Learning Qurve

#23: Ta-(finally)-Da!

2007-12-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

Hear that squeaking sound? That's me, coming in under the wire. I gotta say, blogging is a hard thing to keep up on top of the job and the actual life, especially during the jam-packed Hallowe'en-to-Christmas weeks. Of course, had it been run during the summer, I'd have said that was a particularly busy time, too, what with the kids off and vacations being taken. So, have a grain of salt with that grumble, won't you?

All told, I was very pleased to have been nudged and bribed and peer-pressured into exploring all the Things (even the silly ones) and I would certainly participate again in a similar program.

In the spirit of the tabloid papers' year-end Hot-Or-Not lists, here's my personal assessment of the 23 and 1/2 Things:

#1-#4: Reading, Learning, Setting Up, Registering: Hot! Because it was easy, and hey, 4 down.

#5-#7: Flickr, Mashups, Technology: Hot! Because it was fun. Flickr is awesome, easy to use,
extremely useful for sharing and keeping in touch, has no intrusive ads, and doesn't try
to claim the rights to every bit of content you provide.

#8-#9: Bloglines and RSS feeds: Hot! Because they save the time of the reader. And you know,
that's the law.

#10-#12: Image Generators, LibraryThing, and Rollyo: Not! Because they are time-suckers, in my opinion, without enough substance returned for the amount of time invested.

#13-#15: Tagging, Technorati, Two-Point-Oh: Hot! Not! Lukewarm! Because tagging is here
to stay, and we've got to keep working it until it works really well. Technorati, I'm not
convinced, as even with the ratings system, I think blogs are less reliable than
Wikipedia. Two-Point-Oh, you're just another way of talking about what I've been
doing all along.

#16-#17 1/2: Wikis and Facebook: Lukewarm! and NOT! Because wikis are a hard thing to do
well, and to keep up with: I found more than a couple of incomplete, abandoned
library wikis. Wikipedia is not bad, but it's not yet the Greatest Show on Earth.
And Facebook? No thanks.

#18-#19: Online Apps and Web 2.0 Awards: Hot! Again, because of the usefulness and the
benefits these things provide the average person.

#20-#23: YouTube, Podcasts, E-Audiobooks and Thoughts: Hot! Because they save the
time of the reader, provide every reader his or her material, and they provide these benefits without exorbitant cost. Even though e-audiobooks are not for me, I know lots of people who love 'em, and I can see why. I listen once in a while to podcasts, and I can see library applications for those.

All in all, I thought this was a great program, and I'll bet a lot of people who never continued or
even started blogging still followed some of it and tried a few new things that they wouldn't have otherwise.

Thanks to Hood and Hat for a job well done!

#22: Audiobooks

2007-12-20T15:41:00.001-05:00

Ya know, I was listening to audiobooks when they came on huge reel-to-reel tapes the size of a telephone-cable spool ....

.......okay that's a complete fabrication. But they were on tape.

And I just couldn't deal with it because I didn't know WHAT I was supposed to be doing with my eyes while I was listening. Plus I couldn't leave the room for fear I'd miss something...it's not the same as music. So I tried listening in the car, and on the bus with my bulky Sony Walkman,
but I found it unsatisfying. It seems to be something you either like, or you don't.

The good news for those in the "like 'em" camp is that audiobooks are more convenient than ever to use, and the option of downloading e-audiobooks from your library makes it a more economical option than ever: no gas or carfare to get to and from the library, and no overdue fees. Download the free player, and get the books you want. Or, at the moment, the books that are available. I was surprised to see graphic novels featured, but unfortunately none of those seem to have an excerpt provided. I wonder how they do that...There are excerpts provided for many of the titles, and that's a very good thing. Due to my personal disinclination, though, I found it difficult to sit in front of my computer and listen for even those two-minute excerpts, so even though I went through the process of placing a hold on a title (very easy) I doubt I'll download the reader and listen to it.

