Reflection- Thing 23

I think social media in libraries is wonderful. It is exciting to see how many libraries are embracing social media rather than recoiling from it. It seems to me that most people are using some social media in their personal or professional lives, and what better way than to promote the library and its mission statement than with what people- of all ages- are already using? We want to be an entity that is moving forward and is in touch with the world, not one that is stuck in the past (not to say I do not value history!).

I love that FPL is a place in which all library staff are encouraged to be familiar with social media and what it can do for us and our customers. I appreciate that we were given time at work to complete the 23 things. It has not only been really fun, but has been informative. I know I will use these tools at reference (especially when I'm helping someone on the computers)I think it would be great if FPL had promotional videos on YouTube, Twitter updates, webcasts of computer classes and podcasts of events.

I learned so much from this program- (I love Google Docs, Tiny URL, and Last.fm- three of the things I had never used before) and I also feel more confident about exploring other social media in the future. Thank you, Adam and Elizabeth, for all of your hard work on staff in-service days. I am looking forward to what is next!

Podcasting- Thing 20

I didn't have any recommended library podcasts, so I did an online search for "library podcasts". The first one I listened to was from the Denver Public Library. Their podcasts seem to mostly be library staff reading children's books. I picked one called Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale. I have to say I was really impressed with the person who read the story. She had a wonderful reading voice and was great with the few sound effects, as well. I actually thought it might have been a professional recording (audiobook), but I checked again after listening and found that it was one of the librarians. I think this is a good idea for people who want their kids to listen to stories, but for whatever reason, they are unable to read to them. Now, it is not the same as attending a storytime. It is like listening to an audiobook- only for very young children.

The next thing I came across, was a teen webcast from the Boulder Public Library's website. (I just realized I went to two public libraries in Colorado- did not do that on purpose) The webcast was of a recent teen art show at the library. The narrator was obviously nervous and she did not enunciate well, and she did a lot of "upspeak". The camera person was wobbly. However, the teens did it themselves- and that is good to engage them and get them even more involved at the library.

Then I went to the Manchester Public Library's website and listened to a podcast about their Summer Reading program. The sound was fine, the speaker was ok- but not great, and the information was all there. I think this was a decent way to let people know about the SRP.

Finally, just for variety, I listened to one of the This American Life podcasts- the one on true urban legends. I found it very interesting and I would listen to another one. However, I would not subscribe to this or any other podcast that I have listened to. For me, it is very much like listening to an audiobook- I get bored and sometimes fall asleep. I am just not an auditory learner- never have been. For people who are, podcasting must be awesome.

I think libraries should use podcasting for some things. I think it's good to get information about programs, events, etc. out there in as many ways as possible. Also, it would be nice to have podcasts of some of our library staff reading kid books on our website. It promotes the library ( not that we need it- I know our storytimes are slways full!!). When I listened to the podcast from the Denver Public Library, I thought, "Wow, she's really good." I think if I had a child, I would take him or her to a storytime there based on the podcast. Having the podcast on the website gives people from other cities and states- who may never visit us- a sample of what we offer.

Wikis- Thing 21

I have used Wikipedia in the past, usually when there is a subject that I am curious about and just want an overview. I have not added to or modified any Wikipedia pages, although I did know that one can do that. For this exercise, I looked up puffins. I hadn't visited a discussion page on Wikipedia until today- nor had I visited a history page. It's interesting to see the different topics and changes that have been made over time. I also noticed that the page is "B-class" and of "mid-importance." I'm not sure that these ratings really mean anything from what I read about the scales. It seems fairly arbitrary. There is, of course, a disclaimer at the bottom of the page. When you click on it, it says there is no guarantee of validity, no peer review, etc. In some ways, I do find this to be troubling- mainly because I don't know that everyone realizes that anyone can put anything on a wiki- and it may or may not be valid information. We, as librarians, know this- but I wonder how many people think Wikipedia is an authoritative resource? That aside, I think it's fun to pool knowledge together and I love the idea of an ever-changing (or evolving) document.

