As weblogs proliferated earlier this decade, Andy Warhol's famous aphorism was modified to read, "In the future, everyone will be famous to 15 people." Now it looks like Warhol was right after all: Thanks to widespread blog burnout, everyone will be famous to 15 people for 15 minutes. (Ted Olson posted 9/25/2007 08:57AM on his blog about the Death of Blogs)
I like going back and looking at what I blogged about this semester. I even like reading what I wrote in a blog I created for a class in 2006. In a way, it reminds me of a diary I kept for a couple of months when I was 11. Every few years, I get it out and am mildly amused about the topics which were important to me then. So you might think I would continue this blog simply for my own gratification. WRONG!
I just have too many other things on my plate.
So my blog will die a timely end of semester death. I will blog no more. Just like the other 200 million people which have already stopped writing their blogs.
“Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer said the reason for the leveling off in blogging was due to the fact that most people who would ever start a web blog had already done so. He said those who loved blogging were committed to keeping it up, while others had become bored and moved on.”
Not all blogs are dead or dying. Blog aggregator Technorati estimates that 3 million new blogs are launched every month. The site's tongue-in-cheek slogan: "Zillions of photos, videos, blogs, and more. Some of them have to be good."
I enjoyed reading other classmates’ blogs and they were good. It helped me learn about them and their concerns. In fact, in the long run, it was a better device than the mandatory introductory spiel we had to give as part of the first class.
So while I am not bored, I am definitely moving on. I have other technology fishes to fry in my library career.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
No Longer Be Tolerated
twee means:
1. horrid
2. dainty
3. bear-like
4. moderate
I guessed and got it right! Small victory but one nonetheless. I have a new addiction: FreeRice. I play and feed hungry people at the same time.
“After you have done FreeRice for a couple of days, you may notice an odd phenomenon. Words that you have never consciously used before will begin to pop into your head while you are speaking or writing. You will feel yourself using and knowing more words.”
For each word you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations to help end World Hunger. It is the brainchild of Poverty.com and has been around since the beginning of October 2007. There are 50 levels of words though the organizers say in their FAQ section that it is rare for individuals to get higher than 48. I usually get up to level 37 before being completely clueless as to what the word means.
The user interface is slick and compelling. Ten grains of rice appear in a wooden bowl for each word you get right. The response time is lightning fast *at least it is at 7:45 am EDT when I do it* and it is a win-win situation. I help in the battle to end world hunger while exercising my brain. In this world where our senses are bombarded by ads, I am using this as part of my morning routine, right after Websudoku and Set Daily puzzle. It costs me nothing but time.
Now I also know: “If it is too good to be true, then it is too good to be true.” I can not find anything wrong with this website. I do believe the organizers are using the revenue generated by the advertising to give the resulting funds to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). I understand that this is a fun propaganda tool. They have sold me on why they created the website:
We believe that when enough people around the world become knowledgeable about hunger, it will no longer be tolerated.
I hope you will check it out and pass it on. Because yesterday, 120 out of the 192,744,570 grains of rice were from me. One minuscule drop in the bucket but together what an impact we can make.
If you were wondering - twee means "dainty".
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Multi-Touch Interface and a Christmas Gift
My soon-to-be-eighteen-old daughter wants an iPhone for Christmas. This is the only thing she wants for Christmas. With the recent price drops, I believe the initial cost to be around $400. Split this amount among grandparents and parents and it does fall into the realm of reality.
So she drags me into an AT&T store, conveniently located to the only Panera Bread in town. (We both love our Panera but it is on the other side of Terre Haute so it is a special occasion when we go there.) The store is not busy and we are able to play with the iPhone with just a small amount of help by a customer service representative. What can I say? It was neat. It sucked me in to thinking that even I would carry it around to access the web. It was slick and easy to manipulate. Now we start to discuss phone plans and I see the monthly cost skyrocketing. My daughter and I beat a hasty retreat out of the store.
Now I am reading an article in the November/December 2007 issue of Computers in Libraries. On page 42, Daniel Chudnov discusses The Multi-Touch Tipping Point for Reading Online. He makes the case for reading from screens is going to overtake printed materials in the coming decade or even half-decade. In 2006, at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference, a guy named Jeff Han gave a presentation about the multi-touch monitor.
The demo, which drew spontaneous applause and audible gasps from the audience, begins with a simple lava lamp, then turns into a virtual photo-editing tabletop, where Han flicks photos across the screen as if they were paper snapshots. (From the TED website) At TED2007 he brought along a larger, wall-size version that TEDsters actually try. This eight foot by 3 foot multi-touch display is now available for purchase throught Neiman Marcus.
From the advertisment:
Creativity is not a static pursuit, and we were never ones to stay in our seats, minding our P's & Q's. Passion, energy, motion—that's what gets us going. Luckily, the future is here with the Interactive Media Wall from Perceptive Pixel.With an eight-by-three foot screen, the entire wall becomes your canvas, allowing you to navigate, locate, and manipulate information by touching anywhere on the screen. No longer chained to cumbersome physical input devices, your imagination can fly at warp speed in a medium that can easily keep pace. Tap out a sonata with your fingertips, flip through manuscripts with the swipe of your hand, or crop photos with a pinch—it is perfect for grand gestures or the lightest touch. Call 1.877.9NM.GIFT to live your dreams in color.
