From the ground up

Something Wiki this way comes

2010-04-15T10:52:00.001-05:00

http://pbworks.com/content/edu-librarians

self-hosted
media wiki
drupal (content management system, can do blogs and websites as well)

wikimatrix.org

Region 2 children's wiki --oh. theirs doesn't get "used" either. Well, they may be reading, but not adding.

Wyoming Author Wiki (why is there not a Kentucky author Wiki?)

Warren County Public Library Staff Wiki

Disaster and emergency plans
employee handbook
staff forms

SHORT MESSAGES, BIG RETURNS: MAKING THE MOST OF ONLINE AND MOBILE OUTREACH WITH TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND MYINFOQUEST

2010-04-15T09:51:00.000-05:00

Adding services based on new tools:
building
media
staff
catalog
phones
computers
websites
email
chat
social media
text

Why?
Accessible
Popular
Flexible
Free

Marketing tools, but also provides service as well.

Applications:
Worldcat
weread/goodreads/bookshare
live chat/ ask a librarian
book clubs
libguides
catalog

Sync facebook with twitter

Use lists on twitter to send people information relevant to them? Teen events to teens, Senior events to seniors, movies to the movie watchers.

Searchtwitter.com
Does anyone know
I need
public library
where can I
what is the
books

#nowreading
#nky
#book
#library

Look at New York Public Library facebook page for ideas.

RA Day? Tell me what you've read, I'll give you a new author/series/book.

My info quest: reference consortium

Children's Computing, part 2

2009-12-17T13:02:00.003-05:00

So now that I've decided on downloadable games, where do I go to buy them? Stephanie wanted games for kids ages 2~12, so I made up a list for her of games, prices, and recommendations.

Giggles Baby: Nursery Rhymes 6-24 months $19.99
(ALASC Great Interactive Software for Kids Spring 2009)

Bob the Builder Can-Do Zoo Rated E $6.99
(ALASC Great Interactive Software for Kids Spring 2009)

Dora’s Carnival Adventure Rated E $6.99

World of Goo Rated E $6.99
(ALASC Great Interactive Software for Kids Spring 2009)

Nancy Drew and the Phantom of Venice Rated E $6.99
(ALASC Great Interactive Software for Kids Fall 2008)

I Spy Funhouse Rated E $6.99
(ALASC Great Interactive Software for Kids Spring 2008)

JumpStart Advanced Preschool, JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten, JumpStart Advanced 1st grade, JumpStart Advanced 2nd grade, JumpStart Advanced 3rd grade
$14.99
(ALASC Great Interactive Software for Kids Spring 2008)

Thomas and Friends: Special Delivery Rated E $19.99

So I had Giggles for the babies, JumpStart for Edutainment Pre-K through 3rd grade, Dora and Bob the Builder for younger girls and boys, Thomas the Tank Engine because he is a local favorite, World of Goo (one of my personal favorites!) and Nancy Drew for the older boys and girls, And I Spy because it was a favorite from the older computers. I couldn't bring back Barney or Magic School Bus, but I Spy was still around.

I purchased 5 licenses for the Giggles game, and the JumpStart Games, though neither one of them required a license key or any sort of activation. I would rather cover my bases though. The Thomas Game specifically allows for you to install the game on five different computers with one license, so only one license was needed there. (It does require activation, so they are going to hold you to that five computer limit. No cheating!) The Big Fish Games site is awesome. Not only are their games only $6.99 a piece, but when I emailed them to inquire about multiple licensing, their tech support cheerfully replied that I only needed to buy one copy and I would be able to reinstall on all five of my children's computers. Hooray! Big Fish Games does have a client window that pops up underneath their games, but with SteadyState I was able to block the client from popping up, and the games still run just fine. (You wouldn't necessarily need to block the client from running, I just preferred they access the games from the desktop icon, and not through the client.)

(Just a note: Since you are downloading the entire game, many of these files are ridiculously big. Even if you have a fast internet connection, these downloads are going to take some time, so just be patient. The lack of disk-switching will be well worth it in the end!)

Children's Computing, the easy way

2009-12-15T14:41:00.009-05:00

So we've recently had a dilemma that caused me a ton of headache and stress. The Library's Children's computers were terribly, horribly out of date (like original Gates computers, Windows NT out of date) but we had no idea how to recreate the setup. We liked the idea of a locked down computer, without internet access, and with pre-installed computer games the kids would recognize. But we ran into all sorts of problems! The major one being that most games produced now run off a disk, and require the disk to run as a copy-protection/space issue. But for our children's section, changing game CDs every time someone wants to play a different game is just impossible. Besides, then those CDs can be damaged through use, or even stolen. Not an ideal situation. So I thought. And thought some more.

First I tried Qimo, an open source linux desktop designed for children. Unfortunately, I'm not all that familiar with linux (I have some knowledge, but I'm by no means a linux expert. I'm a Mac girl.) and Qimo hasn't quite been perfected to lock down the system yet. Kids went to smash buttons, and the entire desktop would disappear. Poof.

So back to Windows we went. I tried a Windows XP install with TuxPaint, GCompris, Childsplay, and other open source games installed. It went okay, but a regular Windows install still allows for way too much fooling around on the desktop, adding folders, and moving/deleting/hiding icons, and things that I had to go back and fix when things went horribly wrong. And then I found Kiddix. Kiddix was it's very own operating system (linux based), but it was framed in such a user friendly manner that that didn't matter. Everything was locked down, so no mishaps with the entire taskbar disappearing or the language getting switched to Chinese without any indication as to how to switch back. And if something ever went wrong, they had awesome tech support who worked through it for me. We ran Kiddix for six months before the subject came up again.

Unfortunately, the computers we replaced the original children's computers with were still older computers. I don't know if it was the abuse the computers got from the kids, or the already aging computers limping around on their last legs, but we had issues with the computers freezing up and other various issues. Not major problems, just annoyances for the staff. So when fixing the children's computers came up again, the decision was made to buy brand new computers -and- to find games that the kids would recognize. Children and parents kept asking about games we had on the old Gates computers: Barney, and Magic School Bus, etc., and while they would play the no-brand games on Kiddix, it was decided to look again.

So I started at LibGaming. A search there lead me to GameTap, a game streaming service. I had considered game streaming before, but we always ran into a couple of problems. One, it required access to the internet. Two, most game streaming collections had far more extensive collections than we needed. These computers would only be used for roughly ages 2-12, and primarily for the younger set. (The older kids tend to use the public computers because they want to access the internet.) But looking at the Library Gaming Toolkit, GameTap looked like a pretty viable solution, as long as we could possibly use SteadyState to lock out all internet sites except for the ones GameTap needed to run. Why SteadyState? Well, it's free. Also, the Whitelist function. So I got an older test computer, and I tried it out. I managed to find all the servers to make the GameTap website load (*.metaboli.fr, *.gametap.com), but I never was able to get the plugin to connect. I contacted GameTap technical support, but all they could tell me was that GameTap had not been tested with SteadyState, and could not be guaranteed to work. Gee, thanks guys.

