Is this where it all ends?

Hi there, I'd like to begin my final(?) post by thanking all of you who have taken the time to check out my blog. Your comments and feedback have been appreciated! =) Also, I'd like to thank the library for providing this opportunity and for creating the chance not only to win some really cool toys (the flash drive and mp3 player) but also to become more familiar with some of the latest technological advancements. Thank you.

This post will be fulfilling the final two assignments - summarizing my thoughts about Learning Library 2.0 as well as suggesting a way that the library could incorporate one of these tools into our services. All in all I thought this program was beneficial. I definitely learned about things that I was completely unfamiliar with before, and had the chance to visit sites that I probably never would've used on my own. That said, I also found this program at times to be fairly cumbersome and time consuming. The weekly assignments took me considerably longer than expected (the 30 minute estimate was way off) and I found myself having to complete several assignments at home. Also, this program was problematic in that it competed for my time with some of my more pressing responsibilities. I would be working on a Library 2.0 assignment and thinking, "You know Paul, you really should be working on such and such instead of Library 2.0." Usually, the guilt got the best of me and I went back to work on other projects (hence the having to complete assignments at home comment.)

My favorite assignments included Flickr, Myspace (sorry, but this one turned out to be really fun), online image generators, LibraryThing, YouTube, and Google Maps. Assignments that were less enjoyable included Technorati, Del.icio.us, RSS feeds, and the Web/Library 2.0 perspectives (Zzzzzzzzzz). LibraryThing especially seems like a tool which I'll be using in the future. To be honest, that's actually one of the reasons I'm probably going to keep my blog . . . simply so I can have access to my LibraryThing account as well as Deanna's. =) (Have you seen hers? It's AWESOME!!! Lots of great book suggestions!)

I think the library could really benefit from adding podcasts/online video to their website. Imagine how cool it would be if we could film our storytimes and book babies and then post them online! That would be such a great resource for our patrons as well as other librarians. Also, several years ago the Library had a massive monarch butterfly release at the end of our Summer Reading Program. All summer long families watched the caterpillars progress through the various stages of development. Unfortunately, lots of folks were unable to attend the actual release, and I'm sure a podcast of the event posted on our webpage would've been greatly appreciated. Carrying this idea even further, the library has a Myspace page. We're making a big effort to reach out to our local teen population. How cool would it be if we could post video clips from our annual "Battle of the Bands" program on that page? This seems like a really easy way to reach out to our teens as well as make that resource more relevant.

So I guess that's about it. All in all I'm glad I participated in this program. It was a lot of work and was at times stressful, but I feel that I did learn a lot which is definitely a good thing. (Cue Queen's "We Are the Champions.) So thanks again to everybody who helped make this possible.

I'm pretty sure this isn't going to be my final post, so instead of goodbye, how about see you later! (And here's hoping I can win that coveted laptop!)

NetLibrary

Unlike most of my posts, today's entry is going to be a shorter one (the home viewing audience lets out a collective sigh of relief.) My assignment was to create an account on NetLibrary and then have a look around. The concept behind e-audiobooks is a pretty cool one. I've enjoyed listening to books on cd and cassette in my car and figured that listening on my nifty new mp3 player (thank you City Library!) might be worth trying. Unfortunately, after creating my account I quickly realized how limited NetLibrary's selection is. Being a children's librarian I decided to focus on the children's titles. Unfortunately they only offered 223 fiction titles (which may seem like a lot, but in all actuality, really isn't that many.) I scrolled through the titles and only found one book which interested me - "The Fairy-Tale Detectives" (The Sisters Grimm: Book One). The children's classics category only had 13 titles, none of which excited me.

Not only was I disappointed with NetLibrary's selection but I also felt that their site was difficult to navigate. Initially I tried searching by title and author, but after repeatedly pulling up zero results I found it easier to just browse through the entire category. I think NetLibrary has the potential to be useful, but for the time being it's just a little too limited.