For the restaurant portion of the assignment, I reviewed a few of the ones I have been to and I created a page for the Irish Rover. It's sort of like a discussion forum and I do think this can be valuable to libraries. We could have wikis for our programs and materials. It would be yet another great way to be in touch with our customers and their interests.

Music Streaming and Sharing- Thing 17

I waited to do this thing until I had at least 2 hours of time by myself because I love music. I wanted to really explore this thing thoroughly. I already had an account with Last.fm, but I hadn't used it much. One of my friends had encouraged me to sign up, so I did. I only used it for a couple of days, so I had actually forgotten my password when I recently revisited it and had to reset it. When I did get into the site, I remembered why I had stopped using it. I searched for a song that I wanted to listen to and there was no obvious link to just play the song all the way through. I could play the artist's radio station, look at the bio and discography of the artist, download the song (for a fee), save the song (still couldn't play it), share the song, bookmark the song, add it to my library, or listen to a sample of the song. I did quite a bit of clicking around until I finally just went to the "Radio" area of the site. I did like this feature. You can choose an artist and listen to a station that will continually play songs that are similar to that artist. Last.fm also gives you the option of choosing 3 artists, then they play they think you will like based on those 3 choices. This option worked very well for me as I enjoyed all of the songs that were played on this station. They also show a variety of photographs of the artist as the song is playing- almost as nice as watching a music video. I noticed a link to "recommendations" based on my favorites, searches, and saved songs. I clicked on it, and I was pleased to find a radio station that played music "just for me". I did like most of the songs that were played. I found one that I marked as "love" and shared it with my husband. He does not have a Last.fm account, so I was interested to find out what it was like on his end. When he opened the email and clicked on the shared song, I was disappointed to see that it took him to the place I was at before I went to "Radio". There was no obvious link that played the whole song- just the artist bio, discography, sample, and option to download for a fee.

Incidentally, I had the same experience on Pandora when I shared a song with him. I was surprised because I found Pandora to be more user-friendly and intuitive in terms of how to find what you need. This was my first time to use Pandora, and at first, I thought I would like it better than Last.fm. It guided me through the sign up and it was much easier for me to navigate. However, I did find that I couldn't search by individual song title. I created a few radio stations based on some artists that I like. Last.fm allows you to choose up to 3, but I was only able to choose one artist per station on Pandora. The main thing I didn't like about Pandora (and the reason I will probably use Last.fm over it in the future) is that the radio stations stopped after about 3 or 4 songs for a long time before playing another song. At first, I thought it had something to do with my computer, but then a message appeared on the screen that said, "Sorry about the wait. It is taking us more time to pick the next song than we thought" or something to that effect. Well, I used to be in radio, and one of the first things I was taught in broadcasting school is that dead air is absolutely forbidden. Additionally, when I am listening to radio, I don't want any pregnant pauses- I want continuous music. Another advantage to Last.fm is that they show the images of the artist as the song is playing. When I shared a song from Pandora with my husband, it was the same as when I sent him a song from Last.fm. So, I don't know if I just am not sharing music properly, or if he has to register to hear the entire song.... or ?

I should mention, too, that I have listened to radio stations on the Internet in the past. I have a subscription to Sirius satellite radio, and I sometimes listen to the stations on the computer. I love it- especially when I am doing housework. I may try one of my Last.fm stations next time (not Pandora, though- too much dead air!). I have also used Yahoo Launch to watch music videos. It works in the same way as Last.fm in that when you watch a video, it plays more videos based on that selection. So much fun! Yes, there are ads, but it's usually just one short one here and there- nothing like the 10 minute commercial blocks on FM radio and television.