So GameTap was out of the picture. I began to despair, and then I realized I was a moron. No seriously. While searching for Bob the Builder downloadable games, I found....BOB THE BUILDER DOWNLOADABLE GAMES! Not streaming flash games, or anything like that, but games that you bought the license for, downloaded the installer, and put it on your computer, never to have to connect to the internet again. And best yet, since there is no disk, well, there is no disk to deal with! This seemed like such a simple solution, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before! I mean, I don't think I've bought any software in the past two years that came on CD. Everything has been downloaded from the internet. Why didn't I assume that children's games would be the same way? Of course, even the ALA's Great Interactive Software for Kids list, doesn't take this into account. Some of the games they labeled as "needs disk to run" I purchased as downloads, so maybe I shouldn't feel so bad.

(Part 2 coming, with links to where I purchased my downloadable games.)

Meme: What Dewey Decimal Number are You?

2008-12-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

Emily's Dewey Decimal Section:

078 Newspapers in Scandinavia

Emily's birthday: 9/5/1983 = 95+1983 = 2078

Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works

Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.

What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

To do:

2008-10-20T15:35:00.000-05:00

Make a manual of what to do if there was an issue and a request for preservation was issued.

PLI NOTES: Library Governance

2008-10-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

310: No tax given to them
470: People vote to give money to library
710: People petitioned to give tax money to library

Do we have copyright law posted by the copy machine? We used to.

173.060 – Board must meet once a month.
173.040 – Missing four monthly meetings means automatic resignation.
173.040 – Library board is volunteer.
Trustee terms are 4 years each. People can serve two terms consecutively.
OMA – Board meetings must be open. Unless buying/selling land, discussing litigation, discussing appointment/discipline/dismissal of employee.
61.825 – Special meetings must abide by specific rules.
ORA – all records are open for inspection. NOT individual circ records. We can charge (up to .10 per page) to print out these records.

After being appointed/elected to public office in KY, you cannot fight a duel.

Fiscal Year July 1- June 30, by state law.
Boards have 5 members, also by state law. (Some with 7 have extenuating circumstances.)

Library board has one employee – the director.
Citizen visitors to board meetings do not have to identify themselves, unless they plan to speak.

Staff should not show up at the board meeting with a complaint, go through your director first please.

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Hmmm.

Do you know your library's mission statement? “The Nelson County Public Library strives to anticipate and serve the changing needs of its growing community.” That's what is on our website, anyway.

Why don't we post our minutes on the webpage?

PLI NOTES: Library history

2008-10-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

Library History

1638- Harvard Research Library founded. Oldest Library in the country.
Ben Franklin founded the first Lending library. Membership by subscription.
Library of congress begun to assist congress to create policy. Destroyed in 1812, Thomas Jefferson sold his personal collection to them to help rebuild.
Boston had the first public library in 1848.
“In a public library, men could at least share cultural opportunities on a basis of equality.” --Carnegie.
Seven Carnegie libraries still operating in KY. Four in Louisville.
Packhorse Librarians – Took books to Eastern KY by horseback, donated by Western KY patrons. Like early bookmobiles.
Trueviewers were distributed by libraries.
First bookmobiles were converted hearses and ambulances.
There are two KY counties with no library service. Carter & McLean. Why?
Now we are getting support from Bill and Melinda Gates, Laura Bush.
SELA Southeastern Library Association
KDLA
ALA
KLA
KPLA
ilovelibraries.org

Beth Galloway is awesome, part 2

2008-09-25T16:09:00.003-05:00

Etools for DND. Auto leveling, stats.

Teen Gaming interest group

Games: goals.
Tools
Learning
Second chances
Goals: winning, shiny things, levels

LEET on wikipedia.

Carol has never been to game night in a public library. How long has she been around?

http://www.boardgameswithscott.com/

Use games for readers advisory
Be a strategy guide - not a level boss
Embrace your inner techno geek
Embrace change!!
Immerse in pop culture

The adventures of Blue Avenger

Teen Tech Week March 2009

Gamingwithchildren.com
videogame librarian.com
mediafamily.org (take with grain of salt?)

Handheld Program: cellphone clinic
PSP gamefest
DS party

Guitar Hero Tournament (red octane.com)

Library wish list online?

Overdrive will be offering video games soon?

Offering games from one console, but allow donations from other consoles.

Helen McGraw gaming check out policy looks good. $35 cap, means no new games? Buy used games from gamestop? Promised to work.

aadl.org (Eli has made their leaderboard available for libraries.

aadl.org/aadlgt

MyFacebook and Beyond: Beth Galloway

2008-09-24T16:51:00.001-05:00

web 2.0 – web as platform (sims onstage)
collective intelligence (wikispaces)
data driven (slideshare)
everything is in beta (meebo)
simple programming (facebook)
cross platform (twitter)
rich user experience

assumptions:
everything meant to be shared
everything is meant to be critiqued.
everything is meant to be remixed.

programming
slideshow of teen pages. “This is my page” and why.
pimp your myspace
lecture/demo for parents?

author connections
biographical myspace
career mentoring
author connections

Links:
http://www.zinch.com/
http://www.slideshare.net/informationgoddess29
http://usernamecheck.com/
http://thesimsonstage.ea.com/index.html
http://www.gcast.com/?nr=1&&s=107261189

Book Rec: The Wednesday Wars

2008-08-18T12:45:00.001-05:00

Schmidt, Gary D.
THE WEDNESDAY WARS
New York: Clarion, 2007.

Holling Hoodhood is pretty sure that his teacher hates his guts. Between trying to have eighth graders assassinate him at recess and forcing him to read Shakespeare during their Wednesday private lessons, Holling doesn't have much hope of surviving the seventh grade. But when Mrs. Baker's "plot" to bore Holling with Shakespeare fails, Holling discovers that maybe there is much more to himself than just being "The Boy Who Will Inheirit Hoodhood And Associates". Maybe Shakespeare (with a little help from Mrs. Baker) can help him survive seventh grade afterall.

(By the end of the book, I was so intensely proud of Holling, I cried. <3)

KPLA 2008 - Wireless Administraton

2008-04-18T11:02:00.003-05:00

Minimum age limit?

We've never had bandwidth issues, but that's something to keep in mind.

Printing - internet printing?

WiFi FAQs?

Beware of offering assistance to patrons with laptops. Could blame you with other issues?

Portal capture software (captive portal software)

Extended warranty on patron laptops?

Policy:
Over18
ID
Library card in good standing

2hr limit.

Be consistent with the rules.

Wireless server access? Encrypted wireless.

Router plugs into cell card, to get internet for bookmobile.

KPLA 2008 - Web 2.0 in libraries.

2008-04-18T09:03:00.003-05:00

Jessica Powell

Web 2.0 coined by Tim O'Reilly. Describes what happened to the web after the bust of 2000. Not a programming language or software, or anything like that.

Web 2.0 is constantly updating. reaches out to everybody. relies on viral marketing. (no more pop-ups!) The consumers themselves are talking about it! Harnessing the collective intelligence. the service gets better the more people who use it. user generated content is everything. Crowdsourcing. Giving the jobs to the common user. We work better as a group than one person. Web 2.0 is agile.

Blogging. I've never heard of this concept. ;)

The internet is now a conversation. Not static, one-way.

Emerging technologies:
dynamic websites - content changes constantly
permalinks - link will always direct you to that story. no matter if it's moved.
mashups - one persons free technology can be combined with someone elses free technology.
open source - companies willing to share their code with you.
digital video - there would be no youtube without cheap cell phone cameras.
google ad source - any person who is making an internet page can add a little text ad to their page to make money.

conversational media vs. packaged goods. connecting with peers.

