Grace Notes

iHCPL #57: Texting

2009-04-27T16:24:00.002-05:00

Well, I have to say that I am not in love with Texting, but then I'm not really a phone person in general. I can text and have done so - I certainly find it easier with a QWERTY keyboard on my phone.

1. Yes, I have sent a few text messages. I can do it on a standard phone as well as using a QWERTY keyboard.
2. During Ike, I did send and receive several text messages.
3. I use some text lingo - it is easier. I had one phone where I tried to text message and it tried to be overly helpful in "predicting" words I was going to use. I finally gave up because it wouldn't let me type what I wanted.
4. I have never texted while I was driving and don't plan to do so. I think it would be impossible to drive and text at the same time. I know there are people who do it, but frankly I think they're an accident waiting to happen.

iHCPL #56: Twitter

2009-04-27T16:12:00.002-05:00

To Tweet or not to tweet, that is the post. I joined Twitter about a month ago. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I am currently following about 8 or 9 people (actually, it's apparently 18 - LOL & I have 9 people following me, which is weird) including people I know as well as a couple of celebrities. I do like Wil Wheaton and get a kick out of sockington - a cat who twitters. I'm just not sure if I totally enjoy having yet another thing to follow.

I mostly installed it as an easy way to update my Facebook status (I linked my Twitter to Facebook). I also installed the Add on for Firefox called TwitterFox. That certainly makes it easy to follow people as I have a little "T" at the bottom of my Firefox browser letting me know if there are any new Tweets.

1. I don't know if I have a particular topic I want to tweet about. I generally just do a status update. I am still exploring how I am going to use Twitter.
2. I tried a couple of different searches - Vampire Fiction and Wood Turning and didn't really see anything that popped out. Right now, I will probably continue to find people I want to follow by looking for references from other people.

iHCPL #55: Facebook

2009-04-27T16:04:00.002-05:00

Well, since I wrote this post, I'm just going to go through the exercises.

1. I've had a Facebook account since we did social networking back in the original iHCPL.
2. At this point, I have 100+ friends. I actually just added a friend yesterday that someone had suggested to me. I do regularly review suggestions, although some of them can be odd (e.g. I have NO desire to be "friends" with Mayor Bill White)
3. I've become much more selective recently in adding applications. My favorites are: My Fairyland, Vampire Wars, Mousehunt, Pet Pupz, and Cute Catz. Since Facebook's redesign, I have come to hate applications that post multiple times to the home page. For example, Peeps was really bad about this.
4. I have recently reduced my use of Facebook. I used to be on all the time. Now, I am usually on for a little while when I get home to play with my favorite apps and check in with my friends. Then I'm off.

Overall, I love Facebook. It's let me connect and reconnect with a variety of different people from all aspects of my life from Elementary School up through HCPL folks. Very cool.

iHCPL #54: Social Networking Through Books

2009-02-24T22:23:00.002-06:00

Post

First, a disclaimer. I wrote most of this post, so I'm already very familiar with social networking with books.

Exercise #1: I've never been a member of a book club - in person. I'm intrigued by the possibility of joining an in-person book club, I'm just not sure if I'd like "forced" reading of specific titles. On the other hand, it would probably be good for me to stretch my reading choices a bit.

Exercise #2: Well, if I'm going to implement a book club, it's going to be online. From our experience with the teen book club online, I'm a bit cautious about starting one. However, I think if we try a general book discussion, that might be better. On The Gargoyle theme, I found a discussion guide on Reading Group Choices.

Exercise #3: Well, we'll go ahead and end with The Gargoyle again. On LibraryThing it has an average rating of 4.14/5 (with 716 members having it in their collection).
On Visual bookshelf on Facebook, the average rating is 4/5 with 539 reviews.
For good measure, I also checked Good Reads (4.05/5) and Shelfari (4/5 from the community).

A point of interest, LibraryThing, Shelfari, and Visual Bookshelf all offered similar titles. LibraryThing and Shelfari both had excellent suggestions. Visual Bookshelf's suggestions weren't very good. I couldn't find anything on Good Reads that offered similar books.

I'm personally a big fan of LibraryThing and Visual Bookshelf. I like the first to catalog my books (what can I say, I am a librarian) and have a lifetime membership. I like the second because I connect to my friends who read and can see what they're reading and it's a part of a service I actively use. I do have accounts at both Good Reads and Shelfari but don't use them very often, although I may have to do more with Shelfari after the suggestions I found.

iHCPL #53: Finding Books Online

2009-02-24T22:09:00.002-06:00

Post

Exercise #1: I wasn't overly impressed with the Houston.com search, so I went to my tried and true local search, Yahoo Maps. You can plug in your location and then search for nearby businesses. Searching around Admin doesn't bring up much - except for the Half Price Books warehouse nearby. The other stores are college oriented. When I expand the map out, I come up with more possibilities including Half Price Books in Rice Village. While they have an online presence, there really isn't an online search - there's a link to an Amazon search from the site.

Exercise #2: Well, I went to Amazon and found The Gargoyle in a variety of editions including for the Kindle and used editions. Having listened to this, I know it's available on CD and as a download from the Digital Media Catalog.

Exercise #3: I've tried eBooks, they just don't appeal to me. I look at the computer too much every day - at work and at home - to want to read a book online. I did find reading one on the Sony eReader was a bit more appealing and I'll be interested to see what it's like on the Kindle. The screens are not as tiring.

iHCPL #52: What to Read

2009-02-24T21:05:00.002-06:00

Post

Exercise #1 - I'm using The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, a recent favorite for my search.

In Novelist Plus, I did the find similar books search using all of the subject terms. The first four suggestions are:
- A Road through the Mountains by Elizabeth McGregor
- Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller
- The Truth of the Matter by Robb Forman Dew
- Dante's Daughter by Kimberley Heuston

Of the four, the last one sounds somewhat promising, but none of the descriptions really stood out as being what I liked from the book.

I next tried What Should I Read Next?. The first four suggestions here are:
- Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
- The Reluctant Widow - Georgette Heyer
- Lucia Victrix: Mapp and Lucia; Lucia's Progress; Trouble for Lucia - E.F. Benson
- The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van - Alan Bennett

Again, none of these really strikes me as terribly similar in plot, theme, or feel to The Gargoyle, although from the Amazon.com description of The Clothes They Stoop Up In, that is probably the most likely similar title.

I didn't have any luck with either Fiction_L or Library Booklists as there was nothing specific to the author or title. So, I decided to try a tried and true method for me - a Google search on the title (or author) and readalike (or read-a-like). Through this, I found a Book Discussion Guide that included further reading. The first four suggestions are:
- The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
- The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke

Of the four, I have only read (listened) to Jonathan Strange. I have seen the movie of The Name of the Rose and know of The Time Traveler's Wife. All three of these strike me as similar to The Gargoyle.

Exercise # 2: I'm trying Library Booklists for this one, specifically the Children's Lists. For our fourth grade girl:

I first go to Books Featuring Animals
Next, because I don't know if she wants a particular animal, I choose Animals (General)
There are a number of book lists to choose from, but the first one looks very promising as it breaks the books down by grade level, so I go to YouthLink - Animal Booklist for Grades 3 & 4. I especially like that the list includes both fiction and nonfiction titles. The two I'll choose are: Wackiest White House Pets by Kathryn Davis & Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine.

For her brother, since he's going to be more likely to read in the YA, I went to the YA Booklists

So, I clicked on Horror Fiction/Scary Stories
I scrolled through them and found a couple that had ghost stories.
The first I clicked on was a broken link, as was the second - and third. So, I moved on to Novelist.
In Novelist, I clicked on Recommended Reads under Teens
Then clicked on Horror, then Ghosts. I pick: Kit's Wilderness by David Almond (this sounds perfect as the protagonist is 13) and Storm Catchers by Tim Bowler.

Exercise #3: Well I love Dean Koontz, so this is a good one for me.
From Novelist (Since I'm there from the previous exercise):
I go to Author Read-a-Likes under Adult, as I've used this before and it's a great resource. I like that they are choosy about who they recommend as a read-a-like and it's centered on the author, not just a specific title.

Robert McCammon (specifically Boy's Life) - I really agree with this recommendation.
Dan Simmons
Greg Bear (specifically Darwin's Radio & Vitals)

I then tried Library Booklists, which pointed me to If You Like Dean Koontz
They had the above author's listed as well as several others including Peter Straub and Relic by Lincoln/Child

Exercise #4: The Alanna Series in Order using the What's Next Database

Alanna: The First Adventure
In the Hand of the Goddess
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
Lioness Rampant

iHCPL #48 - Check it Out!

2008-10-31T16:32:00.002-05:00

I don't know that there's much to say about this one. As the eBranch, we tend to be the posters of the videos rather than producers. I would like to see more videos produced as I think it's a good promotional tool.

iHCPL #47 - Video Challenge

2008-10-15T17:12:00.000-05:00

Ta Da...my very cute dogs star in a romance

iHCPL #46 - Movie Maker Basics

2008-10-15T12:01:00.003-05:00

OK, so we've gotten an overview of making a video - and I even made a music video with Animoto, now on to (Windows) Movie Maker Basics.

