La bibliotecaria habla / The librarian speaks

Hi, again!

2011-08-24T10:41:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I posted. Actually, pretty much since I finished up Nebraska Learns 2.0. But I hope to be back at it on a regular basis to share what I'm learning as a library science student and as a professional.

What do teens think about...?

2009-05-18T08:49:00.003-05:00

Good post today on dana boyd's Apophenia blog. Answers Twitterers' (Tweeters'?) suggestions for what to ask teens about their usage of SNS (social network services) such as Facebook. Also delves into teens' perceptions of knowledge acquisition practices. I found this post insightful.

In the news: pilot reads library book

2009-05-12T08:37:00.002-05:00

I'm always keeping an eye out for news bites that mention library use. Here's a good one:
"Hero pilot Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger sweats lost book" Read more about it!

NPR library has new blog

2009-04-15T17:21:00.004-05:00

"As a Matter of Fact" is the National Public Radio library's blog. Looks like the blog has been around since November 2008. At least, that was the first entry.

According the NPR site:
"As A Matter of Fact is a blog by and for the audio-loving, fact-finding, truth-seeking, pop-culture-fiending, news-addicted librarians of the world. Of course, you don't need to be a librarian to read it. But we're pretty sure you may secretly want to be one after you do."

Are you audio-loving? Fact-finding? Truth-seeking? Pop-culture-fiending? News-addicted? Then, this might be the blog for you!

Celebrate Your Library Workers

2009-04-14T12:50:00.005-05:00

Happy National Library Workers Day!!!

Librarians at work (probably book binding) in the Newburyport Free Library.
Location: Newburyport, MA, US
Date taken: 1943
Photographer: Alfred Eisenstaedt
Size: 1280 x 1055 pixels (17.8 x 14.7 inches)
© Time Inc. For personal non-commercial use only Source

636.7

2009-03-25T15:51:00.004-05:00

You know this number, don't you? Well, here's a new spin on the classification system:

This blog can be followed here.

Día de los niños / Día de los libros - Children's Day / Book Day

2009-03-06T11:29:00.009-06:00

A compendium of resources to celebrate children and bilingual literacy on April 30th and every day:

Web site and resources for El día de los niños / El día de los libros - hosted by ALSC and ALA; very thorough; register your event

Founder and advocate Pat Mora's site - great resources, helpful background info on Día; email her...she might send your library a personal message!

Celebration information - Colorín Colorado - more great resources, ideas, activities

Día activities and resources - Presented by REFORMA

Join ALSC and REFORMA in celebrating Día 2009 - press release by ALA

I apologize in advance if any of these link addresses change before I have a chance to correct them.

Oh, the things a librarian can do!

2009-03-04T08:12:00.003-06:00

Dorothy and Herb lived off of her librarian salary and used his postal clerk salary to amass an amazing art collection. Now, that's lifetime achievement! Read somebody else's blog with more information.

Thing 23: El Fin

2009-02-20T16:18:00.003-06:00

Again, I'm not much of a "blogger" so I'll answer the questions that were posed in the order they appeared.

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I had the most fun with image generators and RSS feeds. They were of use to me immediately on a personal and professional level. I check my RSS feeds every morning, which surprises me, since I really didn't think I would develop a habit like that.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I've learned to be brave, explore, and attempt. A couple of recent studies on teen culture and the Web 2.0 (see my blog post) have shown me that those growing up with console and online gaming, Internet, and mobile phones from birth are much more ready for trial-and-error.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
After researching digital media and teen culture, I decided to blog on it in the form of a short bibliography. Even if no one else reads it, I will have it in a place to reference to.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Each hyperlink included in the blogs takes the user away from the 23 Things site. It was frustrating because then I had to keep pulling it up to see what to do next in the instructions, or to post at the end. Of course, I did finally get in the habit of right-clicking on hyperlinks to open them in new windows or tabs.

And last but not least…

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again choose to participate?
You bet. Bring it on. I'm ready.

Thing 22 Podcast Discovery

2009-02-20T15:49:00.005-06:00

It took me a while to think of a topic to search for. I did start with the NPR website, and I also looked it up in my iGoogle search for gadgets.

On my iGoogle I added the Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! podcast. I also tried to add a learn Spanish podcast, but it was a premium site which I was unwilling to subscribe to.

I went to podcast.com and looked up the weekly radio broadcast issued by our President. I also found a couple of podcasts to learn Spanish.

I was very unimpressed with PodcastAlley, whose "five featured podcasts" were titles which would be unprofessional of me to repeat here.

