Spring Cleaning #30: Take a Load Off Our Drives

Copying files to network drives and deleting them is pretty straightforward. On the S: drive maintenance is pretty much taken care of for you. Move it or lose it!

I scanned the forms created for Cataloging and Processing that are stored on network drives. There were files that were no longer used that needed to be deleted but not a lot of them. There were a lot more of my personal files that needed to be deleted. It's easy to just keep adding new files and not thinking about the unused ones when the storage capacity is always there or is expanded to accommodate the volume of files stored on the network drives. On a home computer you'll eventually hit the wall with storage capacity and be forced to deal with deleting files. Here at work that has never happened since the amount of storage capacity keeps getting enlarged to accommodate the need. The oldest file I found in my personal folders was created in 1998! It was used for a number of years after but it had been at least five years since that file was used. It's gone now!

Spring Cleaning #29: Email

I have been keeping my email pretty much under control. I get very few personal messages through my work email. At the beginning of each month I review my emails and delete anything that I think is no longer necessary to keep. I review my address book periodically and delete old contacts.
This is all true of my Outlook email. However, when I am off work or away on library business, I use webmail. This is the one where I dropped the ball. Although I had already cleaned this up by the time this exercise came along, it is an example of not keeping up with maintenance. I know in Outlook that deleting an email doesn't really get rid of it. I still have to go into my deleted messages folder and delete again to really purge them. Knowing this I can't imagine why I didn't think to do the same thing with webmail. I have used it on the occasions mentioned for a few years now. Over the Christmas holidays I was checking my email from home one day and actually focused on the fact that there was a Trash folder! When I clicked on it, every email I had read and deleted through webmail over the past few years was sitting in my Trash! There were a few thousand messages! I purged them and am now conscious of the appropriate handling of my webmail email as well as my Outlook email.

Spring Cleaning #28

Well, I was pleased (or maybe annoyed!) to discover that I already follow an approach similar to GTD. Why annoyed? Maybe I came up with it first and could have marketed it! Anyway, I do follow the two minute rule. Clearing off the stuff that's quick and easy is both satisfying and efficient. Wham! Bam! Gone! Feels great especially when you've been working on labor intensive stuff. I try to complete one item at a time. Of course, this isn't always possible but, when it is, it's a good psychological boost. I think my "in progress" pile equates to the concept of deferring in GTD. It keeps my "to do" pile cleaner. I'm pretty much in the middle of the road when it comes to the stuff that doesn't require action. Depending on my instinct/judgment some stuff gets tossed right away and some goes in my "aging" pile of stuff I think I might have to deal with down the road. I weed this pile periodically and throw out the stuff that definitely won't be needing further attention because it's now a done deal or the even is passed now and didn't require any involvement from me (for instance). The stuff that I think I may need to refer to in the future gets filed.

I tend to have various (but not too many) piles of stuff that all get addressed in various ways and with varying frequencies but overall I'm reasonably well organized and get things done.

I looked at the various electronic calendars and organizers. Some are nifty. Some are cute. Some really just seem like someone really trying hard to use technology. I have stayed with a paper calendar and it continues to serve me well.

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.