Librarians Do It Quietly

Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

1. Begin with the end in mind.
2. Accept responsibility for your own learning.
3. View problems as challenges.
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner.
5. Create your own learning toolbox. (Books, technology, classes, mentors, friends, websites...)
6. Use technology to your advantage.
7. Teach.mentor others.
7 1/2. Play!

The easiest habit for me is using technology to my advantage. I'm very comfortable with computers and easily pick up new tips and tricks. I am eager to use and learn more. The hardest is teaching/mentoring others because I don't have confidence in myself that I can do a good job with this, even if I know a lot about a topic.

Flickr

I love this photo! Pink frosting and sprinkles on chocolate cupcakes- it's a confectionary dream come true. Princess birthday party, anyone?

Flickr Mashup: Movie Poster

This is fun and I can see it being a great time waster. It will be more fun doing it with a better high-res lotsofmegapixels image that would look good when printed out.

Blog about anything technology-related

My most recent discovery is Flickr, of course. Previously I have used Photobucket, which is decent as a site to host images, but can be hard to navigate besides my own pictures when I am signed in. I think Flickr is something to play around with, and get familiar with, and I can tell that the community aspects of it will be useful. I want to look into whether or not I can FTP photos to the site, and possibly use the site to backup all the images on my computer. If not, perhaps there is another site with that option. Unfortunately I have over 1GB of photos, so I will need to find a site with large capacity of space for little or no fee.

The next thing I want to figure out is movie editing, as people do with YouTube. Maybe that will be touched on later in this course? Otherwise I'm sure I can find a free online course for that somewhere...

RSS

RSS is great. I don't have to try to remember all the sites and people I want to keep tabs on. I just add them into Feedreader and automatically get updates. It's a great way to keep up with my friends's blogs, those of authors I enjoy, celebrities and TV characters, and more. The best part is that I can keep track of myself by subscribing to feeds of my own blogs, my new Flickr account, my TiVo Now Playing list and To Do list, and even my library account at LibraryElf.

Finding Feeds

I admit, I've done just a cursory look through the sites listed. It's good to know where I can go if I want to search for RSS content, but I usually just stumble upon things that interest me and add them that way. Generally I don't like information overload. I like having many subscriptions but unless I'm very interested, I don't like reading long posts, or feeds that have many posts in a short period of time. I do like Syndic8 and will have to go back and check it out some time when I have a search topic in mind. Feedster would not load for me, maybe my computer is just being slow right now, so I should also go back there.

Image Generators

I like TypoGenerator. It lets you put in the text you want, and then it randomly generates an image. Then you can choose to keep or change the text style, colors, and background. There are limitless possibilities! Here's an example:

Image 2 (kept the colors, changed the rest):

LibraryThing

LibraryThing is an interesting site, and if I had all my books on shelves instead of in boxes I would definitely add more to my catalog. I like that after adding a book I can view my catalog and then change the cover to show which I actually have. I think it's cool that an advanced search option for adding books is with the Borders product code (binc) since I work there. I also like the "unsuggester" - on the one hand it could be used to suggest unlikely books that you may find you like. On the other, it can be used in reverse as a suggestion system if you search using a book you absolutely despise. Then again, how accurate can it be? Searching for The Catcher in the Rye brings up a list where number 49 is... uh... The Catcher in the Rye...

Rollyo

My initial reaction to this is that I like the way I search things, and don't know that I have a need for this site. Why bother creating a search for one site when I can add an already-made Search Engine to Firefox? I don't even know what I would add to a search here. I kinda wish this "thing" had more instructions linked. So I'm kinda flaking out and not REALLY doing this one, but I did look around the site a little. I did at least read the Learn More About Rollyo page, and sign up. I think if I knew more informational sites to use for various patron queries, it might be useful. For example, if I had a few good free biography sites aimed at kids I could make a rollyo (roll?) with that. It seems like a good idea if you have a search topic goal, and you have a list of sites to add.

del.icio.us

I can see the potential of this site for various situations.

• a person who wants to access the same links from home or work (or other) computers
• a person who is away from their usual computer and wants to add a bookmark without forgetting to do it once returning
• a group of people doing research, et cetera, who all need to access a common list of links
• someone doing research who is stuck and needs alternate search terms (tags)
• et cetera

However, I don't like that there is no option for privacy. Everything is open to anyone to see. Plus, I have no problem with bookmarks. If I can't remember a URL, it's often a hop skip and a jump away with a simple google search. I can definitely see why so many people use the site, but at this time I am declining the invitation to join.

Technorati

I have been here before and already had an account. I'm actually glad for the incentive to sign in again, as I haven't in almost a year, because I still had "claim" to my long-deleted blog about wedding preparations (before my engagement ended, and not in the usual way). While there I noticed that the site does seem a bit less clunky than last time I visited. I went to the popular page and saw one of the favorites is a site I do love, which is actually one of my subscriptions in Feedreader, and that is Postsecret. Again, if you want to make stalking real easy, use tags. All kidding aside, I can see how surfing around from blog to blog using tags can be more helpful and rewarding than without.

