Standing Room Only

2010-04-09T10:20:00.003-04:00

Thing 23--My Two Cents

2010-04-02T13:37:00.000-04:00

See my previous entry for thoughts about the Things.
My favorite was the first, blogs, and I've got more of them than I can handle. I learned most from podcasting, and as I said, I use YouTube, Twitter, del.icio.us, Facebook, LibraryThing, and Flickr regularly instead of TV and newspapers.
I keep returning to Google thinking that I might use more of their features someday, maybe.
What I took away was an attitude about trying and learning, new tools.
Break it down into 47 Things and I would definitely participate in any extension of the program or even a review of the old one.
One sentence: Essential for all ages.

Thing 22

2010-04-01T16:46:00.001-04:00

Now that I've been introduced to some of this s...tuff I'll be sure to keep abreast of it and all the new things that develop. It's hard to believe that just a few years ago there was no YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc., all things I use every day. I can hardly wait for the time when I won't have to leave my desk at all except for bodily functions and, who knows, there may be an app someday for them too.

As for what else we could have covered, I still think 2nd Life is what Web 2.0 is all about.

Thing 21--Social aggregators

2010-04-01T16:43:00.000-04:00

Thing 21
The aggregators are ok, I guess, but truthfully all the info is overwhelming. To mix twitter with facebook with whatever--too much info! I would rather limit things to their individual services and just go there when I want to catch up. It ain't that hard. Maybe I'm being old-fashioned here and once I learn better how to use these services I'll see a greater need to aggregate them. Or I'll chuck the whole thing in a pond.

My concern is spreading all the info about myself all over the web and giving access to my personal info to every Tom, Dick, and Connie out there. Juan Franela knows what I'm talking about.

Thing 20--Gaming in Libraries

2010-03-31T16:34:00.002-04:00

Gaming is a double edged sword. I could see 16 computers at once being tied up with a Mmorpg to everyone's detriment. In fact, I have experienced the downside in the PCC when several lads came in to play Runescape and would be talking loudly across the room to coordinate their efforts, not to mention leaping up to show a partner what they wanted. On one hand I can't see where gaming is any different from any other entertainment the library provides, from cheesy detective fiction to CDs, DVDs, and many websites, on the other hand it can be disruptive--like playing handball in the middle of the 2nd floor--and a resource hog if many players want to be online at once.

Thing 19--Google Wave

2010-03-22T16:34:00.000-04:00

This one was easy to do since I haven't been invited to test Google Wave. It looks interesting, especially as a part-time quasi-journalist. Any collaborative thing would benefit using this tool but it remains to be seen how much use it gets if, like blogs and a million other tools, it's just the latest flavor of the day. On the gripping hand several of the items we've explored in 23 things have become indispensable parts of my life on the Web, so I'll try to catch the wave whenever the heck it arrives.

Thing 18--SurveyMonkey

2010-03-19T17:00:00.004-04:00

One of the downsides of working in the same room as 23 Things guru, peskew, is that if you try to slide on one of the Things he'll call you on it, which is what happened with Thing 18 and am I glad that it did. Instead of going through the motions of designing a poll I actually created one to survey the listeners of my community radio show Dark End of the Street on Community radio WFHB (Take the survey). So I guess it's an upside.

Maybe I'll try one to sort out Joe's Russian brides next.

I started with Zoomerang and SurveyMonkey but ended up with PollDaddy when I forgot my Zoomerang password. All the services are straightforward and easy to use. I was able to link mine in Facebook immediately and now I'm kicking back with a non-alcoholic brewski awaiting the results.

I didn't use any open-ended questions but it certainly could be useful if you want to find out what an individual is thinking, although judging by what I'm seeing nationally everybody seems more interested in push polls, something I'll leave for people with degrees who do that dishonest sort of thing for a living.