The price: starting at $100,000.
I think I like my cumbersome physical input devices like my keyboard and mouse much better than spending more than I paid for my house. This certainly puts the iPhone cost in perspective. Also the new HP commericals which feature Shaun White and Serena Williams using a multi-touch approach are very attractive to me and my coworkers. Who knows, the mouse clicking may become a thing of the past.
So back to the Christmas gift, I teach a monthly class at a local senior citizens' center. The Tai Chi instructor who uses the room prior to me has an iPhone. She says the monthly costs run just $10 dollars more than her old phone. Her argument regarding cost hold more weight with me than a sales person. We'll see about the iPhone.....
So she drags me into an AT&T store, conveniently located to the only Panera Bread in town. (We both love our Panera but it is on the other side of Terre Haute so it is a special occasion when we go there.) The store is not busy and we are able to play with the iPhone with just a small amount of help by a customer service representative. What can I say? It was neat. It sucked me in to thinking that even I would carry it around to access the web. It was slick and easy to manipulate. Now we start to discuss phone plans and I see the monthly cost skyrocketing. My daughter and I beat a hasty retreat out of the store.
Now I am reading an article in the November/December 2007 issue of Computers in Libraries. On page 42, Daniel Chudnov discusses The Multi-Touch Tipping Point for Reading Online. He makes the case for reading from screens is going to overtake printed materials in the coming decade or even half-decade. In 2006, at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference, a guy named Jeff Han gave a presentation about the multi-touch monitor.
The demo, which drew spontaneous applause and audible gasps from the audience, begins with a simple lava lamp, then turns into a virtual photo-editing tabletop, where Han flicks photos across the screen as if they were paper snapshots. (From the TED website) At TED2007 he brought along a larger, wall-size version that TEDsters actually try. This eight foot by 3 foot multi-touch display is now available for purchase throught Neiman Marcus.
From the advertisment:
Creativity is not a static pursuit, and we were never ones to stay in our seats, minding our P's & Q's. Passion, energy, motion—that's what gets us going. Luckily, the future is here with the Interactive Media Wall from Perceptive Pixel.With an eight-by-three foot screen, the entire wall becomes your canvas, allowing you to navigate, locate, and manipulate information by touching anywhere on the screen. No longer chained to cumbersome physical input devices, your imagination can fly at warp speed in a medium that can easily keep pace. Tap out a sonata with your fingertips, flip through manuscripts with the swipe of your hand, or crop photos with a pinch—it is perfect for grand gestures or the lightest touch. Call 1.877.9NM.GIFT to live your dreams in color.
The price: starting at $100,000.
I think I like my cumbersome physical input devices like my keyboard and mouse much better than spending more than I paid for my house. This certainly puts the iPhone cost in perspective. Also the new HP commericals which feature Shaun White and Serena Williams using a multi-touch approach are very attractive to me and my coworkers. Who knows, the mouse clicking may become a thing of the past.
So back to the Christmas gift, I teach a monthly class at a local senior citizens' center. The Tai Chi instructor who uses the room prior to me has an iPhone. She says the monthly costs run just $10 dollars more than her old phone. Her argument regarding cost hold more weight with me than a sales person. We'll see about the iPhone.....
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Make $75 Quick and Easy
Tonight I am going to be a part of a focus group here at the Holiday Inn in lovely Terre Haute. I will be paid $75 for giving my views for a couple of hours on whatever or whoever is paying Herron Associates for market research. To me, I love to share my opinions and would probably do it for free. This is a great gig. A coworker at the school where I used to work put me in contact with this research company. In the past 5 years, I have probably made $750. Periodically they call me up to see if a qualify for their study and sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. All it costs me is time. You can sign up to become part of their potential pool of panelists. Herron Associates is located in Indianapolis and I believe you would have more of an opportunity if you lived there.
My first time, I was part of a "pretend jury". The unknown company's lawyers argued their case and wanted to know our opinions based on the information presented. It was fascinating to me as they were quizzing us down to the detail of what terminology to use. About eight months later, I read in the newspaper about a trial involving Allstate Insurance and the use of Original Equipment Manufacturer parts in automobile repairs. Allstate lost and it cost them plenty (BIG BUCKS).
Another time, a group of three individuals drove over from Ohio to go with me on a tour of my local grocery (Kroger) store's coffee aisle. Then we spent 45 minutes at my favorite local coffee house (Java Haute). Finally we ended back at my house where they took photos of my coffee pot and videotaped my response to various print ads and online commercials. The whole thing took about 3 hours and I got $175. Come to find out, the company was Folger's and I was very disparaging about the black plastic lids on the then new plastic cans for holding coffee. I told them they looked dirty and dusty sitting on the shelves even though they were brand new. I think I am responsible for them changing the color of the lids to a gold color.
One of the print ads also made me laugh so hard. I KNOW I will never see it in a magazine. The ad depicted a woman early in the morning, bathed in sunshine, perched precariously on a stack of rocks next to a deep ravine. I believe I was suppose to think "I'm the Queen of the World" like the image on the bow of the Titanic but that is not what I saw. Along with the print copy, I immediately thought "She is going to jump and commit suicide because drinking Folger's coffee in the morning has given her the courage." This was not the response they were hoping to invoke.
