Ten Random Things about Me

1. As a youth, I showed polled hereford cattle at the local fair for many years.

2. In college, I turned down my husband when he asked me on a first date to an Ag Fraternity hayride. (I'm allergic to hay.)

3. I was a "stationary" forward on my high school girls basketball team.

4. I was a cheerleader in the 7th grade because the teachers selected them.

5. For 18 years, my part-time commute to the library has been 96 miles round-trip from scenic eastern Licking County.

6. I share my vanilla frozen yogurt every night at bedtime with my 13-year old dog.

7. I love antiques and have a houseful of them.

8. I'm constantly asked by strangers where things are in the grocery store.

9. I love to eat and never gain a pound.

10. On March 19, 2009 I will have worked for CML for 30 years.

Learn & Play

Learn & Play Team
Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Learn & Play has been great fun and I really have learned a lot. I think it has been a real eye opener and made me think about not only the professional possibilities but things I can use personally also. Just the whole idea of learning how to blog has been great for me. I have plans to set up one for sharing with friends. Seeing how other libraries are using Web 2.0 was amazing to me. I'm really glad CML staff had this opportunity to learn. I would definitely do it again. My suggestion for improvement would be to definitely spread out the steps even more. It can be very frustrating when you can't keep up because of time constraints. I had to use this photo because that's me wearing stripes just like my avatar. :)

MOLDI

Broccoli Sprouts in Black Tray
Originally uploaded by Carl's Photography

I learned about MOLDI. I really hadn't looked at it very much. I found a title that we used to own and don't have any more called "The Sprouter's Handbook" and checked it out for myself. I wonder why those sprout books are so popular - they're either checked out or long overdue. I'll have to remember there is one in the MOLDI collection.

Podcasts

DSC_00262008-01-31_06-22-07
Originally uploaded by superbenny

This post pays tribute to the Cheshire Public Library in Cheshire, CT. I stumbled upon their podcast and was pretty impressed. Their "CPL Podcast for Teens" features teen writers, musicians and reviewers who contribute story ideas, songs, poems, essays, book/movie/music reviews, etc. The one I listened to was on "Slam Poetry". There's a CPL Podcast group on Facebook and yes, I found a picture of their "studio" on Flickr. Three cheers for the Cheshire Public Library!

YouTube

I think YouTube is great. Here's the video I selected because I missed it this morning on TV and was wondering if it would be there. And sure enough it was. I asked for today's entries for CBS Morning Show and it came up instantly.



I'm sure there are all kinds of uses for You Tube on library websites - promos, training, programs, whatever. It appears libraries are already advertising on YouTube.

Yellow Fin Tuna

Yellow Fin Tuna
Originally uploaded by SBB1976

I looked at the "Tooling Around" blog which I have to admit I haven't looked at since it first started. I did like the "highlighting" feature that's on the Library's new toolbar. I think that could be a timesaver. In the list of web 2.0 tools on the Power Tools Page, I looked at several things. Boing Boing caught my attention. Pretty strange things on there. I did learn about a new project from Stanford University called Microdots: The Short Attention Span Science Theater. It presents 2-4 minute videos on scientific topics in a "simple and engaging way". The first topic is Ecological Sustainability and the video I watched was called Tuna and the Can (aka It sucks to be a tuna.) Get the idea? (lots and lots of stuff on Boing Boing - for those with time to kill.)

More Web 2.0 Tools

I looked at the "Tooling Around" blog which I have to admit I haven't looked at since it first started. I did like the "highlighting" feature that's on the Library's new toolbar. I think that could be a timesaver. In the list of web 2.0 tools on the Power Tools Page, I looked at several things. Boing Boing caught my attention. Pretty strange things on there. I did learn about a new project from Stanford University called Microdots: The Short Attention Span Science Theater. It presents 2-4 minute videos on scientific topics in a "simple and engaging way". The first topic is Ecological Sustainability and the video I watched was called Tuna and the Can (aka It sucks to be a tuna.) Get the idea? (lots and lots of stuff on Boing Boing - for those with time to kill.)