As far as how this technology can be used in libraries- I do think CDs are perhaps on the "out", but I'm not sure how music streaming and sharing will be used in libraries. Maybe in the future our catalogs will also offer patrons a chance to listen to music. The OPAC will be so much more than what it is now- it will allow customers to create their own stations. Imagine customers spending hours on the OPAC listening to music! I do think there are a lot of people who still want to "own" in addition to simply listening to it. Maybe CDs won't be necessary for that as there are MP3s and such now. They do take up quite a lot of space. But, I still listen to them in my car which is a 2006. Do new cars have CD players in them? I'm not sure- but that also makes a difference to customers- especially in an area like DFW where there are a lot of commuters. It will be fascinating to see what transpires in this realm in the next ten years!

Yelp! Thing 22

After browsing the suggestion lists to help me choose something for Thing 22, I decided to take a look at Yelp. It was rated #1 for Guides and Reviews and I have been looking for a site with local reviews of a variety of places and things. I am sometimes skeptical of online reviews because as it is said, "Anyone can write them- for any reason." However, Yelp has such a high rating that I wanted to at least give it a try. First, I searched for salons and spas by zip code. I looked at reviews of salons I had been to, and those I had not. I was mostly in agreement with the reviews of the salons I had visited, which was reassuring. Also, none of the reviewers seemed to have any ulterior motives for posting. One thing I liked, is that none of the reviews that I read were mean-spirited. One can write an honest, negative review of a place and/or experience without being cruel.

I tried some other searches- cleaners, restaurants, and then.... libraries! I was disappointed that I found no reviews of the Frisco Public Library on Yelp. I did find reviews of some of the Dallas branches, Garland, Carrollton, and Richardson (which was the only 5 star rating, based on 8 reviews). I think it would be great if some of our customers started posting reviews of FPL on a site like Yelp. I have heard that there are comments posted on the Frisco forum regularly- so why not take those comments to a larger audience? If someone is visiting the DFW area and they check Yelp for library reviews- wouldn't that be cool if FPL had more reviews than any other local library (and, yes, we would hope they would be 5 star!)? If someone was only in town for a week and only planned to visit one library- and he based his decision on a site like Yelp- well, right now he'd go to Richardson Public....

Hulu- Thing 19

I discovered Hulu on Facebook. Someone had posted a link to the latest Lady Gaga video and it was on Hulu. I was impressed with the quality. Sometimes on You Tube, the quality is really poor. Sometimes, this has to do with the fact that it was taken from an old VHS tape or something like that- but I've experienced it with some newer video, as well. After watching the Lady Gaga video, I went on to watch all of the other ones on Hulu and remained impressed. I have searched for some old Saturday Night Live sketches on Hulu from time to time and have always found what I am looking for. I hadn't watched whole TV shows on it until this assignment. I chose to watch the last episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I had watched the other 5 episodes on ABC's website, and found Hulu to be just as good. I prefer to watch TV and movies on my huge screen TV, but sometimes that is not convenient and I will use the computer. Streaming is a really amazing technology that I think will most certainly affect libraries in the future. I doubt that it has slowed down our circulation of DVDs at this point, but eventually that is the direction we are headed and libraries should go with that tide. It will definitely save shelf space and we won't have to do as many repairs, discards, and new cases. Libraries should move toward offering more streaming... slowly. Many of our customers will have to be trained and so many people don't want to let go of past technologies and formats. I remember in 1999 when I worked at Borders, I had people trying to special order cassette tapes. My thought was "Still?" Even in my first year or so at the Frisco Public Library, I had people ILL audio on cassette. So, yes we should move forward, but be prepared that some customers will still want DVDs- even when they stop making anything new in that format!

An interesting note- when I watched the Food Revolution episode on Hulu, there was a statement at the bottom of the screen that said the episodes are available on Hulu until June 6th, when the streaming rights expired. Streaming rights. Wow. It's a whole new world.

You Tube- Thing 18

I have been visiting You Tube for some years now for entertainment. It started when friends sent me cute animal videos and old comedy sketches. It's funny because I rarely go to You Tube and only watch one video. There are always "suggestion" videos on the side that are always tempting! Recently, I searched for a videos on how to save iPods once they had been splashed with water and how to change an iPod's battery. The instructions were excellent, but it really helped to have a moving visual aid. My iPod still died, but at least I had a resource like You Tube. I have a friend who is an architect and he makes his own outdoor furniture. He has created some "how to" videos just for You Tube- really amazing way to share knowledge AND promote his furniture.