User generated content
blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, Digg, Fark, amazon, ebay yahoo, cnn, BBC,

Implications.
Who controls it?
Rise of individualism, loss of national identity? greater participation?
creation of user gap?
Regulatory environment, beware the recording industry

Youtube, Myspace can be used for reference. Video how-tos on Youtube, music reference on Myspace.

Librarians as trend-spotters.
Let go a little.
Be open, be transparent.
The user is not broken!
Throw out the culture of perfect.
Paper is not king. Video and Sound, etc are perfect for reference.

huh.

2008-04-18T07:49:00.002-05:00

I slept through the earthquake last night. I hope that's not an omen of things to come.

KPLA 2008 - Wii would like to play

2008-04-17T15:31:00.003-05:00

Ruthie Maslin & Kelly Dean

Why Wii? Highly interactive, easy to use, fairly inexpensive. Cutting edge.
Most games suitable for everyone.

Doesn't use weapons, just the sports types.

Exercize, hand-eye coordination, balance, range of motion, interactive, brain/memory stimulation. can be done with physical limitations, mobility issues.

inexpensive, portable, new audiences, multigenerational opportunities, new technology/information literacy, diversity of participants.

Nerf attachments for wiimotes. Tote bag.

Challenge: locating a system, convincing activity directors, convincing seniors how easy it really is.

Is gaming really a library program?

Where should programs be conducted?

Should gaming programs be intergenerational or should they be targeted to a specific age group?

Should libraries add games and consoles to their circulating systems?

Problem: Not accessible for people with eyesight issues.

KPLA 2008 - I just got PWNED @ the library!

2008-04-17T14:26:00.001-05:00

Rich Haynes -- I think I've worked with Rish before. He's fun. :)

Just plugged my own talk. Go me! Rich is going to let us borrow his equpiment. W00+!!

Sony: Playstation Most of your patrons will not remember the first PS.
PS2. PS3. Newest of the systems to come out.

DDR Supernova 2
Guitar Hero

Nintendo: NES, Gamecube, Wii. NintendoPower magazine for cheats.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl/Melee
Mario Kart Double Dash

Microsoft: Xbox. Xbox360.

Halo II

Atari Emulator. Proloaded with games.

KPLA 2008 - Why Wiki in the Wiberry?

2008-04-17T10:59:00.004-05:00

JC Morgan

Wiki as an intranet.
mediawiki - same as wikipedia.
Editable by anyone, if you can figure it out.

Locked down. Login required.
Navigation links on the sidebar. Helps give structure to the site.

Flag status: why is the flag half-mast?
Things you should know: news,interesting tidbits.

How do you get information to your staff? Communication aided with a wiki.

JC has a thing for the Terminator. The question is, which one?

Some things can be locked down to just the system admin. Lock down policies and board minutes.

---And he hates musicals. Tragic.

Fun stuff- staff movie picks reader's advisory.

Committee list w/ minutes.

Forms housed here.

"Once you understand how it's working...." Yeah, that's the problem.

Try wikiwig?

Watch pages to know when they are updated.

Creating your own little private "dungeon"... Until the party discovers it.

90% are readers. 9% edit and play 1% go in and play a lot.

Install on server - webserver (Internet information service) --
PHP software. MySQL -- MediaWiki

Approx. $400 for programmer labor.

KPLA 2008 - Pig Skulls meet the Queen

2008-04-17T09:56:00.004-05:00

I have decided I don't want to go to the Server Administrator talk. Instead, I'm listening in on how to get guys into the library.

R. Michael Key:

Pig Skull Book club

Chess club

Whay are men and boys avoiding your library? Men less likely to read. Brain structure difference. Less ability to stay still. Need more stimulating activities.

Men's reading preferences are devalued. Sci-fi, fantasy, sports, humor, nonfiction.

Library programs are testosteronephobic? Not attractive to boys and men. Default to female friendly or fuzzy androgynous programs.

What do do?
Estrogen supplimets for males?
Brain Surgery?
Offer males free pizza?

Then force them to read Princess Diaries?!?

Library reading material and programming must interest males.

What do we do?
Brain surgery for females?
Testosterone suppliments for females?
Establish a DMPC (designated male person consultant).
Hire more male librarians. For every 80 female librarians, there are only 20 male.

OR

develop a testosterone outlook.
ask yourself - will this interest males? Lather, rinse, repeat.

Michael Sullivan.

Pig-skull book club: Six father-son pairs read Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl. 3rd-4th graders.

Meets Sundays, 2-3PM.

Plot discussion
best and least favorite characters, moral questions, make a good movie. activities.
storytellrs, DVD (good conversations DVD) OPAC and Compass scavenger hunt. Campfire.

Typical turnout is three pairs.

No girls allowed.
Seargant at "arms" can make exceptions an "honorary guy".

"city of ember"
"wanderings of odysseus"
"rangers apprentice"
"the giver"
"pig scrolls"
"black potatoes" - nonfiction.

Stop program in June for summer vacation.

Book selection:
interesting to boys
humor, nonfiction.
Books should not be cute.
Cheap paperback ed. available.

No sissies, no girls allowed. GUY STUFF.

pigskull.blogspot.com

bookmark in club books announcing cllub meeting.

Newspapers: get to know your local reporters and make their jobs easy.
Word of mouth is important.
Notices to school, and school librarian.
Blog.
Billboard? Wow.

Booklists, websites, other guys-only bookclubs.
Novelist.
Watch what they're checking out.
Ask the guys what they read.
Ask their moms.

Common themes:

good vs. evil
courage, honor,
measured use of violence to confront evil.
blood and gore.
knight-like characters.
adventure.
boys or men as heroes.

supportive fathers
sometimes the activities don't go over well.
boys like reading series. but difficult.
moms are usually first contact. pass on word to dad.
enthusiastic boys do not equal recruits.

trying to: recruit nonreaders.
more school visits.
go to parents.
annual pig skull spooky campire kick off.
Working with summer reading to promote.

(I've currently had twenty people trip over my laptop cord. Oops.)

Chess Club

Over 50 members. 2nd and 4th Sunday 2-4 PM.

Not girls only. Partnership with a local chessplayer.

Other ideas:
Hunter education
sports
video games
debate club
weapons
tanks, fighter jets,rifles, ancient weapons.
military influential battles, battle presentations.

outdoor adventure club
orienteering.
graphic novels
homebrewing

KPLA 2008 - The Public Library as the "Place to be"

2008-04-17T08:40:00.002-05:00

Getting used to our super-tiny new laptop. Like, itty-bitty. Fun stuff!

Kelly Krieg-Sigman:
"In order to know who you are, you must know where you are." Wendell Berry.

3 places we are:
1.Home
2.Work
3. Public places on neutral ground where people can gather and interact in positive ways.

Heart of a community's social vitality
Foundation of a functioning democracy.