Exclusive Standing Room Only Survey

2010-03-19T16:40:00.001-04:00

Click Here to take survey

Thing 17--Other Social Networks

2010-03-18T15:17:00.000-04:00

Wah, me got no time for all of this social media. It looks great, though. Gather seems like a combo of Twitter and Facebook, only ranked by category. I've had an account with WebJunction for a year and never use it! I want to but you know how it goes. Yelp shows the Ellettsville branch for the main branch of MCPL. (And First Books Library is what exactly?)

I'm going to try Gather for awhile, the others look intriguing but I can't imagine I'll be trying many recipes and I honestly don't care about other people's opinions of film (especially when their top 10 movies are all Tarantino and mafia flicks--what's with that?) I can't understand why the greatest social media site of all time, 2nd Life, is missing.

Thing 15--Podcasts

2010-03-16T16:47:00.000-04:00

For me podcasts are more of an issue of information overload than anything else. Searching for a program that might interest me only to discover a pair of poorly recorded idiots nattering on about a subject I'm far more conversant with than they are is not my idea of fun. On the other hand the hunt can pull up some real gems--Astronomycast for one--and a method of storing, promoting, and replaying information and educational programs that I can access at my convenience is appealing--where has it been all my life?. All in all I'm glad for the introduction and will continue using podcasts, hoping that the more familiar I become with the services the better I will be at finding what is useful to me.

I actually have a use for creating podcasts but no time. Maybe this will help me down the road.

(PS. Including the Good Beer podcasts in Thing 15 has offended me deeply.)

2009-09-11T15:36:00.001-04:00

From TheOneMuse:

Thing 16--Facebook & MySpace

2009-04-23T11:45:00.002-04:00

For me this facebook Thing started at just about the time facebook really exploded in the national consciousness. I've discovered a zillion people I know using it, many of whom I've been happy to not know where they were for 20 or more years now, so it's disconcerting to have them requesting my attention. Otherwise the hurdle I have is figuring out which apps to use and tailoring the whole mess to represent my needs, without getting sucked into a black hole of pointless conversation.

I like the way you can turn elements of your own life and that of your family and friends into a newspaper of sorts. That's power!

I've also had several incidents arise with my newfound village. One was discovering a friend that I'd been out of touch with for awhile was inspired to post an "incident" from our past that I'd rather not be known by the general public (I could still run for President someday). Another was a fellow who presumed that my complaint about a minor facebook thing meant that I was too ignorant to figure out how to fix it rather than that I simply trying to be amusing. He corrected me in a supercilious manner that I found irksome being the technowhiz that I am (although I know he was just trying to be "helpful"). Another when I posted a link to one of the 23 Things articles that questioned the motives of facebook's masters and how they are out to exploit the general public. That person simply couldn't believe that if the general public was too stupid to understand the implications of what they were doing they didn't deserve better treatment. Of course, she's smart (and libertarian to boot so I guess it's a case of Atlas shrugging). I've always studiously avoided chat rooms, forums, blog discussions, etc. so I'll have to get used to the rough and tumble world of internet discussion.

MySpace is similar and different but who in the hell has time for all of this (outside of the PCC crowd)? Maybe there will be a solution when I get to aggregators. I think there are also apps that address the problem of having so many different Web 2.0 things going (let's see, MySpace, facebook, Twitter, a blog, email at 6 different accounts, LibraryThing, Meebo, wikis--take me home, country roads!

And of course libraries can use these things but it must be done with forethought, not just to jump on board the latest rage (which is what facebook is IMHO.)

Next!

PS
I'm convinced now more than ever that it's important for us to keep up with social networks and other web tools.

PPS
I know I skipped Thing 15, I'll get back to it.

Thing 14--YouTube and Online Video

2009-04-08T11:03:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure whether I should be ashamed or proud but I'm a regular user of both YouTube and Hulu (and a half a dozen more video sites). It all started when my TV blew up and I decided that I wasted too much time with TV anyway so instead of getting another one I started looking at YouTube and now I waste time watching things online.