So being a part of the focus group tonight is especially important to me as we are working on usability testing for the Mooresville Public Library. I am going to concentrate on thinking about the what and the why they are asking certain questions in addition to answering them. Should be good research for me with the great added side benefit of getting paid. Life is good.
The government has a fantastic website guide about creating a usable and useful websites. The above flowchart is from there. I think my group is in the "Test and Refine" section.
My first time, I was part of a "pretend jury". The unknown company's lawyers argued their case and wanted to know our opinions based on the information presented. It was fascinating to me as they were quizzing us down to the detail of what terminology to use. About eight months later, I read in the newspaper about a trial involving Allstate Insurance and the use of Original Equipment Manufacturer parts in automobile repairs. Allstate lost and it cost them plenty (BIG BUCKS).
Another time, a group of three individuals drove over from Ohio to go with me on a tour of my local grocery (Kroger) store's coffee aisle. Then we spent 45 minutes at my favorite local coffee house (Java Haute). Finally we ended back at my house where they took photos of my coffee pot and videotaped my response to various print ads and online commercials. The whole thing took about 3 hours and I got $175. Come to find out, the company was Folger's and I was very disparaging about the black plastic lids on the then new plastic cans for holding coffee. I told them they looked dirty and dusty sitting on the shelves even though they were brand new. I think I am responsible for them changing the color of the lids to a gold color.
One of the print ads also made me laugh so hard. I KNOW I will never see it in a magazine. The ad depicted a woman early in the morning, bathed in sunshine, perched precariously on a stack of rocks next to a deep ravine. I believe I was suppose to think "I'm the Queen of the World" like the image on the bow of the Titanic but that is not what I saw. Along with the print copy, I immediately thought "She is going to jump and commit suicide because drinking Folger's coffee in the morning has given her the courage." This was not the response they were hoping to invoke.
So being a part of the focus group tonight is especially important to me as we are working on usability testing for the Mooresville Public Library. I am going to concentrate on thinking about the what and the why they are asking certain questions in addition to answering them. Should be good research for me with the great added side benefit of getting paid. Life is good.
The government has a fantastic website guide about creating a usable and useful websites. The above flowchart is from there. I think my group is in the "Test and Refine" section.
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Second Paper Revolution
Photo Caption: Nick Sheridon and Fereshteh Lesani show off the first roll of Gyricon E-PAPER producedby 3M partners. (Credit: Xerox).
I was online reading an article about the future of electronic paper on TFOT (The Future of Things). Frankly one of my many ideas to become ridiculously rich is to create a “book” where all the various formats reside in a single compact packet. Not only would there be printed pages in both normal and large print, but also audio editions in several languages and even a 3D holographic performance (think Star Wars “Obi Wan - You’re our only hope!” projection of Princess Leia by R2D2). It can not be too heavy for me to comfortably read in bed and it must be waterproof so I can use it at the beach or by a pool. Well, I do not have any prototypes as yet but I am sort of busy. I also do not want to deal with all the copyright issues.
So back to the evolution of paper, I remember making paper with several enthusiastic third graders prior to Valentine’s Day. Fun but much work was involved so I am curious about this new ePaper. This before-mentioned article caught my eye. After perusing it, I felt so limited in my money making visions. TFOT interviews Nick Sheridon, who back in the early 1970s, while working at Xerox, developed the Gyricon which was supposed to be the technology for the Alto personal computer. This technology was adapted and perfected to be a platform for the new e-paper. I was floored when I read his answer to the following question: “How do you see the future of e-paper?”
“I like to tell people that the holy grail of e-paper will be embodied as a cylindrical tube, about 1 centimeter in diameter and 15 to 20 centimeters long, that a person can comfortably carry in his or her pocket. The tube will contain a tightly rolled sheet of e-paper that can be spooled out of a slit in the tube as a flat sheet, for reading, and stored again at the touch of a button. Information will be downloaded—there will be simple user interface—from an overhead satellite, a cell phone network, or an internal memory chip. This document reader will be used for e-mail, the Internet, books downloaded from a global digital library that is currently under construction, technical manuals, newspapers (perhaps in larger format), magazines, and so forth, anywhere on the planet. It will cost less than $100, and nearly everyone will have one!”
This concept just leapfrogs over my idea for all-in-one book. There are photos of e-paper wrist watches, the ability of incorporate it on packaging (your grocery shelves will never be the same) and other Flash Gordon like applications. I am sort of daydreaming along until a certain phrase kicks in. Did he say “GLOBAL DIGITAL LIBRARY”? There goes my job security!
Now I share the article with my coworkers and much debate ensues. Responses range from “Big Brother” will control the access to knowledge and we are all doomed to that’s a nice idea but not in my lifetime. My take on it is: I am going to keep on working on my MLS. I just see too many copyright issues over content for this to work before I am ready to retire. The technology may be on the horizon but people will fight to the(ir) death over their right to control access to their material.
Monday, October 15, 2007
LibraryThing Stuff
Updates on LibraryThing
LibraryThing is created using MediaWiki. It recently boasted that it has catalogued close to 20 million books so it should be no surprise that LibraryThing now has a wiki. This fact seems odd to me. It is the whole thing about having a wiki about a wiki.
