Thing #23: Reflection

DONE!!! Woo-Hoo!!! *Happy Dance Around the Room* Okay, not really...I'm sure everyone would stop and give me funny looks. 

(EDIT: I ran into the back room humming the Rocky Theme song punching my hands in the air and jogging in place. Now that I really have my 23 Things done f'real, f'real this time. hehe...It is quite a triumphant feeling...I couldn't resist.)

I think social media in libraries definitely has it's place. We gotta keep up with the times! :)

I believe the Facebooking and "Twittering" (as one of my fantastic co-workers calls it) could be useful. I'm grateful to now have an arsenal of popular internet tools under my belt so I can keep up with today's 8 and 9 year olds. Hehe...

I have learned LOTS from the program. Thank you! I'm still in awe about LibraryThing. That's getting bookmarked and utilized for my ever expanding collection of books. I'm also going to use it to keep track of my 100 books in 365 days. (A lil' self improvement project of my own. :) )

And as a final thought...

I think all of you are fantastic and absolutely wonderful people. It's an absolute joy working with you guys.

And as a final final thought...
Instead of waiting to have a great day, try to always MAKE it a BETTER THAN GREAT day! I assure you it happens a lot easier when you do it instead of waiting for outside sources to do it. :) Yay for Frisco Public Library!!!

Thing #22: User Choice

Myspace.com

Is dead.

It was big in it's hayday and I know of some bands which use it to still reach it's fans. (I believe the original reason myspace was created was so bands could share their music and reach a wider audience.) Most people have migrated over to the Facebook world.

Thing #21: Wikis

I had to look up 2 subjects on Wikipedia. The first one was a band that recently came through town. It appears all the information for their page was deleted, thus they  no longer have a wikipedia page. Most of the reasons appear to be something along the lines of "doesn't indicate importance or significance", which makes me wonder...what information would be important or significant when talking about a band? Would little facts like, "Vic's real name is Zack" be considered unimportant? How about the fact that the drummer doesn't drink alcohol and prefers water when everyone else is taking rounds of shots? Who determines what's significant and what's not...What is the meaning of life? What am I doing here?

OH...yeah...Wiki's. haha!

The second subject was on a topic I knew was controversial. It was on a company that many call an MLM while others know it's a broker/dealer heavy on recruiting. There is a warning at the top of the page asking for input from others to make the page less like an advertisement. As for the history edits...there are some demanding that they repost that the company is an MLM and explanations as to why that section was removed. Very interesting!

Thing #20: Podcasts

Now that I have these awesome earbuds I can listen to the podcasts. YaY!!!

I listened to a couple of them. The audio quality of all of them was great! One of the libraries even had some sort of video that went along with it. (Very impressive!) The topics covered included information about free access to research material and another had folk tales. (I have to admit, in one of the podcasts, the person reading/telling the folktale sounded EXTREMELY bored. It makes me think it's not a very good folktale. :P )

I'm not sure if podcasts are popular enough for people to want to actually listen to them. If they were simple enough to do and use, we could have someone read children's stories from the collection and kids could check out the book and follow along from the Frisco Library's Podcast. (Kind of like the kits--minus the CD.)

Thing #19: Hulu

WHAT!?!?

I can't sit  here and watch the latest episode of Modern Family or The Office at work?!?!

Lucky for you all, I've spent countless hours frying my brain at home watching show after show after show on Hulu.

I knew there would be a good reason for it one day! And now it has presented itself!

With technology constantly changing, digital delivery could potentially replace DVD's. I wonder if there's a large enough portion of the population that would prefer to keep some sort of tangible media with their shows on it. Hulu may be the "it" place right now for digital streaming of shows, but who knows what the next big website will be.

I could see libraries that keep up with the changing demands eventually offer some sort of online streaming for patrons that subscribe. (Kind of the way we offer e-books.) I'm sure the film industry will figure out a way to make money from the streaming of movies and shows...and when they start charging, libraries may find a way to offer the service for free to its patrons.



Thing #18: YouTube

I've seen companies and groups utilize YouTube to promote events and offer "how to's". Libraries could create videos on what services & how to use the services provided by the library, teaser trailers for upcoming events, and create fun, cheesey videos of "do's" and "don'ts" at the library.

Thing #17: Music Streaming & Sharing

We sell earbuds at Circulation for $1.00??? I wasn't aware of this. Well, I'll come back to this "thing" so I can complete it at home. I just wanted all my things in order, so I decided to create a post that I'd come back to edit.

----------------------------------

EDIT: 

Guess who the latest owner of a brand, spanking, new pair of ear buds is?!?!

And only for a dollar!