But, I've worked with audiobooks and I know how many and how devoted are their listeners.
Those people made the transition from spoken-word cassette to books on CD, and as soon as the
kinks are worked out of this inconvenient delivery system ("It won't work on my iPod? are you serious?") I think they'll grow in popularity.

#21: The Proof Is In The Podding

2007-12-20T15:35:00.001-05:00

I have iTunes already and have been happily using their podcast directory and downloading for a year. I'm usually looking for a podcast of a particular thing: radio show episode, a particular author speaking or musician; I don't browse. I looked at all three of the podcast tools, but I didn't like the interaction with any of them. I found it difficult to find anything I specifically looked for, and browsing was a frustration since I'm afraid I really don't want to browse audio. I'm strictly a visual browser, that's probably why I prefer YouTube. I can't tell anything from just the titles. Well. I do think podcasts are a great idea, and in a library setting there could be a series to accompany QBPL Gallery exhibits, maybe featuring interviews with the artists.

YouTube? MeToo.

2007-12-19T16:08:00.000-05:00

The very first time I ever YouTubed for was not for entertainment but instruction. I wanted to see what kayaking in Alaska might be like, and what riding a zipline would entail. In both cases, I was able to quickly find and view clips recorded by people doing those very things. Some were very short and/or poorly done, a couple were slick professional "commercials," but others were just what I was looking for. Searching YouTube for "Queens Library" brings up just a few clips of library programs now, but I think it would be a great way to commemorate, document, share and generally "talk up" what's going on in your community library. (Insert boilerplate admonitions about filming persons/minors without permission, etc., here.) It might be a while before there's a widespread library-related use for YouTube, only because we still have waaaay more computer-access demand than we do supply, but outside the library, I personally know scads of preteens-and-up who are making their own suspense movies, exploring film editing and special effects, and generally learning a lot while they think they're just goofing around.
The other lovable thing is that YouTube's a "wayback machine" that takes you anywhere you remember on TV. Old cigarette commercials? Check! Captain Kangaroo? Got him! I know these things can be acquired commercially, or viewed in the Museum of Television and Broadcasting, but that avenue is for the serious researcher. For the casual dabbler in nostalgia, YouTube is awesomely handy.

#19: The Web 2.0 Awards

2007-12-19T15:59:00.001-05:00

I was all set to write about Etsy being a favorite site, when I saw Bibilio on the winners' list.
Decisions, decisions. I haven't used Biblio, preferring AbeBooks, but it looks like Biblio's site has been redesigned and is quite appealing now.
Both Etsy and Biblio are sites where independent sellers "gather," like a giant cyberspace marketplace, with the added bonus of not having to schlep from table to table. In both cases, you can browse a single seller's wares, or look through everybody's inventory for something specific.
At Etsy you can plug in all kinds of parameters for your search: blue things, for instance, or things in the category "Geekery." There's even a way to shop by the geographic location of the seller, so you can support your local artists (everything on Etsy is handmade, being sold by the artist.) At Biblio you can search by format, limit to first editions or books with dustjackets, indicate a price range, publication date, or indicate keywords you wish to find in the book descriptions. You can even limit your search for a title to only those booksellers belonging to any of a number of local, national and international associations.
These kinds of collaborative "storefronts" seem to me one of the best aspects of the whole "Web 2.0/Social Networking" concept, keeping alive the mom-and-pop shop and bringing it to an enormous audience.

NOW We're Talking: #18

2007-12-14T10:09:00.000-05:00

Web-based applications that let you email docs around to others for them to edit, add to, comment on...and no worries about whether they use Word or Wordperfect?! This is bliss!

I'm sure they won't be eliminating the need for those installed desktop applications, but they are perfect for informal situations or for the initial stages of collaboration.

I tried Google Docs first, and like it very much. It let me import Word documents from my hard drive as well as create something new. Then I tried Writeboard and found the interface even easier and more welcoming than Google Docs. I could really get used to the simple keyboard strokes required to bold and italicize your text. (I love to bold and italicize. Perhaps a bit too much.)