Podcast 2.0

This week's assignment was to learn about podcasts. At first I had trouble differentiating between podcasts and online videos such as those offered on YouTube, but after some exploration I think I'm beginning to understand the difference. I explored both "Podcastalley" and "Search Yahoo! for Podcasts" and was FINALLY able to locate a podcast that I wanted to add to my Google Reader account. Initially I used Podcastalley and came up with everything from "Ron Paul Fancast" ("The place for people who are Ron Paul fans and for the rest of you who don't know why") to "The Colbertcon podcast" (a sampling of clips from Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report") to a Sesame Street podcast. Unfortunately, most of these podcasts hadn't been updated recently. (Dr. Paul's and Mr. Colbert's sites were both last updated in January 2008.) I wanted something more recent so I looked up NBC's "The Office" and found a site called "That's What She Said," a podcast providing in-depth commentaries and critiques on every episode of the hit T.V. show. According to Podcastalley this site was last updated on April 28, 2008. Much better! Just for kicks I searched for the same podcast on Search Yahoo! and immediately found it, with the added bonus being that it was completely up to date. That's right, it had the most recent podcast dealing with last Thursday's episode. After exploring Search Yahoo! I decided that I like it a little better than Podcastalley. It was very visual (which works well for me) and included more graphics and video clips, and the kicker was that it was actually up to date. I added it to my Google Reader account with only minor problems (I found that it took me a few minutes to re-familiarize myself with Google Reader since I haven't used it in several weeks.) Podcasts are interesting and it's good to know how to look for them, but honestly, at this point I'm not sure how much I'm really going to be using them. But that said, who knows? I may find myself secretly listening to "That's What She Said" right after next Thursday's episode of "The Office." Shhh, don't tell anyone.

YouTube: Why the Internet Was Created!

Thank you, Al Gore! Thank you. If it hadn't been for your "inventing" the Internet we never could've enjoyed the amazingly fun and addictive video sharing site that is YouTube.

YouTube is great. This is a site which I've (unfortunately) spent many a happy hour playing around with and exploring, watching clips that range everywhere from classic '80s cartoons to funny puppet shows (more on that later) to insightful political propaganda to "classic" music videos. You can find just about anything here. Anything. Sure, as was mentioned in the Library 2.0 tutorial, quality may vary (both in content as well as presentation) but it's still a whole lot of fun to look around.

I really don't feel like I need to say much more. YouTube speaks for itself. I will say this though. I HAVE used YouTube before to help answer patron reference questions. On one particular occasion a patron approached me trying to find out the title of the book that Belle is reading during the opening musical sequence in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." After unsuccessfully looking through our Disney picture books as well as searching on Google (sorry Google), I tried trusty old YouTube and, sure enough, found that someone had posted the entire opening musical number. Unfortunately the book in question didn't actually have writing on the cover so I was unable to answer the patron's question, but I was at least able to go directly to the source and find that out. I thought that was pretty cool.

Oh, and thanks to YouTube I found my new favorite T.V. show, "The Office." If you haven't had a chance to see it you should definitely check it out. Very funny stuff! I decided to post a clip that relates to our preschool storytime. For four years and running Deanna and I have done a storytime on "Space," and without a doubt, one of our most memorable stortyime moments occurred the first time we acted out Ernie's song, "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" (from Sesame Street.) So I've decided to post the original song, as seen on Sesame Street. Maybe one day the Library will start videotaping their storytimes, and then I could post our version of the same song. Wouldn't that be cool? So here it is - Sesame Street's very own Ernie singing "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon." Enjoy!

And the Oscar goes to . . . . .

. . . Google Maps!!!

Today's assignment was to select and explore any site/tool from the list of Web 2.0 winners and blog about it. I decided to learn more about Google Maps, the first place winner (in the category of "Mapping") in SEOmoz's Web 2.0 Awards.

Google Maps is AWESOME!!! I began by typing in my home address and sure enough, within seconds it not only came up with an overhead grid view of my street and the surrounding neighborhood, but also displayed a dialog box which showed a thumbnail of "my house." (Note: Google's picture was actually a couple houses off from my actual house. But still, that isn't bad when you consider what a monumental feat they've accomplished!)

Users are given the option of seeing a location's street view, the traffic conditions, street maps, satellite imagery, as well as the street maps combined with the terrain (a topographical map.) Street view is very cool, very addicting, and only slightly creepy (this could be a stalker's dream.) The satellite imagery looks like the views an individual would see were they to use Google Earth. The traffic conditions tab allows users to see what traffic conditions are like on particular roads at various times of the day. (Note to self - never drive southbound on I-15 in the Farmington area on Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. Traffic appears to be at a standstill.)

I tried the "get directions" feature and was very impressed. I love it!!! Prior to this I've used Map Quest (which is great too), but I think from now on I'm a Google Maps man. As with Map Quest it gives the user a map as well as detailed directions. It shows the total distance as well as approximate travel time. There's an option which allows the user to avoid highways (it will map out an alternate route using only side streets.) The user can drag the cursor over the map and actually customize/change their route. Google Maps also allows the user to send the directions via email, get reverse directions, and most importantly, print the directions. The printed page includes the detailed directions, map overview, start and end maps, as well as the start and end address, and the total distance and travel time.

This is an extremely useful tool. It will benefit me both in a professional setting as well as in my personal life. Thank you so much Google. And well done! Well done.