So, I found so videos of my dogs I shot when we were doing one of the videos for iHCPL. Beth's video is here. I'm going to see what I can create from the raw footage, since it's available, and I love my dogs!

So, it wasn't too bad creating the video. I used several pieces of footage that we shot for the original iHCPL, added my transitions, found some music on CNET, and saved my file. The hardest part was finding music that worked with my video. I suspect that for a library oriented video - of say a program - it wouldn't be quite so hard, but I just couldn't find something I liked. I just don't think that video is my medium for creativity.

Now to figure out uploading to YouTube!

iHCPL #45 - Making a Video

2008-10-15T10:55:00.004-05:00

So, I'm going to do the video module. This is the first post on Making a Video. OK, this is a nice easy start. I've used Windows Movie Maker a bit in doing stuff for the eBranch. It's pretty easy to use, but not super easy. Animoto we used during the original iHCPL for one of the "computer's down - we need a break" free exercises and that was LOTS of fun.

The Flip camera's are easy to use, although I don't like that they add an ad for the Flip at the end of your video. I've used a regular camera to film a video and that's probably the easiest. I haven't tried one of the newer digital camcorders, but hope to sometime soon.

Just for fun, I also did an Animoto video - of some of my wedding photos. It's a fun and easy way to create a short music video - plus I can share it with my friends and family, even though they've seen the pictures already.

Another Library Takes Learning 2.0 to the People

2008-05-30T10:25:00.003-05:00

In a recent post on Tame the Web, Michael Stephens talks about a new series of online programs at Arlington Heights Memorial Library to help the public understand Web 2.0.

At HCPL, when we did our iHCPL program last fall, we ran a simultaneous version of the program for customers. When we did the original program we staggered the customer posts three weeks behind staff posts - in case customers had questions, staff would be a bit ahead. It ended up not being very necessary, so when we started iHCPL: The Next Generation in February, we offered it up at the same time to the public. Both are offered on the front of our website.

Facebook Actualized

2008-05-02T14:13:00.002-05:00

I feel this way about Facebook a lot of the time. It's a love/hate relationship.

Link via Library Garden.

iHCPL - Next Gen Spring Cleaning #30 Take a Load Off

2008-04-16T17:09:00.002-05:00

Clean up those files - we're overloaded. That's the basic message of item #30.

Hi, my name is Grace - Hi Grace! - and I have a LOT of files. File management is a never ending journey for me. Because I work with a lot of images, I tend to have really BIG files, which causes all sort of problems. So, I have a multi-tiered approach to file management. I keep active files in my Z drive and stuff I need to get to frequently. The eBranch has a shared drive for files we all use, for example the various logo files and the banners we create for the front of the website. I don't use the S drive much, only if I'm getting or receiving a big file, although lately much of that is done through YouSendIt, which is easier.

When I'm done with files, for example posters, I burn the original files to a CD and get it off my computer. So, I also have a lot of CDs. Finally, I do actually use my C drive; I have to, that's where the GIS (Graphical Information System, i.e. mapping) files are, which are absolutely HUGE.

I do have a pretty good filing system and go through my files on a fairly regular basis. If I didn't, I'd never find anything.

iHCPL - Next Gen Spring Cleaning #29 Email

2008-04-16T17:01:00.002-05:00

So, we're looking at email in this exercise. I'm actually pretty good about keeping my email box clean. I have a good folder system set up. I subscribe to several mailing lists and they go directly into folders where I can quickly scan for topics I want to read and delete the rest. I do this in my work and personal accounts (I have one on Yahoo and one on Gmail). Several weeks back - I'm just writing this up now - I went through my folders and deleted stuff that I didn't need.

One thing I've found really useful in Outlook and in Yahoo (my primary personal account) is to use the flagging system for emails I need to get back to.

10 Questions Every Blogger Should Ask Before Posting

2008-04-16T15:20:00.002-05:00

Great post at CopyBlogger that every blogger should read. I particularly have problems with #5 "Does my content speak to people on a human level," especially when I'm writing a post for the library blog. This is the exact point that LibrarianInBlack mentions in her link to this post.

Make Your Own Biosphere

2008-04-16T11:58:00.002-05:00

I have looked at little biospheres in catalogs for several years now and thought how cool it would be to have one, but they're really expensive. So today, Boing Boing had a post linking to this video on how to make your own - how cool is that?

CIL2008: Final Thoughts

2008-04-10T21:36:00.002-05:00

Overall, what a great conference. I really like the Information Today conferences - they do a great job of putting on something that is useful and practical. I'm still processing all of the stuff I heard, but I already have some thoughts and ideas and some tools to try.

Our website need to be interactive and have staff and user input. Let our users market the library and give them and our staff a voice. People WANT to contribute.
We need to explore social tools for our website.
We need to take the website to the user on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube. Also give them widgets, toolbars, etc.
Drupal looks like the right way to go.
Need to see about getting some folks together to brainstorm about the website.
Gaming is changing the way people view things. It's possible to bring the virtual and real worlds together - if you work at it.
There are a lot of tools to help make it easier to put content on your website (I already knew this, but it was reiterated.
I went to the Gaming and Gadgets petting zoo Sunday night. I want Guitar Hero!

Top tools to try:

I signed up for Google Webmaster Tools, now to explore.
Commons.wikimedia.org - icons
Kuler (see also: 25 Online Color Generators
Conduit.com (see also: LibX)
Yahoo Pipes

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but while it's not a big list of ideas and tools, it'll be a lot to work with.

This is the first time I've blogged my notes (I take written notes at the conference) from a conference. I've found it very useful - for me - as a way to process the sessions I've attended and to share the information with colleagues. As I've been doing this, I've realized that we aren't always great about sharing the information we get at a conference. Obviously, it doesn't always apply to everyone, but I wonder how we could improve on that?

CIL2008: Web Manager's Academy Preconference

2008-04-10T19:47:00.003-05:00

I'm just getting around to posting about the great pre-conference I attended on Sunday presented by Darlene Fichter, Frank Cervone, Jeff Wisniewski, & Marshall Breeding. In 6 hours we learned about a variety of topics relating to redesign, which is what we're about to do at HCPL, so this was a great refresher.

One of the first things they asked us to do was write down as a table what we wanted to learn. Darlene Fichter put it up as a tag cloud - what a great use of web 2.0.

To Ponder: 25 Questions to Ask Your Leadership Team & Yourself - Are We Ready for the Web 2.0 Digital Age? - Based on a post on Tame The Web.

Main points:

The library web presence is bigger than your website
Make sure you're looking at your usage statistics to see what people want
When planning a redesign, use SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
Set up a redesign committee - While I think it's helpful to get input, I like what Seth Godin had to say about creating a great website - #1 Fire the Committee
To maximize web 2.0, blogs have to embrace participation by: writing in a conversational tone, inviting participation, accepting comments, participating in the conversation in a timely fashion
We're great at content, but web users are fairly superficial. Websites need to be aesthetically pleasing. It's hard, if not impossible to recover from a negative impression.
Most users come to a site to perform specific tasks, so emphasize the highest priority tasks so that users have a clear starting point.
Generally, you should only have 7 +/- 2 categories at the top.
Use a flexible vs. a fixed design, where possible.
The web safe palette is dead - be as colorful as you want
Don't look at library sites for ideas, look at where your users are going - Amazon, Home Depot...
Rather than a revolutionary change, build for evolution. Try A/B testing - Amazon.com does this a lot.
Accessibility is critical for core content, BUT value added content doesn't HAVE to be supported by all browsers.

People have a tendency to never look at a slim rectangular area that's above the page's main headline - Jacob Nielsen

While important content still needs to be above the fold, users will scroll to the bottom.
Jakob's Law: "Users spend most of their time on other sites that your site" - Jakob Nielsen

What are they experiencing?

Highly visual
Highly personalized
Highly interactive
User generated

Simpler is NOT always better. Amazon experiments using A/B testing. They tested a page by removing extra features. They added them back when sales went down.
Design for scent. Users will drill down if they feel like they're getting somewhere. You don't have to stick to the 3 click rule anymore.

A few cool tools:

Frogreview.com - Hysterical usability videos
CMS Matrix - Find a CMS by function
Google Analytics - Install code on site to track (for free) usage and other web analytics.
Yahoo User Pattern Library - Optimal solutions to common problems.
Google Webmaster Tools - OMG! Why haven't I seen this before.
Sitemap.org - Info on creating site maps.

Some ideas:

Add a Flickr group for HCPL to let customers submit photos
Google has suggestions by drop down. Use in search boxes for electronic journals, etc.

CIL2008: What's Hot in RSS & Social Software?

2008-04-10T19:12:00.003-05:00

Presented by Steven M. Cohen

Links up at PBwiki, so I'm only going to highlight the sites I found particularly interesting:

Google Reader lets you share items to which people can subscribe & has a mobile version.
Libworm.com - Search the Library blogosphere
Aiderss.com - Gives statistics on your blog, can analyze your .opm file to show you which of your feeds is most popular.
Citebite.com- Link directly to quotes in websites. A similar service is Fleck.com.