I could see this being a great way to solicit input from far-flung staff members, brainstorm a better subject guide, or assemble reviews for the summer reading newsletter.

These are the kinds of applications that, had I merely heard about them, I might have thought "Ah, nice for those who don't have/can't afford Word," not realizing that, while they're not as sophisticated as installed desktop apps, in some ways they do much, much more. I'm so pleased that QL Learning compelled me to look closer.

Facebook, the Half-a-Thing

2007-12-14T10:06:00.000-05:00

I took the tour of Facebook. Not very informative. I started the process of signing up, in fact I guess I did sign up, even though at first it rejected my qbpl email address. I didn't feel like providing my personal email yet, so I backed out of the signup. But I was captured anyway, it seems! With my name all backwards and my birthdate wrong but whaddaya gonna do? Any site that requires this much data entry is no friend of mine. I poked somebody, but ya know, I could have called faster and with more of a surprise element. And the poke contains no information, so of what interest is it to them, or me? If I text-message, there's some content; I don't type "poke!" (not that there's anything wrong with that!)
It seems like a time-consuming task to really work a Facebook account, and your friends would all have to participate, too. Even though it sounds reassuring to see that "only friends and people in your networks can see your profile," it turns out there's fifty-three thousand people in my network. Cozy!

I suppose it's just not for me. And now it doesn't seem possible to delete my account, all I can do is edit my profile. That may be very Web 2.0 ("you're connected forever!!") but it's not very customer-friendly.

WikiWatchee #16 and 17

2007-12-14T10:04:00.000-05:00

I like Wikipedia for one important reason: it's right there to use when I'm on the phone with a customer, or standing in front of a customer at the ref desk. I can start searching while the customer's talking to me, instead of walking away to get a print source or putting down the phone to look something up. What's more, Wikipedia is a one-stop more comprehensive than any print source, containing as it does traditional encyclopedia topics as well as pop-cultural, esoteric and the downright weird.

The layout is beautiful, with a ton information presented clearly and coherently, that lets you clarify questions so that you can doublecheck in a more thoroughly reliable source.

Wikipedia entries are often rounded out with graphics, and sound and video links. The obsessively attentive overlords of the site keep it remarkably well-policed, and the good parts outweigh the flaws. I give Wikipedia a thumbs-up.

For this exercise I edited the Wikipedia article "pop up book," adding to the references and external links. It was extremely easy to do and somewhat gratifying.

#15: The Whole 2.0 Thing

2007-12-14T10:01:00.000-05:00

How long has this Library 2.0 idea been going around? Because Queens has always been
customer-oriented, cooperative,and (believe me!) in a state of constant change for at least a quarter of a century.
I think the biggest changes brought about by the Library 2.0 notion are happening in the cash-poor, somnolent suburban and rural libraries, where growing access to the Internet is allowing isolated libraries to connect with a lot more people, and provide more services without spending more money. Web-based word-processing and spreadsheet applications allow libraries to offer these things to customers without paying for big-ticket brand name apps. Blogging lets them keep wired customers up-to-date on news, events, changes to events. Teach your customers how to use a mouse so they can email their grown kids on the danged computer those kids got them and they can't figure out how to use, and They Will Come.
Yes, libraries have always been welcoming places, designed to provide for the needs of the customer. It was just that intimidating card catalog that was scaring everyone. That, and the electric erasers. (Those were technology once!)
I feel like the notion of Library 2.0 is just a way of talking about a few new things. A few big new things, sure, but it'll be okay. They're the same things we've always done, we just need a new way of doing them if we want everybody to keep talking about our sudden hipness. (Enough with that, already.)

Is Tagging Del.icio.us? It's Downright Yummy!

2007-12-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

The first thing that struck me after I successfully imported my Favorites to del.icio.us?

"Whoa!" I thought. "I have a lot of bookmarks."