So I checked out my LibraryThing account I had to create last fall for a LIS class. I still detest “Ruins” by Scott Smith but adore my review: “I found the author to be overly fond of the characters' body fluids and waste. . . Rather than being suspense-filled, it was easier to count the ways how each character would make stupid mistakes with, ho-hum, tragic repercussions.”
So they have added a “new and addictive feature” which they refer to as "Common Knowledge." So now they have added a bunch of new fields to every author and book page, so anyone can enter new stuff such as book awards, characters, and even biographical details on authors. So while this is great and it is hard to fault the fleshing out of authors' backgrounds, it has spawned a tide of questions (i.e., what gender do you you bubble when the author used a male name but was actually a woman?, with regards to colleges, do you put down only the places they got degrees or all the places they attended?, do you include honorary degress?). So see the blog post about it for more info.
Now the part I like best about the new stuff at LibraryThing is this new program where you have the opportunity to be an EARLY REVIEWER! "LibraryThing is teaming with publishers to give out advance copies of books to you, our members, in exchange for reviews." In October, they had 12 publishers involved and almost 600 free books. How cool to be the first one on the block to read a book and then casually slip it into the conversation flow during the weekly Euchre get together.
The part of LibraryThing which reminds me of the joys and struggles of working in a team setting (like our class) is one of the groups set up in LT entitled I See Dead People('s) Books. Their current and first project is cataloging Thomas Jefferson's library. It is great how they have split up responsibility on their main page. I believe they are at over 83,000 books so working collabrately online does work!
If you are really into LibraryThing and do not currently receive the monthly enewsletter “State of the Thing”, go to your LibraryThing account and select “edit profile” under the profile. Make sure to check the little box by "receive a monthly 'State of the Thing' email."
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Saturday morning at the library – 15 minutes past opening – already hot outside and the phone has not yet rang. Not a normal situation but I take the opportunity to look at my work email. One message catches my eye - IOLUG Fall Meeting: ...Digital Natives & Immigrants... from INpublib listserv. Well, I discussed being a Digital Immigrant in one of my mid-semester’s reflections just last week.
After opening the email I find:
Register TODAY for the Indiana Online Users Group (IOLUG) Fall Program: Friday, November 2, 2007
Are you curious about Facebook, Second Life, Flickr and other newer social networking technologies, but aren't quite sure how to use them in your own library?
Then please join IOLUG for our Fall Program about Reaching Digital Natives and Immigrants: Library 2.0. There will be great speakers with practical experience teaching their staff and patrons about these exciting new technologies. And, check out the Library Science Fair. You’ll leave with more confidence to “Try this at home!”
Friday, November 2, 9:00-3:30 - Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library
The price ($25 members, $45 non-members) is good for an all day seminar. Possibly I’ll see what my coordinator thinks and check the vacation calendar to anticipate scheduling issues. Then I wonder who is going to be speaking so I follow the link (http://www.iolug.org/2007fall.php) included at the bottom of the email.
SURPRISE! SURPRISE! – The keynote speaker is . . .
Mary Alice Ball, a professor at the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science at IUPUI. Professor Ball presently teaches a course on Library 2.0 technologies. It is my professor! I am not expecting this. It is weird, just like when you see your doctor at the grocery store. You forget they have their own lives.
Now I am in a quandary. Is this material I am going to be interested in or what? I read further and recognize some other names: Scott Pfitzinger, Bill Helling. I am tempted but then I stop. If I go to this seminar, because notices of employees’ attendance at training events are posted in the monthly board reports, it will be public knowledge. Then coworkers will expect me to proficient in all these tools. Is this really what I want?
So I delve deeper - What is exactly is IOLUG? According to their website’s FAQ, IOLUG (Indiana Online Users Group), founded in 1982, is an organization established for the purpose of furthering the use of online systems, databases, computers and telecommunication systems in libraries.
1982 is a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away from libraries of today or is it? I am getting confused but I know having computer access for patrons is a BIG draw for my library’s patrons. Also I have found in the past that you should never pass up an opportunity for training as you never know what you might learn.
SO to go and network with people who share common interests or retreat to the safety of non-responsibility, that is the question.
The solution: I’ll see if I can get any other coworkers to go with me. Plainfield is only 45 minutes away. It will be attractive as long as I play up the “Road Trip” side of it. Another idea! If I blog about it, maybe one of my classmates might attend also. I can see potential for bonus points in class participation.
After opening the email I find:
Register TODAY for the Indiana Online Users Group (IOLUG) Fall Program: Friday, November 2, 2007
Are you curious about Facebook, Second Life, Flickr and other newer social networking technologies, but aren't quite sure how to use them in your own library?
Then please join IOLUG for our Fall Program about Reaching Digital Natives and Immigrants: Library 2.0. There will be great speakers with practical experience teaching their staff and patrons about these exciting new technologies. And, check out the Library Science Fair. You’ll leave with more confidence to “Try this at home!”
Friday, November 2, 9:00-3:30 - Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library
The price ($25 members, $45 non-members) is good for an all day seminar. Possibly I’ll see what my coordinator thinks and check the vacation calendar to anticipate scheduling issues. Then I wonder who is going to be speaking so I follow the link (http://www.iolug.org/2007fall.php) included at the bottom of the email.
SURPRISE! SURPRISE! – The keynote speaker is . . .
