iso...23 things

A gender difference?

2010-03-29T16:13:00.001-07:00

Or merely a perspective difference? So yesterday my husband is looking out the window and sees the neighbor loading the canoe. "Mike's Nuts!" he exclaims. I murmured an agreement. Coffee in hand he said, "I gotta go see what he's thinking...lake trout?" Oh. I thought the mental health proclamation was due to the fact that it was 20 degrees outside and he was venturing out on a relatively tippy boat on water that still had ice chunks floating about. Turns out he was "nuts" because what could he hope to catch this time of year...go figure...

2010-03-22T12:42:00.001-07:00

Sometimes weekends are so full, and so good, that not only are you glad you experienced them, but you're happy to see the work door on Monday morning...

And yet...

2010-03-19T14:54:00.001-07:00

...another Friday. The blue sky, the smiles, the air of hopefulness all inspire the realization that this, indeed, could be the weekend of our dreams. Stay tuned, however, as Monday fast approaches.

2009-10-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hey! My avatar is back! Now life can continue in the smooth line that God intended...or the curvy line created by me? Anyway, time to get down to some serious blogging about Things...But really? I'm thrilled about the avatar thing...

To Google...thing #29

2009-07-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am impressed by all Google has done to make a simple search so much more effective. However, today I still declare that my searches are my own. Does this mean I have to sift through the irrelevant? Yep. My self-perception is wrapped somewhere in my need for privacy. Analyze if you must, but today that is more important. Tomorrow? Who knows, and frankly, I'm sure I'm the only one who cares. Google? Truly impressive.

iGoogled through thing #28

2009-07-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

iGoogle...now THAT's pretty cool. I was surprised when I clicked back to do a google search and there was my iGoogle page! (I know, it was SUPPOSED to happen that way...my delight was no less diminished.)

Ummm...anyone know how to quit Twitter? Let me know...please

Twittering Norway (Thing # 27)

2009-06-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! I checked my Cluster map today, and somebody from Norway checked out my little tiny blog! I realize, whoever you are, that it must have been merely a typo, but to me, it was nothing short of really cool.

Twitter? Okay, I signed up, but frankly, folks, I just don't get the excitement. Somebody care to explain? Or maybe it's just that I'm not following the right people. School Library Journal is exciting and all...anybody have suggestions? (Mr. or Ms. Norway?)

Ning Thing (# 26)

2009-06-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

I joined the Ning
Left a note
Joined a group
That's all she wrote...

2009-06-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hey! Where'd my avatar go? I'm assuming it must be a yahoo issue, never operator error.

Yeah! I have a clock! (thing 25)

2009-06-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

For whom is the blog written? The world of gadgets is so vast that I needed to answer the question of "who" before I could answer the "what." So, today, my gadgets are for my own use. I am wildly excited about my clock...not because I'm concerned about the spending of or the wasting of, but simply because I like it. There is nothing friendlier than an analog kitchen-face clock. (Yep, I probably just coined that term, but you all knew what I meant, didn't you?)

My sudoku game is just a time waster, but I prefer to think of it as a memory building exercise. But what I think I appreciate the most? The simple list...perhaps just such a list will start a relevant conversation...or not. Today, it's just fun.

If at first you don't succeed... (thing 24?)

2009-02-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

...pretend it never happened. Okay, it's a new day, a new 23 things, a new opportunity. Time to embrace this thing! It's all about the attitude from here on...

So I've updated the look of the blog, added a new list (yep, I'm asking those same questions you are about the list...and I wrote it) and am ready to once again jump onto the learning curve. My hope is to get a little farther this time before it unceremoniously dumps me off...

Thing #5 or Do I really have to feed the children?

2008-06-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an absolutely amazing way to waste an evening or two! I have already made a pocket book from the big huge labs site (although I have only uploaded four pictures to flickr, so my book -- look left -- has each picture repeated...but the kids are cute...:O) And, as you can see from my new heading (look up), I have managed to import the flickr spelling. (Okay, with great help from charmed one on the Thing 5 page, that is!)

