Carolnb

Most cards done

2010-11-27T13:39:00.002-06:00

Michael & I ran over to the post office this morning. I never can keep their hours straight. I hope I have the right amount of postage on the majority of the cards. i kept the heavier ones to be weighed and they needed more postage. I'm hoping the others are ok or I'll be getting 40+ back... We went to the bank also before coming home.

We had an early lunch since my dad came and got Michael for some ice fishing. They are going where it's safe to fish for a bit. It's too quiet around here. I got a few things done in the first 30 minutes or so and then wondered what to try and do next.... I can plan a whole day when he's gone but I'm not sure what time they are coming back so I don't want to start something and have him come home in the middle of it. Maybe I'll go read, or watch some adult tv ~ in other words not pbskids.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi

2010-01-30T19:47:00.005-06:00

Sorry, I don't have the correct accents on my Happy New Year post.

Today we celebrated Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. It is the year of the Tiger.

We got to see a dragon dance and feed him lucky money for good luck through out the year. We had delicious food and had some fun. Michael also got to wear his new outfit- an Ao Dai- do not ask me to pronounce it unless you like hearing Vietnamese mangled beyond recognition. Michael had a blast beating a drum, running around and playing in a toy room set up for younger children.

After our party we came home. No nap today. I had to put the outfit in water to soak out stains. Why anyone thinks white pants on a young child is a good idea is beyond my comprehension.

We played outside for an hour. The mailman gave us our neighbor's mail which I put back in my neighbor's mailbox. Heaven only knows who got our mail. I wonder if the mailman comes in shelves fiction and genre at Roseville also....

Last night I was able to reserve our hotel for our WDW trip in Dec. Yes, it's early, but I got a great discount by booking this early and was able to get our first choice of resort. Thanks to all those who gave me input, especially Emily & Lynn. We will book our tickets and airline later. I think I might be able to get the tickets at MOA's Disney store from what the guidebook says, or I can always get them elsewhere.

Lovely Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:39:00.002-06:00

It was quiet but lovely day. Michael & I went to my parents. Michael played with Grandpa, while Mom & I took a walk in the park. Michael & Grandpa joined us for bit. We had a lovely chicken for lunch. None of us are big on turkey. Michael tried pecan pie. He decided he liked it. He actually ate part of a dill pickle also.

His nap ended with a change of clothes. Luckily Grandma keeps spares. Dad burned up some sticks. Michael & I helped. We had our leftover chicken in soup for supper. We came home and packed, tomorrow we are off on a driving trip to Milwaukee. Dad is driving. I'm going to be trying to entertain Michael for 5+ hours in a car. Oh Joy. We return on Sunday. Still it will be nice to see my Aunt.

Windows 7

2009-11-24T11:45:00.002-06:00

It was not nice to load, but the ned result has been fantastic. A week of no crashes rather than a crash every 30 minutes which what I was averaging with Vista. Bliss.

Windows 7

2009-11-16T22:00:00.001-06:00

Well it's finally loaded. Still recovering from having it wipe out everything.

Short week ahead!

2009-10-11T12:42:00.003-05:00

Well another 6 day week is over. Life gets so busy these days. Michael enjoys school and loves when we go to McDonalds before school. With 1.25 hours to get him, travel to school during rush-hour and eat, McDonalds or Subway are the most convient.

This next week will be interesting. I get to go to the Dentist again to finish with my crown. I have Thursday off due to MEA. My daycare provider tends not to work it. Our Saturday is booked up with 2 events, that I'm looking forward to in Washington County. Sunday, I'm thinking about Boo Zoo, I got the tickets today. The weather will probably decide what we'll be doing on Thursday & Friday.

I haven't worked on Michael's baby book since the scrapbook party. I did buy some more supplies and get some photos printed that I needed for it, but have not sat down and actually worked on it.

This morning was exciting chores like laundry and grocery shopping. We skipped church I really needed to catch up.

Depressing

2009-09-15T15:55:00.001-05:00

I just read that Philadelphia is closing all their free libraries. They have not had state money since July 31. They want their materials back and plan to close down by 10/2/09. Now that is truely depressing.

Summer almost over

2009-08-11T13:50:00.002-05:00

Summer is waning.

The summer reading program ends in 12 days.

The fair will be starting in 16 days.

Hopefully the bearing that went out in the A/C unit at work will be fixed soon.

It should be interesting to see how we do for business once school starts up again.

Start of the summer reading program

2009-06-06T10:38:00.002-05:00

Today, the Summer Reading Program starts. Two reference staff called in sick. The kickoff party is at SV so we were already only running with 4 people here minus 2 equals 2. Rainy day, beginning of SRP, and 2 Ref? ACK! HH to the rescue. BM sent HH back to us from 10-3. Yahoo!

Uncle Edgars / Uncle Hugos

2009-05-12T16:01:00.002-05:00

I was checking on Uncle Hugos/Uncle Edgars webpage today when I noticed they have their own blog on livejournal. So I dusted off my RSS reader knowledge and added them to my reader.

The blog appears to list titles that have arrived recently at the store. I find their lists handy sometimes for more local authors and /or reissues of titles, but don't care for the format of the lists overmuch. It makes sense for them, but it's a pain in the neck for how I use it. I'll have to see how I like their blog.

Thing 47 Evaluation

2009-04-22T15:56:00.002-05:00

Best thing - Ok, I really liked scrapblog.com. Some of my co-workers saw my at home project which was a Lifebook for my son. It turned out so much better than anything I could do at home.

Worst- Twitter- get over it!

I thought the first grouping had more things I actually had not done or used. This time through, I had to wait forever for the "things" to get posted. Please do not put up incomplete lists. It drives me crazy. I tend to go full speed ahead when I have time and when I have to wait for someone to finish something it tends to drive me crazy.

So goodbye for now. I will probably only post periodically on this site unless they come up with more things on a stick or some other online learning.

Thing 45 Cloud Computing

2009-04-21T16:23:00.003-05:00

Ok, I read the PC magazine article. Yes there are advantages to having your stuff backed up at remote services. If there weren't do you think businesses and such would bother? Do I plan on doing it? No.

I tend to backup the most important stuff on flash drives these days. I had a computer crash last summer and lost stuff. I got the computer up long enough to retrieve my vital stuff before it crashed again. So backing up documents is something I'm trying to be better at.

Even the safest sites have security issues and I don't want my stuff out there. Paranoid, maybe, but I feel ok with that decision.