"It's Alive!!!" at Google Labs

Well, the good folks over at Google never cease to amaze me. I just got through browsing some of their latest "creations" over at the labs, and it's pretty cool to see what they're coming up with. Here's a quick review of a few of the features I explored:

Google Sets:

I'm not sure how useful it is (although, come to think of it, I guess the point is to sort of imitate the "cluster" concept found on other sites such as Clusty and Mooter) but it was definitely fun seeing whether or not it could predict and/or find relationships for the items I entered in. For example, I typed in "Keira Knightley," "Johnny Depp," and "Orlando Bloom" and Google came up with a list of other actors from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and various other films. I typed "Big Bird," "Cookie Monster," and "Grover" and Google came up with Bert, Ernie, and the rest of the Sesame Street gang. Trying to be clever I typed in "Donald Trump," "grilled cheese," and "Survivor" but unfortunately Google couldn't find any direct correlation. Isn't it obvious? Oh well, nobody's perfect.

Google Suggest:

This is a great feature, and to be honest, I don't understand why they aren't using it yet. Yahoo already does this sort of thing on their site. It seems pretty handy in case you're not really sure of the spelling, or maybe you want to see related topics, or maybe you're just looking for a quick time-saver. Also, it seems to me that the suggestions are shown in order of popularity, so in a way it already fills the role of Google Trends.

Google Trends:

I thought it was interesting but I didn't really see the point. When I visited this site I noticed that Star Jones' popularity had recently spiked (due to her recent divorce announcement.) Isn't it sad that that's what it takes in order to get noticed these days! How do the folks at Google decide which "hot trends" to post anyway?

Google Extensions for Firefox:

This had several cool applications. Namely, "Google Browser Sync" (synchronize your browser settings across computers, restore tabs and windows from your previous session) and "Google Send to Phone" (send text messages of web page content to your mobile phone.) I was wondering if Google Browser Sync might allow an individual to access their favorites from any computer. If so, there goes the necessity for sites like Del.icio.us (which in all honesty is fine by me.)

Google Mars:

I'm already a HUGE fan of Google Earth (WARNING: THIS PROGRAM IS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!!!) so by all means, why not throw in another planet? It looks like for now they've only got a portion of Mars displayed which they're then repeating over and over . . . but I'm sure this will increase in time.

It looks like Google has some pretty neat stuff in the works. It's exciting to see what's out there as well as what's waiting just around the corner. Now if only Google could come up with some sort of fool-proof dating service. I can see it now - "Google Dating . . . where you're guaranteed to find your perfect match every time." Hey, a guy can dream can't he?

Online Application Tools . . .

. . . or, How Google Continues to Impress Me

Today's assignment required that I experiment with a few online application tools. I didn't have any luck with Zoho simply because I lacked a username and password. NumSum wouldn't come up at all. However, I found several applications on Google Docs that I liked quite a bit (and could actually see myself using.) Well for starters, Google Docs (which I'm currently using to type this post.) It seems like a decent word processing program and appears to include all the basics. I really like the fact that I can access this program from any computer, as long as it has internet access. Not needing a flash drive/floppy disk is kind of cool. I also like the Google Calender feature. Up to this point in my life I haven't been very good at planning things on calendars (taking the time to write things down takes TOO MUCH effort! ;) I've tried to keep track of important dates in my head) and it's worked so far, but it seems like I'm having to keep track of more and more stuff so it might be a good thing to train myself to start using a calendar. I guess it's either between using an online application like this or writing information down in my day planner (which has been collecting dust for the past few years.) I guess the only limitation with Google Calendars is that I need to be near a computer in order to access it, whereas my day planner or some other pocket calendar could be carried around with me all the time. I also looked at the Google spreadsheets but haven't yet had too much of a need for spreadsheets. I'm sure in the future this might also come in handy. Basically, the main point I've gleaned from today's exercise is how ridiculously versatile and user-friendly Google is and how much I wish I had bought shares when it went public. Doh!

Searching for the Best Search Engine

Honestly I'd like today's post to consist of these few salient sentences:

GOOGLE IS THE BEST SEARCH ENGINE AND THE ONLY ONE I WANT TO USE. END OF STORY. PERIOD.

Unfortunately, that doesn't really fulfill the assignment. So, using the terms "shadow" and "puppets" I tried several search engines from the list and here's what I found.

Yahoo -

I've used Yahoo before and like the format. It's very similar to Google. It's clean looking, makes sense (but maybe that's just because I'm already familiar with it), and allows the user to search in other categories such as "web, images, video, local, and shopping" (again similar to Google.) I came up with a total of 9,890,000 results, ranging everywhere from YouTube shadow puppet show clips to the Wikipedia page on shadow puppetry, to various puppetry how-to pages. One nice feature Yahoo offers is the "Also try" option where it suggests other possible searches. All in all though I would still rather stick with Google but I do like using Yahoo to read their top news, entertainment, and sports stories.