As I chose not to join Bloglines, I instead added the RSS feeds in Internet Explorer of Learn Spanish with Coffee Break Spanish (great for beginners!) and Show Time Spanish (better for advanced Spanish-speakers). A sidenote: They are speaking castellano (Castilian Spanish), the dialect you hear from Spain. The Coffee Break Spanish lessons also address dialects and pronunciation from other countries.

I think my new Blackberry phone supports MP3 audio, so my next step will be to see what I can get on my mobile phone.

Thing 21 YouTuber-rific

2009-02-20T14:20:00.005-06:00

Who needs TV when you have YouTube? It's entertaining, informational, inspirational, escape-worthy, time-warping.

Below is a video I've come to know well through my work. It's professional and hip and worth a look.

And here's another I discovered and think is pretty funny:

Children's book inspires class to make a thousand origami cranes

2009-02-13T09:33:00.001-06:00

Read the Lincoln Journal Star article here.

Now that I follow blogs...

2009-02-13T09:07:00.004-06:00

The bunnies have made the big time!

Here they are on Disapproving Rabbits. I submitted their photo, and it was accepted!

Gaming in the library: bibliography

2009-02-04T13:24:00.022-06:00

I'm working on a newsletter submission, and I am reviewing several studies and other articles:

Teens, Video Games, and Civics, a September 2008 report by the Pew Internet Project

The Civic Potential of Video Games, an occasional paper of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Program

Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project, a November 2008 white paper from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning

Gaming and Libraries Update: Broadening the Intersections, the April 2008 issue of Library Technology Reports, edited by Jenny Levine.

Library Games, a blog "investigating the worlds of gaming and libraries since at least last week"

Games in the Library, a blog post from GameSpot @ ComicCon 2008

Kindred Gamers: NY Public Library as Video Parlor, a blog entry at CultureGrrl, Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary.

Gaming @ your library, an article from the Midwinter issue of American Libraries

News about Games and Gaming, a blog from ALA

Get Your Game On: Video Gaming at the Library, a Fall 2007 Southwest Florida Library Network workshop presentation by Beth Gallaway

Research Quest, a blog of "educational applications for video games and gaming strategies. My quest for learning... with a few library stops along the way"

National Gaming Day @ your library, from I Love Libraries

Libraries Lure with Video Games, an April 21, 2008, article published in the Omaha World-Herald

Why Games Belong in Libraries, a Library Gamer blog entry

Libraries Got Game, from the School Library System of Genesee Valley BOCES

Games and Gaming Resources, the ALA gaming resources wiki

Teen Tech Week - Teen Tech Week encourages teens to use libraries' nonprint resources for education and recreation, and to recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology.

Youth and Library Use Study, a June 2007 ALA study conducted by Harris Interactive

The Librarian's Guide to Gaming, an Online Toolkit, sponsored by ALA and Verizon

Feel free to read up and comment back to me what you think.

My own thing

2009-01-21T08:15:00.002-06:00

Well, I stumbled upon my own 2.0 app today, and I like it. It's called Wordle. Here's Barak Obama's 2009 Inaugural speech:

Thing 20: Hype vs. help

2009-01-13T17:22:00.003-06:00

After browsing through the list of Web 2.0 Awards, I must say, it's a bit overwhelming for the Internet user to find what's useful and I can only imagine how overwhelming it must be for a site host to capture their niche market.

I took a good look at BuzzDash. According to their site, "BuzzDash is a site and tool for gauging popular opinion on a wide range of topics - from sports, movies and politics to relationships and philosophy." It looks like TIME magazine even solicits their help. But, from a researcher's point of view, I'm not encouraged by the responses. Many of these polls have very few responses, making the results less than reliable.

Perhaps these are the up-and-coming 2.0 sites. When I looked at views of videos on various winners' sites, even the greatest numbers seemed low.

Thing 19: Web-based apps

2009-01-06T17:22:00.002-06:00

Aha. I am now writing in Google Docs. I was relieved to see that I did not need to create yet another account to use the web-based applications available out there. I did visit Zoho, but will pass on that for now. I see Zoho offers polls, and will look at what Google Docs has to offer later.

It's very easy to get sidetracked on the Web. While going through this exercise, I came across a Zoho polls blog that referred me to a blog about Zoho polls (two different things here). Also, along the way, I sought out the Common Craft video Google Docs in Plain English. Couldn't help myself. They're fun to watch.

Google Docs will indeed come in handy when collaborating with individuals outside my work zone. Also a good tool to promote to library patrons who use the computer labs.

