The Last Gasp (Week 10 #23)

Creating and using a blog was fun. I may create a new personal blog in the future. The "fun" stuff was certainly where I found some of my favorite discoveries: Flickr, avatars, movies. Podcasting surprised me and holds some interest for continued use. While I wouldn't call some of the other resources we looked at fun or favorites, the exposure has given me a much fuller, hands on experience of the incredible (in both the good and bad senses!) of what's "out there".

How has the iHCPL experience assisted or affected my lifelong learning goals? I'm not sure yet. I'm sure the exposure iHCPL has given me to so many resources will result in triggers being pulled in the future when an application of something learned suddenly becomes evident.

Did anything surprise me? Yes, the simplicity of things that I had felt (obviously without basis!) would require a steep learning curve.

At the moment I have no further interests. iHCPL has been a good overall experience but it has also reached the point where I am ready for it to be over! I don't have suggestions to offer but I'm sure I'll find something of future interest in what others may suggest.

Downloadable Media (Week 9 #22)

My mother always says you get what you pay for. This is clearly true when comparing the free sites for downloadable media to the paid sites. LibriVox and Wowio have decent content but, since what they offer is in the public domain, it tends not to be particularly recent content. Still, if you're looking for a good read or listen, there is ample content from which to choose. Overdrive has much more current content as one would expect of a site that charges for its content.

Podcasts (Week 9 #21)

As with so many resources we have looked at over the course of iHCPL, I have to say once again that I am amazed at the variety of topics about which podcasts are produced. I guess I shouldn't be surprised any more but I still am! I like PodcastAlley for locating podcasts. The various methods for locating podcasts and the predefined searches already established on the site make it a really flexible site.

I found podcasts on many topics that would be of value to library staff. A search on PodcastAlley using 'libraries' returns an impressive list covering a variety of library-related topics.

I think an issue with podcasts is probably shared with wikis. How authoritative or biased is the content?

YouTube (Week 9 #20)

I have browsed around on YouTube on several occasions. I have also watched over the shoulders of my kids even more times as they have insisted I watch something they found particularly amusing. The comment in the iHCPL posting that there are videos that aren't worth watching is very true. I often wonder at what people think others might be interested in. I also wonder at what some people consider funny! Occasionally I have come across videos that are really questionable in terms o content. Still sites like YouTube can be a lot of fun.

The usefulness of sites like YouTube for library websites isn't something I had ever really thought of. However, it holds potential for marketing and promoting of library services and events. This approach could also be a way of promoting libraries and our goals at a higher level. There are often issues affecting libraries nationwide that are often discussed by state and national agencies. Links to YouTube type videos from the library website could help raise public awareness on issues facing libraries in general.

Village People's YMCA with Life Size Puppets

I get a laugh out of this video every time I watch it. Keep in mind that the only real person is the guy in the middle dressed as the Indian.

Bills Test Document (Zoho Week 8 #19)

This is my maiden run with a web based application.  There are a lot more options available than I was aware.

 

Zoho looks like it can do everything I most commonly do in Microsoft Word.

 

Although there are not nearly as many choices of font, I still have a variety of fontsavailable to use.

 

I can do some special effects.

 

Now that I've inserted it, I can't get rid of this frame though!  So I might as well make it colorful!

 

 

 

Social Networking (Week 8 #18)

I have ridden the back slopes of the social networking phenomenon as my children have grown. Both have moved on from MySpace to FaceBook now. I have seen how integral social networking is to communication between young people especially. I watched more closely over my daughter's shoulder than over my son's. Yup...the ever protective dad! No...she rarely appreciated me looking over her shoulder! I have to say that she proved herself to be a responsible social networker pretty much ignoring comment and efforts to engage her by people she doesn't know. I have been impressed by the creativity and maturity I've seen in a lot of the profiles and posts. On many levels I think social networking is a great thing. However, the issues of internet safety are ever present.