I tried Zoho & Goodgle docs and found them to be a pain. Too much advertising or not that easy to use. They bogged down my productivity since I had to figure out how to use them and then had to correct whatever it or I screwed up.

I glanced at some of the bookmarked cloud applications and at this time do not plan on using them.

Thing 44 Economy

2009-04-21T16:14:00.003-05:00

I liked Yard Sale Treasure Map. It was missing sales though. The local paper mentioned that this weekend there would be lots of sales with a map benefitting the local high school.

I took a quiz on mymoney.gov. I got most correct. It was interesting. It had some nice educational information.

I have used FuelEconomy.gov site before. It has some useful info.

I have Quicken at home so I really don't need or want alot of the online financial sites.

Under construction

2009-03-30T14:17:00.001-05:00

Ok, things 44, 45 & 47 still appear to be under construction. Obviously, it's being done in MN - under snow or under construction.

Still waiting

2009-03-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

for things 44, 45 & 47

I'm glad it's Friday for me, I need to go home before I go crazy

2009-03-19T14:24:00.003-05:00

P1 calls asking about Mueseum pass program. I give the spiel. Then she starts asking about the Children's Museum. This one not part of the program - I explain SPPL or DCL. She asks which musuems in our prgram. I list them. Then she asks about the Children's Museum again. I explain again call SPPL or DCL about Children's Museum.

P2 calls saying SV says call us we have VC. I check catalog - ours is in transit. MP has it in. I tell patron MP has it, but am a little confused why SV told her to call us. A couple minutes go by. She calls back MP said no they don't have it we do. I check catalog again wondering if it's been checked in. Nope. I do not understand. I IM MP to see why they said that we have it wondering if there is some glitch with the computer. It appears that SV & MP didn't double check the title. It's a series. #1 is not at RV. It's in transit. #3 is at RV. Patron wanted #1 not #3. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why isn't it 5 o'clock yet?

Thing 44 & 45 Still Missing

2009-03-17T11:23:00.000-05:00

Hello? When will these be posted? Our library is getting ready to pack up and April looks to be a very bad month to do this. It would be nice if I could get this done.

Still waiting

2009-02-24T12:32:00.001-06:00

Thing 44 & 45 still not posted.

Cleaning desks

2009-02-12T14:43:00.001-06:00

I can see most of my desk top. This much hasn't shown in years. I got rid of weekend schedules from 2007 that BK had sent out. The paper clutter is unbelievable. I've been trying to clean out the clutter and take home personal stuff. What I have left can be loaded into a box now I think quite easily.

More things on a stick still has not posted thing 44 & 45. I wish they would hurry up and post them so I can finish it up.

Thing 46. WebJunction Minnesota

2009-02-09T14:23:00.001-06:00

Ok, I registered with Webjunction.

I tried searching for friends on it. One of my coworkers was signed up for it and sent the friend request. Others may be out there, but with 14 pages of results for St Paul MN and a very slow connection, I gave up trying this feature.

I checked out the Calendar.

I browsed the course description and looked closer at the Reader's Advisory one. I did not sign up for it. The connection to this website can be very slow and it eats bandwidth. I also don't really have the time right now and do want to deprive someone who really wants a course from taking it.

I'm not interested in joing into a discussion at this time again due to website's length in loading anything.

If I had the time and a faster connection some of the courses looked interesting. I'm not sure if I'll be back here in the near future or not. Sorry, I don't have any great ideas at this time of what I'd like to see.

Now if they could get thing 44 and thing 45 up, I could get this batch finished....

Thing 43 Online TV and Video

2009-02-05T14:35:00.004-06:00

Ok, Joost tends to freeze my computer. I looked at it and Hulu. I decided to try tv shows I like to watch. Hmm. No joy. I tried searching a couple shows. They were not on there. I tried searching some present shows and few were on there in full. To be honest a video recorder or a dvd set works a whole lot better for me than this.

On my home system, I have dsl not cable ( I can't afford cable). My sound is crap and the speakers are turned off. The amount of bandwidth video eats is incrediable. Our library does not have unlimited band width either.

At this point with the costs involved with this I do not see it in my near future, so it will not change my viewing habits at this time. I dropped cable after figuring out that I was spending over $500 a year to watch a couple sci-fi shows and the rest was free regular channels. I buy the dvd sets or get them of the library of the few shows I like that I can't get on broadcast tv. Will online tv and video, impact broadcasting? Yes. Sooner or later, they will figure out how to make a buck on it somehow I'm sure. Just think, while tv is free - they get you with commercials, pbs free- pledge week will drive you nuts, cable - you pay through the nose for it.

At this time it will not impact my family. My son is 2. His idea of high excitement is "Wheel of Fortune". He tends to watch for a maximum of 30 minutes maybe. He'd rather be playing which is fine with me.

Thing 42 Music 2 0

2009-02-04T18:05:00.003-06:00

Ok, I started using Pandora last year. I like older country music. The local stations seem to play only what is the current hit list. I prefer some Statlers, Tennessee Ernie Ford, & Sons of the Pioneers mixed in to name a few. I have not been back in awhile due to my new computer I bought last July. The sound system stinks so bad I turned off the audio.

Alot of the sites don't work with our computers at work. I know this from trying to help patrons get to radio stations they want to listen to.

So this thing is pretty futile for me at the moment.

Thing 41 Mashup Your Life

2009-02-04T17:59:00.003-06:00

Ok, I looked at the various sites. I liked the idea of Digby but it required a download. Then I thought ok I'll try fuser - our computers are too out of date to use for this.

ARGH. I finally went with friendfeed since it did not require a download and would accept our older software. The trouble is I really don't care for what it covers. The first two were much more useful to me. I have 4 email accounts I think. It would have been extremely useful to be able to access them all. I'm not as into the social networking. What I want to keep up with I do and the rest can go by the wayside.

Thing 40 Mashups on the Web

2009-01-30T11:25:00.007-06:00

I first tried http://tinyurl.com/clszf6 (Let Me Google that for You) with the search libraries in the twin cities. It's fun to watch it type the question.

I doubt I'd ever use lazylibrary.com but I could see students interest in it. The website did not pull up when I went to look at it.

Libworm would be interesting but I don't have the time to sift thru 1400+ RSS feeds.

I was going to try travlr but it required a download. Phreetings did not work. I used Bighugelabs previously and wanted something new. I'm not into the "perfect outfit".

Here's one that appears to work:
http://www.dapper.net/transform.php?dappName=TVOnMediaNewsFeedTVShowsOnDVDandmore&transformer=HTML&applyToUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.tvonmedia.com%2Fnewsfeed.xml

Or not.