I have also watched some library-oriented videos on You Tube. I think this also started when someone sent me links to "The Library Song" and "March of the Librarians" among others. I remember being shocked at how many videos there were pertaining to librarians. I even found an Australian sitcom that took place in a library! After watching the suggested videos, I am further convinced that You Tube is an excellent way to promote libraries and reading. I do like that the image of librarian is changing toward someone more approachable and light-hearted than the stereotypical shusher. Videos like Super Librarian illustrate that we do have senses of humor and don't mind being goofy from time to time. I also like the idea of a library channel for individual libraries. I think it would be great to see the Frisco Public Library create a few of these videos and share the links on the Facebook page. This would be ideal for promoting Summer Reading and events such as the Storytelling Festival.

Now, I want to watch some more of these library videos on You Tube.

Google Docs

Google Docs would have been a godsend in college. Working on group projects and presentations would have been so much easier. For this exercise, I created a grocery list as a document. I shared it with my husband so that he, too, can add items to the list as he thinks of them. I plan to continue to use Google Docs for weekly grocery lists. It will be even better when we have smart phones and I can just access the list at the store- no more paper! I found Google Docs to be very similar to the Microsoft applications that I am accustomed to using. The spreadsheet seemed to be a bit less user-friendly than Excel, but I am not an Excel expert either. The form was fun and I intend to try to create another one, then send it to some friends and view the results.

Coincidentally, I was trying to find a Dewey number for cloud computing two days ago. I was not sure what exactly cloud computing was, so the video was quite helpful. I really like the concept of cloud computing. I, personally, would rather store most documents "in the cloud" rather than at home. It takes up less space at home and I can access my docs anywhere without worrying about losing my flash drive. I do wonder about the people in or behind the clouds having access to so many documents. I don't think anyone would be interested in my grocery list, but I am sure some people store more personal information in the cloud. Also, it sounds as if some cloud computing is free, and some must be paid for. I do like that you only pay for what you use, IF you have to pay. Cloud computing may be something to watch- definitely a trend on the way up.

Google Maps

I have used Google Maps in the past for driving directions, but I usually use Mapquest instead because Google has given me inaccurate directions more than once. Also, I have compared driving directions to the same location and I found Mapquest's to be superior to Google's (yes, they were different directions to the same place!). However, I do think Google Maps is quite nifty for all of the other things that it can do. I was amazed when I watched the video- I didn't realize it could do THAT much!

For this exercise, I chose to get driving directions from my house to the Boston Public Library (central). I don't think I'll be driving there anytimes soon- it takes one day and five hours, according to Google Maps! After reading through the directions, I clicked on some of the camera icons throughout, and was impressed to have a driver's point of view of the actual location. The only thing I did not like about this feature, is that the picture of my house is an old one, so it has our old, dilapidated mailbox in it. We have installed a much nicer one- I wish they would update it.

I used the "traffic" feature, and it appears that at this moment, most of the highways and streets I would be traveling, are clear and traffic is moving along nicely. What a relief to know that I actually would make it there in a day and 5 hours if I were to leave now. I love the street views and how you can look all the way around. I spent some time just looking at downtown Boston with this feature. That was so cool! Then I tried altering the route my dragging it from George Bush to 121. I may switch back to Google Maps from Mapquest now. I just hadn't played with it enough to know how fabulous it is. Finally, I clicked on "more" next to "traffic" and looked and bicycle routes, transit, and video (some interesting local things posted here from campouts to car washes- I wonder if people purposely post their videos on Google Maps or if GM just "finds" the videos on youtube? So much to explore on this site- here is a link to my directions and map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=1228+Stillwater+Trail,+Carrollton,+TX&daddr=700+Boylston+Street,+Boston,+MA&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=50.910968,78.662109&ie=UTF8&z=5

YouSendIt

I wish I had known about this when I was working on my MLS and had all of those bulky presentations to email to group members and professors (or to myself if I forgot my flash drive!). I have used it in the past to send large media files to family (home video type things). I think this tool would be very helpful both in school, and in professional organizations for presentations and other large files. An excellent find!

