Evaluation--Thing #23!

All in all, I found this to be a very worthwhile project, although much of it was done on my own time. There simply wasn't enough time to do it at work and do it justice.

I'd gladly participate in another program. Next time, I think it might be valuable to make it more collaborative in nature. In other words, setting up Division or Community Library blogs would be more work-productive and might get more people involved who otherwise wouldn't pay it any attention.

Thanks, Hood and Hat! You've done a terrific job!

The End is Near!! Thing #22

Spent some time exploring EMedia, looking for an audio book called "The End is Near." No such luck. Closest thing was "Grave Endings," by Rochelle Krich. Which I would certainly download. If. I. Owned. An. Ipod. Alas.

Peas in a Podcast--Thing #21

Found a podcast I liked--"All About Books," a weekly NPR show--and subscribed via Bloglines. Easy as pie. Easier than just going to the NPR site and listening there? Prolly not. But certainly the directories are a good bet for finding podcasts with which you may not already be familiar.

ITube, YouTube

Who, outside of people living in caves, doesn't know about YouTube! While it's hardly cutting- edge anymore, it is fun. Now, which fave can I embed here? Not the Justin Timberlake one, or the parody of same from a female perspective. I think I'll go with "Hey Little Sparta."

Double Avian Homicide--Things #18 & #19

I've combined numbers 18 and 19 by registering at ThinkFree and exploring a bit. This is a terrific idea for collaborative work and also for doing work away from your office pc. ThinkFree offers Microsoft Office compatible word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation graphics software which can all be used online or off. Now you can work on a pc that may not have Microsoft Office installed and still edit and revise your Word and Excel documents. How cool is that! I'm not at all surprised that it won a Web 2.0 Award.

Now I'm a Believer! Thing #17-1/2

I never really got the Facebook and MySpace thang. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer socializing in person. But the LibGuides are worth the price of admission. I've just found two really good websites for the Internet Resources Team directory, and I've only scratched the surface. I'll have to go back and check it out further but don't have the time today; gotta get to the end of the 23-1/2!

Thing #17--Wiki work

OK, finally found something to add! I became a member of Wikiquote (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/) and added a quotation to the Love in the Time of Cholera page. "A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father." Tada!

A Weeki Wachee Holiday--Thing #16

Trouble with aging is that your long-term memory really kicks in, and now I find it impossible to think of a wiki without thinking of that kitchy spot in Florida with the mermaids. I never actually went there but I used to see clips of it on tv and it seemed soooooo cool.

But back to the wiki at hand. I, like the rest of the Western World, am familiar with Wikipedia. I even use it from time to time when I want some quick background information (as in, Who the heck is so-and-so?). I agree with the collaborative benefits, and think the Library Instruction Wiki and the ALA New Orleans 2006 Wiki are perfect examples of wikis that work. However, I would never dream of citing Wikipedia as an authoritative source because it simply isn't one. User-directed can be overdone; think of where democracy has gotten us, administration-wise.

2.0, or Is the Emperor Wearing Anything?

I've spent the better part of yesterday afternoon trying to digest and assimilate a myriad of discussions about Library 2.0. My conclusion is that it's too soon to tell. Particularly since this is only Thing #15 and I've got a bunch left. Initial thoughts, though, are that new doesn't necessarily mean good. Or, more to the point, good for everyone. Folksonomies are fine for cataloging your private book stash but make little sense in the context of a library. Give me the taxonomy any day. I fear that this has become the new "grandstand" notion that we are all expected to jump on. For now, I'll reserve full judgment and post more on this at the end.

Technorati, Schmecknorati

Another website with a less than descriptive name. Frankly, I'd rather be part of the Literati, or even the Glitterati, buy hey, they weren't among the Things offered. So Technorati it is.
I did sign up, even "claimed" my blog and installed a cute little button on it. But will I use it? Chances aren't good. Besides, I don't have to go there to catch tmz and mollygood. I've already got them bookmarked.

It's delightful, it's del.icio.us

This I like. With my account set up, I can now attempt to transfer all the favorites that I have on any number of computers to one special place that I can access from anywhere. What a great idea! Except...hmm...this sounds familiar. Didn't I do this already with Backflip years ago? So why do I need del.icio.us now? Cuz I've completely forgotten my Backflip user name, password and the email account I used when I registered. Shoot, I had some really good stuff there, too.

