tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36473805777551144182024-03-19T05:53:27.172-05:00Small Town LibrarierKeeping track of all the Web 2.0 tools I'm learning about.
I don't have a degree in library sciences, but I love to read and have been working at a small library for 10 years. I have been called a librarier by more than one kid over the years, so I thought that would be a good title for this blog.Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-90808543510426607632011-01-19T18:38:00.003-06:002011-01-19T18:57:19.437-06:00Somewhere Over the Rainbow<span style="font-size:180%;color:#003300;">If you were following this blog when I was writing it, and enjoyed it, hats off to you. You can now find me in the new and improved </span><a href="http://marblelibrary.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size:180%;color:#009900;"><strong>Marble Public Library</strong></span></a><span style="font-size:180%;color:#009900;"><span style="color:#003300;">. I'm a contributing author of the new blog for our new library. My postings tend to be long and wordy, and hopefully a bit entertaining. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Tanja's</span> are more direct and to the point. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell who is doing the writing on any given post. (Not only by writing style, but I also do more than the default font.)<br /></span><br /></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-41484585131840548202009-05-11T14:17:00.006-05:002009-05-20T15:33:50.414-05:00Thing 34: Are reference desks obsolete?<p class="flickr-frame" align="center"><a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32209013@N06/3217927975/"><img class="flickr-photo" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3217927975_cae2e45f7e.jpg" /></a></p><br /><p class="flickr-frame" align="left"><span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32209013@N06/3217927975/">Need For Speed (UNDERCOVER)</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/32209013@N06/">B A R A N</a>.</span><br /><br /><br />HaHaHaHa. Our library is so small, we only have one desk. It is the jack-of-all-trades desk. Reference, yep. Technology questions answered, yep. Book recommendations, yep. Local gossip, yep. Reference desk, schmeference desk. Sure; we don't get kids in asking for books on leaves, cells, and the like for their projects, but we do get kids in looking for information on those same topics online. Our job has changed from knowing what books to get on those subjects to knowing what online sites to use for those same projects.<br /><br /><br />I tried <a href="http://http//answers.yahoo.com/info/welcome;_ylt=ArhbMZzhq1yeHSiBNGfVwWDpy6IX;_ylv=3">Yahoo!Answers</a>, <a href="http://www.mahalo.com/answers/">Mahalo</a>, and <a href="http://http//wiki.answers.com/">WikiAnswers</a>. They all seemed a bit silly to me. Mainly the sites consisted of a lot of people asking questions that a lot of people had already asked (okay, so mainly I checked the book categories, where a lot of people were asking what to read, and others were answering Twilight.) I think it would just be easier to do a direct search for your answer. But, I guess in the case of, "What should I read?" the best answer would be to talk to a librarian; and if you've got a question about certain products or how-to's, answer sites would be a great way to get your answers. How nice to have people willing to answer your questions about Windows Vista! <a href="http://http//www.snappyfingers.com/">Snappyfingers</a> worked much as a regular search engine, with you putting in some key words, but the results were different. It gave you a series of questions to pick from, and the beginings of the answers, with the website the answer was found at. I thought this one might be the most helpful when it comes to a question with a more solid answer. It wouldn't work as well for those, "What should I read?"-type questions.<br /></p><br /><p class="flickr-frame" align="left">Why do people use these sites instead of "googling" things and/or checking with their local libraries? It seems like it may be stemming from a need to communicate more with others. It's more like these Q&A sites are more social than anything else. Where else to hang out with a bunch of people discussing the starter problem on your '96 Grand Am--and all these people actually know about or own Grand Ams. How cool is that? You can't get it with a regular search engine, and I find it pretty hard to believe anyone could find that in their neighborhood. </p><p class="flickr-frame" align="left">Libraries often give off a feeling of being "old school", slow and steady, much like a turtle. But pop the shell, and look at the technology and speed under there!<br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-4394101821169925702009-05-11T09:03:00.005-05:002009-05-11T12:08:54.993-05:00Thing 33: Travel 2.0--around the globe, one website at a time<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/colloidfarl/338414052/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/338414052_03d0bb4896.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /></div> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/colloidfarl/338414052/">Brooklyn</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/colloidfarl/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Farl</span></a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p><br /><br />This was a very timely Thing to be doing right now. Our trip to NYC is nearing, and we're looking at all the things there are to do that we haven't yet done, and all the things we'd like to do again. I like the "new" way of doing things, letting users/travelers review and recommend various travel options.<br /><br />Travel blogs: I checked out some blogs at <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.travelblogs.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Travelblog</span>.com</a> and found some blogs by and for people with kids. As an added bonus, some of those <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">bloggers</span> seem to be professionals (unlike the lowly amateur you're reading now,) with easy to find listings of places they've been with kids.<br /><br />Review sites: I've been a long-time user of <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">TripAdvisor</span>.com</a> -- it's good to get people's opinions on various things, so you know how good or bad a place can be. <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.igougo.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Igougo</span>.com</a> seemed like a good site to use to get reviews on places/things to see. I didn't look at it long, but I can see myself spending some time seeing what there is to offer for travelers.<br /><br />Travel Journal Sites: I <span style="font-style: italic;">could</span> create my own travel blog, but I won't. I did find some good information on <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.vcarious.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">VCarious</span>.com</a>.<br /><br />Travel Mash-ups: <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.fastfoodmaps.