Wheel of Lunch was fun to play. http://www.coverpop.com/wheeloflunch/

They can be fun to play with, but alot of them don't seem to work well.

Thing 39 Digital Storytelling

2009-01-30T11:05:00.003-06:00

Well I'm not sure if this worked or not. it was lots of fun to play with. If it doesn't work here go to

http://www.scrapblog.com/331BAC9B-7F5C/0CEB181B-8290 to see it. Ok, I might try this for home but I really don't see myself using this at work. I work with Acquistions (Fiction & Spanish) and Reference. There just isn't much call for digital scraping answering reference questions or buying fiction.... It was fairly easy to use.

The website did not come up on the regular site, but the tutorial came up fine and I linked through it. I had to retype the account registration more than once. But it was fairly easy to use. I do use photo sites though personally from home alot and have been playing around with Broderbund's CD products for years.

Thing 38 Screencasting

2009-01-29T12:41:00.006-06:00

Download a program onto a library computer? Are you joking. I looked at Jing and watched the flicks. Screen-o-matic says I have the wrong version of Java so forget that one. I also glanced at Screentoaster and decied to try Skitch. The tutorial worked and I didn't have to download a progam. Argh Skitch requires a download also. Goodbye Skitch. Hello Screentoaster.

Well this one has been loading for a couple minutes and nothing. It could be handy for the library for making tutorials, but who has time? I don't see using it much personally. I tried pulling it up on the desk. I gave up after 25 minutes of waiting for it to load. The other no-load website will not work on our computers because we have the wrong Java. So I am unable to do this thing. The tutorials were interesting and it looked fun even though it's not really practical for what I do.

Thing 37 Photo Tales

2009-01-29T09:44:00.002-06:00

Ok pictures are always fun to play with and I could spend hours here. I however do not feel comfortable putting recognizable people pictures on an open blog, so I don't.

Check out the bottom of the blog for my collage from collagr.com I liked the way it looked. The photos are from various vacations of scenery I liked. I also created a guest book sign in at the bottom from Slide. I tried tiltshift but didn't care for the results.

I already have too many photo accounts online. I spend time with them when I am getting photos printed and edit them then. I don't work with photos at work. There are a ton of photo sites out there. I like this thing, but it it's more of a personal use than work thing for me.

Thing 36 Comic Relief-Generate Some Fun

2009-01-28T18:57:00.004-06:00

The Help Desk By Gadfly

Carol's Dewey Decimal Section:
382 International commerce
Carol's birthday: 4/18/1964 = 418+1964 = 2382

Class:
300 Social Sciences

Contains:
Books on politics, economics, education and the law.

What it says about you:
You are good at understanding people and finding the systems that work for them. You like having established reasoning behind your decisions. You consider it very important for your friends to always have your back.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

My name via dewey.

While the image generators are lots of fun. The biggest use I've found for them is eating large amounts of time. Maybe someday I'll use them, but I'm not heavily envolved with graphics at my library. I don't have that much time in my personal life to do much with them.

I've tried various generators and gadgets when I wanted certain things. None stood out so much that I'd mention them specifically.

Thing 35 Books 2 0

2009-01-28T18:34:00.002-06:00

I read the articles. I had just read in Hotline some of the information on reading increasing earlier today. They were interesting.

I've tried some of the sites in the Learn section. I used to be into cataloging my books, years ago. I quit. I have a 2 year old. Who has time for it? I just don't have the time energy or interest to go to alot of these sites. Some are already bookmarked at our library and I use those for Reader's Advisory. I also use some that are not listed. Personally I love "Sop You're Killing Me" for looking for mystery series.

I already have the book feature on my Facebook account. I do try and keep that up, since I don't always remember titles or authors perfectly and I can log in to check what was that title with "Mother Lake" in it again?

I don't have a problem with reading on the Net. I do it myself. It's sort of like those who look down on people who read the penny dreadfuls or today's equivilant. I figure almost any reading is an improvement over none.

Sorry if I go to the trouble of purchasing a book, I'm not going to release it into the wild. I'm going to read it, keep it or donate it.

Thing 34 Is This Our Competition--Online Answer Sites

2009-01-28T18:04:00.002-06:00

I loved this quote:
"Web 2.0 is good not because it makes the library more
like the Web, but because it is making the Web more like the
library. By my calculation, we are on Library 4.0 (see sidebar
on this page), so the Web has a way to go to equal the
services of the library. However, libraries have been around
for millennia, and the Web for fifteen years, so it will catch
up quickly." That Thing You Do (from RUSQ)

The link to David Lee King did not work.

Appeal of online answer sites is the ability to be annonymous to a large extent. ALso you can ask the questions 24/7. I've looked at sites and tried a few out over the years. Questions range. I do agree with the statement that you get what you pay for in some cases.

Some people don't like libraries. Some people are more comfortable with computers.

Looked at the Slam Boards. No, I did not participate. If that's what you're into go for it. I get enough questions at the refernce desk to keep me busy.

No I did not answer questions on the boards. See above on Slam Boards.

Thing 33 Travel 2.0

2009-01-28T17:37:00.002-06:00

Travel 2.0: Social Networking Takes a Useful Turn (article by David Grossman from USA Today) I preferred this article to the first 2 which were on about.com. I seldom use that since the advertising is so annoying.

I looked at a couple of the travel blogs. Unless I'm going somewhere, and want to research a location, I would not go back to these. Even then, I tend to use websites to book my travel. If I'm exploring/researching locations I tend to use Lonely Planet, Youth Hostel sites, travel books, or the ilk. I'm not real big on podcasts, I'd rather check out a video or DVD at the library.

I looked at a couple of the review sites. So-so is my opinion.

I manage to read travel blogs when reading about IA so while the Mapness looked different, I was not really into this.

I've used map mashups before. They have their uses at times.

Would I use any of these regularly? No. None of them were that impressive to me. Might I use one at some time in the future - Maybe. Professionally - unlikely.

Sites I personally prefer include:
http://www.hihostels.com/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
http://www.bbonline.com/
http://www.travelinformation.com/
http://www.hotelstravel.com/
Also sites that include campgrounds etc.

Thing 32 Google Maps

2009-01-28T17:29:00.002-06:00

See above. I finally got it up without crashing the computer, but it still doesn't work right.

