ASSIGNMENT 8, VIRTUAL LIBRARY, 5/4/08-5/11/08

You have until Mother's Day for the Virtual Library Assignment:
Part one: Go thoroughly through our library’s website. Pay particular attention to other department areas or links you’ve never used before.
Comment this week with: What aspects of our website do you like the most? Do you have any ideas for new services we can provide through the virtual branch? What other ways can the library improve its web presence?

Part two: Choose the database you are the least familiar with. Spend at least 20 minutes exploring it; try to answer a question that a patron might have. Comment with the name of the database you chose, and what your experience with it was like.

Part three: Take a look at the public library "hall of fame" at http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Website_Design.
Choose at least 5 public library sites to browse. Comment on whether or not you see any good ideas that we can add to our own library website.

Transforming Libraries and Communities

http://www.sarahlong.org/podcast/?_episode=97 (25 minutes)
4/21/08 Exec Director of NSLS Sarah Long talks with James LaRue, director of the Douglas County Libraries in Castle Rock CO since 1990 and speaker at NSLS "Embracing Change: Transforming Libraries and Communities" Symposium 4/29/08.

He helps synthesize ideas about some current trends, and he echoes some of the points Michael Stephens has made: the Library is bigger than the building, and the Library needs to take advantage of Circulation staff’s opportunity for Reader’s Advisory.

Listen, and see what you think. He makes some great points, and I don't think he's after growth in market share for its own sake.

Podcasting in Plain English

Just in time!
http://www.commoncraft.com/podcasting

Assignment 7, (Penultimate) Podcasts, 4/27/08-5/3/08

http://www.sarahlong.org/podcast/?_episode=98 April 23, 2008 Longshots #98 - Linda Braun and Podcasting: Sarah Long of NSLS talks with Linda Braun, an Educational Technology Consultant, about the potential of podcasting (17 minutes).
Explore one of these podcast directories to find a podcast to suit your personal interests:
The Library Success Wiki, at http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Podcasting has an extensive list of public libraries, academic libraries, and affiliated organizations that are podcasting.
Learn Out Loud features educational podcasts, at http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory Browse the "Podcast Directory" on the left hand side.
Podcast Alley, at http://www.podcastalley.com/index.php is a general podcast directory.
Answer these questions:
1. Which library podcast did you listen to?
2. Do you see podcasting as a useful tool for our library?
3. Any ideas about which topics our patrons might be interested in hearing?
4. Do you have any other experience with listening to or creating podcasts?

Assignment 6 (at last), Wikis, 4/20/08-4/26/08

Watch another of these "Plain English" shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY&NR=1 “Wikis in Plain English”.
Read these 2 websites:
How Stuff Works: "How Wikis Work" at http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm
and
Wikipedia article: “Wiki”, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
Visit these 5 library wikis, at http://del.icio.us/theskokieten/librarywikis

Answer these questions: What do you think of Wikipedia? Would you, or do you, trust and use it to find information? Can you think of ways wikis can be used by libraries to offer something to its patrons? Can you think of ways that a wiki can be helpful to you and your department?
Bonus: set up a simple Wiki for something in our department, or add to a wiki that one of your coworkers sets up! Game night at Vida's--who's bringing what food and games? "Silly Stories" storytime list? Upcoming "Reader's Advisory" book selection? Other ideas?

Breaking news on the social network front: Austin tells me that Facebook just added an IMing feature so that everyone who has a facebook account can IM from there. He says "now I'll never need to sign off of facebook". Apparently this is a desirable addition. Thought y'all would want to know.

Assignment 5, Flickr, 4/13/08 - 4/19/08

Take a look at one or all 3 of the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPU4awtuTsk&NR=1 “Online Photo Sharing in Plain English”

The Newbie's Guide to Flickr at http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9703620-2.html.

16 Ways to use Flickr @ Your Library, at http://tametheweb.com/2006/09/steal_this_idea_flickr_for_lib.html.

Make some observations about the benefits of Flickr for staff and for patrons.

This is a catch-up week! Please be sure you have posted responses to previous assignments! Wikis, Podcasting and Virtual Library are coming in the final 3 weeks.

Shelfari

I hope you each received an email announcing our own Shelfari shelf for Historical fiction books. I'm going to try to put a link from Shelfari on this blog. We'll see if I'm successful.

Assignment 4, Social Networking, 4/6/08 - 4/12/08

If you'd like a little overview, try out this quick 2 minute "Social Networking in Plain English" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc
Visit one or more of the following social networking websites. If you already belong to one or more social networking sites, try visiting one you're not familiar with.
MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/): The most popular social networking site on the planet, frequented by millions of teens and twentysomethings, and used by bands as a marketing tool. Madeline maintains a GEPL page on MySpace.
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/): Originally designed for use on college campuses, skews to a slightly older audience, and features a cleaner, more customizable interface.
LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/): Designed for professionals to post resumes and build contacts.
Eons (http://www.eons.com/): Social networking and activity sharing geared toward ages 50+ (they bill themselves as the online community for BOOMers).
Answer these 2 questions: What features do you like or dislike about the site(s) you visited? What do you think makes them so popular?
NOTE: This is assignment 4 of 8 assignments. At this rate, we'll be done with all 8 assignments by the time spring storytimes end! Be sure to post your comments for all assignments.