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Fastfoodmaps</span>.com</a> gives listings for some popular fast food joints. I do wish they had more than just the standard places. (Sonic, anyone?) I like the quick link to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">caffeinemaps</span>.com--handy if your preference is Starbucks. Not so handy if you'd like Caribou instead.<br /><br />Other: I found <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.tripit.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">TripIt</span>.com</a> somewhere in my ride through Travel 2.0. I'm surprised my sister-in-law; "The Scheduler", hasn't found this and filled in all time slots available during our week in NYC. I sent it to her; with my one plan marked on the calendar along with time, location, and address, and gave her <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">collaboration</span> powers so that she can put in everything else (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">haha</span>). <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.travelwithyourkids.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Travelwithyourkids</span>.com</a> offered some good reading as well. Ideas for how to keep the kids entertained en-route to your final destination, what to pack, and destinations among other useful information can be found here.<br /><br />Looks like I'm all set to start delving further into things to do in New York City--granted, while I was perusing all the sections of this Thing I read a lot, and added quite a few bookmarks to my delicious account.Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-90404342766026898652009-05-09T12:47:00.007-05:002009-05-11T08:58:49.373-05:00Thing 32: Maps-- beyond, "How do I fold this thing??"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">How cool that there are so many maps out there! I had no idea that there was more than just Google Map and MapQuest. My personal favorite is</span> <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.nextstop.com/">Nextstop.com</a>. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I like the user recommendations for things I may miss. Too bad there wasn't anything in out-state Minnesota, but now there is, because I added a couple. I will be using this on our next trip out to NYC!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Here is my attempt to make a map from the Marble Public Library to the Calumet Public Library. It may not be completely accurate (I think the Marble Library may be a block off.) It certainly was easier to create the map in theory than it was in real life, but maybe with more practice I can do better. Is it easier than the origami-cal feats needed to fold a map back up? Perhaps. You be the judge.</span><br /><br /><br /><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104752352051416124340.000469a3102b43a05a770&ll=47.324018,-93.298688&spn=0.011985,0.02708&output=embed" scrolling="no" width="425" frameborder="0" height="350"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104752352051416124340.000469a3102b43a05a770&ll=47.324018,-93.298688&spn=0.011985,0.02708&source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">Library to library</a> in a larger map</small>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-67295448211186329552009-05-07T14:09:00.007-05:002009-05-09T12:47:02.952-05:00Thing 31: Tweeting--more than just duck callsHoly, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">canolli</span>! There certainly was a lot of stuff to read with this Thing. It was really too nice of a day out to open each link and read all. So, I didn't. I read a lot, and I learned a lot, and then I think my brain over-loaded. I had no idea there were so many gadgets and tools to help a person navigate, use, and keep up with Twitter. "Everyone" uses Twitter, heck I saw Oprah open up her Twitter account a few weeks ago (and now I follow her, just like hundreds-of-thousands of other viewers that day.)<br /><br />I'm proud to say that I <a style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);" href="http://twitter.grader.com/">rank</a> <strong>511,489 </strong>out of 2,170,054 with a grade of 71/100. That's a C-. I was surprised that I ranked so well. I used <a style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);" href="http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Tweetdeck</span></a> for a day, but found it made my computer DRAG, so I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">uninstalled</span> it. It was pretty nifty to get the updates as they happened. I was able to link it into my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Facebook</span> account, so those popped up when any one of my friends updated their statuses. Right now; I'm still pretty new to Twitter, and none of my real world friends are big Twitter users, so I'm in the <a style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);" href="http://thenextweb.com/2008/12/22/food-for-thought-in-which-twitter-stage-are-you/">Presence stage</a> of using it. I'm there, I'm following a few things (hello, <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);" href="http://twitter.com/JimOberstar">Rep. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Oberstar</span></a>, <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://twitter.com/darthvader">Darth Vader</a>, my sister-in-law, and <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://twitter.com/lindawadman">Linda <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Wadman</span></a>, among others.) I still don't completely understand all the hype though. Maybe if I can get more of my real world friends to sign up (like I did with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Facebook</span>, and now they can't live without it either) then I would be more inclined to check it everyday.<br /><br />I signed myself up on the Tweeter directory. Now, I don't know how exactly to find the Tweeter directory. Do I really need to come back to this Thing in order to get the link for it? It shouldn't be this elusive. I saw that you can post from your email, Gmail, phone, etc. I have no use for that at this time. Remember, my stage in the Twitter game is Presence. At this time, it works best for me to just log onto my Twitter account and change my status. I added my Twitter address to my list of websites on my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Facebook</span> account, we'll see if anyone notices and joins because of me--I've got one particular status-junkie friend who I think would love Twitter.<br /><br />We'll see as time goes on how much I will really use Twitter. I like to think of myself as on the cutting edge--at least as far as conservative Northern Minnesota goes. I'm ahead of the pack, let's just see if the pack follows.<br /><br /><style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bubblefriends/3331542018/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3306/3331542018_26c6bdf246.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bubblefriends/3331542018/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">bubblefriends</span> on twitter</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/bubblefriends/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">bubblefriends</span></a>.