#23 Last but not least

"Mom is so cute!" my kids said after I showed them my blogs. "You are the second mom who has a Facebook account among all my friends." my daughter commented. When I showed my son the application of Google.Docs, he was so impressed and said: "This is the first time mom taught me something." After he saw my puzzled face, he added: "I mean computer-related." He thought I was "computer illiterate". Now I proved I could do it like them or even better. This is all because I took the journey with Queens Library Learning 2.0. When I first started 23 and 1/2 Things, I wasn't sure if I could accomplish it. Each time, it took me so much time to learn the new Thing, but as I was working towards the end, I felt so much better and more comfortable. Working in the branch, you are constantly interrupted or distracted by various things. I could never finish one entire blog without being interrupted. The good thing about Blogger is that you can go back to your earlier blog anytime and edit it. Through this journey, I have learned more than I have expected. I set up my goal of learning the very basics such as jargon or technical terms, but it turned out that I could do them all. My favorite exercises are Google Docs, Upcoming events in Yahoo, RSS feeds and Library Thing. Those will help and actually helped me in the daily operations of the library. I posted several events that will take place in the library through Upcoming using Google Docs. This helps to increase the visibility of the library in the community.

If Library is going to offer another discovery training, I will participate again without doubt. I hope next time the training will start a little bit easier and give more time for each exercise. As a beginner, I need more time to review, preview literature and practice. I am so glad that I achieved my short-term goal and am looking forward to the next challenge. This training will definitely benefit me in the future. I will nominate QL.Thing team for Lamplight Award for next year!

#22 Audiobooks

If it wasn't for this learning exercise, I wouldn't know that we have such a big collection of Digital Media. The good feature of this Digital Media Catalog is to let you browse the eBook shelf. It holds eBook & Audio Book Fiction, Nonfiction, Video by Genre, Music by Genre, etc. The collection is very impressive. I looked under eBook & Audio Book Nonfiction and found
Non Fiction
Business & Finance
Children's
Cooking & Food
Health & Fitness
More Nonfiction

I was interested in Cooking, so I clicked on it, then I found the book "Easy Sushi". The calatalog gives very detailed information about the book including the content details, format information, description of the content and digital rights information which I consider very important if the customer wants to burn it into CD or DVD or transfer it into other device. It is so cool and I might want to download it once I get to my computer at home.

#21 Podcasts directory tools

I went to Podcast.net and searched Book Reviews in the search box. I got a long list of blogs. The Book Voyages caught my attention. It is "a podcast about children's literature from the point of view of a school library/media specialist. It features reviews of books as well as inteviews with students and authors." This site displays the URL of its feed right below the title and it is so easy to locate. I just right clicked the mouse and copied shortcut and pasted the URL into the Subscribe text box of my Bloglines. It is as easy as copying newsfeeds in the earlier excersice. Here is the link to my Bloglines with two podcast feeds added: Book Voyages and AssistiveMedia Fiction: http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs

Podcast.net also lets you add a podcast. When you move down to the lower part of the page, you will see a bar of ADD YOUR PODCAST, just click on it and then follow the instructions step by step. Once your podcast is added, you can monitor how many audience you will get. The entry will be automatically updated. In addition, your podcast will be searchable in the directory.

#9 Feeding Frenzy - a make-up exercise

I think I missed #9 assignment. I took a look at #8 and the requirements for both assignments are so similiar, but anyway, I am going to find more feeds using some of the various blog search tools. I tried Topix, Blogline Search, Syndic8 and Feedster. As an experiment I went to each site and searched for "travel in New Orleans" in their default search box as I am going there for a training workshop in January, 2008 (I will take some photos there and share with you in my blog later). I tried Feedster first but it didn't work. I tried several times and it always gave me the error messages. So I tried Topix which listed all the information, and about 25% is relevant to what you really want. You had to click on each entry to find the image of feeds. Most of the time, you don't find any. Blogline's Search is very similar to Topix. The best of all is Syndics8. I searched "travel" in Syndics8's search box and it lists all the sites with Feed URLs, Feed IDs, Site Names, Created, Approved and Changed dates, Status of whether the site is syndicated or awaiting repair. It even provides information on languages. It took me no time to add my favorite feeds to my Bloglines. When I searched "travel in New Orleans" and it listed one matching feed and it is exactly what I wanted - New Orleans City Guide, though it is waiting for approval for syndicated.

#6 More Flickr Fun - Mosaic Maker

Today I went back to check if I finished all the assignments and found that I missed this fun one. So I tried FD Toys' Mosaic Maker to create a photo mosaic from my digital photographs. I had so much fun! It lets you be creative - choose a layout, make an arrangement of photos, select background color and border color, etc. and it gives you all the possibilities of making photos -- themes, colors, shapes. I chose to upload photos from my digital camera instead of URLS so I had to sign in before uploading the photos. It only took a few minutes. Actually it is pretty easy to manoeuver.

