I've been doing the social networking thing for a long time. I started with LiveJournal which combines blogging with an element of social networking. Unlike Blogger, LJ has a system where people can "Friend" you and read private journal entries much like MySpace and Facebook.
I added MySpace a few years ago when Eric did a MySpace class for my YA kids. I created a page along with the teens.
For my YA group, I created a Yahoo 360 page at 360.yahoo.com/ata4ya. I post information about YA events, photos, and book reviews.
I also belong to several YA groups on social networking sites like ReaderGirlz on MySpace. YALSA and ALA also have MySpace pages.
I've been kicking around the idea of getting a Dogster account.
I loved Rate My Space. It was really interesting to see people's decorating ideas.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
My Dream Library
ImaginOn at BOFA Conference, Stockholm, 5/9/07
From: lkilkka, 5 months ago
ImaginOn is an exciting new facility in Charlotte, NC combining a library for children and teens and a professional children's theatre.
SlideShare Link
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Week 7, #17 Technology
I have a long history when it comes to technology. I got my first computer back in 1985. It was an Atari 82bit with an external floppy drive (the 5" floppies, not the wimpy 3.5 ones). My parents wouldn't spring for a modem but I had a friend with a rocking 300baud modem so we could cruise Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). When I wanted to save a document, I could literally walk away, have lunch, and when I returned, it might be finished saving.
At the time, the idea of having a computer in your pocket that could connect you to the whole world was just something out of science fiction. The idea of an iPhone or a Blackberry was unheard of let alone "social networking" or computers in libraries.
Now, I have friends all over the world thanks to LiveJournal, I write a webzine with a group of ladies from Philadelphia that I've never actually met in person, I order books from Amazon and everything you can imagine from eBay, I renew my library books online, I found our house on har.com, and I even dated someone I met on Match.com. Technology is no longer an amusing toy, it's a part of my daily life.
At the time, the idea of having a computer in your pocket that could connect you to the whole world was just something out of science fiction. The idea of an iPhone or a Blackberry was unheard of let alone "social networking" or computers in libraries.
Now, I have friends all over the world thanks to LiveJournal, I write a webzine with a group of ladies from Philadelphia that I've never actually met in person, I order books from Amazon and everything you can imagine from eBay, I renew my library books online, I found our house on har.com, and I even dated someone I met on Match.com. Technology is no longer an amusing toy, it's a part of my daily life.
Week 7, #16 Tricky Wikis
I love Wikis. They come in extremely handy if you are working on a group project and need a way to share resources with your coworkers.
Wikis are a great way to organize information. The Summer Reading Wiki that Monique did last year was a wonderful resource and I hope she does it again.
As for research, the only caveat is to be careful and know your sources. Since Wikis have reader submitted content, you can end up with misinformation (deliberately or accidentally). Like all information on the web, you have to know who you are dealing with and verify, verify, verify.
Wikis are a great way to organize information. The Summer Reading Wiki that Monique did last year was a wonderful resource and I hope she does it again.
As for research, the only caveat is to be careful and know your sources. Since Wikis have reader submitted content, you can end up with misinformation (deliberately or accidentally). Like all information on the web, you have to know who you are dealing with and verify, verify, verify.
Privacy and E-mail: Not Even Pulitzer Prize Winners Are Immune
Think the e-mail you send to a few people is private? Maybe not so much. Read this. The moral to the story--if you don't want information shared with the world, don't send it via e-mail.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Week 6, #15, Library 2.0
If you do a Google search for Library 2.0, you get 144,000,000 hits so obviously Library 2.0 is a hot topic.
I think L2.0 is all about changing the way we serve our customers.
Eventually, I think we will see the reference section dwindle down to a few shelves or disappear completely as most of those resources move to the web. This will free up more space for "pleasure" reading books (everything from romance to home decor), computer stations, and social areas.
And yes, I think books play a part of L2.0. Even with e-readers, audio books, Playaways, etc., I think the experience of reading a book will keep books around for a long time. Also, economically and environmentally, books are still the better option. I know most people will think that e-books are a great way to save the planet, but in truth, there are only a few components of a computer that are recyclable and quite a few elements that are toxic. With the proliferation of e-readers, iPhones, and other tech devices, we are faced with the dilemma of how to dispose of these items once they become obsolete. For more information, check out Coop America here. On the other hand, books are biodegradable and can be produced from recycled paper (as was the case for the new Harry Potter book).