The difference is the control I have to watch the things that interest me, whether it's skateboarders getting their nuts cracked or the origin of the universe. While there is an awful lot of time wasting stuff there, it's easy to avoid. I don't have to watch something awful because it's the only thing on and I don't have the willpower to turn the tube off. Instead, I can watch something edifying even though I still don't have the willpower to turn the d*mn thing off. My only concern is that if the "content providers" ever get their act together some of this stuff could disappear, which makes me want to waste a lot more time watching it than I should.

Hulu is especially great if you don't have a TV because there are lots of television programming there as well as movies and other odds and ends. The best thing about it is that it ends the tyranny of broadcast TV. You can watch what you want when you want it. You don't have to wait for a commercial to run off to the bathroom or kitchen, just put the player on pause. It's the civilized way to watch TV.

Thing 13--LibraryThing

2009-04-07T10:49:00.005-04:00

My question now (even before we reach the Facebook and MySpace Thing) is what possible use (or time) do I have to participate in a dozen different social web sites that demand learning how they work, participating in their conversation, adding a profile and information (as in the books I've read for LibraryThing) and on and on and on? I think we need an OpenID equivalent for these sites where you can share your information with all of them at once.

On the Gripping Hand, I have to say that LibraryThing is interesting and useful and I see no reason why we can't use it with our catalog. To answer my own question the solution is to pick and choose the social media sites that best reflect your interests. My goal is to visit Library Thing regularly enough to make it useful for me.

Thing 12--Social Media Websites

2009-03-31T11:25:00.002-04:00

Like a lot of things Web 2.0, I've dipped my toes in the waters of social media websites without getting in too deep. I've been reading Digg, Techmeme, and Slashdot (until they started using a script that forced me disable it with each and every visit) for some time now without joining any. Having seen this Thing, though, and how I can tailor what I'm seeing, I'm finding it a brave new world that I want to join. More than any other Thing this one has impressed me with just how fast the Internet is changing and how profound that change is. My only question is how am I ever going to find the time to keep up, much more take advantage of, the opportunities being offered?

Prompts:
Not sure if these are so important at the library, except to keep up on certain kinds of news. But on a personal level they are useful as long as they are configured correctly to deliver the information I want to read and not used to browse topics endlessly. It's useful for finding the kind of information useful to me rather than the information that publishers want to spoon feed me. The danger is that I will filter out everything I don't want to know about but I think most people do that anyway when they sift through a newspaper's headlines.

Thing 11

2009-03-12T11:35:00.003-04:00

I've been using delicious for a while now and have never taken it past the "bookmark" phase. I knew there was more horsepower there than I was using but, eh, who's got the time? I'm now better aware of the "social" uses of the bookmarks and have already used that aspect to explore subjects of interest. I'm also intrigued at the potential of using it as an alternate search engine and as a way of sharing with a group of like-minded people (the Henry Clay Admiration Society, for example.) Tagging is another thing I've grown to like and am very frustrated at the inability of Windows to use tags. Files would be so much easier to find over time if I didn't have to search through various folders trying to remember where I've left them. Saving bookmarks and being able to use them anywhere is useful, and exploring weird or obscene words is good for a laugh, too. Using delicious, or some other social bookmarking tool, at the library is a natural and should be considered as a dandy alternative to the pages of links we maintain when the Website redesign occurs later this year.

Thing 10

2009-03-05T12:20:00.004-05:00

Wikis are a great way of collaboratively developing a website, but they are not suitable for every web-based project. While some websites might benefit from the insights of the community, others function better under tighter control. If you are looking to develop content that requires input from people outside of the library, a wiki is a the ideal tool to solicit that content.

A wiki is a great format for a subject guide. Because it can be edited by anyone, patrons can add to the collection of useful resources and can prune away the dead links. The librarian can moderate the wiki and decide what websites can stay in the guide, or he or she can let everyone contribute freely. It’s a great way to develop a subject guide that really represents the interests of its users and doesn’t put the entire burden of finding websites on the librarian.

These first two paragraphs are plagiarized from one of the references Phil sited. I used these unattributed quotes to make a point about the wild west nature of wikis, although the fact that they are used successfully by many organizations shows that this is a manageable problem.