#20 YouTube - RFID in libraries

I like YouTube. It is very easy to comprehend. It makes things that people never saw before now visual. It is especially good to show people on how to do things. With our new RFID system, I think that we can do a demo on RFID check out function via YouTube or other video hosting sites.

This is the video from YouTube on RFID technology used in libraries. I like the second and fourth parts of the video on the smart and quick inventory function. The vedio shows one of the advantafes of RFID system used to scan books on the shelves without tipping them out or removing them. The hand-held inventory reader can be moved across a shelf of books to read all of the unique idenfication information. It can also identify items which are out of proper order. It will save librarians tremendous time to search and inventory the collection by using portable reader and portable computer. I hope it will come to Queens Library system very soon so we don't have to move the collection to the book truck and then to the DRA terminal to determine the status of each item.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools - Events "Upcoming"

I took a look at the "Upcoming" - an events planing/scheduling organizer from Yahoo. You can search events in a designated area without signing in. You can narrow the search by category or by date. If you want to add new events, you have to register with them. I successfully added one of our programs in December to the site. Here it is (yahoo events upcoming): htttp://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/325756/?ps=5

It also shows the area of the map where the event will take place. It is a great tool for libraries to do a outreach, and publize their events in the community - more efficient than distributing the paper flyers in the neighborhood.

#18 Web-based Applications - Google Docs

Today I tried one of the web-based applications - Google Docs. It is a very useful tool and can be used to create and share your work online. You can import the existing documents, spreadsheets and presentations, or create new ones from scratch. The best of all is that you can access and edit your documents from anywhere and store them securely online. You can invite people to your document and make changes together - it's very helpful when you do a group presentation or work as a committe member.

I spent some time trying to create files or upload files. I found that when you upload files, it lists the types of files you can upload. It also gives you the options of sharing or publishing documents. You can even publish it to your blog. I tried to post one photo from Google Docs to my blog, the file went through, but the image didn't. I also tried to share one document with my colleague, and it went through successfully. The following is a word file that I uploaded from my desktop and saved it as a presentation file. Here it is:

This document is published on the web.
Your document is publicly viewable at:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dhtprxk5_118cx976
Published on November 24, 2007 1:13 PM

One of the benefits to participate in Queens Library Learning 2.0 is to know that we have so many web-based applications available to us but we didn't know they even exist. Now we can recommend to our customers those tools especially when they don't have floppy dics or flash drives with them and they want to save their files.

#17 1/2 Facebook and Online Social Club

In my previous blog, I said I wouldn't sign up for any unnecessary online accounts any more. Here I am again signing up for my Facebook. I couldn't resist the temptation! I am curious and wonder why so many people got hooked up to it - my son was one of them. I did find it interesting and helpful. I might be able to find my long lost friends! As for the library applications, I like Books iRead and My Wikipedia. People can share their reviews and knowledge. For other applications, they all look good to me, but I am afraid there are so many out there that we cannot handle.

#17 Playing Around with Wikis

Unfortunately, I didn't have a good experience playing with Wikis. Almost every Wiki I tried, I was blocked from editing and changing them. They all required a login name and password. Right now I don't even remember how many accounts I have since I started with Library Learning 2.0. I just don't want to have another one unless it is necessary. My colleague showed me one that didn't ask for login, and I tried it. It works, but I don't want to repeat other people's work. I think I will keep on trying until I find one. It is very time consuming!

#16 Wiki Me This

Wikis are so cool. They can be used to bridge the gaps between customers and the libraries and put the community resources under their control. St. Joseph Country Public Library System did a good job for their Subject Guides. The guides represent the collaboration between the library and its users and truly show the users real interests. The Guides not only help customers discover library materials but also events and activities. I took a look at the SJCPL Subject Guides and clicked on the entry of Jobs. I found information on Unemployment Info; Local Employers; Local Job Search Links; General Job Search Links; Relocation & Cost of Living; Resumers and Careers, so on and so forth. It is very comprehensive. On top of their webpage, it gives you the options to read, discuss, edit (only limited to librarians) and history - one of the features that earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated if needed. I tried to click on Discussion tap and wanted to make some comments without any success. It has some kind of control there. But I will try later. With Queens Library, I think our Community Database can use this Wiki format to pull all the agencies or organizations together and serve our customers better.

#15 On Library 2.0

Libary 2.0, an adaption from Web 2.0, is a user-centered, information and resource sharing web. Lots of people may have not realized that we are already a user of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. This shared network space provides people with alomost everything they do.

With Library 2.0, more and more services are available to users. Users are encouraged for feedback and participation in the library services, such as Ask A Librarian, a two way communication. With Library 2.0, library can save shelf space by providing users with virtual reference. That's why we weeded our reference collection heavily and got rid of some of the "just in case" collection as Rick Anderson mentioned in his article Away from the "icebergs" . "It no longer makes sense to collect information products as if they wre hard to get." As libraries are moving into Web 2.0, our customers will expect access to everything. That places us into a new direction - "it means integrating our services into their daily patterns of work, study and play"(Rick Anderson).