Clusty -

Right off I noticed the search cluster bar on the left-hand side of the screen. I assume this is meant to help users find more relevant search results. The major portion of the screen resembles Google or Yahoo. As with the other two search engines, Clusty allows the user to also search web, news, images, wikipedia, blogs, and jobs. I thought the wikipedia and blog options were interesting. Clusty brought up 1,022,520 results.

Gravee -

I couldn't even get this page to come up, so that's a big "NO" for Gravee.

Wink -

I pulled up this page and immediately saw the heading, "Where people find people." Hmm, I'm sure this would be useful for some searches but it isn't relevant for mine, unless of course "Shadow Puppets" is the name of a person. Hmmmm . . .

Mooter -

Mooter boasts the slogan, "The Power of Relevance." I have to admit though, outside of the cool sounding name I didn't find this site to be very useful. In all fairness this probably is because I'm not familiar with the layout, but here's what I found. I typed in "shadow puppets" and was immediately taken to a "cluster" (it reminded me of one of those brainstorming webs that we had to do in high school English class.) The web contained several headings such as "uncle orson writing class, puppets, shadow, theatre, series, puppet, and book." In the center was the label, "All Results." "All Results" basically brings up a similar search page as Google, Yahoo, and Clusty, as does another button labeled "I want it ALL!" I spent only a couple minutes here but wasn't that impressed. It's nice that they're trying to pull the most relevant websites out, but even then it's kind of confusing. I mean, do I want to click on the "shadow" tab or the "puppet" tag? Or maybe the "puppets" tab? By the way, what's the difference between "puppet" and "puppets" anyway? Also, every time I clicked on a tab, looked at the results, and then tried to return to the original screen, a message box would pop up saying, "The page you are trying to view contains POSTDATA that has expired from cache . . . blah blah blah . . ." This got old really quickly.

So, it was nice having the chance to explore other search engines but I'm still a Google fan through and through. And since today's post dealt with the "wonderful world" of shadow puppets, here's a relevant clip. Enjoy!

What Library 2.0 means to me . . .

Hi there, so this week's assignment involved reading several articles discussing web 2.0, library 2.0, and the like, and then blogging about my opinion and reaction. I'll come right out and say it - I found some of the articles to be much more readable and user-friendly than I did others. A couple authors, Chip Nilges and John J. Riemer, went completely over my head, reminding me once again of the simpleton that I am when it comes to technology. I felt indifference towards Michael Stephens' article, but would like to respond to a couple items discussed by Rick Anderson (Away from the "icebergs") and Dr. Wendy Schultz (To a temporary place in time . . .)

One thought that struck me as I was reading was that, as a library, we are serving a very broad scope of patrons when it comes to technical savvy. Sure there are a growing number of folks that pride themselves on being up-to-date and current on the latest technological innovations, but there are still others, many, many others who are clinging to the tried and true traditions of the past. Rick Anderson made the statement that it's important that we be "placing library services and content in the user's preferred environment (i.e., the Web)." True, for many people the internet is now the preferred environment through which to obtain services and information. However, there is still that part of our population that relishes the institutions and traditions of yesterday and refuses to give them up. They love the touch, feel, smell, and experience of reading from a book. They enjoy browsing crowded collections as opposed to sitting down at a computer. I'm not saying one way is better than the other. What I am saying is that in an ideal world, it would be nice to figure out a way to accommodate both groups. That we figure out a way to serve those individuals that enjoy existing in the technological realm, while at the same time not forgetting those folks that refuse to surrender the practices and routines that they have grown up on and with which they have become so comfortable.

In order for Library 2.0 to be successful it requires that there be a system-wide acceptance of the internet as well as other new technologies. By "system-wide" I'm referring to the need of schools and other organizations outside of the library to begin making similar evolutions. I speak as a children's librarian here. Rick Anderson talked about the necessity of doing away with the "just in case collection" (a collection of materials which are rarely used but which libraries continue to hang onto just in case a patron comes in looking for them.) I'm all for doing away with those parts of the collection that are no longer being used, but then again, teachers need to allow for adjustments when assigning students reports. I often serve students whose assignment requires that they obtain their information from a book, RATHER THAN THE INTERNET. Most things these days can be found on the net, and it's often much easier to find it there (ever heard of a little thing called Google?), but until teachers more readily embrace the tools on the net, that "just in case collection" continues to be an important part of the collection that I can't justify discarding.

In regards to Dr. Wendy Schultz, let me just say, Wow! She's got some pretty grandiose ideas for the future! Library 3.0: the 3D experience? Sounds like a pretty exciting IMAX movie! Whoa, how about that one - Library IMAX? I mean, in Library 3.0 we'll already have librarian avatars and all that so why can't we take it a step further and experience libraries the IMAX way. You know, with really big letters. =D But seriously, as my friend Patrick pointed out in his blog, "How we go from underfunded inner-city urban libraries to exquisite brandy, aromatic cigars and the smell of leather is beyond me, the librarians of the future must be better fundraisers than the librarians of today."

