I have explored the Twitter resources, followed Jessamyn West and Michael Sauers to some extent, set up my account and made a couple tweets. It seems that Twitter can be as simple or as complicated as each person desires.
Perhaps the most helpful information I saw was the Five Fast Twitter Tips at the end of Ellyssa Kroski’s article, just under the pictures of the 10 more followed librarians. It helped some of the tweets make more sense to me.
I didn’t get any results when I searched for references to my town, so we must not be Twittering yet. I also searched a few topics of interest and found references to
www.origami-club.com/en/, which I have just recently found as well.
I think the most practical professional use of Twitter is embedded in Library web sites for reference questions (especially the NLC_Reference) or announcements of late-breaking occurrences.
Something I also discovered is that Twitter can take up a lot of time!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
#12 LibraryThing
LibraryThing is amazing. I wish I had more time to check it out. When I browsed the authors I found that Michael Sauers is listed there!
After I added my books I was dismayed to find that no one else had a couple of them. And these are my favorite authors! But upon browsing the catalogs of people who did have some of my books I found that at least one had other books by these authors. I'm always glad to find others who enjoy their books too.
My catalog can be found at: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Rae_S.
After I added my books I was dismayed to find that no one else had a couple of them. And these are my favorite authors! But upon browsing the catalogs of people who did have some of my books I found that at least one had other books by these authors. I'm always glad to find others who enjoy their books too.
My catalog can be found at: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Rae_S.
#11 Technology Blog
I would echo what others have said, technology is wonderful when it is working right and a pain when it's not.
But I think there's another dimension to the issue as well. Technology gives us more control over our jobs, schedules, communications, etc., but the more we use it, the more dependent we become upon it. Should our computer crash or our internet connection go down, our day can be ruined. That control is gone, at least temporarily. If the internet should be disrupted or (heaven forbid!) the power grid go down for more than a few minutes, our lives would be thrust into chaos in short order. We gain control by yielding it to an entity that we view to be stronger than we are. Thankfully, most of the time, it works.
On the lighter side, I have often chuckled to myself that if I ever have to go to a nursing home I'll have to pick one that will let me have my computer and a high speed internet hookup in my room!
But I think there's another dimension to the issue as well. Technology gives us more control over our jobs, schedules, communications, etc., but the more we use it, the more dependent we become upon it. Should our computer crash or our internet connection go down, our day can be ruined. That control is gone, at least temporarily. If the internet should be disrupted or (heaven forbid!) the power grid go down for more than a few minutes, our lives would be thrust into chaos in short order. We gain control by yielding it to an entity that we view to be stronger than we are. Thankfully, most of the time, it works.
On the lighter side, I have often chuckled to myself that if I ever have to go to a nursing home I'll have to pick one that will let me have my computer and a high speed internet hookup in my room!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Image Generators
What fun! A person could get lost in the Generator Blog for days. My favorite, though, was glowtxt.com and I made some glowing pink "Elementary Library" text.
I especially liked the Mini-READ posters and made a couple using student pictures (because those were the only digital pictures I have on this computer). We have the CD from ALA to make more posters and I'm going to have to take some time to learn how to use it.
The Librarian Trading Cards Pool was also interesting. I like that idea.
Thanks for showing us some fun things to do to liven up our lives with technology.
I especially liked the Mini-READ posters and made a couple using student pictures (because those were the only digital pictures I have on this computer). We have the CD from ALA to make more posters and I'm going to have to take some time to learn how to use it.
The Librarian Trading Cards Pool was also interesting. I like that idea.
Thanks for showing us some fun things to do to liven up our lives with technology.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Flickr Fun
I explored a few of the third party tools, but there are so many, I didn't have time to even read all the way through the list! Some people must have an awful lot of time on their hands. It boggles my mind what all can be done with photos.
I did have fun spelling my husband's name in Spell with Flickr and I printed it out to take home to him. (After I got it the way I wanted it I dragged and dropped each letter onto a word processing document. I hope this wasn't some kind of copyright infringement.) This tool could be used to make eyecatching signs for special library displays.
The Bubblr (I'm not sure I even have that spelled right) also interested me. It might be fun for making humorous greeting cards.
It was interesting to look through these different tools, but my time is limited and I just can't experiment with very many of them. Thanks for letting us know what is available, though!
I did have fun spelling my husband's name in Spell with Flickr and I printed it out to take home to him. (After I got it the way I wanted it I dragged and dropped each letter onto a word processing document. I hope this wasn't some kind of copyright infringement.) This tool could be used to make eyecatching signs for special library displays.
The Bubblr (I'm not sure I even have that spelled right) also interested me. It might be fun for making humorous greeting cards.
It was interesting to look through these different tools, but my time is limited and I just can't experiment with very many of them. Thanks for letting us know what is available, though!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thing #8, Flickr
I watched the Online Photo Sharing video and find the idea of backing up my digital photos online attractive. I'm not sure I'm ready to share them with the world, yet, though. And I still need to develop my own system for labeling my photos. But I like the idea of not losing them if my computer would crash.
The Flickr tour makes it appear to be an ideal place to back up my photos. I explored some public Flickr photos and found the variety of subjects, as well as skill levels of the photographers, interesting.
One photo that caught my eye was titled, "Kids in the Rear View". It can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattrupp/3088764104. I think I approach this photo from a different viewpoint than the photographer because my kids are grown now. Whenever I look at pictures of them as children, it's from the "rear view" and with nostalgia. I miss the exuberant, happy children that they were. But I'm very proud of them and what they are doing now. Someday perhaps they will have children and I can enjoy the happy exuberance of grandchildren. However, I will wait patiently in the meantime, treasuring my memories of their childhood.
The Flickr tour makes it appear to be an ideal place to back up my photos. I explored some public Flickr photos and found the variety of subjects, as well as skill levels of the photographers, interesting.
One photo that caught my eye was titled, "Kids in the Rear View". It can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattrupp/3088764104. I think I approach this photo from a different viewpoint than the photographer because my kids are grown now. Whenever I look at pictures of them as children, it's from the "rear view" and with nostalgia. I miss the exuberant, happy children that they were. But I'm very proud of them and what they are doing now. Someday perhaps they will have children and I can enjoy the happy exuberance of grandchildren. However, I will wait patiently in the meantime, treasuring my memories of their childhood.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Finding RSS Feeds
I have experimented with Google Blog Search, Topix.net, Sundic*.com and Technorati and found an immense amount of information. Information overload, actually. RSS feeds are a good way to keep up on current information, but a person needs to be selective in what information they really have time to read.
The Google Blog Search seemed easiest for me to use.
I added some feeds to my list, but I think I need more time to research feeds for specific topics of interest than I have here at work.
However, I look forward to reading the feeds that I have added.
The Google Blog Search seemed easiest for me to use.
I added some feeds to my list, but I think I need more time to research feeds for specific topics of interest than I have here at work.
However, I look forward to reading the feeds that I have added.
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