So, I guess the question is...what does this have to do with my library? Well, for starters, wouldn't it be fun to make pocket books featuring books and authors? Or perhaps author/ illustrator trading cards? What about a "name your librarian" game? Or a set of search and find cards for non-fiction sections? Maybe cards highlighting important buildings in your town? Or political figures? Or trees? Or bug types native to your library grounds?

I'm still a little hesitant about the online photo sharing. I guess, personally, I would be cautious about which pictures I made public. I'm having difficulties shaking the little voice in my head that screams "privacy, privacy, privacy." But, really, as long as the photos posted were tasteful, would anybody really know who they were? I don't know, but I guess I'll err on the side of protecting my children at this point. On the other hand, there are some amazing photos on flickr! And I love using the "mashup" software -- I'm thinking pocketbooks for Christmas... Thanks, 23 things!

Horse from Nangijala; Thing #4

2008-06-28T17:39:00.001-07:00

Horse from Nangijala
Originally uploaded by Cekari

I did open my own Flickr account, and hope to have fun playing around with the pictures which I download. As of now, I only downloaded four pictures of assorted children. In order to download pictures of the library I will have to: 1) remember the camera; 2) remember to take pictures; 3) remember to download said pictures; 4) remember to upload aforementioned pictures to Flickr; and 5) Blog about pictures. (The process could fail during any of the above-mentioned steps, thus I thought downloading somebody else's picture might be prudent at this point!) (Don't hold your breath, but I will try to take some library pics soon...:O)
I have been recently racking my brain to remember some of those forgotten favorites from my childhood -- as of late I'm trying to remember. and re-read, "books that made me cry." I checked out The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggins and now am in search of The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren. The Wiggins book really was as sweet as I remembered it to be (alas, no tears this time), but I'm expecting a sob-fest from Lindgren's book. I saw the The Brothers was re-released within the last couple of decades, and is now easily obtainable. So, gentle readers, listen for the sounds of satisfied sobs just as soon as I locate a copy. Meanwhile, for you Lionheart fans, enjoy this picture, uploaded to flickr by "Cekari." It'll have to do for now.
How will I use flickr in the library? I really don't know, but I love what St. Ben's did with their bookshelf idea. What fun for any collection of books! The obvious, Newbery and/or Caldecotts -- but what about a collection of ghost stories for camp? Or perhaps fun, short reads for school breaks? Endless possibilities, if only I remember to follow the 5 steps above ! :O)

In the know (Thing #3)

2008-05-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

When I was in Honors math in high school, graphing calculators were just slightly over the horizon for most of us. Thus we did it the old fashioned way, with graph paper and our brains. One day I was in a small group of people working on homework and two of them finished with blazing speed. The next day, the same thing...well, you know the story. When I finally asked them how they managed such a feat, they introduced me to the wonders of the graphing calculator. (Just as I am sure, centuries ago, some questioning bloke was introduced to the abacus.) Today, I have rediscovered the wonders of the graphing calculator in the form of the Google reader.

I am a news junkie...and a weather junkie. This brave new world of the RSS feed will allow me to get my fix quickly and efficiently. Perhaps the time saved will even allow me the pleasure of ticking a few more things off my stick.

I am excited to use this technology in the library -- some book review sites will be helpful...and I can feel the excitement mounting for Newbery Monday!

I believe that my ability to manage my reader will grow over time as I add and subtract to hone the perfect site for me. This is a time saver; again the Web is encouraging me to stop and smell the flowers along my journey.

Dancing in the shadows (Thing 2)

2008-05-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Heavens to Betsy! (I once learned where that phrase came from, subsequently forgot, but it still manages to sum it up pretty well, don't ya agree?)