Wikis are only as good as the people who make them. The corillary for this is that a wiki can be dragged down by trolls quickly without constant maintenance. One of the selling points of a library wiki is to take the workload of maintaining a site's links off the librarian but if said librarian has to spend time making sure no one has slipped four letter words into the middle of a book review where is the savings in that?

Enough complaining. I found Joyce Yukawa's links especially interesting on how wikis are used by other libraries. (Although the PBWiki update notice was very annoying.) Like many of the 23 Things I'm glad to have this opportunity to learn about these products even if I don't have an immediate use for them.

One last thing, while reading the "Cosmic Variance" website I ran across this statement by Sean Carroll: "What I really found interesting was that Ebert, after giving up on Wikipedia — and rightfully so, their physics articles are uniformly useless for someone approaching the ideas as an outsider - turned next to YouTube for edification!"

This resonated with me because I'm reading a biography of Martin Van Buren and like to fill in the details by checking Wiklpedia. I noticed that the Wikipedia had simplified, to the point of being wrong, Van Buren's involvement with the Free Soil Party. Subtly incorrect information is worse than obvious misinformation and this may be the wikis' Achilles heel.

Darned Interesting

2009-03-02T17:01:00.001-05:00

Thing 9 - Collaboration Tools

2009-02-24T11:26:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure what I can say about Thing 9 except the obvious: these are very useful tools that can be used when you can't or don't want to save a document locally, or when you want to collaborate with any number of people. I found all of them to be straightforward and easy to use.

The Founding Fathers would would probably approve or not depending on what part of the country they were from—some southerners concerned that their slaves could use these tools to foment rebellion, others approving of its Jeffersonian qualities; while some northern Federalists would oppose its leveling nature. Ah, democracy!

Thing 8

2009-02-03T12:33:00.002-05:00

Overwhelming is the first word that comes to mind when reviewing Thing 8. On the other hand they're all interesting and useful tools. Having spent my formative years learning layout and design the old fashioned way I'm delighted to see all these things. I'm a little saddened that I don't have the time to explore them all but in the future when I need a way to spruce up the place I'll feel confident about being able to find the right tool for the job, and if this ain't what Web 2.0 is about, nothing is.

What makes it most useful is that there is no need for special software and as long as you have an internet connection you can access your work from anywhere. It's like being able to find your hammer or screwdriver wherever you go (which is the kind of service we really need). When we get universal wireless service blanketing the entire world we will be free at last!

2009-02-03T10:12:00.000-05:00

2009-02-03T09:40:00.001-05:00

www.flickr.com

More of wcpweaver's stuff tagged with 2008

2009-01-25T06:04:00.001-05:00

Garrett Lisi: A beautiful new theory of everything

2009-01-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

2009-01-08T10:50:00.002-05:00

Thing 7

2009-01-07T10:58:00.001-05:00

(Written while waiting for a notoriously impatient, rude, and technically inept patron to explode. She left with just a few sighs, grunts, muttered curses, and after throwing an offending printout behind the printer where it could be a fire hazard—oops, now she's back.)

Using MeeboMe to enhance the PAC is a good idea, especially for patrons using the catalogue from their homes.

Twitter could be used to give general announcements: "The library is closed due to the weather," "Monday we have a special book sale," "Advanced Word Class Tuesdays 6:30-8:00." There could be multiple threads: Employees, Adult Services, Mystery lovers, cat fanciers, etc.

Problems: Getting People to check their Twitter feed (at least until they get used to doing it) and Who will feed the feed?

Another pain with Twitter and Facebook is that the inbox of the email address I gave when I signed up is full of notices from people and groups that claim to be folowing me and want me to do the same with them. I don't have time to sort through all these self-promotong goobers, much less follow them. It's like SPAM all over again. I blame you, Phil. Tweet this! (Update: I just read an article about how Twitter has become an avenue for spammers, so Tweet this twice, Phil!)

Thing 6: Communication Tools

2008-12-16T12:08:00.004-05:00

Awful lot of reading to this one. (Imagine that!)

Once I figured out what pr0n means I was able to soldier on with this section.

