Final Post! (Sesson 15 blog)

These past 15 weeks have flown by!  I am quite pleased to have been a part of the initiation of this Library Technology class.  Of all the classes I have taken from Ivy Tech, I can say categorically that this one has helped me with my actual job the most.  I was not totally ignorant when it came to certain types of technology.  I knew how to search the web (thanks to the class on Electronic Resources) and I knew how to search our databases, thanks to experience on the job.  What I was not familiar with was the new technology that is out there.  Wikis, Twitter, RSS, Delicious, Flickr, Blogs, YouTube, Library Thing, Goodreads, Picasa...these were names I may have heard of before, but was not at all comfortable explaining them to anyone.  This class has allowed me to not only increase my vocabulary, but speak confidently to patrons when referencing technology.  For that, I am grateful.  Plus, I'm so excited about our Department Wiki!  That is a tangible benefit of this class!  (And the fact that I've earn 45 technical LEU's does not hurt either!  Once you all start working in a library, you'll understand why this is a real benefit! ;-)

Since I tend to be a rather wordy person, I have not had difficulty "blogging" each week.  I am very aware that brevity is far more interesting, and so I will keep this last post short.  I enjoyed learning how to include pictures and sounds with my posts.  I gave my kids access to my blog, and they have enjoyed seeing themselves within the posts.  I probably won't keep it up....but I've learned to never say "never." 
I enjoyed reading your posts - especially the ones with links and pictures!  With that in mind, I will close this blog with an Easter picture of my son and his family.  This picture was taken in China on Easter Sunday.  May God bless you all as you continue your studies.  If any of you are near the Kokomo Howard County Public Library - please come see me on the second floor!

Vacation Post (Session 14 blog)

Ok, so I'm being a little sparse on this week's assignments....this is MY spring break, so I have an excuse!  How is it going so far?  I've managed to thoroughly spring clean my bedroom, closet, bathroom, laundry room (ewww, there was unidentifiable scary stuff under that washer!) and hall closet.  This afternoon I start on the living room/dining room downstairs....and maybe if I'm lucky, I will finish with the kitchen and pantry on Friday!  Have you guys ever washed your drapes?  Oh man, I handwashed my bedroom drapes and the water was absolutely black!  Ok, so I am not the most dedicated housekeeper....that's why there is such a thing as spring cleaning.  I should just do it more often than once a decade! ;-)

This week, I appreciated the shorter lesson, but it was still incredibly relevant for me.  I made a copy of the troubleshooting checklist, and am excited about the other ideas we learned in our book.  I feel more confident to tackle at least turning on and off the power, checking the cables and recording the error messages.  Definitely great ideas!

Our group technology project was archived and is in the Wimba classroom.  I forgot to ask if that was all we needed to do?  What a pleasure it was working with Joanna and Audrey...This class has really stretched the whole experience of distance education for me through the teamwork project and presentations.  I like that!

This week I also made 9 lamb cakes, which is a family tradition.  We have one for Easter, and the rest I give away.  They recognize Jesus, as


"the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John 1: 29b.
  Have a blessed Easter, everyone!  Hosanna, He is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  God bless you all!

Wiki Assignment

 My wiki's address is:   http://khcplreference.wikispaces.com/



Early in the course I was challenged with the idea of setting up a wiki for my reference department.  We have moved into a remodeled department where we lack drawer space for our trusty "librarian's file" box of index cards, and file drawers for current notices and information.  Staff is notoriously negligent when it comes to following up on their email, so I thought a department wiki would solve this dilemma, as well as encourage participation, since every department member would be free to put their creative stamp and input into the project.  I asked our IT manager to set up a wiki for our department, and I've been "practicing" on it for several weeks.  The wiki I am presenting to you is an abbreviated copy of the one I have been working on for our department.  I do not have permission to give you access to our wiki - but I created a duplicate with similar (but limited) information so you can see how we are using it.  First, here are the specific answers to the management questions of our department wiki:

