Making Progress

Today I brushed up on wikis. Of all the things on the 23Things Challenge, I'm most familiar with wikis. #16 is completed, but I read through it to brush up and then proceeded to #17. I added to the InforPeople wiki under wikis. I added the part about Orange County Public Library. I still had some time to work so I went on to #18 and learned about Google docs. Earlier today I worked on publicity for the three Costa Mesa libraries to be sent to the city's Community News publication. Google. docs will be perfect for this in the future. I can start the article and use Google.doc to coordinate the whole process. This will be very useful. #17 & #18 are completed.

I will use some time later today to go back and check my accounts. This is one way I use to get familiar with accounts. It has been awhile since I checked my Fickr account or bloglines.

#15 continued

Yesterday, I continued reading "Cite and insight." I agree that there is a big difference between "We have always done it that way" and "embracing all change for the sake of change." These are the two extremes and we need to find a comfortable compromise between these two extremes. This applies to life and to libraries. Since each library has it's own personality and public to serve, we need to adapt Library 2.0 to our individual libraries. Two important questions were raised on page 15 of the article. Will our patrons feel the same way about technology as we do? is Library 2.0 feasible, technologically and financially? The term permaconnected brought to mind a picture of the movie "Matrix." This refers to people who are continually connected to technology, not necessarily connected to the machinery and has a connotation of being socially connected through technology. I had to stop at page 17.

Today, I was able to finish the article. It is really true that we tend to give more emphasis to our own areas of interest. It seems that advocates for a complete technological library in excluding the traditional library, are purporting technology because it is what they are interested in and use. They are forgetting the large percentage of the population who do not use computers whether by choice or by financial limitations. At public libraries we have a diverse, wide range of interests to serve. We all would be shocked if a library didn't have science books because the librarian never reads science, therefore felt the library didn't need science books. A very good question was raised. If all libraries were Library 2.0 would the permaconnected get superior library service and the unconnected (traditional) library user be disenfranchised? We have to remember that technology is a tool and it takes skill to use this tool.

I strongly disagree that libraries haven't changed much lately. Over my 30 year career, card catalogs were replace, PC were introduced, and the Internet was introduced. All these innovations drastically changed the role of libraries. We have grown and changed for the better with all of these, and I can't see any difference with Library 2.0.

Halfway through this article I realized that I agree Library 2.0 is just hype. It really isn't anything new -- it's all about change to better serve the public which has been ongoing since the existence of libraries. It will continue as long as libraries exist. Maybe I'm optimistic, but libraries have survive movies, radio, television, videos, DVDs and computers. We will survive Web 2.0 or Library 2.0.

"Focusing on what the user wants is fine, as long as, those wants make sense within the library context." This was a great line and I fully agree with it. Change has to be appropriate to the library. The value of the Library 2.0 banner is it awakens librarians to an new call. We need to be aware of the current trends in society. We need to learn and expand ourselves in order to reach the public we serve.

In summary, the article was very thought provoking. It was long and difficult to read, but I'm glad to have read it. I came away with three things. 1) Library 2.0 is not something new, but an new twist with technology added. 2) It is much broader that just technology. 3) We need to get out there and do something with it. #15 is completed.

Over the Hump and into the Final Stretch

It has been a very busy week. On Thursday I took a look at Technorati. Today I experimented with it, opened an account and added 8 blogs to my favorites. This one should be very useful. I set up the account for professional reading blogs. So #14 is completed.



On to #15. This article was little over my head, I had to look up several terms. It was a great explanation of Web 2.0. This challenge has been very consuming and has been the subject of most of my conversation for several weeks. I really liked Stephen Fry definition that Web 2.0 is more a frame of mind or mindset than a tangible thing. I feel I have grown dramatically in my technological knowledge. The second article Cites and Insights was much more manageable. This article is about the same dilemma public libraries have face through my 30 year career as a librarian, and I'm sure was the dilemma before and will continue to be after my career ends. The essence is a balancing act between the traditional and new. We need to continue to provide what the public uses and expects from libraries and we have to experiment and expand to reach younger or more diverse communities. Libraries are like people. Each has a personality all its own. They grow and change. This is not new. We had a very similar technological leap in the late 70s and early 80s when personal computers were the cutting edge of the future for libraries. It happened again int he 90s with the Internet being introduced to libraries. This is one of the things that has made librarianship so interesting, fun and challenging. I wouldn't have changed any part of the last 30 years.

I really agree with Michael Casey's definition that L2 is a philosophy dependant on three things: willingness to change and try new things, willingness to self evaluate and adapt (my paraphrasing) and willingness to look outside our own worlds for solutions. I'm commenting as I read this article and I'll have to stop at page 9 today. I disagree that L 2.0 is disruptive or a battle, although I'll concede that to some it may be. I see it as change. Change can be difficult, but it's necessary to life. Libraries can not be everything to everyone, no one or thing can be. But we can strive to be something new and exciting to someone who hasn't discovered the joy, fun and love of knowledge that can be found in the library. We can be something new and intriguing to someone who has yet to discover us.