</span></div></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-10304868841428537722009-05-06T09:45:00.002-05:002009-05-06T10:29:18.966-05:00Thing 30: This RSS feed is Delicious!Google Reader is what I use to keep up with some of the blogs and such that I'm following. I haven't used it much since the first set of 23 Things, but now that I've added it to my iGoogle page, I'll be sure to use it more. I've got all the 23 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Thingers</span> blogs in one folder, but that's the only folder I've got. It's pretty much all book and library stuff saving using this feed. I don't feel the need to open up another <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">RSS</span> feed, I barely remember to use the feed I've got.<br /><br />Delicious is another story. I use my account all the time! What craft to make in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">storyhour</span> this week? Check delicious and see what sites I've got saved for finding out. What is the theme for the week for Toddler Time? Check delicious and see what preschool sites I've got saved. Now I've got some other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">crafters</span> added to my network so that I can see the sites they use. Maybe I'll find some new and interesting things to do with the kids! (They'd be so excited to not do a painting project every other week.) I've been mainly using just 4-7 websites for the past few years, it will be interesting to see what other sites are out there without having to do a search and scrolling through a list of 1000's for a site that's actually <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">usable</span>. I got into the Inbox, and that looks to be promising as well. It's almost like an RSS feed for your tag words. Nice! I forsee myself using delicious even more than I already do after this Thing!Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-16565653373433191802009-04-29T22:28:00.004-05:002009-05-06T09:19:11.273-05:00Thing 29: Polly Wolly Google all the day.<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Ai, yi, yi. </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> You certainly could Google all day, and all night for weeks with all the tools and gadgets Google has to offer. So, what did I tinker with? After looking at my options here's my synopsis of them:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Search Tools:</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Alerts: I don't need more emails, especially ones I won't read about breaking news, even if it is something I'm trying to keep tabs on.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Google News: Okay, I've already got this going on my iGoogle page. I've got the news I want to kind of be aware of (scan the headlines of) at the top of the page where I can quickly look at them when I'm using my iGoogle.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">SearchWiki: I didn't understand the point of this one. I suppose if you don't have a delicious account to save your favorites to it would be useful. Now I know what it is, and it's there should I ever want it--but I don't think I will use it much. I don't need to see other's comments on websites, it seems to waste more time than free time up.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Web History: No, No, No I don't need a gadget to remember all the sites I've visited. It may be handy to have more personalized results for stuff, but what happens when I want to go beyond where I've been?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Productivity Tools:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Sites: This the the thing in this Thing that I'm excited about. It seems like an easy way to get a library web site up and running for our very small library. Link it to our to-be-created Facebook account, and maybe we'd get some traffic with it! Baby steps first and here's what it looks like so far: </span><a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);" href="http://sites.google.com/site/marblepubliclibrary/Home">GREAT</a><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">!</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Okay, so it's not really great yet--but I only spent a short time on it, I'm sure it will improve over the course of the next month or two.</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Google 411: How great to have information available for free! 1-800-GOOG-411 has been added to my cell phone contact list!</span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-5667564537205140572009-04-21T12:59:00.002-05:002009-04-21T14:34:18.256-05:00Thing 28: My Own Personal Page--iGoogle vs. My Yahoo!<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonytam/2119711738/" title="photo sharing"><img style="width: 479px; height: 361px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2024/2119711738_21cba7600d.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /></div> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonytam/2119711738/">Google vs Yahoo badminton tournament at GGBC</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/tonytam/">tonster t</a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p><br /><br />Before starting this Thing, I already had My Yahoo! I didn't have any fancy gadgets, just the weather, emails, and news headlines. I have since added movie show-times (if I don't see it in the theater, I won't see it!) I saw the spot where I could add my RSS Feeds to the page, but haven't delved into that. Once I figure it out, that would make it super handy for me.<br /><br />Since I already had My Yahoo! I figured it would be like cheating to just blog about that, so I got signed on for iGoogle. I already had signed on for the Google Reader and Google Docs, so it was no big deal to make a page for myself with those things added to it. Also included on my page are the current moon phase, weather, hangman, Google Translate and movie show times.<br /><br />Which will I use more? My Yahoo! Since I have Yahoo as my home page, that would make sense. Although I did find it easier to add stuff to the iGoogle page. Maybe I should just switch my homepage over to that!Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-18532357183310218732009-03-10T13:23:00.005-05:002009-03-11T10:07:13.524-05:00Thing 27: Amo, Amas, Amat; Tweet, Twitter, Twat<a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">, yet another social networking site. A short message about what you're doing and all your followers see it. You see all their short messages about what they're doing. Basically a longer version of the Facebook status. And that's all there is to it. Yes, there are bagillions of people, businesses and organizations on there as well. No, they aren't necessarily easy to find. I suppose they are if you know who or what you're looking for, but I didn't. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Love it or hate it? I don't know (although; if you know Latin, you may have thought I loved it with the title of this posting). I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. I did find 31 Twitterers to follow. And as of now, I have 12 followers. Ai, yi, yi. Only one of which do I know personally, so that makes me feel some pressure to be witty, sharp, and all around not-boring so that they will continue to follow me. