THe End of Vermont's 23 Things

Well, this has been some journey! It feels as if it started years ago and here I am sitting in the same chair, at the same computer, feeling the same amount of frustration that I felt at the beginning.

I know and understand so much more than I did. And I guess I'm pleased that this is so. I loved the Moxy Fruvous video, but then they've long been one of my favourite bands with the song being one our family had fun singing together (yes, this is true - but then we're Canadians) on car trips. I also liked the instructions on the use of a book. Sometimes I feel we need to do this for some of the kids that come in to use our computers. I'm not sure they know what all those things are on the shelves gathering dust. The library dominoes - now, wouldn't that be fun? All but the re-shelving of the books!

YouTube - now there's something I needed to be exposed to. But spend time with it...?. "Exploring" it reminded me of going into a video rental outlet with no clear idea of what I actually wanted. Lots of time spent in aimless meandering.... I did find one video I really liked. It was at www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPd2EI3_crc and involved the Mexico/US border issue. At least, I think it did. It was in Spanish and I don't speak Spanish... But it was moving. As was the MLK "I Have a Dream/March on Washington" video. The famous movie scenes were fun but lost quite a bit being seen as snippets rather than parts of a whole.
Good for settling bets, though.

I added the NPR Books podcast to my reader. I find I learn much about books from NPR, but in a very hit or miss fashion. This will make it more focused and on my schedule rather than theirs.

That we might ever have the time to use any of these things at our Library seems unlikely. Because they do take time, and lots of it, if they're to be done in such a way that they have any value. But it's good to know a bit about many of the things we've learned through this course.

The one thing we really missed out on was intelligent and real interaction with each other in relation to each week's explorations and exercises. Because I share my job with another librarian who was also doing the course, we did get a chance for some of this exchange. But I feel, as a group, we lost out by having this strictly online with no opportunity for discussion.

All that said, I'm glad I persevered. I'm glad I've learned what I've learned. And I'm glad, for the moment, that we can all move outdoors and rake our lawns, clean out our flower beds, or just take a long walk with a friend - and, thus, interact with the world rather stay glued to a computer screen.

Cheers everyone! It's been, well, almost real!

So Much to Learn and Explore

I've spent far too much time on Thing 20! But it's been intriguing. I decided to go to the full list of Web 2.0 nominees and search by topic. This led me to briefly explore a number of topics, but only one really grabbed me. The sites listed under "Philanthropy" were well worth more than a quick visit.

I spent time at Care2, having fun with (green) household hints, green living, and ecards. Even sent a couple of the latter, and am especially pleased with the cupcake birthday greeting sent to my cupcake baking niece. (She bakes the most outrageously wonderful cupcakes you can imagine!)

Then I spent time with BeGreen, GiveMeaning, and DonorsChoose. All of these are worth spending time with and returning to on occasion.

How any of this could be used at our Library is yet to be determined. No matter, it's all worth knowing about.

Note to PLLoggerR: Of course I totally agreed with your decision! It went into the book sale, from which I bought it. (Isn't it great having first dibs on discarded books?!)

Google Docs - Definitely the Way to Go!

Well, this Google Docs stuff is certainly interesting, and timely. Yesterday I received such a document from my son, who has an idea for an internet non-profit project that he wanted to share with family and a few friends. And today my co-Director and I were editing a safety policy for the library that was developed by a Board member. I have now uploaded that policy document to Google Docs, edited it, and "shared" it with the Board member and my co-Director. It actually seems to have worked! It was all as easy as - no, easier than - pie.

Now I'm writing this for my blog. Don't yet quite know how to "publish" it, but if you see it on my blog, you'll know I figured it out.

Just for good measure, I think I'll see if I can add another frog picture. This time he's in Rome. He does get around!

That Was Fun!

