This is what I think! (# 26-27)

I liked it, I really did. Even though sometimes I felt resistant to what I viewed as tech "trends" or "fads", I'm still glad I was exposed to them so that I at least am aware of their existence. I can honestly say that I never would have heard of most of the topics we covered had it not been for this program...and that's really a good thing that 27things has provided. Lots of patrons use this stuff and it makes it really hard to help them when we as staff have never heard of what they're talking about. This training has value.

I would totally participate in similar future programs at KCLS.

I think a lot of people were stressed out by the whole ordeal and were very intimidated about learning new things (especially since they were "tech" things). Many felt they did not have enough time at work to get through some of the lessons. A few of those "things" could be very time consuming. The WKED branch had a really good idea of offering a "cram jam" where staff could show up for 2 hours and work together on finishing up lessons without the pesky distractions of doing our real jobs! This was a great idea and very helpful in getting through those more complex lessons.

I think the implementation was super for the most part. Many of the "advocates" turned out to need more help than the regular participants however. But I think this program has identified those who are tech savvy so that for the next time they can help those who need it. One thing I was kind of confused about (and I hope it does not cause a problem for my completion status) was how each time we logged our progress on the intranet there was always only one place to put our blog URL for that week, even though we often would have more than one blog entry for said week. I was not sure if you wanted the URL for just one entry or the URL for our entire blog. I figured you wanted the specific entry URL, which confused me since it would only bring you to one entry for the week even though there was more than one. So, perhaps make that more clear next time...that's it.

All in all, I liked it, I really did.

And now, what I've learned....





PS - Now, as far as what's next, the 27th thing...heck you guys tell me! Okay, okay. Hmmm, how about, I don't know, remote desktop programs! I had to think of something...

ebooks, here I come! (# 25)

I have used Overdrive Catalog in the past. When I first started working at KCLS I downloaded the Overdrive software and checked out an Imax movie. Very cool stuff. I can't wait to try out an audio book on the mp3 player!

Podcastaway (# 24)

Podcast.net - needs Quicktime which many KCLS computers don't seem to have
Podcastalley.com - only gives you the RSS URL and requires that you have a podcast aggregate already installed. It's also a hella slow site.
Yahoo Podcasts - Seems hit and miss in terms of which ones will actually play without having to download something.

All in all, a very frustrating exercise.

MyTube (# 23)

This is the beauty of YouTube

Love it!

...and the Web 2.0 award goes to... (# 22)

So I checked out the Web 2.0 Award list and found a category which addresses a problem I've had ever since working at KCLS...being able to make appointments amidst my complex, rotating schedule. "Personal Organization" caught my eye! In this category are HipCal and Planzo, both online calendars (and more) which I could use to keep track of all my various goings on without having to carry around an organizer or some other cumbersome device. Perhaps not ground breaking innovations, but useful in my mind, which is enough to warrant acknowledgement.

What Google's got cooking (BETA) (# 21)

Google Labs...an interesting idea. A good one for Google at least since they get free BETA testing for their new products.

Google Trends was interesting, novel at least. Google Mars was neat, and again, novel. Google Page Creator would have been neat to try, but it requires a Gmail account, and I didn't feel like signing up for one.

But yes, I do like the idea of having access to products in development...just as long as I don't have to rely on them for anything important since they make "break" at any time!

Google strikes again, Doc (# 20)

Hey, now we're getting somewhere. All these patrons trying to make resumes without a floppy will be hearing about Google Docs from me. This is a good idea...a little too good I think. I can just see a subscription fee being tacked on to this in the future. But the future is what I think this represents...no more installing software onto a hard drive...web based applications will rule the tech world I think. No more formatting problems or saving problems or broken storage devices. All you would have to worry about is the servers going down and the world stopping in its tracks as a result!

KCLS goes 2.0 (perpetual BETA) # 19

I don't know...web 2.0? Is it really the next big thing? I guess so, for the youngsters at least. But I have to say, up until this program I had not even heard of, let alone tried, the majority of topics listed in our 27 things, and I'm not very old. And now, after having been exposed to the majority of the list, I really don't see myself using most of them. But if others do and those "others" are the majority of the library patron base (which I'm not even sure they are) then I suppose the library should keep up and change. It seems a very complicated and deep issue and I'm actually surprised that I would be reluctant to accept new technology in a library setting, since I feel I'm pretty tech savvy in other areas of my life. I guess the Library has just been held in my mind as being separate and timeless in the way that it operates. That was always part of the comfort and familiarity of it for me. But I can also take comfort in knowing that the issues of upgrading, revamping, and keeping up with new trends in technology and information distribution are being discussed, so that the library I grew up with doesn't fade away like the rest of my memories.

Google, slow your roll! (# 18)

Now this is an interesting concept and one I think I could very well use in my every day life. I do have a list of favorite websites that I sometimes check when looking for information on one particular topic and it can be a pain to have to search each site individually to find the information I'm looking for. Consolidating the search into one engine which just looks through the website of my choice is a welcome convenience. This could pretty easily be applied to the library in terms of research and database searches.

So now, without further ado...my own personal search engine:

My Search

I preferred the Google version, not only because I already have a login for google, but because it was also faster and looked more familiar, since I use google all the time.