1.  Wiki editing.  Each member of the department was invited to join the wiki, and when they join they will be able to have full editing rights. 
2.  Wiki access.  The wiki is for our department only.  It will not be made available to the public, or to other library staff (although it could be - it is also on Wikispaces)
3.  Comment content.  This is an area for us to experiment with, but I think it is understood that since everyone in the department (including our supervisor) can see our wiki, we need to be discreet with our comments.  Although I set up a Home page which can include comments, I was intending its content to be of a general and timely nature - for example, posting birthday reminders/messages.
4.  Pages -I think we will limit the number of pages because we do not want it to be so large that it takes so much time to navigate and find things. 
5.  Training - Right now we are in the trial and error stage.  If we happen to be working with someone who has more experience, we help each other.
6.  Residence for Wiki - The wiki was created from Wikispaces.  Because it is a library wiki, it was set up with our logo, or brand.  Everyone in our department received an invitation to join our wiki - and they can then add it to their tool bar or Favorites to access it.
7.  Uploads - We do have the ability to upload files/pictures/content to the wiki.  This is most helpful because I edit an obituary database that gets loaded onto our library website once a month.  If it is April 29, the library still has only obituaries posted through March, so until now, we had to go through newspaper hardcopies to find recent obits.  Now, I can update the wiki with my updated file daily. 
8. Conclusion - I have had some valuable edits already made by fellow co-workers.  Whereas I set up a page of favorite websites (sorry, but it's easier than Delicious!) I copied in the URLs and made them hyperlinks.  A co-worker suggested we just make the subject headings hyperlinks - which was a great idea! Of course some co-workers feel the need to add redundant information...but we can tolerate that because it is better than their printing the info on a piece of paper for each one of us, OR posting the paper up at each desk, which looks tacky and cluttered.  The wiki has solved that problem!   This has been a terrific idea for our dept.  In particular, the ability to download widgets, such as the map feature, make answering directional questions over the phone much easier!  Eventually, I would like to figure out how to add updates to the calendar, but for now, it is helpful to just have the calendar!  My co-workers are very pleased with the potential this wiki has for connecting us all, and keeping us all on the same page!

Topical (Session 13 blog)

This week I worked hard to get the remaining projects completed so I can take this next week off for our spring vacation.  And where are we spending this magical week?  Somewhere where I am certain there will be  lots of walking and up and down climbing (rock climbing? nope) somewhere where there will be lots of sneezing and hay fever (from the tropical plants? nah..maybe from dust bunnies!)  We are spring cleaning our house!  Arghghghg.  Ok - so not so fun, but it's definitely long overdue.

This week's emphasis on security made me realize that there is much more at stake to lose in libraries than the books, cds and dvds.  There is a definite cost and inconvenience when one of those are stolen, but there is so much more at risk when one's identity or passwords or personal information is breached through the computer.  This is a new age, and we must prepare for a new kind of thief.  It is important that as we open our libraries up to new and wireless technology that we are conscious of the risks that it opens up.

Team Audrey-Joanna-Melanie had our final "tweak" session on Wimba, and in a few minutes will be recording our presentation for you.  I am blessed with such gifted and creative teammates, whom I appreciate so much!  Thank you Audrey and Joanna, for making this team project so enjoyable and easy for me!  You gals are great!

Goodreads Project ( 3rd Web 2.0 Project)

This is a review of one of my technology projects:  Exploring Goodreads.  I could have set up a new account with Library Thing, or Shelfari, but to be quite blunt, I've opened more accounts  for this class then I have credit cards in the last 35 years!  And that's a lot! ;-)  Seriously, since I had already set up a Goodreads account years ago, I thought it would be best to reacquaint myself with an account I never really used, and determine if it is something I would use in the future.  After four weeks of monitoring and interacting with Goodreads, I have come to the following conclusions:

1.  This is a website which can help me with my Reader's Advisory duties at the Reference Desk.  It is clear, that I am not the bibliophile that others are at this site.  My piddly 107+ books pale in comparison to others, but to be fair, I've been locked in to a pattern of reading for classes, rather than reading for enjoyment.  Therefore, I find the wealth of reviews and input from others regarding titles I WILL NEVER get to to be invaluable.  For example:

•  I can look up any title and read a review or plot synopsis.  I can then decide to "go for it" or not waste my time.
• I can look at my fellow "friends"  accounts to see their reviews - and then be able to intelligently suggest titles to others based on their categorizing titles.  For example, our teen librarian has divided her teen book reviews into "teen horror" and "teen historical" titles, etc.  - so I can peruse those to make title suggestions for teens.
• I can dialogue with others by reading and responding to their reviews.  Not only is this helpful to build relationships, but it also helps me to understand other perspectives of titles I am considering, or I have read.  
• I loved the "to read" shelf.  It was great to have a record of books I've been wanting to read.  Unless they are marked down, I'm sure to forget them - so it was nice to have the accountability of a list.
• It is helpful to me as a person who works in a library to see what titles people are reading.  I may not be able to read them, but I become familiar with the title and can link it to the author's name because they have put it on Goodreads.  The next time a patron comes in to the library and asks for a similar title, I have some knowledge to draw from to associate the title with author, or to know that "yes, a book exists by that title."  This has happened many times since I've reactivated my Goodreads account.

