Thing #23 - Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed learning the 23 Things on a Stick. I would never in a million years have discovered all these online tools if it weren't for this program. Thank you so MUCH! It was so worth it, and I know this will help me in both my professional life as a librarian here at the college, and also in my personal life with using my computer for networking and hobbies. I gained confidence by setting up the various accounts and following through on projects, and the length of each Thing was about right for getting it done while still keeping track with my work or home schedule. Thanks again! I hope you will be able to have 23 NEW THINGS next year that I can learn :-)

Thing #22 - What Did I Learn Today?

How do I plan to keep up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools?
I am going to add the "23 Things Ning" site to my places I check each day when I get online. I am going to regularly check in with WebJunction, too, for all the great resources available there. I will also definitely use Flickr a lot, and the RSS feeds I added to my blog.

What I do to try and keep up, is just have a little routine that I keep every day when I first jump on my computer in the morning. I check each of my listservs and sites for any noteworthy or pertinent information, make a note of anything exceptional, and come back to it later. There is no way that I am able to do this ALL the time, though...

Thing #21 - Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

Are you a member of any online communities?
Yes, I am a member of several hobby/interest group listservs.

Do any of these social networks appeal to you?
I joined the 23 Things on a Stick Ning... I added my picture and profile, started a new discussion, and added a new comment to my profile. I did this on 3/13/08 at 2:30 pm CST :-) It was extremely easy to use and a lot of fun to do

Thing #20 - Libraries and Social Networks

FACEBOOK
It took me a LONG time to sign up to be in Facebook, and since I am at work ;-) I just joined one group, instead of spending a lot more time gawking at all the available ones... I joined "Why doesn't anyone like classical music anymore?" I joined this one because the name was intriguing! I wanted to see who all was in this group and what they had to say, since I play and teach music as well as being a librarian :-)

MYSPACE
I went to the Hennepin County Library's MySpace page. It really was pretty impressive. They have "quick links" to advertise their new books, CDs, and DVDs, such as "Best Books of 2007". They have many blogs that people can join in on and express their views. There is also a considerable amount of space devoted to teens. There is a book reading advisory, social advice on such topics as dating and health issues, a "Teen Tech Month" feature, and a special blog just for this age group, as well as a lot of opportunities for online socializing.

Thing #19 - Podcasts

I tried all the links under "Resources". The link for podcast.net did not work. I found the Educational podcast one boring with not enough interesting podcasts to consider (for me). I liked Yahoo podcast and podcast.com. I did try the SCSU podcast (where I got one of my graduate degrees) link and found a podcast with my former advisor Mert Thompson, but alas, it did not work. The MPR podcast site did, and here is my favorite from there:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/podcasts/new_classical_tracks/

I also found a cool podcast about dog sports from the Yahoo Podcast site and here it is:

http://rss.mac.com/danceswithwoofs/iWeb/DANCES%20WITH%20WOOFS/PODCAST/rss.xml

There sure is a lot of junk out there also, and it would be very easy to spend way TOO MUCH TIME on podcasting as well as other computer stuff. However, I sure am enjoying learning the 23 Things! Thanks for the opportunity :-)

Thing #18 - YouTube & Other Online Video

I chose this video because I am hoping to do dog agility soon as a hobby. It was very easy! to bring up videos that pertained to this subject on YouTube. You could use YouTube video for: library PR, library tours, "meet the library staff", new book publicity, classroom demonstrations, student projects, speeches, a way for students that were absent to view the classes they missed, etc. etc. The uses are limitless, and it would be so much fun for the students and teachers alike :-)

Thing # 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

There is so much information in each of these tools - it is mindblowing.
How can they be applied to my everyday work?
While I am at the reference desk, there are often questions related to gathering information for a chosen topic. Introducing these databases to students and showing them all the features that can be applied is one of our responsibilities as librarians. Hopefully, they will try them out and learn to be good researchers by utilizing all the wonderful database tools available.

How can these database tools facilitate collaboration?
Librarians can team-teach and/or team research on topics. More information can be found when people work together, and more points of view will add richness and dimension to the information gathered.

How can these tools benefit our patrons/students?
If students will take the time to learn how to make notes and save lists while doing their research in these databases, they won't be as likely to lose their articles or citations, as sometimes happens... it will be all there waiting online for them! It is our responsibility as librarians to encourage and show our students how to use the many helpful facets of these databases. Doing so will help them to be more efficient and agile online researchers.