I don't see as much value in social networking in a professional environment as I have seen on some of the other resources we've looked at. In my view the content would be of a much more casual nature.

Technology (week 7 #17)

The old adage says you have to take the good with the bad. This certainly applies to technology. I'm older than most of the current technology. My kids can't conceive of life without the technology with which they have grown up. We didn't get our first TV until I was about 10 years old! I survived without a lot of technology as a young person certainly. However, when I look back, I realize how totally dependent upon it I have now become. Any time of the day or night I can go online and be instantly gratified. I can transact all sorts of business at my convenience and without waiting in lines. I can play games. I can watch videos, listen to music, browse blogs! I can find the answers to questions that pop into my head. I am seriously annoyed when my Internet connection drops! I feel isolated. Technology has also improved health care and quality of life for millions of people. Through email and social networking friends and family are able to stay in regular touch using only a few minutes of their time if that's all they have available. Next door, across town or across the world. It makes no difference.
iHCPL has shown us some amazing technological resources.

That's the good stuff. Unfortunately, with technology the increase in fraudulent activities and identity theft is staggering. The horrible results from online interactions with strangers is frigthening. Technology has also made it much harder to communicate with real people when we need to interact with places of business. How many times do you feel like you're running in circles when trying to work your way through automated phone systems?! (By the way, I have found that almost always, regardless of the options presented by phone systems, if you press 0 (zero), you'll get through the a real person.) Those readings we did on Internet safety at the beginning of iHCPL are important to remember.

When it comes to quality, I think technology has lowered expectations especially with regard to information. Such a huge volume of material gets returned when you do a Google search, for instance, that many people don't bother trying to evaluate what they are reading and decide if the source is a reliable one or not.

After all is said and done, I think technology has changed the world for the better.

Wikis (Week 7 #16)

Probably everyone has used Wikipedia and is familiar with the concept of wikis. I can see there potential usefulness in libraries. The approach is great for compiling information and resources from various directions. Staff with a common expertise or responsibility (e.g YA staff, children's staff) can bring together resources of specific interest to them. Or, resources based on subject areas (pathfinders, suggested reading lists, general reference resources) can be brought together. Often the discovery of these resources takes a lot of effort. A wiki can give the opportunity to save and share the results of those efforts.

The thing about wikis that has always made me approach their content with a degree of reserve is that they can be edited by all and sundry (or, at least, all and sundry who have permission to do so). Unless it's an area in which I am already somewhat versed, I'm never really sure how accurate or authoritative the information I'm reading really is.

Library 2.0 (Week 6 #15)

The article by John Reimer (To Better Bibliographic Services) raises some valid issues regarding access to information in libraries. The days of a collection of physical materials contained within the walls of a library are long past. Information is now provided to our users through a wide variety of electronic resources. Access to these resources is generally handled by having to visit each resource or group of resources that may be provided as a package and searching each separately. If the users even knows that these resources are available, the process of multiple searches is cumbersome and time consuming. Providing access to electronic resources through entries in the library catalog is useful approach as the reources are then retrieved along with the physical materials in the library when a catalog search is done. This works reasonably well for individual items (ebooks, downloadable content, ejournals, etc.) but it does not provide access to the contents of resources such as online databases. Technology such as Z39.50 and federated searching helps with the ability to search across multiple resources but, in the end, multiple searches are still necessary. We are providing service to users who are used to doing Google and Yahoo searches and retrieving data from a wide variety of sources. Frequently a single search will return all the resources they need albeit much of it is of a questionable quality. Libraries must continue to move toward far more inclusive searching and recovery of information.