I had fun adding things to the Vermonts 23 Things wikis. And I can see how this might be an interesting way to gain information about local things. For example, the "favourite restaurants" page. Those who actually frequent restaurants could tell those of us who don't which ones are worth our time and money during our once or twice a year restaurant visitation(s). Also, it might be good a place to get ideas of books to read, movies to see and such. The value would be in the localness (I think that should be a word) of the information and the knowledge of who is generating the information.

This wiki business also showed me how we might solve a business dilemma in my husband's (small) office. He travels a great deal but the calendar is kept in the office. He often isn't up-to-date on what meetings his staff have agreed to for him. Clearly, the office needs a wiki!

A Little Wiki Here, A Little Wiki There....

Well, finally something I understand (sort of) and might use (perhaps) that isn't always, totally a sure route to energy depletion and a longing for peace and quiet. Why is it I've found so much of this internet based "reality" so enervating?

But Wikis - now here's something my family has actually found a personal use for for the past three Christmases. Here's how it works: One of my techno-savvy sons sets up a "Family Christmas Wiki." It lists everyone in the family - siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents - who might be involved in a gift exchange. Then there are two edits that can be done. The person him/herself can edit a wishlist, noting things he/she would like, needs, whatever. On another "page" we can indicate what, from his/her wishlist, we've already gotten/made for the person. Or we can indicate suggestions of things others might get for those persons (two in particular come to mind) who never add anything to their own wishlist.

This works for us on many levels. First of all, we're often spread, quite literally, across the globe, with limited means of knowing what a person might actually need or want. Second, this avoids duplication. Third, many members of the family are just starting out and do have real needs that we might not know about. (Last Christmas, for example, one son "wishlisted" the book "Architectural Graphic Standards." Now, who would have come up with that?!)

Please note:

1. Some people don't edit their own wishlist. Response: Tough luck! They get whatever gifts others come up with, be it fruitcake or coal.

2. Present-wise, no one is limited to a person's wishlist. Some of the best presents are total surprises to everyone.

3. People could be cat-like in their curiosity and spoil their own Christmas surprises by checking the list of presents people have for them. So far, I don't think this has happened. If it has, the culprit would dare not say so in our presence!

How does this relate to our Library?

Well, every year we have an "Adopt-a-Book for the Holiday" program, through which patrons adopt books (or audios or movies) in other people's names to be added to our collection. The first taker-outer is the person in whose name the book has been adopted. So, we could somehow, someday do this with a wiki.

As for the Wiki sites:

I found Nancy Pearl's to be disppointing but with potential. In fact, I could say this of several sites. Library Success was the only sign-in site that I, well, signed in for. (As I noted in an earlier blog entry, I've decided to seriously limit my signing in to sites.) It, too, has great potential, but many of the links were, thusfar, of little value.

Nonetheless, it is amazing to see what other libraries are doing. Would that we had the time, the money and, most importantly, the population base for some of these things.

Note to PLLOGGERR: We must always remember we are a library not an archive. And, in my mind, reading a book online is not the solution to our "loss" of a classic. ILL is! But speaking of classics, how could you possibly think we should weed out "Gitanjali?"!

Note to Others: You can tell we're singing, fortunately most often in the same key, the "weeding out and automating library blues."

I'm Getting Tired

Once again I've spent hours exploring the sites to which we've been directed. And I'm worn to a frazzle!

Del.icio.us is an interesting idea and, perhaps, a good one for many people. Since I try not to live my life tied to a computer and so don't have a zillion bookmarks I need to keep straight, it seems of little use to me. Were I still teaching, I might well find it helpful. I did do a comparison search with it and Google, and frankly, I found little difference and in fact came up with almost identical information.

Technorati was just too jumbled and confusing. I found it to be information overload in a very unaesthetic presentation. And I couldn't quickly and satisfactorily find the stories and information I was seeking. Just a jumble... This one I'll leave to others.