Mary Alice Ball, a professor at the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science at IUPUI. Professor Ball presently teaches a course on Library 2.0 technologies. It is my professor! I am not expecting this. It is weird, just like when you see your doctor at the grocery store. You forget they have their own lives.
Now I am in a quandary. Is this material I am going to be interested in or what? I read further and recognize some other names: Scott Pfitzinger, Bill Helling. I am tempted but then I stop. If I go to this seminar, because notices of employees’ attendance at training events are posted in the monthly board reports, it will be public knowledge. Then coworkers will expect me to proficient in all these tools. Is this really what I want?
So I delve deeper - What is exactly is IOLUG? According to their website’s FAQ, IOLUG (Indiana Online Users Group), founded in 1982, is an organization established for the purpose of furthering the use of online systems, databases, computers and telecommunication systems in libraries.
1982 is a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away from libraries of today or is it? I am getting confused but I know having computer access for patrons is a BIG draw for my library’s patrons. Also I have found in the past that you should never pass up an opportunity for training as you never know what you might learn.
SO to go and network with people who share common interests or retreat to the safety of non-responsibility, that is the question.
The solution: I’ll see if I can get any other coworkers to go with me. Plainfield is only 45 minutes away. It will be attractive as long as I play up the “Road Trip” side of it. Another idea! If I blog about it, maybe one of my classmates might attend also. I can see potential for bonus points in class participation.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Antisocial Social-Networking
Monday through Friday, I get a daily newsletter in email form entitled Shelf Awareness. While I believe the audience for the newsletter is the book publishing/selling industry, I use it mainly for the information it provides concerning which authors are on which TV shows. Then when a patron calls about a book they saw on the Today Show, I have some idea of what they are referring to and can help them. Sometimes I also find write-ups about books I would like to read. I usually just skim over the content. Sometimes I delete the email without even reading it. On Monday, October 1, they had an entry regarding Goodreads which caught my eye. I had never heard of Goodreads so I stopped and read:
In a piece in the Stranger, Elliott Bay Book Company's Paul Constant calls Goodreads "Facebook for Book Nerds" and "the most Antisocial Social-Networking Site on the Internet."
"I first noticed www.goodreads.com four months ago when a coworker at my bookstore sent me an invitation," Constant wrote. "The website tore through the Seattle bookselling community like an STD. Soon, every bookseller under 40 was a member. 'Will you be my Goodreads friend?' we'd whisper to each other among the stacks. It was like MySpace, only better--it was all about books."
While chronicling the fast rise and more recent leveling off of local interest in Goodreads, Constant also asked an intriguing question: "Does anyone over the age of 16 even have a favorite book? Claiming a favorite is only indicative of the fact that you haven't read enough: Out of the thousands of books that I've read, with the enormous palette of ideas and emotions they've represented, how could I choose only, say, five? Why not ask for a favorite orgasm, or laugh, or grain of sand?"
I looked at Goodreads and it reminds me a lot of LibraryThing. You enter in the books you own and/or read and put in a review of them. You can contact and communicate with other people who have similar appetites. My problem with both is that I do not want to take the time to enter what I am reading and what books I own. I read fast. Updating would be a burdensome chore rather than an enjoyed activity.
I now realize I do not recreationally use the Internet for friends and conversation. This is what separates me from many other users. Because I do not desire to socially network, it is hard for me to understand the benefits of using the associated online tools with regards to work. While I do enjoy reading classmates’ blogs, I do not take pleasure in writing mine because it is a task rather than a desired activity. It is far easier for me to get up in front of class and talk for two minutes than write three hundred plus words (479 words and counting) in a blog every week. This is how I view technology this week.
In a piece in the Stranger, Elliott Bay Book Company's Paul Constant calls Goodreads "Facebook for Book Nerds" and "the most Antisocial Social-Networking Site on the Internet."
"I first noticed www.goodreads.com four months ago when a coworker at my bookstore sent me an invitation," Constant wrote. "The website tore through the Seattle bookselling community like an STD. Soon, every bookseller under 40 was a member. 'Will you be my Goodreads friend?' we'd whisper to each other among the stacks. It was like MySpace, only better--it was all about books."
While chronicling the fast rise and more recent leveling off of local interest in Goodreads, Constant also asked an intriguing question: "Does anyone over the age of 16 even have a favorite book? Claiming a favorite is only indicative of the fact that you haven't read enough: Out of the thousands of books that I've read, with the enormous palette of ideas and emotions they've represented, how could I choose only, say, five? Why not ask for a favorite orgasm, or laugh, or grain of sand?"
I looked at Goodreads and it reminds me a lot of LibraryThing. You enter in the books you own and/or read and put in a review of them. You can contact and communicate with other people who have similar appetites. My problem with both is that I do not want to take the time to enter what I am reading and what books I own. I read fast. Updating would be a burdensome chore rather than an enjoyed activity.
I now realize I do not recreationally use the Internet for friends and conversation. This is what separates me from many other users. Because I do not desire to socially network, it is hard for me to understand the benefits of using the associated online tools with regards to work. While I do enjoy reading classmates’ blogs, I do not take pleasure in writing mine because it is a task rather than a desired activity. It is far easier for me to get up in front of class and talk for two minutes than write three hundred plus words (479 words and counting) in a blog every week. This is how I view technology this week.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Widget World
I love flash and unfortunately, I am not picky about substance. However I do want the widgets I use to be meaningful. I am experimenting with BubbleShare as I hope we can successfully incorporate it with the Mooresville project. The eBay widget I am exploring as I update my handouts for the Searching on eBay class. eBay is constantly changing which makes my screenshots obsolete quickly.