Technorati (Week 6 #14)

I think I'm becoming overwhelmed with all that we've looked at over the last few weeks. As I was looking around in Technorati, I found myself thinking, "Ho hum! More of the same." However, as I think about this and the iHCPL program, I realize that this is really the point. No, not to make use jaded and bored! Technorati is "more of the same" in many ways but it is an example of another resource that's available. Our exercises of the last few weeks have shown us that no two resources are quite the same. Anyone who has used Google and Yahoo to search should have already expected this, of course. Not surprisingly, the sample search "learning 2.0" retrieves significantly difference results depending whether you do the search on blog posts or on tags or on blog directories. This is a refinement feature in Technorati that I don't recall seeing in other resources we have looked at, or at least it is not so fully developed in other resources.

I did claim my blog on Technorati. Now I just have to figure out how that will be useful to me!

class="tr_embed_arg_blog">Blog Information
class="tr_embed_arg_username">Profile for thedeciderints

Del.icio.us (Week 6 #13)

I can see that del.icio.us could be very useful for anyone who really wants to be able to "catalog" the web resources they have found and to which they might want to refer again. I see it as similar to LibraryThing but for web resources instead of books. I did create a del.icio.us account and added a few things to it. It is interesting to explore outward through the tags used. Looking at other resources that have the same tags can reveal other really interesting stuff. It can also lead you to things that make you scratch your head. Clearly, one person's choice of terminology doesn't always mean the same thing to someone else!

Library Elf

Another cool tool for library users. HCPL's custom programming that sends out pre-notices for materials about to be due and for holds waiting to be picked up partially diminishes the usefulness for HCPL customers but it's still cool. Since you can have multiple library cards registered, it looks like you can get notification on all the materials and requests from any of the libraries you use, as long as that library is registered with Library Elf, of course.

LibraryThing

Oh wow! Now this is a very cool tool and that's not just the cataloger in me talking! You don't even have to own any books to get benefit from The LibraryThing! You could include books you've read but don't own. The tagging would be really helpful when you don't remember the title of a book but you remember the content.

It was a bit of a challenge getting the widget created. A combination of the comments by iStar and clarification from fourdogmom got me through it.

Avatars R Fun

Well, this was fun! It seems that my imagination wasn't accommodated by every image generator I played with. I definitely liked Meez the best. It gave me the best options to customize what I was trying to achieve. If I had been able to pick and choose options from various image generators, I could have created the avatar that I really would have liked. But that's life, isn't it?

Finding Feeds

I checked out all the resources posted. For one thing, it's mind boggling how many feeds there are and on what topics! I found all the reources reasonably easy to use. I think the deficiencies are mine not the theirs! I searched the same topics on each site so I would have a better basis for comparison. The variety of returns was interesting with totally different results on different sites. Also some returned much more that others. I found that Feedster seemed to have a number of dead leads. In the end, good old google proved a very rich resource for finding newsfeeds.

Working with RSS Feeds

It took me a while to wrap my mind around this concept but the light finally dawned. I'm not a blogger and I think that's why I was slow on the uptake. I can see how using a service like Bloglines would be an efficient way of monitoring blogs for activity if you are an extensive user. Clearly it is more efficient to go to one place where you can scan to see if any of the blogs you use have new postings than to check each one individually for activity. If I ever get into blogging, I'll use this kind of service.

Newfoundland in Winter?

Inverted Waves, originally uploaded by thedeciderints.

This is actually the same picture as in my previous post but edited using the Inverted process in Pixer. Looks like a bleak Canadian winter scene now! Pretty cool, huh? 1

Waves in Newfoundland Cove

Waves2, originally uploaded by thedeciderints.

I'm Canadian and most of my family is still in Canada very close to where I grew up. Last year my brother-in-law sold his business and he and my sister retired. They didn't just retire, however. They sold pretty much everything and moved to Newfoundland. Anyone who knows Canada well is probably already scratching their head and thinking, "You're kidding, right?" I'm trying to think of a location in the U.S. that might bring the same question to mind. All I can think of is moving up to the top of the "chimney" of Idaho where it borders on Canada. You're kidding, right? The Newfoundlanders (commonly referred to as Newfies) are the butt of many jokes. Take pretty much any Aggie joke you've ever heard and substitute Newfie for Aggie and you'll be on the mark.

