From the Deep Quiet

I've Gone and Done It

Well, I've done it. I joined Twitter. I swore I wouldn't do it, but here I am. It feels kind of weird, but if I'm going to keep up with this stuff, I need to just do it. Ever since I heard about it I thought of it as nothing more than another social networking time-sucker. Something's shifted in me, though. Not sure what. Maybe it's because A has been away for the last few days and the apartment is way too quiet. Dunno.

Either way, here's the latest Benny photo:

He likes his new home just fine.

23 Things: Thing 23

My reflections.

This has been a helpful exercise for me. Though, in the last couple of years, I have dabbled in most of the exercises that were required, I'd not actually spent a lot of time using many of them. I've found some helpful tools along the way.

Del.icio.us is one of the ones that I am finding helpful. It used to drive me nuts having to send URLs to myself at home when I knew I'd want access to it there, and vice-versa. While I was at the leadership conference last week, I used zoho.com to create a document being shared by several people in my work group. It was nice to be able to access the document from any computer without having to carry around a thumb drive or get back to the laptop to send the document to someone else.

I learned several of the things I did because I was willing to take the extra time to figure out work-arounds. YouTube was one of those. Dumping YT videos into some blogs is as easy as a couple of clicks of the mouse but that hasn't been set up for TypePad. I just couldn't believe that with TypePad being a very popular blogging program, that there wasn't a way. There WAS a way! I just had to care enough to make it work.

Whether we like it or not (and I certainly do), technology is becoming more and more sophisticated and a part of our lives every day. I've said it before, but I feel strongly that anyone who is going to work in a library these days must have, at least, a cursory understanding of what's out there and how to use it. Some of it is crazy and silly and probably won't be around for long, but much of it is changing our lives and making it much easier to share information. That's what we're about. Sharing information. If you don't believe that, you shouldn't be here.

The only thing I think I would do differently if this program was to be done again would be to encourage people not to try to do it all in a couple of weeks. I got to the point where I felt like I really couldn't spend any more work time on this project, as exciting as I found it to be. Maybe spread it out. Dole it out in pieces. That's more work for the people administering it, but I think it would have made it easier for some to do a piece and put it away.

I'd probably participate if another program like this was offered that had new information for me to learn. It's definitely worth it.

23 Things: Thing 22

Audiobooks.

I was pretty darned excited when our library began offering ebooks and audiobooks. Unfortunately, when I decided to buy an mp3 player, I didn't pay attention to the players that are compatible with Overdrive, the program we subscribe to. So, for now at least, I'm stuck downloading audiobooks to my computer. So I've decided to skip it until I get a player that works with Overdrive. I spend waaaaaay too much time in front of a computer during the day to want to spend my evenings in the same place.

I've downloaded from the site, though, and it's easy. Audible.com works the same way except that when you download the audiobook, it's yours to keep. Overdrive is too smart for that. Three weeks and the book is history!

23 Things: Thing 21

Podcasts.

Podcasts are cool, but if you want to use and mp3 player and you don't own an iPod, uploading them can be pretty tricky. It seems that every brand has its own software and few different brands play nicely with others.

Since I just got back from spending a week learning about leadership and how to be a leader, I decided to subscribe to a bunch of weekly podcasts found on Yahoo! Podcasts that are interviews with leaders from a variety of fields. It seemed interesting. I like Podcast Alley for the variety of 'casts that are available.

23 Things: Thing 20

YouTube. Oh yeah. Talk about getting lost in a website. Remember the Monkees? Uploading YouTube videos to TypePad blogs isn't as straightforward as for some of the other blogging software, but it's definitely doable. There's a place to create my own custom viewer. So I did:

Currently, this is my favorite video. Imagine what the world would be like if we gave more hugs and killed less people. I know it is making the 'net rounds, but I think everyone should see it.

23 Things: Thing 19

Web 2.0 award winners.