I have had really no exposure to Web 2.0 until now, but I am mightily intrigued by what I'm reading about using the principals of Web 2.0 to define and expand into Library 2.0. I was initially taken by two things that Abram mentions in his video. First, that we are experienced based learners. And that as adults, we learn as we reflect. Perhaps that is why, as a society, we turn to blogs and webcasts and podcasts and social networking to connect with one another -- the relative anonymity allows us the time and space to fully appreciate the participation and to ponder both our level of participation and our responses within comfortable parameters. Perhaps, contrary to conventional wisdom, the Web is allowing us to slow down and smell the flowers. Sure, I want the news when I want it -- but doesn't that ultimately allow me to structure my day to suit my needs? And the needs of my family? Not to mention my garden? And wouldn't services delivered to patrons on their schedules serve much the same purpose? Hmm...

Another seemingly polarizing idea is that of radical trust. I don't trust my computer, really I don't. It will crash when I desperately need it -- it will have a temper tantrum when I don't have time to deal with it -- and it certainly hides the very best search results from me. This I know. And, on top of this radical distrust is all the warnings we hear, and the messages I drill into the heads of my daughters. Don't give personal information, don't give ANY potentially identifying information, don't SAY ANYTHING OUT LOUD because the cyber bad guys will come and rip you from your comfortable homes and the rest is a tragedy best left to true crime dramas. And amidst this foray into the deep dark underworld that is the World Wide Web we are supposed to even entertain the idea of trust? Hah! But the idea is intriguing...because there are a few sites that I trust. Why in heaven's name would I send a complete stranger money and expect to get anything in return? Because his Ebay feedback scores are sufficiently high that I "trust" the seller. Why would I chose one digital camera over another? Because I "trust" the Amazon ratings. So how does an individual "trust" a system to the extent that they would be willing to start something as bizarre as their own blog? Dangle a really crazy name in front of them, obviously. But, more to the point, how does a system learn to "trust" its users? Maybe it's not learned behavior, maybe it's jumping off a cliff to see if you can fly behavior. Maybe it's dealing with the problems as they come up rather than anticipating failure behavior. Maybe it's just willing to try behavior. But it is certainly not what we're used to behavior. As librarians, we have been entrusted to preserve, to collect, to maintain...not to trust. This will take some doing...

As librarians in a 2.0 world, are we required to go where the people are, make it convenient for them to come to us, or some combination of the two? We have always been in charge of information dissemination...are we now also in charge of leading people to the information? Or are we the highway that they use to find their information? Contrary to popular thought, libraries have a pretty good track record of fulfilling the needs of their patrons. We have books on tape, interlibrary loan, mail-a-book, and even bookmobiles. We already recognize that our job is to connect people with information. The question is, then, simply, how do we fulfill the needs of the patrons today? And who defines those needs? And who has the vision to anticipate those needs? And, if I may be blunt, who has the courage to devise the 22nd century equivalent of the bookmobile? Because courage will be required to tell library boards around the country that we need money -- not for books, but for information via laptops or MP3 players, or kindles, or whatever tomorrow brings. I firmly believe that we will always need the book as we know it...but as a wise librarian told me once, we need to prepare our young patrons for the future -- their future, not ours. So how to we accept that challenge? Do we go to them? Or make it ridiculously easy for them to "come" to us? A combination of the two may be the best answer. In this day of shrinking budgets, however, I plead for the patrons who are already in the library -- don't forsake them in the pursuit of new patrons. Rather, they could be our roadmap to the needs of our potential patron base. Maybe we should learn to trust them.

I am looking forward to so much more with 23 things on a stick. I am eager to expand my skill base with new tricks, but, perhaps more so, I am interested in sharing thoughts with other people with similar challenges. On to Thing 3!

Wow! I've entered a new world! (Thing #1)

2008-05-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

I've always prided myself on "keeping up with the geeks." Well, okay, at least being able to speak the new lingo well enough to keep myself afloat in any gathering of 13 year olds. I've got my own ipod and DS and I can find virtually anything online in a matter of seconds. However, the fine art that is blogging has always eluded me. True, I've never sought out the chance to have my mild mannered musings trickling through cyberspace -- and I've always thought that blogging was a little like allowing anybody the key to your diary. And frankly, who would possibly care? And, even to a greater degree, if anybody DID care, would that not be a little frightening? But, in the name of learning...not to mention calming the curiosity that comes with a title such as 23 things on a stick...here goes!