The following is from a New York Times article detailing widgets as being used by bloggers. Ed Anuff, a co-founder of Widgetbox.com, divides widgets into three categories. “One is self-expression widgets, like photo galleries, games or YouTube videos that you like,” he said. The second category includes widgets that generate revenue for a blogger, like a box that displays auctions from a particular eBay category, or a blogger’s favorite DVDs from Amazon.com.
The third category, Mr. Anuff said, encompasses “site-enhancement widgets, like discussion forums, news feeds or a guest book, which provide better utility for your Web site.” Widgetbox is a site begun in September (2006) that collects widgets, spotlighting the newest and most popular ones; it offers more than 500 widgets.
As of September 25 of this year, Widgetbox now offers over 20,000 widgets. I wanted to explore widgets which I thought could be a viable option for Mooresville. I know every public library in the state of Indiana is required to fill out a report detailing their impact on their surrounding communities. One of the seemingly endless figures that is needed for the report are the number of hits on the library's website. On one of the listservs I belong to, there was a discussion not too long ago about where the counter should be located to provide the most accurate results.
Hence I have incorporated a counter on this blog, just to see how hard it is to create and use. I ran across the black cat widget on the main page of Widgetbox and while not practical for Mooresville (maybe at Halloween???), it gives me great enjoyment, especially when the cat is purring. A contented cat provides a calming influence and has been proven to lower blood pressure.
So my frustration this week has been my inability to successfully insert either a counter or change the skin for ALL users on the MPL wiki. Hopefully at class, I can verbally communicate my efforts and we, as a team, can rectify the problem. My fingers are crossed.
This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog
The following is from a New York Times article detailing widgets as being used by bloggers. Ed Anuff, a co-founder of Widgetbox.com, divides widgets into three categories. “One is self-expression widgets, like photo galleries, games or YouTube videos that you like,” he said. The second category includes widgets that generate revenue for a blogger, like a box that displays auctions from a particular eBay category, or a blogger’s favorite DVDs from Amazon.com.
The third category, Mr. Anuff said, encompasses “site-enhancement widgets, like discussion forums, news feeds or a guest book, which provide better utility for your Web site.” Widgetbox is a site begun in September (2006) that collects widgets, spotlighting the newest and most popular ones; it offers more than 500 widgets.
As of September 25 of this year, Widgetbox now offers over 20,000 widgets. I wanted to explore widgets which I thought could be a viable option for Mooresville. I know every public library in the state of Indiana is required to fill out a report detailing their impact on their surrounding communities. One of the seemingly endless figures that is needed for the report are the number of hits on the library's website. On one of the listservs I belong to, there was a discussion not too long ago about where the counter should be located to provide the most accurate results.
Hence I have incorporated a counter on this blog, just to see how hard it is to create and use. I ran across the black cat widget on the main page of Widgetbox and while not practical for Mooresville (maybe at Halloween???), it gives me great enjoyment, especially when the cat is purring. A contented cat provides a calming influence and has been proven to lower blood pressure.
So my frustration this week has been my inability to successfully insert either a counter or change the skin for ALL users on the MPL wiki. Hopefully at class, I can verbally communicate my efforts and we, as a team, can rectify the problem. My fingers are crossed.
This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
No One Cares What You Had for Lunch and other Ideas
Since we are dealing with library procedures and flowcharting them this week, my topic, in a roundabout way, deals with improving the flow of how long a printed book takes to get on a shelf once it has entered our physical location. Sara Laughlin, new interim director of the Monroe County Public Library and adjunct faculty member at the SLIS program here at IUPUI, conducted several many months’ long “Continuous Improvement” training sessions for my library. One of the processes able to be dissected (the terminology was: charter given) by a group of diverse employees was “How long it takes to process a book before it is available to patrons”.
The idea was to eliminate unnecessary or duplicate efforts to narrow the wait time. I had no idea all the different steps involved except for the part where a book sits on a cart in the Reference Area Workroom for anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks prior to being sent to Lending Services. Lending then “receives” the books and they are shelved or placed in holding or whatever happens to them. I never really understood what the books were doing just sitting on a cart in Reference until I witnessed librarians perusing them when they had the time.
My initial thoughts regarding this sitting of materials were: “Eureka! We can just cut this part out.” Well, that did not turn out to be a viable option. Here’s why… The reference librarians act in a Reader’s Advisory position for patrons. They felt strongly that they needed to view all the books entering the collection so they would have a better understanding of available resources, appropriate subject headings and not potentially ordering duplicate books. The ordering duties are split among more than one librarian so they are all legitimate reasons for continuing the practice. Ultimately, the amount of time the books sit in Reference has been drastically cut but it still does happen.
This brings me to my topic of my blog. One of the books sitting on a cart recently was “No One Cares What You Had for Lunch – 100 Ideas for Your Blog” by Maggie Mason. According to the review distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc., it is “a unique idea-book for bloggers seeking fun, creative inspiration. Margaret gives writers the prompts they need to describe, imagine, investigate and generate clever posts.”
