Last posting: Library Thing

Library Thing is an interesting, fun site. I was able to easily catalog some of my favorite books. I like that you can catalog for a title to add to your list in Amazon or Library of Congress, etc. Then you can tag it so you can find it easily. You can also search other people's lists to find similar interests and new books to try in a favorite category. For example, Feng Shui for Life was chosen by 26 members, it's rated 3.5 stars and the entry includes an annotated list of other popular feng shui books. Great resource for readers of all kinds.

Forgot to blog my experience with del.icio.us

I chose several different topics to tag for this assignment. I was interested in articles I read about Libraries 2.0 and how libraries and library staff need to stay informed about technology and its applications to survive. We're competing with Amazon, Ebay and lots of other sites that are seemless portals to information on the internet. We need to be comfortable using them and sharing them with others. I also tagged some sites about scrapbooking, photography and how you can tell if people are lying. It's like creating a favorites list on my computer at home, but it's accessible anywhere there's the internet. Del.icio.us is delicious!

Finally success with Flickr

In my closing blog, I set a goal of successfully posting photos to Flickr by December 15. When I was going over my blogs to submit to Albert for credit for completing 23 things, I noticed that my computer wasn't working right. I couldn't even access my Flickr account! I decided to try it at work and see if the glitch was in my computer or with Flickr. Guess what??? It's my computer :-(!! Not only was I able to immediately sign-in to Flickr at work, but uploading some pictures I had on my digital camera from our Friends of the Library Jazz Brunch in June was s-o-o easy! Just like adding an attachment to an e-mail! I'm so excited! Now I can post other pictures to share with family and friends. Now I have to figure out what happened to my laptop! Oh, well, at least I'm not going crazy anymore!

Final thoughts about 23 Things

As I look back over the past few months' exploration of my learning adventure into the world of technology, I am amazed at how much I have learned. I've been keeping careful notes in a notebook, so I can revisit the various sites in the future. I plan to review them and become more comfortable with them so I can share them with my staff and customers. I'm very intrigued by Flickr. I love photography! I enjoyed looking at other people's photos. There were some incredible shots of some of my favorite places, like the Chrysler Building in NYC and Mono Lake in CA. I'm still working on learning how to upload some of my own digital photos to post. My goal is to post at least one photo on my Flickr account by December 15. I had fun creating an avatar of myself on yahoo.com. Blogging my experiences has been fun, as well as, informative. There's a whole new world out there--Libraries 2.0 is the present and Libaries 3.0 is fast approaching.
Librarians need to keep up with technology to remain viable. PGCMLS has recently added Wi-Fi to most of our branches. I've been able to help people with Apple, Dell, Gateway and Toshiba laptops access our Wi-Fi connection at LK. Each brand name computer is different, and I've been successful in all but one computer. I think 23 Things gave me the confidence to feel comfortable helping customers gain access. This summer I taught myself how to use WiFi at Panera's in Rockford, Illinois when I was visiting my family (and working on 23 things). It was easy! It's true, every success builds confidence and comfort with new skills. Although I am one of the last participants to complete this journey, I'm glad I did it. Practice make progress. I'm more aware of new technologies and less afraid to try them. That's quite a giant step for me. Yeah! Thank you for this opportunity to challenge my techno fears and grow confident in my skills as a librarian.

Overdrive

PGCMLS has Overdrive linked from its website. I used my library card to access this source. I added four books to my bookbag: Life Coaching for Dummies, Dissolving Barriers, The Best of Loretta LaRoche, 100 simple secrets of successful people and Skulduggery Pleasant. I'm going to download them to my laptop when I get home. All of my choices were available tonight. I browsed the business and career, classic literature and recently returned sections to get an overview of the books Overdrive has to offer. I'm going to check my laptop to make sure it has Adobe Reader installed on it. Can't wait to use this service! One caveat--your library record can't have any overdue books! I had to renew a couple of late books before I could add books to my account.

podcasting

I checked out podcast.net, podcastalley.com and podshow.com. I didn't have any luck with podcast.net. I tried searching for several names including Henri Nouwen, Flylady, Marla Cilley. Nothing I tried to retrieve came up. I discovered when I went to the alpha listing that multiple words were typed together like an e-mail account address. Still not much luck. I moved on to podcastalley.com with more success. They had a list of broad catagories to browse. I chose religion and spirituality. I was interested in meditations for carmelites. I established an account and tried to open the podcast. I didn't have much luck. Here's the link:

http://rss.mac.com/stl_ocds/iWeb/Meditations%20from%20Carmel/Podcast/rss.xml

When I went to podshow part of podcastalley I was able to look at a Marie Clair podcast on fashion and hair design. I was also able to watch a podcast called Saint Cast. Here's the link

http://web.mac.com/pcamarata/SaintCast/Latest_Podcasts/Entries/2007/11/23_SaintCast_80%2C_St._Cecilia.html

Award winning Web 2.0 website: Zillow.com

Zillow.com is an interesting real estate website. I looked up my neighborhood to see what properties are for sale. I chose a house at 119 Lakeside Drive, Greenbelt, MD. It's a 5 bedroom, 3 bath home built in 1966. It's 1,676 square feet, vinyl siding with a finished basement. It's selling for $455,000 by owner. The listing lists special features of the home, a written description and a note about what the owners love about the house. There are photos of the house, a zestimate of the value of the house, last year's property tax ($3,693)and stats about number of homes in zipcode area, Greenbelt, Prince George's, MD and United States median house prices and historical value trends in these areas. They also provist a bird's eye view and street map of other homes in the area with their values showing at each location. This information would be helpful for customers who are thinking about putting their homes on the market, people shopping for a new home, people relocating to the area and want to see what's available in a particular neighborhood. Real estate agents, prospective buyers/sellers can post their homes, even FSBO properties. Housing trends and property tax information are also helpful information. Satillite photos of a neighborhood area marked on a street map or photos.