thing 8) communication tools

i recently graduated with a degree that i obtained through distance learning. luckily, i learned about many of these communication tools through my education. we used chat, virtual classrooms, and IM for coursework.

i think that the chat room and virtual classroom offers many advantages for collaboration among coworkers. i'm happy that we can limit driving and increase productivity. transactions of meetings are already archived for those that could not attend. i wish that our library district used chat more often for meetings and collaboration among branches.

i have to admit that i find that i cannot learn as well in virtual classrooms. i am too distracted by multitasking, checking email, or surfing the web while an online seminar plays. however, in these economic times, these would be great for financial savings. our patrons might find webinars useful, but i have to doubt that attendance would be high. online storyhours or booktalks might be attractive to families who cannot make the trip to the library.

instant messaging would be a great service to our patrons. while i don't see the same use of AIM and such as i used to, i think that people are still using it. we do offer the ask a librarian service from the library website, so i do not know if adding IM to our site would disrupt this service. while i did use IM at a former job, i find this service counterproductive. i do not like being interrupted from my workflow by pings every minute or so. i will check my email when i get to it, and there's a reason i may be delayed in a response. i only see myself being distracted by IM with my coworkers, and the banter that would ensue could probably script a film. i personally stopped using IM back in undergrad. i felt that too much time was wasted when i logged on, and that email was a more direct and efficient form of communication. now that i can send and receive unlimited text messages, i no longer see the need for this dated form of communication.

i feel that adding text reference would be a great idea at our library. patrons use texting more than any of these other tools. i would be very interested in learning about how this service could be used patron to staff computer for ease of librarian use.

thing 7) imaginary bulldogs

(picture cred: flickr user tanakawho)

i had fun using image chef (http://www.imagechef.com/) to create a few posters. i need to work on sizing...last post was too big, this is too small.

i can imagine using this for promoting library programs and the volunteer program. we have a graphic artist, but this would be good for quick projects that are temporary or one-time events.

i do not see myself using this at my current position, but the skills i'm learning are great for future positions and for personal time-wasting.

thing 6) flickr mashups

i started out by trying out several of the listed flickr mashups.

i couldn't get the clockr to work. did anyone have trouble? nothing would happen or link to anything when i moused over the clock numbers...

i really liked the colr pickr. i can really see how i'd use this to make my personal journal more interesting. i love picking things out by color...it reminds me of the etsy website where you can buy art based on color. however, i wish that the search could be limited. i'd like to search for graphics with only a CC license. now that i know that flickr has that option, i always want to use images with permissions and credits.

i found the big huge labs site confusing at first. where do i go to find the flickr mashup? then i discovered the photo altering and puzzles mashups. i guess this is what 23 things is pointing me towards? i had a lot of fun playing with a color photo of a tabby kitten. i can definitely see using this in my personal life. (EDIT: i learned a good lesson...you cannot blog a flickr photo and then delete it from your flickr account, it will not display! i had to do this again and then just save it to my desktop.)

i think that flickr and these mashups with make me take more photos in my personal life. i've been lamenting how i never use my digital camera or do anything with the photos that i do have.

so how can i use this at work?

i think that with these easier photo sharing capabilities, it's easier to share our story with the public. we can be where the public already is. we may be more likely to take photos at events and share these online. a picture is definitely worth so much more than words. if we are creative with our photos, patrons may view the library as a changing institution. we can also have programs that help patrons organize photos or teach them how to become more creative with their photos.

these tools would make great teen programming. teens love to look at pics of themselves! and, with so many kids on social networking sites, maybe we can get them into the library to work on digital projects.

i'm really starting to enjoy 23 things. i feel guilty having this much fun at work!!

thing 5) flickr

i had a lot of fun playing with flickr in thing 5.

i started out with hesitation. i am so sick of the abundance of social networks and photosharing programs that require a log in to view. i have to sign up for 40 different applications to view the photos my friends share. i want just one place to upload, share, and blog my photos. i have both a flickr and photobucket account.

it seems that photobucket is good for some applications, and flickr others. if i only want to paste one photo to a website, then photobucket appears reliable. i am disappointed that free flickr only offers a limited storage capacity, because i really wanted to settle down with just one photosharing site. oh well.

it seems i must go on with uploading pics to facebook, myspace, livejournal, blogger, flickr AND photobucket. i do have to say that uploading has become much more user-friendly, so it's not too much of a pain. and sites are starting to work together, or utilize third party software that allows multiple uploads to various sites at once.

i played around with posting from flickr to both my livejournal and blogger blog. it was very easy, and makes my photo posts much easier. it didnt' seem that one could blog several photos at once, which i find less useful.

other parts of flickr that i found useful were:

1. exploring and finding creative commons photos that i could use for user pics, on my different websites, or display pictures and give creators credit
2. the groups were interesting, but i feel so inundated with different forums and networks that this kind of just blew my mind. people post pics AND have discussions? it's like one just needs to pic 3 different social areas and only stay within those walls & communities...
3. i think flickr is only useful with a paid account. i'm now actually thinking about upgrading...

so, if anyone has a recommendation, i'd be most grateful. should i stick with flickr and upgrade? is there a free site that has the same functionality?

thanks!

thing 5) peas & carrot know how to party

Peas & Carrot
Originally uploaded by tiger_brockbank

head bangin' kittens, uploaded from flickr.

the first post didn't go through. i hope this does!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

thing 4

thing 4 was all about RSS feeds.

i explored how i could use RSS feeds in my personal life and tried to understand how i could show patrons how these feeds could be used in their lives. i think the technology is really interesting, but i had to rack my brain to figure out for what sites i could possibly want an RSS feed.

i tried to think about the sites i check daily or weekly. when i have time, i tend to scan the news headlines, look at stores' circulars to check for sales, and look for updates on my sister's blog or friends' flickr pages. i also follow a few blogs on subjects that interest me. so i found a CNN, Politico, and Pop Candy feed. i tried for a Publix and Target feed, but they mail the circulars to your email...so what's the point? i also signed up for the new releases from Netflix...which was overwhelming, plus, they have a new releases page on their site. the cool thing about this feed was that the videos could then be put on my queue right from my reader, rather than having to leave the site.

overall, i find my Google Reader annoying. it reminds me of how much i still have to do, and makes me feel like i have yet another task to accomplish. i finally end up marking all as read and closing the page. i do not have time to keep up with the updates that flood from news sites.

i only find this useful for checking into other blogs that rarely post, like my sister. i was overly zealous when signing up for librarian blogs and find the amount of new posts daunting. i would suggest starting slow with the feeds and only adding one at a time. too many feeds defeat the point.

i really think that RSS feeds would benefit patrons who want new releases from the library. if we could set up a feed for new items added to the catalog separated by format, we'd be rockin'. also, in my professional world, if updates to sites & specific pages to organizations like NEFLIN, TBLC, and SOLINET could be emailed to my address, it'd save me a lot of time.

for now, i do not see how this technology saves me time. i'd rather just go to each website at the point of need. however, the possibilities for this advancement are amazing.