Blogs: The History

While looking through NPRs book reviews I found a timeline of blogging that also explains what blogging is. You might find this helpful: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17421022

Updated link

Kate and I found that the link I provided for GoodReads does not take you to my page. So now try http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/927346?view=main and this should work.

Keeping track of books

I use both GoodReads and LibraryThing to keep track of books that I have either read or want to read. In LibraryThing I list "grown up" books. By using the tag "to read" I have eliminated myriad pieces of paper with title written on them. To date I have entered only books I've read within the past four months. Evenutally I will add other books that I have read and will upgrade to a paid account. I love being able to see the covers of books. One oddity that I've found is that people can ask to be your friend. I responded to one of these questions and found that the writer was an author and seemed basically out to get people to buy and read his book.

In GoodReads I write reviews of kid and young adult books. I'm still fine tuning the tags and can see that tags can easily become unmanagable. I have created a "date" tag so that I can look up books by the month that I read them. I am just beginning to explore books entered and reviewed by other users. Since I would rather read than write reviews I've tried really hard to keep up on writing reviews. It's still a discipline but I can see how helpful this is. It is just too easy to forget about titiles, even titles that I really liked.

You many look at my LibraryThing list: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kellyn
To access the GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/

Assignment 3, Good Shelf Thing, 3/30/08-4/5/08

http://www.goodreads.com/
http://www.shelfari.com/

http://www.librarything.com/
1. Check out these 3 sites, which provide a way to keep track of your favorite books, and books you have read, and what other people think of those books.
2. Set up an account in one of these. Add a minimum of 5 books to your account.
3. Search for one or two of your favorite books, and see what other people think of them. Does anyone you know have the same favorites as you do?
4. Post your comments here, telling us how this kind of service could benefit our library, and include a link to your page.

TOBY'S 2.0 SLIDESHOW

For your convenience, here's Toby's slideshow for the GEPL "Library 2.0" inservice presentation:
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=d64qq4p_119cz8bm5gs&skipauth=true

Warriors Series

FYI--I made a list of the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. There are three separate series now and I find it confusing to discover the order. The list is with other series lists. Do you think this should also be posted by the books?

Cool site when you need a laugh

I stole this site from GE Circ's blog: www.librariandressup.com. It's a total waste of time but good fun.

Assignment 2, IM, 3/23/08-3/29/08

Those of you going to PLA will probably find it easier to complete this "Instant Messaging" assignment before you go!
Sign out of your e-mail and sign into the ComAgent (globe icon labelled "ComAgent" on desktop).
Your ComAgent log-in is the same as your e-mail log-in, and in fact opens your e-mail along with other stuff.
The globe icon appears in the lower right of your screen, near the time and temperature.
Right-click on that globe, and go to "Send an instant message".
1. Is anyone online? Who?
If you don't see any names on that list, you need to "Add to Buddy List". Be sure to add at least everyone who works in your department (for future reference), and add anyone else who is currently working who might IM you for this assignment.
2. IM with someone about your blog favorites, or something related to work.
3. What would you say you like and dislike about instant messaging? (feel free to IM about this too!)
4. Do you think this will be a workable way to answer reference questions?
Be sure to right-click and logout or shut down the ComAgent, or your mail will still be open.

Looking at Blogs and websites

1. I have read “The Shifted Librarian” site since attending a presentation by Jenny Levine. I often do not fully understand her blog entries but I do find them thought provoking. In her most recent entry she recommended an article by O’Reilly entitled “Wheat is Web 2.0.” I found this really helpful, especially the visual charts.
2. I also looked at several of the sites listed in “60 sites in 60 minutes.” I especially like the one called LibSuccess at http://libsuccess.org. This wiki lists everything you would ever study in Library School. (Check it out Amy!) I also enjoyed looking at the links they list for book lists for kids.
3. You might also want to check out two sites that collect book reviews from book groups: www.bookmovement.com and www.book-clubs-resource.com. There are a few young adult titles listed like “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” It was interesting to see how many book clubs and members are reading various titles like “Water for Elephants.”
4. I have listed the kids’ books I’ve recently read on www.goodreads.com. I am slowly typing all the reviews I’ve written into this site. I like being able to see book covers. I’ve already used this site to remind me of books and to recommend books.

I found this great blog on the Olathe Public Library website. Ironically I graduated from a college in Olathe and there was not a public library when I lived there. I like the pictures that accompany the blog entries.
http://www.olathe.lib.ks.us/kidsblog/

Blogs 3/16/08-3/22/08

1. Take a look at these 3 blogs. Share an interesting idea from one of them (include the blog name and date of the interesting post--no repeats!).
"Something Different Every Day": http://blogs.nsls.info/different/
"Youth Services Librarians Unite!": http://youthserviceslib.blogspot.com/
"The Shifted Librarian": http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/
2. If you already have an RSS aggregator (like http://www.bloglines.com/) tell us about one of your feeds.
3. Find one other job-related blog which you think would interest your co-workers, and tell us what you like about it (no repeats!).

Getting started

Youth staff have received an invitation to this blog. Accept the challenge and let the fun begin!