Golden compass daemon

Here's your chance to see if you think the daemon assigned to me fits. Please do!

Library Thing

Is anybody still out there?
Finally had some time to start on a pet project. I've been thinking that it would be good to have a community something for our libraries' Book Banters. So tonight, since it was kind of quiet, I've entered in all the books we've Bantered at all the bantering branches that I could find from previous Library Happenings. I got a little bogged down with the very first set because I can't find that issue. We did The Number One Ladies' Detective Angency here at Annapolis, and somebody did The Rule of Four - and there were others. Does anyone remember? I've tagged the entries with our 3 letter library codes so we can reorder the Thing Lists by branch (or however else you'd like).
Please take a look at the link here on the blog. If you'd like to add to it as Book Bantering continues then that would be great. I'd really like to see somewhere that we could collaborate on selecting titles etc. Guess I'll post that idea in the Programming Blog and see what response I get there.
Hey, this is pretty cool - actually using a 23 thing for library things - talk about transfer of training. Happy Joanne?

Jurassic Park in 5 Seconds

Uh oh - look at what I've found now - a whole series of movies in 5 seconds, but this is my favorite so far. Check it out!

You tube success

OKAY!!! The You tube video showed up as it's own post. Well, that's interesting and not what I wanted, but what the heck. Watch it anyway.

sudoku

You tube

I've been seeing things on You Tube for quite some time, and had been looking for something to show here. Most of the "funny" tubes that I've watched haven't been really funny to me. But then, accidentally, I came across this sudoku thing, that did make me grin. It was during a conversation we were having at the desk about megasudoku - a mixture of letters and numbers that of course is way beyond me. (I am very happy with my own enthusiasm about plain sudoku puzzles). Anyway, the whole post is at http://squidoo.com/megasudoku should you be interested in that level of difficulty.
If you just want to catch a quick chuckle (30 seconds) then check out this You Tube. (if it shows up here) hmmmmm guess that's one of the points of this 23 thing.

Zoho 2

So here I am at a different computer, and able to log in, retrieve my first doc (Trying out Zoho), and able to carry on without floppies, thumbdrives or even a sharp pencil.

Pretty nifty. 

Zo how do you do!!

Trying out Zoho

First impressions:

This is a little tricky without reading the directions. But who reads directions? Seems that one should be able to click and go, once familiar with a similar program.

Let's put more smilies in

Yay! that was fun.

let's take this to the n^th degree

I like the subscript superscript buttons, but how do I turn off the highlighting

Whoa, fun colors too

Is it gone?The orange bands are "quotes" I think.

You can switch to other Zoho functions as well. Very cool. I like the look of Zoho planner. It seems quicker to set up than Outlook!!

Unfortunately this exploration is all I have time for at the moment. I wonder if I can send this to post on Deb's blog???

Experimenting with Technorati

So what week is this activity? I've lost track. Couldn't play with deli.cio.us (whereever the dots go) because I don't have the authority to download the tool bar. Will try it at home. So have been wading through this technorati business for an hour. Wanted to put one of those cloud tag things, but didn't get anywhere with that. Seems that I can follow these directions, although I'm really, honestly, not clear about what is going to happen. Oh well, what's the worst that could happen?

Not going to kill me, not going to lose my job.

Technorati Profile

As they say - publish and "release the spiders".