Google map hopefully

2009-01-28T17:26:00.000-06:00

View Larger Map

Thing 32 Google Maps

2009-01-28T16:03:00.003-06:00

I keep crashing when I import the map. The first time I got the map but not the one I wanted. I finally got the map I wanted and everytime I import the html it crashes and kicks me out of the internet. Impressive not.

I'll try for the third time and see if it works. After 2 minutes it's still trying to load my maps. I give up.

I've used google maps for a couple years. There are features I never knew about, but considering the amount of crashing that's happening I'm not too impressed with it. It's handy for directions from here to there - though I take it with a grain of salt - I don't always care for their routes. I do like the fact that I can get satellite views or map views.

Thing 31 Twitter again

2009-01-26T14:44:00.003-06:00

It does not have a valid link and I hate twitter. What is this love affair with twitter anyway? Enough for today.

It only works on the link from the right not the one on the main page. What's with that?

Thing 30. More Ways to Use RSS and Delicious

2009-01-26T14:40:00.002-06:00

I love RSS Feeds. I use them to keep up with what the librarian's in my system are writing on their blogs. I also use it keep up with 2 comic strips and some blogs on adoption. I have folders with each of my 3 groups. I had more but dropped ones I didn't read regularly.

Delicious is not my cup of tea. I bookmark in favorites what I want to go back to or find it on google. I don't use it. I'm tired of keeping up with accounts I don't find useful so I drop them.

Thing 29 Google Tools

2009-01-26T14:15:00.003-06:00

Sorry, but this stuff is old news. I've done alerts on things I've been interested in for a couple years. I've used the news feature also. I have no interest in tracking my google history.

I need another email account like a nuclear bomb. I already have 2 aol accounts, a yahoo one for the listservs that will not play nice with aol and a work account. Online Calendars have been around forever. I started using those back when aol was dial-up only. Most of my family have more sophisticated sites than I'd ever use or don't use computers.

Thing 28 Customized Homepage

2009-01-26T14:04:00.003-06:00

I already have done this at home. My new computer came with a igoogle ready to customize as my home-page.

Let's see I have the local weather, pictures of the solar systems, pictures of National Parks, Google maps, cnn feed, movies in the area I live in etc. These all worked great. I deleted ones that took awhile to load or didn't work that well. It was fairly easily to customize. I like what I have up.

Thing 27 Twitter

2009-01-26T13:52:00.002-06:00

ARGH! I hate twitter. I joined it before 23 things on a stick. It's the most annoying thing I ever joined. If I could remember my password and such, I'd get off it. I still get people who want to follow me. Creepy.

I know some people love it. I just find it annoying to the nth degree. Never make me go back, and I'll be a happy camper.

Thing 26 Ning

2009-01-26T13:49:00.003-06:00

I joined Ning last year. I check on it periodically. I already have a photo I like on it of Italy. I prefer that to my mug.

I created a group for RCL Librarians on Ning and joined it previously. We are not really active.

Ning is fine but now I don't see the library using it much.

Thing 25 Continued

2009-01-26T13:41:00.003-06:00

I changed the clocks to a world clock which I liked much better.

I finally found a weather gadget that would let me really change it to my local weather. I'm sorry but I don't care what the weather is in other places at first glance.

I moved some more stuff around.

I did like the Youtube videos on gadgets.

Thing 25

2009-01-22T15:16:00.003-06:00

Ok, I analized my blog. According to typealyzer I am ESTP- The doers.

I had already added clocks. See bottom of the site.

I just got through getting rid of a floating hexagon of Italy, so I'm not planning on adding another anytime soon.

I added a search box. I like search boxes on websites.

I end up doing enough photo-editing in real life that I don't particulary care to do it for this right now.

Tried adding the google map feature that maps visitors. I'm not sure if I like it or if it's working. I'll have to wait and see.

I may try more of this when I'm off the desk.

Thing 24

2009-01-21T18:47:00.001-06:00

Back at more things on a stick. BT started freezing up, so I figured I'd wander over here. If I'm going to be going crazy from the Internet it might as well be educational crazy.

They certainly have added widgets to this blog menu. I changed my format a little earlier. I added some of the new widgets. I'm not sure I like the weather one since I wanted the default to be MN not NY. The clocks get cut off, so I may switch it around. The clocks also make no sense in the order they are on there. It took forever to find USA MN, USA CO and Viet Nam. I noticed over 5000+ widget additions and gave up looking.

I deleted my turning hexagon with pictures of Italy and a few other things. I got rid of that avatar. I'm not crazy about avatars.

I am not adding more information to my profile. Some things I consider non-negotiable, this is one of them.

I have blogged some on this blog since 23 things but not much. I tend to blog more on my adoption blog. I've had more to say there. I do continue to use the tools I found the handiest.

I read coworkers' blogs and adoption blogs primarily. And yes, I do comment sometimes. However, I make no guarantee as to spelling and typing.

So registered again. I asked to be allowed to comment on the wikiblog thing. Ready or not here I go again.

MN Birth Certificate here

2008-12-20T19:38:00.000-06:00

Yippee! Michael now has an official MN birth certificate with his new name Michael Paulson Frey. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever come. Guess, where I'll be on Christmas Eve? Over at the local SSA office getting him a SS # and card. Then I can finally open a bank account in his name. After that, I can work on savings bonds. I'll also be prepared come tax season. Anybody know a good tax preparer? Between the adoption, the stock market and daycare deductions, I may throw in the towel on doing my own.

Temp Location & budget passed

2008-12-16T14:06:00.000-06:00

Yahoo! We get to have a temp location. No trying to answer phones while jackhammer's hammer away. Been there, done that and don't mind not repeating the experience.

Why?

2008-12-10T16:33:00.001-06:00

Why does Proquest ask me to take a survey? I tried to fill it in 4 times. It didn't work. It told me not to respond to the email, but gave me no information on how to contact them that their survey was broken. Why?

Websites/Databases etc.

2008-12-09T11:16:00.000-06:00

Why is it that I never notice how a database or website is so handy except when it's not working right? Ipage is finally working better again. It was up and down for awhile and driving me nuts. Titlesource acting up is even more devastating on my work flow. Since I order quite a bit it feels like I live on this websites/databases.

Lately work's email has been a challenge. Something got infected or something and the spam has gotten out of hand. I deleted over 100 messages on Monday. Today I only had around 4o, so that is some improvement. The email and IM have been going up and down like a yoyo while they've been fixing it. Hopefully it too will stabilize soon at least for awhile.

It's a short week and I've actually had time off the desk. Now if I could just get all that snow shovelled, life would be good.

