The End

Whew! It was a whirlwind, but I had a good time! What can I say about the iHCPL experience!?? There is too much to say! I think the Blog is indicative of something (or should I say lots 'o somethings) learned, and learning was the priority here. This post would go on for days if I listed every discovery I made along the way, but I will do my best to highlight my learning iHCPL experience.
What stands out for me are all of the new technologies, applications, and tools that iHCPL introduced me to and encouraged me to explore. For example, there was Zoho Writer. Initially I had some trouble with it and expressed my frustrations in a blog post. However, I have since made some progress and hope to be utilizing it regularly in the near future. I believe it to be a wonderful tool for librarians, especially those belonging to a unified system. Imagine how much simpler things might be if we were all practiced in this app.
More of my favorite discoveries were the Music Video Production and the Blog itself. As for the Music Video Production - I realize that it was not the most challenging of the excercises, but it caught my attention and introduced my mind to a new online realm. Sometimes we forget, even in our technology "boxes", that so much exists out there in the very vast WWW. Meaning - it never would have occurred to me that some Internet service and platform out there will allow you to create something all your own in a unique (and often restricted) medium. There is always something new, and you have to explore and learn to keep up. In regard to the Blog...I would have to say that this was the biggest of the learning experiences. Because the Blog was the vehicle for the iHCPL experience you had no choice but to make yourself very comfortable with the Blog. I had so much fun just with this. Certainly, blogging is not a new information concept, but it was one that I myslef had not yet taken the time to understand and utilize. In fact, I've enjoyed it so much that I may consider maintaining my blog, and continuing on with some library perspective and focus. Thank you iHCPL!

Downloadable Media

I spent quite a bit of time investigating the HCPL digital site and, Yes, I did find (several) titles that I would like to check out. Just in case you're wondering - I would like to check out The Year of Magical thinking (among many other titles). I enjoyed the layout of the digital site as well as the breakdown of the genres to the left of the page. It is very nicely done. Some things I noted and compared to the LibriVox site include - public domain and RSS. To explain, all the books available via the LibriVox site fall into the category of Public Domain - as Librarians we all know that this means that the copyright has expired. So, the downfall here is that the catalog will be limited in terms of currency. Someone looking for the latest James Patterson certaily will not find it here. That doensn't mean, of course, that a wealth of interesting titles do not remain. I came across Poe's Murders at Rue Morgue. This is def something I would consider checking out. In this respect, the HCPL digital site has a leg up as it offers a more current selection. On the other hand, the LibriVox site included an RSS feed to newly catalogued titles. I was never able to locate an RSS feature on the HCPL site. In the end, advantages and disadvantages to both.

Podcasts

I'm sooo excited about this one! Ultimately, I chose to use Podcasts.net as my podcast directory. I conducted a search for animals and science and that search produced just the podcast for me - Wild Chronicles. Wild Chronicles is a weekly podcast produced by National Geographic. Each Friday a new podcast is made available. The podcasts cover all things nature and include interviews with scientist, researchers, photographers, etc. I was able to subscribe to the feed and add it to my Bloglines account without a problem. I also plan to subscribe via my iTunes account. I can't wait to begin to receive the casts on my iPod!!

You Tube

Ahhh, You Tube...a wonderful invention! I love You Tube and I utilize it regularly. I'm a pretty busy gal, so often times I find myslef running behind on the latest news, pop culture, music, etc. To "catch (myself) up", I log on to You Tube and search. Maybe, there is a press conference, a music video, or a sketch I missed in real time - You Tube allows me to search for the videobyte and watch!

For the purposes of the Discovery Excercise, I searched You Tube for "LibraryY Videos". I ran across a public service announcement from the ALA. It was a spot featuring comic George Lopez. Obviously, he is promoting Reading in the clip - but I thought, Wow, even the ALA is utilizing You Tube! I am very proud of the fact that the organization of our profession; an organization of which I am a member, is out there, online, keeping up with the Jones'.

