Thing 5: more fun with flickr

Let's just call this too much fun with flickr. I tried the spelling mashup. It is fun, but I don't see much application in my professional life. And I can't get it to post to the blog. Since I'm crushed for time, I'll move on to Thing 6.

Thing 4: flickr

Originally uploaded by Marija Majerle

This photo (by Marija Majerle, http://www.flickr.com/photos/vertebrate/3058597701/) reminds me of my years in the Univ of MN Marching Band. Even though it was several years ago, seeing the band in formation in Northrop Auditorium brings back memories. BUT, back to the topic at hand....Flickr. It is a cool tool, but I can see it sapping a lot of time, especially if you start browsing. I won't be using it professionally anytime soon, but I'm glad that I know (at least minimally) how it works. The only other ways I've shared photos on the Internet is on Yahoo Groups and the email attachment methods.

Regarding public/private nature of the photos, I can see that one would need to be conscious and aware of how you're posting photos. While I love sharing photos of my kids, I don't think I'd want them out on Flickr as public and available for anyone to see, blog, whatever.

Thing 3: RSS

This finally enlightened me to what RSS feeds are all about! I've been seeing the orange square icon for a long time and hadn't really know what it was. I added several RSS feeds (including several from MINITEX, where I previously worked) and checked it after two days -- about half had new posts. Because I don't see myself checking the reader very often, I didn't set up any news feeds. I tried setting up two RSS feeds for publications in EBSCO, but neither would work -- by the failure message, I'm not sure if it is a problem with EBSCO or Google Reader [note: this actually worked]. In this case, setting up an EBSCO alert would probably get the same result, i.e., being notified when a new issue of a publication is added to the database. Although I don't expect to use RSS feeds much in the near future, knowing about them should prove helpful in working with patrons.

Thing 2: Library 2.0

There's a lot of reading, but it is interesting. I especially liked the Library Journal article (linked from Wikipedia), "Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library" (9/1/06). Although technology is a major component of the shift, the core really is change that focuses on library users. I think my public library system is already moving in that direction. We must be doing something right, since those old-fashioned metrics of visits and circulation are still high.

As I read Thing 2 at the desk tonight, a real-life confluence of Library 1.0 and Library 2.0 happened. A gentleman came in to pick up a request, but it wasn't what he was expecting. While we tried to find something that met his need, he commented that Kindle would put the library out of business and gushed about the public domain titles he had recently downloaded. He called back later with the recently-published title that he really wanted (several copies owned by the library -- yay!)....wonder why he called us instead of getting a Kindle copy?!?!

Stephen Abram's video was 1) slow loading (it used my 15 minutes of learning time for today with the wait over my home DSL connection!) and 2) a combination of amusing & irritating. If I had an unhealthy vice to give up or worked more hours, I probably could easily find 15 minutes for learning each day. As a part-time librarian, I work only 1-2 shifts each week. Although my system encouraged staff to participate in 23 Things, actually having time designated to work on it was not necessarily the case. My work tasks more than fill my limited hours, and professional development time doesn't rise to the top of the priorities at home (i.e., I'm raising two small children). Having been a full-time career librarian for over eight years, I see the value in learning and staying on top of the technology, but putting it into practice right now is another matter altogether.

My own use of the web to-date is somewhere in the middle of the pack. Professionally, I previously taught a lot of training sessions on databases for librarians and library users and still know more "tricks" than some of my colleagues. Personally, I search and shop on the web, use Yahoo Groups for a volunteer commitment, and use email daily. I would like to integrate it into my day more seamlessly, but it usually gets lumped at the end of the day when I don't have interruptions. While the Internet lets me do a lot, it also sucks a lot of time waiting for downloads, getting off on tangents, etc -- I need to get better at multi-tasking and having something else to do while I wait. I'm skeptical about the usefulness of some of the cool web things (e.g., creating my avatar), so I plan to pace myself and devote the appropriate amount of time to things based on their perceived importance / relevance.

Thing 1 -- blog

It is finally finished (it only took 9 months from start to finish)! It isn't hard to do and could be accomplished really fast with uninterrupted time. One could spend way too much time deciding on choices for an avatar.

getting back to the blog

perhaps I should have entitled this the "Intermittent Blogger." Just getting back to the 23 Things after a long hiatus -- my work time has been spent doing lots of librarian tasks

Blog set-up

Fast and easy process, if it weren't for doing this at the reference desk! Being so intermittent about all things librarian-ish, I'll probably be intermittent at being a blogger, too.