CIL2008: Giving Your Marketing & Advocacy a Second Life

2008-04-10T18:51:00.004-05:00

Presented by Nancy Dowd & Paula Battakas

The presentation ~~will be posted on Dowd's blog at some point~~ is now available. Unfortunately, while very stylish, the PowerPoint was extremely difficult to follow due to a small font and the use of red on black background. The presenters also went through the presentation quickly.

Added:

| View | Upload your own

A few points:
Old school is afraid of transparency.
New media demands transparency

Cool example - NYPL Labs - Public lab of new technologies they're testing. LOVE THIS. One of their ideas is a suggestion box, a la My Starbucks Idea (Dell now has Ideastorm.com)

Photoshop Express has great language: Tell us what you like, dispise, what put you to sleep

Make your own Got Milk Poster (can't find the example) - What can we do like this?

Mid York Public Library's Regional Read blog discussions were lead by community members!

CIL2008: Innovative Marketing Using 2.0 Tools

2008-04-10T18:24:00.003-05:00

Presented by Michael Porter & Helene Blowers

| View | Upload your own

~~This looks like an earlier version of the presentation, but looks it has most of the content.~~ Updated to correct slide show. Some of the main points:

The old paradigm was to control the look and feel of the brand.

The n ew paradigm is to influence the character and portability of the brand. An example was Chick-fil-a's Show Us the Cow promotion. Could we do something like this - show us the iStar?

Turn the marketing over to the people.

Examples:

Allen County Public Library - Community album, participated in A Day in the Life of Allen County. Could we do something like this - a day in the life of Harris County?
Libraries & Librarians Flickr group; 365 library days project - great place to get marketing ideas.
San Mateo County Library - ads across the top for Flickr & MySpace
Hennepin County Bookspace - Submit a Photo of yourself reading Harry Potter

Use the Flickr API to upload photos to Flickr. Note included disclaimer that the user agrees to when submitting the photo.

PLCMC Foto Fun - Used Big Huge Labs Flickr Fun application to get users to submit motivational posters.
Denver PL How I had Fun in the Library YouTube contest
Louisville PL - A Library Champion Lives Here - Real & virtual meet

Take whatever tools work for you and market your library.
It's not about us, it's about the community
We're about stories, but we're terrible at telling ours
When you showcase public contributions THEY spread the word

8 Steps to Marketing 2.0

Educate - Learn about social media
Experience - participate & join the conversation
Envision - Develop a 2.0 marketing plan
Engage - Create social celebrations; focus on customer/community
Enable - Help your library brand & content to travel (widgets, toolbars)
Expand - Play with multimedia
Explore - Learn as you go & track success
EXPERIMENT

Always remember, the best way to get customers to market your brand is to let them market themselves

CIL2008: Tech Tools for Effectively Managing Information

2008-04-09T20:39:00.004-05:00

Speakers: Roger Skalbeck & Barbara Fullerton

Interesting experimental presentation style. Rather than a PowerPoint, the presenters had several plain slides with links to screencasts of the sites/software they were discussing. While there were some technical glitches, overall it was an interesting way of presenting. Biggest issue is they started running short on time.

All the links are on the CIL2008 Wiki, so I'll only highlight the ones I thought looked especially interesting.

SendMeRss - Get RSS feeds by email. Has a widget that can be added to a site. Interesting
Kuler (see also: 25 Online Color Generators) - Get color inspiration from Adobe. Has a desktop application as well. Use to create palettes. Can download swatch file for Dreamweaver.
Conduit.com (see also: LibX) - Use to create a toolbar. Might be worth checking out as a replacement for HCPL toolbar, which has some issues with anti-virus software. Gives statistics on use. Automatic updates.
PonyFish - Create feeds for a site that doesn't have RSS. limited to 5 sites for free.
Firebug - Firefox extension that lets you test different colors and fonts on your website.
Scribefire (see also: WIndows LiveWriter, Qumana) - Firefox extension that lets you publish to multiple blogs.
GifUP - They didn't get a chance to say much about this. The site say it's a GIF animator and Avatar generator. Something to look at more.
TechCrunch and Adobe Media Player (see also: VLC Media Player) - Watch YouTube videos offline

CIL2008: Gaming, Learning & the Information World

2008-04-09T20:16:00.002-05:00

Day 3 keynote by Elizabeth Lane Lawley

Keys to Happiness

Satisfying Work to do
Experience of being good at something
Time spent with people we like
The chance to be part of something bigger

Are you in the happiness business?
Maybe not yet, but you will be

In terms of perceived quality of life - virtuality is beating reality

Showed a clip of "A Spoon Full of Sugar" from Mary Poppins. Make it fun

In gaming, people willingly do repetitive tasks because they get rewarded through points, recognition, etc.

Putting the Fun in Functional

Collecting
Points
Feedback
Exchanges
Customization

New term - Productive Play

How can we harness the power of gaming?

Games that blur the boundaries:

Chore wars - do chores in real life to get points online for look in the real world
Seriosity's Attent - Company gives each person "money" called Serios that they can spend on email. Makes people think before sending email.
Social Genius (URL not working) - Matching game to help people learn to recognize the people they work with. Get points for the more people you know. - This could be great for branches and the system as a whole to learn who they work with.
Passively Multiplayer Online Gaming - Currently in beta, users download a Firefox extension that gets them points as they surf the web. They can use the points for armor, etc. How can library's use? - Users can create missions (i.e. PATHFINDERS!) to guide people through the web. Something to watch and maybe try out.

Games as gateway drugs (good thing)

Guitar Hero is encouraging many people to learn the guitar - for real
Online Rebound - People going from real to virtual and back again. E.g. - Taking picture, uploading to Flickr, then ordering cards from moo.com
Etsy.com - People selling handcrafts online

How does your library make people feel happy, playful & productive?

Bring the virtual back intot he real and make tangible connections.

Libraries as happiness engines.

CIL2008: Leading Technology in Libraries

2008-04-08T22:00:00.003-05:00

Presented by Gina Millsap, Executive Director & David Lee King, Digital Branch Manager of Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Barriers:

Money
Don't Know
Fad
No Time
No Staff
Overwhelmed
Afraid
Questions

Need to be sure we're not one of the barriers. Are you walking the talk?

Library Director 2.0

Less hierarchy
Trust staff
Transparancy
Involve all levels of staff
Explain decisions

Organization is structured for quick decisions & implementation
Train staff
Allow play time
Listen
Offer structures for feedback

Library Director 2.1
(10% of Gina's time is spent on fund raising)

Make Customer Service Job 1
Don't assume you know what's important to customers
If money isn't there, seek other resources
Organize around the work - define tasks then organize around them; avoid one size fits all
Experiment - do pilot projects
Treat staff as customers; they'll then treat the customers well
Build your leadership team
Understand the context
Data based decision making

Two NOs

No Turf
No passive aggressive behavior - handled by holding feat to fire; talk to the person you have the problem with

It's about people NOT stuff

Ask the right questions:
When Gina came in she met with all senior management individually (~24 people) & focus groups of staff (staff ~ 250) and asked for input, then aggregated information into organizational priorities

What are the top 5 things we need to preserve & why?
Top 3 things to change & why?
What makes you feel valued?
What do you want me to do as director?
What are you concerned I'll do?

need to reprioritize what staff are doing
May require scheduling
If it's fundamental - treat it that way

Making Time for Web 2.0

Why make time?

Be relevant to the next generation
Teach the current generation
Teach them how to subscribe to your library
Save time
Patrons want to participate
Be a community leader
Land a cool job

How do I make time for 2.0?

Change focus
Schedule your time
Remember to play
Grant time to staff
Don't ask staff for input if you're not going to use it

Job descriptions for all staff now say they will participate in the digital branch through blogging (librarians only) although it's open to all staff.

As an aside, David said that he went out and asked staff how they want to participate in web 2.0 and that was used to add new options (blogging, flickr, etc.), which has now been incorporated into job descriptions

Kouzes & Posner's leadership practices have been incorporated into performance reviews

CIL2008: Libraries as Laboratories for Innovation

2008-04-08T21:46:00.002-05:00

Presenters:: Matt Gullett (PLCMC) & Greg Schwartz (Louisville Public Library)

Virtual Village @ PLCMC

Create rich & different atmosphere
Play music & run content on screens

videos
Flickr slides
Patron spotlight - photo/image/avatar & customer's favorites

Create new experiences for people at the library
The library being more
Discovery Service Desk

Sit on stools to be at eye level
Main service area has 80-100 computers
Plasma screens with content

Try to be more interactive with folks coming into space
Play background music to help control volume in area
Discovery desk is round. One side will be used for informal instruction
Experimental Game lab
Learning Lab
Media lab

Greg @ Louisville

Library think tank developed new design ideas - The Louisville Project: A Design Charrette
Four people were selected to "do great things"

not where they want to be

Rather than broad thinking right now they're focusing on efficiency due to budget cuts

They are doing beta testing - handing out new technologies to customers who apply for testing & a conversation
LFPL University using open courseware

How to make it work:

Need talent - use it in creative & thoughtful ways
Time & space - hard to be creative amongst day to day activities
Support from admin - resources, space to operate, organizational architecture, commitment: willingness to say yes or at least maybe

CIL2008: Facebook Apps & Libraries' Friendly Future

2008-04-08T21:20:00.003-05:00

Presenters: Laurie Bridges & Cliff Landis

| View | Upload your own

Some key points:

More popular than Google
Social networking is more popular among women
58 million active users; 1/2 return daily
#5 most popular site in the US
55% of teens use social networking
Stickiest website in the world: the average users spends 20 minutes on the site & visits 32 pages
Question: How can we make HCPL site stickier?
How do we get more fans for HCPL Facebook page? - Cool! We have 4 new fans since I last checked!
Dunbars number: The number of people you can maintain a stable relationship with. Facebook lets us keep up more relationships
Need a way for users to write comments, rate & INTERACT
Library catalogs are social networks for ideas. people WANT to interact, but they can't find out how on a library site.
Social Network definition: has a profile, friending, public comments (Danah Boyd)
The Line between social space & intellectual space isn't blurring. It was never there in the first place
It's never a mistake to give users more options
Let the users interact with the library;Create a users centered library; Let them interact with each other

How to not be left behind:

Talk to users & find out what THEY want
Use the tools they are using
Broadcast what you're doing
"Earn your audience" - deliver useful & interesting content that users don't have time to jump through hoops for.