43 Folders wasted an awful lot of time being clever, "pouring a 40" for himself. I learned some slang terms, but if Merlin Mann was really interested in productivity he could have said everything he needed to say in a paragraph or less.

Looking around 43 Folders there is actually good advice here. For instance the "Procrastination hack" is a technique I discovered on my own and works pretty well (of course I often put off using it). Maybe I will bookmark this site and probe it once in awhile.

Email is sort of the "grand old person" of communication. It makes a good bulletin board to get the general issues of the day as well as specific interchanges with folks. It's also a good way to keep a record if one ever needs explain the genesis of an idea or controversy. I've heard IM espoused as a good way to keep some things "off the record" but since the services I'm aware of seem to keep records of the conversation I think I'll stay wary of that usage. I would say that email increases productivity since most messages are to the point and devoid of social chat that are inevitable over the phone or face-to-face. I'm not sure that IM works the same way.

I use many email services and my biggest gripe is that once I've invested in one by saving emails to folders and by giving my address to people it becomes very difficult to leave that service if I ever become dissatisfied with it (I'm talking about you, Hotmail). The thought of downloading 8 years of saved messages one at a time and informing everyone I write to from the account that I'm moving is (so far) more daunting than the aggravation of putting up with their so-called improvements. The solution could be using Outlook or Thunderbird to download and store emails on my computer, but that seems so 20th Century.

We're still trying to get an IM group together. The main problems is that the services we've tried don't have an obvious way to inform someone intent on some other aspect of their job that a new message has arrived, and in having people online when you need to communicate with them. (Well, and having something to useful to say besides lol.) It should be useful for exchanging information that normally goes through email, and it could be useful for the downstairs to communicate with the upstairs (say with IS about a computer problem), but like the phone it depends on the person you're communicating with being at their desk, so why not just use the phone? Ditto for texting.

I'm still looking into web conferencing. I signed up with WebJunction Learning Webinars. It looks useful but it's hard to find the time to take advantage of it and I'm too exhausted right now to take Thing 6 any further.

Unqualified Support

2008-12-10T11:38:00.000-05:00

A patron in the PCC said: "I would go berserk if it wasn't for the computers at the library."

2008-12-05T17:02:00.001-05:00

28:31

Philip Rosedale talks about the virtual society he founded, Second Life, and its underpinnings in human creativity.

Thing 5

2008-11-21T08:52:00.004-05:00

Image generators sure are fun. Anyone who works with images at the library can put them to good use. I'm not sure of the trading card idea as I see it getting quickly out of hand ("I'll trade you five Phil Eskews for one Burl Cooper," or a series called Superstars of the PCC.) The limitation is that the templates aren't always what you might desire but if Photoshop is unavailable it's a quick and dirty method to create functional design.

2008-11-20T10:24:00.002-05:00

2008-11-20T09:56:00.001-05:00

2008-11-19T11:55:00.004-05:00

2008-11-18T12:12:00.004-05:00

Thing 4:Flickr

2008-11-18T09:47:00.003-05:00

FLICKR certainly does fill one with ideas and despair all at once. Like, with the world being flooded with digital images who is going to look at all these pictures? It's the same feeling I get in major art museums: One great painting deserves all my attention for as long as I can give it, a hundred great paintings just wears me out. More importantly, FLICKR seems like a waystation instead of a destination. By this I mean that in 5 or 10 years we'll be accomplishing the same thing but in a different manner (although, I suppose learning the steps it takes to get there is useful). That said, it's a great resource and just the thing we need to know to help our patrons, not to mention using as a tool to maintain contact and inform others in our community. The ways other libraries are using FLICKR are interesting but I'm not sure I'd have the patience to search out books this way.

Autumn fog

2008-11-15T17:51:00.001-05:00

2008-11-05T16:30:00.002-05:00

Thing 3

2008-10-30T11:53:00.001-04:00

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

2008-10-22T12:12:00.007-04:00

(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.

2008-10-21T10:44:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-20T10:01:00.003-04:00

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.