I had to clean them up. That was work. Is work. Haven't really finished yet. Will make more public when I do. It'd be embarassing to put out dead links and stuff. It's good to clean house.
I will share many rare and wondrous things soon.

The only thing I don't like about del.icio.us is the appearance of one's bookmarks list; I like to see how many other people favorited the same sites I did, but who can read pale blue letters overlaid by pink highlighting? And who thought pale blue type in general a good idea? Gosh I have a lot of appearance issues with these sites, don't I? Anyway I'm fascinated to see how many sites I have that no one else, or only a few, have saved. (Oh, never mind, those are all QL Learning 2.0 blogs....)
The whole idea of tagging is to make things more accessible, and it puts me in mind of Hennepin County Library and Sanford Berman's Herculean efforts to revitalize and reform classification. That was something that got me excited over twenty years ago. At the same time, I loves me a good controlled vocabulary, so let's not get sloppy with tags. Remember my previous post about Technorati, (how could you forget?) when I was searching for movable books? There're so many ways to write the things you're looking for! Popupbooks, pop-up books, popup books, movables, on and on and on. I struggle with that. I don't want to tag every blog post here with "Library 2.0" but should I?

Technorati, the 14th Thing

2007-12-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

Well that was a surprise. Technorati's front page looks like MSN.com.

I thought it would be a very tech-oriented site, but...Jessica Simpson's new movie, nude

photos of Melissa Joan Hart, "worst iPod accessories"....I feel like I'm in the supermarket checkout line.

I started the process of claiming this blog, just for the sake of trying it, but the "quick claim"

feature asked me for the username and password I use on Blogger. Huh. I asked the guy from Ken's Space about it and he said they didn't ask him that. I'm sure lots of people have done it without incident but for now I'll wait on the claiming thing.

I wasn't able to view the Technorati tour screencast; it just wouldn't start. I did perform the discovery exercise but results were puzzling and seemed different every time. At the Front Page I searched the phrase "movable books" first without the quotes (868 results, where the 4th hit was 2 videos of movable books- great! Even thought the other 867 results were almost all irrelevant, I was happy to see the video results.) Then I searched with the quotes, got just 9 results, all relevant, very nice....but no videos. But...the videos had been labelled "movable books." Why did they show up in a search using two keywords presumably "anded" together, but not in a search for the phrase with which they were labelled? Searching the Blog Directory for "Learning 2.0" brings up lots of relevant results, but more general topics bring up way too much. I can hardly believe that out of 110 million blogs, only 6 posts in English are tagged "movable books," and only 31 are tagged "popupbooks." There's more, as it turns out, if you really work the spacing: pop up books, popup books. But there are those videos again! and more of them this time. So, it's a puzzlement. The advanced search feature is something I want to explore when I have more time and fewer things to complete before deadline!

Just one more thing about Technorati: is there a graphic designer in the house? Because that page is hard to look at. The layout is busy, the ads are intrusive and the there's a lot of type smashed awfully close together. But I guess when you're the only blog-rankin' game in town, folks are coming for the info, not for your looks.

Just not my "Thing": No.11

2007-12-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

I know lots of people like LibraryThing. After exploring it a little bit and entering a few titles in my own list, my reaction to the whole thing is...meh. Seems harmless. Seems like the kind of thing Amazon would feature on their site, the way they encourage you to compile wishlists and track the gifts you've given people. "If you're looking at this book, you might like to know that people who bought this book also bought etc.etc." Okay. So I know that a bazillion other people liked or read or own The Golden Compass. Okay, maybe I'd like to know what else those people read. But, probably not. Thinking of something else to read is not a problem for me. So, in terms of a library application, I guess it's a way to show people asking for reader's advisory that they...don't have to ask a librarian? They can go to LibraryThing, type in some of their favorite books, and see what other people, who've read those books, also liked. Okay, fair enough; it's kind of like a Pandora for books? It's fine. It just doesn't have a lot of value for me. Anyway, here's my fledgling Thing.