CIL2008: Drupal & Libraries

2008-04-08T20:57:00.002-05:00

Speaker: Ellyssa Kroski

This helped make my decision about Drupal for HCPL. This was a great presentation on Drupal.

| View | Upload your own

Several good points:
"Nearly core" Modules:

Organic Groups
CCK
Views

Ideas: Could perhaps build multi-site system including Intranet?

Several library installations that sound interesting:

UAA/APU - Multi-site: 3 sites on one code base & one database
Franklin Park Public Library - Built by 1 person in 2 1/2 months
Simon Fraser University - Used the Events Module
Red Deer Public Library- Has a "Just testing section" on their Intranet to test new modules
UAF Libraries - Created a DVD browser that pulls together DVD search results & IMDB cover art. Also has Top Clicks using the Taxonomy & tag cloud modules
Hoover Public Library - uses the Captcha module. Has several microsites with different themes
Cleveland Public Library - Uses Multi-site search module; customized the events module

Trends:

Distribute management of website content
Empower staff/customers
Do multiple projects
Present new views of content
Staff Intranets

Top 5 Modules for libraries:

Bibliography Module
Marc Record
Book Review Modules
Millennium (III)
Z39.50 Search

LDAP Module for auto authentication within a library for an Intranet.

To remove a posters name from a page, create a new node type without name.

CIL2008: Mashups for Non-technies

2008-04-08T20:48:00.003-05:00

Speaker: Jody Condit Fagan

Great presentation on the use of Yahoo Pipes to create mash-ups of rss data. Since the presentation is online - http://cil2008.pbwiki.com/f/Mashups+for+the+Nontechies_Final.ppt - on the CIL2008 Wiki, along with additional material from Jody, I'll just mention some key points.

No programming involved - just plug in information
Mashup information with a map, so the feed has a map
Idea: Combine RSS of Events feeds with a map?
Website is built for new users
Idea: Use pipes to create search boxes?
Pipe output can be read in any reader
Use RSS to Javascript to convert to HTML for website
Copy anyone else's pipe & modify - browse popular pipes
Get Amazon account for web development use - data sent by XML which can be manipulated
Can use Google mash-up editor along with Yahoo Pipes

CIL2008: User Generated Content

2008-04-08T20:30:00.003-05:00

Speaker: Roy Tennant

Focus on library managed sites
Definition: Content = photos, movies, documents
Descriptive Content = tags, descriptions, ratings, reviews
More (decent) content is better
more access is better
Can help provide more personalized service?
Foster interaction and community

"We don't know everything" - Farcas

Examples:

kete.net.nz - public repository of content; a story of community told by it's people
hhpl.on.ca/greatlakes/glimages - asking community for help in identification
Worldcat - add to it, rate & review (why can't we do this?)
LC on Flickr - tagging

higher profile for the collections - they went where the users are
Community engagement
Got 11,000 contacts
Exploit the knowledge of the masses

Boston Public Library also now on Flickr
steve.museum - museum social tagging project

What to know:

Our idea of "content" may not be theirs.
It'll be messy, but that's mostly OK
There are ways to increase effectiveness through intelligent usage

Issues:

What are your goals?
Are you set up appropriately to meet those goals?
Are there strategies to maximize the benefit?
How to distinguish between user and library content
Will you need to moderate?
Is the impact worth the investment?

User engagement is a good thing
Need to get up to speed on fostering engagement
Get savvy about using this stuff effectively

CIL2008: Widgets, Tools & Doodads

2008-04-08T20:02:00.003-05:00

Awesome presentation from Frank Cervone & Darlene Fichter. They were part of the pre-conference I attended as well. Some really useful stuff here. See the presentation for all the tools.

| View | Upload your own

Some of my favorite suggestions are:

Feng-Gui - Alternative to eye-tracking
Browsershots - Get screenshots of your website in different browsers
Photoshop Express - Online free version of the great graphic package. I have the full Photoshop, but this would be great for our branch staff
Addthis.com - Create a bookmarking sharing button for your website
Google Gadgets - A variety of widgets for your site - mentioned Google Countdown: could be used to countdown to SRP or Staff Awards or...
Google Translate My Page - customizable
Anonymouse - Check if licensed resources are available to non-library users
Prism - For Firefox, opens a web application in it's own window separate from browser

And finally, the lolinator.com - transform your website!

As an aside, my LOL Name is Growla Cheezburger

CIL2008: Library Web Presence

2008-04-08T19:11:00.006-05:00

Speakers (Emily Rimland & Binky Lush) from Penn State University Libraries talked about doing a Research Jump Start page geared toward undergraduate students - primrarily incoming freshmen - who would be better served by something simpler than their main page.

They created several widgets for the page - and for use on external pages such as iGoogle, Netvibes, or Pageflakes using Widgetbox.

I like that the widgets can be put on student's own pages. Widgetbox also provides analytics. While it offers widget creation for Facebook, it does not offer Facebooks social aspects.

The other speakers (Kristina DeVoe & Derik Badman) were from Temple University Libraries discussing their implementation of the LibGuides product from Springshare. It offers an easy out of the box solution for staff to create interactive, modular subject guides. I've looked at Springshare a bit and will be investigating further, although it may not be necessary with the upcoming Drupal installation.

Temple's Guides

Other guide creation options were mentioned:
MyLibrary
SubjectsPlus
LibData
ResearchGuide
LibCourseBuilder
Social Bookmarking
Wikis

Presentation at MadInkBeard

CIL2008: Fast & Easy Site Tuneups

2008-04-07T22:21:00.005-05:00

Great tips from Jeff Wisniewski, from U. of Pitt. Presentation will be on CIL site - probably in a week or so. Most of the tips can be done in under 1 minute; at most 4-5. I've bolded the ones I really like.

Update your copyright automatically with a script
Add "last updated" script ot all pages
Add photos to contacts
Turn boring contact info into Hcards - use for individuals, branches, or services. A Dreamweaver plugin is also available.
Replace all instances of "click here". For example "Click here for info guides" becomes "Info guides are here"
Use Firefox extensions Tails & Operator
Harness the power of the 3 question survey - ask for email (and respond)
Don't make the server think: If a directory link, add the final slash
Web 2.0ifiy your logo - Web2.0 Stylr

Small chunks of sans-serif type
Cheery colors
Rounded corners

Be an Icon icon - be more graphic: Commons.wikimedia.org - icons
Need for speed - Install Firebug & Yslow in Firefox to test site speed
Cache the cache
Combine small images into an image map - Yahoo research has found this can make images load faster
Scripts:

Eliminate inline scripts on a page. Put them in a separate file and point to the file so it loads once
Exception: Your front page - put them inline, it will load faster

Tidy up your homepage. Validate with w3.org
Optimize your CSS Cleancss
Move important info out of the "blindness zone"
Search engine optimize page titles. Use page title analyzer from Google Webmaster Tools
Add labels to forms for accessibility
Use radio buttons & check boxes appropriately
Add social bookmarks links for "Add to X" - Social Bookmark Creator

CIL2008: Going Local in the Library

2008-04-07T21:57:00.004-05:00

Presented by: Charles Lyons (Added)

Google's mission:

Organize the world's information 7 make it universally accessible & useful

Look at Google Sky

Information on the Internet behaves differently whether it's local or global
Google is doing well with putting local results into general search results

Real potential of local web is something deeper
or more 2.0
or more hyper local

Local web

is diverse and includes search engines, maps, media, government data, blogs, social networks, and people
is social - user generated, participatory, amateur, civic, grass roots, and citizen journalism

The local web is the joining of the real world and the virtual world

Look at handmaps.org

Local web is bringing a sense of place to the internet - are libraries? Yes, but we can do better.