Move from Space to Place
S words negative, L words positive.
Common letters are PACE
playfulness - "people rarely suceed at anything unless they are having fun doing it."
"The opposite of work is not fun, it's depression." SHOULD-- how often do we use that? judgemental.
atmosphere - more than the physical space. The psychology of the place. Cluttered?
comfort - do high overdue fines detract from our enjoyability
environment - surroundings

Do we want to be "the place to be"?
Traditional views of libraries
Changing social environment. Library 2.0 is no good without other changes as well.
"Things are just fine in libraries the way they are." ??

Look at job descriptions. Are your employees "culturally literate"?

First break all the rules - best practices of managers

There might be some things, that you just can't change.

Attitude changes. Creating public value Change your ideas. Choose to be positive, not negative.

Energy and engagement.
Are you "in the moment" at work? Or a robot?

We are a neutral public space. No agenda. Not trying to sell you anything.

KPLA 2008 - Bowling Green

2008-04-17T08:28:00.001-05:00

Here at the convention center, and Catherine and I are already sharing a brain. Fear us, folks.

closing keynote: Liz Lawley

2007-10-31T17:43:00.000-05:00

I've seen the preview for this talk. It should be great.

Blurring the boundaries. Instead of making games more like real life, making real life more like games.

Games have: collecting, points, feedback, exchange, customization.
game mechanics and goals: the first 5 minutes.

understanding, accomplishment, progression, acquisition, communication.

slides: progression of MMO players.

Google smackdown
passively multiplayer online games.
chore wars
seriosity

Theory of Fun for game design. Raph Koster

Running a gaming program when you can't tell the difference between an X-box and a gamecube.

2007-10-31T16:32:00.000-05:00

S - search for answers : gaming magazines-- gamepro, egm, tips and tricks, game informer. books--gaming in libraries (Levine) gamers.. in the library (Eli) game on! (Galloway) Listservs. Websites. IGN.com joystiq.com cheapassgamer.com
Q - question others : local gaming stores, tech staff at your library, younger employees at your library. Talk to other libraries. Talk to the teens! *Room requirements, space, outlets, light dimmers, doors that close.
U - use what you've got : borrow, bring, beg, buy.
A - anticipate the big day : label equipment, test equipment, advertise. Set rules/guidelines. registrations? reminders. refreshments.
R - relax : don't try and do everything by yourself. Join in!
E - evaluate & expand : get input from attendees. Consult with other teens. consider other dates and times.. find funding. try tournaments. get other library systems and/or branches involved.

http://evpl.org/gaming

Do you need a videographer?

2007-10-31T15:45:00.000-05:00

Short pencil saga. youtube video. Heeee.
March of the Librarians

Can you use Youtube to reach your users?

Intro to library - usually a 10 minute speech, condensed into fun 2 minute movie. Makes the library more approachable.

Viral videos can have a widespread viewing. The machine is us/using us, technology of the book, angry librarian

-sometimes videos flop. failure is a part of the creative process.

tips:
actors- find people in your library who like being filmed. librarians relax when the camera is off.

tripods- a tiny jiggle in your hand shows up as a huge shake on screen. don't worry about fancy pans or zooms, just set the camera on something.

sound- the right piece of music sets the mood. take advantage of tolerated use. archve.org is a great source for unrestricted material. Tracks from iTunes may not work on other computers, even when they are embedded in your movie.

narraration- less audio is less work to edit. voice over has better sound quality. can you tell the story without spoken word?

uploading- get a youtube account for your library. work at DVD quality, and then compress for upload. read the youtube documentation on video quality. 320x240 mono MP3 sound, 30 frames per second. Less motion = better compression. Do the compression yourself, it'll be better than Youtube just doing it.

Time- 1 minute of finished video typically represents one day of work.

The L Team

lanfiles.williams.edu/~nbaker

WoW vs. Second Life

2007-10-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

Sun Microsystems: Flexible work has taken off. 46% of employees work outside of the office regularly. How do we keep people connected?

When and why do people ever come to the office? If only 10% of employees show up on a given day, what would happen?

What can go wrong? Lack of a "center" to the company? Employees not noticed, collaboration falls by the wayside.

Identity needs to be the basis, not location.

Design concept: less killing, more business -- hold a confidential meeting, wander down the hall and knock on someone's door, greet visitors.

Creates sense of contact, person, and place. Interaction and self-expression.

Structure for confidentiality, proprietary content, archives.

Avatar as a shadow-person : pings you when "live" presence is required. "Attends" meetings and conversations, saving them for your future listening.

MPK20 on youtube

WoW

Muti-generational, multi-gender, crosses over boundaries.

Builds skill in hand-eye coordination, text comprehension, etc.

Second life is a solution in search of a problem? Also, teen second life is a poor replacement for adult second life.

Why are you using them?

One of the great things about WoW is the leveling. When you "grind" in real life, there are no rewards for completion.

Gaming and Libraries: Engaging Strategies

2007-10-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

Gaming? Web-based, computer games, games on cell-phone, etc.
Stereotypical gamer no longer applies.

Women age 18 + are a bigger portion of the gamer population than boys 17 and younger. Average gamer age is 33.

scrabulous - website was popular, but it exploded when it became a facebook application.

90 million gamers up to age 35. Boomers=77 mil.
In 2003, all college students had played at least one video game.

Erickson Wii Bowling Championship video = OMG. Brilliant!

Gamers-
See themselves as a hero on a quest
WIlling to experiment and keep trying
seek expertise and ask for help.
Distrust of BOSSES. Don't be a boss, be a strategy guide.
experiential learning
Multiple answers and multiple ways to get there.

Typing of the dead.

Language on a pokemon card is more complex than that in a 3rd grade textbook.

WoW educational? "Not on a PvP server." LOL!

EbscoHost visual search - gamers are used to getting their information like this.

Everything bad is good for you: How today's popular culture is making us smarter - oooh.

Gamers.. in the library?

Federation of Armerican Scientist claim that gaming is the saviour of the educational system.

Carver's Bay SC - gaming the way to literacy. Gaming club. Neat ideas. check out more books, get more time, do book reports, more time, etc.

Collect "librarian cards", get a free cookie. Develops relationships with the librarians.

Books for teen gamers - Booklist article, January?

Ninja tag! Hee. That sounds like fun.

researchquest.blogspot.com - information literacy tied to halo

DUDE. AADL has a national leaderboard for library gaming. SO COOL. o.0

Woohoo!

2007-10-31T12:16:00.000-05:00

It's gaming in libraries day!! And I'm all wenched up. The world is a good place today. :)

Playing with iTunes: filesharing & beyond

2007-10-30T18:06:00.000-05:00

"If it isn't broke, you probably aren't playing with it hard enough."

found technology - tech that was designed with no library use in mind, but can become useful!

iTunes playlist sharing -

New music, themed playlist, added call numbers
quota (only 5 people can visit per day?)

CD circ went up 5% and then went down. But it does get you into student territory. Go where your users are... into their iTunes!

The Beats, expose rich content, spoken word material, pedagogical material.

New issues: network limitations, password access.

Bob Dylan collection. Bought from iTunes, printed out booklet, put the music on an iPod and included podcasts on Bob Dylan as well.

Catalog enhancements: DIY content, iTunes linkmaker utility, software information.

Issues: it takes work to make it listenable as something other than just a electronic resource. Must be burned, labeled, liner notes printed out, etc.