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);"> This would be a great thing for our library, and easy way to let our patrons know what is going on at the library. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">However</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">, I don't know that our patrons know anything about Twitter. It's a handy dandy tool for people who are a bit more up on their Web 2.o than our community seems to be. Guess we need to gently push them into all these "new" sites!</span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-42359489988508604792009-03-03T14:34:00.004-06:002009-03-03T17:35:50.890-06:00Thing 26: The NING THING<a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://www.ning.com/">Ning</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">: a social networking site. There are different groups sharing different interests. What did I do on the 23 Things On A Stick Ning? I posted a video (the same Monty Python one I posted here some time ago,) I commented on a discussion or two, and it seems like I joined a group or two. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">I joined Ning with Thing 22; and although I checked on it and commented a couple times over the summer, there wasn't a whole lot of activity going on so eventually it got put by the wayside. I would hope that others joining the ning would continue to use it. The more people commenting and sharing their ideas, the more it would prompt me to comment and share. The Ning is only as strong as it's weakest link. </span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-78404702364889099252009-02-17T10:30:00.003-06:002009-02-17T11:48:58.615-06:00Thing 25: Widgets, Gadgets, and Tools, Oh My!<div style="text-align: center;" class="flickr-frame"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/2584907270/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2584907270_12e5d3a3e0.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/2584907270/">it's like a zoo!</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/jek-a-go-go/">jek in the box</a>.</span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><br /><br />Lots of widgets and gadgets to peruse in this thing! Of course, I already had a pile of them on here from Round 1 of 23 Things on a Stick. The earlier additions include: <span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">a </span></span><a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://gostats.com/">monkey counter</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">, a </span><a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://www.maploco.com/">map</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">, and the fun </span><a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://www.oneplusyou.com/q">colors game</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">! I moved them around a bit (you may not have seen the name the colors game, as it had been hiding at the bottom of this blog.) I didn't feel the need to add too much more, but I've got a </span><a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://www.clocklink.com/">clock</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> added here so that you can see how much time you spend on here. I also added </span><a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://www.sitemeter.com/">Site Meter</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">, so that I can see how much time you've spent on here. You may notice the new opportunity to rate my postings, along with that came the suggestions for other readings. Those suggestions are NOT MINE! The rating system and suggestion box comes from </span><a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://www.outbrain.com/">outbrain</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">There was a lot of stuff to look through on this Thing. What I added is just the tip of the iceberg of widgets and gadgets that can be added to a blog. I didn't see a need add voice-overs to mine, nor a need for me to post to my blog via email (or other devices which I don't have). I looked at <a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://www.apture.com/bloggers/">Apture</a>, but didn't see how I would use it. It looked pretty interesting, but I didn't want to spend the time digging deeper into it. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">As far as how much time I spent on this, probably 2-3 hours. Of course, I did squeeze in a couple rounds of Scramble on Facebook during that time too--but that counts for less than half an hour of the time I've been sitting here.</span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-27160929063454297112009-01-30T13:07:00.003-06:002009-01-30T13:17:29.936-06:00Thing 24: addendum II<span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">No, seriously. I had quit looking for a new template. I was closing each of the many tabs I had opened in my search for something different; when lo and behold, I saw this one that you're looking at right now! A couple hours later, and here's the final result. It only took about an hours worth of tinkering to change the font colors from readable on dark pages to readable on light pages, to get all my widgets lined up and ready to go; and another hour to figure out exactly how to get this template to work. </span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Now here's a change I can believe in. Good-bye dark dots, hello big monster!! </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><br /><br /></span></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-30770102962715264142009-01-30T12:25:00.001-06:002009-01-30T12:28:04.385-06:00Thing 24: addendum<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Okay; I got done with the posting, and then realized I should have made some more obvious changes to this blog. Thus decided, I spent the next </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">several</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> hours looking for a new template. Since I'm a children's librarier I was looking for something whimsically literate. This took a lot of time! I finally found one that would work for me, and then had trouble using it. I found another that might work for me, got this blog switched over; and didn't like it after all--too whimsical. After a couple of days of putzing with this here and there, I am finally waving my white flag in defeat. I like this template, and refuse to easily change it to another that I </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">don't</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> like. Pllbbbttttt. (That's me blowing a raspberry.) Now that I've surrendered, I can move on to the next Thing. </span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-72861460270099287252009-01-27T13:43:00.012-06:002009-02-17T14:01:23.950-06:00Thing 24: Or, Thing 1 revisited<div style="text-align: center;"> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIRZgG5GrNXMC3wvGwePV4uU88EJJB7yEMf2hyphenhyphennxsN5vSH3d8gXMcKmBJoNMgSGY29Vp_GmCwd7yjw0206Ap1e0TPGYPAu0SXfW2SsI5n3ksJzTC19n0uDKh7u8YDQ2N06_8gdmbcF3my/s1600-h/snapshot4"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 109px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIRZgG5GrNXMC3wvGwePV4uU88EJJB7yEMf2hyphenhyphennxsN5vSH3d8gXMcKmBJoNMgSGY29Vp_GmCwd7yjw0206Ap1e0TPGYPAu0SXfW2SsI5n3ksJzTC19n0uDKh7u8YDQ2N06_8gdmbcF3my/s200/snapshot4" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297124714619697986" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.doppelme.com/?rid=DM197581C9W"><img src="http://www.doppelme.com/TRANSPARENT/100/DM197581C9W/avatar.png" style="border: 0pt none ; width: 64px; height: 128px;" /> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPuy_bwSlQ3_hUk0Imr96wsm97Yof6OJJoLyPvKrSGXHMLL5vGDYt_X0fdYfuVuGfXehBZXqMddXbx1uJG2ATRlgIomjztrefQ1fv1x9UeVyFGsymThtlQwoAlpTbpGnz-s9zErCYMrPN/s1600-h/dude_forum.