Thing #1 & Thing #3

(Backtracking a bit, because I didn't actually document things 1 and 3.)


Thing #1 - Discovery

When I heard about the Learning 2.0 program Helene Blowers was starting at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, it sounded like so much fun! This was about two years ago, in August 2006, and a lot of the discovery exercises really were new. I followed along with most of the program, mostly on my own time, since "playing around" on the computers at work hasn't always been sanctioned. I vaguely recall mentioning it to a couple of admin types, but really, SAPL wasn't ready for all that 2.0 - yet.

Two years later, the lessons are not quite so new, the original group has moved on to 2.1, and SAPL is finally on board! I appreciate the push my branch manager has given all of us to participate, or at least explore, the SAPL 23 Things project. The way the lessons are set up, in small "bites" makes it much easier to work on. It may help some tech-wary folks become more familiar with the medium, and in turn, help our patrons who are exploring on their own. For those of us a bit more comfortable with web "things", it gives us a chance to share our skills with our co-workers. I'm looking foward to all 23 lessons, and a chance to win a prize! Any chance of it being a G1 phone? :)



Thing #3 - Grab a blog
As I mentioned previously, I'm not new at blogging - I think the first blog I kept was hosted on iVillage, way back around 1998. I moved on to a few other sites, somehow bypassing LiveJournal completely. I started hand-coding my website and blog, then moved it to a Movable Type platform, which continues to serve me well. For work related committee communication, I've used a WordPress blog, in order to have more than one author. This is my first experience with Blogger, and I must say, it's not the friendliest thing!

I'm surprised at how bare-bones it is - you get a lot more in a free WordPress account. The Blogger "dashboard" doesn't tell you much about your own blog, and I haven't figured out how to get it to show me recent activity. The things I like are all the easy to add gadgets, the variety of templates to choose from, and the ease of posting. I can't say that I'll keep this blog up past the 23 Things, but I do hope to explore Blogger much more in the coming weeks.

Thing #6 - More Flickr!

Explore Flickr mash-ups and 3rd party APIs! I found this mosaic maker from Big Huge Labs on Stephanie's blog and it was really easy to do. I used slightly different search questions and had to drop some photos that had opted out of the service. The "rules" of the mosaic game say you have to use a picture from the first page of results. What I've discovered about Flickr though, is that you'll get different results each time you search. At least, that was the case with the terms I was searching for.



1. In Memory of Theresa, 2. believe, 3. everyday's fortune, 4. a new school year, 5. Opera in a dream, 6. 4 New Flavoured Ice Cream Plush Toys

Thing #5 - Flickr!

This is one of my favorite craft projects. It's so easy to do and works for all ages. All you need is tissue paper in a variety of colors, some pipe cleaners, and scissors. Stack a few pieces of tissue paper together, a rectangle works well. Fold it accordion style, use the pipe cleaner in the middle to hold the paper together and make a stem. Then open the accordion out and carefully separate the sheets of tissue paper. To mix it up a bit, notch V's into the folded up accordion, round the corners before separating, use more layers of tissue, or use different color combinations.

It's a simple craft that can be used for Mother's Day, Fiesta, Springtime, all kinds of occations!

Thing #4

So, I've explored the participants blogs for this 23 Things project. My favorite so far, even though there aren't any posts yet, is Digital Deliberations. I like it because of all the widgets on the side, especially the one that shows me all the posts by participants. It functions as a SAPL Learns RSS feed, so I don't have to go clicking through to each blog to see what's new.

Part of the fun of this project is figuring out who people are. It's like a treasure hunt, looking for clues that will tell you who the author is. While I think it's fine to blog anonymously, there are others who feel the "secrecy" is not necessary. I don't think it's secrecy, I think it's more about a comfort level, with the medium, the technology, personal writing skills, personality types, etc. I would consider this blog semi-anonymous, in that it wouldn't be hard to figure out who I am, several people already have. So, while I think that transparency is a good thing, I don't think it's necessary for this project.

Speaking of transparency, one of the blogs on the LISNews list has been making the rounds again because of it's lack of transparency. Library Journal is taking some heat for hosting the Annoyed Librarian on their site. The argument there being LJ is supposed to be an authority in the library profession and the AL has a history of, well, being not so nice to those same professionals, all the while hiding behind an anonymous blog. Some feel the AL shouldn't have to hide if he/she feels so strongly about things. Interesting position for Library Journal to be in.

From the 10 Blogs to Read in 2008, I only read two of them on a regular basis. However, I use Google Reader to keep track of over 40 library themed blogs! Yes, I'm kind of a geek like that. Some of my favorite "library" blogs are Michael Stephen's Tame the Web, A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette, Karen Schneider's Free Range Librarian, and Helen Blower's LibraryBytes. It's great to read about what's going on, not only in other library systems, but in the larger library field.

Halloween Costumes (not for work)

For the second year in a row, my son wants to be Superman for Halloween! Good thing we bought last year's pajamas/costume a size larger, if we're lucky, it'll still fit. My daughter wants to be Wonder Woman, which is a welcome change from last year's Snow White. So I thought my husband and I could also be super heroes, a sort of family of Justice League characters. Good idea, right? Except that most female super heroes are um, very scantily clothed! No way that's gonna work for me. So it was suggested that my husband and I be villains! How cool would that be?! Any suggestions for a super villain duo?

7.5 Habits of Lifelong Learners (Thing #2)

Three weeks in and I'm already behind! The first post is supposed to be about the "71/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners". Ok, this is where I admit that while I went to the website and let it play, I didn't actually listen to it very closely. I think I was checking in clear charge that afternoon, it was just sort of background noise. Maybe I'm just not a natural multi-tasker. I don't listen to audio books when I drive, either, but that may just be because I don't drive very far. Oh, did you see that 60 Minutes piece about electric cars? I think it's GM that's developing a hybrid car that will go up to 40 miles before using any gasoline. Here it is, the Chevy Volt.

To get back on track, I think most people find "Play" to be the easiest habit. That sort of goes without saying, but I can see how people who aren't comfortable with computers might have a hard time letting loose and trying new things. I personally learn better when I can get my hands on things and figure out how they work, so I'll name Habit 5 as my easiest. Once I get interested in a subject, I'll read all I can from all kinds of sources to really understand it. For example, I've recently picked up crochet again. I read about a sampler afghan that was too good to not try, so I started reading blogs and found out about ravelry.com, signed up there, saw all kinds of cool stuff, and am now learning to make amigurumi (you can see a sample in my profile pic). I've checked out books on crochet, browsed magazines, listened to podcasts, all the information sources I could find to learn more. It's a lot of fun - I just have to remember to give my hands a break every once in a while!

The hardest habit for me is number 4. I have a lot of hobbies that I enjoy, but I don't consider myself an expert at any of them. I don't share my crafts with many people and I don't think I know enough to teach anyone how to do them. But I'm working on it, at least the sharing part. For example, this blog. :)

Hi!

While I am not new to blogging, I am new to people actually reading what I write, so bear with me, as I type faster than I think...