The ALA spot I came across is proof that there are ways to integrate the latest and most popular technologies into the library and its services. The iHCPL tutorial asked, specifically, how something like You Tube could be applied to library websites...my answer to that is - how do I count the ways??? I would love to see, for example, instructional type video links on my library website. Perhaps a short video clip of someone demonstrating the printing process or a catalog search. You may even post a short video which provides a virtual tour of a particular branch. There are so many possibilities, and I can't wait to see them develop into real components of library websites everywhere!

Animoto

I'm a Music Video Producer!

Check out my Slide Show!

Web-based Apps * Zoho Writer

Well, I was really looking forward to this week's lesson, but was sorely disappointed...I think, the concept of an application such as Zoho is brilliant. It brings about collocation, organization and consistency - three principal elements of librarianship. It's unbelievably convenient as well! So, I made my way into Zoho, created an account and, then, stalled. Here is where the disappoointment begins to wash over me...AArrggh...so frustrating! Where was the user direction? Inside the app I could not locate directional or explanatory direction. I just sort of felt my way through it...but I could only get so far leading myself blindly...I spent quite a bit of time attempting to save and post an Employee Evaluation template to my blog. I was quite unsuccessful. After numerous attempts, I gave up in frustration. I am not, however, waving my white flag just yet...I am determined to get back in there and figure out the odds and ends of Zoho, as I believe it is a great tool and would serve me well in my profession. Will keep you "posted". (Pun intended) ;)

Social Networking

I guess I'm a head up on this one. I have had a Myspace account for about 2 years now. I am not practiced in navigating all of the sites listed in the tutorial, but a good many of them I recognized and have had some experience with. As I stated, I have a Myspace account and Myspace is among my favorite social networking sites. What I most like about Myspace is that it provides a space online that you design and control (it's as easy as adding a little html code). You attach your personality to this chunk of cyber space existing out there in the vast world wide web. Ever take a stroll through Mspace profiles? It's quite interesting just to look at others pages - what layout or colors they use; what their statement is (if there is one); what sort of music they're into and so on and so forth. It's also a great place to create smaller, personal networks inside the greater network. I utilize Myspace to communicate with friends and family; promote a friend's music; and, find old friends. As far as my dislikes go....I think I'll have to use this opportunity to do a little Facebook bashing. I also have a Facebook account, but I never utilize it. I found that Facebook did not allow users as much freedom to manipulate your page. It struck me as sort of cold, plain and rigid.

P.S. I've been encouraging everyone at work to get out there and get a Myspace page ;)

Technology - Keepin' Up With The Jones'

About technology I'm often told, "You're younger, you get it.", or something along those lines...but, I have to say that "younger" doesn't equal "technology whiz". I too have to learn to remain current on existing and developing technology. Even for myself (being younger) this can be a difficult task. Technology progresses at such a rapid rate...it is almost impossible to keep up...I visited a Cingular (cell phone) store just yesterday and found that, as far as cell phones go, I'm behind. I saw that they are now using some of the latest web technologies and phenomenon

to market cell phones. One phone in particuar is built to better interact with social networking sites such as Facebook, and the Facebook name is used to market the phone! And, the i-phone is technology galore. I spent some time with it, and some features were familiar but so many were not. It would take me days or even weeks to have that totally figured out. Oh, and it's not just in cell pphones that I lag technology wise....

Wiki

What's a wiki...I just like the way that sounds...Can you guess? This post concerns the wiki. I had a pretty good time with this one, althought the confusing factor also presented itself. I had a great time exploring the BookLovers wiki put on by the Princeton Public Library. I performed a couple of searches on some fav books - I love that patrons can utilize this wiki to write their own reviews on a book - I wanted to add to a few of the entries (that's the great thing about wikis), but I didn't. I didn't want to spoil someone's lovely review....

I also ventured into the HCPL wiki creating a log-in account. This is where it became a bit confusing. The layout of the page bothered me, and made it more difficult to find answers. There wasn't enough explination on what setting you were in or how to manipulate the page. Yuck!