Web 2.0 Award Winners

Chef Series - Bakers
Originally uploaded by duttonkj21

I looked at the short list of Web 2.0 winners and chose the topic of food. The winning site does video recipe sharing. It's called Imcooked. You join the community and then share your videos on cooking. There are all kinds of videos to watch, arranged by topic. I watched several - it was quite interesting. Also, there is a video on showing you step-by-step how to make your own videos to put on the site. You can also access it by channel : the "side dish" channel features side-dishes, the holiday channel has holiday recipes, etc. Pretty cool!

Playing Around with Wikis

I visited the Learn&Play Wiki. I didn't receive permission to join the first time I tried but was able to get it right away the second time. I added my blog address and some favorites. Wikis are fun.

Google Docs

I used this to share a calendar template with my daughter. I also downloaded the "Beyond Google" presentation so I could download it at home on to my flashdrive. That experiment didn't go so well. I thought our computer at home was going to blow up. In fact, I'm having problems doing "Learn & Play" at home. The security stuff on our computer just doesn't like some of the websites I need to use. I wonder if other people are having this problem. It seems like Google Docs would be a great source for customers who are using library computers and want to save things for use later. I would think librarians could use it for work with committees that include members from other libraries. Seems like the possibilites are endless.

What's in a WIKI?

WIKI
Originally uploaded by Yong Hian Lim

I've been looking at wikis. I was especially fascinated with Ohio University's Biz Wiki. I especially liked the screencasting where you could watch how-to videos on many business reference topics. I could see where SBN could do that and reach a much bigger audience than we do with the in-person presentations. There seems to be all kinds of opportunities for libraries to use wikis - from internal group work to community wikis with other organizations. Very cool.

Library 2.0

The concepts of Library 2.0 seem really cool - promoting "empowered users" and getting ideas and information flowing in both directions. I guess my first observation was most of the articles and references are from 2006 so I'm thinking I'm already two years behind in learning new library technology! Sometimes working in the trenches makes you forget some of these great ideas - it's nice to think about the "big picture" for a change.

Delicious!

strawberry jam forever!
Originally uploaded by favspotting

I explored Del.cio.us, opened an account, and added the network badge to my blog. I have only one bookmark to start, but I think I'll be using it more. I can see where it would be very useful for those sharing research. I thought I could use it for those reference questions that are answered by websites that I would like to remember for the next time that question comes along. It seems like a great way to share reader's advisory information and anything else libraries want to share.

All a-Twitter

Wow, this could be become really addictive. I can see that. It surely keeps everyone updated. Pretty cool.

My Library

I've been playing with Library Thing. Here's a link to the some of my cookbooks: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=trs_girl&deepsearch=

Image Generators

This image was taken from a website called "Image Chef". Nancy R. told me about it. What fun!

Finding RSS Feeds

I played around with all the different blog finding tools. Entered CNN News for my newsfeed. I added some cooking blogs: "Allrecipes- healthy cooking" from the Syndic site, "Limes and Lycopene" (I liked the title of this one) from Technorati, and "Recipes News" from Topix. I doubt if I will use the blog aggregators much, but nice to know about them. How in the world do people have time to read all these blogs?!

RSS Feeds

Wow! This exercise was tough for me. Glad to move on to something else. Seems like a useful tool, though, especially for those doing research.

Cell Phones

Willow vs. Cell Phone
Originally uploaded by bryanbope

Cell phones - sometimes a pain, but aren't they great? I am able to communicate with my adult children on a daily basis. It's awesome!

I'm fascinated with this calendar thing. I did this in about 3 minutes. It's a picture from my yard. Way cool!

My Favorite Vacation Pic

This was taken in the Gatlinburg, TN area. It was my first and probably my last attempt at white water rafting.

Lifelong Learning

When people ask me why I like my job, I tell them it's because I always learn something new every day. It's so true. I also really like to help or mentor others. Hey, I'm a mom and a librarian, what else would I want to do? Sometimes I struggle with confidence when I'm exploring new technology, but around here I pretty much have to get over that quickly and move on!