Overdrive is a resource that I've kind of avoided, and I think it's partly because I've gotten so many phone calls from patrons who are at their computer and expressing their frustration at not being able to use Overdrive, whether their device is incompatible, or they can't seem to download the console, or any other difficulty. This module forced me to try it, and I really enjoyed the product and messing around in it.
I started by looking for "Charles Dickens"; I was hoping there would be some great readers. At random, I clicked on A Christmas Carol, and Lo and Behold! there was Jim Dale as the reader. So I did another search on Jim Dale, and while it doesn't have the HP series, it does have all of the Starcatcher books. I'm not sure what the hold queue is like on these, but I was impressed to see the Starcatcher books available. There was also a 45 minutes documentary on Dickens, which I was glad to see! I pulled the plug on my tv about 3 years ago, but I do miss some of the infotainment from PBS and the History channel, so I'm glad there's another way to tune in to these episodes.
My second search was to target books on learning Korean. I typed in "korea*", which returned no hits; guess truncation is not an option, at least not with the asterisk symbol. A search on "Korea" resulted in 4 hits: 2 on the Korean War, 2 foreign language study books. The two language audiobooks were for travel, and only around 1 hour long each. I am less impressed with this. (Can't really learn a language from 1 hour of instruction!) I clicked on the subject link for Foreign Language Study and got 140 hits. Most are for European languages; I didn't check the run time for any of these.
A search on "foreign language study french" returned no hits (is it searching as a bound phrase? b/c "foreign language study" works and "french" works.) A search on simply "french" brought up (happy day!) lots of music audio for French ballet. I love French ballet and French opera music. I listened to an excerpt and a coworker came up behind me happily humming along to "Coppelia". That's me-- adding joy to the workroom.
For Mother's Day, I went down to Portland to see "Aida". The week before, I streamed some of the music at my computer while I was working. I really like streaming. I don't like the whole "add to cart", "place hold", "check out", etc.
I'm definitely going to get more patrons turned on to this resource. I still haven't actually checked out, downloaded, or any of the other stuff...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Mmmmmmmmmmm, Del.icio.us!
This module was a breeze b/c I've used del.icio.us before; however, I now have a greater appreciation for the variety of ways it can be useful. In the past, I've used del.icio.us to access the silweb links, and I've also helped a patron set up a del.icio.us account (his original request was to ask for a floppy disk to save all of his websites on; he was glad to find out about del.icio.us and use it instead.) I've also searched del.icio.us for good computer tutorials and internet tutorials, as I'm the "computer class" person at my branch.
I haven't had a del.icio.us account of my own in the past but did create one for this module. I've found that del.icio.us is great for some searches and not as helpful for others. My sample search was "korean tutorial" and I got some mixed results, which, in my mind, were not as good as what I've found in a google search. I don't fully understand the magic of google searches, but somehow it's not quite as literal as the search in del.icio.us. If the tagger is a bad speller or just uses a different jargon (ie, uses "classes" instead of "tutorials"), then you won't find it on del.icio.us (at least, I don't think you would) but google somehow finds those good sites that use a different term than the one I chose.
One funny, serendipitous thing that happened in my "korean tutorials" search in del.icio.us is that one of the hits retrieved led me to a definition of "web 2.0", which I really appreciated finding, as I didn't really understand what that phrase meant. Helps me understand why we're doing this! (I do enjoy these modules, but I always seem to learn better when I can hang (seemingly) disparate web functions onto a large conceptual framework.)
I did watch the Clay Sprinky (or whatever his name is) video and I do think he's a brilliant guy but there are some holes in his logic for me. For one, I have never liked television, even as a kid (weird, I know) and I've always found that physical activities, time spent outdoors, playing/listening to music or READING A BOOK a much more soul-satisfying use of time than typing away on a computer. I really DO like the trend that the internet is leveling the playing field for sharing ideas, performances, etc., but still feel that personal interaction is much more meaningful in a face-to-face situation than by computer. I think that trying to bond with others over the internet is just not an effective way to scratch that social itch that all people have. I think for those adults that want to pretend to be an elf that you'll be better off getting together with likeminded adults, physically, than playing on a computer in your basement.
But then, I always tend to have a hard time with paradigm shifts (you know, the whole "rainbow" thing--don't like transitions) so maybe I'm just not able to wrap my head around this yet. I think these web 2.0 "social" tools are great for folks that have very few people nearby that share their particular interest, or those that are homebound for one reason or another. For example, parents who are raising a child with a rare disorder can find a great deal of information, relief and hope in connecting with others who are facing the same challenge.