Thing # 16 - Student 2.0 Tools

Well! I have never heard of these two tools before. They were certainly not available when I was a media generalist in the public schools 9 years ago... They are absolutely wonderful.

How might the RPC and Teacher Guide help you to help students plan and manage research projects?
This awesome tool gives you a comprehensive outline for about every type of assignment that would come up, along with so many helps and links to aid you. It may not work for EVERY type of assignment, but its potential for academic application is tremendous! PLUS, you can even choose to get email reminders - or print them out if you prefer. This would be great help for students, as they always seem to be checking their email accounts ;-) I wish I had had something like this to use with my ninth graders when I was teaching media classes 9-10 years ago. The site is amazing. It is especially great for students that love to work online - no need to try and organize or keep "pieces of paper". And yet, if you like to read your stuff offline, you have the option to print every and anything out, too.
I went under "Step 2 - Gather", then, "How will you give credit to your sources?", and found a link to "The Citation Machine" - what an amazing tool and wonderful help. The student hardly needs to even think :-) The Teacher Guide is great too, full of wonderful tips and helps to get the teacher motivated and organized. I think this would work well to introduce right away when beginning a class - such as our Research Writing Class that is required of all students before they graduate from our college. Students come with such a variety of backgrounds regarding what they have had available at their high schools, and they of course also vary tremendously in their personality as to their ability and desire to organize their studies. These tools would be a huge help in putting everyone on equal ground. I would probably go over each step with the students as they go along, and do an overview the first week, so they know about it. The most WONDERFUL thing, in my opinion, is that it helps teach you to be self-sufficient and responsible for your own work ~ which is one of the tasks of education :-)

Thing #15 - Online Games and Libraries

I watched the video of Info Island/Second Life. I actually thought it was slightly creepy... I have never played a lot of video games and I would not be a fan of a decision to include them in the library. People can play these things at home. I actually think we all should do more things outside (biking, softball, bowling, swimming, walking, play an instrument, shop, visit neighbors, tennis, read books), and work on things that give a feeling of accomplishment instead of staring at the computer all the time. Online games have their place, of course, but I wish people would spend more time in their "First Life", instead of choosing to retreat into a "Second Life" so often. I think we would all be healthier for it. (Just my 2 cents, please don't throw virtual tomatos at me...)

Thing #14 - LibraryThing

How can you use LibraryThing for your library?
It would be fun to use the blog widget that comes with this tool to display new books on our library website. It might be a good idea to use the LibraryThing forum to ask how it has worked for others before doing so. I see it is $15 a year to add up to 5 thousand books for an institution. Good stuff here for a discussion.

Thing # 13 - Online Productivity Tools

Which start page did you choose?
I chose My Yahoo, as I already have a Yahoo account. I think I will make it my permanent home page at home, since I access it a lot for the hobby listservs I am on.

Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the library or at home?
Yes, I am especially interested in Cute PDF &/or Zamzar. They would help me to send photos to other people I know via the Web.
Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?
I would recommend either of the PDF sites or Zamzar. Also 30 Boxes would be a unique way to remember birthdays (I have a hard time w/these sometimes).

How can online calendars be useful to you?
If you are already spending a lot of time with your computer because of work and recreation, this would be a very efficient way to check out schedules, meetings, and other events you need to be aware of.

What about the to-do lists
I would not use these. It would be easier and quicker for me to grab a piece of paper or 3M sticky and put it in my pocket or on the memo boards at home or work.

Did you try out Backpack? No

Did you try any of the other tools on the list? Any good ones we should all try?
My Stickies would be a cool tool to use if I was still in library school. There were so many papers that I needed to revise, these colored digital bookmarks would be an awesome way to mark the places I need to change.
Ta Da List would be helpful for if you needed to keep track of agendas for meetings, things to pack for a trip, things you don't want to forget in general, things to do around the house, grocery lists, things to pack for a trip, etc. etc. The only thing is, for some of these I would need to print it out, so why not just make a paper list?

By the way, the Spell Check on the Edit Html page of this Blogger is very cool and efficient tool. I use it a lot for the 23 Things as I tend to write fast and rather messy :-(

Thing #12 - Do you DIGG?