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 104px; height: 104px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPuy_bwSlQ3_hUk0Imr96wsm97Yof6OJJoLyPvKrSGXHMLL5vGDYt_X0fdYfuVuGfXehBZXqMddXbx1uJG2ATRlgIomjztrefQ1fv1x9UeVyFGsymThtlQwoAlpTbpGnz-s9zErCYMrPN/s200/dude_forum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296084230325114114" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Here we go again. Good thing, since I haven't blogged since our last Thing on a Stick. No excuses, just spending too much time messing around on the internet. I don't know that I've learned anything in that time worth mentioning here though. Or, at least that's what I'm thinking now. Perhaps I have learned some worth-while stuff, and I'm just not aware of it!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">I thought blogging was pretty fun the last go around with it, and I'm looking forward to doing more. Too bad I haven't felt I had anything worth blogging about in the past few months, or I'd have done more. Now there is another set of things to blog about, so off we go.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">There is only one blog that I check occasionally: </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://senjaknits.blogspot.com/">Imagine Knit</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">. I check it because it's my friend Senja's blog, and I'm always impressed by what she's got going on. I don't post anything to her very often, maybe I should though. I did also check out </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/">One Dollar Diet Project</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">, simply because I saw them on some show (Oprah? Good Morning America? I don't remember.) It was an interesting read over the course of a few days, but not something I've really check back on (until now.) My favorite 23 things blog was </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://danbuckanaga.blogspot.com/">D-Block</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">, the humor was great and something I looked forward to reading as he progressed through each Thing. Here's hoping he works on the next 23 Things! I will now be checking my director's blog as well: </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://tanja-mn.blogspot.com/">The German Experience</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">. She's already done Things 24 and 25! I'm impressed, seeing as how we both have become Facebook addicts.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><br /></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-27969447157301748212008-04-16T19:50:00.006-05:002009-01-30T12:47:43.483-06:00Thing 23: Not the end<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">I'm not done. T-minus 3 hours to finish up the 23 Things though. So here goes the last </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Thing blog</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">In the beginning I had no idea what Library 2.0 was. Perhaps I still don't (not exactly anyway,) but I do know a lot more than I did when I started out. Flickr, social network</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">s, blogs, podcasts and gaming I had all heard of before, but never really played around with. RSS feeds, collaboration tools, online productivity tools, and assignment calculators were things I had never heard of before. I may have only scratched the surface of what is out there on the web, but I scratched it instead of just running my fingers over the smooth surface. I'm hoping there will be another 23 (or 10, 17, 21, 36 ) Things in the future.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">I've come away with this with so many ideas, they've really congealed into a strange mushy mash in my brain. Good thing there's this blog here where I can see what my thoughts on each Thing were, and the ideas they inspired. I may have to take a week off before delving into this fount of possibilities though.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">One word or sentence to sum up my 23 Things On a Stick experience? Hmmm, tough one. After perusing the finishers blogs and my dictionary I came up with one word. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Relative</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">. These 23 Things are what our patrons are using, or what they are going to be using. This is an ever-changing line of work, and it is important for us to know what our patrons need before they know they need it. These 23 Things are what we need to know to stay one step ahead of the people we're serving. </span><br /><br /><style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"><span class="flickr-caption"><br /></span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-19527426696713441982008-04-15T23:20:00.003-05:002008-04-16T00:03:29.245-05:00Thing 22: My resolve to continue<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenpixels/108547742/" title="photo sharing"><img style="width: 421px; height: 283px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/50/108547742_a149d08e27.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /></div> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenpixels/108547742/">Control Room</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/brokenpixels/">Chris Hoare</a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p><br /><br />It's resolution time again! Huh, just when I was easing into forgetting all the ones I made for the New Year. This should be an easy one though. I resolve to continue learning and keeping abreast of the new technologies available. Okay, that sounds worse and more complicated than I mean. I resolve to try new stuff out on the web and explore some of the sites I was introduced to with 23 Things On A Stick. That's better. I may not be able to learn one thing per day, but one thing per week is not out of the realm of possibilities. I can do it, I can do it. No; really, I need to do this. I'd hate for our library patrons (okay, the YAs) to be so far ahead of me in web knowledge again. I'm caught up to them, I won't let them leave me in the dust without a fight!