Reflecting on 27 Things

Looking back over the 27 Things excercise, my overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude. I've so appreciated having this little push to try out new technologies and things that I may have been curious about before, but often intimidated by. It has made me feel good, in that the system believes in the capabilities of its employees to learn and grow, and is encouraging us to think in new ways. It has sometimes made me feel breathless, at all the possibilities out there, and daunted thinking about what choices will have to be made to keep libraries relevant in this flood of new outlets and connection points.

My favorite part was looking at all these different technologies and coming up with creative ideas about how to use them with libraries. I enjoy the problem solving aspect of that, and look forward to finding ways to use these, not just in theory, in my work.

I would totally do this again, and hope to see simular programs in the future to update staff on what is new. Plus it is also really fun to connect with coworkers in a new way, by reading their blogs. I think it would be awesome of the staff directory had voluntary links to people's blogs, for those of us interested in building community. I kinda wish not so many people went annonmous, though I do understand why they did.

This was the most exciting and satisfying, plus intellectually stimulating thing we have been offered in a long time. I am glad I participated and that it was offered.

Thinking about podcasting

I have some friends who love love love podcasts, and I have to admit, I am a skeptic. Partially this is because I am a very visual person, and while I can enjoy radio and audio things...for me there are best utilized when driving, when I have a limited number of things I can be doing at one time. And that time is usually filled up with audiobooks already!

Podcasts to me are one more layer of information, and personally I'm a bit overwhelmed already.

But on the plus side, it is a very personal direct way to share information and connect with others, which is very cool.

How could KCLS use this? I think the best use would be to have a series of interviews with various staff members about their jobs, what they do, or upcoming projects they are excited about. Stuff the public might find interesting, and would make us seem more transparent, and worthy of continuing support.

Video podcasts could be great for booktalks, storytimes, fingerplays, and special events, too!

Exploring YouTube

I've been a long time fan of YouTube, and am very excited by all the posibilities it has to offer. As someone who doesn't watch very much TV, but likes to stay in pop culture loops, it has proven invaluable for me to keep up with must-see events...such as Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondent's dinner, which I otherwise never would have seen.

My favorite thing to look up is music videos, such as the treadmill dance of OkOk and Christopher Walken dancing in Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice. Classic!

The one that has infected my brain the most, for the least reason is a pet store commercial for a place called Wet Pets. I love it!

How could YouTube be used at KCLS? The most obvious use to me, as a Teen Librarian, is for booktalking. Or special projects with teens. When I was a teen active in a library group, we made a short video of theatrical booktalks called 16 Minutes. To do this we had to enlist the help of a crew from the local PBS affilate. The only people who say these were kids in schools, and who knows where it is now. But today, it would be so easy to do that sort of project, with just a little equiptment and a few teens. So cool!

Exploring brand new Web 2.0 sites

I really liked looking at Webware. Not only does it explore the concepts around developing 2.0 sites, and put them in a context, but it has a wide range of sites featured, from super techie - to silly, fun and useful.

I specifically explored the networking area, thinking it would give me good ideas for connecting with teens. But the one I found was kinda silly, but something I would totally use all the time if my telephone had the web technology needed for it.

MizPee is a site where people can list and rate public bathrooms. So if you are out and about and suddenly find yourself desperate to go, you can just log on and not only see the closest ones, but know which one is least likely to be disgusting our out of paper. Simple and a bit goofy...but some of the most basic essential problem solving I've seen one of these sites address.

And, why not put all your public library's bathrooms on it? We always talk about finding new ways to get patrons in...why not promote this service, in which we rarely brag, but almost always excel. Library loos are some of the best around! And people might come in for a quick visit, and discover just how much more we have to offer :)

Using online applications

Today I played with both Zoho's word processing program, and Google Docs. At first I felt a little uncertain about them, but by the end of the exercise, I was sold. This is so great for folks who can't afford to buy software, but want to be able to access their documents regardlessly. And I like the idea of group access to a document, though I'm not totally sure how that would work best.

Some of the ways I think this could be handy for a librarian:
1) working on booklists over time...being able to add books without having a disc handy
2) working on articles...can just add a bit at a time when a new thought comes to mind
3) working on booktalks...could have multiple librarians add their own variations
4) any ongoing project you need to take notes for.

I'm going to have to explore these further!

My thoughts on Library 2.0

I'll confess, when I first learned about the whole 2.0 thing, it really gave me a headache. I felt like I was back in library school, focusing on my least favorite part...the sections of theory that felt the most detatched from the actual experiences of users and the workings of libraries. The thing that has actually finally given me a greater feeling of competence with 2.0, is having to explain it to others over and over again. While I'm no master, I can at least articulate where it is reaching for. And I think that is the important thing, is to understand that this is an atmostphere of reaching, growing, and shaking of rigid approaches of the past, to strive for a fluidity of learning and communication unimaginable just a few short years ago. I love the user-centered attitude of it all, though I do hope the needs of staff are not overlooked in the race to aquire the most tech possible. While I'm very excited about the user-focus of 2.0, I have to admit, reading about 3.0 and 4.0 just brought my headache back.

Exploring custom search engines

So, I'm trying out the custom search engines (Rollo and Google Custom Search Engine), and so far I can't see how this is terribly adventageous over a well worded google search. Between the two, I prefer Google's for it simplicity and speed. Rollo just feels too clunky, and has too many intrusive ads for me.

At GCSE I put together a search for Things to Do In Seattle. Useless for general things like "music" but more interesting results for something like "root beer". I'll have to play with this more to see how it goes.

But my impression right now is a well worded search in a broad engine will ge one further...

silly fun

This week's assignment was basically to have some fun and get caught up. Using this South Park Generator, I made this:

Del.icio.us exploration

I'm excited about del.icio.us, but a bit nervous to dip my toes in, too. But I do like the idea of using this with groups of kids for specific purposes...the most immediate one to my life would be in posting a booklist of everything discussed by my bookgroup, so the teens could refer to them quickly. I could even do this during the meeting!

I like the idea of using it to organize recipes, but I will resist using it for this purpose in my own life, as I have WAY too many recipes floating around already.

Some of the articles were very helpful for imagining new uses too. I'll definitely have to play with this more.