(I did come in after bringing this over from Google Docs and clean it up. It had 2 lines between paragraphs, so the html carried over differently than I anticipated)

Thing 18: PBWiki

2008-12-31T17:20:00.003-06:00

If I already hadn't joined PBWiki, I don't imagine I would have for this assignment. But... I participated in Library Camp Nebraska so I already had an account. The Wiki for Library Camp Nebraska was a very useful tool. Real-time updates allowed afternoon session participants to access what morning session participants had already created.

For the 2.0 Wiki Sandbox, I did share my favorite vacation spots, my favorite animals, and my favorite blogs.

Thing 17: What's in a wiki

2008-12-29T17:27:00.003-06:00

I remember viewing Wikipedia before it became the Wikipedia we now use. I consulted the Wayback Machine and got this result. It's hard to believe that was just 6 years ago!

What are wikis good for? They are great for staff who want to contribute to an ever-changing work environment, for internal use. They are great for outreach to the community, to get library users to contribute to a topic (I see a wiki here as a group blog).

Thing 16: On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

2008-12-29T16:47:00.004-06:00

My favorite article on Library 2.0 so far is by Michael E. Casey and Laura C. Savastinuk in Library Journal, 9/1/2006, titled Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library. Here's the excerpt I would most readily agree with and which I believe will give hope to all those who are yet reticent to fiercely embrace new technologies:

"What makes a service Library 2.0? Any service, physical or virtual, that successfully reaches users, is evaluated frequently, and makes use of customer input is a Library 2.0 service. Even older, traditional services can be Library 2.0 if criteria are met. Similarly, being new is not enough to make a service Library 2.0."

Thing 14: Social Bookmarking

2008-12-29T15:29:00.007-06:00

This was an interesting assignment for me. I created a delicious account on or about July 15th of this year. I used it mainly to keep track of work-related sites that I found interesting or used for reference. It came in handy because I used between 4 and 6 different computers on any given day. And I did discover new sites by browsing others' profiles and their lists.

I also used delicious to make available certain tags that I referred to during a presentation this fall.

Hadn't visited my account since October and had a fun time trying to remember my username and password. I finally remembered a site that I had been the first to tag, and was then able to see what my username was, and guess my password (my email address for this account had become defunct).

I tried to add a network badge and a tagroll to this blog, but I don't think they're working, so I've deleted them.

Adding the delicious buttons to the toolbar in my browser is an option, but requires updates that must be done through IT.

Thing 15: SlideShare

2008-12-22T16:46:00.004-06:00

I'm not ready to create yet another account, but I did browse SlideShare, and I came up with a presentation I'll post here. [Please note the fancy embedding.]

Embracing Library 2.0 and Web 2.0 for Quality Library Service

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: service quality)

I find SlideShare most useful when the presentations have plenty of text, or have audio. Otherwise, the context for many of the slides goes missing.

Thing 13 - I'm all a-Twitter

2008-12-19T09:19:00.004-06:00

Yep, Twitter is an interesting creature. Because a fellow NELearns2.0-er mentioned they know of the parents of a co-founder of Twitter, it made the joining a bit more interesting. I wasn't even going to join up. I was going to say, oh, how nice, but I'm on Facebook, and I submit updates regularly there, and people I know and love receive those updates randomly, and that's good enough for me. I also was going to say, you know, this is a rabbit hole, and I'm not sure I want to go down it, because, as enjoyable as it is to dig and browse and read and find, it is time consuming and will start to take a chunk of my time that I had previously designated to grooming my rabbits, or cross-stitching next year's Christmas gifts, or something like that. But then I decided to look up Evan Williams, a Twitter co-founder, a real person who helped create this technological wunderkind. And I felt inclined to respond to a tweet he had posted. And then I was hooked. So, now, I'm on it. We'll see how I fare, how often I access it, or how I will find ways for it to access me, on my cell phone or on my desktop. So, this is me on Twitter. Give me a "follow" if you're so inclined.

Thing 12 - LibraryThing and an alternative

2008-12-18T16:00:00.005-06:00

I have opted at this time not to join LibraryThing. So far, I have created five new accounts to complete tasks requested in Nebraska Learns 2.0. Based on my history thus far with the other accounts I have created, and my lack of interest in using LibraryThing at this time, I will wait. One feature I do like about LibraryThing and can use without joining is the Local tab. For example, you can see upcoming book-related events in Lincoln.