RSS as a marketing tool:

LoC RSS feeds available.
google reader has tags.
plasma screen displays. shows a static slideshow of library info, as well as a changing schedule of library events, and a changing show of aggregated news feeds.

presentationpoint.com

Screencasting and e-learning on a shoestring

2007-10-30T18:05:00.001-05:00

oooh. linkdrop. I'll have to grab these later.

slideshare.net - share slideshows, pdf format helps solve some formatting issues.
Zoho show - upload presentations, or create them in Zoho. can be used offline.
Google presentations - upload or create. part of googledocs.
Drupal - content management system. BUilt in chat.
Single-party clients. AIM MSN Y!
Third-party clients - adium, trillian, pidgeon
Meebo!
Group clients - like IRC. Campfire, Meebo Rooms
Libraryfind?
Blogger - web based.
Wordpress - open source, spam filtering, imports your old blog into the new one, posts to future, auto save.
Movable type - free for personal use only, pay for support,

screencasting - camtastia: true video, powerpoint, screencapture,blended together. COmplex to use. Can export to flash, quicktime, etc.
captivate - simple to use, exports as flash, not full motion scren capture.
camstudio - free, open source, simple, exports as AVI or Flash, windows only.

MAC! - IshowU
Blip.tv - place to store screencasts, can post to blog, archive at internet archive.org

webcasting - the most expensive part of any project.
OPAL - online programming for all libraries (only PC and IE? eeep.)
DimDim - opensource. browser based, multi-user chat, audio, video, screen and doc sharing, PC, but IE and firefox.
Zoho Meeting - broadcasts the presenter's computer to the attendees. IE firefox, windows, linux, mac,
VMukti Meeting Place - open source, no install, free. open or private meetings. audio, video, web conferencing. must install and run on server with a mySQL database. Support is free, but there is another level of suppor for $100.

Audacity - create audio, import audio, edit, trim, adjust, fade in /out, create mp3, set IDE tags.
Ourmedia - can upload audio or video, add content to Internet Archive, apply CC license.
Feedburner - create feed for podcast. add info for itunes, keep stats for subscribers.

iTunes University. Organize content by cours, upload audio files, add/edit IDE tags.
Podpress - plugin for wordpress. upload audio files, allows statistics collection, embed audio in blog,

How to lose your new tech librarians/ tech training

2007-10-30T15:51:00.000-05:00

How to lose your new tech librarians

Mmmm. Snark.

Tech Librarians are leaving the field more quickly, despite the "need" for them. This effects mentoring negatively.

http://jennyjenny.org/

Tech training.

E - engage : use real-world examples, stay relevant, highlight tips and tricks.
x - xenagogue : "a guide through a strange land",be available and accessible, encourage student independence.
p - play : encourage exploration, allow fun to happen, make exercises and discussions light-hearted.
e - explain : provide context for all topics, handouts
r - reward: reward right answers, participation, completion.
i - imagine : allow students to dream about what they could use this for.
m - mentor : treat students like adults be available for questions, pair students up, expect success from all.
e - empower : use the tool you are teaching about in class, emphasize that skills they are learning are transferable to other technologies.
n - new : there is -always- something new. old a class for the -entire- class on dealing with change.
t - time : enough time for student practice. enough time for questions. training should precede technology launch by weeks.

librarystream blog

learn to learn
adapt to change
scan the horizon.

Training is -not- optional. Learning is not optional. Don't let people wiggle out of it because they just don't want to.

"I didn't get an MLS to do this" - article. Professions do not stand still.

Lego-building: Learning through Play

2007-10-30T15:50:00.000-05:00

Lots of people don't have access to continuing education programs.

one-off webcasts don't ensure continued learning/use of tools.

Importance of hands-on learning.

Online courses can be run more cheaply.

Five weeks to a social library.

first free, completely online course for teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries.

40 participants. All kinds. Used open-source when possible. Solicited presentations from experts in the library world. Entire course planned through wiki and instant messaging.

Droopal? Supports multipal blogs, creates static content. Suports wikis and chat rooms.

Mediawiki. - sandbox so everyone had experience with wikis.

blip.tv podcasts and video content, screencasts.

Webconferencing software was not free. They used OPAL. (Online programming for all libraries)

Included hands-on activities, as well as readings. The users reflected in blogs, had weekly chats.

Final project was to create a proposal on how to use social software in their libraries.

playing with technoloy is essential to learning technology.
reflective learning makes ideas stick.
learning from peers can be more important than learning from an "expert".

librarybytes.com
slideshare.net

Learning 2.1 - Continuation on 23 things program. oooh.

What can you do to continually keep up with changes?

Don't be an expert, be a player. (someone who plays.)

1. Take 15 minutes a day.
2. Subscribe to at least 5 blogs. (librarianinblack.net, tech crunch, what I learned today, wired, learning 2.1)
3. tag "play items" in del.icio.us
4. create a learning blog.
5. play!

how can you help others navigate the learning maze?
--become a guide, not a trainer.
1. It's about learning. (focus on -them-. make them engaged and motivated.)
2. remove the classroom. encourage participants to use each other?
3. remember that -exposure- is the first step towards learning.
4. learners have as much to share as guides.
5. Focus on fun!

Teach me more: fun and gaming in libraries.

2007-10-30T13:20:00.001-05:00

First off, *sob!* There is ~~no wireless~~reaaaaally slow wireless in the building this track is in. I mourn my email.

Lego star wars. Rated E. Encourages exploration.

Encourage emmersion. RPG element. Player has control of their own gameplay experience.

Madden

Bully

God of War - game gives you hints within game on which buttons to press. Learn things, and apply them immediately.

How to incorporate? Learn while doing. We need to help gamers adapt their skills to the nongamer world.

Libraries encourage exploration. How can we encourage more exploration?

--Change our terminology? Patrons must ask us what reference means, etc.
--Need consistent interfaces.

How to encourage immersion?

More inviting, movable furniture to encourage them to make the space their own. Wireless. Users can take their work where they prefer to be.

Customisable interfaces. "MY" library hompages...

incorporate hands-on experiences. Immediate application.

Give them instant help. IM works well for this.

Help them help themselves. Online FAQ.

How to incorporate games or activites into our libraries?

--Online tutorials as games?
--blogs and discussion boards encourage interaction.
--Online scavenger hunts?
--catalog scavenger hunt - find it, and there's a prize inside.
--information literacy games (Austin, North Carolina)

User-Generated Content

2007-10-29T17:57:00.000-05:00

People think I'm kidding when I say that I'm here hanging out with the geeky librarians. Hah. We here a IL2007 are so geeky, our slides include all sorts of internet memes up to and including CAT MACROS. "IM IN UR WIKI ALTERIN UR REALITY". :D

Web 1.0 Democratized access to information. In order to contribute, you actually had to have resources. Server space, coding, etc.

Web 2.0 Democratized participation. We a bigger role in participating and creating content on the web.

User generated content: comments, tags, ratings, photo, blogs, audio and video, wiki contributions, etc.

Why User Generated Content? Because we don't know everything. Insufficient metadata. findability and refindability. Stories people tell are of value. Interacting with materials creates a more personal connection. People are already doing it!

--Tags
folksonomy- system of organizing through tags.

flickr, del.icio.us, technorati

why tags? lets people make sense of content using their own vocabulary. help people to refind their own content. help people to discover new content. A good solution for content that can't be formally catalogued.

