Thing #23 - The End/The Beginning

SAPL's 23 Things program was a lot of fun for me. I was able to explore a lot of websites and online tools that have been on my list of things to try for a while now. I like that we were allowed to do this on work time, as I do think a lot of these tools can be put to use in our workplaces. I'm disappointed in (what seems to me) the small number of people who followed the program all the way through. While I'm sure there were more folks reading the staff blogs, it's not quite the same as doing it yourself, so I do hope more staff members will take advantage of the program.

My favorite things were the ones where we played with Flickr and explored YouTube. I'm embarrassed to admit that I never really looked too deeply into YouTube, I always thought it was a bunch of home videos and music videos that didn't interest me much. It's a lot more instructional and inspiring than what I thought.

Would I participate in another program like this? Definitely. As for making it more accessible, maybe we could highlight a different staff blog on the Intranet each week, have admin participate, designate a person or two at each branch as consultant, maybe a bit more explanation at the beginning, so staff can have an idea of what to expect.

Thing #22 - Downloadable Media

Well, maybe I should have taken advantage of the training that was offered a couple of months ago... As mentioned previously, I don't use my iPod all that much. That being said, I haven't had much interest in downloading books - I prefer to hold an actual book and read it myself. But it would be a shame to not take advantage of one of the services offered by the public library, so I tried out both netLibrary and OverDrive. 

My first problem with netLibrary was that I couldn't remember my user name and password! I had signed up with them back when it was new and couldn't get it to remember any of the email addresses I use now. Solved easily enough, by setting up a new account. Maybe I needed to spend more time on it, but I found it difficult to find anything interesting. Or maybe I'm just a picky reader...

OverDrive was a bit easier to browse, but like Jamie, I would have liked to be able to browse only Mac/iPod compatible titles. Or maybe sort the categories by format. Or more results per page. I also noticed a lot of titles had the option to "place a hold" instead of "add to cart", hopefully that means that people are using the service? Either way, you should be able to browse just the titles that are available. On the plus side, I really liked all the info you get on the title. Aside from the library friendly bibliographic info, it gives you reviews, an about the author bit, and then there's that Amazon-ish "If you like this title, you might also like these" suggestions. (I'm not sure how my being interested in I Am Legend means I might be interested in A Woman in Charge, so maybe that part's not quite working.)

So, I may have to chalk this one up as the Thing I didn't like. In the interest of public service, I'll practice it a bit more, but I don't see myself using this on a regular basis. 

Thing #21 - Podcasts

I usually use iTunes to find, download, and transfer podcasts to my iPod, so I looked around at the other podcast directory sites. I like the NPR one, it seems I'm always catching either the tail end of a broadcast, or I don't get to hear all of the story, so I may have to subscribe to some of these. I did a search for "book" on Podcast Alley and it brought up some interesting things. I may have to give one or two of them a try. Right now, there are only three podcasts that I listen to regularly: Ritmo Latino, an hour long mix of Spanish language music, covering just about every genre of musica en espanol that you can think of; Podrunner, from LA based DJ Steve Boyett, an hour's worth of fixed BPM exercise your butt off music; and Yarncraft, all about knitting and crocheting, from Lion Brand Yarn.

My iPod is only a 2G, so I'd probably subscribe to more if I had more room. I'd probably listen to more also if I had a longer commute to work. I do like the way iTunes works like an RSS reader, in that it goes out and checks for updates for you whenever you launch the application. But I don't think I'll add them to my Reader account, since you don't actually read them. I tend to use Reader to keep myself occupied at the reference desk, where headphones would definitely be frowned upon.

Thing #20 - You Tube

Didn't we do YouTube already? Anyway, here's an example of an instructional video found on YouTube. I've got a small laminated booklet that shows illustrations of crochet stitches, but sometimes, it's still hard to understand a stitch and watching it makes it much easier to understand.



As for the entertainment I came across this on another blog. Seems the dance in Beyonce's All the Single Ladies video was inspired by a Bob Fosse dance called Mexican Breakfast. Here's a nice hybrid of the original dance, with Beyonce's song.

Thing #19 - 2.0 Toolbox

There were several sites on the Web 2.0 Awards List that I've used before, so I chose one I haven't used and looked fun. Doof is a social gaming site, and if I'm not careful, I could spend hours there! As with the other social sites, you set up your profile with as much (or as little) info as you'd like. When you log in, you're "announced" to everyone on the site, in a small pop up window. You can see everyone who's playing your game, and you can challenge other players, too. I went for the easy gem swap game, so I could keep track of everything going on - the site is on the busy side. You can earn points, too, that give you more options for the site. The site keeps track of what you play and your scores, and also recommends games and people to meet.

As far as work applications, I'm not sure that it would benefit staff, except maybe as a stress reliever, but it might make an alternative site to recommend to tweens looking for games.