<br /><br />I've put <a href="http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/">The Shifted Librarian</a> and <a href="http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/">LibrarianInBlack</a> into my Google Reader. They join the ranks of other sites that have been added over the course of these 23 Things . My del.icio.us account has a few more sites that I found interesting. Looks like I have a few places to go to keep up to date on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools.<br /><br />I guess I'm not finished with this blog, this may just be the beginning.Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-64275198558360648312008-04-07T16:19:00.008-05:002009-01-30T12:49:25.210-06:00Thing 20: Will you be my friend? aka feeling like a stalker<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">I<span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);"> am quite new to the world of online social networking. So, I joined both MySpace and Facebook. Jump in with both feet, right?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">MySpace lets you set up your page with different themes and colors. Great! Now to look for people I know. Hmmm, type in their name, choose which one is the person you really know (as opposed to people you don't know with the same name as the person you're looking for,) go to their page, request that they add you to their friend list. (Anyone else feel like a stalker doing this?) Now wait for them to add you (hmmm, anyone else feel like a loser with no "friend"s here?) Now, at this point (waiting to be friended) it was time to search for some groups (hey, they'll let me join never having met me! Guess I'm not such a loser after all!) After all this, I don't really know what I will personally use MySpace for. I'm just too far removed from this modern form of networking, I guess.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">I had an easier time with Facebook. Maybe my Facebook friends are just faster than my MySpace friends though. All comments seem to be on the one page, you don't have to click a bunch of times to find out what all your friends are doing. Nice. I also didn't feel ancient on facebook (I'm younger in attitude than in years!) This site is obviously geared to teens </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102); font-style: italic;">and up</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">. MySpace is certainly geared more toward teens.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">I looked at library sites on both and it gave me inspiration to set our teen patrons to work. Once our teen advisory board gets up and running, this is a job for them (okay, maybe it's a job for me--but I need some help from them!) We'll have to find out first which if any of these social networking sites they use. I know MySpace was quite popular with our teens back in the days when it was considered almost too seedy for teens to use. We've come a long way with these, I think our teens know more about what they can and cannot post than they did 5 years ago. Granted they're invincible teens, so what they know and what they do may be two separate things.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">For anyone who has never gotten on these social networking sites (and is a little snoopy, like myself) be warned, these sites can be total time suckers! I can see where future employers will use these sites to check up on applicants. Another warning; watch what you post, it's out there for anyone and everyone to see (less so on facebook than myspace).</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);"><br /><br /></span><style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><br /><div class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"><a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flibble/213402284/"><img class="flickr-photo" style="width: 457px; height: 307px;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/58/213402284_14652bc24b.jpg" /></a><br /></div><span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flibble/213402284/">Being vacuumed up yet again...</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/flibble/">Mr. Flibble</a>.</span></div><p class="flickr-yourcomment"></p>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-92195289965249409722008-04-04T22:41:00.005-05:002008-04-04T23:10:51.053-05:00Thing 19: Like peas in a Podcast<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiskur/222152858/" title="photo sharing"><img style="width: 273px; height: 377px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/71/222152858_e7bf02129c.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /></div> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiskur/222152858/">I love peas!</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/fiskur/">magnusmagnus</a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Podcasts are new to me. I hadn't searched for or listened to any prior to this thing. Wow, there sure are a lot of them out there. Want to learn about gardening, knitting, parenting, or just about any other thing you can think of and there's probably a podcast out there for you.<br /><br />I had the easiest time finding miscellaneous stuff on Yahoo Podcasts. Podcasts.com was easier to navigate than podcasts.net. I didn't find anything that really pertained to my (very) small town library on the Minitex podcasts. Minnesota Public Radio's podcasts were pretty limited in the topics they had.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.talltalesaudio.com/index.html">Tall Tales Audio</a> was interesting. It gave some ideas for those of us with storytelling as a main part of their job description, or those people interested in developing their storytelling techniques. I only listened to one of the many storytelling tips, but I'll probably be back to listen to more in the future.<br /><br />Will I ever make and post my own podcast? Highly unlikely. Will I become a regular podcast listener? Only time will tell; but it is another way to get information, and should I ever get my own MP3 player I think I could get hooked.<br /></span></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-78384682423332542052008-04-03T09:28:00.003-05:002008-04-03T10:29:30.959-05:00Thing 18: I love this, do YouTube?<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><object height="350" width="425"><param value="http://youtube.com/v/ukJmF6f0JdQ" name="movie"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://youtube.com/v/ukJmF6f0JdQ" height="350" width="425"></embed></object></p></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;">Ahhh, the skills needed to be a great librarian are highlighted so well in this video!<br />I do love Monty Python. There is something to be said for having some wild animal characteristics when dealing with patrons (haha).<br /><br />I looked at Yahoo Video as well, and you could tell it hasn't been around as long as YouTube. Less videos per search, and no comments on any of the videos I looked at. YouTube had quite a few comments per video I looked at and pages of videos versus the one page found using the same search word on Yahoo Video.