In the end, I see our library evolving into a high tech community center with everything from storytimes to computer classes to e-reference.
I think L2.0 is all about changing the way we serve our customers.
Eventually, I think we will see the reference section dwindle down to a few shelves or disappear completely as most of those resources move to the web. This will free up more space for "pleasure" reading books (everything from romance to home decor), computer stations, and social areas.
And yes, I think books play a part of L2.0. Even with e-readers, audio books, Playaways, etc., I think the experience of reading a book will keep books around for a long time. Also, economically and environmentally, books are still the better option. I know most people will think that e-books are a great way to save the planet, but in truth, there are only a few components of a computer that are recyclable and quite a few elements that are toxic. With the proliferation of e-readers, iPhones, and other tech devices, we are faced with the dilemma of how to dispose of these items once they become obsolete. For more information, check out Coop America here. On the other hand, books are biodegradable and can be produced from recycled paper (as was the case for the new Harry Potter book).
In the end, I see our library evolving into a high tech community center with everything from storytimes to computer classes to e-reference.
Week 6, #14 Technorati
I enjoyed looking around Technorati and claimed a few of my 11 blogs. It was pretty easy to navigate and I can see it being useful to search for blogs.
My main problem is that blogs that aren't registered with them don't show up at all. I ran a search for a specific phrase and it came up with one blog pertaining to that phrase. Even when I tried different variations, it still didn't find much. I personally have 5 blogs pertaining to the subject so if it was a wide reaching search, it would have found it. Overall, I can name about 25 blogs with that phrase and none of them showed up in Technorati.
Overall, I think I will stick with Google when it comes to searching for blogs.
If I know a blog is on LiveJournal, I usually use the LiveJournal Seek. It has a pretty comprehensive listing of topics and tags used on LJ. It will even seek out particular words or phrases in a journal.
The popular journals on Technorati were interesting. I subscribed to some cool productivity ones and there were quite a few that I already read.
I was a bit disappointed that one of the sites that I was really interested in (43 Folders) was not accessible in IE.
My main problem is that blogs that aren't registered with them don't show up at all. I ran a search for a specific phrase and it came up with one blog pertaining to that phrase. Even when I tried different variations, it still didn't find much. I personally have 5 blogs pertaining to the subject so if it was a wide reaching search, it would have found it. Overall, I can name about 25 blogs with that phrase and none of them showed up in Technorati.
Overall, I think I will stick with Google when it comes to searching for blogs.
If I know a blog is on LiveJournal, I usually use the LiveJournal Seek. It has a pretty comprehensive listing of topics and tags used on LJ. It will even seek out particular words or phrases in a journal.
The popular journals on Technorati were interesting. I subscribed to some cool productivity ones and there were quite a few that I already read.
I was a bit disappointed that one of the sites that I was really interested in (43 Folders) was not accessible in IE.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Week 6, #13 Not Really Del.icio.us, More Like Yummy
I've been using Del.icio.us for quite a few years so it's not quite as exciting to me as it is to most people. The tool bar makes life so much easier because you can add a site and tag with a few clicks of the mouse.
I think it's useful in a library environment because you can easily share resources and you can discover new resources to use during your research.
I think it's useful in a library environment because you can easily share resources and you can discover new resources to use during your research.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Week 5, #12 Library Elf
Even though I probably won't be using this application much myself, I think it would be really handy for patrons with multiple library cards or who frequent several different library systems. Since we live in an area where people can visit libraries in 3 or more systems, I think this tool would be handy in sorting out which books goes where.
My main concern with LE is privacy. Here's an interested article on Library Elf and privacy. Here is another article.
After doing some further research, I found out that Library Elf is relatively easy to hack since most people use relatively simple pin numbers.
In the end, my privacy is far more important than knowing when my books are due.
My main concern with LE is privacy. Here's an interested article on Library Elf and privacy. Here is another article.