Holiday question to ponder

2008-11-30T21:00:00.000-06:00

Why does it only take about 12 minutes to return the empty holiday boxes to the basement, when it took over 30 minutes to get them from the basement into my office during Michael's nap? I can't believe that not putting the tree back in the absement took that muych more time.

Oh well, the tree is up. My front door is officially blocked until the tree comes down. Nobody better ring the broken doorbell. Most of the decorations are up. The cards are pretty much written, addressed and stamped. I just need to verify they have enough postage to mail. I know the European ones do not. I think the only thing left to do, is dig out the holiday music, bake the goodies and wrap the presents. Yes, the presents have been purchased.

I started early this year since everything takes a bit longer when you only have acouple hours when you know who is sleeping/napping to get things done without help. I'm not sure if I'll keep the baby-gate up in front of the alcove where the tree is. It kind of ruins the effect and Michael does wander downstairs when it's not at the top of the stairs. I tend to like to have him on the smae floor as me. We'll see.

In Service Day & 23 Things

2008-11-13T13:44:00.000-06:00

Well, More Things on a Stick are coming supposedly in January of 09. Yikes, I do not remember all those passwords and accounts. A few I kept using using, so I changed the passwords etc. to things I'd remember better. Some I haven't gone back and looked at since I signed up for the account. Hopefully they purged me after I did not come back so I can sign up for new accounts if I need to. I won an address book to put all those passwords into. Oh joy. Now if I could just remember them to begin with.

Online photo site for Michael's pictures

2008-11-01T20:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally put an online album up. I had played around with Adobe's site, but was not comfortable with the fact it creates an url that someone could stumble accross and get access to my pictures. I used Flickr for 23 things and it was ok, but I wasn't impressed with the albums. I glanced at Picasa, but really didn't another prgram on my computer.

I went with Canon. I had purchased my camera from them and they offered me a trial. I can put photos up for an album. I can chose whether or not to password protect it, I also can chose whether others can easily print/download the photos. etc. It's easier to use and access than Adobe, with less chance of someone stumbling across it due to the password possibility.

So if you are interested in seeing photos of my son Michael, send me an email with your name and how I know you and I'll consider sending you the url and password. I figure most of the people looking at it will be relatives...

Still Catching up

2008-10-30T11:29:00.001-05:00

Hopefully, today I will be able to work on the bestseller standing order list. BT was nice enough to add some of the authors I suggested. I need to update my Access db with all the information on what was ordered since June or July. Between the 6 weeks off and the 8 weeks part-time I have fallen behind on my paperwork. The ordering got done, but anything beyond that, yikes I have quiet the mess to clean up before I can update the new authors, # of titles and drops.

I really want to get this at least started if not finished. Life at work has been a crazy game of trying to catch up.

Back to work

2008-10-22T19:25:00.000-05:00

It's been an interesting week so far. Michael is not happy that I am not staying home any longer. This is week one of our normal schedule. He's been at his new daycare 2 days so far this week. It's generally noon before they can pry his coat off him. He figures if he has his coat, he is ready to go with Ma...

He likes Lola's (the dog) name. He likes her better when they are outside and she's not close to him.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be less stressful than this morning was. Michael decided he didn't want to get dressed. He had a couple of meltdowns in the morning before heading over to Grandma's.

I expected worse though, so I can't be to upset. Poor kid, he just got used to a routine and I changed it again...

Rainy Saturday at Work

2008-09-13T09:53:00.000-05:00

Well it's gray out there and misty if not raining. Michael is at his grandparents. I'm going to try and catch up with some patron requests assuming we are not over-run with patrons. We are up to 5 again at Reference.

Cleaning out old lists

2008-09-05T16:40:00.000-05:00

Back to ordering, I spent some time with my old lists deleting titles and ordering some. I got the August tools finished for genre. Yipee!

Back at work

2008-08-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

Well this is the first week I've come back to work part-time. It's weird. I keep looking for Michael and thinking he's too quiet what has he gotten into.

It's been nice to see and talk to adults though. Now I just need to remember all the passwords again to get into various programs and accounts.

Son Michael walking with Grandma

2008-07-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

Home in the USA

2008-07-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

We are home. Arrived Thursday. Have been home sick with cold and eye infection. Michael/Son is full of energy, too bad I'm not.

It's official

2008-07-22T08:13:00.000-05:00

I'm now a mom. We will be flying back to the USA tomorrow night aroun 11:30.

Grandma & Michael/Son is sleeping

2008-07-16T08:46:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday evening here in Dong Thap. It's not quiet 9 pm and the kids are asleep. Mom went down first.

I was happily suprised to find out Michael/Son was coming back to the hotel with us from the orphanage. We spent the day at the orphanage again. I got a few more photos from the nannies with Son's first birthday. The older girls were kept home so they could spend Son's last day with him. It was the first time we had seen them.

We had another feast at the orphanage. We also tried more wonderful fruit. The grapefruit was much milder than the US versions I've had. The little fruits lychee and rambutans were wonderful.

Around 2 pm Michael/Son was changed into new clothes that the nannies bought him to remember Viet Nam & them by. He was not happy to go into the van away from the nannies. He settled down after about 5 minutes. He liked watching the traffic.

Mom & I took him to our room. We had lovely flowers ther from LSS & Eureka. We got him into the room before the meltdown. After his drinks and snack, he had an accident with the meltdown. Cleaning him up was fun, because he did not want to go into the bathroom and I needed to clean him up and remove his wet pants.

Maggie (sorry I'm not up to spelling her lovely french name, so I'm using the one she we could call her) and Lihn (sp?) were back form there meeting. We all went out to dinner with some others from the Catalyst foundation. It was a lovely meal with lots of courses.

Yes I tried mouse. It actually wasn't bad. So those mice at work better watch out of I'll get a recipe. There were many other courses so if you don't like mice, don't despair.

Quynh let me borrow her computer again. So after getting Son/Michael to sleep, I figured I 'd try and update the blog. The blog works better than email at this location. I do one thing on email and then it shuts down. It happens on both AOL & Yahoo, so I think it is the connection.

Well, I better get to bed, tommorow will come too soon.

Off Until August

2008-07-11T13:30:00.001-05:00

Bye have a great July.

UP & Running

2008-07-09T07:12:00.000-05:00

YIPPEE! I have access from home again! It only took 3 tech lines and 2 installation cds to get this sucker working. I don't know it it's Vista, Dell or even me that was causing all the headaches, but it works!