<br /><br />I don't know that I would use any videos on our non-existent library website. I suppose if we made a video we would just add it straight to our website versus going through one of these video sites, but then again I suppose it would get viewed more on one of these forums than on our non-existent library website. A different/new way to advertise our library.<br /><br /><br /><br /><object height="323" width="512"><param name="movie" value="http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.1.10"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="flashVars" value="id=5276920&vid=1556525&lang=en-us&intl=us&thumbUrl=http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sch/cn/v/v4/w468/1556525_400_300.jpeg"><embed src="http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.1.10" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="id=5276920&vid=1556525&lang=en-us&intl=us&thumbUrl=http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sch/cn/v/v4/w468/1556525_400_300.jpeg" height="323" width="512"></embed></object><br /></span></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-74027511220042355782008-04-02T08:57:00.006-05:002008-04-04T21:54:34.019-05:00Thing 17: ELM: Easily Loses MindThe frustration of Thing 17! I was looking forward to learning more about these databases. I quickly lost interest.<br /><br />I must admit, I've been to a workshop where a person from Gale showed us how it worked. It was helpful in the fact that I had not used the databases before so I got a quick look at how to work them. However, it is daunting to try to figure out which database you should be using for any general topic. Helping a student look for tree information for their reports takes a bit longer than it would if I had better knowledge of it. This is not the thing for research novices! As for setting up an RSS feed, I couldn't find the link. From what I've read, I wasn't the only one. I did watch the video about setting up an RSS feed (TWICE!) but I concluded that they weren't using the same InfoTrac Student Edition that I was. What they were using was the <a href="http://find.galegroup.com/menu/commonmenu.do?userGroupName=mnparrow">Gale Powersearch</a>. I found the RSS feed there; but like others, my GoogleReader had problems adding that feed to my list. I got the red Oops message at the top of GoogleReader, and another proclaiming a problem setting up that feed, but somewhere along the way I attached it, just don't ask me how! On the plus side, I now know to use the Powersearch when I don't know which specific database to use.<br /><br />EBSCO was easier to navigate for me, but perhaps the directions for that were a little clearer. Or so it seemed at first. I set up my website only to find that when I clicked on the links it didn't go to a nice HTML page but an abbreviated version of the story, more like the card pulled from the card catalog than the book itself. Some of these cart-catalog pages actually have the article at the bottom, but not the ones I saved. Now I know to save only the HTML pages or PDF full text pages (which are mostly photocopies of printed articles, from what I found.) Lots of time tinkering and I still haven't gotten this EBSCO thing figured out. So far though, I'm less than impressed.<br /><br />Proquest gave me the least amount of trouble. I followed the directions, and things worked out just the way they were supposed to. Given the choice of all three of these things to use for research, Proquest is the one I will use.<br /><br />NetLibrary confused me. I didn't understand how I was supposed to do what I was supposed to do. I haven't yet been able to access the video, but perhaps when I do, I will have a better idea of what this part of this <em>Horrible Thing</em> is about.<br /><br />I haven't had anything negative to say about any of these things, but now I have. This one was confusing, time-consuming, and frustrating!Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-21651247974375413022008-03-25T15:00:00.005-05:002008-03-25T17:12:34.957-05:00Thing 16: How do I get this report done on time?<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Nice tool for those in school. Now, back in my day. . .(insert sad story where main character has to walk to school; a long grueling walk, uphill both ways.)</span><br /><br /><style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/15527640@N04/2106541944/" title="photo sharing"><img style="width: 471px; height: 354px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/2106541944_7ae5625a5b.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /></div> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/15527640@N04/2106541944/">When I was a girl, I walked 10 miles to get to school...</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/15527640@N04/">SusanNobleSmith Photos</a>.</span></div> <p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Hasn't technology made some things in life easier? I certainly would have used <a href="http://rpc.elm4you.org/">Research Project Calculator</a> or<span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" href="http://www.lib.umn.edu/help/calculator/">U of M Assignment Calculator</a> to keep on task with those big reports that I had in school. Maybe some of those C papers would have benefited from more than 3/14 days of work on them. Of course, if you start using this tool on day 11 of 14 it isn't going to help much. There is a little pre-report reading that you should really do. For kids who have trouble getting started and staying the course, this would be a good tool to help them develop strategies for getting their work done. I can think of a couple of patrons whom I would like to show this to. It seemed that both worked in the same way. With both you could sign up to get emails about the next task to complete in your work. Good reminders for those students prone to procrastination and daydreaming.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Looks like I have 21 days to finish these 23 Things. I guess I've improved my getting started and staying on task skills since school.</span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-87126475094864593022008-03-25T09:29:00.004-05:002008-03-25T23:30:37.464-05:00Thing 15: Aarghh, there's gaming in the library!<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><br /><style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div style="font-weight: bold;" class="flickr-frame"><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/opinicus/246341016/" title="photo sharing"><img style="width: 247px; height: 305px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/246341016_4cc83e079d.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /></span></div> <span class="flickr-caption" style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/opinicus/246341016/">Sail ho! There be the dread ship The Pirate's Ransom flyin' the Jolly Roger!</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/opinicus/">lunawhimsy</a>.