pulp, fiber, and bytes

2009-03-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to attending the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) conference in Seattle next week. There should be some good speakers and presentations on info literacy and new technologies to help advance learning in college libraries. I am also excited to see Sherman Alexie and Ira Glass speak. Sounds nerdy, but there will also be some time for fun. I'm going to meet up with my favorite librarian Tiffini there, and hope to do some rabblerousing, networking, and ,of course, absorbing massive amounts of information.

2008-12-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

Ah, I have come to the end of these 23 things, though I am most certainly not done exploring in general. I did learn quite a bit along the way despite the fact that I was already familiar with and a user of many of the things on the list. One thing that I did learn is that 23 things may have been a bit to tackle in an 8 week period given the complexity of some of these items, as well as just life getting in the way. We plan to continue this program next semester, but perhaps encourage participants to bite off smaller chunks. I would like to say thanks to everyone that participated, and encourage them to keep on going. The great thing about these discovery exercises is that you can jump around and explore where you are interested, and not necessarily in a linear fashion.

Some of my favorite things I'd have to say had to do with image sharing and manipulation, as well as podcasting. We hope to use podcasting a bit more on the library website. Our hope is that students will be able to access useful information from our site 24/7.

We plan to meet up today in the library to help participants with any issues that they encountered along the way, and encourage further exploration.

Thing #23.......Check.

2008-12-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of eBooks and eAudiobooks. They offer instantaneous delivery of a title (if it's not already checked out) from within and outside your library 24/7. CSM has both varieties from a few different collections such as NetLibrary and Overdrive. The NetLibrary collection accessible from the CSM Library website offers mainly academic titles in text and audio format useful for writing college level research papers. However, if you feel the need for a popular title I go straight to the Overdrive (Digital Book Library from the eBooks page on the library site) collection. This collection is more useful when working from your own personal computer because you will have to download their platform. But once that is done, you have access to thousands of titles. One issue, however, is that these titles don't work with Apple devices. As a workaround, you can burn some titles to CD for more portability.

Other than using your library's resources for paid subscriptions (free to you) to eBooks and eAudiobooks, you can find free content within the public domain. Of course, this means that titles will have been written previous to 1923, so it's a good source for classic books. You might also find books operating under a Creative Commons license. One really good source for materials like this is at the Internet Archive.

Thing #22......chEcK!!!!!!

2008-12-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

Podcasts, podcasts, oh how I love podcasts. To me they are convenient ways to get really useful or entertaining information when you need it, in audio format. You can listen to your podcasts at your desk, or take them to go with you on your mp3 player. I like to listen to the many great podcasts available on NPR. Podcasts are also great for educational purposes. While getting my MLIS at San Jose State, I took a few online courses, and a few of them used podcast technologies for the lecture portion of the class. From this exercise, I learned that podcasting is already in practice here at the College of San Mateo which is a really great thing. This means that any faculty wanting to use this technology for distance learning is already partway there. With IT support and a place to host podcasts, they merely have to create the podcasts (and it is easier than it seems). From the listed directories in this exercise, I suggest exploring the Educational Podcast Network for ideas or inspiration on creating your own podcasts, or The beginner's Guide to podcasts and podcasting.

Thing #21......oh, check.

2008-12-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

Ah, here I am at Thing #20. This is one of the trickier ones because I can't actually post my video of choice because I am certain that it would be a copyright infringement. It's a scene from the film "Party Girl" in which Parker Posey, aspiring librarian, lashes out a library patron for reshelving a book in a random spot. It's a funny little bit (and not as mean-spirited as it sounds)from one of the funnier movies about librarians that I have seen. The point here is that a YouTube user edited this piece from a copyrighted movie and uploaded it to YouTube. Because I believe that this snippet was posted outside of copyright, it would be wrong of me to post it here.

I found another video titled "Building Academic Library 2.0", and I've embedded it into my page. Be warned that this video is over an hour long, but once you get past the first 15 minutes of "housekeeping" it has some great content worth viewing, as it talks about implementing new technologies (including distance) to serve faculty, staff and students at UC Berkeley. This might be a good model for any academic library to follow.