I know, it's hard to believe...but yes...it's meeeee!!!

Why such excitement? Because Pandora is awesome!!! (Plus, I love a great bargain. They sell earbuds at Wal-Mart for waaaay more than a dollar.) As for Pandora, it's up there with LibraryThing. (Don't get me wrong though, my heart belongs to LibraryThing...I have a feeling my husband's will belong to Pandora as soon as I show it to him.)

It turns out our Blu-Ray player is also equipped to stream music from Pandora.

Extra points for Pandora!

It was super easy to use from the start and the suggestions were great! For those who aren't as musically savvy (such as myself), I really appreciate recommendations.

In terms of what this has to do with our patrons:

I think CD's will continue to be checked out--for now at least. Even though Pandora offers the ability to save music, it's still nice to have a copy of your favorites on your computer (or on actual CD). Also, my good ol' car (aka "The Grey Phantom") currently only lets me listen to the radio or CD's. So, even with Pandora, I wouldn't be able to listen to it while driving. OH! And let's not forget the benefit of having music on your computer so you can customize playlists and burn CD's for those you love...I believe they were called "Mix Tapes" back in the day. hehe...

In conclusion...

Pandora = Two Thumbs Up

Thing #16: Google Docs

OoOoOo!!! I really, really, really liked "Forms". I made an "Awesomeness Test". (I'll admit, the end result for anyone who took the test would be "awesome", but then again, everyone is wonderful, don't you think?) :)

I like the fact that you can share the documents with others and they can make changes. It's really user-friendly if you're accustomed to using Microsoft Office.

My only suggestion would be that if several people were to collaborate on a document, it would be helpful to see what changes/suggestions were made to alter the document before the change was made. I deleted a whole document (okay, it was actually only 3 sentences) and replaced it with another sentence as the collaborator. (We were told to send the document to our other e-mail.) It would be nice if I could have approved what I changed before the other I changed it. :P

Thing #15: Google Maps

Oh dear! I can't seem to figure out how to get this to embed. But never fear, links are here!

YaY for links! I can do those...

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Frisco,+TX&daddr=10+West+14th+Avenue+Parkway,+Denver,+CO+80204-2731+(Denver+Public+Library)&hl=en&geocode=FdLW-QEdxJY6-ik9lAm8GjxMhjGi_sg1sHHTyg%3BFfNYXgIdEAC--SFFLJO95_ltRA&mra=ls&sll=39.809064,-104.964066&sspn=0.188834,0.505371&ie=UTF8&ll=35.995785,-100.898437&spn=13.599068,32.34375&z=5

There's how to get to the library in Denver, Colorado. It had 71 reviews, of which it was 4 out of 5 stars.

ROAD TRIP!!!

Thing #13 & #14: Tiny URL & You Send It

http://tinyurl.com/38n6qnx

That one is for my circulation peoples! hehe...

There's my tiny url. YES! When there's only 140 characters, each period, letter, number and colon is special. So, even though it's tiny, it's mighty great! Hoo-ray for tinyurl!!! In the spirit of the tiny-ness, I'll keep this blog short.

Unfortunately, I don't have a file to upload and send. So, I'm going to have to pass on You Send it. It seems like a great way to send larger files though. I'm very impressed with tinyurl.

Thing #12: Facebook

Ah, Facebook...I've had my Facebook since the days when it was only open to a few select colleges. I mainly used it to keep up with Fraternity folks across the country. Eventually, when it opened up to everyone else, I discovered a world of reconnecting with childhood friends and keeping in touch with everyone. My roommate skillfully used it to stalk people she had just met the day before at parties and bars. (Okay, she didn't really "stalk" people. But it's funny to think that nowadays, you pretty much just need a first and last name and in less than 24 hours of meeting someone you know who their friends are, what they like to do, and even what they're doing right now! There are countless days when I would come home to learn random information about her new "friends"..."Alex's favorite band is Maroon 5 and he just found a stray kitten. His 2 older sisters are visiting for the holidays this year and he needs help taking out a rival maifa member." And I would wonder--Wait? I thought you just met Alex yesterday when he passed the salt at a friend's party--and that was pretty much the extent of your conversation. )

I missed the days where getting to know someone actually took some sort of finesse...where you actually had conversations with questions and answers and over time you got to piece together your knowledge of someone based on your real-life interactions with them. I also missed the days when you actually hung out with your friends instead of farming next to them via internet. Which is why I deleted my account at the beginning of this month. Amazingly, since deleting my account, I've had the chance to hang out with people again! It's amazing how technology brings us closer together but at the same time can cause us to drift apart. Too often, I took advantage of the fact that people were on my "Friends List", so there was no need to give them a call. I could always "poke" them or just say hi on their page.