Schultz referred to a service called SecondLife - where there are "subscribers who spend more than forty hours a week online, immersed in its virtual graphic world." More than FORTY HOURS A WEEK?!?! What the heck is wrong with us? Are our lives that boring that we now have to live vicariously through made up second lives? Did I miss something? What's next? People whose SecondLives have become so mundane that within the SecondLife World a new virtual world is created known as ThirdLife? I can see it now - "ThirdLife: for those of us whose first two lives just don't cut it." People, get a life! A first life!!!

There has been considerable discussion regarding libraries and how dramatically different they'll be in the next ten to fifteen years . . . with some even worrying that our jobs are in jeopardy and that libraries will become obsolete. Schultz stated, "Libraries are not just collections of documents and books, they are conversations, they are convocations of people, ideas, and artifacts in dynamic exchange. Libraries are not merely in communities, they are communities: they preserve and promote community memories; they provide mentors not only for the exploration of stored memory, but also for the creation of new artifacts of memory." LIBRARIES ARE NOT MERELY IN COMMUNITIES, THEY ARE COMMUNITIES. Certainly that is the mission of the City Library. Our former director saw the library not only as a building meant to house a collection of materials, but also to serve as an important community gathering place, where ideas and services can be shared. Looking around I see so many people in the library who are not sitting at the computers but are instead browsing the book shelves, talking to friends, attending a storytime or some other program, working on homework, utilizing our public spaces such as the "Crystal Cave" and the "Attic Room", or simply enjoying the view. Maybe I'm short-sighted but I don't see computers and/or Library 2.0 completely filling that niche just yet. And to be honest, I don't think I want to see that happen either. Library 4.0? No thanks.

Look out World!

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

I really get out there. Really.

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Online Image Generators, or, Paul's Family Album

Play Week? Yeah, that was an understatement. I had so much fun playing around with the online image generators . . . . a little too much fun in fact. Once again I have found another highly-addicting computer-related past-time, just waiting to suck away even more of my time. Strangely enough, this week's activities had a very genealogical feel to them. I started out by looking at the various sample generators, but soon discovered that they contained personal family information. For example, I unearthed the ancient Roman origin of my name, Paul. Here it is. And trust me, there was absolutely no "tomfoolery" involved. This is completely legit. (Thank you "CoolText." Shhh.)



Also, through the magic of computers (thanks "Funny Face Generator") I came across several old family photos. Specifically, pictures of my older brothers. All EIGHT of them. The resemblance is uncanny. Unfortunately, as you'll see, I was sort of the "ugly duckling" in the family. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

I don't necessarily see too much of a practical application for some of these programs, but then again, as a children's librarian I've learned that one should never say never. There COULD come a day when I need to make use of a "Ninja Text Generator." One can never be too sure . . . .

Feeds Schmeeds

This assignment overlapped quite a bit with the previous step, “Learn about RSS Feeds,” so I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Here are my results after exploring the various search tools:

Topix – nope

Syndic8 – nada

Technorati – uh uh

Google Reader – we have a winner!

Google Reader was definitely the easiest to use and seemed to make the most sense. With “Topix” I wasn’t even sure WHAT I was looking at. Using Google Reader I searched for library related blogs and while I didn’t find any that I’d want to subscribe to (outside of my library friends’ blogs that I mentioned in my previous post), I did find a couple interesting ones such as “Anarchist Librarians” and “Librarians with Class.” Nice. Oh yeah, and just for kicks I searched for “puppetry” and Wikipedia came up. So I’m guessing I could subscribe to the Wikipedia definition of puppetry and every time somebody updates it I’d be notified. Which is a really good thing because staying current on Wikipedia’s definition of puppetry is EXTREMELY important! ;)

Well, that’s it. Just for kicks I’ve added a couple of inspirational StarTrek posters that Elizabeth found online. They have absolutely nothing to do with this post but I thought they were pretty funny. Enjoy.

RSS S.O.S.