However-- tags cannot be controlled. Plural vs. Singular issues. Dashes & underscores. Multiple words can describe the same concept. People tag selfishly. (beach, to_read)

improving tagging? Tag clouds! Give you popular tags and reccomended tags to make tags more uniform. Clustering on flickr. Jaguar -- car, cat, guitar.

Examples:

Picture Australia Project
National Archive in the Netherlands -- comments allow users to identify the content of a photo.
Yellow Springs history
NCSU special collections puts photos in flickr pools. Comments again allow for reidentification of the subject matter.
Library Thing. tags, reviews, suggestions using tags.
Bookspace-- Hennepin Co. site for booklovers. Comments. Lists/readers advisory.
Penn tags. Del.icio.us for Penn State University? Shows up in the catalog! (This resource has been posted in Penn tags. Lists where, by whom, and what tags.)
Roc Wiki - Rochester People's Guide.
Denver evolver - teen site. You tube contest. What do you do in/what do you like about the library?

Issues: Moderation. How to deal with spam, vandalism. How to make this happen? Differentiate between user content and institutional content. Make it easy and appealing to contribute. No big registration process. Evaluate your population.

Tags cannot be the end-all be-all. You may miss good content that hasn't been discovered/tagged yet.

meredithfarkas.wetpaint.com

advocacy 2.0

2007-10-29T17:56:00.000-05:00

Minnesota legislative library.
Track bills and other legislation
Podcasts from senators sent to Itunes.

presidential candidates on facebook, youtube, myspace,

Map the candidates
personal democracy forum

Does this make a difference:

Dallas Imigration Protests
Oxfam
Darfur
Obama campaign

eDemocracy in Minnesota libraries. Get the community together to discuss issues.

ilovelibraries.org

facebook petitions. To keep branches from being closed.

I love the library facebook group/ myspace group.

St. Paul public library advocacy page.

Include links to how to find your legislator, or their contact info, etc. Include scripts!

Leislative READ posters. Legislative mash-up. All of the libraries in their region (public, private, school, etc)

information access for patrons: set up webpage with online resources.

ALA site for finding legislators.

selco.info/programs-services/training/session-pathfinder

Baby Boomers, Older Adults, the elderly, and social networking.

2007-10-29T16:07:00.000-05:00

Greying of the internet:

Not grey yet!

Senior networking is dying? Showing our patrons that these things exist. Not terribly great at PR. Sites that are connected to organizations are successful, independent sites are failing.

Seniornet.com - Social Learning. Charged patrons for classes. Not terribly great for libraries so far. Revamping their model to include libraries.

Thirdage.com - Seniornet was not for profit, Thirdage is a commercial site. A true social networking. Focus on White, upper-middle class women. Where are the men?

Eons - people, fun, love, money, body, lifepath, obits, games, travel

More friendly versions of myspace and facebook. -Eons, rezoom, multiply, maya's mom, boomj, boomertown.

Cranky.com - produces fewer results (4), less threatening.

Eldr.com - Magazine and website.

Redhatsociety.com

Boomers! TV - redefining life after 50.

Gay and Greying?

Primetimers.

Senior bloggers. - helps keep their minds sharp. Keeps authors up to date on current events. Meet people from throughout the world. easy to share life experiences, wisdom and information. May give them a bit of fame.

The ageless project - organizes blogs by age. (oooh, neat.)

Use Cranky in teaching situations. Link these in your library website. Join these sites-- test them.

Add web 2.0 technology to your webclasses.

"Senior Space" in your library. Tech training and testing lab.. teach blogging, flickr, launching Wii for older adults. (I want to do this -so badly-.) Teens teaching the older adults.

libraryolderadults.blogspot.com

Information Literacy in Public Libraries.

2007-10-29T15:17:00.000-05:00

Who can we help?

49% -Few tech assets We can't help the tech experts.

Know your demographic.
Know the local resources in your community.

Listen to patron requests -- create survey.

Class ideas:

--Appeal to parents wanting to help their children with homework online. Homework help classes for parents.
--Offer health related searching class using your databases.
--Managing files/ folders : How to organize your computers.
--Digital camera skills - flickr, pixenate, picnik, snipshot, slide
--Ebay skills
--Internet Security Issues.

Acknowledge Limitations
--lack of bandwidth?
--Lack of computer availability?
--lack of transportation for patrons?

Slideshare.net

Bringing other languages into the library:

Signage, website, storytimes, film screenings, computer classes

San Francisco public library offers classes in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese. SO COOL.

Book a librarian: Librarian will work with a patron for half-an-hour on anything they need help with. Hmm. That might work back home.

Training the trainer: Infopeople, seniornet

Publicity: fliers, website, media, **word of mouth**

Technology training for the older generation:

Some physical effects can be addressed with adaptive technology. Trackballs good for arthritis, 400 x 800 resolution good for bad eyesight.

Mousing Tutorial --Mousing Around-- (assume nothing, progressive, includes instruction on common computer experiences.)

Beginning Computer Classes (5 classes)
-mousing around
-browser
-web forms (e-mail - mapquest)
-set up email.
-revisit e-mail.

Classes offered in morning. 1 hour tops. Three people max per class. Class no more than three days apart, Practice exercizes to do in between classes.

Classes teach only what is necessary to do what they want to do.

Repetition, numbered steps. Large, labeled graphics, in large font. Speak slowly and enunciate. Use clear, unambiguous terms.

Encourage and validate students frequently.

less than 5% drop out.
less than 3% take the class again.

pbclibrary.org/mousing

squidoo - technology training for the older generation

esnips.com/user/ncrlab

beanworks.wordpress.com

DIY Intranet

2007-10-29T13:09:00.000-05:00

Escondido used network drive before the intranet.

Unorganized, poor archiving, difficult searching.

Why a wiki? Not info coming from the top down, so wikis allow for collaboration. Informal.

Jotspot:
keyword searching within document
group directories app
RSS & Email reminders for updates.

Issues:
Google acquisition (no new users, future uncertain.)

Wiki farm comparsion in Wikipedia.
PBWiki
Wetpaint (Ads)
Wikispot (wiki editing language. not WYSIWYG)

Directly on your own servers:
Twiki
Joomla
Social Text

Goodwidgets
FD's Flickr Toys
Widgetbox
Jing
Site meter/Stat Counter

Online Filing Cabinet - Upload files for sharing
Check out Evanced Calendar.
Security Alert section - pictures and warnings about problem patrons.

Blending in - Librarians in the Networked Community

2007-10-29T12:11:00.001-05:00

Libraries being social nodes:

Atchison Public Library - Kansas
Blog homepage
Plug your community.

Arlington Heights - IL
Video blog
Chat reference

acpl.info
Community Resources
"There's not a lot to do, so they just sort of focus on the past." *giggles*

Clark County Public Library
Side bar advertises Wi-fi and important links

Orange County -FL
Shop OCPL. Like an Amazon store, library gets a cut.

Topeka Shawnee County
Survey link! Very cool.

SC state library
Connections for librarians in the state.

Webjunction

Flickr
Libraries and Librarians - why am I not here? Seriously.
365 Library Days Project

Using library websites has gone down 10%. Uh-oh.

Social Wheel ---ooooh, shiny.