Tiny URL

I love Tiny URL! I know I will be using this in the future. For this assignment, I went to amazon.com and clicked on blu-rays. I immediately got an impossibly long url. I wanted to copy and past here, but for some reason I can't paste in my blog. I tried many times. Can't do it.

Here is the Tiny URL I created for this exercise. When you click on it, you will see the original URL at the top of the screen: http://tinyurl.com/amazonblurays

Facebook

I created a Facebook account in October 2007 and have maintained it regularly since. It is fun and a great way to stay in touch with friends and family that you don't see often. Of course, it does have some drawbacks and it is important to use your privacy settings properly. I do occassionally get friend requests from people that I don't know and I always just delete them. I've fortunately never had to block anyone, but I have had to delete some posts on my wall. When you have a mix of coworkers, family, and old and new friends, things have the potential to get awkward. I have deleted "friends" for the following reasons:

1. He/she posted something inappropriate or offensive on my wall.
2. She was such an annoying Facebragger that I couldn't stand it. Honestly, do I need to hear about your 3 houses, your nanny issues, ski trips, and children making the cheerleading squad AND the honor roll??? To be fair, I "hid" this person at first so as not to offend her. However this is a person who has about 800 FB friends, so when I was "trimming the fat" on my friend list one day, I figured she wouldn't miss me and I deleted her. Within 1 hour I had a message from her in my inbox asking what was wrong. The weird thing is I really didn't know this person at all. We met briefly through a mutual friend, so I found the whole thing very bizarre.
3. I never liked the person, only accepted a friend request so as not to offend (she is in the same profession as I am), but the minute she moved away, I deleted her due to some offenses she had committed toward mutual friends.

If someone does a lot of the Farmville and Mafia Wars type things, I hide the application. Usually, this is sufficient for getting rid of these types of updates in one's newsfeed. I do have some businesses, celebrities, etc. that I have become a "fan" of. It's nice to get coupons and updates about special deals from businesses and tour updates from bands that I like. And,yes, I am a "fan" of the Frisco Public Library. I think it is great that we have an FB page. I would like to see something offered exclusively for customers who are "fans" of the FPL on FB. Maybe a contest- Taco Bueno does a contest on FB in which they give away food to the "Buenohead Photo of the Day"- which is a picture of a person or group of people eating at Bueno. I don't think we would be able to do something like that everyday like Bueno does, but every now and then would be fun and doable. I agree that what makes an FB page successful is if it is updated regularly- not just status updates but photos of events and such are pleasing, too.

Linked In

After watching the 2 minute introduction video, I thought Linked In sounded like a great idea- a social networking site just for business and career networking. I signed up for an account and entered my work and education information. Then, I began looking for people I know and exploring individual profiles. I noticed that you can only see abbreviated parts of a person's account if he or she is not in your contacts. Also, I got a message on one person's profile that said I had to pay for premium Linked In service to obtain their full profile. I'm not a big fan of charging people for access to such information. If someone is trying to find a job by networking and checking job listings on Linked In, it doesn't seem fair to charge fees. Someone who needs access to the information the most won't be able to pay for it. It seems a bit elitist, in my opinion.

I browsed the job postings by searching under "librarian", "library", "publishing", "books", and "pets". When I clicked for details on one of the pet listings, I received a message that said "This company is not in your contacts. You cannot view job descriptions from this company until you have a contact there." I don't particularly care for this aspect of Linked In either. What if someone wants to start a completely new career- something for which they have no experience or schooling. How does one get contacts in this situation?

