Thing 3

I've been meaning to explore RSS for some time so this turned out to be the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, my first impression is that it doesn't do much more for me than bookmarks since I'm not waiting with bated breath for the blogs I follow to change. This (and the literature we've read) leads me to believe I'm missing something that more usage may reveal. Keep posted. ;-P

23 Things Part 2

(Written while keeping one eye on Doug and another on a baby that is starting to fuss.)

The dynamic change we're experiencing is actually an old story in America. One of the main reasons Henry Clay failed in his quest to become President is because he didn't recognize the historic movement that his great rivals Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren embraced, when the idea of a republic changed to a democracy in less than a generation's time. When I started five years ago people did not use thumb drives, iPods, Wikipedia, or YouTube; and cell phones were the exception, not the rule. Libraries, being the repository and the clearinghouse of information, are bound to be at the cutting edge of the information age. The only way to keep ahead is to keep learning. As the saying goes, "A shark has to keep swimming or die."

The questions:

• I'm participating to learn in order to be better prepared to help the public.
• I'm able to find most information when I need it, or at least where it's located, without leaving my home or office.
• I'm decent, but not great, at Web 2.0, but at least I have an inkling of what I'm lacking. I realized that while I take advantage of much Web 2.0 stuff I don't do so very deeply—I figure out how to do what I need to do and ignore the rest, which means I miss out on many features. 23 Things seems a great way to fix that. Ditto for my library.
  
• I'm interested in everything to be discussed, although it looks like a list of Phil's classes.

April 13, 2004, evening shift.

Note: Most days are uneventful in the Public Computing Center (knock on wood) so I thought I'd enliven things with memorable incidents from the past. The vast majority of patrons (AKA customers) are friendly, reasonable people. Unfortunately, it's the other kind that furnish us with our most unforgettable encounters.

Things were going swimmingly when a patron asked to change computers because the one he was at had "froze up." So I let him have another and went over to fix the computer he had been using, only it worked fine. But I saw that the chair had liquid spilled in it. Liquid that smelled like beer. So I looked over to where the patron was sitting and saw that he had his coat in his lap and under the coat was either Indiana's biggest erection or a quart bottle. So I watched him for awhile and every few minutes he would look to see what I was doing. I made it obvious that I was watching him and he started to look a little aggrieved. Finally the PCC filled up and I had to start the waitlist (pre-SAM). I guess he thought that it was his opportunity because he pressed the coat to his lips for a drink (using a straw, I think).

I sauntered over and informed him that he couldn't drink at the terminals and if it was beer he was drinking he should take it out of the library. He acquiesced, leaving the room. I watched him go but don't know if he actually left the library. Security was busy somewhere else at that moment so I couldn't get his opinion. Unfortunately, now the PCC smelled of stale beer and a gaggle of young teens were clumped together "doing their homework."

All in a day's work.

Waking up the PCC

I try to arrive about 5 'till 9 and make sure all the computers are operational. Some don't start on their own and some have the infamous motherboard problem we know so well. I look to see that the children's games computers are cleared and ready to go and check to see if any headphones are missing, have been moved, or are broken. Then I check to see if enough paper is in the printer and a few sheets are in our scrap paper bin as well as enough pencils in the scrap pencil bin. Then I grab any books, CDs, DVDs, magazines that need to be returned and head out to the IS office where I make a general nuisance of myself for the next hour and a half before returning to the PCC, walking what I like to call "The Green Mile," all the while praying for a pleasant morning.