First, I love YouTube for its humorous videos, but have also used its content for instructional purposes in both my personal and professional life. I have been stumped and needed to figure out how to knit a specific stitch, and found it more useful to watch a YouTube video rather than try to follow along in a book. In my professional life, I use YouTube to find videos on library services in other communities. For instance, I've seen libraries create video snippets demonstrating how to access the library catalog, or snippets on how to differentiate between scholarly journal article and magazine articles. These types of vidoes can greatly help library communities to access important information 24/7, and in digestible bits. I would like to see this type of instruction implemented in the CSM Library website someday.

Thing #20.....CHECK!!!!!!

2008-12-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

Hello again. I know you thought that maybe you'd heard enough from me today, but I'm working the late shift at the library and am using this time to "burn rubber" through some things on this list. I am so very excited to have gotten to the LibraryThing portion of this project because I sure do like LibraryThing. I alluded a bit to its usefulness in a previous posting (see thing #14 posting, but I'm also going to elaborate here). It's a great way for librarians and non-librarians alike to catalog what's on their bookshelf. I've taken a crack at it and cataloged a few of my books. I'll add the rest of my collection at a later date, but this will just give you a taste of my small collection....you see, i don't own many books because I use the public library for all my reading needs, and I do read a lot. i can't possibly afford to buy all the books I read, so I would love to give a big virtual hug to libraries all over the world right now. I love you, libraries. Did I happen to mention that I'm a librarian?

Oh, how I ramble......anywho, i was talking about LibraryThing and its wonderfulness. So, you can catalog your own collection of books and use your own tags when doing so. This is of the mindset that books are cataloged by users for users. I am most certainly not knocking cataloging by librarians (because did I mention also that i catalog?), it's just that all users are not always going to find materials cataloged via subject headings or via the way a librarian thinks. SF State Library found a great way to use the "collective" mind of LibraryThing users, and integrated this wonderful app into their catalog. Anything that SF State Library owns that has also been cataloged in LibraryThing is searchable via tags, or via the terminology of the LT masses, within the library catalog. Users can also modify their search using the tag clouds in the catalog record. Lookie here for more information on LT at SF State's J. Paul Leonard Library.

So, that's my take on LibraryThing. I went the extra step and placed the LT widget in my sidebar. Thing #19........check, please.

2008-12-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

hello world. I'm writing to you from Zoho Writer. I usually choose Google's online productivity tools to create an online workspace for me and my colleagues. I can also make pages only accessible by me. Google apps have many great features, but I am focusing on Zoho since I have never used this app.

I am liking Zoho so far. It's just like working in a normal word doc. you can format and add pictures and tables and links and even and highlight...blah blah blah. You can also decide if you want your documents to be public or private, and there are a number of ways that you can share or format your docs (i.e. email, web page, pdf, doc file). You can also assign "read only" or "write" rights for collaboration purposes. No longer do you have to circulate one coffee stained copy of a document from person to person.

The real test of Zohos's powers is if this actually shows up as a blog posting. I'm going to use their publishing tools to go straight there. *So, obviously, if you're reading this, it worked. Thing #18....check check check.

*Okay, it didn't work when I tried to publish to this blog from Zoho, and I am thinking it's because this blog is technically a Blogger blog, but I post it to my own domain and is being blocked due to ftp rights. I was successful sending it to another of my blogs that is officially a blogger blog with a blogspot address, but I am not going to provide a link to that blog here because you probably don't want to know all about my battles with gophers in my backyard. So, technically it did work......and it was a super easy process.

2008-12-09T17:48:00.001-08:00

Wikis are a lot easier to use than you might think. As I stated in my earlier post, you don't need any programming or html experience to create new pages. It also eliminates all that going back and forth with group emails, and I can always use a few less emails landing in my inbox. Wikis are easy to edit and customize. So, as part of this discovery exercise, I went to the CSM Learning 2.0 wiki and edited a page or two. It was easy peasy as my favorite English chef Jamie Oliver says. You oughta try it. All the kids are doing it.....

Thing #17.....CHECK!

