Sans Stories

Thoughts on the Project

2007-07-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Exercise 23

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My favorite exercises was the entire project. I knew about a lot of these things but was always to busy (Ha) to delve into them.
2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This is the way of the library now. It affects everything I do and I will continue to explore and learn.
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
No unexpected outcomes. I came, I saw, and I learned!
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…
Summer time is not a good time for Youth services staff. We had no work time to spend on this project. It was done at home and on the fly.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? I would love to participate!
Thank you for providing this opportunity for us to learn something new!

NetLibrary

2007-07-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

Exercise 22

We've had NetLibrary for a long time at our library. The patrons love it. In fact when we were switching over to the County we had to discontinue the service for a short period during the transition and the patrons were irate. They made phone calls to the county asking why we were losing this service. I have not used it, I get audio books from the library but it is a wonderful service. I couldn't download a book because I am doing my last couple of exercises at work, but I will try it at home. Project Gutenberg grows by the day. I didn't know that it was done with volunteer help. The number of books downloaded daily is enormous. What a great service.

Podcasting

2007-07-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Exercise 21

The podcast thing is exciting. I looked at all three podcast directories. A lot of podcast have been started and have not been posted to lately. It must be time consuming to do one daily, but some people do. I chose an NPR site that gives funny stories for the day. Me being Me I forgot my password to bloglines but finally remembered it at the 11th hour and managed to add my feed for this site to it. My friend Lynn at work has helped me with a couple of items that I couldn't do on my own. Thanks Lynn! I would love to do podcasting and will try my hand at it soon.

YouTube

2007-07-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Exercise 20

This commercial was funny. It's not the best use for a library card but you have to have the sound effects. I use to do this as a child (not with my library card) but it was great. Kids don't try this at home! I Love YouTube, when I need a good laugh I go to YouTube honestly, it's a great relaxation method. Libraries are doing wonderful things with YouTube, it's a wonderful medium....Now I have to do something with this new found knowledge!

Lulu

2007-07-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Exercise 19

What a Lulu! If anyone is interested in self publishing from calendars to books to brochures, CD, DVD's and just about anything, this is the place to start. This is truly do it yourself at it's best. Of course they get 20% of your earnings and their is a fee involved but nothing is free. They sponsor online workshops and have live help online. You can publish and sell online content. You can sell your ebooks thru LuLu at no cost. This is an award winning web site! The site contains a step by step feature on how to download and publish your product. So what are you waiting for? Publish something...
http://www.lulu.com/

Zoho etc

2007-07-24T19:11:00.001-07:00

Student ID Card

ID #: 32405

Harry Potter

Gryffindor
Hogwarts School

In case of emergency call
Ron Weasley
_________________________________
Hermione Granger
_________________________________

Exercise 18
Zoho looks as if it might do a lot of the things our microsoft office does and not cost as much. I played around with Zoho writer and imported a couple of documents from my computer. It is a great way to share documents that you are working on with others. I tried down loading my __th birthday :) party power point in the Zoho show but it didn't download. I made the HP Student ID just to see if I could. It worked! Yea. I signed up for On to the next task!

Plan's Sandbox Wiki

2007-07-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

Exercise 17

I played around in the sand box for a while, and added my favorite books and blogs and vacation spots. I looked at some of the other favorite blogs and got bogged down reading them...umm I think that is the point of sharing right? Oh I wanted to add a photo I took yesterday with my new digital camera. Nothing to do with the assignment, I just thought it was pretty. I do not have a green thumb so this plant is quite an accomplishment for me. It's the first time it has bloomed in about 2 years so I am PROUD of it to say the least. Enjoy.

Wiki's and such

2007-07-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Exercise 16

I actually started a PB wiki months ago and didn't do much with it. It was suppose to be for my family members to keep in touch but it sort of fizzled out. In seaching for things on the net wikipedia is one of the top hits. I don't know how much to trust it with anyone being able to change content. I always tell children to double check the information found in wikipedia. I've not run across any misinformation but you hear about it on the news every once in a great while. I looked at some of the wikis that you used for examples and thought they were useful. The library success one was wonderful and a great example of what a wiki could be used for.

Changing Libraries

2007-07-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Exercise #15
Having worked in a public library for most of my adult life and witnessing the changes over the years I've come to realize that just about everything we do and the way we do it has changed, and changed for the better. Reading the articles about library 2.0 only served to reinforce what we already know, if libraries are to survive then we must change with the times, reinvent ourselves and not just add technology for technology's sake but as a response to the needs of our community. Not just developing collections of what we think should be in the library but watching trends and asking patrons what they want and respond to their needs. We need to find a way to make fewer barriers for patrons to get the information they need. I love the fact that WorldCat is there for everyone to use. I tell patrons about it all the time and I use it often in my work. Library 2.0 is just simply the way of the world, and it is in a constant state of change! Libraries have to be able to change along with it.

Technorati

2007-07-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

Exercise 14

Last day of the summer program was Thursday the 19th. I am always a little relieved but sadden when it's over. The library was filled with wall to wall children and parents. We had a wonderful storyteller presenting the program, and pizza for everyone. Whew, where we tired at the end of the day.
I took a look at Technorati and signed up. I linked to a couple of new blogs that I discovered by looking at other peoples blogs. I got nowhere trying to claim my blog. It kept saying that there was a problem with my username and pass word. Oh well... I have discovered Technorati and now it's on to the next mission. I have to hurry, just a few days left to finish my 23 things!

del.icio.us

2007-07-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Exercise 13
I took a look at the plan del.icio.us account and decided to set up my own. I figured I was up for the challenge (huh). It wasn't hard to do at all. I wanted to add a cloud of my tags to this blog but was unable to figure out how it is done.
deli.cio.us is just another way to bookmark your favorite sites. I don't know how much I will use this one. I will have to investigate further. On to the next exercise!

