Thing 16 - Wikis

Although it is possible to find information on wikis, such as Wikipedia, that cannot be found in other sources, I cannot see using them for reference work because they are subjective and there is no real authority control. Although I have been told that the Wikipedia is self-regulating in that anyone who sees something that is biased or incorrect can change it, I still have a problem with it. I suppose wikis can be used by librarians to share information on library-related topics, but even then the accuracy of the information could be questionable. I would like to know how other librarians feel about this.

Thing 15 - Roll Your Own Search Engine

I usually have pretty good luck finding sites using Google, but I can see the benefits of using Rollyo to create search engines that search only the most useful and authoritative sites that the user has selected. It eliminates the need to search irrelevant sites.

I have used Rollyo to create a searchroll for Figure Skating and tried to roll the search to my blog using the Searchbox tool. I hope I did it properly. Please let me know if you have problems with it.

Select...Figure SkatingSearch The Web

Thing 14 - LibraryThing

LibraryThing is a good way to list one's favorite books. It is also a good way to learn about new books in one's favorite genre by checking other people's libraries. I especially liked the Library Suggester for recommended books in the same genre or by similar authors. The book reviews by members are very helpful.

My LibraryThing catalog may be found at www.librarything.com/catalog/hpalmer.

Thing 13 - Image Generators

I took a look at http://www.imagegenerator.net/ and found a number of interesting images. I chose Clippy and adjusted the text. The result appears above.

Thing 12 - Thinking About 2.0

I found the article by Rick Anderson of the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries very interesting. It pointed out three "icebergs" that pose threats to the future success of libraries. Unfortunately, for me, all three of the icebergs are principles that I have believed in for the past 31 years: (1) collection development, (2) customer training, and (3) finding ways to bring customers to the library. He says that we have to get away from the "just in case" print collection because there is no longer a need to try to build a comprehensive collection of materials to anticipate the user's every need. He also says we should give up on the idea of training our customers. If our services cannot be used by customers without training, the services (not the customers) need to be fixed. Lastly, he says we need to forget about trying to get customers to come to the library. We need to integrate our services into the environment our customers prefer, which is the Web.

I know that the library world is changing, and I accept this, but I still do not completely understand how all of the Web 2.0 tools that we are learning will help us to help our customers. I think I will need to study this topic further.

Thing 11 - Tag Your Own Blog

Although it has been many, many years since I have done any ice skating, I still love to watch the great skaters in competitions and exhibitions. I love the way in which the skaters combine athleticism with artistry. It is phenomenal to see skaters passionately interpreting the music to which they skate while doing triple and quadruple jumps as well as jump combinations. Some of my favorite male skaters of the past include Scott Hamilton, Kurt Browning, and Paul Wylie. Favorite female skaters have included Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen. Gordeeva and Grinkov were among my favorite pairs skaters. I also have enjoyed many ice dancers throughout the years.

Labels: ice skating, figure skating skating competitions pairs skating ice dancing

Thing 10 - Del.icio.us

I can see the potential for using Del.icio.us as a tool for research assistance as well as for personal use. I have not been in the habit of using bookmarks for research because the lists can grow out of hand, but it should be much easier to find the sites using tags for the bookmarks. I also like the fact that bookmarks can be syncronized on multiple computers so that each of the librarians at the reference desk will have the same access no matter which computer he or she uses.

Thing 9 - Thoughts About Technology

I can see lots of personal applications for the new technology that we are learning about, but I am still not certain about all of the practical applications for the library. Please comment if you can explain how we can use blogs, newsfeeds, photosharing, and other technological tools to bring customers back to the library. I am really interested in everyone's ideas for applying the technology to market the resources and services of the public library.

Thing 8 - Mashups and 3rd Party Tools

I enjoyed exploring through the many mashups and 3rd party tools that are provided through Flickr and other sources. I particularly like fd's Flicker Toys because it includes badge makers, movie posters, wallpaper, a photo wall, trading cards, and calendars. I have always wanted to create a calendar with photos of the friends whose birthdays are in each month.

I also was intrigued by Yahoo's! Trip Planner. Although the "create" function did not seem to work today, I hope to use it in the future. I travel a lot, take a lot of photos, and keep journals of my trips. I would like to be able to combine my photos with my journal entries.

Since I do not have time to learn how to create calendars and photo-journals of my trips, at the moment, I started with a simple trading card (shown above).

Thing 7 - Flickr

I have just completed my Flickr lesson.
Here is a photo of part of the fifth floor of the Main Library. This is where I work.







I am also posting photos from my trip to Hawaii.







These photos provide information about the fort in Lahaina.










The photo to the right shows the ocean off of Lahaina.

Thing 6 - Finding Feeds

I just completed my lesson on finding feeds. I took a look at Bloglines.com/search as well as Topix, Syndic8.com and Technorati. (Feedster was down this morning.) I found all of them easy to use when doing a keyword search. Topix seems to be good for news and has a good directory of topics. Technorati seems to be good for finding blogs.
By using all of them, I found a number of blogs by librarians that are interesting.

My blogroll should be available at www.bloglines.com/public/hpalmer.

Thing 5 - RSS Feeds

I just set up a Bloglines account and am looking forward to to receiving updated information over the web. It is quicker to be notified about new things through RSS feeds, rather than having to search websites. It is also much better to check one place for RSS feeds than to receive hundreds of e-mail messages. I think I will be able to use this technology in my work to receive the latest news in the library world. I will also be able to use this technology in my personal life to receive the latest information on the things that interest me.

My blogroll may be found at www.bloglines.com/public/hpalmer.

Thing 4 - Blogging

As an "old-time" librarian, I find all of the new technology to be challenging, but I am committed to lifelong learning, so I am doing the best I can to keep up. Creating a blog is just one in a long line of new challenges.

When it comes to lifelong learning, the easiest habit for me is Habit #1 - "Begin with the end in mind". The most difficult is Habit #4 - "Have confidence in yourself, as a competent, effective learner". Although I have always enjoyed learning new things, I find that it takes me longer to learn how to use new technology than just about anything else. I am determined, however, to overcome the mental block that I have!