After doing some further research, I found out that Library Elf is relatively easy to hack since most people use relatively simple pin numbers.
In the end, my privacy is far more important than knowing when my books are due.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Week 5, Post 11: Library Thing
You can see my Library Thing here.
I've actually been doing LibraryThing for a long time, but due to privacy concerns, I started a new one for this project. You will have to figure out what that means yourself. '-)
I love LibraryThing. If you really get into it, you can buy a CueCat personal handheld scanner that makes cataloging even easier.
The social aspects of LT are also fun. You can meet people, exchange book recs, and find more new books to read (as if that's actually a problem).
I also added a widget showing the items in my library.
I've actually been doing LibraryThing for a long time, but due to privacy concerns, I started a new one for this project. You will have to figure out what that means yourself. '-)
I love LibraryThing. If you really get into it, you can buy a CueCat personal handheld scanner that makes cataloging even easier.
The social aspects of LT are also fun. You can meet people, exchange book recs, and find more new books to read (as if that's actually a problem).
I also added a widget showing the items in my library.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Week 5, #10 My Gaia Online Avatar
My Gaia Online avatar. One of them. This is the one that represents me. All the others are characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The bunny is actually the Mimzy from The Last Mimzy and the flowers were a gift from one of my teens. If you have never tried Gaia, it's worth checking out. It's like Second Life, only a lot more fun. Dude, you get money for kicking trees and shaking bushes. So much for what my parents always said about money growing on trees.
Week 5, Assignment #10
From www.signgenerator.org. I actually created this for the 2006 Summer Reading Program.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Week 4, #9 Exercise
I have to say I wasn't impressed with any of the feed finders listed in the exercise. I found them slow to load, clunky, and many times inaccurate. Several times, I found myself directed to fake blogs that were actually advertisements for insurance or marital aids. I didn't find any useful feeds.
As an experiment, I ran the same subject headings through Google with the tag "RSS feed" and VIOLA I found everything I was searching for and more. Proof that Google rules the world (and I have stock in it!). Google recently bought FeedBurner which many people use to drive traffic to their blog, podcast, etc. Within the next few months, I think all the other competitors will whither as Google expands its realm into the RSS feed world.
As an experiment, I ran the same subject headings through Google with the tag "RSS feed" and VIOLA I found everything I was searching for and more. Proof that Google rules the world (and I have stock in it!). Google recently bought FeedBurner which many people use to drive traffic to their blog, podcast, etc. Within the next few months, I think all the other competitors will whither as Google expands its realm into the RSS feed world.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Great YA Feed
One of the best YA feeds around is here. I subscribe to it on Live Journal and thought I would share it with anyone who is interested.
Week 4, Number 8 Exercise
This was a wonderful exercise! I usually get all my RSS feeds through my Live Journal blog so this was the first time I had used a straight RSS reader.
I loved the search function. I was able to add quite a few new feeds to my list.
It was easy to set up and use, but I still love an integrated, open source system like Live Journal. With Live Journal, you can easily read all your blogs, rss feeds, communities and other things in one place. The format is much easier to read and access.
The only downside to using Live Journal or other Open Source journals for your RSS feeds is that if you go on vacation or don't check your journal for an extended period of time (summer reading!), you can only backtrack for some many pages. I find that if I don't check everything at least weekly, I can't access the feeds or blog posts that I missed.
In the end, I will probably keep my account long after this training is finished because it will make it easier to keep track of feeds when I'm on vacation or too busy to check them.
I loved the search function. I was able to add quite a few new feeds to my list.
It was easy to set up and use, but I still love an integrated, open source system like Live Journal. With Live Journal, you can easily read all your blogs, rss feeds, communities and other things in one place. The format is much easier to read and access.
The only downside to using Live Journal or other Open Source journals for your RSS feeds is that if you go on vacation or don't check your journal for an extended period of time (summer reading!), you can only backtrack for some many pages. I find that if I don't check everything at least weekly, I can't access the feeds or blog posts that I missed.
In the end, I will probably keep my account long after this training is finished because it will make it easier to keep track of feeds when I'm on vacation or too busy to check them.
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