, but it does feel that way!

Test Doc

This is test document number 2.  Another random poem:

 

Edgar Allan Poe

Evening Star

 'Twas noontide of summer,     And mid-time of night;   And stars, in their orbits,     Shone pale, thro' the light   Of the brighter, cold moon,     'Mid planets her slaves,   Herself in the Heavens,     Her beam on the waves.       I gazed awhile       On her cold smile;   Too cold- too cold for me-     There pass'd, as a shroud,     A fleecy cloud,   And I turned away to thee,     Proud Evening Star,     In thy glory afar,   And dearer thy beam shall be;     For joy to my heart     Is the proud part   Thou bearest in Heaven at night,     And more I admire     Thy distant fire,   Than that colder, lowly light.  

This is a test document. I will include a poem I like:

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe

#19 2.0

Library 2.0 feels like a teeny tiny step in the right direction for libraries. It can be very scary to re-imagine something that has been around in its present form for so long, but it is essential for libraries to move ahead with its patrons and provide what they want where and when they want it. The OCLC articles brought up several points I would agree with, including the need for a choice of searching experiences for the patron. Not everyone searches the same way, and traditional library systems don't give a lot of wiggle room to individuals who want choices.

I really gravitated toward the idea that cross-searching could streamline the discovery process by allowing a patron (or librarian!) to search across many resources at once. A reliable and relevant search like this could save so much time, and help find information that would have been lost to the user with the current methods.

#18 Wookin' Pa Nub...

I was really excited by Rollyo, because I feel that there are definitely times when I wish I could skip all the garbage that's out there and just search "good" sites. And I like the idea of being able to decide what a "good site" is.

First I tried the suggested search roll called Public Domain eBooks. I found out that Bartleby has full text eBooks and even include biographies of the author, like this one for Crime and Punishment. What a great resource for students who need a book that's checked out! At least, a classic, public domain book...

I searched Rollyo for bookclub rolls, and I found one that was okay, but I got tired of all the interspersed "sponsored links."

Next I went over to Google Custom Search. I couldn't figure out how to search for other people's search engines, so that kind of sucked. Then I found this blog post from on "unofficial news and tips about Google", which gave two work-arounds for that. I searched the KCLS & Neighbors custom engine for bookclub, and got three hits...not great stuff, but at least no annoying interspersed ads.

I created a roll with Rollyo, since then people could search and find my roll if they wanted to, without having to know weird work-arounds. Here's the Find A Book Search Roll that I did.

#17 Total Silliness!

I had to include the tiara on my South Park character, so people would recognize me!

#16 Wikification

Okay, I did my little exercise, but it would have been easier if I didn't have to wait for some slow person to edit the page, then not save it porperly, so I couldn't get in and do my activity.

It's okay, I did get in and all is well. Whew.

#15 Wiki-tiki-tembo

I am, of course, familiar with the wiki, Wikipedia. In the past, I have not found more specific wikis very useful, but I thought I would give these a try before giving my final word on them.

Now, something like the SJCPL Subject Guides wiki is something I can definitely see as useful for a library setting. There are many times when I access the KCLS Weblinks to find that the links are outdated, or there are some good links that aren't part of the list. It would be great for staff to be able to add information to these pages as they come upon it. I also love the idea of the pathfinder-esque setup.

Flickr love

mehatwork,
originally uploaded by cupcakegrl.

Jill took this photo of me, and she blogged it on her 27Things blog. Look how much we are all learning!!!

#14 That Library Thing you do...

I actually already use these, and have accounts with Library Thing and Shelfari. In fact, I heard about Library Thing last year, and shared it with my coworkers. One in particular treasures it above all others, and has made friends through social networking within Library Thing.

Since I am already familiar with these two tools (and love them), I decided to try GuruLib, which I had not heard of. I really like the features that keep track of your book loaning, such as sending you emails when a book you have loaned out to someone is "due." There is also a "price watch," which allows you to set the price you want to pay for items in your wish list, and then alerts you when the item is available for that price. You can also catalog documents besides books, such as PDFs and DOCs.

Another nice thing is that you can retrieve book info with the bar code number, rather than having to wade through the multiple entries users have entered.

On the whole, though, the interface on Shelfari is the prettiest, and since Amazon just bought Shelfari, there are some unique capabilities there, too.

#13 Technorati

Technorati apparently is sensitive to phrase searching, so I got different results whether I used learning 2.0 or "learning 2.0" (incidentally, no quotes worked a bit better for the blog directory search, but worse for the blog posts search). An interesting site for searching, and I liked it much better than some of the other blog searching tools.