Keynote - Lee Rainie

2007-10-29T12:09:00.000-05:00

Good lord, were the -keynotes- this crowded last year? I'm sitting on the floor in the foyer. o.O

Also, for someone who doesn't like numbers, I sure like talks with lots of stats.

Great things about Cowboy Bebop, part 1.

2007-03-21T21:59:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy working on the moving blog, that I haven't had much to say here. But this article about opening sequences that fit their shows perfectly inspired me to share. Somewhere in between all the shows I had never watched (and a few I had) was the lone Japanese Anime of the list. Surrounded by shows like The Sopranos, Freaks and Geeks, The 4400, and Charlie's Angels was Cowboy Bebop. I found myself nodding. Yeah, that was an awesome show opener, wasn't it? That's something that I really loved about Cowboy Bebop. This anime about bounty hunters pulls you in with a rockin' jazz piece, and a mix of flashy bright colors and character silhouettes. It was the same for the Cowboy Bebop movie, which wasn't nearly as good as the series, but still pulls you in with a catchy opening sequence. In fact, I think the opening sequence of the movie may be one of my favorite parts.

This is the show's opener:

This is the movie's opener:

Argh.

2007-03-14T11:55:00.000-05:00

Figures. The Wikipedia editor who told everyone he was a professor and turned out to be lying is from Kentucky.

Youtube funny

2007-03-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

There's a series of videos on YouTube that parody the Mac vs. PC commercials. In them, a librarian and an "IT Professional" learn that they might not be so different afterall. This one is my favorite. <3

Library 2.0 Network

2007-03-07T13:16:00.000-05:00

Ever wanted to try out social networking, but you're intimidated by sites like Myspace? One of the coolest trends starting up now are sites that allow you to create your own social network, on any topic you choose. (For example, I discovered a site called RenSpace the other day, for Renaissance faire enthusiasts.) Well now there's one for Library 2.0 Librarians! Over here, you can create your own profile, and share with other librarians. Check it out!

(And friend me here.)

Internet Safety: round 17, 984.

2007-02-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

While on a search for good, both-sides of the issue books on internet safety, I ran across this article by Nancy Willard about current popular safety techniques that aren't working, and why. I liked it so much, I ordered her book.

Book vs. Movie

2007-02-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

So we all know that movies based on books never quite measure up to their origins. Movies based off Frank Miller's graphic novels, however, tend to be the exception. When Sin City came out, we were amazed at how close some of the movie frames matched scenes from the graphic novels. It looks like they're doing the same thing with 300, which comes out in theatres (and the IMAX!) on March 9th. Check out the book to movie comparison shots here.

(Note: There is a link to the Sin City comparison shots in the blog post above. If you are easily offended by nudity, I would recommend just sticking with the 300 shots.)

Google, be my valentine?

2007-02-14T18:17:00.000-05:00

Google's ~~Valentine's Day~~ Singles Appreciation Day logo has a chocolate covered strawberry. I like the way they think.

Valentinr

2007-02-13T19:11:00.000-05:00

Get your own valentinr

And while I'm at it....

2007-02-09T10:37:00.000-05:00

Web 2.0 in 5 minutes.

Internet Safety Meeting

2007-02-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

You might have missed it, but in today's paper they announced that there will be a Community Forum on internet safety here in Bardstown. I think that some of us need to show up and provide an opposing viewpoint to the fear and panic. Anyone with me?

Brainstorming!

2007-02-08T13:45:00.001-05:00

371107636108_0_BG
Originally uploaded by booktart.

Nelda sent me some pictures of the brainstorming exercise from Tuesday, and I immediately stole them and put them on my flickr so I could find them later.

There were six categories, and we each had 5 minutes to write down as many ideas as we could for each category. We ended up with at least 80 ideas in each category. Then we broke up into groups, and sorted through all the ideas in each category, weeding out the duplicates, and putting them into similar groups.

I didn't steal all of Nelda's pictures, so if you were interested in the whole set you can go here to see them.

Racing into the Future

2007-02-06T20:58:00.000-05:00

We went to the "Racing into the Future" workshop over at Rough River State Park yesterday. For a workshop that I had no idea what to expect from, it went pretty well. It's different from most workshops, in that this is more of a program that we're participating in. They're going to follow up on our progress and everything. Luckily, this is something we really needed to do anyway. Plus, there was a cool brainstorming activity that I'm going to steal one of these days.

We talked about making plans of action, short and long term goals so that we provide the best technology and support to our patrons that we can manage. And if we do this planning correctly, "what we can manage" in the future can be much more. My goals are: to use the move as a good opportunity to create a technology inventory (we don't have one, as far as I know) and to keep it updated, and also to make a procedures manual with instructions and passwords for all of our technological equipment. Some of this is already in the binder at the front desk (TLC procedures, but they probably need updated now that I think about it), but there are several things that really should be added, like the microfilm machine and the phone system. This will be a good reference for everyone, especially new employees. Whee goals!

What goals would you like to see us have?

No way.

2007-01-29T17:44:00.000-05:00

Stephen Colbert is going to be at the New York Comic-Con. That convention is getting cooler and cooler every day, I tell you.

DDRing librarians from ALA Midwinter

2007-01-26T10:09:00.000-05:00

Remember David Lee King from the tie video I used for Task 6? He had uploaded a video of it taking him 14 times to get his tie done correctly. Well here he is (with Michael Porter) learning to play DDR at ALA Midwinter. Look familiar? :)

Hah! I'm on YouTube!

2007-01-26T00:59:00.000-05:00

So. Ever wanted to know what happens at a convention? Not satisfied with my "a great big geek party" answer? Well the YouTube movie below is made up of still shots taken at ShadowCon, a convention in Memphis that I went to a few weeks ago. I'm actually in two of the shots, once at the beginning and once at the end, so you'll need to watch the whole thing to get to the proof that I really did drive all the way to Memphis just to visit with boys in kilts.

4 Things

2007-01-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

Switched this from e-mail to blogs, because it's less inbox cloggy this way. Welcome to the world of internet memes. :)

4 jobs I've had:
Babysitter
Auto Parts Sorter
Archivist
Librarian

4 places I've lived:
Rock Hill, SC
North Myrtle Beach, SC
Bradenton, FL
Deleware, OH

4 favorite TV shows:
CSI
Firefly
House, MD
The Daily Show

4 favorite foods:
Perogies (my family is Polish, and therefore, crazy.)
Fettuccine Alfredo
Taco Salad
California Rolls

4 places I would rather be:
The Beach. (Pick a beach. Any beach.)
The Faire. (Someone reminded me we've got 18 weekends till opening. Bring it on!)
Closer to my friends. (Unfortunately, I've got friends all over the place, so this is some sort of mythical location which puts me close to Austin, Toronto, Columbus, Los Angeles and Louisville all at the same time.)
Someplace I studied in College. (You can just set me down somewhere in Europe and I'm sure I'll find someplace worthwhile.)

File this under things I never thought I'd do, EVER.

2007-01-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

So today, on the circ desk, I helped some girl with her greek homework. Yes, I actually -used- that knowledge I gained during my Ancient Greek class in college.

Only on Friday, folks. :)

tech challenges, or, "Oops, that didn't work the way I wanted it to..."