That's Not How I Roll

2007-12-11T11:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, I hate to be like this, but again, this is not my idea of a killer app. I like that you can edit your searchroll after making it, naturally, so you can add sites you discover later. That's good.

The ads are a little intrusive, though, and the "celebrity searchrolls" don't inspire my confidence.

I can see a use for Rollyo, like that pointed out by Marion, who uses it to search multiple crafting sites at once, but I can't think of many cases in which I'd want to limit a search to "only sites I know" and there are other ways to limit searches to "sites I trust," like using Google to search only ".edu" sites for reliable content. There must be a good use for it...what am I missing? It does have a kickin' logo: simple, memorable, representational of its function, and it looks like candy!

I created a searchroll and was able to search all at once in many library blogs for instances where the new Amazon Kindle is mentioned, and word on Sirsi/Dynix/Horizon, and stuff like that. It's okay. I didn't see a way to link to my searchroll on the Rollyo site, but I added the searchroll as a page element, top left there, see?

I solemly vow to try my best to really really like the next Thing.

My Generation

2007-12-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

Went to Generator Blog but didn't really see anything interesting enough to click on.

At BigHugeLabs I tried the LOLcat generator, using it to caption a photo which I have posted here without my cat's permission.

But okay, library app: can you use Rollyo to search a bunch of Image generators for a particular kind you'd like to use for your library's webpage, to promote a program or service? For instance, use the Chocolate Bar Generator to headline a blurb about a chocolate-themed Valentine's Day program? (Hint: NO NO NO!!! That would be really really cheesy!! See the image?)

And I'm afraid that's the problem with image generators: they make a site look kind of cheesy.

They're just something you impulsively click, construct and email to your friend in an idle moment, not something I see being useful at work. Although, I'm starting to grow attached to EmoFiona; I could see using something like that on a personal page.

Thing # 8 Just a Little Bit Late: RSS Feeds

2007-11-20T10:32:00.000-05:00

Bloglines, where have you been all my life? I can't believe how easy you make it to keep up with eighty different sites without a lot of clicking and checking and waiting to load! You're easy to set up, you recognize me when I return without making me sign in, you don't have any ads.

I love you unconditionally! Your name could be more euphonious, but one can't have everything. (Where would you put it?)
I can make folders, you say? So my list of eighty-plus sites can be orderly.

And that's just a fraction of what Bloglines can do, it seems. There's a nifty search function that lets you search for words and phrases anywhere, or only in your own feeds, and it's sortable by date, so you can track the latest mention of, say, "Queens Library" in a host of library blogs.

And not to forget Thing Number 9: Some library-related blogs I find very informative, useful and enlightening include the incomparable Jessamyn West, and the Librarian in Black.

Freestyle Counting

2007-11-07T10:32:00.000-05:00

I think I missed Thing #6, exploring Flickr mashups and the like. So let's see if I can do this spell-with-flickr thing:

There! Well that was a
!! In fact, it was so much fun I'm not sure I can

But I will for now.The nice thing about this application is the ease with which you can change the individual letters. Don't like this "p"? Click it and get another. That one is unbalanced with the sizes of the other letters? Click again and presto. I'm thrilled I don't get a field of letters to choose from, as that would suck time like a Dyson.

Photo Montager is another Flickr mashup I tried. Now there, I wish I'd had some choice of which photo would be montaged, but no, you pick a tag and some photo with that tag is chosen for you and "montaged", or roughly imitated, using many many flickr photos. Meh, I thought, but then I was charmed when I realized that, as your cursor passes over the montage, individual pictures pop out. That was a sweet little effect. I want to play with that some more using really unusual tags...