Since I do not want to write unfunny, uncreative, uninspired posts, I thought “Eureka! I’m gonna check this book out immediately.” That did not happen because I personally thought many of the ideas were not exactly what I would consider inspired: Gripe, Tell us what you have done, and other briefly described writing prompts
I did go to Margaret Mason’s blog: MightyGirl.com (it is famous among dozens!) to check out what she was blogging about. I thoroughly enjoyed the post from September 3:
http://mightygirl.com/2007/09/03/duh/
The idea was to eliminate unnecessary or duplicate efforts to narrow the wait time. I had no idea all the different steps involved except for the part where a book sits on a cart in the Reference Area Workroom for anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks prior to being sent to Lending Services. Lending then “receives” the books and they are shelved or placed in holding or whatever happens to them. I never really understood what the books were doing just sitting on a cart in Reference until I witnessed librarians perusing them when they had the time.
My initial thoughts regarding this sitting of materials were: “Eureka! We can just cut this part out.” Well, that did not turn out to be a viable option. Here’s why… The reference librarians act in a Reader’s Advisory position for patrons. They felt strongly that they needed to view all the books entering the collection so they would have a better understanding of available resources, appropriate subject headings and not potentially ordering duplicate books. The ordering duties are split among more than one librarian so they are all legitimate reasons for continuing the practice. Ultimately, the amount of time the books sit in Reference has been drastically cut but it still does happen.
This brings me to my topic of my blog. One of the books sitting on a cart recently was “No One Cares What You Had for Lunch – 100 Ideas for Your Blog” by Maggie Mason. According to the review distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc., it is “a unique idea-book for bloggers seeking fun, creative inspiration. Margaret gives writers the prompts they need to describe, imagine, investigate and generate clever posts.”
Since I do not want to write unfunny, uncreative, uninspired posts, I thought “Eureka! I’m gonna check this book out immediately.” That did not happen because I personally thought many of the ideas were not exactly what I would consider inspired: Gripe, Tell us what you have done, and other briefly described writing prompts
I did go to Margaret Mason’s blog: MightyGirl.com (it is famous among dozens!) to check out what she was blogging about. I thoroughly enjoyed the post from September 3:
http://mightygirl.com/2007/09/03/duh/
"This week I’m posting from ideas in my book, No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog. I’m doing this because I spent far too long wondering what to write about this morning before it occurred to me that I had written a book on the subject. Can you feel the force of my intellect from where you are? The way it’s blowing your face back slightly? I thought so. "
She seems like the type of person I would like to be friends with or have as a coworker: one who can laugh at themselves.
So, I see nothing wrong with writing a blog entry about a book which deals with helping you come up with material for writing a blog entry.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Medieval Help Desk Part 2
A coworker recommended this video as a possibility for the “entertainment combined with a thought provoking sentiments” segment during an upcoming Staff Institute day. As soon as I saw it, I thought: "This shows better than any words I can write, how new technology users sometimes feel." While I laughed all the way through, another coworker thought it was mean-spirited as she perceived it as poking fun at technologically challenged individuals. I can see both sides of the argument however I still think it is priceless.
I especially like the part where the Help Desk person asks the user “Did you read the manual?” Well, it is definitely a Catch-22 situation as the manual is in the same format as the book, just smaller. If the user has difficulty in reading a book, then theoretically how did the creators of the manual think the user could read the manual? This lack of comprehension by designers of documentation and other help systems is the bane of new users worldwide.
The video is from a Norwegian television show called Øystein & Meg which translates to Øystein & I. Originally aired in 2001 by NRK, it was a big hit in literacy circles in February 2007 when it was posted on YouTube. There are other versions out on YouTube which differ in brightness. Also the English translation varies from different submitters and since I do not speak Norwegian, I choose this version as it is the one posted by the actual producers. It is written by Knut Nærum and performed by Øystein Bache and Rune Gokstad, according to the Norwegian Broadcasting Channel.
I had to break my blog posting into two parts as YouTube does allow you to post directly to Blogger however you can not enter any additional text as it then causes an error entitled "unknown error". So after a couple of tries, I figured out I could simply post the video with no accompanying text and have an entry with the descriptive content. Without doubt, this is a case of "live and learn" for me.
I especially like the part where the Help Desk person asks the user “Did you read the manual?” Well, it is definitely a Catch-22 situation as the manual is in the same format as the book, just smaller. If the user has difficulty in reading a book, then theoretically how did the creators of the manual think the user could read the manual? This lack of comprehension by designers of documentation and other help systems is the bane of new users worldwide.
The video is from a Norwegian television show called Øystein & Meg which translates to Øystein & I. Originally aired in 2001 by NRK, it was a big hit in literacy circles in February 2007 when it was posted on YouTube. There are other versions out on YouTube which differ in brightness. Also the English translation varies from different submitters and since I do not speak Norwegian, I choose this version as it is the one posted by the actual producers. It is written by Knut Nærum and performed by Øystein Bache and Rune Gokstad, according to the Norwegian Broadcasting Channel.