Library 2.0

When instructed to read a couple of different perspectives on Library 2.0 from a short list of newsletter entries from OCLC, naturally, I was drawn to the "Into a New World of Librarianship" link. Michael Stephens, a librarian and blogger, writes about the objective and principal traits of Librarian 2.0. This article excited me a great deal, beacause I actually agree with most of what Stephens is saying about 2.0. He lists the key traits as ...

1. Plan for the user - YES!! The focus should be on user wants and needs.
2. Embrace 2.0 to0ls - FOR SURE!! We may not wanna, but we just gots to! That's where it's at-
out there on the Web, utilizing the same tools as the users. I cheered when I read his suggestion that Librarians give things a try -like Myspace. So many times I hear people in the workplace talking about social networking sites like Myspace - they say "I'm too old to have a Myspace - that's for kids." I always say "No! You are never too old to be in the loop, and being in the business you in, staying in the loop is a must!"Besides, it can be loads of fun!
3. No Techno-worship - AMEN!! Be current, but be smart.
4. Be a trendspotter - EVERYDAY!! We have to be on constant lookout. We have to be in sync with our patrons.
5. Content- NOT JUST THE GRAVY! It has to be rock solid.

I also took a look at Away from Icebergs...I agreed and disagreed here. For example, Rick Anderson writes about the "Just in case" collection...Yes, as librarians we should embrace the new tools/applications, and work hard to make those same tools/applications available to users - but do we want to throw the baby out with the bath water (so to speak) by eliminating print????

Technorati

It's been a week or so...who would've guessed that I would miss blogging!?? I'm back today to blog about my experience with a little thing called Technorati. Following the iHCPL instructions, I conducted an Advanced search via Technorati by typing in the keyword "Learning 2.0". To be honest - I wasn't expecting the search to return the high numbers it did, in fact, return. When I searched the Blog Directory, I received search results indicating that Technorati monitored 776 blogs ABOUT "Learning 2.0". Even of the 95.8 million blogs that Technorati monitors - I would not have guessed 776 of them are about Learning 2.0. I guess I'm just thinking there are soooo many other things to blog about - Who would be a bloggin' about 2.0?? So, I learned something! Actually, that's not all I learned on this dicovery excercise...When I searched only the Posts- 6,378 posts containg the exact phrase "Learning 2.0" came back to me. Finally, 623 posts were tagged as "Learning 2.0". Really, the numbers just astounded me. I found this excercise to be particularly interesting....To the next one!

Del.icio.us

I'm sure that there is potential for research via Del.icio.us (if properly tailored/organized), however, I feel it is more an easy means of creating bookmarks and making them easily accessible. I poked around using the HCPL account, and found the top subjects to be interesting contenders. In fact, it lead me to transport some bookmarks from the HCPL list to my personal bookmarks.

I have to add - the video tutorial was of very poor quality. There has to be something better out there?

Elf

So I guess I wasn't as impressed with the Elf as I have been with other tools we have discovered on the i-journey...We are all aware that Harris County delivers notices of this sort...I suppose this is what detracted from the "cool" factor...Although, others, whose libraries don't provide alerts, might find this tool to be wildly helpful in keeping track and organizing.

A Library Thing

Do you notice anything different? Look to the right...

It's a Widget! Please check out My Library powered by Library Thing. Want to create your own personal library - it's the simplest thing! (and so much fun)

http://www.librarything.com/

Photo Generator Link

A link to the photo generator I used - http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

Generators - "Napuglean"

I had a blast with this excercise...more to come later...just enjoy the image

Adding Feeds

To continue on the excercise concerning RSS...I had already added a number of feeds to my Bloglines account when I began the second excercise, which requests that we utilize particular tools to add such feeds. My first thought was...gee it's not too hard to scroll through a page and look for that distinctive RSS icon...but, not surprisingly, I was wrong. Not totally wrong - just sort of wrong. I discovered my "wrongness" after discovering Feedster.com. Using Feedster's categories of news/information made it soooo easy to locate feeds without doing the back and forth between the websites and my newsreader! I added three Political feeds I found through Feedster right off the bat, and I'm going back for more! Thanks iHCPL ;)

RSS

Whew! I just completed the RSS excercise, and am now a proud user of Bloglines. This news junkie had a great time selecting feeds! Please allow me to share with you the 10 feeds I added to my Bloglines account...

