Week 9, #23 The End

19 (things done from home)
3 (things done from work)
+ 1 (done from work, since I can't access my email from home)
------
23 things

This is my final entry. I'm 100% thrilled (51% a feeling of satisfaction and 49% a feeling of relief) that I made it this far. There were a lot of points where I didn't think I would see this post. Many of the "Things" were not new to me, but that doesn't mean they were easy or fast to do. This took a lot more time and effort than I expected. I can only imagine how others are feeling - especially those who looked but didn't start.

I'm lucky. My absolute favouritest lie-barian, who is the coolest, smartest lyeberry lady in the whole world thinks this is a good idea. That makes this a GOOD IDEA. If I do this, she might think I'm cool and smart too. Hmmm. "Look at me! I'm JUMPING! Both feet.....left foot.....right foot....jumping jacks.....someone get me a skipping rope....after that a pogo stick....I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY!"

Others may not be so motivated.

It's easy to say that nothing worth doing is easy, but keep in mind that nothing is done, if things are too hard. 23 things is a lot. 9 weeks is a long time. Everyone should feel like they can finish; people who haven't started yet don't feel that way. Thus, they aren't starting.

Next time, please, smaller and shorter.

Where's my prize?

Week 9, #22 Ebooks

Ebooks are my information resource of last resort. When faced with a difficult reference question, I always say a small prayer to the answer gods "please nothing is better." Working in a busy branch, I rarely have more than 3 minutes per reference transaction. Explaining that ebooks are books (my teacher says it can't be the internet), how to sign up, find your book, and then making sure they can access it from home, takes a lot longer. Sometimes a lot a lot longer.

For personal use, I couldn't find any of my favourite authors. For a subject search, I couldnt find anything newer than 2004. Who wants a 3 year old test book? Not me.

What ever happened to ebook readers? We're we supposed to be seeing the end of the paper book? In 2001, my branch of the Palm Beach County Library Systme debated whether or not to expand, because in the future we wouldn't need shelf space to store books. Hmmm. The library is currently closed while it expands from 8,000 to 24,000 feet.

Week 9, #21 Podcasts

I was fascinated by Sunnyvale Libary's Mother Goose Storytime for Pre-Walkers podcast. There is only one, dated Sept 5/06. Was it the start of something that never took off? I can understand why. I've done hundreds of Baby Storytimes, and even I couldn't follow what was going on. Somethings realy need to be seen and heard. But for adult programs, guest speakers, author talks, etc. It could be perfect. We'd be able to reach out to those who can't make it for a scheduled program...and to those who don't want to visit the library.

Week 9, #20 Part II

Week 9! The home strecth. I am getting TIE-YERD. TIE-YERD. As a result, I'm not sure how to answer:

"Can you see any features or componets of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?"

I could say that I'm going to come back to it, but I probably won't. I'm going to work on 21, 22, and 23 today and put it to bed. I'm ready to be done.

Week 9, #20 YouTube and a few sites

I am a crazy cat lady. Cat videos are my crack-cocaine. YouTube is my dealer. It started all innocently. I heard of YouTube, but it was only when Google bought it for zillions that I really cared. So I decided to take a closer look. I don't remember how I found Mr Tasty Face's Tasty Face, but now I've seen all of skeezixthecat's video, and can't get enough. More. I constantly need more. Ok, enough about me...onto the assignment.


Have you seen "Ray of Light" St. Joseph County Public Library Version? It's a library video definitely worth seeing...I've already shown it at the Nov 2006 Youth Services meeting (not as effective as it could have been due to no sound; but I'm not getting back on the sound soap box. Promise.) I have no idea how long it took to do, but made me want to work there*! This is a great example of what we have the potential to do.



Because I'm not looking for anything specific, I find the site very easy to use. Pretty much anything I find is what I'm looking for. Specific themed searches, that might be harder. It'll be interesting how YouTube's legal troubles over copyright with Viacom affect the site. Things will have to change, but how? Will YouTube still be cool? Will people still be watching YouTube?

*South Bend, Indiana? No thanks.

Week 8, #19 Take a Look at Library Thing

As someone who reads a lot of fluff fiction from several different authors, LibraryThing could help me keep track of what I've already read. The suggestions were pretty accurate, and slightly better than Amazon's recommendations.

Trying to come up with a subject, and not just describe a part of the plot, was harder than I expected. And looking at some of the tags others are using, I'm not the only one who is struggling.

This is why I'm concerned about libraries using LibraryThing for their catalog. I did a random search for 3 books. One book a record that was identical to ours. Another had half of the subjects. The last had nothing. Searching using a subject or keyword function is ineffective if books on the same subject can't be found together, or even worse, if there's no subject at all.

A couple of my books were popular, and one is something only I've listed. Which makes me feel unique and special...just like all the other unique and special people.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=slippersb
&shelf=list&sort=copiesREV

Week 8, #18 online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

Zoho is great! MS Office has never run correctly on my home computer, and this is a fantastic alternative to dealing with that. Of course, I think I like this better than Word! It's such a struggle to make the little accent over the "e" in San Jose, that I actively avoid using the word Jose (which make my writing a little awkward at times.) Instead, Zoho has an icon leading to special characters, and tada, I can make the é.

It's interesting to me that I can try something new like this, but it already feels familiar. Like driving a new car. Things are slightly different, but fundamentally the same in the most important ways. I'm hoping to remember this the next time I hesitate to try something new because it's "too hard" or "too scary." And unlike with vegetables, I know it won't taste nasty!