I added one of my colleagues to my contact list. I browsed profiles by organization, as well. When I did a search for "Frisco Public Library", I just got a list of people who worked there or work there currently. There was no information about the library itself. Perhaps I was not searching correctly, so I will try it with some other companies to see what happens. I think the interface is a bit bland. As I said before, I really like the idea of a professional networking site where you don't have to find out that one of your contacts just went to the bathroom or that he just purchased a penguin for his virtual zoo. I hope that upon further exploration, I will find Linked In to be the type of site I expected. However, at this time, I am finding it to be somewhat bland, abbreviated, and elitist.

Picasa

Here is a link to my photo album I created on Picasa. I hope it works! Ok. It's not working.

Hmmm.... This is my first venture in using a site such as Picasa for uploading my own photos. I have viewed other people's photo albums on both Picasa and Flickr, but never used such sites for my own photos. In the past, I have always just used email to send photos or posted albums on Facebook.

I did manage to upload my photos onto the Picasa website. I am having trouble with linking directly to the album. I will have to consult someone, try again, and report back.

I am not sure that I will use this site personally, as I am fairly content just using email and FB for posting pictures. I do see why photographers would use it, and would spend hours browsing public albums. Some of the photos are beautiful. It amazes me how many quality shots are out there now thanks to digital photography and photo editing software.

Also, I think a photo sharing site could be a good way for libraries to post and share photographs with the public and with one another. Each library event could have it's own web album for public viewing- or just for patrons with accounts if one prefers this option. One thing I do like about it over something such as Facebook is that there is the "slideshow" option and it's more searchable if you are looking for pictures of a specific subject.

As for the linking, I will try again.

Good Reads and LibraryThing

I have had an account with Good Reads for almost 3 years now. I find it very entertaining not only to post my own book reviews, but to see what my friends and coworkers are reading, what they want to read, have read (and their reviews, too). It also helps me to keep track of what I want to read. I see so many books as a cataloger that I probably think 10 or more times a day, "Ooh, I'd like to read that." If I want to remember any of these titles, I can just search for them in Good Reads and save them in my "to read" shelf. Then if I finish a book and think "hmmm... what next?", I can go directly to my "to read" shelf for ideas.

I had never browsed LibraryThing before, and I find it to be like Good Reads on steroids- or on really good vitamins! You can do all of the things that you can do on Good Reads, and so much more. I created an account and added a few books to my shelves, then browsed the FAQ's and various groups. I checked out the "Librarians Who Use LibraryThing" and found threads about everything from electronic books to creepy patrons. I will definitely continue to use this tool for consulting others regarding library issues. I think it could be helpful to me as a cataloger, as well. I found it really interesting to read about MARCThing and ISBN check. As far as on a personal level, I might use it to catalog my own collections. I wish that there was a LibraryThing for CDs and movies. My husband has been wanting me to catalog our A/V collections for a long time and LibraryThing for CDs and movies would definitely facilitate me in that endeavor.

Delicious

I could spend many hours here. First of all, I love that I don't have to worry about losing my boomarks when I switch computers. I know that was an issue when I changed computers during the move from the old building- all of those useful reference sites- gone! So, we saved them in folders on the Network. But what if you are not on the network? Delicious to the rescue.

Right now I am building a list of bookmarks for work at:

http://delicious.com/libraryselkie

I have two categories right now: 1. Cataloging and 2. Favorite and Useful Libraries

I will build one or more for reference as well. I plan to use Delicious for my personal bookmarks, too. This is such an awesome tool. Now, if anyone needs to use any of my bookmarks, they will be available at one URL. No more searching through emails to find the site that someone sent you months ago.