2007-10-24T11:38:00.000-04:00

Here is a nifty little site I can't remember how I came across. You can search for authors
on tour in any area, limiting by zip code, mileage radius, and time frame. It's still in beta,
so it's a little glitchy, a little clunky, but what a great idea! You can even browse events by subject and by the names of venues. (Queens Library has three CLs listed; that's one more than NYPL has...) I don't know where they're getting the listings from; apparently you can submit events if you "sign up as an author or publicist." So far I've signed up for a weekly email notification that lets me know what authors are appearing within 30 miles of my zip code in the next two weeks, and it's a nice service. It tells me Queens Village CL has an author event on October 27th. Queens Village, did you submit that event yourselves, or did Booktour.com mine that info from some press release? I'll see what more I can find out.

Thing Number Seven

2007-10-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

Something, anything, about technology.

I tried to post this by email, something I noticed you can do, but it
didn't work, this time. That's okay, though, as I don't know how
much I need to do that. I guess if all I had was a small handheld
device that had email but no i-net and I just had to post...
Anyway.

Today's after-work activity was posing for new passport photos,
to replace the woefully unflattering ones we've spent the last
decade trying to resemble. My brother makes his living as a photographer,
so we went to his house and got on the stationary bike (which puts you at just the
right height for his 6-foot self, and which is in front of a nice plain white wall) and
attempted to maintain a "neutral expression," which is apparently a requirement
of passport photos. Tell me, were they pulling my leg? You can't smile, or wear
your glasses? Now I have to go look that up. .... Yes, it's true, no smiling.

But you can wear your glasses.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/guide/faq/faq_881.html

I didn't even have to get out of this chair to look that up, thanks to Technology.

Who Are All These People?

2007-10-12T20:27:00.000-04:00

So many of the QL2.0 participants are completely anonymous, I find I'm

thrilled by any little shred of displayed personality:

Rhymes With Shmibrarian, I love it! (and I think I know who you are!)

Blog This My Foot.

2007-10-12T19:37:00.000-04:00

Okay, so you can't choose your layout when you use the "Blog This" function
in Flickr. I like the photo-centered-over-text layout, and apparently it's a
default text-to-left-of-photo that you get. Grumble.
AND I just realized it posted not here, but on another blog I have, that I suppose
Flickr associates with me. If I sign out of Flickr, and browse it anonymously, there
is no "Blog This" option offered. Gah! How to explain to the Flickr the having of more
than one blog? Who cares. It's a little bell, a small whistle, the world is too noisy
already, I'll pass.

Thing Number 5

2007-10-11T17:04:00.000-04:00

Ah, Flickr. Fun to say, fun to spell. For thing number 5, I've made
one of those Flickr badges that pokes out one picture after another
in an amusingly animated way. There it is, over in the left-hand column.

Here's A Test Post, Then

2007-10-01T12:22:00.000-04:00

That was easy.
So 7-and-a-half-habits, is it? What's that half-a-one, "play?" That seems like a full
habit to me. Let's call it 8 and not be gimmicky.

Habits 1 (set a goal) and 8 (assemble a toolkit) seem the easiest to me. The goal sets
itself when you think about it, springing from the desire to do something: want to drive around
Sicily all alone? Learn enough Italian to get by without a tour guide. Want to compete in a triathlon? Learn to swim. And, buy a bike. And, learn to ride a bike. Um. Is there a limit to the number of goals one can have? Probably not.

Assembling a toolkit sounds like a fun habit. Who doesn't have a bunch of objects in their closet/cellar/attic that they absolutely needed back when they definitely were going to:
1. Learn to cook (Cuisinart)
2. Work out every day while watching TV (stationery bike)
3. Learn photography (35mm film camera)
4. Raise tropical fish (tank, pump, filter, fish...uh-oh, are they still in the closet?!)

But having those things doesn't guarantee you'll use them. So go slow on the acquisition
of things. The most important thing in your toolkit is probably time: devote enough of that
to achieving your goal, even if it means giving up something else for a little while.

The hardest habit? Probably teaching/mentoring someone else. Why? Because that takes time, and nobody has enough of that.