CNN
Houston Chronicle
NY Times Sunday Book Review
National Geographic
Yahoo Music Top Albums
Dalla Morning News
PETA
HCPL e-branch
KHOU Health
Amazon Daily

More to come on RSS later...

Photo Editing

What do you think? Quite nice if I do say so myself! Here it is ladies and gentlemen - my first "edited" pic. If your not noticing the "edited" part, allow me to make it clear...

I utilized the Pixer website to edit my photo. The photo you see to the left is one of my fav pics. (Makes you feel like a kid, doesn't it? Who doesn't wish they had an elephant for a friend?) Utilizing Pixer I prescribed the "cloud" effect to the pic, hence the "cloudiness".

Once I had it all figured out, I spent some time playing around with other pics and effects. You really could spend all day designing and customizing pics. If anyone has yet to explore Pixer, get right on it! It's a blast. May I recommend the "oil painting" effect. I applied this effect to a pic of the LOC reading room, and it looked so cool!

Flickr

Afternoon...How did you spend yours? I spent most of my afternoon exploring Flickr. While I found it, at times, to be overwhelming I also found it to be quite interesting. I successfully uploaded my first photo to my Flickr account and I am satisfied with that accomplishment! Moreover, as per the iHCPL instructions, I explored further some of the other tools and applications Flickr makes available. Trippermap is fascinating. Perhaps "fascinating" is a bit much, but I am a person who is highly impressed with the GoogleEarth abilities. I love utilizing Google Maps to get that bird's eye view. Imagine...you can view the satelite image of almost any destination/place.? I also played around with Colorpickr a bit. You could entertain your eyes all day with it!

Internet Safety

What are my thoughts on Internet Safety? Well...a lot of what I learned while pursuing my MLS concerned the Internet and subsequent Information Revolution, and some of it stuck. I make a number of purchases via the Internet (it's sooo convenient), and I am always sure to carefully consider the website and its policies before I make the decision to provide my personal information. A technology and communications course taught me to check a website for particular levels of verification and security. To this day, I snoop around a website looking for those, if you will, particularities. I feel fortunate to possess such knowledge and awareness. I only wish that the public at large maintained the same understanding. Of course, online purchasing is one issue among many where Internet safety is concerned. Becasue I am a Children's Librarian the safety of children online is a more intense concern. Now there's an issue...

Happy Birthday To Me

Happy Birthday to Me...I am XX years old today! Today is my day and I want to be_______today!

Happy
Grateful
Able to Eat as Much Cake as I can Stand

Discovery Excercise

Afternoon World! Here goes my second post. Post no. 2 concerns Learning Habits. I'd have to say that Laughter and Organization are the two habits/styles (among those presented in the tutorial) that I consider my strengths. In fact, I am frighteningly organized...calendars, color coding, post its - oh my! On the flip side...I'm no good at taking my time or giving myself credit. I'm the kid in class who becomes quite irratated and frustrated with myself (and everything else in the room) if I don't "get" the concept right away. Throughout this iHCPL experience I promise not to RUSH myself or to forget to pat myself on the back. There it is - my first task complete! So, I'm off to do a little back patting. Until the next time...

Maiden Voyage

Here it is...my very own Blog! You can hardly stand the excitement, right? I knew it.

I happen to be a big fan of Blogs. There are a few in particular that I check out regularly, but I never thought I'd be a Bloggin' myself.

Can't say I can tell you exactly what I'll Blog about, but I'll try to keep it mildly interesting.

Looking forward to the experience!