Tagging Along

Tagging may be the illegitimate child of subject headings. It works like a subject heading, but since anyone can do it and it's not declared "official" by a body such as the Library of Congress, it remains unrecognized as a member of most library catalog families. I think tagging could be something very useful for customers who are browsing the catalog. For instance, in a MARC record for a romance with elements of fantasy, one might see subject headings like "Fantasy fiction", "love stories", and "magic". However, the 520 field might mention such things as "shape-shifters" or "sylphs". If these words were tagged, it could take customers to records for other books involving shape-shifters, sylphs, and the like. On the other hand, word association is often relative, so I can see where someone might click on a tagged word and get results she doesn't think are associated in anyway with the tagged word.

I have used tagging on Facebook for pictures and notes and I think it is mostly a useful tool. sometimes, it is confusing, though, if someone tags a picture of someone's kid with the parent's name or just tags a picture because he wants a certain person to see it (even though the tagged person is not actually IN the picture.) I also find it helpful when reading articles and come across a term I would like to know more about. With one click, I can access such information.

Instant Messaging

I have used instant messaging through Google, Facebook, and Communicator. Also, I have used chatting for classes and for reference work (through Answer Zone). My first experience with it was for one of my online SLIS classes at UNT. I thought it was an excellent way to get an entire class together without having to physically be in the same room. Graduate students generally have very hectic and conflicting schedules. There are some people who live miles away from the university, people with full-time jobs with varying hours, people with families to take care of, people with disabilities, and some people with all of the above. The chat room was much more convenient for meeting than meeting physically. It was also nice for people who are somewhat introverted, like me, as it is easier to ask questions, make comments, and be "heard" online than it is in a classroom. Another benefit, of course, is that you can show up to class barefoot and in your pajamas if you so desire! The classes also had chat rooms available for group work assignments and that was a godsend. I wish I had that as an undergraduate, as well.

I think IMing can be a good way to answer reference questions. However, it is important that the reference librarian is not on the desk while he/she is doing virtual reference. It is not fair to the customer in front of the librarian, nor is it fair to the customer online, if they do not receive 100 percent of the librarian's attention. Virtual reference is wonderful for people who cannot get to the library. With a tool such as Answer Zone (or is it Ask a Librarian?) you can guide the customer to the sources online. Of course, there are downsides, as well. My experience with it was not very good because 1) I was on the reference desk when I was doing it 2) Very few people were using it at the time 3)When people did use it, the majority of them were asking circulation questions about their local library which was almost never the library at which I worked. I found myself looking up the phone number to the Fort Worth Public Library many times as I could not access Fort Worth library accounts to see what books were overdue! Additionally, there were pranks. Now that we have caller ID, kids tend to make prank IMs instead of prank phone calls.

When I signed up for a Gmail account a few years ago, I had my first experience with personal chatting. A few friends saw that I was online and started a chat. This happens sometimes on Facebook, as well. It's not that bad if you are not doing something else- but if you are in the middle of typing an email or uploading some pictures onto FB and someone says, "Hey, what's up?" and wants to chat it can be kind of annoying. I do realize that you can change your settings so that no one can tell if you are online or not, so that basically solves that problem. On the other hand, I think it would be excellent for talking to someone overseas rather than paying for international phone calls.

I have used the Office Communicator a few times. I find it to be a good way to tell if someone is "in a meeting", "offline", "away", or "available". However, I don't really see it as much different than sending and receiving email. I have heard that you can keep track of your conversations through it, and I can see how that would be beneficial. Also, I can see it being used for short meetings within different departments. I know staff are using it to send APBs, but I don't see the difference in that and sending a library-wide email. Either way, everyone gets the message immediately (unless, of course, they don't have their email up....).

Digg

I dug it. I really did. I liked that there is a list of the top "diggs". The one for today was of a cat playing with an iPad. Being a cat lover, I had to watch it and then share it on Facebook. I read a few of the popular stories that interested me, as well. I think one of the coolest things about this site, in my opinion, is that I saw several items that are not on the "regular" news and some entertaining items that don't make the rounds through email. I could easily see myself spending hours on this site.