I also tried loading my Quicken 2003. It works! I thought it was a long shot, but worth a try since I have 4+ years of data stored on it. Hmm maybe I'll try my old print shop program also, but later I think.

2 more work days to go. Today is the doctor's and my folks for packing experiment 1. Then work. Tomorrow nothing scheduled yet, but it's early yet. Friday we pick up visas and print out tickets. Saturday we fly away.

Connected again & Hotels booked

2008-07-09T06:53:00.000-05:00

Well it took 2 cd installation disks and 3 different technial help lines to get me up at home, but I'm finally connected again. The speakers are acting weird but I can live with weird or no sound until I have the time and energy to trouble-shoot that. I think it's just cheap speakers.

I tried loading my old financial software onto the new computer and it worked. Yippee! I didn't want to learn another program if I didn't have to.

Onto the exciting stuff. Our reservations for hotel/apartments have been made. We get to pay the lovely bill today. We will be staying in the Cao Lanh Guest House while in Dong Thap. It's very reasonable, think YH (youth hostel) prices. In HCMC (Saigon for the older crowd) we will be at the Somerset Chancellor Court. And in Hanoi we will be at the Sommerset Grand. I googled them, they look lovely. As the family joke goes - definately Rotary Style. They are apartments with washers & dryers, full kitchens, the works.

Our visas, my mom's & I will be ready sometime late Thursday. We will be picking them up on Friday. I have the day off. Today I get to go to my doctor and try and get a prescription for scabies, etc. Mom & I are playing with luggage this morning also to see what fits.

Two more days of work and then I'm not due back to work until late August. The last time I was away from a job that long was when I quit my job in my late twenties to go back to library school. I took a 4+ week trip camping, hostelling and visiting relatives trip before school started. Wow time does fly. Italy in 2001, came close with 4 weeks off, that was lovely also.

77 Days the wait is over

2008-07-02T14:53:00.000-05:00

Now I just need to survive the dash to get ready.

Photos Blooming Plant

2008-06-28T16:31:00.000-05:00

This bush is in bloom right now. I think it's a Wilson Pearlbush, but then again who knows. It came with the house.

Too many awards

2008-06-21T13:22:00.000-05:00

Currently I am working on consolidating lists of Mystery Awards. I found 25 different awards listed on a mystery website. I have 7 award lists left to put on my spreadsheet. It's interesting to see which books won multiple awards. Some of these awards I never heard of before. I also like checking who won the 1rst title award and see if they won awards after that or if they disappeared from sight. (I know it's such a librarian geek thing, but it is fun.)

I'm trying to gather the information for a special ordering project for WB, but I may try and use it elswhere, since it's much more time consuming than I originally planned on it being...

Cybrarian still driving staff up the wall at RV

2008-06-09T15:35:00.001-05:00

Cybrarian is still hanging up our public internet terminals. A.S. is working on a fix, but who knows if and when it will work. So, we reset numberous computers each day and get yelled at by patrons who are upset that the computer is hung up or not logging off.

Computers, can't live with them or without

2008-05-29T09:39:00.000-05:00

Well B&T's Titlesource has been working, knock on wood and throw salt over the shoulder. Now our internet computers for the public are driving me insane.

A.S. did an update on some part of Cybrarian, our filter/print software. The update or upgrade is going to do me in. Now it takes anywhere from one minute to ten minutes to log in. Logging out is a nightmare. The computers freeze if you look at them wrong.

When the computer asks you if want to log off and you say no, it logs you off immediately; while if you say yes, it takes anywhere from a minute to 15 to log you off. ???? Explain this logic to me, please.

Last night I spent 4 hours rebooting computers and telling people to hit the "NO" button. I wanted to runaway and hide by the end of the night. This problem has been going on since the upgrade with no fix in sight. If you see a librarian on the news who went postal....

Titlesource

2008-05-14T15:02:00.000-05:00

I've been hearing through the grapvine that BT's Titlesource is starting to drive everyone crazy. Oh joy. It's supposed to be BT's fault, so who knows if if it will ever get fixed. The speed here at RV has been an issue also with our terminals, especially the public ones. The login times and off are so slow and people get impatient, so you spend alot of time rebooting computers.

B&T Titlesource

2008-05-08T16:53:00.000-05:00

I may be going crazy, but at least our computer services knows that there truely is a problem with this database. I sent out an email and asked other selectors to send problems to Nicole and Chuck. B&T say they will work on it. We'll see.

Baker & Taylor is driving me nuts

2008-05-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

Baker and Taylor's ordering website(Titlesource) is driving me nuts. It likes to lock up my computer. Then I have to retype in my last order assuming I can get re-logged into it. It did this yesterday and is doing it again today. ARGH! It's been over 20 minutes and it still has not let me back on.

More fun with the Converter Box

2008-05-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

I just learned how to tell my converter box not to go to sleep. It's great that it has an energy feature that turns off the machine after a certain amount of time, unless of course you are trying to do a timed recording. I couldn't figure out why my program didn't tape until I found out about the "Sleep" feature and turned it off. The joys of technology.

DTV Converter Boxes and VCRs

2008-04-28T14:24:00.000-05:00

My tv's are old. I decided rather than buying a new tv, I'd go for the converter box. I sent awqy for my coupons in Feb, so they wouldn't run out before I got mine. I actually go the coupons earlier in the month.

I finally had time to go find the boxes at my local retailers. The directions to set it up, appeared to be easy to follow. The first one I got set up right away. The second one, I had to play with cords and then finally got it set up.

That's when I came across the problem with my vcr. My vcrs are analog also. It turns out in order to do timed programming, you must have the box on and set to the channel you want. The vcr is set to channel 3, sort of like scrambled cable signals and boxes. Oh joy. It only took me an hour or so of playing with it and checking the net to discover this.

The government and broadcasters may want you to watch tv, but I don't think they want you to record it easily. Oh well, until the sets die, I'll live. I'll just say goodbye to programming multiple shows on different channels at the same time, unless of course I'm are using multiple vcrs. Good thing, I've cut down on the numbers of shows I watch. Of course now I have access to 5 versions of channel 17.

Trip Advisor -addictive & fun

2008-04-16T19:13:00.000-05:00

Create your own travel map or travel blog

Visit TripAdvisor.com

Ning, Facebook, Rss Feeds - trying to keep up

2008-04-16T14:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I actually went back and looked at Ning again today. I hadn't been there in awhile. A few more RCL members had joined a group I started.

I added the trip advisor to my Facebook account. That thing is addictive. I also added a count up clock to my account. Pandora is neat too. I can blame 1 More Mile JD for Pandora & Trip Advisor.