And the articles on Library 2.0 and the future of libraries? They left me exhausted. Intriguing and thought provoking, yes. But also overwhelming. We are trying to automate our collection and inaugurate Listen Up! Vermont. These two things, plus all the usual work one has to do to keep order in a small, rural library, with not even one full time employee, have heaped our plates to overflowing. We'll do what we can, slowly and methodically, to move toward Library 2.0. In the meantime, our patrons seem more than satisfied with Library 1.5.

Help in the Form of a Young Man

A young Mac user at our Library came to my rescue today, when I was ranting about not being able to download generated images. He told me how to "right click" with a Mac even though Macs don't have a right clicker, as it were. So, yes, no doubt I should have known this before. But if instructions are given clearly for PCs, could they not also be given clearly for Macs. That doesn't seem a lot to ask!

Anyway, I have now downloaded two grandson-related generated images. Nothing special, but at least I succeeded.

I've also looked at LibraryThing. I thought the review/recommendation ability might be interesting. However, a review from a stranger is worth little if you know little of that person's tastes, etc. And how many thousands of reviews do you really want to read to find someone who might have a bit in common with you. Once again it seems to me that ongoing real life conversations about books might prove more efficient and more satisfactory. Perhaps if I were a recluse, a shut-in and/or NOT a librarian I might find this more intriguing. Nonetheless, I will give it another shot...

Frustrated Again!

I've decided signing on to do things "just for fun" is really not a good idea. My new rule of thumb is "If you don't want to buy it, don't sign it!"

So I could use only those generator sites that didn't require signing on. And absolutely no avatars for me. If I were a Hindu, I think I'd say that I, myself, am already an an avatar - so why create an avatar of an avatar. Also, real people are actually more interesting and certainly more worth spending time with.

As for generating things... I had some fun doing this and then great frustration in not being able to download and use on my blog the things I'd created. I'm wondering if this is a Mac vs PC problem. I have a Mac, and so many times when things aren't possible, it turns out it's because everyone and his uncle assumes the world is made up of PC users. To use a teen phrase, "Well, excuuuse me!"

The only success I had in "creating" - though real creativity had very little to do with it - something was with Blog Header. I did manage to create background for my blog header, which, should anyone ever happen to read this, can be seen above.

CyberSpace Fool

One thing is quite clear. My Co-Director is a far wiser person than I - at least when it comes to technology. I should have followed her lead and stayed away from involvement with online "social networking." Indeed, what was I thinking?!

As directed, I read the "Explore Social Networks" page and clicked on the links provided. Fool that I am, I thought that joining Facebook would give me an opportunity to explore how it works and that once I'd learned what it was all about, I could unjoin and that would be that. Like many other Facebook users, I had no idea that "Deactivate Account" means just that - deactivate, not delete. The information stays in the "system" forever.

Only when I moved into "Thing 11" did I realize my stupidity and naivete. At that point I read the Wikipedia article and, more importantly, many of the articles it directed me to. I spent more than two hours with this and came away, once again, with the conclusion that my gut concerns about yet another new technology, while perhaps ill-informed, were actually pretty spot on.

I read about censorship of these sites by those who run them; about misuse of the sites by all sorts of people, from individuals to universities to employers to the government, for all sort of reasons; about the distraction these sites, as well as email and blogs, become in the classroom when students use their computers to, ostensibly, "take notes;" about the ease with which information can be moved through cypberspace, with or without the knowledge or permission of the person who first ut it there; and I read much, much more.

Two statements, from all my reading, stick out. "The reality is that most students do not realize how public and permanent their data truly is." And "Information transmitted over the internet is inherently vulnerable, whether one is a sophisticated hacker or simply a layman with access to a web browser." This so-called "social networking" is treated, almost, as a fun child's game. But clearly the consequences can be deadly serious, unintended, and unforeseen.