One reason why I'm not joining LibraryThing is that I've got a substitute. I'm on Facebook, and I use weRead, or Books iRead. I can share my picks with my friends and family that are on Facebook, and I receive updates when they've added to their collection. This alternative suffices for now.

Thing #11 - Blog about technology

2008-12-18T15:03:00.005-06:00

[Note: It is in my nature to compile and present information/data and not so much to comment on it. Otherwise, I'd have had a blog for a long time now.]

This past month, I had the opportunity to participate in Library Camp Nebraska, an unconference held in Lincoln. A couple of the break-out sessions concerned high-tech vs. high-touch, and there were some great ideas shared. Comments ranged from lack of technology in the library space to lack of time and funds to keep up technology up-to-date, from lack of training of staff to keep up with basic computer technology as well as the social and community aspects online to lack of staff time or expertise to help library customers. Some solutions were suggested, such as staff meetings for 30 minutes before the library opens to talk about tech stuff and that 23 Things has been good for the staff to catch up some.

According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the University of Illinois, "members of Gen Y are the leading users of libraries for help solving problems and in more general patronage". Being aware of trends like this might help lead strategies for future solutions in public libraries' dilemma to keep up with technology advancements.

Thing #10 - Play around with image generators

2008-12-18T14:26:00.006-06:00

Image generators are fun and could be used in many resourceful ways to reach out to the public. I tried a bunny jigsaw puzzle, from dumpr.com; a dynamic Einstein picture, from Hetemeel.com; a staff ID, since I'm new to my job, from Big Huge Labs; and a mini-READ poster from ALA.

It helps if you've got a creative caption or special event in mind. It was a little tough to come up with something on the spot.

Thing 9: my name in flickr'ing lights

2008-11-26T16:40:00.005-06:00

I found my name on Spell with flickr and since I know a little code, I can present it to you here. Fun, fun, fun!

Isn't he handsome?

2008-11-25T09:33:00.002-06:00

ernie-june-2008
Originally uploaded by ryntyntyn_8

His mustache makes him look grumpy, but Ernie's a happy, hoppy boy.

Making Runzas - Thing 8

2008-11-25T08:58:00.004-06:00

makingrunzas7
Originally uploaded by ryntyntyn_8

No two were alike, but they were all yummy!

This was my first attempt to blog on a Flickr photo. I just created my Flickr account. Looks like I'll be closing down some of my other photo management accounts, because I really do find this one useful and fun.

Thing 7

2008-11-10T12:22:00.002-06:00

I tried to add from Bloglines' most popular subscriptions, but they wouldn't take. So, I searched for them through other suggestions. Syndic8's results for a search for "tennis" were not very elegant. Technorati handed over a bunch of ads. Topix was a bit more of what I was looking for, but those are news bits, not webblogs results. Bloglines wasn't exactly helpful either. I think I'm more interested in RSS feeds than blogs. GoogleBlog gave me a decent result. But, going to atptennis.com, I realized they don't offer RSS feeds!

Thing 5

2008-11-10T11:44:00.001-06:00

I used Google Talk to blog with Christa. What I like is that it doesn't need to be downloaded to a computer. You can just launch the gadget.

Thing 6

2008-11-10T10:59:00.001-06:00

I'm skipping Thing 5 until I get IM installed on my computer. The best thing about Thing 6 is the YouTube video "RSS in Plain English." It's a good thing I don't visit the YouTube site very often. It's easy to get lost in there.

Thing 4

2008-11-06T08:23:00.001-06:00

Here is where I post that I am posting, then I post this to the posting on Thing 4. Mission accomplished.

La cosa 3

2008-11-05T14:25:00.002-06:00

1. Hoy creé mi blog en Blogger.
2. Configuré el blog.
3. Luego publiqué mi primer mensaje.

Si Ud. también necesita asistencia en español, haga clic aquí: http://www.ayuda-internet.net/tutoriales/manual-blog-blogger/manual-blog-blogger.html

Thing 1 and Thing 2

2008-11-05T13:53:00.002-06:00

Thing 1 was easy: read the Thing #1 blog!

Thing 2 was a nice intro to that which is to come. How do we prepare ourselves to learn?

7 ½ Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

2008-11-05T13:01:00.001-06:00

Thing #2 to tackle is 7 ½ Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. I'm currently waiting for an update so I can view the video. In the meantime, after just a glance at the list I can tell you that what comes easiest to me is to create my own learning toolbox. I do that already in many facets of my life. What comes as a challenge is to begin with the end in mind. It's easy for me to float from idea to idea and input to input, so it's very important to start out with a goal in mind in order to stay focused.