How do you think you can use these tools in your library or home:
At both places it would be an alternative way of getting your daily news. It could be used to start a discussion in a school library setting.

Do they seem to be a productivity enhancer or detractor?
Well, that would depend on the person viewing them and their habits. I am not sure what is meant by "productivity" in the question, I guess... I can discipline myself to look at these and still get my work done, but someone else may not be able to. I'm not sure reading these tools would make me more productive, but it might be a catalyst for some interesting discussions with my fellow librarians. And if you tend to get "lost" in reading things on the Internet and lose track of time, then it could potentially be a "productivity detractor" for you.

Have you ever read a story or item as a result of seeing it on one of these sites?
No, I have never used any of these, but I have read many many stories on MSN and Yahoo.com

Thing #11 - Tagging and Del.icio.us

Wow, I can certainly see the potential of these two tools for research assistance. You could set this up on the reference computer as the year progresses and have a fine handle on where to find answers to the questions asked during the course of a school year. It would work equally well for public library or school media center questions. And in this day of laptops and the Internet on cell phones, anyone could have their questions answered at anytime. These tools also provide a very efficient way to create personal bookmarks and access them from anywhere there is Internet availability. The potential for efficiency is tremendous.

I applied labels to my blog of Thing #6. It went OK but I was only allowed to add labels one at a time, which was time consuming, and they did not display in the order in which I created them. Oh well.

How could our library take advantage of tagging and del.icio.us. At the reference desk, we could tag answers to questions that are often asked, so we could help patrons more quickly and efficiently. We could also tag our professional materials instead of circulating them within the department, so we could find a topic we are interested in more easily. We could also tag items such as Reference and Staff meeting minutes, or tag upcoming conferences/seminars/webinars/other professional development opportunities by area (i.e. ILL, Reference, Serials, Circulation, E-Books, etc.)

Thing #10 - Wikis

For the editing/adding part of this assignment, I added a link to the "23 Things On a Stick/Resources" page. I added a link to an article in Library Journal about Library 2.0. I hope the link works, it is a good article. It was easier than I thought it would be to do.
To me, the wiki concept is interesting and intriguing because it is so easy to use. Some types of applications within libraries and schools that might work well with a wiki:
Libraries:
1) Suggestions from patrons for books they would like to see in the library
2) Suggestions in general from patrons for the library
3) Wikis set up to deal with information/helps for various class assignments, for when students come into the library for help (this could be one general one or individual wikis if there is a lot of library work to be done for the class)
4) Wiki for the reference staff to help with problems, suggestions, information that comes up about the reference desk in general.
5) Wikis among the various working groups (cataloging, serials, ILL, e-resources, acquisitions, etc.). For us, this could be within the CLIC community, or a wider view in Minnesota
Schools:
1) Suggestions from students/teachers for books they would like to see in the library
2) Suggestions from students/teachers for the library in general (these may have to be heavily edited ;-)
3) Wikis between the media specialist and the teachers dealing with class assignments and things the library could do to help
4) Wikis among the library media professionals within the school district or wider the state or region, having to do with new items of interest, problem situations, etc.
5) Wikis set up for new library media professionals to talk with the more experienced librarians in their field to ask for help, mentor, etc.

A wiki could also be effectively used as a type of online reference tool (like virtual reference), I would think.

Thing #9 - Online Collaboration Tools

I used Google Doc to create the below document and illustration. I found a copy of the text of this familiar tale on the web and imported it into my Google Doc page. I changed the text color, font, size and alignment, then added a picture from the web and exported it to my blog. It sure got a lot larger than I thought - I didn't look before I moved it to my blog to see if there was an option to resize it - oops. I wish it could have been smaller.

I can see where this online collaboration tool would be very handy for a team of librarians to use. We recently created a new library mission/philosophy and this would be another way we could have teamed on the wording and editing together, without even leaving our desks, or even from our homes.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas
by Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

Thing #8 - Share Your Creations

I created a database of my new puppy books from home with the lazybase.com tool. The link to it is located on the right side of my blog under the avatar information. I didn't think the lazybase.com site was that intuitive, however. The one link I needed (how to export the database to my web page) didn't work! I thought I could just paste the HTML code into my blog but it didn't work that way for me. I had to go to the "Add a page element" menu to do so. I also don't really like the way the database displays when you click on the link, but oh well...