</span></div> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;font-size:100%;" >Guess which Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game I played? Yohoho, I played </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><a style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-family: courier new;" href="http://www.puzzlepirates.com/">Puzzle Pirates</a></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;font-size:100%;" >. This game is more game-y, than the other MMORPGs that are so common in our library (everyone heard of Runescape and World of Warcraft?) I didn't get onto a pirating ship that attacks others, so I'm still a pirate novice. Played some games, talked to a couple people, got the gist of it. I probably spent way more time than I needed to playing the games and less time than I should have exploring the pirating world and talking to my pirate peers. From the looks of it, this is a much more "kid friendly" site than WoW, but I haven't done much with that, so I can't say for sure. Pirates were friendly for the most part, although I wasn't sure a couple of times with all the pirate lingo going on. Guess I better go read a pirate book next if I want to communicate better.</span><br /><p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-71390908263424417442008-03-21T11:16:00.004-05:002009-01-30T12:51:51.498-06:00Thing 14: What's in your library?<span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >I really liked this thing! What a great place to put all <a href="http://www.librarything.com/catalog/aliciawik">my books</a>, and find out what others who love the same books as I do are reading. Should I ever be at a loss as to what to read next, now I know where to go. I did already place an ILL order for a book I saw on another list.<br /><br />I noticed that the first 200 books you post are free, but after that you need to pay, guess we wouldn't be using this for our public library (we may be small, but not that small.) It would be a good place to search for the next book club selection though. Find out what other people love based on the books we've loved. I liked the discussions you could find with most books, it gives a better idea about what to expect.<br /><br />How do we now share booklists with patrons? We have a list of new books displayed on our desk, and a monthly list gets published in the local paper. We're so small that when we see or read about a book that one of our patrons might enjoy, we just order it for them (or ILL it.) Our most avid readers don't seem to spend a lot of time online (too busy reading the latest books,) but for those that do, we may be able to point them in this direction when they are at a loss for what to read next (yeah, like that ever happens.) Once again, I'm wishing our library had a website. Yet another site we could link our patrons to.</span><br /></span></span></span></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-85991765212482731452008-03-20T11:34:00.003-05:002008-03-21T10:28:37.917-05:00Thing 13: What was I supposed to do today?<span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">To start with, I already have My Yahoo! as my homepage. I have what I want on there, and it's easy to use. Up to today, I hadn't added the calendar to My Yahoo! but now I have. Another place to put all those appointments I'm bound to forget. I checked out SpongeCell and even added a SpongeCell calendar to this blog. I looked at Backpack, and even temporarily set up a free account there. There wasn't a whole lot to offer for those not willing to pay, so I dropped the account almost as quickly as I started it. I don't see online calendars as being a time saver for me. I've got appointments written on my home calendar and the date-book in my purse. I think it's just a bit easier for me to check those than to get online to check things out. Maybe if my days were all filled with appointment after appointment it would be a better option for me. Of all the calendars I looked at I did like 30 Boxes the best. Why; I don't know, for aesthetic reasons? I may use that one; but again, it's just a repeat of the other calendars in my life, so it's redundant (good if my house and purse burn to the ground though.)<br /><br />Remember The Milk is much the same complaint from me. I don't have so much going on that I can't just write it on my calendar or the grocery list hanging on my fridge. I suppose it would be handy if I were working more than one afternoon a week and thought of things I needed then, but not as my life is now. I do love the name of the site though!<br /><br />I can see where these tools are useful for those people on the go all the time. Nice to get that text message reminding you to </span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">go to the meeting with your supervisor, </span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> pick up the dry cleaning, </span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"><span style="font-size:100%;">pick up Billy from baseball practice, and pick up milk. </span><br /></span></span></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3647380577755114418.post-59157849586715408802008-03-17T22:25:00.003-05:002009-01-30T12:53:17.147-06:00Thing 12: You digg, Doug?<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/miwaza/89235021/" title="photo sharing"><img style="width: 210px; height: 278px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/37/89235021_2fe3317dff.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /><span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/miwaza/89235021/">Big World for Small Lego</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/miwaza/">miwaza</a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> </p><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">I dugg, but I'm not entirely sure how this will work into my professional career. I looked at a bunch of news sites; and noticed that they all had a digg area, but only 3 out of the 6 used a sharing tool besides digg. So I dugg a article from the </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120425355065601997-lMyQjAxMDI4MDI0OTIyNTkzWj.html">Wall Street Journal</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> that I had read a couple of weeks ago. I was the 32nd to digg it. If libraries are supposed to be on the cutting edge of all things, I guess this is a way for us to see what's being talked about (or looked up online.) Other than that, I don't know how to apply this to our library. I'm not even sure how I would personally use this. In order of "professionalness", I rated the sites like this: #1:Newsvine #2: tied between Mixx and Digg #3: Reddit. Does that mean our younger patrons would prefer Reddit? When looking for answers to homework research questions I suppose I would first show them Newsvine just because it looked like it had more articles by affiliated sources.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Productivity enhancer or detractor? I'm not sure. I guess it's an enhancer if you're trying to keep abreast of things the world wide web has to offer. I tend to just stick with what I know, guess I'll be sticking to a few more things now.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">I did end up reading a couple of articles that I wouldn't have otherwise. I couldn't tell you where I found them or what they were at the moment though, and chances are those top dugg stories have been replaced already. Maybe this would be a detractor after all.</span><br /></span>Alicia Wikstromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04694991942593349098noreply@blogger.com0