Future of libraries

So I've been thinking on and off about these perspectives on Web 2.0 and Libaries 2.0. Some of the technology sounds like fun - touch screens, and easy access and ..... some of it sounds scary.
How will we keep up with it all, and everything else that we do at work? Will there be time for planning programming, and having enough training, and time to help patrons with it all? All those worries that the unknown stir up.
Then I come into the library and am faced with older folks who cannot look up a book on the online catalog. They are used to coming into the library, having personal assistance, and what's more they are used to finding their favorite books on the shelf in the same place as last time. We've already messed with their heads with the shared collection. At our branch it seems we almost NEVER have the requested book on the shelf, but must have it sent from another branch where there are 4 copies on the shelf.
If Rick Anderson has his way and we no longer have a library "collection" then what will those folks do for their reading material? I mean to say - let's say "Moby Dick" just doesn't circulate - so we discard it, and then all 15 branches discard it and then someone wants it - well, obviously we would like to request a copy for them. But what if Pratt has discarded their copy. What if there aren't any copies left!! I know this seems silly but it could happen!!!!!
Anyway, the point is, as Michael Stephens warns - "techno-worship" cannot exist here. It's necessary for library survival to morph on, to grow, to try new things, but not at the expense of alienating the elders of the community.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I welcome your comments!

Photos on the web

This is Mike - finally sailing his beloved sailboat Leah with her brand new main mast. It's taken a full year to get a new sitka spruce mast built (on Cape Cod) and finally installed here in Annapolis. We had a good sail on this day in early June. The best thing was to see Mike's face looking relaxed and happy - back on the water again.

23 things wise, I registered with flickr, and posted this picture there, but haven't figured out how to connect the two. I guess you should go to flickr to see the photo.

I'll just say that registering with flickr, and uploading photos there was nice n easy! yay!

Technology: theory and reality

June 5th I had the good fortune to attend the SMRLA Tech Showcase. It was a lovely drive down from Annapolis in the sun, and the Charlotte Hall Library was easy to find. Great view out the windows, old willows waving in the breeze, and blue sky and sunshine all around. Luckily the view was somewhat muted by the solar curtains, so it seemed more like a movie background. Gale Zasada gave her fascinating talk about Libraries in Second Life. (Tempting there for a few minutes). Watched a couple of cool videos

Shift Happens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q and

Web 2.0 The machine is Us/ing us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Don't know if these links will work for you. But they were pretty cool and thought provoking.

Also got excited about thumb drives with U3 technology. Thought they might be just the ticket for us at our library branch. We share computers, so don't always have access to our own stuff on a computer. I thought that this U3 thumb drive would give us the access to all our own favorites and stored files in a portable device. So, I bought one. Now, I've played around with it a little bit, but really DONT know what I am doing. That's the reality of technology in my first life!

As a lifelong learner? I need to be showed things and taught things. I don't seem to learn things on my own. (quite the disappointment). Well, it's true with technology, anyway. I seem to be able to learn new knitting stitches on my own while looking at instructions.

So, if someone would figure out this U3 thumbdrive for me, I still think it might help us out here. Then the challenge would be to share what I've learned and apply it daily.

Because the bottom line from Shift Happens seems to me to be how quickly the technology continues to change. It's all good-
until somebody pulls the plug.

Keep cool!

The pitiful beginning

Ok. So I have been thinking about this blog entry for at least a week. Finally I decide to just type something - isn't that always the way? Think think think - then just launch in and DO. Whatever will happen will happen. Que sera sera, and all that.

The 23 things - thing. I'm off to a slow start. Is anybody else?

So many other tasks at hand - weeding the library collection, preparing schedules, writing evaluations - these are important things that have deadlines. Trying to fit in the 23 things has been a challenge. First off, I need some quiet around me - it's often distracting in my work area. (Which is ok - quality chatting with co-workers is part of what makes the job so enjoyable) Secondly - I need a chunk of time, to proceed slowly through some of this new technology. Thirdly - particularly in case of the blog issue - what could I possibly write here that anyone would want to read!!
The solution? Items 1 and 2 fell (more or less) into place this morning, and the third- well Joanne this is for you!
I do read a few blogs regularly - mostly knitting blogs, particularly masondixonknitting.com, and am always amused by Kay and Ann's postings. I like their set-up - that they are writing to each other mostly and it's open to the rest of us. There seems to be a purpose there, and not just musings. (Which is what this seems to be deteriorating into).
So. Let's keep it brief, and start agonizing over what to say next time. In the meantime, will take a look at other 23-things blogs and try to keep treading water. Happy Summer!