(Thing #23) Grand Finale

I made it! It took a bit of extra time and work, but I'm glad I participated, regardless of the prize. I learned a lot; I became familiar with several programs I'd heard about but hadn't delved into 'til this project. So, even though I won't necessarily continue to use all the programs myself, I'm glad I had a chance to familiarize myself with what's out there.



One thing I realize, after looking back through my life-long learning goals from the first couple of blogs is that I'm better at jumping in and trying something new. I think, over time, I've gotten more comfortable about using my 'tool box' consisting of friends, co-workers, reading the directions, etc. When I know that what I need to learn will help me to be more helpful to other people, it motivates me to dig in and figure it out. I've noticed this when using NCLive- I really want people to use it, which makes me want to know how to explain it better.

I think Goodreads has made a fun, helpful connection between a number of us- it's turned into a good way to keep in touch with staff from the other libraries. On that subject, I still think some sort of inter-library communication devise- wiki or otherwise- would be very beneficial.

To answer the last question, yes, I'd do this again! There's always more to learn, and more to teach.

(Thing #22) NetLibrary

It took me a minute to find where I could browse our collection of eAudiobooks- which is embarassing because you'd think I would have looked into this a little more closely already.


I liked being able to hear a sample of the story, especially since some books don't have descriptions included in their Details section.


I think it will be good if we all take a closer look at how to download eAudiobooks so we're able to give patrons a little run-down on how it works- what devices it works with- renewal issues, etc. We have such a wealth of resources available that their, and our, tax dollars are helping pay for, so I really want to do a better job of letting everyone know what's here for their education and entertainment. One important question- will the MP3 players we requested be compatible with NetLibrary books? That would definitely be an incentive to do some detailed searching!

(I'm posting this ahead of Thing 21 since I'm still working on figuring out podcasts... BUT, I've figured out how to change the order of my posts in case I want to them to be in order later.)

(Thing #21) Pod People

I guess I'm not a pod person... not yet at least. All the download options intimidated me, and so I decided to wait and try it at home with a podcast from someone I know. I realize there's so much out there that I'd like to listen to... all the 'This American Life' episodes that I miss now that I work on Thursday nights.

I went back to Sarah's post and found links to some new podcast sites. I went to PodcastPickle and was a little overwhelmed by what I could find. It was easy to use, but I felt like I was randomly browsing for something that caught my attention. I looked at the Top 100 podcasts, and came across Grammar Girl's Quick & Dirty Tips to Better Writing. I learned that when writing something that's to be read aloud, you can use the 'k' sound in order to add more humor. Don't know why, but she talked about research using variations of a similar joke, where the variation with more 'k' sounds got the most laughs. Go figure. (Oh, and let me know if you want to hear the joke!)

Realizing how easy it is to listen to a podcast from the computer, I decided to check out This American Life. It was nice to look for something to listen to through a familiar space, rather than on a general podcast search site. I was able to listen to any episode for free, but if I'd wanted to download something from the archives- anything but the most recent show, it would cost ninety-five cents. Since I don't have an MP3 player yet I haven't tried downloading, but I can imagine using that later.

(Thing #20) You Can Learn Anything on YouTube

I signed in to YouTube through my gmail account and registered this blog- that made it easy to add a video to my site. In fact, it showed up as a blog post before I even had a chance to write about it! I decided to look for salsa dance instructions. There are dozens. I liked that I could narrow my options to 'couple' instructions. I watched parts of a few videos, and chose this one... The extra comments he's posted cracked me up before I even got to listen to explanations (yes I'm editing this from the reference desk) so I figured the real instruction would be good but humorous at the same time- the way a dance instructor should be, in my opinion!
I found it very easy to use YouTube. I've learned from experience (not having actual television) that it can be addicting since one video will lead you to dozens of related videos. The challenge is figuring out how to use it at the library. So many patrons already know about it, and I don't see any of our MCPL staff jumping into creating a video for the library, but maybe I'm wrong- it's an interesting idea!
I never was able to upload the video while working in Blogger; I went back to YouTube, where I'd registered my blog, and added it from there. So, there it is.