Create custom local search engines - mycommunityinfo.ca; Google Custom Search, Rollyo, Swicki
Local blogging: Placeblogger, Blogdigger, metblogs: Create a local blog directory; on library blogs talk about community events - Darien Community Matters, Fort Wayne Area Artists
Local News: Topix, Outside In, Your Street - Skokie Talk, Myhamilton.ca (Online communities as no libraries currently doing news solely) - We could use local news feeds on revised branch pages
Local wikis - Loudounpedia, WikiNorthia
Local Photos - geo tagging on Flickr. Subscribe to locally related tags. We already do good with Flickr, what can we do better - some ideas: create a HCPL Flickr group and let customers contribute photos. Ask branches to geo tag, which aids in mapping photos.
Maps: Yahoo Map Mixer, Google Maps, Metacarta
Create local guides: Guidespot, iNeighbors

CIL2008: Keynote - Lee Rainie

2008-04-07T21:21:00.004-05:00

Keynote was by Lee ~~Ranie~~ Rainie from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, who talked about some of the results of their studies on people's use of the Internet. Some thoughts from the program:

Added: Link to Presentation

Wireless connectivity is brining back email as an option for people
News - however a person defines it - is becoming more important to people

Have recently done research on how people are getting information to help solve problems that could have a government connection or be helped by government resources. This was not a general information study. Specifically asked about libraries. They found:

79.5% had at least one problem ~ 169 million adults
53% of adults had been to a library in the past year
Younger adults are more likely to visit the library:

62% Gen Y (18-30)
59% Gen X (31-42)
57% Trailing Boomers (43-52)
46% Leading Boomers (53-61)
42% Matures (62-71)

60% of online teens used the Internet at a library last year; up from 36% in 2000
There are no significant racial differences in library use - 53% each of blacks, whites & Hispanics used a library
What sources did people use?

58% - Internet
53% - Professionals
13% - Public library

Who turns to libraries for problem solving?

Young Adults (18-29) - 21%
Oldest - 15%
Blacks - 26%
Latinos - 22%
Lower Income <$40,000 - 17%

At the the library, they used:

69% consulted staff
68% used computers
38% of those that used comptuers got one on one instruction
58% sought reference material
42% used newspapers and magazines

64% said they felt successful using a library and 36% got lots of information; Internet was 63% and 55%; Government Agency was 65% and 49%
29% they would go to a library again if they had a problem

40% of lower income
41% Gen Y
41% less educated
42% Latinos
48% blacks
68% of regular library patrons

Hypothesis: Young people have had most recent experience @ libraries so they know we can help
Takeaways:

53% market share isn't bad, but there are other opportunities
Need public education about what we do and how we've changed
Focus on success stories
People who know you best are the ones who keep coming back
Patrons are heppy and some are zealous advocates

This is an era of consumer evangelists
Give them web 2.0 tools, training
Get feedback
Your un-patrons are primed to seek you out; keys to their patronage:

awareness of work
comfort in your environment
mentoring skills

Aspire to be a node in people's social networks
Ask yourself: How can I be a friend & fit into people's social networks
Offer your expertise in new literacies

iHCPL - Next Gen Spring Cleaning #28 - Ack! Clutter

2008-03-07T15:23:00.002-06:00

In our first exercise for Spring Cleaning - #28 - we're learning about general organization. I actually use some of the GTD principles already, especially with email. In email, I use my Inbox as a to-do list, I know not the best idea, but it works for me. I triage my email by doing quick replies when I can and flagging items I need to work on or need to get back to later. Things I need to keep go into folders.

As for to-do lists, I actually prefer the old fashioned note. I've recently started using a 3x5 card system, which works for me. I need to have my to-do items smack in front of me, which is why online systems haven't worked. I have fiddled around with some group online systems, but even those I don't really like.

Overall, I'm pretty organized electronically and in paper format. I do welcome this module, as it gives me an excuse to go through everything.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #27 - Be Your Own Radio Station

2008-03-07T15:17:00.002-06:00

I actually helped test this, so my Gabcast recordings are up on the right hand side of my blog. I found Gabcast extremely easy to use! Once my account was set up, all I had to do was phone it in. Now if I could just be interesting. I don't see myself getting into podcasting, it just doesn't interest me to do this. I don't subscribe to podcasts either. I'm a much more visual person, which is why I'm surprised at how much I like audio books.

Even though I am not a podcast fan, it doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people who are and I'm excited about some of the things we're going to try for the eBranch. One branch has already started podcasting and I hope more will try it. There are other things on the horizon with podcasting as well, which we'll hopefully reveal in the next few weeks.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #26 - To Make Sweet Music

2008-03-07T14:37:00.003-06:00

Could I compose music, exercise 26 challenged me to see if I could. I first tried out Splice and just couldn't figure it out, so I gave up. Next, I went on to JamStudio and had a blast. My creation, based on Beethoven's Ode to Joy can be found here. I was initially surprised that it was chords, although that makes sense, so what I bang out on the piano as single notes, became chords, but it actually sounds pretty nifty, if I do say so. I found JamStudio really easy to use, although it would probably help to have some music knowledge to use it.

I also looked at Qloud, which integrates with and creates a playlist for your Facebook page. I'll have to play with this a bit more as I didn't see many artists I liked in the first perusal, but it's an interesting concept.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #25 - To Burn or Not To Burn

2008-02-26T12:23:00.002-06:00

So in exercise #25, we need to burn a CD. TO be honest, I'm having technical difficulties with Windows Media Player right now, but have burned CDs in the past. Usually, it's very easy to burn a CD - you just insert a CD, and select what you want to put on it and voila, you have a CD.

I just don't use CDs anymore if I have a choice. In the car, for audio books, I prefer an MP3 player because you don't get skipping (usually), which sometimes happens with CDs. If I'm listening to music at work, I much prefer an MP3 player - or an online play list to CDs or radio.

As to music online, I think open access (with some limitations) is preferred. For example, Songza, which I mentioned in my last post lets you find music and listen to it online. In my case, I own some of the music I'm listening to and I might find other things I like. If I like it enough, I'm going to buy a copy for myself. It's a case of try before you buy. Several studies have shown that sharing is not really detrimental to purchasing - in fact in some case it helps it.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #24 - The Sweet Sound of Music

2008-02-26T11:54:00.003-06:00

I thought I better catch up with the Next Generation on Sound, so here is my post for exercise # 24. I looked at a number of pay music sites in the past. Before my iPod was stolen, I had used iTunes frequently (hopefully I'll get a new MP3 player soon - tax refund anyone?). To be honest, I wasn't overly fond of iTunes. I found it rather difficult to use, although the iPod was a dream to use. Funny how one was easy and the other hard.

Since I've downloaded music (and audio books) from the HCPL Digital Media collection, I thought I'd give music.download.com. Since I really like Celtic Woman, I searched to see if they had any free downloads. Unfortunately, they only had a couple free streaming MP3s. As a side note, I actually like this feature of the C|Net site a lot and can see fiddling around with creating online play lists more than downloading.

While they didn't have Celtic Woman for download, there was a related item that came up - Celtic Shores that had a bunch of free downloads, so I downloaded Amazing Grace. Glad this is just a test, because it was an incredibly annoying version, LOL. I skipped the transfer to an MP3 player, because frankly I've done that a lot with audio books, so I know how it works.

I'm glad I discovered this site. Another site I came across recently that's pretty cool is Songza, a music search site. When you enter keyword(s) it will find any songs or artists related and then you can play directly online. While there's no downloading, you can create playlists.

Elf Yourself

2007-12-26T13:34:00.000-06:00

I elfed myself over at ElfYourself by OfficeMax. Link

Animal Occuations

2007-12-21T09:36:00.000-06:00

On the Best Week Ever blog, blogger Michelle Collins has a humours piece on 50 animals with day jobs. To the left is "Bunny Ableman, Librarian." Some of the other animals were funnier, but I liked Miss Bunny.

Play a Game - Give Rice to Hungry People

2007-12-18T18:31:00.000-06:00

This is an interesting concept. At Free Rice, you play a vocabulary game and for each answer you get right, they give 20 grains of rice to the United Nations to help end world hunger. The game is free and is funded by advertising banners.

The game itself is enjoyable. It's a vocabulary game that raises or lowers the level of words based on if you get the answer correct.

So, you can play a game and boost your brain power and help feed the worlds hungry. How cool is that?

Link: Free Rice

I'm Like Hermione Granger - Who are You?

2007-12-04T13:51:00.000-06:00

This doesn't surprise me in the least. I do seem to have an affinity for Hermione.

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Link from Native Reader

Time Interviews Stephen King

2007-11-28T12:02:00.000-06:00

Interesting interview with Stephen King in Time magazine. I've been a fan of Stephen King since I was in my late teens. We saw The Mist this weekend, which was good overall, but I found the ending disappointing. In the original story - one of my favorites - the ending is ambiguous, but in the movie they have eliminated that, to the detriment of the story, in my opinion. King writes a regular column for Entertainment Weekly called The Pop of King, in which he discusses pop culture. The Time interview and his weekly column expose a different side of the author.

Link via Library Stuff

Week 10: #23 The End?

2007-11-21T11:00:00.000-06:00

It is hard to believe that this is the final exercise. When the idea for doing a 23 Things type project was first suggested (in late 2006 or early 2007) by several different people it was hard to imagine this point. After months of planning and then doing, we are done - at least for now.