2008-12-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

Wikis! Wikis! Oh, how I like Wikis! In the library world, i find them to be a useful tool for completing a group project, or for disseminating information in an easy to edit and publishable format. Basically, it allows users in the group with little or no knowledge of publishing web pages to go DIY (i.e. post, upload, comment, and add new pages). A few of the wiki apps that I have used out there are pbWiki and wetpaint if you can get past the ads. However, there are a few wikis that offer special sites or deals for educators. It's worth researching to go ad-free, and to get more storage. I can envision how something like this might be useful in the classroom, as it can provide a way for faculty and students to interact virtually from one url.

In terms of services to library users, I like the St. Joseph County Public Library's use of a wiki to create Subject Guides. Their oh so wonderful librarians have compiled handy subject lists for their users. They even provide recommended books with links to their catalog making for a user-friendly experience. This is certainly something that we would like to implement at the CSM Library, well, one of many things. Thing #16....check.

Thing #15

2008-12-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

The concept of Creative Commons is not new to me, particularly since I heard a lot of buzz about it at Internet Librarian 2007. I like the whole warm fuzzy feeling about the ability to share images and content. While I believe that stock photo companies have a right to make money off of the content they produce, I think it's hard to justify that expense to an already stressed library budget when you're trying to get a really great image for a promotional or outreach flyer. Creative Commons gives protections to the artist and/or creator, while also giving liberties (or limited rights to their works) to users that stay within the stated licensing agreement. So, I use Flickr's advanced search option to return only results that return only Creative Commons-licensed content (i.e. non-commercial purposes). For example, I just searched using CC restrictions on the keyword knitting, and this is one of the images I get back. I am posting, andlinking back to the creator. Thank you SewPixie for this image of a Blythe doll. I'm a big fan.

As for the Library 2.0 part of this exercise, I really enjoyed Michael Stephens' perspective on the new world of librarianship. I agree that libraries need to design their services around their users, and to make good and fast decisions. Libraries need to keep pace with their users technology and information needs. They (some, not all) are operating in a Web 2.0 world and we need to be able to meet them there. Ah, how I love technology. Thing #15.....check-a-rooni.

Thing #14

2008-11-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

Life has been very busy at the CSM Library with the end of the semester encroaching, and I'm still learning all about the resources and services here. But luckily, I have a bit of time to get through these exercises and am now on thing 14. Hello Technorati and all things tagging! I admit that the Technorati site is a bit confusing at first, and I am more on the tech savvy side, but if you do enough poking around it starts to make a little more sense. The main reason for the confusion is that their information isn't organized in an understandable way, and there seems to be redundancy in their presentation. However, I did find a few good uses for technorati, namely in the watchlist feature which collects blogs for me to read based on tags that I submit. I also like the ability to optimize my blog's findability using their tags. I don't know if the tagging works yet, but I will be checking in on that in a few days. I just checked my ranking at Technorati and I come in at 2,575,047. I better work on that. ;)

As for tags, I like 'em because it allows users to think in their own vocabulary. Being a librarian, I understand the value of using subject headings to find information. You will see a little later how LibraryThing allows a marriage of both worlds in the case of the SFSU library catalog.

2008-11-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

Oh, now on to the lovely world of social bookmarking. This is something that works well for me since I work from several different computers. Also, besides helping me to organize all the information that I find out on the web, it's a good way for me to take a look at what my friends or other people with my same interests (and same tags) have found. You can find my bookmarks at: http://delicious.com/csm_web_librarian. Again, you see the themes of things that I am into....crafting, knitting, web design, art, books, and Technology. Oh, how I adore technology.

I think this is a great tool for research, particularly on the reference desk, and a great way to organize topics. I was pleased to see that when I started at the CSM Library, the librarians here had already compiled a great collection of links. This exercise gave me the opportunity to take a deeper look at the library's bookmarks. Thing #13.....check.

2008-11-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

I have now arrived at Thing #12 which means that I am more than half-way there. This item brings up the possibilities of creating your own search tool, and this topic interests me greatly as a web designer and as a librarian. In the past I have used the Google Custom Search engine application to create a customized search for various websites that I have developed. This application allows you to set it to search many sites, or just one site. Google also makes it really simple to generate gadget code to insert a search bar right into your site. So, when I saw that the CSM Learning 2.0 project discusses Rollyo, I decided to compare it to Google's search app. I am interested in DIY and crafting, so I created a mini search engine on that topic using both of these applications. You can search via gadgets below.