I can see how RSS feeds might benefit certain people – you know, the guy in the expensive tailored suit who doesn’t have time to sip his cappuccino, let alone check out his stocks or browse the latest world news. For him it might be extremely useful to have a system hand-pick and deliver that information directly to him, rather than having to take the time to look for it. But for me, Paul the Librarian, I just don’t spend enough time on the computer nor do I check particular websites regularly enough to make it worthwhile. But now, thanks to the beauty of RSS Feeds, I have a site jam-packed with oodles of new articles just waiting to be read. Whereas in the past I might have occasionally decided to check out the Salt Lake Tribune’s website or maybe Ain’t It Cool News (a movie and entertainment site), now I get the pleasure of being bombarded with updates even when I’m not interested in knowing what’s going on. Yippee (meant in the most sarcastic way possible.) But in all honesty, for the purpose of fulfilling the assignment I added feeds from several sites such as the Tribune, BBC World News, as well as Ain’t It Cool News. For the other feeds I simply added my co-workers’ blogs. That way I can stay current on their latest updates . . . that is, if I even pull up Google Reader now that this part of the assignment has been fulfilled. Right now I find it easier to still visit the individual blogs, but that might change in time. Besides, I can’t even begin to imagine the mess I have to look forward to the next time I login – all these zillions of new stories and updates just sitting there, silently waiting for me – “Read me, read me!!” The horror!!! On the bright side, at least I understand the concept behind RSS Feeds and feel fairly confident using Google Reader. Now I know. And as they say, “Knowing is half the battle.”

Fun with Mash-Ups

Okay, so as my title implies, messing around with some of the Flickr mash-ups was pretty fun. Not all that practical, but definitely fun. So what can I say about mash-ups? I don't see much of a practical use just yet, but it's certainly something to keep in mind when I'm bored on a Saturday night and everyone else is out on a date. Trusty ol' Computer, thank YOU for always being there for me! And, like my friend Deanna said, it is good to know what's out there and to be semi-proficient just in case patrons come up with questions. Oh, and here's a trading card I created. Collect 'em all!

Flickr – Something to Scream About!

So today I explored Flickr, and I've gotta say, it's pretty cool. It seems like a great way to organize and share photos with others. To be honest, there are so many pictures available that it's a little overwhelming. I mean, you can look up just about anything and find fairly relevant results. For instance, I typed in “humorous pictures” and came up with this gem (insert funny caption here.)

I also looked at the Library Account. I wasn’t as impressed but this is probably because there aren’t too many pictures just yet. However, I did like the first two pics of Goblin Valley. I've never been there and it made me want to go on a road trip RIGHT NOW!

Just for kicks I went back to the main page and typed in “Salt Lake City Public Library.” I found a plethora of great photos. I always knew that I worked in an amazing building, but I never realized how many “hidden treasures” there are just waiting to be photographed. The sky’s the limit, eh. One noteworthy image was of the Children’s Gallery (that’s the gallery I’m in charge of). I love the lighting in this photo and how well it shows off the space. For some reason I couldn’t save this pic so I’ve included the link instead. Check it out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stubby_g3/1332626427/

Another picture I found showed the Urban Room at night. The caption underneath said something about how it reminded the photographer of the Vancouver Public Library, and sure enough, somebody had subsequently posted a comment informing the photographer that both buildings were designed by the same architect.

I don’t exactly know what point I’m trying to make, and since I’ve begun rambling it’s probably best if I just stop here. I will say this though – as much as I like Flickr, I don’t think I’m going to set up an account anytime soon. Not only am I feeling account overload (what with my library email, Gmail, MySpace, and my blog) but I can see how easy it would be to spend HOURS upon HOURS looking through the photos. Which brings me back to one of my initial arguments (see earlier post) – I’ve always thought that computers were supposed to be time-savers but instead I’m finding myself spending more and more time online. There IS life outside of computers, right? HELP!!! (Now I’M sounding like the boy in the photo.) =)

LibraryThing – Just What the Doctor Ordered!

So I needed something to get rid of the bad taste that last night’s episode with Technorati left in my mouth, and I found it today when I learned about LibraryThing. What can be said other than it’s great!!! This is one tool that will definitely come in handy for me as a children’s librarian. Having looked at my friend Deanna’s page (litlb00k.blogspot.com), I realized that this is a great way to keep track of super awesome book baby and storytime titles. Nice! And now I also get to use all of that tagging stuff that I learned about a couple weeks ago. Even better! To quote Hannibal from the A-Team, “I love it when a plan comes together!”

Seriously though (Paul looks both ways and starts whispering so as to not appear too nerdy), I’m looking forward to messing around a bit more with LibraryThing. (Whisper gets even quieter) I can’t wait to go home and add some more excellent book titles and tag them as well. Shhh, (at this point whispering is almost completely inaudible) don’t tell anyone but this is fun, and I know my list of book titles will definitely come in handy down the road when I’m in a bind and looking for that perfect and ever elusive show-stopping Book Baby title. So, who needs a date this Friday night? Not me, thanks – I’m busy . . . . with LibraryThing!

"Technorati Technobabble . . ."

(or)
". . . How to waste an hour and a half on a quiet Sunday evening when you have better things that you could be doing!"