I haven't had a del.icio.us account of my own in the past but did create one for this module. I've found that del.icio.us is great for some searches and not as helpful for others. My sample search was "korean tutorial" and I got some mixed results, which, in my mind, were not as good as what I've found in a google search. I don't fully understand the magic of google searches, but somehow it's not quite as literal as the search in del.icio.us. If the tagger is a bad speller or just uses a different jargon (ie, uses "classes" instead of "tutorials"), then you won't find it on del.icio.us (at least, I don't think you would) but google somehow finds those good sites that use a different term than the one I chose.
One funny, serendipitous thing that happened in my "korean tutorials" search in del.icio.us is that one of the hits retrieved led me to a definition of "web 2.0", which I really appreciated finding, as I didn't really understand what that phrase meant. Helps me understand why we're doing this! (I do enjoy these modules, but I always seem to learn better when I can hang (seemingly) disparate web functions onto a large conceptual framework.)
I did watch the Clay Sprinky (or whatever his name is) video and I do think he's a brilliant guy but there are some holes in his logic for me. For one, I have never liked television, even as a kid (weird, I know) and I've always found that physical activities, time spent outdoors, playing/listening to music or READING A BOOK a much more soul-satisfying use of time than typing away on a computer. I really DO like the trend that the internet is leveling the playing field for sharing ideas, performances, etc., but still feel that personal interaction is much more meaningful in a face-to-face situation than by computer. I think that trying to bond with others over the internet is just not an effective way to scratch that social itch that all people have. I think for those adults that want to pretend to be an elf that you'll be better off getting together with likeminded adults, physically, than playing on a computer in your basement.
But then, I always tend to have a hard time with paradigm shifts (you know, the whole "rainbow" thing--don't like transitions) so maybe I'm just not able to wrap my head around this yet. I think these web 2.0 "social" tools are great for folks that have very few people nearby that share their particular interest, or those that are homebound for one reason or another. For example, parents who are raising a child with a rare disorder can find a great deal of information, relief and hope in connecting with others who are facing the same challenge.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Wiki uses
What did you find interesting?
For the first time, I got one of those Lee LeFever video clips to work (Craft something or other?) and it REALLY helped me understand the variety of uses that a wiki could be put to. I have had so many instances of trying to collaborate, discuss, plan, wordsmith, etc. using email and it was as clunky and cumbersome as all get-out. I can see many, many uses for wikis.
What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?
I'd like to see a wiki for best practices for computer classes, for adult programming, for reference, for readers advisory, for displays, and on and on and on. Then comes the "manuals" type uses, such as a guide to DDC, guides to fiction subject headings, guides to whatever (school assignments, boy scout merit badge projects, genealogy searches, etc.) I am ready to go wiki-crazy!
(Now I think I'll go back and listen to the other Craft something or other video clips!)
For the first time, I got one of those Lee LeFever video clips to work (Craft something or other?) and it REALLY helped me understand the variety of uses that a wiki could be put to. I have had so many instances of trying to collaborate, discuss, plan, wordsmith, etc. using email and it was as clunky and cumbersome as all get-out. I can see many, many uses for wikis.
What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?
I'd like to see a wiki for best practices for computer classes, for adult programming, for reference, for readers advisory, for displays, and on and on and on. Then comes the "manuals" type uses, such as a guide to DDC, guides to fiction subject headings, guides to whatever (school assignments, boy scout merit badge projects, genealogy searches, etc.) I am ready to go wiki-crazy!
(Now I think I'll go back and listen to the other Craft something or other video clips!)
Monday, May 5, 2008
YouTube, BoobTube and all the rest...
To answer some questions:
Would you use either or both of these sites? Why?
I do YouTube to watch Korean dramas. The first one I got hooked on is called Winter Sonata, and it's a big deal in Korea. It's actually a big deal in Japan and other countries in asia. I dare you to watch the first episode and not get hooked:
Aaaack! the episode is no longer available online. The distributor caught on and pulled it! Oh well. You can try some other Korean dramas at http://www.mysoju.com/.
Oh, here's a funny clip from youtube:
I looked at hulu and fancast and I can see that a lot of people could fritter their life away at these sites. I think I would make good use of them if I had some surgery that laid me up for months. But I'd rather read books instead.
Would either of these sites be useful for libraries?