Thing #18 - Online Apps

One of the best things about Google Docs is the ability to have multiple authors on one document. That would be really helpful when you have to get several people's opinions on things, and it's a lot easier than emailing an attachment back and forth. I've not had the chance to use it for work, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for opportunities for collaboration!

So, I'm going to try to make this one interactive: If you've left a comment on my blog, I've invited you to be collaborators on my Google document entitled "List of Pet Peeves." (I had to use work emails, blogger won't show me emails used to leave comments.) Feel free to add your pet peeves to the list and share with friends!

Thing #16 & #17 - Wikis

St Joseph County Public Library's Subject Guides are fantastic! Oh, and did you notice the library's url: "library for life" that alone makes a statement. I like the linky-ness of the subject guides, but really they're not that much different from what we've got on the websites by topic pages. What makes it different, and better, is the ability for people to comment. I noticed that only "librarians" can edit the info, so it's not completely open for editing, but anyone can comment on any of the pages. Talk about community involvement! It would be interesting to see something like this for library events, especially for things like book groups, it might increase attendance, or it could be the start of virtual book groups.

After a good 15 minutes mucking about the plcmclearning wiki, I was about to give up on adding my blog to the "Favorite Blogs" page. Then I saw the red print in the left hand corner about scripts being disabled, and ta-da! Now the page isn't blank anymore! It's surprisingly easy to add links, but I think this particular wiki is a bit large and unwieldy. Of course, it's a "sandbox" and not a final product, so that's ok.

Things #13 - #15

Who does this sound like? "It has been a while since I visited this blog - sorry for the absence." heehee. And I don't even have the excuse of a busy schedule. Well, it does take a bit of work to get all the 2007 magazines withdrawn, so I'll use that as my excuse. I'm cheating a bit and tackling a few things in this one post.

Thing #13 - Social Bookmarking
I first heard of Del.icio.us a few years ago, probably from one of the library themed blogs I follow. Anyway, as with most of these things, I thought it was kinda cool, but didn't think it was for me. Who cares what sites I find interesting? (This is also the reason why it's hard for me to maintain a blog.) But getting to the point of this thing, it's the social aspect that counts. And that's where I have the issues. No, really! Even my Birkman results will tell you I'm not much of a joiner.

If I were involved with the online librarian movement, or "biblioblogosphere", I might be persuaded to keep a site like delicious active. I could see other library folks checking it out and finding useful sites that would help them in their jobs. It's not that I don't want to share what I know, it's just that I'm not sure that anyone really wants to know. :)

Something like delicious might be good for maybe the Central Reference staff to use, so that we in the branches could find info we need. We don't get as many reference requests at the branch, but when we do, it might be helpful to have a handy list of sites that reference folks use often.



Thing #14 - Technorati

I've explored Technorati before, on my own, and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that, well, I don't get it. I wasn't really finding the sorts of things I was looking for, and could usually get better results when using Google. Maybe I was doing something wrong? Looking at it now, it's a bit easier to understand. I like the What's Popular page, reminds me of a feature one of the search engines used to have, that would show you the latest search terms. Strangely enough, they list the first 5 of their top 100 blogs, and I already read 4 of them!

I understand now how tagging your blog posts helps to make your searches better. That's something I need to work on, not surprisingly, that ties in to that whole social aspect of these 2.0 things, doesn't it?



Thing #15 - More on 2.0
OCLC is doing some cool online things and I really like their newsletter, NextSpace. I went back to Issue No. 1- Extreme Makeover: Library Edition and found some things that I found to be very applicable where SAPL is right now. For example:

Organizations exist to provide value. If that value is no longer perceived to be in sync with the consumers’ needs, the perceived value of the organization, and its brand, will be minimized.

Being a City department, SAPL is always having to improve the "perceived value" of our organization, especially around budget time. Things like a new bookmobile, a new website, online services, and outreach services are all ways for us to stay relevant to our community. By now, everyone's read the articles about how our country is in a recession and library use is up, now folks are starting to realize we're more than just books.

Then there's this part:

Changing the library’s image in the marketplace, however, must start with changing librarians’ perceptions. That means adjusting the librarianship culture and operations before persuading consumers that libraries have been reborn.

This is where it comes down to us. We are the face of the library and our attitudes contribute to the perceived value of SAPL. How many of us work with librarians who don't know how to copy and paste? How many of us have staff that are nicer to stray dogs than to our customers? It doesn't matter that you didn't learn how to upload pictures in library school, if it's something you've been asked about more than once, it's your job to learn!

We've introduced our patrons to CMS, where they sign themselves in to use the computers, self-serve holds are in several branches, self check-out is just about system-wide. These things are supposed to "free us from the desk" and although the learning curve is steep, we're starting to see some patrons really take advantage of these services. My question to you is this: What are you doing with this "extra" time to improve the perceived value of your library?