After spending much longer exploring Technorati than I had initially planned (it's getting to be a problem – this seems to be the case with every exercise in the Library 2.0 course), here's what I came up with:

1.There were 18,990 results that popped up for "Learning 2.0"
2.I searched for my own blog, "Pollywog's Pad," and found it. Unfortunately I have ZERO fans (yeah, big surprise!) - whatever that means.
3.I did an advanced search and found that there were 1,137 posts that were tagged "Library 2.0" and 663 blogs about "Library 2.0."
4.While scanning through the list of blogs I found one I recognized - "Elizabeth's Endeavors" (elizabeththebibliophile.blogspot.com). Yes!!! Someone I know! That was exciting. Really.
5.I explored the popular blogs and came up with one called "Boing Boing." Apparently this is a "weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It's the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Tecnorati.com . . ."
6.In looking at the top searches I came across everything from "asian" to "myspace" to "kaboom." Yeah, the connection makes perfect sense to me too. I clicked on "asian" and as suspected, came up with a slew of inappropriate links. CLASSY.
7.As an aside, just for kicks I Googled "Pollywog's Pad," just to see if it would pull it up. And sure enough, trusty ol' Google came through once again . . . sort of. It pulled up "Elizabeth's
Endeavors" which through the magic of technology is somehow linked to my own blog. Yay Science!

In conclusion, what did I get out of Technorati? I will answer the question with a question – "Do you think somebody will ever invent a time machine so that I can go back in time and reclaim the hour and a half I lost in looking at the overwhelmingly cluttered and seemingly pointless gobbledygook that is Technorati?"

T.ag.s

As if the word “tag” didn’t already have enough meanings – “An informal playground game involving chasing and touching; a play in baseball; graffiti, or more specifically the signature used by graffiti artists; a vehicle registration plate; the annoying white piece of paper hanging off of my mattress which is apparently a federal offense to remove,” (to name a few), now there’s yet another use for the word – “A keyword or term associated with or assigned to a piece of information.” I haven’t done much with tagging, but thanks once again to Commoncraft’s great video tutorial series (this week it was “Social Bookmarking in Plain English”), I understand the general concept. That said, I then visited Del.icio.us and that understanding was completely thrown out the window. Honestly, I didn’t really get what it was I was looking at. It seemed confusing to me (I’d much rather stick with Google – I can find just about anything I’m looking for.) Plus, while I appreciate the idea of having a list of great sites which can supposedly be accessed from ANY computer (unlike bookmarks which are computer-specific), after reading several other librarian’s blogs I learned that certain software has to be installed on that computer in order for Del.icio.us to even work. This can be problematic at places like universities and libraries where they don’t allow patrons to install software on the public computers. There goes Del.icio.us’ usefulness. Anyway, I’m sure that tagging has its benefits – to quote the “Plain English” guy, “It can make order out of chaos” – but I guess I need to better familiarize myself with it in order to really appreciate the full potential. Until then, pass the Google, please!

MyReaction to MySpace

So let’s not beat around the bush – I’ve been morally opposed to MySpace since I was first introduced to it several years ago. Maybe “morally opposed” is a bit strong, but I definitely haven’t been the biggest fan. My familiarity with MySpace began when a couple of my co-workers (we’ll call them “Gabbie” and “Penny”) first signed up and started really getting into it. The two eventually convinced others at work to sign up, and at one point Penny even created an account for me. I tried it for about a week and ended up deleting it. I didn’t really see the point – I talked to most of my friends in person anyway. Why bother creating a profile explaining myself when everybody around me already knew me? Also, I wasn’t that stuck on the type of people I was seeing on the site – in all honesty, they didn’t look like the types of people I would generally call my “friends.” And speaking of friends, the whole idea of “friends” seems a little contrived. I mean, Penny and Gabbie have both received invitations from complete strangers asking to be included as their “friends.” I’ve even seen kids hold contests to see who could accumulate a bigger list of “friends.” Did I miss something? Is that the shallow level “friendship” has stooped to?

Everybody is saying that MySpace (as well as other social networking sites) are the wave of the future. I looked at several library pages that are trying to play into this craze, and honestly, am still struggling to see how well they really fit in. I guess I’m having difficulty in deciding how I feel about the whole thing in general. I’ll admit it – I’ve recently been doing a lot more on Gmail, using the chat feature, etc., and must confess, it’s been a lot of fun. I was pretty skeptical when I first created my blog, but that too has been enjoyable. To be honest, I think I need to be careful – it almost becomes addicting. It’s very easy for me to get caught up in the whole “I wonder if I have a new comment on my page – I’d better check again” mentality. I’ve always thought that computers were supposed to be time-savers, and yet I’m finding them becoming increasingly time-consumers. It’s very easy to squander an entire evening surfing the web or playing around on some of these sites.