Library 2.0

After reading the various articles on Library 2.0 the one thing that has become clear to me is the focal point of Library 2.0 being the flow of information not only from the library to the user, but more importantly from the user to the library. Planning to renovate the library? Ask library users for input. Collection development? Focus on what the users ask for, and rely on ILL and other methods for providing other information -- don't spend too much money on the "just in case" collection.

Dr. Wendy Schultz says in her article To a temporary place in time that "Libraries are not merely in communities, they are communities." East Fishkill Community Library is a great example of this. There are many classes and groups that meet at the library, and the community rooms are used every day. The library also welcomes people to study on their own or in groups, as well as tutoring pairs. The public computers are a hot spot and there is even a waiting list at times.There are many people in and out of the library, and part of what keeps them coming back is that their suggestions are welcome. They can suggest books for the library to purchase. They can offer to run a program. Many library users have an ongoing rapport with staff members. This library is a fluorishing community, and while it may not be very up-to-date with Web 2.0 technologies, it certainly embodies the beginning of a Library 2.0 mentality.

Wikis

I have browsed Wikipedia before, so most of the basics in this lesson were things I already knew. I think it is interesting that wikis can be used in so many different ways, and that the scope of a wiki changes as a result of having many contributors.

One library application for a wiki would be a database of library programs. It could have information on programs run in the past, ongoing programs, and ideas for future programs. The site could be for just library staff, so they can share information and provide facts to library users. Or it could be open to library users as well, and they can contribute their reviews and comments on programs they attended, or submit a request for a future program (either something entirely new, or a repeat of a previously held program).

PBWiki

I like PBWiki. It is indeed easy as a peanut butter sandwich. Creating my own account was quick, and took under three minutes. So far I don't know what I will use PBWiki for. I think I will start by creating a private wiki and just play around with it for a while. The tips page listed on the Learning 2.0 blog for this Thing is now one of my bookmarks in Firefox, as it will definitely be a useful reference in the future.

Thoughts So Far

Many things I have done in the past highly-intensive week were either partially or completely new to me, and I will have to revisit them to explore and learn more. The plus side is that I have been keeping up with the blog entries for each new thing. While I may not have written long entries, the fact that I have something there will help jog my memory on the thoughts I had the first time through. I definitely do not consider myself on expert on the new (to me) websites, like LibraryThing or Rollyo, but I think getting my feet wet is a good start, and should I find a need to use them in the future I will at least be somewhat familiar with them.

I am not in the original library system that Learning 2.0 was created for, and I am doing this after they have already finished, therefore I am doubly out of the loop for the free MP3 Player. However, strange things happen- by coincidence, I recently got an email from Bath and Body Works about a 256MB MP3 Player with a special sale price of $25 (marked with the note that the regular price was $50) and decided to get that for myself as a reward for doing this program. It won't be as nice as the free 1GB one given to PLCMC participants, but I still feel good about it. If it arrives before I finish the last Thing, I will not open it until I have fully completed the program.

Web-based Applications

I've tried Google Docs, since I do have a GMail account and don't have to sign up separately. However, that doesn't have a capability to share documents with the public. So I decided to sign up for a free Zoho account as well. There are a LOT more options in Zoho, such as adding emoticons that are images cool , adding layers, special characters, tables, and horizontal rules.

One benefit of both programs is the ability to save the file online and access from multiple locations. Also, both allow you to "share" files with friends by entering their email addresses. One detriment of both (in my opinion) is that the selection of fonts is limited. For things like fliers and posters I would still use Microsoft Word so I could use the many fonts I have on my computer.

Overall, given the choice I would probably still use Word for private documents. If I am at work, however, I can see that this is a good way to create documents that I do not need to put onto disk or email to myself.

Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

I chose to look into box.net because I want to backup my digital photos without having to burn CDs. The site lets you sign up for a free account, with various paid upgraded account options. Of course, the Learning 2.0 class idea is to look at a free program with no need to download anything, so this site fits the specifications of this Thing. With a free account I can upload up to 1GB of files, each no more than 10MB in size. The site is easy to use, and fairly intuitive. There is even a drag-and-drop, multiple file upload option that runs as a Java applet. The upload process is time-consuming, as is the nature of file-sharing and uploading/downloading. And I may need to sign up with an alternate email address if I want more free space without paying a monthly fee to upgrade my account. But overall, it's a nice site, light on layout images. This could be useful for a library to use as a backup method for various types of files all together, without having to resort to several different sites (such as Zoho for documents and spreadsheets, and Flickr for photos).

YouTube

I am already signed up on YouTube but have yet to post any videos. Maybe if I get a digital camcorder, which is on my Christmas Wishlist...