23 Take Away 20

There are only t-h-r-e-e things left to complete! Right On!!

Thing #20

I've been a Bookcrosser since 2002. In fact, I established the Yahoo Group that meets monthly in Jacksonville. Since beginning, I have released 769 books into the wild, including three a couple days ago. I set those "free" at Panera and saw two people "find" the books while I was having lunch. I love finding out where my books have gone and appreciate the people who have taken the extra time to log their finds. Without them, there'd be no fun in it at all.

I think anything that encourages or enhances reading is a good thing. Even the Internet. Most of my reading these days is online. Due to my studies, I read a lot of articles and book materials in .pdf form. Additionally, I have text books and this semester, I'm reading a gazillion young adult books. I look forward to getting back to reading for pleasure and when I do, I intend to participate in some reading groups through Booksprouts. A friend, and librarian, recommended the site about a month ago and said she enjoyed sharing a book discussion through the site with a group of friends.

Thing #19

Since getting my first computer in 1996, I've used it as a way to stay connected and socialize with friends near and far. This has also allowed me to make new friends through a variety of online social networks. I have friends in motorcycling forums and crafting friends who like to swap handmade goods. Now that I'm up to my eyeballs in the library world, I use social networking sites to talk shop with others in the profession.

Just a couple weeks ago I logged into a WebJunction webinar about 23 Things. More than 200 other library folk joined in to learn how to implement a 23 Things program and get ideas on how to promote the program's benefits to participants. The library community came together, online, to learn and share... to collaborate on a topic I find very beneficial to library staff.

I've recently joined Ning, but haven't really gotten involved. Several peers use Ning as a meeting place to share information, experiences, and ideas about library-related topic and recommend that I explore it further. I will when time allows.

National Library Workers Day

Mark your calendars on Tuesday, April 14 for National Library Workers Day! I love their tag line: Libraries Work Because We Do!

Thing #18

Barbara Walters doesn't understand why people want to be on "myface"...



My initial contact with Facebook was last semester thanks to my Virtual Reference Environments class. At the time, I had no interest in Facebook because I was like Barbara. I didn't understand why people wanted to share so much information or keep track of others who felt inclined to share so much information. It was really odd how I "friended" four people from my young adult days within the first 20 minutes of being on the site. It seemed TOO immediate and in my face, but it grew on me. I now keep my FB page open while I am at the computer, which due to my studies and personal interests, is most hours of the day.

I have a lot of fun with it while also sharing information that I believe is interesting and/or educational. My non-library friends have actually thanked me for the "professional" info I share about libraries, social networking, productivity, and information in general. I have friended "rockstars" in the field of information so I can remain in tune with the trends impacting libraries. I have also become a fan of more than 100 libraries. Keeping abreast of their events and updates is another way of staying on top of what is happening in libraries. It is a useful tool and one that I recommend for library professionals who want to stay informed of what is happening in the field.

MySpace, on the other hand, still holds no interest to me HOWEVER, I see its value in reaching a segment of the population that IS interested, i.e. teens. The first library I noticed using MySpace was JPL (Jacksonville Public Library) because I was an employee. I was thrilled to see them using this social networking tool and that the public was responding to the page. This type of interaction is important because it IS a connection.

Earth Hour - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

I participated in this effort for more than an hour last year and plan to again this Saturday, March 28. I encourage everyone to take a power break for at least an hour. Light some candles, play cards or a board game, or just lay back at relax. Check out Earth Hour 60 for more information... and please pass this info along.

For Book Lovers

This relates to the Library Thing thingy we covered a couple weeks ago. Thought it worthy of sharing.

10 Websites for Book Lovers

Thing #17

Listening to podcasts while I do other things, like fold and put away laundry, is a very common practice. I subscribe to a number of podcasts through iTunes, such as:
This American Life (my FAVORITE!!)
Prairie Home Companion
NPR's All Songs Considered
The Moth Podcast

"Off the Beaten Path" is a podcast sample I created to learn the basics of audio mixing. It was a lot of fun! I liked searching for sound clips and music and playing around with the editing. It's time consuming, but I liked it.

I used Audacity to record the podcast. Sounds were from Freesound and music from ccMixter. Both offer Creative Commons licensed recordings, which are legal to reproduce.

Thing #16

I probably check out at least one YouTube video every day. Some are for library purposes and some are merely for entertainment. Let me be totally forthright here -- MOST are for entertainment! :)  Like this one for example:




I went to Vimeo and searched "public library." This was my first time visiting the site although I've seen vimeo vids embedded in a variety of websites. Here's a cool video promoting teen reading:


Metamorphosis @ the Library from GreeneLibrary.info on Vimeo.

While on Vimeo, I found a group: Video for Libraries!

I created a "video" for a class a couple semesters ago, it's called 1HappyGirl. All of the images used were mine. Music was found on Freesound.

Thing #15

This is the first I've heard or seen Rollyo and at first glance, I'm not overly enthused. It is powered by Yahoo so you're basically just doing a dolled up search in that search engine. It is riddled with ads, which is always a big turn off for me. This isn't a site I'll be rollin' with, yo.

Thing #14

I love utilizing tools that help streamline productivity! I've been an iGoogle user for a while and find it very helpful because I can get a lot of information at a glance. It's a great starting point for time spent on the web. This Thing reminds us of how many cool tools we have at our fingertips, tools that have practical uses. Collaboration on document creation and management could not be any easier than using Google Docs. I've witnessed this in my internship as staff members edit library system policies. Extremely useful and efficient.

Although I use the calendar on my Mac, I think open source, web-based calendars are a great idea for the workplace. For groups and organizations, this is a simple way to share calendars for planning purposes. For libraries, it's an easy way to organize meetings and programs. Briiliant!

My lists are kept in my mind and yes, that is a very faulty system! I've gotten away from efficient list-keeping. I'll add that to my list of Things To Do.

Backpack looks like a super handy tool and would work well for an individual or group. It reminds me a lot of what is available in the Microsoft Office Suite. If individuals use the tools that are available, it makes planning SO much easier for everyone involved. Using the web-based tools makes accessing planning information a snap.

I don't think it's really helping with my productivity -- but-- I DID add a countdown timer to my blog! I can't help but be excited about graduating. :)

From the Founder of Twitter