The rss feed has been very handy to keep up with others' blogs.

Catching up

2008-04-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm finally almost caught up to where I think I should be, at least until the next journal heads my way. PLA put me behind. I had also taken some time off previously - voluntarily (visiting with my nephew and sister) and not so voluntarily(medical).

I've been having fun reading other's blogs and keeping up with my rss feeds. I'm easily amused.

Life after 23 Things...

2008-03-28T10:25:00.000-05:00

I haven't written in this blog for awhile. Thanks to this exercise I was able to create an Adoption Blog for my personal life. It is linked under Blog Friends. I also was able to find a photo on Flickr from the area my son lives in to headline my new blog. The photographer was nice enough to let me use it for giving him credit.

My reader lets me keep up on co-worker's blogs and progress.

Life has been crazy due to PLA being in Town. I did enjoy my day at PLA. Today I will pay for everyone else's day. I'm hoping things will go back to normal, or at least less hectic next week.

Ning Group

2008-03-12T16:08:00.000-05:00

Ok for fun, I created a Ning Group for RCL Librarians working on the 23 things on a stick. Hopefully some will join when they get to Ning.

Life after 23 Things

2008-03-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm still checking my RSS feeds. I enjoy reading other's journey on the 23 things. I also like the comics I bookmarked.

Someone who was doing the 23 things on a stick contacted me on Facebook. It's the first person who wasn't related to me or a coworker.

I did add the results of a silly quiz on the bottom of my blog. There is a link where you, too can discover who your tv boyfriend is. My tv boyfriend appears to be Peter from Heroes. I saw part of the first season of this on DVD. I thought he died at the end. Does that mean I'm involved with a ghost?

While I miss new things to try, I don't miss opening account after account. So there is life after 23 Things on a Stick. Until the next time.

Thing 23 Final Thoughts - sounds ominous

2008-03-05T17:33:00.000-06:00

I think that some of the ideas about Library 2.0 are good and some are not very useful. I'm not sure how many of the emerging ideas we will see implemented or how fast. Sometimes things change very fast and other times they never really arrive.

My favorite things I actually mentioned in my last post - LibraryThing, Blogging itself, and photo manipulation.

Quite a few of our staff are doing the 23 things on a stick. It has been generating alot of conversations. We talk about what works, what doesn't and some of our frustrations.

Unexpected outcomes -I learned about file conversion sites. I had never heard of those. They could be very handy since our software is often older than what people are using elsewhere. I learned that my Western relatives like to play poker on Facebook, also.

My biggest peeve was having to open account after account. In some ways it would almost be better if we could have some joint accounts that people could go in and edit, rather than having to open another account.

I would be interested in participating in similar programs if they are held again. I like that you can go at your own pace and work on it when you have time.

23 Things on a Stick is an interesting and educational path to exploring different ways of using the web for professional and personal interests. Try it, you may not like all of it, but you'll probably learn something new.

Thing 22 What Did I Learn Today?

2008-03-05T17:17:00.000-06:00

I looked at the links mentioned on this thing. I added Web 2.0 Directory to my my links. I also added the blog Information Wants to Be Free to my RSS Feed- I enjoyed reading her blog.

I plan on continuing to check my RSS Feed, which has many of my coworker's journey through 23 things on a stick. I plan on using some of the accounts I signed up for. Some I probably will not visit again, due to the fact I don't think they are too useful to me. These activities will be worked on, maybe not as often as I'd like, but I have found most to be interesting and educational, even when I got tired of opening another account.

The most useful to me in my personal life will be the ability to open and write a blog, using the photo sites for picture sharing and manipulation, and LibraryThing for organizing/cataloging a special collection I own at home.

Thing 21: Ning & Social Networking

2008-03-04T14:31:00.000-06:00

Ok, I joined another social network called Ning. It appears to be more adult orientated than Facebook which reminds me of kindergarten asking for "friends".

I added the badge to this blog. I uploaded my standard Cinque Terra photo for me. I'm hoping against hope that this is the last "social network" I need to join. I'm not a social butterfly. I prefer bbs or websites I can be anonymous on and do not have to "join".

While this may be useful, I feel old and antisocial after having to open way too many accounts, most of which I don't see myself using past this educational opportunity. A few are interesting, but I prefer lurking to particapating usually.

I did enjoy the articles on PW & Webjunction. They were my favorite part of this exercise. "My Guide to Social Networks" was fun also.

Thing 20 Facebook , Social Networking cont'd

2008-03-03T16:37:00.000-06:00

Ok, I've been checking the Facebook account. I now have 3 friends, 2 cousins and a co-worker.

It's been interesting reading the blogs and articles highlighted on Facebook. I did look at HCL's and Denver's "My Space" sites. Denver's is certainly noisey. I found out that HCL is single and a Capricorn.

I can see the appeal, but I really don't have the time or the interest to do this regularly.

Thing 20 Facebook continuing

2008-03-01T13:37:00.000-06:00

I became a fan of Hostelling International today. They mentioned in an email newsletter that they were on Facebook. I posted to their wall.

I made my first friend, a cousin I found listed on another's cousin's friend list. We emailed back and forth a short bit. I like her whale photo.

Thing 20 Facebook

2008-02-29T12:55:00.000-06:00

Facebook would not acknowledge my High School. It closed in 1982 and keeps telling me I went to Armstrong or Cooper. This was my first peeve. I finally got it in, but either I'm the first person in the history of Facebook to go to Robbinsdale, or something is messed up.

I found another coworker who had an account so I could add a Friend. It turns out one of my younger cousins also has an account. She probably going to wonder what that old lady cousin of her's is doing asking to be a friend. The things we do for work. Most of the contacts the "friend finder" found from my looking at emails were relatives. My 70+ something uncle has a Facebook account.

I posted to the wall of Librarians and Facebook's Wall and joined that group. I'm too old for this. I think or just don't care much so far for the format, maybe I'm too anti-social. I uploaded my pictures from Italy again. They are getting alot of exposure from 23thingsonastick.

Thing 19 Podcasts

2008-02-29T12:22:00.000-06:00

Ok I've been listening to Heroes of Science Fiction & Fantasy podcast. I found it from the Podcast.com directory. There are certainly alot of podcasts out there on the web.

I looked at a bunch of the directories. None seemed that hard to navigate. I don't plan on regularly kooking for podcasts or adding one to my RSS feed. I have better things to do with my time in my opinion.