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I loved doing avatars - and seeing what other people came up with. I also enjoyed reading people's blogs and discovering some good strong - and sometime unexpected - voices.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

It has reinforced the need to always keep learning. When Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, my alma mater, he didn't believe in using the terms freshman, sophomore, etc. - or even giving degrees. The reason for this is he didn't think people ever stopped learning. While they give degrees now, it's still first year, second year, etc. - because you're never senior in learning. This has always been my philosophy and this program reinforces that.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

For me, it the number of people who participated and the overwhelmingly positive response. While some people started and didn't continue, we've had a good continuation rate. I have been so pleased with how many people have joined in on this journey.

What ideas do you have for using these technologies at Harris County Public Library?

I would like to get more people involved in blogging. We're about to move the web server, which will allow us to upgrade some software, including Moveable Type. I would like to see more staff blogging for the public.

I'd like to make Harriet into a Wiki. I'd also like to see us use Wiki software on the main website, perhaps for the links section.

I think we should do some kind of trading card to hand out to the public.

What if we had everyone at a branch create an avatar and featured that on the branch page?

For the Adult SRP we're looking at using a Wiki. I'd like to see about using LibraryThing or Twitter to feature some content from customers.

Above all else, we need more staff involved on the website and we need to involve our customers.

What else do you want to learn about? What other web 2.0 applications are you interested in?

I have a list started on my del.icio.us account with ideas of sites for the next step in iHCPL.

This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career - helping with and participating in iHCPL. I hope that we can continue this type of program in the coming year. My thanks to all the participants and iHCPL team members.

Sesame Street - For Adults Only?

2007-11-21T10:52:00.000-06:00

If you can't see the video, click here.

A recent article in the New York Times by Virginia Heffernan relates that the first two seasons of Sesame Street are now out on DVD, but come with the following warning:

These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.

Being born in 1970, I grew up with Sesame Street. I love(d) Big Bird, Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit, and Cookie Monster. Now I find that the early episodes aren't good enough for todays children. I suppose I understand some of it - the article relates that in one episode Cookie Monster has a pipe - but I loved Sesame Street and I don't think it harmed me.

I had a Cookie Monster puppet, which I fed cookies to - my mom had to clean out his "throat" periodically of crumbs. I also had a Sesame Street activity book that gave me ideas like making drums from oatmeal containers. Do kids do this today?

I know educational standards have evolved for children, especially young children, but it disturbs me that something I grew up on - that I loved - is considered inappropriate now. Boy, do I feel old.

What American Accent Do You Have?

2007-11-18T20:30:00.000-06:00

This is an interesting quiz. I thought my result was interesting as it points to my relatives in Minnesota, although I'm originally from the DC area.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Week 9: #22 The Joys of Downloadable Media

2007-11-17T13:29:00.000-06:00

Since I am intimately familiar with the HCPL Digital Media Catalog, I decided to look at LibriVox. I though the selection of free recorded books was excellent considering that all of them had to be recorded by someone. While they aren't up to the quality of a professionally recorded book, they aren't bad. I took a brief listen to two different titles, one of which was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - one of my favorite books. My two issues with this site are that there were multiple different readers for the book and that each chapter begins with a notation of what the recording is. I'm glad this resource is out there, but I think I will stick to the Digital Media Catalog for my recordings. Right now I'm listening to A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton and have been listening to Tamora Pierce's Tortall books - which I adore.

Week 9: #21 Podcasts

2007-11-17T12:57:00.000-06:00

I looked at PodcastAlley and found a couple of Podcasts that fit my tastes. First I tried then I tried Splendid Table: Kitchen Questions, then I tried MuggleCast. Frankly, podcasts just don't appeal to me, but then I'm not much on talk radio. I can see the appeal, it's just not for me. I think in part because I'm more of a visual or kinesthetic (need to be doing something) learner. What's funny, is I really do like audiobooks, but I think because it's a story is why I like it.

While they don't personally appeal to me, I think it's something we need to seriously look at for the library. When Linda and I gave a presentation on iHCPL at the UNT All school Day for Houston, one of the presenters said they use podcasts in the schools because they don't have to worry about a child appearing on camera. It's also a bit simpler to deal with. Something to think about.

Week 9: #20 I Tube, YouTube, We All Tube

2007-11-17T12:46:00.000-06:00

Can't see the video, click here.

How silly is it, that I LOVE the above commercial. I can sit and watch it again and again. I suppose it's because I have a part dachshund named Scrappy, whom I adore. That's the thing about YouTube and other video services, we can get to video of our favorite TV shows, old commercials, and just about anything you can imagine. I think we have used video very effectively during iHCPL, thanks to Beth's amazing skill. Each week we've had a relevant video to introduce that week's topic - all thanks to YouTube. We've already started embedding video on the HCPL website. Video is going to become more and more integrated into the web and we need to be along for the ride.

What's Your Flavor

2007-11-09T16:24:00.000-06:00

And the quizzing continues. Found this on another blog.

What Flower Are You?

2007-11-09T16:17:00.000-06:00

I came across this on one of the other iHCPL blogs. What can I say, I'm a sucker for quizzes.

I am a
Snapdragon

What Flower
Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

I'm not sure if that's an accurate description of me, but I have always loved snapdragons.

Week 8: #19 Zoho

2007-11-09T15:20:00.001-06:00

So, I'm trying out Zoho Writer. At home, I don't have Word - or at least I don't want to pay for it - so this may be a good alternative when I need to write a document. I also like that it will publish to a blog, although I have to say I'd probably just write directly on a blog.

Let's see what it will do:

Bold - Underline - Italic - I like that it did that using standard keyboard commands (I'm a keyboard person)
Fonts: Verdana, Palantino Linotype, Small Font, Comic Sans, - Not a bad selection for documents.

It will do a text box - to the left is a picture of Harlequin AKA Harley, who Patrick has fallen in love with and we are keeping.

Update: Well, to get it to look halfway decent on the blog I had to remove text boxes and the larger type. That said, I still think this is a cool program and will be using it at home. I do like that when I click publish - after the innitial time - it updates the post.

Overall, this is a pretty cool program. It has it's limitations, but it's something I'll be sharing with Patrick since he is a writer and I'm not. Very cool!

Record a Drawing

2007-11-08T15:58:00.000-06:00

Click here if you can't see it.

I came across this on a Librarian in Black blog post talking about the tools presentation from Internet Librarian. This could be a neat tool for trying to visually explain something to people. Try it out at Screencast.com.

Dog Available

2007-11-01T13:10:00.001-05:00

We had a very sweet female puppy wander up on our property last night. We have surveyed our neighbors and she doesn't seem to belong to anyone in our area. She is female, is maybe 15-20 pounds and 4-6 months old (maybe younger). She has pretty big paws and our best guess is she'll be 50-60 pounds when full grown. She is multi-colored (white, black, brown, and brindle. She is very people friendly and while a bit timid around our other dogs, seems to be OK with them.

If you're interested, please let me know.

Fun for Halloween

2007-10-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

Fun little game for Halloween.

Week 8: #18 The Social Web

2007-10-29T21:06:00.000-05:00

Visit my family

Join the Dogster community

I've been checking out some social networking sites recently. I can't say I'm overly enamored of them, but they are interesting. Honestly, I think a lot of it is I'm just out of the age range it really appeals to. What I have found is the niche sites are more appealing to me. I love Dogster & Catster - all of my dogs and cats have their own page and friends.

LinkedIn is interesting as it is business oriented. It looks like it might be a great way to network with people. I've been on it for a couple months - someone invited me to join. I like that you can tie in with current and past work colleagues and other people who might "relate" to you.

Of the big services, I honestly can't stand MySpace. Many of the spaces I've seen are just plain gaudy and it just doesn't appeal to me. Again, I think I'm too old.

Facebook, on the other hand, I've been fiddling with for about a month. I do find it appealing and could see it being potentially useful at work. Groups are still new to me, but it might be useful for some projects. I say this because I wish Ning worked at the library. It's a way to form your own social network, but we have yet to make it work in the library.

I do think Social Networking is something all libraries need to pay attention to. I don't think it's going away any time soon, it's simply too popular and a new way for people to communicate. Using proper safety measures, it can be a safe experience. That's one of the reasons I like trying it out with Dogster or Catster. Your dogs and cats are on stage, rather than you.

Week 7: #17 Looking Back at Technology

2007-10-25T22:11:00.000-05:00

Since I'm generally knee deep in technology, I thought I'd talk a little about how I got to where I am in terms of technology. I am not a digital native, I'm just a bit too old (36) to have grown up with computers, although I had access at various times. When I was in elementary school, my best friend Cheryl had an Atari computer. Her mom used to type in programs she found in books and record them to cassette tape. We played games on the computer, but that was about it.

At home we had a TI99-4A, which hooked up to the TV. Again, just played games. When I was about 13, we bought an IBM PC jr. Frankly, it was too difficult to use, so we just didn't do much with it except use it for a word processor.

In high school and then in college, rather than use the computer to type papers, I used a typewriter, because...I was afraid of computers. I know, that may be a bit hard to believe now, but I really was. It took needing to write a resume in my 3rd year of college to get me on a computer in the library's computer lab. I had to have a friend of mine show me how to use WordPerfect (in DOS). After that, I wrote the rest of my papers using a computer, because it was a lot easier.