#14 Technorati Navigation

I navigated on Technorati today, and there is so much information there. I was wondering who has time to sit there searching for all this information. Perhaps I am an old fashioned librarian and like things to be well organized, not like the information unfiltered in Technorati. But anyway, I tried the keyword searching for Learning 2.0. I got 2536 posts tagged Learning 2.0, and 37213 results from Learning 2.0 in the blog posts. What a difference! I also tried Queens Library as a tag in the Technorati search, and found the photo that I posted on flickr. Here it is: http://technorati.com/photos/tag/queens+library?page=3

#13 Tag!

I took a look at the Del.icio.us. There are so many delicious things there - tags/bookmarks. I checked QL L2.0 account, and found many useful resources there. I purposely clicked on a bookmark that has been bookmarked by very few users so that I wouldn't be sidetracked. I clicked on LANGUAGE, it opened up another page with TravelLiguist. On the right side of the page, it gives "related tags": reference, tools, youtube. I further clicked on "tools", then another page with related tags appeared, such as "archive, bibliographic, blog, citation, collaboration, directions, email...". I like it. They can be cross referenced.

#12 Rollyo Search Engine

I created my own search engine today. It is not a hard one compared with the other assignments, though the instructions are not specific. Your can bring all the sites that have the same interets under one subject like this one http://rollyo.com/jinglebell06/

Since we have a very large ESOL population in the community, we can use this search engine to find the information our ESOL students need (hopefully).

#11 Library Thing

I like it. I noticed that some customers like to take notes about what they have read. If they know how to use Library Thing, it will be very helpful for those customers. Also it is easy for those customers who just saw the cover once and didn't remember the exact title to identify which book they want by just looking at the images. I think I will book the Library Thing at the Ref Desk, and use it as a search tool.

P.S. I have some problems displaying my book shelf on the blog. I will try next time if I can get some help.

Here it is after our specialist showed me how to do it.

#10 Image Generators

Today I tried Generator Blog and FD Toys, and created two personalised calendars. Both of them are great and gave me lots of fun, but it was very time consuming (hope it is worthwhile). I created November's calendar with Generator Blog. First I went to Calendar Generator, and chose a month, and uploaded a digital photo from my PC, and just clicked on Generate Calendar. It came out very nicely. I saved it on my desktop and uploaded it to my blog. Then I tried FD Toys and created a customized calendar from my digital photgraph. It is very easy. I just followed the intructions they provided for and sent it to Flickr. It is posted publicly. Here is the link to my creation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15357293@N03/?saved=1

# 8 Make life simple with RSS

It is so handy. Before I knew anything about RSS, I bookmarked several websites for current news. From time to time, I had to go back to or refresh the sites from my favoriates to check the updates. Now I don't have to do that anymore. I just go to my Bloglines for my newsfeeds and check the updates - save me so much time. Signing up for Bloglines is very easy but subscribing to feeds is a little bit confusing at the beginning. It took me some time to subscribe to more than 10 feeds. I feel so good now because I can read the updates without being bothered by the unnecessary information.

#7 Technology

Technology is good when it works. When we first had RFID in place in our library, neither customers nor staff liked this new system, because people were so used to the old way of checking out materials in the library. When the new system had problems or gliches, they even became more unpatient. After a while when they get used to it, they like it very much. It is much faster, and also saves both staff and customers' time. It is always the case that people are resistent to new things. When they get used to it, they are so attached to it. Technology is good in a way that it speeds up everything we do now in this world, but when it breaks down, it creates more problems, therefore, we cannot depend on it completely. We have to have a contigent plan in place.

#5 Flickr - Queens Library Photos

Now I have a Flickr account. I took a photo of the community library and uploaded it to my account with tag of "Queens Library".
Queens Library serves as a community center. It is no long a place for people to borrow books and other materials. It is a center of people's life, especially the new immigrants.Here is one of the many photos of the library in a busy afternoon.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15357293@N03/?saved=1

#4 Register Your Blog - My Virtual Office

Today I set up a blog through Blogger and registered with QL.thing. I hope I will learn all the 23 and 1/2 things in the next few weeks.

#2 Lifelong Learning

Everyone has his own lifelong learning style. Some can learn by reading, others can learn by playing. Everyone is different. But the important thing is to have an objective in your mind so you can plan ahead and plan well. For me, it is easier to set an achievable and short term goal. Once you achieve it, you feel you are rewarded and relieved, and then you set up another goal. Therefore, it is never too old to learn because you have different goals for different period of time in your life. So on and so forth, you are moving forward with your life, until you achieve your final objective. The hardest lifelong learning habit for me is to use tech. to my advantage. We are used to the everyday pace we set up before, and always feel that we don't have time to keep up with the technology. To participate in the Library Learning 2.0 is to try to overcome this obstacle and to achieve this short term goal - blog with people.