How can this be applied to libraries? I think it would be fun to use certain aspects of Digg in the customer side of the catalog. For instance if someone "digs" a book or movie, they could click on a thumbs up symbol (or whatever our symbol happens to be). If the catalog worked the way that Digg does, to keep track of how many "thumbs up"s something gets, it could be posted and updated regularly on the library's home page. Then, anyone visiting the website could see a "what's hot" among customers. The "thumbs up" is a nice alternative to writing a review, as well, since in only takes one click to do it. Many people don't want to commit to writing a review- no matter how short it is!

Twitter

I have to admit, I have been avoiding the whole Twitter phenomenon. It sounded annoying to me to have to hear about people's everyday activities like going to the restroom or making a sandwich. I really just don't care about these sorts of things which is one of the reasons I dislike reality television. Additionally, I have a Facebook account, and I find the status update to be sufficient for finding out what my friends are doing and to let them know what I am doing. But for the purposes of this exercise, I decided to give tweets a chance.

I signed up for the account, and picked someone to follow. I quickly "unfollowed" him because he tweets often and as I said before, I don't care to hear everything that someone is doing. I can see, however, that Twitter could be useful for libraries, even if it is not one's personal preference for communicating. It is a quick and easy way to get updates out to a lot of people (because it seems almost everyone is on Twitter these days). It could also be used for brief movie and book reviews. Librarians could use it to find out what their customers are tweeting about, thus, assisting them in collection development, program planning, and more.

RSS Feeds

I saved one on my toolbar and have another couple coming into my Outlook box. I am new to this and to Google Reader, so I am interested to see which of these I prefer. They seem very similar in that if you subscribe to a website, the updates come to you, rather than you having to go to the website. The main difference may be about location- where are the updates most convenient for me- in Google Reader, Outlook, a toolbar, or somewhere else completely? I can see benefits to all of them- but when I am at my work cubicle, I think Outlook is most convenient. I particularly like that the feeds go directly into a specific folder that is already named when it arrives in Outlook. This is much more expedient than just having updates come into your regular inbox with everything else. The toolbar thing is nice if you have only one or two sites that you subscribe to. It could become cluttered and confusing if there are too many feeds on the toolbar.


Libraries could use RSS feeds to send updates to customers to the place in which it is most convenient for them. Again, no searching needs to be conducted on the part of the customer. He/she simply receives updates about programs, new materials, etc. as they are available. I think it is important to have some sort of notification system for when there are new updates as customers may not always remember to check their feeds. Also, librarians could subscribe to feeds about collection development, cataloging, genealogy and reference (among other areas of interest).

Google Reader

I have had a Google account for quite awhile, but had not used Google Reader until today. I started with subscribing to my blog and to a couple of coworkers' blogs and putting them in a folder. Then I explored a bit and was surprised to find that the first three websites that I visited did not have feeds to subscribe to! However, I suppose I can use Twitter to follow the latest on these sites. I successfully subscribed to the Unclutterer and a Dallas news feed, and then found several other interesting sites that Reader recommended for me. I subscribed to a few of those, as well. Overall, I thought it was quite simple to use, and it is nice to have the latest updates appear, rather than always having to check your favorite sites every day. I need to play with it more to find out how to better organize everything. For instance, what if I want to view updates from just one of my subscriptions rather than weeding through updates from the others? I am also curious as to what a bundle is.

I can see library staff and patrons being able to use this tool for library updates. So, if there were an FPL feed, it would contain updates on the latest events, materials, etc. I could also see that having categories of feeds might be helpful. For example, a Frisco mom might want to know all updates about storytimes, but not be interested in adult programming or materials. And of course, someone else might not want to go through all of the storytime updates, as she is more interested in author visits, the latest materials, or the Storytelling Festival.

I don't know if I personally will be a longtime user of Google Reader since I just started. But there is only one way to find out. Explore and experiment!

LRC- not just my initials

Also a learning resource center..

Legal Research Center

and

Labrador Retriever Club!

Better Late Than Never

Hello friends,

I am just starting the 23 things- hence the title of my first blog. Will I finish them by May 24th? Stay tuned to find out....

LRC