Generate Me! (#17)

This is the best possible application of internet technology ever!

Wiki What? (#15)

I suppose any Wiki is only as good as those who contribute to it...that to me is the potential success and danger of such an endeaver. Of course assuming the infomation is "good" a library could use such a resource for any number of things...from reading lists to policy manuals. It could be quite a useful thing if done well.

LibraryWhat-cha-ma-call-it (#14)

Now, this LibraryThing is pretty neat. I like seeing what other people like. It's also cool to see the covers of your favorite books displayed on your blog. The only thing I didn't like was the actual search function on the LibraryThing site. I couldn't find a way to narrow my search to find a specific title by a specific author, which seems like a pretty basic option to have when searching for books. In any case, I was able to find quite a few titles I have on my bookshelf at home...and now the whole world (or the 2 people that read my blog) can see them too!

Del.icio.us i.s. O.K. I. gu.ess. (#12)

I suppose I can see the value of having bookmarks compiled by library personnel for use as a weblink database. I think the only problem might result from an inconsistency of tag terminology which might keep people from finding links because they are not using the same descriptor as those who key worded it. If there were a set range of key words one could use to label and search links, it might make it easier to find things you're looking for. But I guess it's a relatively minor complaint. But yeah, having bookmarks be accessible from any computer would be nice...it's murder trying to memorize URLs and it's a pain looking things up.

Get your Face out of My Space...and get a First Life! (#9)

MySpace: Okay, a lot of people use it...a lot of young people. I can see the value in familiarizing staff with the mechanics of the site, and I suppose it doesn't hurt to have the Library have a "space" for the kiddies to visit (although I'm still not convinced someone looking for library resources would use MySpace to find them).

FaceBook: Same as above.

Second Life: This is a GAME. I don't get why people think it's more than that. The only thing that sets it apart from other MMOs is that it's a really bad game. Calling it a "social networking entity" is pure spin. It boasts millions of "registered" users, but what they gloss over is that only a handful of people actually consistently "play". Of course they'd be able to claim an outlandish number of users since it's free to register and download the client. But if one actually wanted to do anything substantial in the game world, the user would have to fork over real money. So, no...I don't see any value in exploring Second Life as an avenue to expose new people to the library...especially given that only a few people actaully play the game. If the library really wanted to tap the deep waters of MMO subscribers, they'd be better off building "Library Island" in WoW.

Feed me some more! (#8)

So, now I'm subscribed to about 20 RSS feeds, but that's okay because now I have all the 411 I could ever use. I was not too impressed with any of the RSS search engines I used. Feedster didn't seem to yield relevant results to any of my searches, the Bloglines search engine didn't fair too much better. I finally found some decent feeds using the Google Blog Search, but then I was limiting myself to blogs only. I suppose the best way to find feeds is to just go to the sites you like already and look for the RSS icon. In any case, I found muchas feeds and now I'm swimming (drowning, rather) in a sea of virtual information. Viva La Intraweb!

RSS, you magnificent bastard!

RSS...feed me! (#7)

So, I just finished subscribing to 6 different feeds! I don't think I'll ever check all these things for up to date info...but at least I know I can! Now, what would really be helpful in my mind is if I could somehow link these feeds to my blog so I can see when all of my "favorite" websites have new content.

I think there will be some complaints about having to subscribe to yet ANOTHER website to do this week's exercise though. It's going to get tough keeping all of these URLs, user names and passwords straight! Especially when working on more than one computer to complete these things each week. Oh, the plight of the clustered LA....

Mash Me Up Flickr! (#6)

Stanley Trading Card
Originally uploaded by nathan_b_baker.

So, once again Stanley is featured in another "27things" exercise. But really, isn't he cute?!

Yes, it is a trading card...probably much like everyone else’s. It was pretty easy to use once all the websites had permission to use one another. That part was a little confusing at first.

I also played with the Speller mashup, which at first seemed like a neat tool to write ransom notes, etc...but once I wrote something and saw the results there didn't seem to be much else to do with it. I didn't see an option to import or upload the letters into anything and when I tried copying and pasting them into Word they looked awful and were arranged vertically - which didn't make for a very convincing ransom note. It was a novel little diversion if nothing else.

Hey, that guy just Flickred me off! (#5)

Stanley Playing in Box
Originally uploaded by nathan_b_baker.

So, here it is..."Stanely Playing in Box". Now, isn't that just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

So, setting up a Flickr account, uploading photos to the account and using tags: all very easy. Linking a photo to my blog: a little confusing at first. I first tried to just create a new blog entry via blogspot, not realizing that Flickr and Blogspot need to be linked and the post actually needs to be made through Flickr. Now that was not very intuitive and I imagine many people are going to get confused. But, I suppose that's what the "advocates" are for!

In any case, it was still fun playing with this stuff and I'm enjoying posting pictures to Flickr.

Learning 2.0...I guess 1.0 needed a patch (#3)

I like this program. It gives me an excuse to actually explore and use these websites and online resources that I've only heard about or seen in passing. Now all the little rugrats and teeny-boppers that come to me asking how to post a picture on their myspace page will get an earful of information (some of which now might actually be helpful).

In the Beginning...

There was BLOG!