I think these sites would be useful for libraries in helping answer questions from patrons. It's always helpful to know something about popular culture.
Would you use either or both of these sites? Why?
I do YouTube to watch Korean dramas. The first one I got hooked on is called Winter Sonata, and it's a big deal in Korea. It's actually a big deal in Japan and other countries in asia. I dare you to watch the first episode and not get hooked:
Aaaack! the episode is no longer available online. The distributor caught on and pulled it! Oh well. You can try some other Korean dramas at http://www.mysoju.com/.
Oh, here's a funny clip from youtube:
I looked at hulu and fancast and I can see that a lot of people could fritter their life away at these sites. I think I would make good use of them if I had some surgery that laid me up for months. But I'd rather read books instead.
Would either of these sites be useful for libraries?
I think these sites would be useful for libraries in helping answer questions from patrons. It's always helpful to know something about popular culture.
Facebook Follies
I created a Facebook account. I uploaded a photo of a Jangseung, which is a Korean sort of "totem pole" representing a kindly god that looms over your house, warding away evil spirits and welcoming the good ones. Also, I thought this particular Jangseung looked a lot like me. When I got on facebook, it showed some people from my high school, and while I had vaguely fond feelings for them, none of them were good friends of mine. Who to invite to be a friend? I typed in "Ruth Griffith" and found some other Ruth Griffiths out there in the world to be my friend. We are going to form the "Ruth Griffith club." At least that is my dream.
I'm not all that keen on computer networking. I think meaningful exchange comes person to person. I think one of the best social experiences is having a good, all-out gut-laugh with another person, and that just doesn't happen on the computer. I mean, "LOL", or even "ROTFLMAO" doesn't do it for me. However, working through the exercises in SIL 20 for 2.0 has been really fun so far, and really helpful for me in being able to answer patron questions about these popular websites.
I'm not all that keen on computer networking. I think meaningful exchange comes person to person. I think one of the best social experiences is having a good, all-out gut-laugh with another person, and that just doesn't happen on the computer. I mean, "LOL", or even "ROTFLMAO" doesn't do it for me. However, working through the exercises in SIL 20 for 2.0 has been really fun so far, and really helpful for me in being able to answer patron questions about these popular websites.
Flickr'n fiend
I put three photos on my Flickr account. It was pretty easy because I already have a Yahoo! email account. I don't think I'll use Flickr to back up my photos. I still think I will just back up my photos onto CDs like I'm already doing, because I don't like spending a lot of time on the computer. I'd rather be outside with my son watching ants crawl on the driveway or blowing seeds off dandelion heads.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Pandora pro
Ha, I finally get to feel smug. I whipped through this module b/c I'm familiar with these music sharing sources. I actually used Pandora to find some music for my husband for Christmas. He really likes blues, like Joe Bonamassa and Stevie Ray Vaughn--and I'm clueless about that genre. He liked the 2 CDs I bought him. He actually used Pandora for me too, and I ended up getting an Oscar Peterson CD that I really like-- a bunch of jazzed up Cole Porter songs that he got by looking for stuff similar to Dave Brubeck (he's likewise puzzled by my music tastes, but somehow we've stayed married for 20 years...)
RSS feeds! A little Q & A...
Some reactions to RSS feeds:
What do you like about RSS and feed readers? I can surround myself with only those things I want to hear about and cut out the rest.
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life? I'm in love with a Korean (he's my 2 1/2 year old son) and am excited about all things Korean: drama, music, language, food, etc. I subscribed to a blog that is very spare and seems discriminating enough to only point out the best online sources for Korean culture. My big thing these days is to find a way to chuck the chaff and save myself a lot of time-wasting junk sifting.
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? Stay up-to-date with new information sources and various services of interest to our patrons.
If you’re already using a feed reader, share your experiences with your co-workers. I'm a new feed reader, so got nuttin.
What do you like about RSS and feed readers? I can surround myself with only those things I want to hear about and cut out the rest.
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life? I'm in love with a Korean (he's my 2 1/2 year old son) and am excited about all things Korean: drama, music, language, food, etc. I subscribed to a blog that is very spare and seems discriminating enough to only point out the best online sources for Korean culture. My big thing these days is to find a way to chuck the chaff and save myself a lot of time-wasting junk sifting.
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? Stay up-to-date with new information sources and various services of interest to our patrons.
If you’re already using a feed reader, share your experiences with your co-workers. I'm a new feed reader, so got nuttin.
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