What uses do these tools have for library or personal use?
Oh, all you need is time! - Seriously, there is a wealth of information included with this Thing, and much of it can be used for library instruction. A few of these applications might be: Powerpoint side shows, various databases of books that can be used for classroom assignments and/or supplementation for research, all types of formats - audio and video for students to show their work or presentation skills, the online portfolio/resume maker sites were also cool. The possibilities for personal and/or home use are equally tantalizing and overwhelming as well! I can picture scrapbooks, slide shows, a mixture of audio and video shows of vacations, hobbies, etc. It is just amazing what is out there for creative people to use nowdays.

Thing #7 - Web 2.0 Communication Tools

Describe how your library uses email. Has it improved productivity?
In the library where I work, we use email to communicate with each other and with other students, staff and faculty at the college. It has been a very efficient way to reach us all, even if we are sometimes at home or at meetings. We also use the email messaging function within our III Millenium Circulation and Interlibrary Loan modules to send Arrival, Hold, Overdue, and Cancel messages to patrons, as well as to ask them questions. I have not found the amount of messages to be overwhelming, and have consequently not needed to organize my messages in any particular way. I have not found them to be distracting as I work. In fact, I rather enjoy the little popups that appear on my screen periodically to alert that I have a new message.

Share your thoughts on online reference using some of the other Web 2.0 communication tools:
We would have to do some kind of a survey or poll to see what students/staff/faculty use any of these tools before we would decide to implement IM or SAS as reference aids. I know some of the students use text messaging and IM, as I observe them doing this on the computers. The survey results would be very interesting, as well as implementing one or more of these tools for online reference. My gut feeling is that they would be used a lot by our students in particular.

It was interesting to read the below quote from the Smart Libraries newsletter, in particular because we use III Millenium at our library:

III to Build in SMS
To make it easier for libraries to include SMS in their communications options, Innovative Interfaces Inc. (III) says it build SMS messaging into future versions of its Millennium library automation system. Some of the functionality expected from the vendor’s SMS integration into its ILS includes the ability to send text messages to patrons’ mobile phones so library users can be alerted when requested materials are available as well as to help libraries provide other circulation-related functions.
Given that many library patrons interact almost constantly through their cell phones, receiving library notices through them will be more convenient and immediate than printed notices or even e-mail.
Edge Hill College of Higher Education located in Ormskirk, near Lancashire in the United Kingdom, recently signed with Innovative to migrate from its current Geac Advance system to Millennium. This library will also be Innovative’s development partner in its initiative to develop SMS capabilities for Millennium. Because text messaging has been prevalent there longer than in the U.S., it’s not surprising to see a U.K, library anxious to more forward with SMS.
Innovative has a short of history of adapting systems for portable and wireless devices. The company has offered AirPAC—an online catalog designed specifically for cell phones, PDAs, and other small devices—since June 2001.

Are you an active member of text messaging, IM, or other communication tools?
Not in the library, but I have used IM with one of my library school friends, and my daughter and I IM each other on occasion... If my cell phone had the capability, I know I would enjoy text messaging with other people ;-)

Which OPAL or Minitex Web Conference did you attend?
I have attended several Webinars put out by Minitex over the years. I have found them to be a very effective learning tool. The facets that have helped me the most were 1) the ability to interact by phone with the instructor during the presentation, and 2) the archival facet, so I can look at it again or print something out if I choose to later. I will be attending another Minitex webinar "Introduction to Using OCLC Resource Sharing Statistics" on March 12 from 10-11 a.m. I look forward to this as I am the Interlibrary Loan Supervisor, and I will appreciate finding out new things that will help me when I do my Annual Year End ILL Report in July.

Thing #6 - Online Image Generator

I created the required Trading Card, a Motivational Poster, and a Jigsaw Puzzle with images I saved from Flickr. What fun to create these projects. I can see a lot of application for library use in the badges (buttons), posters, bulletin boards, jigsaws, etc. There are endless tools here for promoting National Library Week, a library Book Sale, or any other library event. Great advertising and PR potential with all these tools! Also a lot of potential for personal use as well ;-) Because I love "artsy" things, this was a very enjoyable "Thing" to work on. I am appreciating very much the opportunity to learn these "Things"... Thank you!