My point is, that anyone can learn. I am advanced in terms of technology now, but this wasn't always the case.

Week 7: #16 Wiki Space

2007-10-25T21:16:00.000-05:00

So I added a couple of favorite books and restaurants. Since I set up the Wiki initially, I figured I could get by with that. I used a Wiki previously for a project I worked on for TLA's ATRT committee. I found that it was a great way to do collaborative work with people spread out around Texas.

We're exploring the use of Wikis in the eBranch. We'd like to see about changing the links section of the website over to a Wiki and also perhaps Harriet. If we do so, it probably won't be quite so open.

Information R/evolution

2007-10-25T12:07:00.000-05:00

Michael Wesch, who also did the amazing The Machine is Using Us video, has come out with a new video called Information R/evolution, which I think ties many of the things we have been doing with iHCPL together. It gives a good explanation of how information is now coming to us rather than us seeking out the information that online, information is not limited to shelves but can be "put" in numerous different places. Well worth a look.

Link via the Shifted Librarian.

DIY Fairy Wings

2007-10-21T23:05:00.000-05:00

This is a cool video I came across. I have some fairy wings I bought a few years ago for Halloween, but don't really like them. Perhaps I'll try these at some point, although this year I'm going as a witch.

Mr. Jefferson on LibraryThing

2007-10-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

How cool is this? Thomas Jefferson is on LibraryThing, or at least his library is. I have long admired Mr. Jefferson since he founded the University of Virginia, my Alma Mater.

Grace Notes in Neon

2007-10-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

Found this through the Generator blog. It's actually a company that makes neon signs, and you can preview your text in a variety of sign formats. I thought the snorting bull was appropriate for Texas.

Librarian Hell

2007-10-21T21:57:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite online comics is Savage Chickens. I subscribe to it through Bloglines. The guy who writes it does one comic a day on a Post-it-Note featuring chickens. He has done a couple of library oriented strips. The strip for Thursday 10/18

Week 6: #15 The Future of Libraries & the Web

2007-10-21T21:43:00.000-05:00

I have read a lot about Web 2.0 & Library 2.0 prior to iHCPL and fell that I have fully embraced both concepts. I really liked the iceberg article. I think Anderson makes some good points. One of the things that we're doing with iHCPL is training our customers as well as our staff, which I think is what we need to do more of. While we need to learn these tools, our customers do as well. We also need to go to them. In a Web 2.0 sense this is using social tools such as Flickr, YouTube, IM, etc. rather than making them use library geared services.

I also really like the Librarian 2.0 Manifesto. I think we should adopt something like this within HPCL. iHCPL is a great beginning to this type of thinking and what I've seen on other blogs, this is beginning to happen, we just need it to continue.

Leader Test

2007-10-20T15:16:00.000-05:00

I came across this interesting test while I was playing around on the Internet this weekend trying to find some information on personality tests. An interesting take on leadership in a not-so-serious manner. I took a couple versions of the test. In one, it said I was like Gandhi (morals matter to you; you like to lead by example; perfection is important to you). Two others both pegged me as like Abe Lincoln.

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Week 6: #14 Technorati

2007-10-18T22:14:00.000-05:00

This is a tool that I should like - a lot. But, it just doesn't do much for me. I had even forgotten that I had claimed my blog a while back until I was about to register. I can see where this could be useful, I guess I just find enough information in other places at the moment.

While I'm no prude, Where's the Fire made me want to get an extinguisher. This is not what I want to spend my time reading. I did create a watchlist with iHCPL. There's a few items on it right now, and we'll see what else comes up.

I realized as I was doing the exercise that the since most of us are using Blogger, Technorati no longer seems to require special code to capture tags. Interesting.

Week 6: #13 Yummy!

2007-10-18T21:47:00.000-05:00

I adore del.icio.us. I've had an account for several years now and use it for most of my bookmarks at work and at home. The only thing I don't put on del.icio.us are administrative accounts that I use every day on the job. Since I set up the iHCPL del.icio.us I didn't go back to explore it this time. I would like to see about putting in the sites for the rest of the program at some point, as well as additional sites.

One of the ways I use del.icio.us is when I'm searching for sites on a topic, I'll see what I have and then look at some of the other sites listed, especially those linked to by a lot of people. Our communal use of del.icio.us is still beginning, but I'd like to see where we as a system can go with it.

I've heard that a lot of people are having problems viewing the tutorial, which is too bad. I did like the video that someone sent me that was put in the comments of the post and which is below.

View @ Yahoo Video

Week 5: #12 Helpful Elf

2007-10-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

I signed up for Library Elf several years ago before the library started sending out reminder notices. I am still signed up and like getting reminders of holds and books due. One of the more recent features they added is recommendations based on your items out and/or holds.

While we have a wonderful service for reminders through the library, one of the benefits of Library Elf for our customers is that they can opt to get reminders via text message. An interesting service.

Week 5: #11 Library Thing

2007-10-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

LibraryThing is nothing new to me. I have been a member since September 8, 2005 and have been keeping track of books I read even longer than that - since around 1998/1999. I moved online to using AllConsuming in 2003 or 2004. I decided to switch to LibraryThing because I like the book management better than AllConsuming; I also don't have an interest in tracking movies, music or food. I also like that you can friend people and see what you have in common with other users.

I only added two more books today - Woman Who Rides Like a Man & Cave of the Dark Wind - since I already have 499 and only add books when I've finished them. I also have had a LibraryThing widget on my blog - see sidebar - pretty much since I started the blog.

My Profile
My Library

Week 5: #10 I'm a Meez!

2007-10-08T21:50:00.001-05:00

OK, so this is one of the "things" I've been waiting for. I LOVE image generators. I just think they are too cool. A while back, I fooled around with Meez, but this gave me a chance to customize it more. So, I made myself a vampire, warrior librarian.

Blog Posts

2007-10-05T12:21:00.000-05:00

I am not a fan of writing. That is one of the reasons that I have never kept up a blog before now - I never knew what to write about. I like that iHCPL gives us things to think about and post. Well, on the topic of what to write, I came across a list of 18 Different Kinds of Blog Posts on iLibrarian. It's an interesting exploration of a variety of different blog post styles, with examples.

One of the styles listed was an Aggregate List/Guide, which linked to an example post about Twitter. Now I'll have to do another post - at some point - about Twitter and how we're using it to capture quotes from iHCPL participants. How cool, I have a topic.

Link via Stephen's Lighthouse

Week 4: #9 Too Many Feeds Already

2007-10-02T19:29:00.000-05:00

Since I already enough feeds to keep up with, I decided to check out Feedster's widget tool. It's pretty nifty. I did a search on iHCPL, then clicked Create Widget, added my information, and got HTML code to add to my blog. I now have a widget on my sidebar that will show me new posts made that mention iHCPL. How cool is that. I can see using this in a variety of ways for myself and for the library.

Week 4: #8 Bloglines, How I Do Love Thee

2007-10-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

This is a particularly easy exercise for me. I have been using Bloglines for several years now to keep up with library news, general news, and topics of general interest to me. I try to read my Bloglines feeds every day, which I sometimes achieve, but more realistically I read them 2-3 times a week. I have also been an advocate for the use of Bloglines to keep up with what's going on in libraries and the world with staff. I hope everyone takes this opportunity to try out Bloglines or another feed reader (both Google and Yahoo have feed readers) to keep up with things.

I've subscribe to a few of the participants blogs, but since I'm tracking a bunch for iHCPL, I'm not going to subscribe to very many. If you want to see the feeds I subscribe to, check out my Blogroll.

Trading Card Redux

2007-09-26T23:00:00.001-05:00

Grace & iHCPL
Originally uploaded by hoosgracie

I decided to try doing another trading card - I wasn't overly thrilled with the first one. I'm much happier with this one.

Week 3: #7 Photo Editing

2007-09-26T10:38:00.001-05:00

scraps
Originally uploaded by hoosgracie

This is one of my dogs - Scrappy. He's a dachshund mixed with something - maybe Beagle. His personality is a lot bigger than his body and he loves big toys.

I tried out Picnik and really liked it. I love that it ties in with my Flickr account and found it very easy to use. It has good basic editing tools and will even let you do some advanced color correction. It also has some nice extras like the frames and text.

Cool Slide Show

2007-09-25T22:02:00.001-05:00

I came across this on one of the other participant's blogs and thought it was way cool. I'm wondering if we could use this on the website as it looks like it would do what we want in a good size.

Week 3: Post #6

2007-09-25T21:41:00.001-05:00

trading card
Originally uploaded by hoosgracie

How cool is this, I have my own trading card. Mashups are way cool as they let you go beyond a basic tool and combine it with other online tools. When I have time I'll look at some of the other mashup tools.

iHCPL into Week 3

2007-09-24T21:20:00.000-05:00

I am so pleased that everyone participating in iHCPL seems to be having a good time. The posts that I've seen on participant's blogs have shown enthusiasm and excitement for the program. We continue to get new registrations and are up to 209 registrations as of late this afternoon. This afternoon, we packaged bling to send out to 207 people - a lot of work, but rewarding. Looking forward to the next two exercises this week.

