Ashley Hutson's 23 Things Blog

LATI Project Plan

2007-09-18T13:22:00.000-04:00

I figured I would keep a blog tracking my progress for this project. My basic idea is this: a small, intensive course for people (in my branch's community) who know absolutely nothing about computers.

The main librar (WCFL) offers similar courses, but people around here are usually reluctant to travel into the "big city" just to sit around with strangers and admit to being pretty, uh, challenged when it comes to computers. I would offer an hour-long class with about seven people, maximum, so everyone could get personalized assistance. There would also be print-outs they could take home and refer to.

I need to get an outline of what the class would consist of, what order I would go in and what materials I need to accumulate to get the ball rolling. I will also need to create my own PR to submit for advertisement. I am actually planning on implementing this at some point, so knowing that it will eventually come to fruition provides some extra motivation.

Smithsburg Pride Days July 21-22

2007-07-20T17:26:00.000-04:00

Oh, and this weekend we're having Pride Days at the Smithsburg Library, replete with a puppet show, local artist exhibit, story time, and harpist. We're celebrating our new building's one-year anniversary, so everyone is invited. Please come see us, even if it's just to see our beautiful view out the windows and be envious.

Thing 24 (just kidding, har har har)

2007-07-20T17:19:00.000-04:00

Upon reading over my blog again, I realized it must seem like I'm the crazy librarian lady obsessed with cats. However(for what it's worth), I only own one cat, and if my couch is any indication of how cats usually react to couches, I will not be owning any more.

That said, here is another large animal, the German Giant breed of rabbit:

http://www.bloggingpet.com/images/bunny.jpg

Thing #23: If that's all there is, then let's keep dahhhncing....

2007-06-19T18:23:00.000-04:00

Actually, I was dreading this program. But I found that it was a useful and concise intro to many new technologies I'd never heard of before. Most of them were easy to use and learn, so no complaints there. Has it affected my lifelong learning goals....that's a pretty big question. I think it has made me realize that there's a lot out there I'm not aware of that I should be on the lookout for. I really like Bloglines. And I'm still absurdly fascinated with the Flickr Colr Pickr.

The only format change I'd suggest is to make all the links given in the 23 Things open in another window. I liked to keep the instructions open while looking at the programs and different pages so I knew what I was supposed to be looking at, and it's frustrating when you have to keep clicking back to the instructions page and then right-clicking, opening the links in a new window, etc.

All in all, it's been a good experience. It was fun to create my own blog and play around with formatting and all that good stuff. It looks like a lot initially, but if you take it step-by-step, it's a highly recommendable learning tool. Thanks! :)

Thing #22: Ebooks

2007-06-19T18:19:00.001-04:00

I explored some of these sites for my LATI training recently, and I think my conclusion was that it saved a lot of walking to the shelves and strained a lot of retinas. Frankly, I don't think ebooks are all that great. I really don't feel like invoking a migraine by sitting in front of the computer and either reading or listening to a book. Books are portable, these are not. I have used the Maryland Consortium for ebooks, too. How to download, to what devices you can/cannot download to, etc can be pretty hairy. Just my opinion.

Thing #21: Podcasts

2007-06-19T18:03:00.000-04:00

I searched around and found "The Last Angry Man." I subscribed to it on Bloglines, too. I found podcasts pretty neat. Thing is, I don't really have time to listen to them. But I see how they can be a valuable resource for news etc. It's an audio version of the web news.

Thing #20: YouTube

2007-06-19T17:49:00.000-04:00

I am acquainted with this site; mostly there is funny stuff to watch. I guess something like this could be useful on a YA site for the library. Also, news clips and such could be used on the regular library site.

In going with my grossly fat cat photo, I found another cat who weighs in at nearly 41 pounds, thus making it the fattest cat in the world according to Guinness Book of World Records. I stand corrected.

Thing #19: Web 2.0 award sites

2007-06-19T17:41:00.001-04:00

My favorite is http://www.onesentence.org/

Not very useful in a professional setting, but it's a great site. There are some very intriguing stories on here. I submitted a sentence, but I don't know if/when it'll be on there.

Thing #18: Productivity tools

2007-06-19T17:19:00.001-04:00

I created a bogus customer survey form. This could come in handy on the library website. Not my form but something like it, that is.

http://creator.zoho.com/ahutso01/form/1/

Thing #17: Wiki Sandbox

2007-06-19T17:09:00.000-04:00

This was fun....I added my blog and was somewhat bored, so I cleaned up the page and bolded the library system headings and spaced everything evenly.

Thing #16: Wikis

2007-06-19T16:47:00.000-04:00

I was surprised at some of these....I guess I have Wikipedia stuck in my head, so I was stupidly surprised that you can use a wiki for something other than an encyclopedic dumping ground. I can see this being very useful on a book review page for a library, or a local history page that several local historians could contribute to. Also a community page would benefit from this tool. I suppose it would work for anything that multiple people could contribute reliable information to.