I Been Searchin'

Got myself a rollyo account and created a searchroll. Well, to be perfectly honest, I actually modified three existing searchrolls. Nonetheless, here's the link: http://rollyo.com/mmarks/maxs_book_reviews/ . Cute idea, but again, who has the time?

12 down!

Not Swamp Thing, Not Wild Thing ...

LibraryThing! Argh! Another way to have hours, days, and perhaps even weeks vanish into the ether!

But I was a good little librarian and opened my account, added my five titles, and even stuck a widget on my blog. Here's the link to my catalog: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/maxinemarks

Whoops. I guess I just divulged my name. Ah, I could never keep a secret!

Lost in Translation

I played around with an image generator and here's my first name (Maxine) in Chinese:
If there are any Chinese staffers out there who would dispute this, please leave me a comment. I personally can neither confirm nor deny the validity of this.

To see your name in Chinese, go to http://www.chinesetools.eu/names/.

And that's Thing #10!

All the News That's Fit to Feed

Zipping along with Things 8 & 9. Bla Bla has now joined Bloglines--has a certain ring to it, no? I subscribed to a number of feeds, mostly book-related. These I can rationalize reading at work. The others? I fear this is not the kind of thing I need to do on a regular basis. This is a procrastinator's nightmare. I have deliberately cancelled most of my magazine and newspaper subscriptions, because I could easily spend the rest of my waking hours reading and clipping. I must show at least the semblance of a normal life! And, coincidentally, check out my current email signature (which does change from book to book):

"We told him to get on with it. We liked wasting time, but almost nothing was more annoying than having our wasted time wasted on something not worth wasting it on." Then we came to the end, Joshua Ferris.

Technology Rant

No, this isn't a rant against technology. It's a rant against people who use the term as an excuse to be lazy. I used to work at another library where an older colleague used to fetch me every time a patron wanted to change a font in a Microsoft Word document. "She's our computer expert," she would say. Puleez! I still get called to unjam printers with the line "Maxine's great with the technology stuff." I do not consider myself a technological whiz kid. I am willing to try things and don't get frightened by computers, which I guess gives me a leg up on your average bear. But still, I'm learning from this series of exercises that there's plenty of technology with which I am totally unfamiliar.

The problem with Learning 2.0 is that it's not mandatory. Thus, the people who already have an interest will explore, and those who don't will ignore it and go on their merry ignorant way. Tis pity.

Sons of Flickr

Combining Flickr fun with vacation fun--what could be better? One of the featured third party Flickr apps was fd's Flickr Toys, and I had fun playing with the Magazine Cover. OK, so it's not really London--it's Bath--but it is a pretty decent shot of three broads abroad. Kathryn and Nancy--tally ho!

Seriously, tho, I never even got to most of the other Flickr tools, so I have a feeling I'll be back here another day.

My Friend Flickr

Yippee! I think I've already covered this item, albeit out of order--which is par for the course for me. I created the letter banner across the top of my blog with Flickr letters. All it took was going to Flickr, typing in letter b (and l and a, respectively), and selecting the ones that I liked. When you double-click on the photo, you get the option of different sizes for download.

Like so:




Then you can import it into a graphics program and play to your heart's content. I told you--I learn best by playing!

2 Out of 7-1/2 Ain't Bad

Onward, she said, trying desperately now to play catch-up ...The easiest by far is the "play" aspect, which I also truly believe is also the best way to learn. If it's not fun, and it's not required, let's face it--none of us would put ourselves out. The trick is, therefore, to find the play in the mundane. Not always an easy task, but hey, I was choosing my fave between play and viewing problems as challenges and opportunities.

More difficult is to maintain a positive outlook and mindset. All of the time. 'Nuff said.

Yay! Four down!

Initial Blather

Well, I've succumbed. I, who never wanted to have a blog, now have one. I, who always viewed them as narcissistic self-indulgences, am now part of the masses who feel compelled to note their every move for public inspection and review. Why did I do this? For work, to demonstrate my readiness to learn as well as my capacity to be bribed. What the hey, I've always liked doing things for extra credit so I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, least of all to me. TTFN.