2007-01-16T19:23:00.000-05:00

So. I thought that I'd be cool and use a poll to see who wanted what for the tech challenge prizes. After all, I didn't really need to know who wanted what, I just needed to know how many of each prize I needed. So I set up a poll. The first poll site I used set up the poll in a form of javascript that made it impossible to embed into blogger. I couldn't put it in the layout, and I also couldn't put it in a post. They just wouldn't play nicely. So then I moved to another site. This one worked better, and I got the whole thing set up and posted. Then the problems began.

First, the poll used IP addresses to track votes, and make sure people didn't vote more than once. As a result, many of you who tried to vote at the library got a message that said you had already voted, instead of the poll itself. Once I figured that out, I knew to suggest voting at home so there would be a different IP address. I thought I had figured everything out.

Then today, while trying to get votes finalized and figure out exactly how many of each prize I needed, I realized that more people had voted "successfully" than the results were telling me. I went to add someone else's vote to the poll, and while the site told me that it had counted my vote, nothing new was showing up on my poll results. So apparently, the poll was telling some people that they had voted successfully when the exact opposite was true. (Not a lot, just enough that I had trouble figuring out whose votes had gone through and what blanks still needed to be filled.)

The result: I spent the evening filling in the blanks by contacting people the "old fashioned" way. By telephone. :)

Technology hype:

2007-01-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

There's been a bit of a kerfluffle on one of the library blogs, discussing the problem of hype. The blogger mentioned how sometimes, we get so excited about something new, that others feel it's difficult to voice the problems they have with it.

So here's a hint: Don't get caught up in the hype. Don't be afraid to get excited either. New toys are always worth getting excited about. They make our lives easier, and make us better at what we do (or what we need to be doing). They allow us to do things we never thought of doing, and that makes them exciting. However, not everything is going to work for everyone. Try new things, and if it doesn't work out, put it aside. Don't be afraid to decide that something isn't for you. Don't feel pressured because "everyone else is using it". It isn't worth stressing over.

2007!

2007-01-01T00:34:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

geeky family

2006-12-27T22:40:00.000-05:00

The last few days I've been without reliable wireless access. But now I'm at my grandparents, with the geeky side of the family. Seven laptops, three of which are macs. Earlier they were playing with Youtube, and my uncle and I have been IMing each other across the house.

Now you see where I get it from.

The areas of my expertise:

2006-12-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

So, iTunes is giving away the audiobook version of John Hodgman's Areas of my Expertise. (That link will take you to the iTunes store if you have iTunes installed. If you don't, I don't think it does anything. Sorry.) Now this book would be worth a download anyway, because John Hodgman makes me giggle. Seriously. But the bonus in listening to the audiobook is the addition of music by Jonathan Coulton, who makes me giggle until I wet my pants.

(Yes, I know I can't concentrate on audiobooks. I'll manage.)

BONUS! John does and interview (Jonathan's there too!), and the whole thing's on YouTube.

Extra bonus: Jonathan in concert. He sings about Zombies. Zombie singalong!

argh.

2006-12-08T10:24:00.000-05:00

I got a speeding ticket this morning. Yep, it must be Friday.

Librarian Trading Cards

2006-12-06T13:31:00.000-05:00

2006-12-05T00:38:00.000-05:00

I just bought the most comfortable sweatpants in the world from Wal-Mart. I may never wear any other pants ever again. I love them so much, I even put them on my avatar. Can we change the dress code at the library to include sweatpants? Pretty please?

Also, I now have Pirates of the Carribean 2 and a nifty free t-shirt. See what you missed while you were sleeping? :)

Social Networking at work, or, I'm a winner (and I just might share the booty!)

2006-12-02T20:22:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the summer, the library MySpace was friended by a young adult author named Heather Brewer. She wrote about vampires, and I thought "Gee, I bet our teens would love to read her book when it comes out." (And hey, who am I kidding? I would too.) So when she posted a MySpace bulletin about sending out free "minion" buttons, I emailed her and told her to send me a handful, if she could. When they showed up in the mail, I passed them out at Summer Reading that night, and we all took a picture of us wearing our minion buttons. I sent it to Heather, and she posted it on her blog with the rest of the pictures she had gotten from her "Minions". (She has since revamped --no pun intended-- her blog, so the pictures no longer load, but we were there.)

So recently Heather had a "Bat to School" contest, where you were entered in a drawing for various goodie bags and prizes if you signed up for her little newsletter. Seeing as how I will never remember when her new book actually comes out (August 2007, I had to look it up) I signed up. And guess who won?

That would be me. I came home today to find this lovely little package on the dining room table.

Inside, there were all sorts of goodies, including my actual prize, the rather nifty bat wing wallet.

Yay social networking!

Task 6 - Holy Cow, I'm white & nerdy.

2006-11-29T00:18:00.000-05:00

Weird Al Yankovic does it again. Check out his new video, "White and Nerdy".

Comics fan? Check.
Memorized "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"? Check.
Know HTML? Check.
Spend every weekend at the Renaissance Faire? I'm on cast.

...Oh my god. I'm a nerd.

after thanksgiving...

2006-11-25T22:33:00.000-05:00

On the one hand, now I can listen to my Christmas music, as often and as loud as I want to, without embarrassment.

On the other hand, singing "Baby it's cold outside" when in reality it's 65F outside, is slightly ridiculous.

argh.

2006-11-22T22:57:00.001-05:00

Rule #1 to running a technology program: Don't misplace the USB drive your files are on. Retyping everything the night before it goes up isn't fun.

PS: I probably left it on somebody's desk. If you find a USB drive floating around, would you please throw it at me?

the "techie" speaks...

2006-11-18T02:56:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, I got a new position at the library. Since I started work there over a year ago, I've always sort of filled in where the gaps were, doing a little bit of bindery/processing work, YA programming (since I have a saintly amount of patience with kids who are, oh, only about eight years younger than I am...), and anything else that needed doing. Weeding? Yeah, I could do that. Set up the library staff mailing list? I could do that too. But now, I've got a real, honest to bob, job title. I am the technology coordinator.

I described it, jokingly, to people at IL2006 as being the Techie "by default", by virtue of the fact that I am 23, and my coworkers are not. This is true to an extent, because despite the fact that I have never taken a computer science class (something I should probably do something to change) I -am- the person on the staff with the most technological knowledge, and the youngest staff member as well. (Of course, you do not have to be one to be the other.) I can troubleshoot a PC, work a scanner, and most importantly, I know when to say "Hey, I don't know how to do this, we need to call Gary." Gary is our computer-fixing guy, who comes in when we can't figure it out. He's certainly more familiar with things like our network and server than me right now, but I plan to pick his brain mercilessly every chance I get.

However, my library's attitude has been far from anti-tech. I came back with ideas about recreating PLCMC's Learning 2.0 program, and to be honest I worried that it wouldn't take off. I worried that people would be too overwhelmed by the idea of completing 23 unknown tasks to even consider the carrot at the end of the stick. No prize in the world is going to make you participate if you're sure that the program is impossible to complete. (For example: NANOWRIMO. They could offer me a free laptop for winning, and I still probably wouldn't do it.) But then I started talking to the rest of the staff about it. The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and I haven't even officially announced the program yet. I look forward to seeing how this pans out, and hopefully I'll be recruiting some more techie librarians soon. :)