I cannot help but believe that real networking with real people who can be both knowable and held accountable is much to be preferred. Just the fact that some of us suggested we develop bogus accounts for this assignment should sound warning bells. I watch kids in the library "communicate" through MySpace or Facebook. I hear them say to a friend, "Oh, I told him I was twenty-one." I listen to them describe the people they've "met" and the possibility of connecting with them in real life. I discover they've failed even to log out of their accounts, leaving them and their real friends vulnerable to the next person to use that computer. And it sickens me.

I am so glad that when I signed up for my now deactivated Facebook account, I did so with a "new" email address that I will use for no other purpose, and I provided almost no information at all.

As for library MySpace or Facebook accounts - if it works for them... But in our village I'd rather meet people at the Post Office or Town Meeting or the dump or a village concert or... We might even develop a real relationship!

I've signed up with Google Reader as my feed reader and subscribed to their news package as well as to Eye on the Sky, which, for reasons you'll probably understand, I've checked quite regularly this winter. The best and most useful part of all this is that I've added the blog my son in Micronesia has been writing. Were I to be truly truthful, I'd have to admit that this is the only one I really care about at all. But who knows, perhaps over time, as I check the others, I'll find myself more interested in the others.

I'm certainly learning what keeps people glued to their computers for hours on end and what has made productivity fall in workplaces and homes all across North America. My take on it all at this point is that it's a lot of sound and fury signifying very, very little. I'm sure there are fascinating blogs out there that I would enjoy reading and that would improve my knowledge, understanding and abilities in all sorts of areas. BUT the amount of time it would take to find them, the amount of time alone at my desk, bent over my computer, staring into its wretched screen, seems to me far too much to ask. Looking at all the suggested sites, even, dare I say it, reading a sampling of the Vermont librarians' blogs, feels like grabbing a mailbag, emptying it and reading random paragraphs from hither and yon. Too, too much time and energy used up for the information gleaned!

Of the sites, only Topix caught my attention at all - and I really did give the others the good ole college try! - but I can't see why I would need it now that I have my handy, dandy reader at the ready.

Perhaps I was born into the wrong century...?

Yes, I know.  Week three was actually weeks ago.  I may catch up someday!

Flickr has been an important part of my life for more than a year now, but as a visitor rather than as a user.  I have a son doing a two-year volunteer stint in Micronesia and he decided that Flickr was probably the best way to share pictures of his new home, work and friends with those of us left far behind.  It's been absolutely wonderful for us, though the sandy beaches, the palm trees, the blue lagoons and the glorious sunsets have evoked a certain wistfulness in me this winter.

At Christmas our oldest son, his wife and their toddler visited him.  They posted their pictures on kodakgallery.com.  I haven't decided which site I find easiest, but I think I'll try to figure out how to get pictures from both of them and see how that works.  No matter, they've both been a great means of keeping our family in visual touch.

 

So then it was on to Week 2. And here we are supposed to develop a Blog. Well, that's all well and good and seemed like a simple task. But instead I've found it an exercise in frustration. I thought when I started 23 Things that it would be most helpful for people like me, people for whom all of this is new. Now I'm reminded of an experience I had last Chrsitmas. We had a guest for the holidays, a young man 28 years old, who grew up in India. Because both his parents were doctors, they had always had servants. One evening it was time to prepare a meal and he asked if he could help. I responded that we were going to have mashed potatoes so perhaps he could start those and then I gave him the bag of potatoes. A few minutes later he walked over to me, a potato in his hand and a most perplexed expression on his face. He had no idea what to do! None whatsoever! I had made assumptions - about what he would know already and what he would be able to figure out on his own - that were simply wrong!

Vermont's 23 Things: Week One

Earlier this week I finally found time to take this on. And I mean "take it on!" I read the introductory remarks in which we are told that each week we will be given an assignment to complete. But could I find an "assignment" for Week 1? No, I could not! So of course I thought I was doing something wrong, not looking in the right placeor not recognizing an assignment when I saw one. Turns out there actually wasn't an assignment per se the first week. What a way to begin!