I had to break my blog posting into two parts as YouTube does allow you to post directly to Blogger however you can not enter any additional text as it then causes an error entitled "unknown error". So after a couple of tries, I figured out I could simply post the video with no accompanying text and have an entry with the descriptive content. Without doubt, this is a case of "live and learn" for me.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
How Many Is Too Many
Ok, I am asking how many is too many accounts? I am so frustrated right now because it has taken me seven different attempts to access my gmail account to post to this blog. I did not realize I had two Gmail accounts so I kept trying to log in using my first (and I thought only) Gmail account to get into my blog on blogger. A waste of over 45 minutes when I could have spent my time spell-checking, editing and posting my blog entry. I truly felt like I was on a hamster wheel in the town of Aggravation, New Mexico. Inane error messages such as “that account does not exist” to “username and password do not match” to “reclaim your old blogger account” did not help. I wish it had said “Hey, not that Gmail account but the other one - you know, the one where you quickly created a gmail account to access something and promptly forgot about it.”
Personally, I try to keep track of five different email accounts.
2 Yahoo! Accounts: one I use to teach an email class and one I used to use as football team mom
1 Verizon email: this is my main email account for family
1 work email: use it at work
1 college email: Where all correspondence from my school ends up
All have different passwords. At work, we have easily over 40 usernames and passwords to provide online access for different sources such as the New York Times subscription to Interlibrary Loan to our new payroll system which forces us to change our password EVERY MONTH.
All these passwords and accounts cause needless confusion and eat up valuable work time. Currently I am researching using Meebo for our instant messaging “Chat with a Reference Librarian”. I needed to set up new 5 different messaging clients (AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ) to test it out. No problem except that another librarian thought I had reset the AOL password and delayed replying to email questions over the weekend because she did not think she could use AOL. AOL blocks as spam all emails from our library so we have to answer patrons’ questions using a special AOL account.
I am going to answer my initial question. How many is too many? When you can not remember them all.
Personally, I try to keep track of five different email accounts.
2 Yahoo! Accounts: one I use to teach an email class and one I used to use as football team mom
1 Verizon email: this is my main email account for family
1 work email: use it at work
1 college email: Where all correspondence from my school ends up
All have different passwords. At work, we have easily over 40 usernames and passwords to provide online access for different sources such as the New York Times subscription to Interlibrary Loan to our new payroll system which forces us to change our password EVERY MONTH.
All these passwords and accounts cause needless confusion and eat up valuable work time. Currently I am researching using Meebo for our instant messaging “Chat with a Reference Librarian”. I needed to set up new 5 different messaging clients (AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ) to test it out. No problem except that another librarian thought I had reset the AOL password and delayed replying to email questions over the weekend because she did not think she could use AOL. AOL blocks as spam all emails from our library so we have to answer patrons’ questions using a special AOL account.
I am going to answer my initial question. How many is too many? When you can not remember them all.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Blogs, the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
My initial experiences with a blog was bad and ugly. A former (notice I wrote former) coworker, who was a recent SLIS graduate decided to blog about his experiences as a new librarian. This was a good idea. He described actual events and individuals in a very negative and arguably, a unprofessional way while working at the Reference Desk. This was a bad, bad, bad idea.
Based on the above second hand experience, I was not thrilled last fall when I had to create a blog as a class project. I detailed a vacation to the National Shrimp Festival. My in-laws still look at it, to simply watch the video or recall the good times. At that time, blogger was having problems with uploading of videos so after much frustration and over 20 attempts, I used VideoEgg to imbed my videos. The posts had to be interactive and things went smoothly after I got the videos uploaded. This was good.
For the past couple of years, I have been reading articles about Library 2.0 and making patrons feel more connected to their libraries. This is a worthwhile premise however I still prefer in person conversation over IM, reading a fiction book over a stranger's online journal and the real world over Second Life. I worked in our computer lab for more than a year and see too many patrons devoting way too much energy to "looking for love in all the wrong places" or ignoring their kids while updating their MySpace account. As I talk with coworkers, I tell them that these applications simply are tools, which when used in appropriate manner can be extremely beneficial. It is truly a case of too much of anything can be harmful.
Also, why do we think we need to come up with clever names for our posts. I enjoy trying to be clever however I do not think I have ever seen a blog with titles: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3.
Based on the above second hand experience, I was not thrilled last fall when I had to create a blog as a class project. I detailed a vacation to the National Shrimp Festival. My in-laws still look at it, to simply watch the video or recall the good times. At that time, blogger was having problems with uploading of videos so after much frustration and over 20 attempts, I used VideoEgg to imbed my videos. The posts had to be interactive and things went smoothly after I got the videos uploaded. This was good.
For the past couple of years, I have been reading articles about Library 2.0 and making patrons feel more connected to their libraries. This is a worthwhile premise however I still prefer in person conversation over IM, reading a fiction book over a stranger's online journal and the real world over Second Life. I worked in our computer lab for more than a year and see too many patrons devoting way too much energy to "looking for love in all the wrong places" or ignoring their kids while updating their MySpace account. As I talk with coworkers, I tell them that these applications simply are tools, which when used in appropriate manner can be extremely beneficial. It is truly a case of too much of anything can be harmful.
Also, why do we think we need to come up with clever names for our posts. I enjoy trying to be clever however I do not think I have ever seen a blog with titles: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3.
Don't Reinvent the Wheel
LISZEN - a search engine of over 700 library blogs.
When you click on List of Blogs, you actually end up at a wiki. It is interesting to see what other libraries are doing.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