They live in a little port town called Grate's Cove which, during the summer influx, swells to a population approaching 250! The full-time population is about 180. The closest place of any size is about two hours away. My mind still boggles at this! But they are enjoying retired life in Grate's Cove a great deal. They have embraced life in a small town openly and enthusiastically. I receive a regular batch of photos by email and you know what? I'm really looking forward to visiting them! My niece and nephew have both visited and are looking forward to returning for more visits.

My sister has sent me pictures from various places around the province and they have been incredibly beautiful without exception. (Well, OK, she's not going to send me ugly pictures, I know!) The flow of pictures has made me realize how I had judged the province based on the isolated location and the uncomplimentary Newfie jokes and deemed it an undesirable place. Lesson learned! I'm unlikely to ever consider moving to Newfoundland but it's definitely in my future travel plans.

Flickr Mashups

I played with Fastr. It's pretty cool. A group of Flickr photos appears on the screen, one at a time. The challenge is to try to figure out as quickly as possible what tag they all have in common. The photos aren't very big so it's really hard in some of them to even see what the picture is of. Given my tendency to get hooked on puzzle type games, I can see how I might get hooked on this one!

Life used to be a lot simpler! (Internet Safety...Sort of)

I'm old enough to remember when "safe" was achieved by telling my mother at whose house I'd be hanging out! Of course, all the moms on the street and the moms of friends around our small town kept an eye on us. We didn't get away with a whole lot! It was all a real, physical world. If there was an unknown (or sometimes known) person hanging around, they were visible. Everyone could see them.

That was a simpler time. With the growth of the Internet that safety and relative security of decades past is gone. The dangers, whether to one personally or to one's business and financial affairs, are alarmingly many. They are invisible and intangible. We hear so often on the news of people, both young and adult, who have been lured to meet strangers they have been communicating with online with horrifying results. Who hasn't personally experienced or had friends or family who have experienced the fraudulent use of credit cards and bank accounts? The incredible and immediate access we now have to so much useful information and entertainment online is wonderful. Unfortunately the same electronic network that makes this possible is also the means to a proliferation of illegal and unethical practices.

As the father of two now grown children I know that saying it is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children about Internet safety is a lot easier said than done! Although my kids can't conceive of the concept, I was once a young person! I know what my parents told me to do and not to do. I also know what I did. The two were not always in synch! Did it matter that I sometimes took a very long way around to get the friend's house where I said I was going? I guess that depends on whether the long way around meant riding my bike across planks spanning a river while the new bridge was being built was considered dangerous or not. I didn't think it was. My mother would undoubtedly have had a different opinion. It's the same with what we tell our kids about being safe when they are online. Our years of experience as adults affect our perceptions of what is safe when we're online and what isn't. Our kids don't have that same range of experience to use when making their judgments on what is safe online. It's a pretty scary time to be raising kids. It gives me no small amount of apprehension to think what it will be like for my kids when they are raising my grandkids!

As a rule, I am pretty careful about the personal information I give out online. If I'm ordering something and have to put in credit card and personal information, I always check for the 'https' in the address box first. I have different email addresses that I use for different purposes which helps me decide on the legitimacy of the requests that come to me by email. I delete without even opening any emails in any account that don't come from a source I know. There's probably a lot more I could do but I feel I'm making some good decisions about my online activities.

To go not so boldly where many have gone before

Well, this is my foray into the Land of Blog. You've all heard the old cliche that you have to walk before you can run. When it comes to blogging, I'm lying on my tummy on the floor of the nursery squirming around! To be honest, my staff have shamed me into joining the blogging community. I admit it. Most of them have charged fearlessly into the Land of Blog and not only survived but have found a lot of excitement and fun there. I know I must follow them for I am TheDeciderInTS!!