Thing #15: Deep thoughts on Web 2.0

2007-06-19T16:37:00.000-04:00

Well, maybe not that deep. I agree with Rick Anderson's point of view in his "Away from Icebergs" article as far as user education. I know at my branch (Smithsburg) the patron/librarian ration is about 500:3. There are only 3 of us here and there are a whole lot of people in a week. Many of them have computer trouble or need training, and many don't want to go to the main library (where classes are offered). This is why for my LATI project I am going to try to start a very small basic-computer-skills class here at my branch with maybe 5-7 people in the class. It would be helpful if these search engines and Internet databases had better interfaces, but until that happens, we will have to go to the masses.

Thing #14: Technorati tagging

2007-06-19T15:25:00.000-04:00

I found my blog post! I searched for "LibraryThing" and my recent post actually showed up as #3 in the results. I guess this is proof that nothing is private in the web world. This tool could be very handy if you have read blog entries or articles and forget where you found them (this happens a lot to me).

Thing #13: Tagging

2007-06-19T14:58:00.000-04:00

To me, tagging seems rather inefficient. First of all, there are several "tags" that are duplicates. For example: "Comic" "Comics" "tv" "TV" "television", etc. I guess if someone has the time to surf through the categories it can be useful. I suppose it could be useful in the future, but it seems like sort of an informal and (as I mentioned) inefficient way to look for something. If you don't know what you're looking for and want to browse categories, I think this could come in handy.

Also, I tried to access the 12 minute tutorial and I got a message that the blog was on hold because it had exceeded its bandwith. Did anyone else get this? I just clicked around within the PLCMCL2 link and looked around myself.

Thing # 12: Rollyo

2007-06-19T14:31:00.000-04:00

This seems like an OK idea, but I'm not sure I'd use it all that much. I'd rather stick to my own stuff. It was also rather confusing as to how to link my own search. I realized I had to edit it and make it public and then, after searching for it, I clicked on "Link". Here it is:

http://rollyo.com/ahutso01/spellingssynonyms/

Thing #11: LibraryThing

2007-06-19T13:53:00.000-04:00

I think this is a really neat idea. It's a repository for what you've already read (and presumably what you want to read). Also, I like how easy it is to create an account. ;) Here is my LibraryThing thing....

Thing # 10: Image Generators

2007-06-18T21:20:00.000-04:00

Take that, anti-literacy scum!

(I used the Yahoo avatar generator.)

Thing #9: MERLIN and library newfeeds

2007-06-18T20:47:00.000-04:00

I was introduced to MERLIN at at Rural Sustainability workshop I went to in March. This time I looked around the calendars to see all the different workshops offered. I also looked at the blogs of other libraries (under Learning Links > Blogs).

When I tried to suscribe to the RSS feed on the MERLIN site, I got some crazy XML code, so I went to Bloglines and added MERLIN to my feeds. I hope this is okay.

I found some of the search tools interesting---Topix was helpful and gave me specific results, but Feedster looks like one of those pages when you type in the URL wrong and it comes up with a generic search page. The headings were too broad: "Politics"? "Life Experiences"? Seems a bit vague. But overall MERLIN is a good portal to other resources.

Thing #8: RSS Feed & Bloglines

2007-06-18T19:34:00.000-04:00

Alright, I'm Miss Fancy-Pants and I did the blogroll wizard so everyone could see my newsfeeds....

Thing #7: The Blu-ray movement

2007-06-18T18:52:00.000-04:00

I've heard of Blu-rays, but I wasn't sure what they were or if I should care. Upon researching the term via Wikipedia, I now know what they are and that I should not, indeed, care. Apparently they're rivaling HD (high definition) DVDs and winning, at least where Blockbuster is concerned. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

"The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red, 650 nm laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 GB, over 5 times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost 6 times the size of a dual layer DVD at 8.5 GB."

This is probably the next wave, forcing DVDs to go the way of the VHS, but for now I won't worry. Que sera, sera.

Thing #6:Flickr Mashups, etc

2007-06-18T18:36:00.000-04:00

I checked out the Flickr Colr Pickr. (Does anyone else have a serious problem with this spelling pattern?) This program is perfect for coordinating colors on fliers, ads, etc. The pictures are beautiful, too. However, I couldn't find the authors of these pictures when I clicked on them. I shall investigate further.

Clockwise: Cristal 2, Jelly Purple, Floating

Thing #5 (Explore Flickr)

2007-06-18T17:15:00.000-04:00

I found this photo on the "Explore" page of Flickr. I like its color and geometry. I also thought it might add a little punch to the black page here.

Who Remembers Red Box?

From Okashikunai

Thing #3: Create blog and test-post

2007-06-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

I guess it's obvious that I have joined up. Now, as for the easiest and hardest habits out of the 71/2 Habits thing. The hardest for me is the first one---beginning with the end in mind. Too depressing. The easiest thing is to play. My favorite one is teaching/mentoring.