I tried them both but liked the fact that the ads (ironically) are less obtrusive in the Google search option. Also, in case you didn't know, if you use the Google gadget on a non-profit or educational site, you can have an ad-free version. Rollyo does score some points for having a "Rollbar" which can be popped right into your bookmark bar, but I'd say that Google wins just for sheer ease of use, and for keeping the ads separate from the results.

Either way, these tools are great for educators to create web subject guides for their students. It's also a great way to organize information. These applications allow users to move beyond bookmarking, and search quickly across a number of similar sites. This is a great area to explore for use in and outside the classroom.

Thing #12.....check.

Thing #11

2008-10-29T15:54:00.001-07:00

So, for this portion I decided to have a look around the SEOmoz site showcasing the Web's best resources. I agree that many of these are good resources and am familiar with and use many including LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Etsy and Zillow. There were certainly many interesting resources that I may use, such as iStats Fitness to keep track of my workouts. However, one of my all-time favorites on this list is Pandora Radio.. This is one of the coolest applications ever. All I have to do is type in a particular band, and I get streaming music of that band or similar type music and/or bands right at my workstation. It's also how amazingly accurate Pandora is at linking up my faves with other bands out there that are similar.You can mix your "radio stations" and also share your lists with other users int he Pandora radio community.

I also looked around at some of the collaborative possibilities with Ning communities. I signed up for the Library 2.0, but also have been a member of the American Library Association Ning community for quite a while. I definitely see these types of communities as an effective way to learn from your peers, as a way to get the word out on professional development events, and learn about new technologies. If you don't find a network that fits your needsm you can always create your own. Imagine the possibilities of creating one specifically for CSM.

Item 11.....check.

2008-10-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

I played around with a few of the image generators, and in fact, created my own librarian trading card in a previous post. However, I also discovered the Palette Generator. Using a picture that I took at a recent visit to the California Academy of Sciences, I was able to generate a really cool palette using this tool. I am really quite pleased with myself on this one, and am thankful to Big Huge Labs for bringing this tool to the masses. Thing #10....check.

2008-10-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

I've moved on to part 9 of this assignment, and discovered that I already have enough RSS feeds in my life, but did find some interesting ones out there. Yes, there are millions out there all begging for your attention. I did get a chance play around with Technorati and Topix and found them to be easy to use (once you find the search box in the upper right hand corner of both sites). Both sites are a bit overwhelming at first because not a pixel of space goes to waste on either site. So much for white space, though I think Technorati does a better job of it as the visual design was less distracting and I was able to find useful blogs in my never ending quest of technology in libraries, and knitting, or knitting in libraries.

I also found that Blog Pulse is a fun source to use if you want to get the word on the street about a certain blog or info source. well, that's it for now. part 9......check.

2008-10-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am a longtime rss feed subscriber of the Librarian in Black and the Librarian's Internet Index feeds. So, part of the assignment was to set up a newsreader account which I've already done in the past, and add a library related blog or two, so I added the Library Juice blog to my growing list of library feeds. This was an interesting assignment since it made me go out and look at some old and new library blogs that I may have overlooked in the past. I found that besides offering a great perspective on "libraries, politics and culture", Library Juice also has a great Blog roll for me to explore. Part 8.....check.

2008-09-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

I just created my own librarian trading card using one of the Flickr Mashup tools on the 23 things list. Click on my Flickr Badge to the right to see said trading card and my other Flickr photos.

Now, you might be thinking, "Well, that's great and all, but why only 13 photos on that Flickr site?" My response is that I played around a bit with the privacy settings in Flickr. Some photos are reserved for friends and family only, while others are for public consumption. I'd say that I hardly know you, and am willing to offer snippets, rather than large chunks of my life. Many social networking sites offer privacy settings, so think hard about how much you would like the piblic to know about you. SO,on that note, enjoy my posted photos and comment if you like.

Items #6 and #7.....check.

Hello, College of San Mateo!