When my partner and I moved into our apartment two years ago, we used Craigslist for: a red Ikea couch, a black futon couch (for the visitors, don'tcha know), a moving service to bring the red Ikea couch to our apartment, and a cat (see upper left corner of this blog for photo of said cat). When you're having trouble sleeping and you don't really feel like curling up with a good book, "The Best of Craigslist" is a great place to pass the time. Might not put you to sleep, but it will certainly entertain you!

Etsy is a fun place for anyone who's crafty. It's eBay for anyone interested in handmade items. You don't bid on things, though. Just buy them.

I actually played with several of the listed. Check it out!

23 Things: Thing 17

Sandbox Wiki.

I played around with this a bit. I could get sucked in pretty easily, as there are quite a few topics here to choose from. I added my blog to the list but didn't add to anything else. Just looked around.

23 Things: Thing 16

Wikis.

We've had wikis on our Intranet for a couple of years, now. I know they aren't being used very well but I think the technology has a lot of potential. I like the idea of having moderated wikis on the library's website. I particularly liked the Biz Wiki created by Ohio University business librarian Chad Boeninger. Considering that one doesn't have to allow edits without a log-in, it makes sense to create something that's easily updated. That way, all changes don't have to go through the webmaster. Certain people would have certain privileges to edit specific parts of the wiki. I like it. I also like the idea of giving library customers a chance to respond, as we saw in the Princeton Public Library's Book Lover's Wiki. The possibilities are endless.

23 Things: Thing 15

Now I'm supposed to discuss "Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries." I've been putting this one off because it's such a huge topic.

I was happy when I heard that we were going to participate in the Library 2.0 project, 23 Things. I had been reading about it and Web 2.0 for quite awhile in the blogsphere and in professional journals.

Though some aspects will fade with time (I have a hard time imagining that Twitter is going to be big seller a year or so from now), other aspects are vitally important. More and more, people want to be able to do just about anything from their computer whenever they want it. Libraries will be no different.

We are social creatures and we live in a time that expects people to be computer saavy. Those who aren't are getting left in the dust. Try to buy an airline ticket without Internet access. It can be done, but it'll take forever and you'll probably pay more than someone who sits down at a computer and does the clicky-clicky dance for 20 minutes.

So it only makes sense to combine our need to connect with others with our need to be alone with our computer. I love being able to share my photos with others, chat with them online, and provide answers to library questions 24 hours a day. Okay, I don't want to be the one answering the e-mail in the middle of the night, but some do. I have learned a lot from many library-related bloggers and I enjoy being able to put myself out there for the world to see, as well.

I believe that everyone who is hired to work in a library should be able to meet minimum technology competencies. I was horrified when, just a couple of years ago, we hired staff in our information department who didn't know how to really use a computer! I love teaching the public how to close a window and find a pull-down menu. I didn't love it when it was a colleague. I understand having to bring staff who have been here awhile (or for a very long time) up to speed. But I don't believe we should hire any more staff who can't perform the basics. I think we've pretty much moved away from that. I hope.

I know that a lot of eyes have been opened by 23 Things. People are excited and having fun. Let's keep it up. I don't want it just to be a passing thing where we say, "okay, now everyone knows about this stuff. Enough of that." We need to integrate much of it into our workplace.

Ideas keep rolling around in my mind. I'll save them for later. Must move on to the next Thing.

23 Things: Thing 13

Del.icio.us.

Okay, this is pretty cool. Pretty cool enough that I just spent way more time than I'd scheduled for it, playing with it. Er, setting it up so I can use it properly. For anyone who a list of bookmarks on one computer that they wish they had on another, this is the solution. I don't know how many times I've e-mailed URLs to myself for one reason or another so that I'd have them on the other computer I use. Or for when I'm working at a computer that doesn't have my personal information on it. I can now just log into my del.icio.us account and have them right there, all nicely tagged and everything. The tagging is what takes the most time during the set-up. Now when I add a bookmark that I think I'll need somewhere else, I'll just add it here, as well. It doesn't really replace the bookmarks list I have. Let's face it. I don't want the world to see my bookmark for my bank account. There are other examples but you get the idea.

I don't think I'll link it to my blog - at least, not yet. I like the idea of having some semblance of privacy left to play with. Even if it's really only a delusion.