As for organizations that I was a fan of, most of them were great about posting with status updates regularly. I must admit, I'm going to miss knowing when a food demonstration was going on at Whole Foods or what kind of fun I can expect for the next episode of The Office. Still, I think I'll manage to survive without Facebook.

I think the Frisco Public Library does an excellent job of doing regular status updates. If this is a way we wish to regularly communicate with our patrons, perhaps we should advertise it around the library to increase the number of people who "Like" us. Walmart, for example, has a HUGE ad at the bottom of their receipts so people can go to their Facebook page. We could do something like that...or at the bottom of e-mails we send out include our Facebook link. Another suggestion may be to add status updates that prompt those who like us to comment. For example, "Would you like the library to send out e-mail notification that your items are due in ___ days? And also include a link to renew items?"

Thing #11: Linked In

Before I really knew what LinkedIn was, I can think of a dozen occasions where I searched someone on Google and their LinkedIn profile popped up. Supervisors from previous jobs have sent me e-mail requests asking to add me to their LinkedIn network. (Who wouldn't want to keep in touch with me?!? I'm a blast to work with...at least I try to be. :) Well, I have a blast working with my Frisco Library peoples.)

uhmmm... Oh! Back on topic...
I never signed up. It seems to get the full feel for the webiste you'd have to create an account. I tried searching individuals and organizations from LinkedIn, but without logging in, there's not much more you can do other than look at a webpage on the person.

I'll keep this website in mind for future projects where this could be key in networking with people that can assist.

Thing #10: Library Thing

I just read the description for this...haven't experienced it yet. But my initial reaction to it is...

WOW!!!

Where has this been all my life?!?!?

Now, I shall go experience the joys we know as "Library Thing."

------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I have decided that I absolutely HEART Library Thing. It even created automatic recommendations for me!!! I think I'm inspired to write a poem to Library Thing...

Ode To Library Thing

What thing is this?

A Library thing!

What a thing it is!

YAY for library thing!!!

Okay, I never said I was a poet. That's all I got. I guess I'll stick to the motivational, self improvement and financial realm. (And thanks to Library Thing, I can easily find more books along those lines.)

hehe...

But yes...this is definitely something I will continue to use and recommend to other book lovers. :)



Thing #9: Delicious

I didn't see too much delicious-ness going on here. Trying to add bookmarks to my delicious.com account was more bitter than sweet. I didn't find it very user friendly. (It was quite the struggle trying to figure out how to add the bookmarks and each time I managed to add one, it was like a fluke. So, I had to figure out  how to do that same fluke again. 3 bookmarks later, I still have NO CLUE how I did it...but I did it!)

Also, the uses for it didn't seem practical for normal everyday use. (But, I'll be the first to admit I may be wrong here--otherwise it wouldn't be so popular, right?) I feel you bookmark items on your computer at home for one reason and items on  your work computer for another reason. (For example, I wouldn't bookmark the page for "Webclock" on my home computer--it's pointless to me at  home. On the other hand, pages I bookmark at  home, such as my online banking, I wouldn't use at work.) SoOoOoOoo...I wouldn't really need to have all my bookmarks accessible from any computer at any time.

Librarians could use this to quickly share bookmarks amongst one another...provided they all can figure out how to work this website. (Possible bookmarks they could share would be websites for commonly asked things. ie. IRS Forms, City Information, Biographies) But then agian, librarians have master searching skills, much like ninjas have master ninja-ing skills...so they may not even need delicious.com

As for the common craft video--I couldn't watch it from the computer I'm at. Thus, I can offer little insight on my thoughts of it.

As requested, here's my delicious site: http://www.delicious.com/jpang95

Thing #8: Tagging

Does tagging belong in the library?
Sure!

It looks like we lean that way in the FPL's 23 blog:  "Categories are broad by nature. Your blog or website might have categories such as pictures, book reviews, news, or other types of content you are creating. Tags are much more granular. They can give that short cut to something a little more specific than searching through hierarchical structured categories. So, tagging can be useful where content is abundant or terminology is rapidly developing.  It can be thought of as social keyword searching."

Does it replace or complement subject headings?
I think it should complement subject headings. (See above)

Should we encourage or discourage the practice?
Encourage...people thrive on encouragement.
I like the idea of tag clouds!!! It sounds oh-so-visual! :D

Thing #7: Instant Messaging

I'm from the IMing days of "ICQ" and "AIM"...so I'd say I'm very familiar with the concept. Instant messaging helped sharpen my typing skills! I no longer use instant messaging as a form of communicating.  I'm more of a text messaging type of person now. It eliminates the need to find a platform that matches the person you're trying to message. As long as they have a cell phone that gets text messages, you're good to go! There's no need to be in front of a computer...but who knows, IMing could make a comeback with phones basically becoming tiny portable computers. It would be great to be able to message family across the globe without the $1/international text message charge.