Rollyo and Harry Potter?

2007-07-17T17:38:00.001-07:00

Exercise 12
Extra Extra Read All About It. The summer program has been just wonderful this summer, children are using the library in record numbers this year. I've been to busy to blog or anything else... but now back to it. Rollyo was pretty neat. I can see applications in the library world. I looked at some search rolls done by others and they were pretty interesting. I was trying for work related so I did a book review search roll. I am a news hound so I chose some news sites as a seach roll, and put in Harry Potter and found that some awful person had scanned the new Potter title on the net. What a shame! And no, I did not look for it to find out who died. I will wait like everyone else thank you! 3 Days 4 hours until the New Harry Potter!

Library Thing

2007-07-05T07:41:00.002-07:00

Exercise #11
Signing up for Library Thing was the easiest thing that I have done so far.......but adding my Library Thing to my blog was not so easy. With the help of my co worker Lynn Elliot, I was able to add it today. Library Thing is pretty neat. I added about 22 books so far with more to come. I added some of my all time favorite books as well as books that I actually own. It was a great learning experience. I can see many uses for this and will pass the word to friends and family.

Cappuccino Anyone?

2007-06-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

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Exercise 10

OK I didn't skip exercise 9, the information for that is included in exercise 8. Anyway I tried on image generators tonight and it's late for me after a long day at church etc. I spotted the cappuccino generator and knew it was for me. I needed two cups to help me figure out how to post the images to my blog. I tried a name in lights generator and a Hollywood star on the walk of fame which was neat but for some reason I couldn't get them to post. So here you go. The generators are pretty clever I think. The URL for this is http://img1.imagechef.com/w/070610/samp3085ab8d10754755.jpg

RSS Feeds and Blogliness

2007-05-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

Exercise #8
Ok just finished reading about RSS feeds and I totally get it. I signed up for the blogliness account and went on to add 15 feeds to my list. I took a look at other library blogs and found some interesting and others boring. We plan to set up a blog for my library in the near future, and I've gotten lots of practice with these activities. I can see where RSS feeds can be a useful tool to gather news feeds or subject matter under one umbrella. Blogliness had a list of top 100 RSS feeds so I just browsed the list and pulled some from there. I found one from School Library Journal about early learning, and lots of news feeds. There were many on financial planning and I chose a couple of those. I don't know if I'm doing this correctly but here is the URl for my list of feeds

http://www.bloglines.com/public/spierces

Books by cell phone!

2007-05-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

Exercise 7

Books have come in many different formats, print, cassettes, CD, downloadable, and now my friends you can download them to your cell phone. I was reading in this months School Library Journal and saw a blurb about Wattpad, a service that enables you to share works such as Animal Farm, The Godfather, a Simpson’s quote collection, or your own stories, all on mobile phones. I didn't think many people would try this but the service already boasts 100,000 users, and is moving from beta and will have support for blackberrys and will offer other languages. To access the application, go to wattpad.com on your phone’s browser and follow the link to download. Wattpad also sports quotes and list of fun sayings. For instance, "there's a thin line between collecting things as a hobby and mental illness."
Certain phones can be used so you have to check the list to see if yours is compatible. I don't know about you but I don't think I can see well enough even with glasses to attempt a book on my cell phone. Maybe I'll try just to see what it's like.

Flickr Experience

2007-05-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Exercise 6

Who knew Flickr had so much to offer? Well I saw a number of very interesting things. The Warholizer in the Flickr toys allows you to make your very on Warhol likeness. The fish picture was one done by my grand child who was 7 years old at the time. Flickr toys also had a caption maker which I thought was great! Again I used the fish picture. It also has a trip planner for planning trips and uploading your photos during or after a vacation. I loved looking at the color collage of many different pictures. I didn't get it at first but clicking on and looking at some of the photos were really awesome. There are many wonderful photographers on flickr. When I found a photo I liked I would look at other photos by the the same photographer. Great Experience......

Nature's Spotlight

2007-05-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

Exercise 5

Flickr is wonderful. I'd given it a cursory glance in the past and didn't think much of it. After really TAKING the time to sit down and play with it I've made some wonderful discoveries. I will be able to use it both professionally and personally. In the past two hours I've loaded some great shots from a library program we had back in April for National Library Week. My wealth of photos of my grandchild will come next. Children's departments in other libraries has always been a fascination (I wonder why?) Using Flickr I was able to visit libraries all over the US without leaving my room. By the way, Seattle Public is too awesome for words.
Some people are wonderful photographers, I'm not one of them, but I am proud of Nature's Spotlight that I took from the second floor of my library overlooking the St Andrew's Bay. It was a cloudy day and I looked out to find this wonderful ray of sun peaking through the clouds.
Enjoy.

Exercise 5

What a Workout

2007-05-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Trying to choose a name and have it available was the hardest thing that I've done in a while. Really, fifteen minutes later and I finally got it! I went through the 7!/2 habits and found out that I totally fail in beginning with and end in mind. I am very spastic and stop and start a lot.My friends say that I am ADHD because I move around so fast sometimes. I do have confidence in myself and I am not afraid to take on new challenges. The toolbox is an excellent idea which I plan to work on as well as learning to begin with and end in mind. This was a great exercise for me.
I'm Blogging.