Okay, so I could probably ramble on endlessly about this but since nobody’s reading anyway I might as well stop here. I’ll just say, it’s with great skepticism and reluctance that I venture into the world of MySpace, but . . . . . . since there IS a free flash drive, mp3 player, and laptop computer at stake . . . . . . here goes! Bring it on, MySpace!!!

Puppet Show 2.0 (Wikis)

(Bobby, a fifth grader at Salty Hills Elementary is sitting in his room, typing at his computer when his best friend Sally walks in. Let’s listen in . . . . )

Sally: Hey Bobby.

Bobby: Oh, hey Sally. How’s it going?

Sally: I’m fine. What are you doing?

Bobby: I’m creating a wiki.

Sally: A what-y?

Bobby: No, a wiki.

Sally: What’s a wiki?

Bobby: Well Sally, in Hawaiian “wiki” means “quick.”

Sally: Oh. Okay. Ummm, Bobby that still doesn’t tell me what it is.

Bobby: I know. Hang on a sec, let me finish. Basically, a wiki is a quick and easy way for a whole group of people to create a website without having to know much about computers. Anybody can add to or edit the information in the site.

Sally: Oh . . . . . Ummm, Bobby? I’m still kind of confused.

Bobby: Take me, for example. Right now I’m creating a wiki for people interested in all of the fun things kids can do in town. I’ll create the site and list the activities I know about like the skating rink, the water park, and the drive-in theater. Somebody else might come along and add a great new children’s museum they visited. Another person might know of a cool new library, and add that. And that’s how the wiki grows!

Sally: Oh, I think I get it. So I can create a wiki about anything I want to, and other people can add to it?

Bobby: Yeah, that’s right.

Sally: I think I’m going to create a wiki about Hello Kitty and why I think it’s dumb.

Bobby: You can, Sally. The only thing is, people who like Hello Kitty might be offended and change the things you said or delete the site altogether. They might even say mean things about you.

Sally: They can do that?

Bobby: Well yeah, sort of. Sally, if you want to create a site where you have total control over the information, you’re probably better off creating either a blog or some other type of website. That way you and you alone get to decide what is said.

Sally: Oh.

Bobby: Or, you could still make your wiki but you could change it so that it welcomes all points of view regarding Hello Kitty. Maybe you could call it, “Hello Kitty: Diverging Viewpoints.” That way, people with all sorts of opinions would feel welcome updating the site and expressing their views. Several libraries have created wikis where people have listed their favorite book titles. This is a great way for one person to be able to share a favorite book with many other users.

Sally: Hey, that’s a pretty good idea.

Bobby: Thanks, Sally. There’s only one more thing to remember.

Sally: What’s that?

Bobby: Your wiki should be updated on a regular basis.

Sally: You mean, once I set it up I have to keep working on it?

Bobby: Kind of, yeah. Sally, one of the strengths wikis offer is that they provide up to date information. For example, if you ran a library and created a wiki listing “New Children’s Books,” but never updated the titles, you’d eventually end up with a list of “new” books that are actually several years old. Your wiki would no longer be very useful.

Sally: I think I’m beginning to understand it all.

Bobby: You know Sally, if you’d like to learn more about wikis there are a couple helpful sites such as “Wikis in Plain English” (http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english) and “Wiki’s: A Beginner’s Look” (http://meredith.wolfwater.com/cil06/). I personally found the “Wikis in Plain English” video very helpful AND entertaining.

Sally: Thanks, Bobby. Wow, wikis can be pretty complicated, huh? I think my head is starting to hurt. Hey, Bobby.

Bobby: Yeah, Sally?

Sally: I don’t think I’m ready to make a wiki just yet. Do you wanna go play catch?

Bobby: Sure, Sally. I’d love to.

THE END

I'm So Cool!

Okay, so today is Wednesday and I just officially set up my first blog. Yessss!!! 21st Century here I come! Look out Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, there's a new kid in town . . . . and he's takin' names. So yeah, as you can see, I really don't have much to say, I'm so giddy with excitement. I'd like to thank all of my friends who got me to this point. First of all - Deanna. Thank you Deanna! It's because of your help that I set up this blog. I couldn't have done it without you! And Patrick, thank you too! You gave me the great idea for my blogspot's name. Oh, and knowing that you made it this far motivated me to beat you. Thanks, man. Oh, and Riann - thanks for helping me come up with that elusive URL. It was tricky but you did it. You're the best! I'd also like to thank the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - it's because of you that I didn't go into film. So thanks! Oh, and thanks to my family, too. Without you I wouldn't be alive. And thanks to the grocer for selling me food, and to the mailman for delivering my mail, and to my high school geography teacher for . . . . . . Oh yeah, and thank you Dwight Schrute!