Sexy Salsa Dancing : Complex Salsa Dance Move

I'm thinking it might be easier to add from YouTube, rather than add it from BlogSpot...

Slight Delay...

Argh. I am having trouble getting the YouTube video I chose to show up on my blog. It's there; I edit text; it disappears... It seemed so simple at first!

I'll check with some of my resident experts when we're all here tomorrow.

(Thing #19) Web 2.0 Award Winners

I jumped into the 'Fun' sites, and discovered One Sentence. Submit a story in one concise sentence, and realize how much can be told in just a few words. It reminds me of Frank Warren's book 'Post Secret' and as I read through the One Sentence blog, I found out that they're in the process of publishing a book as well. I'll have to add it to the collection when it comes out.



I also checked out the Education sites, and I can't wait to try out SpanishPod, Mango, and LiveMocha for their language lessons. (I can't exactly do that at the reference desk!) I poked around in all of them though; I was excited to see that the first language on Mango is Brazilian Portuguese. I want to learn more of that. I'll definitely check that out, and hopefully I'll be able to recommend these sites as complements to our books and audios on language learning.

I'm wondering what the rest of you have to recommend as far as music sites. I've never used an MP3 player before, so I'm curious... let me know what you've used! Thanks!

(Thing #18) Google Docs

I definitely would have appreciated a program like this when I was at Southwestern and Western. I had a lot of group projects between my education and English classes, and it would have been handy, especially as a commuter from Franklin, to be able to do a little more of our work from separate locations. I remember more than one occasion when, in the middle of one class, I'd realize I'd left my disk with the next class' work in my computer at home and I'd have to debate whether to skip out of one class to drive home and get it, or turn my next class' work in a day late. Having my work on a central, web-accessible program could have saved hours of stress, driving, etc.

As for using applications like Google Documents in the library, I could create my PR messages about Thursdays at the Library and the movies from any workstation. I wouldn't be limited to editing only when I'm at my own desk on project time; I could work on them during down time in the lab or at the reference desk.

Patrons could be saved a lot of lost documents as well. I've seen so many patrons lose work because, for whatever reason, they logged out of their session, not realizing that their documents will not be there the next time they log in.

I like that the format is so familiar- similar to Word, Excel, and, though I'm not so familiar with Power Point, I think the Presentation application is fairly similar. I'd feel confident showing this to patrons, knowing they'll be comfortable with it.

(Thing #17) Wiki Part II

So now we know it's doable- I think we should put it to use for the Fontana Regional Library system! It seems to be easy to share and link other sites; I definitely found it easy to use.

It took me a few tries to add my blog as a link, but when I went back and read the directions about changing it from a Wiki to a URL, it worked perfectly!

FYI, I added the Rufus Morgan link to favourite hikes since I have a few good stories from that trail, and I added the Frog & Owl to the restaurants. They don't have a web site, but it's easy enough to find- it's one of only two good places to hang out on a weekend night in Franklin and the food is excellent, though I could be slightly biased since they've bought produce out of our garden!

(Thing #16) Wiki Part I

I don't know that this was the intention of the assignment, but I certainly found something I was looking for! I went to the Allegheny County Library Association wiki and checked out their Boys and Libraries page, found something that caught my eye, did a little research, and got on the phone to Suzanne at Books Unlimited and ordered it for my kid's upcoming 13th birthday! The book is 'Guys Write for Guys Read' by Jon Scieszka; it has snippets of writing by several young adult authors with information on how to find more of their writings. Maybe, just maybe, I've figured out a way to get James to do something here besides play Pirates and lounge around the circ desk.

I just keep going back to Allegheny's Young Adult wiki- it's great to see all the things they're doing with their teenagers, and the teenagers are part of the site- I read comments from them... maybe something like this is the way to get the young people in our library more involved with using the library as more than just a hang-out. Kids might be more responsive when they can sit at a computer and give their input- it might give them a chance to get comfortable with what's available to them, and make it easier for them to give their opinions. We've talked about how to get them interested and involved... maybe this is something we should think about doing.