Week 3: Post #5

2007-09-24T21:13:00.001-05:00

At the Monticello Fish Pond
Originally uploaded by hoosgracie

This is from my trip to Virginia in June and is a picture of me at the Monticello fish pond.. Patrick and I went to Monticello - Thomas Jefferson's home - when we visited Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia, my alma mater.

I've had a Flickr account for over a year and really enjoy it as a way to share photos with my friends and family who are pretty far away. I took this opportunity to set up posting direction from Flickr to my blog. If anyone is reading this and wondering how, just click "blog this" on a picture, on your account, and walk through the steps.

Wow

2007-09-18T21:28:00.000-05:00

I spent a good portion of my day working on registrations for iHCPL. 115 staff members have set up their blogs, and some of the initial posts have been great. While there has been some frustration - based on the posts I've seen - it looks like a lot of people are working together to figure it out. So far so good!

A Great Start to iHCPL

2007-09-17T21:09:00.000-05:00

Registration for iHCPL opened today. As of when I left, we already had 53 staff members registered from a wide variety of positions and branches. It looks like a few people were very challenged by creating a blog, while others had one or had done a blog before. Overall, the comments have been great. I'm definately looking forward to the rest of the program.

Week 2: #4 Online Safety

2007-09-17T21:01:00.000-05:00

This is a topic I feel very familiar with at this point. I've been actively involved in the group preparing Internet safety programming for the library. As part of that, we developed a page - linked in the exercise - for the main website on Internet Safety. Being online opens you up to the wide world. On this blog, it should be pretty obvious to just about anyone from HCPL, who I am. I have used my first name and listed my position. That said, I don't show an email address or other personal information to protect myself.

I am currently exploring a couple of social networking sites. On those sites I am listed by first and last name, but again, my contact information is private. When exploring the wonders of the web, you need to decide how much to share of yourself.

Week 2: #3 Learning Styles

2007-09-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

While by nature I am a really organized person, finding time to do iHCPL is difficult. I have meant to do the program while we were preparing for it, but never found the time. I am enjoying following along with the program we've been planning for 5 months. Even so, I find that I'm blogging at home, but I don't really mind that, especially since I'm making posts outside of iHCPL topics as well.

So what's my learning style. While the slide show doesn't really talk about it, I am a doer. I need to do something or write it down to have it sink in. I am a big note taker, but I rarely refer back to my notes. I also prefer to try something on my own rather than take a class - at least in most things.

Week 2: #3 Grab a Blog

2007-09-17T20:47:00.000-05:00

So in this exercise we grab a blog. We'll have had this particular blog for a few years now, I just haven't done anything with it - I did for awhile, but then dropped off. So, iHCPL is a great incentive to start blogging again. Since I had a blog already, I've been tweaking the template, which I'm finally happy with, for a few weeks now and adding some extras. I will probably still add a few more things, but I'm happy with it for now.

A Book Is Not a Child

2007-09-14T17:09:00.000-05:00

Interesting post on Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books about authors who mess with their characters and the fans who become angry. I know the author this made me think of first was Laurell K. Hamilton, which the post mentions. I started reading the Anita Blake series a couple of years ago, after a number of the books were already out. I fell in love with Anita and her quirkiness, the zombie raisings, the vampire hunting, and the great supporting cast of characters. The books were an amazing mashup of mystery, fantasy, science fiction, and romance.

Then it all changed. Anita was no longer the fun, quirky character. Instead it was all about SEX. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind sex in books, but sheesh, this was ridiculous. In one of the most recent books, there was really no plot, it was just about Anita having sex.

In Candy's post, she has several things to think about:

What was the last book you got angry about?
Why were you angry?
Were you mad at the book, or at the author--or both?
Who do you think the characters truly belong to: the author? The readers? Both? Neither?

I don't know that I can say I'm mad, I'm more disappointed and maybe feel betrayed. It kind of feels like the author has taken a character who was awesome and done a 180 on the character's personality. I've read Laurell K. Hamilton's blog where at times she has defended the change in Anita and while I can understand that this is her character and as the author it has to come from her, I still think author's have a responsibility to their readers.

The Golden Compass

2007-09-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite series of books is Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials. The first book, The Golden Compass, has been made into a movie, which will come out in December. I'll be curious to see how the book transfers to film. On the movie website, they have a Meet Your Daemon quiz. Daemons are physical representations of the soul in the His Dark Materials Universe.

10 Questions

2007-09-14T10:21:00.000-05:00

There was an interesting post on the Sites and Soundbytes blog the other day about 10 questions to ask new administrators, which came from David Lee King's blog. I actually think based on the questions that we should go beyond just using this for administrators, what about other positions? Technology is simply too important today to ignore whether people use it or not. I can answer yes to most of these and hopefully most HCPL staff will be able to answer yes to at least some of them after iHCPL.

Do you read blogs. YES Which ones? Blogroll
Do you have a personal blog? YES. What’s it about? Right now I'm figuring that out, but it's a bit of a mish mash. I'll certainly be doing posts relating to iHCPL.
Do you participate in at least one social network? YES Which one? Facebook, LibraryThing
Have you ever uploaded a video online? YES What did you use to do it? YouTube
What’s your favorite search engine. Google Why? I've used it for years. I like that I can do a lot with it including image and news searches. I am very comfortable with it. I will use other search engines as needed.
Have you ever used an online classified service like craigslist? Yes, we've bought (Table Saw) and sold (riding mower) using Craigslist.
Besides making phone calls—how else do you use your mobile phone? I actually only use it to make phone calls.
Have you ever registered a domain name? Yes, I've registered several.
Do you use social bookmarks or tagging? Yes, I have a del.icio.us account.
Do you use a feed reader of some sort? Yes Which one? Bloglines Why? I like that it is online and can therefore use it anywhere. I email posts extensively from Bloglines to myself and other people. I was just trying out Bloglines Beta today and was happy to see they had added an email feature, although there are still several bugs to work out.

Booked by 3 Meme for September

2007-09-12T22:21:00.000-05:00

Came across this and thought it was kind of cool, especially since I love LibraryThing.

I. Do you have a permanent record of your books?

Yes, I keep a manual listing or Excel file or something similar on paper or my computer.
Yes, I keep it online on a site like Library Thing or Shelfari.
No, who has the time?!

II. If you keep track of your books on a website, do you...

Have a free or paid account?
Use it to track books to be read as well as books owned, or do you use the site just for your To Be Read list or something else I can't think of? - I use it to keep track of books I have read, whether I own them or not.
Enter the data manually or did you get a barcode scanner so I can add books faster?

III. Miscellaneous questions.

If you use the online sites, do you just catalog your books or do you participate in forums, check other libraries, and otherwise network with other users?
If you don't use an online site, do you want to but don't have the time? N/A
If you use one of the sites, which one and what's your user name so the rest of us can check out your library? Hoosgracie @ LibraryThing - http://www.librarything.com/profile/hoosgracie

Link

Well, We're Off

2007-09-11T22:16:00.000-05:00

After a great kick-off Friday & yesterday with Michelle Boule, iHCPL has finally begun. 170+ people have viewed the slide show on SlideShare, which is a good sign. Since I have been lazy and haven't actually done my blog posts, I will be following along with the program, even though I feel like I know most of it inside and out.

Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

2007-08-31T16:28:00.000-05:00

I love these types of quizzes...


	You are Big Bird. You are something of an eccentric, and not everyone always gives you credit for your inventiveness and intelligence. You may not always know everything, but people turn to you for your sound, unique logic. Plus, you have a big heart. Really big.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

My Blogroll

2007-08-22T23:02:00.001-05:00

March of the Librarians Video

2007-03-01T16:11:00.000-06:00

Came across this on Stephen's Lighthouse. I don't even want to think about Librarians mating at ALA Midwinter.

Words from Flickr - Ransom Style Writing

2007-02-06T11:00:00.000-06:00

Link via Boing Boing

The Book Meme

2007-02-06T10:52:00.000-06:00

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
I would be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte or The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. These are two of my favorite books. Probably Jane Eyre since it's a classic.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Yes. See the above two books. Mr. Rochester is dark and brooding. I especially got a kick out of Jasper Fforde's take on him in The Eyre Affair. When I was 13/14 years old, I also had a crush on Johnny and Soda Pop in The Outsiders.

What are you currently reading?
Greywalker by Kat Richardson & listening to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

The last book you bought is:
Can't remember at the moment - mostly check books out from the library!

The last book you read:
Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts; Listened to Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

Five books you would take to a deserted island:
Tough one. For now, I'll say:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis - One of the few books (series) I've read multiple times
The Bible (I'd finally have the time and reason to read the whole thing)
A book on survival cooking and first aid (practical)
The Outsiders by SE Hinton - What can I say, I still love the book, it reminds me of the 13/14 year old self.
Either the Complete Far Side or Complete Calvin and Hobbes - this would offer endless entertainment.

This reminds me of a traditional question for potential reference librarians - what books could you not live without in doing reference. For that, I'd say:
A local phone book
A dictionary
The World Almanac
A concise encyclopedia
Other than the encyclopedia (which we have available online) I still have copies of the other three available in my office.

Via LIS News