As for using instant messaging to ask a question or answer one, I think it's a great way to go about it! You can keep track of what is being asked and figure out if you truly answered that person's question. A challenge would be if the person has trouble explaining in writing what it is they are asking. There are times when nonverbal cues such as hand motions or tone of voice can really help put together the big picture.

Thing #6: Digg

*GasP* Did you realize that video explaining more about Digg was EIGHT MINUTES LONG?!?! I don't care how pink that guy's shirt is...he lost me at 0:24. I looked for the underlined blue letters and clicked on it. I'll figure out Digg without the 8 minute video, thank you very much! (*Jeopardy music playing in background as Janie explores Digg.com*)

...........

Okay...I'm back! Here's my verdict on Digg.com

Did you know yesterday was Nintendo's 25th Birthday!?!?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NINTENDO!!!

I also learned that there's some debate about the Glee casts' latest photos in GQ magazine.
Oh, and a man was killed by a goat.

Digg has the potential to revolutionize elevator small talk. Who would want to just discuss the weather when you can awe those around you with bits of highly rated information such as, "Vatican Newspaper says Homer Simpson Catholic."

It's interesting to see what gets highly rated. Most of the stuff seems random and errs on the side of being funny. Initially, I can't say I see an immediate use for Digg other than it's good for us to know of it and how it works. Here's an article I found via Digg that discusses just that: http://www.splicetoday.com/digital/your-library-is-dying

Thing #5: Twitter (Tweet! Tweet!)

Laura "is at the Frisco Public Library"....Someone tweeted about us!

I'm currently following a band, a motivational speaker, and a financial expert. I didn't realize Twitter could be used for more than letting everyone know how that peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch was! (I don't think I'd really tweet about my everyday mischief unless it was adding some sort of value to others. I suppose I'll tweet an inspirational saying occasionally or fill people in on cool upcoming events I'm going to and think others might be interested in attending as well.)

Insert shameless plug here ---> "Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jpang95 "

I could see Twitter as being beneficial for those who would follow the library. But only nerds would follow a library on Twitter! (Ha! Look who's talking...I'm following a financial expert. hehe...Yeah, I'm a nerd. I'll admit, I'd follow the Frisco Public Library on Twitter too.)

I can see it now: "Arrrrrgh! A-hoy mates! Don't forget to arrive early to get your tickets for tomorrow's 10am Pirate Storytime!"

"Don't walk 'till you unlock*! Just a reminder to unlock your DVD's and CD's after checking them out!"

Yeah...we could tweet about stuff like that!

*Gary came up with that clever saying. I liked it so much, I just had to use it here! :D

Thing #4: Picture Sharing

I could see picture sharing sites such as Flickr as being useful only when used in conjunction with a blog. Personally, going through the pictures of the other libraries' Flickr accounts didn't hold my attention for very long. (But then again, I'm one of those people who looses interest in a YouTube video if it's longer than 2 minutes.)

If we were to use the FlickR account, I would provide only a few key pictures in the blog with a link to the rest of the album on FlickR...just in case people want to go the extra mile and see all the pictures. Blogging with pictures seems like a great, easy way for publicity. People can see how awesome our events are and make sure to not miss the next one. :D Plus, it's always fun to see folks you know and your face on a website (provided you're not having a bad hair day or in the witness protection program). I'm sure there are some sort of legal/privacy implications if we were to post pictures of patrons participating in events such as storytimes or events with speakers...but maybe a simple signed release form would fix that.

Thing #2 & #3: Blog Reader and RSS Feeds

How magical! If I knew of useful sites to visit I would put them in with my blog reader. But alas, all I know of are the random news, a guy who is FANTASTIC at video editing, and DENISE's blog. hehe...

I find this somewhat similar to bookmarking a page under your favorites. I can see how you could just keep adding blogs and easily spend hours just sitting there reading and trying to keep up with what everyone else is doing. 


I wonder how much "blog" you'd have to read to be the equivalent of reading an actual book.


EDIT: *GasP* I can read the blogs of all the fantastic people that I work with!!! It's right there at the bottom of my blog reader.  This just got "neater". I'm not sure if it's part of blogger or Blog Reader...but either way it's super cool!!!

Thing #1: Blog (Check!)

*Happy Dance Around The Room*


I made my first blog. Oh Yeah!


I did it all by myself!!! *Raising hands in the air*


w00t! w00t! :D