#12 Del.icio.us

I have halfheartedly looked at del.icio.us before, but never really gave it a chance. However, looking at it after listening to Kathleen Gilroy's podcast was a new experience. It's such a different networking space than something like MySpace. I like that it is all about sharing and learning, and that it is so easy to navigate.

I was thinking about the contrast between traditional library research and using something like del.icio.us. Del.icio.us is such an interactive world, where people create the organizational scheme that is most useful to them, rather than being shackled to a system that was developed with others (ahem, librarians) in mind. And the labyrinth you enter when you start to delve into the tags and links is amazing...you can find things that you never could on your own. It's so different from more traditional research, which tends to be a solitary activity.

What will this mean for libraries? Many of the technologies and interactive spaces online are completely detached from real places; they can be accessed from anywhere that has internet access: a cell phone, a blackberry, an airplane, a car...

Will the library become simply a connection point? Will it become unnecessary to have a mortar-and-bricks library at all?

#11 Make new friends...

Well, since I don't want to be friends with 27 Things on my real MySpace account, I ended up creating a dummy one for these exercises after all. I will delete it when I am through, since I don't want people to think that's really my page...how embarrassing! ;)

I added KCLS as my friend on said dummy page. Just so I could complete the exercise. See my previous post for how I feel about libraries and MySpace. This is not to say that some sort of social networking through the library would be good, just maybe not this particular outlet.

#10 MySpace...not yours

So....I already have a MySpace page. Here 'tis.

#9 MySpace...dun dun DUN!

Few other topics have distressed libraries as much as MySpace. Reading the comments on Librarian in Black's blog regarding the library's involvement on MySpace just confirms this.

I must say that I am a bit disturbed by the KCLS MySpace page. Like, why is the library 19 years old? And whose favorites are those? I mean, I get it, we are trying to use the new social networking technologies to go where our users are, but I think we aren't quite getting it yet. It just seems square for "the library" to have a MySpace page, and I certainly won't be its friend! How embarrassing! How much of a nebbish do you need to be to list the library as a social connection? Sorry if that's harsh, I mean, I'm a librarian, for heaven's sake, and even I don't want to be friends with the library...

I could be totally wrong. I just think KCLS will only have friends such as authors, staff, library school students, and MySpacers looking to get their friend count up.

#8 FEED ME SEYMORE!!!

Feed me all night long...

Okay, so I tried finding craft blogs using Bloglines Search and Feedster with no luck, but got what I wanted immediately with Google Blog Search (I really wanted the other ones to work better than Google, but there you go). Syndic8 got me some good stuff, too, but was interspersed with unrelated hits. Just as an experiment, I just did a regular Google search on cupcake blogs, and got exactly what I wanted right away...go figure.

Check out the cupcake blog and shopping blog I chose. I also subscribed to two library resources that I was already familiar with: Tales from the Liberry and the Librarian's Internet Index.

#7 RSS

I already have a Bloglines account, and actually, had already added the Learning 2.0 site (I am so on top of things!). I added LISNews, which I had previously viewed through my email, and Resource Shelf, which is something I really should read more frequently.

Next I chose my staff blogs, Beagle Rules the World (cuz who can resist cute doggies?) and Ms. Martina's Progress (quirky and fun).

I already had an email subscription to Unshelved, but changed to a feed so my inbox won't get so cluttered. I think that is definitely my favorite part of RSS: not having to fill my inbox with stuff that I just end up deleting anyway.

#6: Do the mashup potato

Yeah...so I tried Retrievr, and thought it was pretty dumb. I tried something simple like a heart shape, and got stuff that didn't seem to match at all...too bad, because it could have been really cool.

Montagr took too long, so I gave up (I am all about instant gratification!)

Now, FlckrChia Pet is cool! Check it out!

Flickr: Mom and Meh

Mom and Meh,
originally uploaded by cupcakegrl.

This is the photo I ended up using...

#5 - Flickr

So, I love Flickr. I use it all the time to look at other people's photos and find fun images. However, I hadn't ever actually signed up with my own account (we usually share photos through Sony Imagestation). The first photo I uploaded was this charming one from the Corbis database...but then I thought this might violate some copyright restrictions, so I trashed it and chose one of my mother and I instead (see Flickr blog post). Not as funny as the elephants eating birthday cake, but oh well...

It's "27 Things" in Hebrew...

Welcome to my KCLS 27 Things blog! You may now enjoy the musings of a reference librarian (re)learning about fun new(ish) technologies.