2008-09-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

I started as the Instruction and Web Services Librarian at the College of San Mateo Library last week (yeah for me!). In addition to learning about my new job duties and meeting oodles of new colleagues, I am also jumping in to the library's Web 2.O Tutorial. Since, I've technically already learned a majority of the processes, I'm here mainly to talk about some of the steps, and maybe just share my blog with the CSM community. So, for steps 1-5......check. I'll keep you up to date on the remaining 18.

2008-08-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

We have a banana tree sprout. Our friends Cindy and Adi took a banana tree pod, cut it in half and told us to plant each half. We did. One survives while the other does nothing yet....maybe never. We are thrilled with the one. The Rubester loves to check the progress of the banana tree in "her garden." We're excited that she digs the "Nay-tcha."

2008-07-29T23:22:00.001-07:00

Susan and I made it out to the CARL North IT Interest Group's workshop on mashup technology and the art of remixing library and information resources at Santa Clara University last Friday. The workshop offered various levels of complexity on all things mashup related.

I'd have to say that my favorite presentation was from Harrison Dekker on the use of Google's Charts and spreadsheet gadgets for numeric data. As a user of Google docs, I was surprised to find that there are widgets to create nifty looking charts and moveable data. If you've seen Hans Rosling's presentation on Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you've ever seen, then you'll have an idea of what this looks like.

Other topics included Yahoo Pipes for aggregating feeds and web content; web applications used for visually searching the web; and an informative talk on social operating systems. Anyone interested in seeing any of the presentations can go to http://carlnit.blogspot.com.

2008-06-29T15:08:00.001-07:00

I'm at ALA in Anaheim right now going to programs, cruising the booths, and catching up with colleagues. I attended an OCLC Symposium yesterday on the topic of using mash-ups in your library. The talk was great, but I thought the best bits of information came from David Lee King. He is the Digital Branch and Services Manager at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. He talked about useful ways to implement meebo widgets, RSS feeds, google map mashups, and the publication of user content such as teen poetry on their site. He also talked about how your library can use Google "ego" alerts to keep track of what people are saying about your library online. It's a great way to respond to users whether they post good, bad, or incorrect information about your library. It's well worth a listen if/when OCLC posts the video on their site.....

2008-06-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

I'm wrapping up my stay in Claremont, California, the "city of trees and phd's." I flew down here for the ContentDM users group meeting which was really a pretty great event with lots of great presentations, awesome accommodations, and a lot of really nice people. I'm mostly impressed by the wealth of knowledge in this community of users, and I hope to take back what I have learned and apply it to our shared collections using ContentDM. It's also really exciting to see all these institutions digitizing collections, and putting them out there for the public.

2008-05-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

I recently actually finished a knitting project. I know at least 3 people that have had babies in the last month. This little offering is for baby one. I am working on a hat and matching booties for baby 2. We'll see if I have anything in me for baby 3. I figured I could at least finish one or two baby sized items. I admit that I am out of practice, or have forgotten how very small newborns are. I was horrified when faced with the reality todayas I realized that the hat I made for baby 1 (Mason) won't fit him for at least 6 months, unless he is a fast growing baby. Hopefully, I can get the dimensions right for baby 2 (Lily). I also realized that my baby who just turned three is not such a baby anymore. Where have the last 3 years gone? What a great little 3 year old she is though.

2008-04-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't written in awhile, but I have been insanely busy with work lately, and very busy planning a 3 year old girl's birthday party. Do you have any idea how much thought is required for said birthday party? We have eye patches to buy (pirate theme), bouncy houses to rent, pinatas to stuff, and guest lists to comprise.

Anywho, I attended the ICOLC spring conference in Fisherman's Wharf a few weeks ago. It was a smashing success, but most importantly I went on the Internet Archive Tour in the Presidio. I got to meet Brewster Kahle and see all the geeky things involved with digitizing books, including the Espresso (?) book printing Machine. The press printed and bound a book in 10 minutes flat, and it was most awesome to see it done through the see-through encasing.

I also got to see a rack of pedabytes (see left or above however this text wraps). I believe a pedabyte is a million gigabytes. wow! Also, did you know that they digitize something like 1,000 books a week at the Internet Archive. I heart the Internet Archive.