Thing #5 - More Flickr Fun

I was able to upload my name in the letters. This would be a good tool to have students learn in school media center computer classes. I could imagine a lot of great lesson plans using this feature alone - making badges, signs, posters, etc. The jigsaw feature would be a fun project too, and could have many applications. Doing these things would make the students more agile with the computer (it is sure helping me).

Thing #4 - Explore Flicker

I was able to successfully upload the below image from the Flicker public files to my blog. Since I did not have my digital camera handy, this worked fine. I have never heard of Flicker before, so I enjoyed reading about it and looking through images that other people have uploaded for public use. There are many ways to use this feature in the library. You could do a whole tour of all the features and places in your library (for new students) and set it up so that if you mouse over each image, it will display information about each one. You could add links to a map of the library, the online catalog, current library related news, etc. This feature could be useful to patrons for learning library staff names and positions too. What a creative tool Flicker is!

Thing #3 - Set Up an RSS Account & Add Feeds

Well, this was interesting. I can see where it could be very addicting, and also how it could save us busy professionals a lot of time... I added a Bloglines button to my toolbar and saved some interesting blogs to it by using the "Favorites" pulldown. Coincidentally, on the msn frontpage this evening there was an article called "10 Best Websites You've Never Heard Of" so I looked at some of these to see if I might want to include any in this exercise. None of the ones I found included an RSS feed, however, so I could not use them for my blog. I found another one I check a lot, however ("Sticks and Drones") that worked. After going through this exercise, I certainly can see how setting up an RSS account to your blog and adding feeds can help you stay current on issues, use your time more efficiently, and organize your ideas and work more quickly.

Thing # 2 - What is Library 2.0?

This "Thing" was fascinating... all the facets of Library 2.0. As a person, I agree somewhat with Walt Crawford's thoughts in the section marked "The debate surrounding Library 2.0". Because I was formerly a school media teacher in Minneapolis, after reading these articles I began to wonder if these "tool-focused" attitudes and concepts will really be able to serve all users/user communities (the "external users"). Will the poor and/or uneducated among us reap any benefits from all this - i.e. will they have access to the opportunities, places and the education to learn how to use it... On the other hand, young people in particular are very quick to adapt if they are given the opportunity and tools, and are convinced there is something special in it for them :-)

As a librarian, it is exciting to learn about the potential opportunities this "movement" could bring. Encouraging user participation and feedback relating to library services offered, frequent evaluation and updating to meet new challenges of users, and ongoing innovation are all important, responsible goals. The need for libraries to adopt a strategy of constant change while continuing to promote participation by users will be a big challenge, however, but absolutely necessary, in order to take this out of the realm of "theory" and into reality. Concrete models and written plans will be absolutely necessary for many libraries to put these ideas in place.

I found a link to an article the other day on msn that speaks of new innovative things that academic libraries are already beginning to do. It can be found here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/2/19/opensource

Some of the thing mentioned are:

1. "Code4libr conference" - one idea to come out of this is for libraries to hire more developers rather than to continue to pay for products over which they have limited control. Some have been working on developing their own tools as a library instead of paying for an inflexible ILS. A couple of these innovative tools are the "extensible catalog (XC) project" - a web 2.0 oriented library catalog interface, and "VuFind" - a web catalog. These two will add a Web 2.0 functionality on top of the traditional interface.

2. "LibraryFind" - This tool is being developed at Oregon State University. It combines a federated search with a simple Google-like interface that lets users sort by relevance, save items, refine searches, and view electronic documents.

Blog Prompt # 2 - I am participating in "23 ThingsOn a Stick" because I realize there is a lot going on in the library world that I am not currently aware of. My MA is 4 years old and my MLS is 5 years old. A lot has change since I graduated... I hope to get more up to speed with current trends with this program.

Blog Prompt #3 - The Internet and the vast resource it can be has affected my use of time and work and home enormously. I now participate in several hobby listservs, as well as 2 others that are career-oriented. I have to plan every day, including weekends, to check messages for all these and archive/print/or save posts that are meaningful for me. This takes time and organization skills, but the ability to talk with and share ideas with others that have similar interests and abilities is so great that it is well worth the extra time and trouble! Never before have we been able to connect so quickly, if at all, with other people, and to gather valuable information. That to me is the greatest thing about the Web :-)

Hi ~ and Welcome to Bibliocorner, where I will attempt to create interesting dialogue regarding my work with "23 Things On a Stick"...