Thing #7

Remember card catalogs? The ones with REAL cards made from paper? I had a love/hate relationship with them as a kid learning my way around a library. These days, it is more of a love lossed thing. :)

Want to learn more about card catalogs? Check these out:

Library History Buff
LISWiki
Penn History
University of Iowa Libraries cARTalog

Here's the site where I generated my card.

Thing #6

I completely LOVE the Spell with Flickr program! It's just fun and a creative addition to blogs. I was curious to learn where, exactly, these letters come from. After reading a little bit on the Spell with Flickr page, I learned they are from the One Letter group on Flickr. I also learned that there is a numbers group called One Digit.

Thing #5

I've been a Flickr user for many years. The site is easy to use and makes storing and sharing photos a breeze. I considered an upgraded membership for a while but decided that I don't need to share THAT many photos. Instead, I add and remove photos when the whim strikes me. However, for those who need an online storage site for photos they post on blogs and the like, it makes perfect sense. I'm just not that into it. I'm not looking for online posterity. :)



Joining a variety of groups encourages me to make use of the cameras I have. Here's a short list of some of the groups I belong to:

• Chickens
• Fruit & Veg
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Libraries & Librarians
• Rural Decay
• Urban Fragments

You can find ALL kinds of fun stuff on Flickr... have you seen this Library Word Find Puzzle?

Thing #4

I'm a fan of RSS feeds, but I'm not very experienced in the feeds that most people use and write about. To stay current with the St. Johns County Public Library Bloggers, I have been using Bloglines. It does the job but it isn't what I use for my personal and professional feeds. For those I use Safari's built-in RSS reader which makes my life of online reading REALLY super simple! I love having all the feeds conveniently located and organized in a toolbar on my browser.

I use an iGoogle page as my homepage on my home machines and so I have RSS feeds deliver updates from a variety of news sources on it. Interested in comparing other RSS readers? Here's a few other choices:

• FeedDemon
• NewzCrawler
• Omea Reader
• SharpReader

Digital Experiences

Ok, so yeah, I was a Facebooking geek yesterday. While I was watching the inauguration at work, I was transmitting my impressions to Facebook via mobile capabilities. (that is SO cool!) It was great to digitally crack jokes about Cheney looking like Dr. Strangelove and wonder if Aretha's big bowed hat would make it into the Smithsonian. It was a unique way to share the experience with others and it was a first for me. I know I wasn't alone and today I read this which confirms it. Her blog post poses interesting questions about the preservation of digital documentation, not that my comment about Bush Sr.'s hat making me question whether he'd become a Canadian is something we need to preserve, but maybe...

Internship Learning Objectives

As part of my internship, I have to provide daily journal entries to my internship supervisor every few weeks. My entries are not to include lists of daily tasks, instead, they will be reflections that relate to the five learning objectives I created for my overall internship experience. Fortunately for me and due to the nature of the work performed in Technical Services, all of my objectives are interconnected.

When I created my learning objectives, I wanted one goal to be the production of a multimedia piece for the library system or as a stand alone project to share at the end of the semester. This worked well with the department's desire to include video tutorials on the library system's website. So when I walked in on day one, my primary project began. I will be creating screencast tutorials of how-to's on topics such as How Do I Renew My Items? My research on screencasting software began immediately because I've never created a screencast. Stay tuned!

Thing #3

I love chickens. Because I love chickens, I used them as my search term on Technorati and BlogPulse. I was mildly surprised by the variance in results. Although the focus of this exercise is blogs, I did a generic search on Google out of curiosity. The two sites that focused on chickens in blogs offered differing results from one another. Results produced blogs by chicken owners, which would have been my subject of choice, as well as recipes for cooking chickens. HA! There were even Bible quotes. What a variety! I don't believe I've ever searched a blog search engine so that was interesting.

Although I never aspire to become a professional blogger, I can see how registering blogs on these sites would greatly benefit those who do. I think as an information provider, these search tools could be useful to provide guidance for info seekers needing to research blogs. Not all research is academic. Sometimes the information we need comes from laypeople. Such as those people who have first hand experience raising chickens in an urban setting, as an example.

Thing #2

As someone who jumped into the library scene mostly through graduate study, I've been fully emersed in the world of Web 2.0. It is, afterall, the method by which I'm earning my degree. If it weren't for the wonders of the Web, my goal of earning a MLIS degree wouldn't come to fruition.

I think the change was needed, no matter what you call it. I also believe the majority of libraries who are convinced they've always been leaders in collaboration are mistaken. They are out of touch with how the general public perceives libraries and their staff. (Picture the scowl-faced, old school, stuffy librarian image here.) This is all a part of the change that is required for libraries to remain a vital part of the communities they serve.

Don't get me wrong, I love libraries! I am a life-long patron, promote the use of libraries, and respect those who've devoted their professional lives to the work of libraries. But we must remain current with information sharing. It goes way beyond the stack of newpapers that are shuffled through on a daily basis. The library user expects us to be knowledgeable so that places a heavy burden on the shoulders of those who work in the profession. We must not only promote life-long learning and literacy... we must set the example. If you're not willing to commit to that challenge, then perhaps life as a library staff member isn't the place for you.

So what the heck does this have to do with the topic of Thing #2? It has to do with acceptance of change. The technologies associated with Web 2.0/Library 2.0 invite us to collaborate and share information in a way that libraries have never seen! I'm excited by this change and am SO glad that I'm entering the field of librarianship now. I'd have never survived in the old school, stodgy, stuff shirt surroundings of libraries that existed when I first became a library user.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

- Charles Darwin

Destination: Chicago

As part of my graduate study experience, I planned early on to join a few library-related associations. I had no idea there were SO many to choose from! Because I didn't have a specific focus of study, such as a media specialist, I chose general associations: ALA, FLA, and SLA. I also joined ASIS&T for good measure! Being a student includes the added benefit of a discounted membership rate. :)

A perk to membership is the opportunity to network by meeting other members at a variety of functions. I met fellow MLIS students and FLA members by volunteering at Library Days at the Legislature in 2008. This year will include attending an ALA event: ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. 

Preparing for the 23Things Kickoff!

As part of my internship with the St. Johns County Public Library System, I am participating in the 23 Things* program sponsored by NEFLIN. I am familiar with many of the Things, thanks to my Master's program at the Florida State University, but there are areas where I can expand my knowledge and put into practice Things I've learned.

In addition to building my Web 2.0 portfolio and honing my skills, I hope to assist others within the SJCPLS with guidance through this self-paced, self-discovery learning experience. It's going to be interesting to see how staff put these new tools, these Things, to use within libraries.

*The 23 Things @ NEFLIN Program is a modification of the Learning 2.0 Program designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County and replicated by more the 250 libraries worldwide.