Depending on what you want out of the podcasts there are lots of possibilites. I have other things I prefer to do myself.

"Conan the Librarian"

2008-02-28T14:48:00.001-06:00

Thing 18 reposted from YouTube.

Thing 18 YouTube/Videos

2008-02-28T14:35:00.001-06:00

Ok, I added the Conan the Librarian to my blog. The instructions were ok, once I opened a couple windows and opened yet another account.

I have seen some of the videos before (links from various websites when on my own and playing at home). Quiet a few of my co-workers came over to see what the devil I was doing. The music on some of these is quiet loud. I'm glad I was not in a public areas.

I chose this video because it was wasy to find. It was more interesting than playing around in Ebsco or ELM, but probably not quiet as useful in day to day interactions.

UHF Conan The Librarian Thing 18

2008-02-28T14:34:00.001-06:00

Thing 18 posting utube to blog

Thing 17 Elm

2008-02-28T10:31:00.000-06:00

I've been using ELM databases for years. No big suprises. I have done custom searches and had updated articles sent to me before from CNN and databases.

The page composer was sort of interesting but not really for me. Some of the examples on Ebsco could be useful in an educational enviroment.

Thing 16 Assignment Calculator & Research Calculator

2008-02-25T16:03:00.000-06:00

Back to the 23things after a week off due to illness at our branch and no time to think. The Assignment Calculator & Research Calculator are interesting tools. I can see where they would be handy for students.

I liked that the A.C. has areas that introduce students to new data sources. Libraries of any type, that have databases could use this to promote their databases and give patrons a better idea of what the database is capable of doing for them.

For disorganized people the email reminders would be nice. I guess I come from a different world/century. My K-12 emphasized writing, so many of the tools and reminders seem redundant or silly to me. However, these days, I do see too many students who don't seem to have a clue where to start or what is expected of them; these tools could be a fantastic start for them.

Thing 15 Gaming

2008-02-16T12:30:00.000-06:00

Ok, I tried some of this on the CD version of Sims a friend had a couple years back. I looked over the 2 games. I enjoyed reading about it more than doing it. I know it's very popular, but personally I prefer a good game of solitaire or hearts. If I really want to zone, Cubis does it much better for me. If I want to think more, I prefer a good book.

I can see the appeal and a library on Second life or the ilk, might gain a new audience with teens and other gamers.

Thing 14 LibraryThing

2008-02-15T14:41:00.001-06:00

LibraryThing, I like. It would be a much easier process to catalog my personal special collections using this than the Access database I created a couple years ago. It's visual and easy to use. I was able to add 5 titles I own easily. I like the public or private feature. Sorry, my titles are under private not public.

I like the idea of using it to promote new titles or special collections. I love the isbn feature. It's so much easier for me to ten key versus type.

Thing 13 Online Productivity Pages

2008-02-15T13:47:00.000-06:00

Online Productivity Pages. I played around with igoogle and myyahoo. I looked at Pageflakes. I did not save any of the pages. I prefer using a generic sign search place to start so I don't miss something that might not show up on a "special version".

Calendars - I already use this on aol. I don't need another online calendar. I've tried others also, including the one at work and yahoo's. I prefer the aol or yahoo one.

As to lists, paper and pencil is alot faster.

Backpacker and the ilk don't hold much interest to me personally or professionally at this time. Maybe it will be useful in the future if I get a busier life, but now paper and pencil is less time consuming.

Thing 12 Social Media Sites

2008-02-14T16:35:00.000-06:00

Ok, I went and looked at the "popularity news sites". Depressing. Only popular news gets posted? You can get your news tailor-made so you only have to see your viewpoint or only items that might interest you. Personally I prefer to sample from various places, to get differing viewpoints and find stories I might not normally read.

I saw where you could link a story from a major newsite to one of these designer sites. I'm tired of signing up for accounts, so I didn't do that part. Since I don't plan on going back to them personally and kind of doubt I would for work either.

Thing 11 Tagging

2008-02-14T16:13:00.000-06:00

Tagging, ok I tagged all my previous posts and this one.

I've seen sites before that keep your bookmarks. Downloading toolbars is frowned upon in our library system by our Computer staff. So I just explored the examples. This could be handy assuming it's your computer and you are allowed to download toolbars.

Tagging is nice to find all posts on a topic, especially when you get pas the first page on a blog or other site.

Thing 10 Wikis

2008-02-14T15:33:00.000-06:00

Ok, I posted on the Sandbox site. I'm the one who had no idea what they were doing, but was told I couldn't mess it up, per 23thingsonastick instructions. I use wikis like Wikpedia, but have little interest in creating one, or editing it.

It seems kind of a fad to me, since so many are started and worked on for awhile, until the new "in thing" comes along, or the creator loses interest and they languish out in cyberspace.

I don't think schools/educators should ban wiki information, but I do think that students should use more than one source, preferably both electronic and print format.

Reader's Avisory could be done with wikis I guess. The applications are only as limited as your imagination. If I had to use it more, I'd probably feel more comfortable with it, but somedays it feels like there are too many new formats to learn.

Thing 9 Collaborative Tools

2008-02-14T15:20:00.000-06:00

Ok I tried both Google & Zoho tools with word processing. I preferred the Google one, though I'm not sure why. I didn't have any problem in using either. Maybe their features change when you are doing more sophisticated documents than I did.

As to what Founding Fathers would think, I think this century would astound and confound them.

Thing 8 Picture Trail & Big Lab

2008-02-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

I liked Picture Trail & found it easy to use once I got past the advertising blitz on registering. I tend to see using these items more for personal use than professional. Maybe if I worked more with promotions, I might use it at the library.

I'd recommend Picture Trail as long as you don't mind being hit with ads to begin with. I liked Big Lab also.

Thing 8 part a Hexagon - rotating

2008-02-14T14:51:00.000-06:00

Check out the Hexagon at the bottom.

Thing 7 Communication Tools

2008-02-14T14:22:00.000-06:00

The library has had email for years. We have "Ask a Librarian". Sometimes it works well and other times you end up calling the patron anyway. Email works well when you have part-time or even full-time staff that don't work the same hours, so it can help in communication efforts. It also can be real time waster.

Online reference has both positive and negative features. The email part works ok. Many of the other applications are costly and outdated soon.

I use im at work. I don't have a cell phone so I don't do text messaging.

I have attended various Webinars over the last couple years. Again with mixed results. Some are very well done and others don't work due to technology or really don't have much useful content.

I tried "Twitter" previously. It drove me nuts. I do not care for it all.