Exploring more deeply

This morning I played around with Rollyo and created a reference search engine, then completed a few searches using the search engine. It was good and I can see great possibilities for this. It would be great for researchers and it would have a great potential for use on a narrow subject like medieval history or ornithology.

Next I checked on my Twitter account, still no responses. True I did not select many friends. Today I did a search for library, hoping to find someone I know who is also taking the 23 Thing Challenge. This was a great experience because I came up with over 260 results. Most of these were libraries, but there were a few individuals.

Something else is becoming clear to me. Quite a lot of time needs to be committed to these sites in order to understand how they work, how they can be used and special aspects and tools that are offered. I plan to go back and check on all the accounts that I've set up and take the time to explore each one in more depth. Time is the big factor and it's not always easy to give it.

It has been a little slow this morning so I presses on to #13, social bookmarking and del.icio.us. after the Gen Tech workshop I checked out del.icio.us. I liked it and thought I would revisit it later. So I went into this one with a little more knowledge. I set up an account and moved twelve items from my favorites to the account. #12 & #13 are completed.

Update on the 23 Things

Saturday, I started a Twitter account and looked at image generators. I also checked my bloglines account and was unable to change my subjects. I am receiving far too many on the the account and want to narrow it some. So I emailed bloglines for help with this. They have acknowledged the email, but have not responded to my questions. I was not able to work at my computer so there was quite a bit a frustration involved that day. I could not access my Flickr account.

Today, I accessed the Twitter account and had no messages so I send out a new one and will check it again this afternoon. On Saturday I was totally lost on the image generators. I played around with them, created a nice label I would have liked to add to my blog. When I tried to download it, it sent me back to the first page. I tryied setting up an account with Homestead, thinking I would have to start all over. They wanted credit card information to continue so I got out of that one. I have not found any directions for the image generators, so I'm stuck on this one. I did play around with them, but was not able to download to my blog. #10 I'm not sure if it is completed. #9 is still in the works.

Today I looked at LibraryThing and started a library with two books in my office. After attending the Gen Tech workshop I checked out this site, but did not sign up. This could be a great tool for book groups in the library, allowing book reviews on a blog or what's hot (particularly for teens) on a website or blog. This would be something I would use when I have more time to read. I might consider this as a way to join a book group. #11 is completed.

Frustation sets in

For the last few days I have been trying to add a picture to my profile. After hours of trial I was able to get it posted. After many more hours of trying to move the posted picture to my profile, I have given up in frustration.

On to the next things. Yesterday, I read the article on Flickr mashups and downloaded pictures from my digital camera for the first time. I added a few to my Flickr account. Mashups seem way beyond my capabilities at this time, but I will revisit them in a few months or next year and my opinion will likely to have changed with my level of techonological knowledge. I went on to read about RSS feeds and have set up a bloglines account. I'm not really sure how I personally could use RSS feeds. I can see where they could be great additions to a library website, they could be a great outreach to teens and young adults, and they would be time saving for avid Internet users. I consider myself a novice to technology and although I use the internet each and everyday, I don't spend much time out of the day reading news or professional materials online. I am trying to remain optimistic by telling myself that once I'm acquainted with the technology, I'll like it and use it. #5 & #7 is completed.

Today I located a few useful library related blogs and have added them to my bloglines account. I began by looking at most of the blogs on the list and chose Shifted Librarian, oss4lib and Information Research weblog. These seemed professional and academic and would be useful in keeping updated on technological issues. I choose two blogs I have already become familiar with and use regularly, Fresh Squeezed and the Gen Tech. Fresh squeezed is a blog about adult fiction put out by the adult fiction evaluator for OCPL, Wendy Crutcher. Gen Tech is a blog from the Gen Tech Workshop hosted by the Santiago Library System. I was unable to add Information Research weblog and Fresh Squeezed since they did not have RSS feeds. I find it hard to believe that the Information Research weblog didn't have a feed, but then I may have done something wrong. I'll try again at another time. I was very surprised to see that bloglines had captured so many articles already. #8 is completed.

I looked at Twitter trying to figure out what it is and what it could be used for. I will need to register an account to find out the answer to these two questions.

On my way to Web 2.0

Yesterday, I was able to view my first webcast. As part of the 23 Things Challenge, I viewed the InforPeople webcast, Web 2.0; What Library Managers Need to Know. I learned about blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasts and social networking. #3 is completed

Today I registered by blog with InfoPeople and explored Fickr. I set up an account in Flickr and had some difficulty figuring out how to download a picture. It was easy to locate them. Our adult librarian, Chris Edwards, who has completed the challenge, showed me how to save the pictures to my hard drive and then to my Flickr account. I will continue with this tomorrow by bringing a CD with library pictures and trying to add some of these pictures to my Flickr account. Then I'll organize them. This will be very helpful with press releases and publicity for library programing. I will also use this with two of my hobbies, photography and scrapbooking. I have recently purchases my first digital camera. I will be using Flickr. #4 is completed.