2.  There are also very active groups you could join if you share a common love for certain genres or medium.  I joined the movies group because I thought it would be fun to see what people were saying about current movies.  I was surprised to find these were not necessarily reviews of new movies - but of all movies.  This was a site for movie lovers, and they commented and created threads on all types of movie and television shows.  The comments were enthusiastic and showed a true passion for the film experience.  I wasn't expecting to see such respect for movies on a reading website, but that goes to show you that you can love books AND still love movies.  It was both enjoyable and beneficial to read these comments, because not only do I deal with books at the reference desk, I also get asked questions about movies and movie trivia. I was also impressed with the timeliness of the comments.  When director Sidney Lumet died, there was an immediate discussion started about his impressive body of work.

I also signed up for the Jane Austen fan club, because, well, I'm a fan!  It was quite fun to read the comments and share my favorites. 

3.  I felt that the method for adding titles to my account was very user friendly.  I appreciated the way you could look up any title, and find not only the picture of the book, but all the possibilities.  If I happened to mistype the title, it would give me a variety of options which usually included what I was actually looking for. Once you selected a title, you would then select from three shelf options - read, to read, or currently reading.  You could also add other shelves, as many of my friends have.  They further categorized their titles by genre, and age group.  That is a helpful feature.  Adding reviews and comments was also very user friendly.

4.  I signed up for daily email notifications when my "friends" posted to their Goodreads accounts.  I liked this because they would lump all the reviews/postings together in one email, and I only had to open one email.  Some of my friends were constantly posting, and others were like me - their activity was either "feast or famine."  I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who had given "Goodreads" a break.

5  There was  a "compare" feature which enabled you to see which books you and your friends had in common on your bookshelves.  Because you "rated" each title when you added it to your shelf (up to 5 stars) you could see even if the person did not write a review what they thought of the book.  This was helpful because it was a good conversation starter between friends, plus, if you knew you had the same taste as a friend, you could instantly see what you'd like, or wouldn't like.

6.  I was not very prolific with my book reviews - I tended to prefer reading others to creating my own.  However, I will say that I was tickled to get a "like" notice from my review of Dewey, the Library Cat.  Even though it came years after my review - it showed me that once you post a review, it can be read and effective to a much larger audience than when it was immediately written.  Goodreads will give you "community reviews" of people you do not know when you search for specific titles, or when you place your own reviews.  This opens up your opinions and observations to many others.

In conclusion, Goodreads is most definitely a valuable asset for anyone who works in a work environment that includes books and stories of any kind.  The convenience of perusing my teen librarian's shelf alone is worth setting up the account, because YA is one genre that is on the bottom of my "to read" list.  However, I can benefit from her recommendations and booklists, and I have actually done that on more than one occasion!    Here is my link:   http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1733243-melanie

Hey - (that's "hello" in Swedish!) (Session 12 blog)

This was a very weird week for me.  My husband, Dave, had to leave last Saturday for a business trip to Sweden.  All week long I was able to eat when I want (what I wanted ;-0) keep the TV channel on whatever channel I wanted! and work into the wee hours of the morning if I wanted!  Sounds good, right?  No, I missed him!  But I did get a lot of homework done, and for that I am relieved.

So, when I was not working on our technical projects or reading another book for my Political Science class (or building a new beehive!) I was learning to appreciate the job of a web designer.  There are so many more things to consider when creating a website, and I for one, am glad that is not my job.  It is a never-ending job, because there is always room for improvement.  I worked a lot on my wiki this week, and I've decided that even working on that gets my OCD in overdrive because there is always a way to "do this better" and "make this more interesting."  At least with a wiki the job is shared, not so with a website.  Unless you have content management....but then the issue of design and format still falls on the webmaster.

Team Audrey-Joanna-Melanie part 2 met  this week via Pronto to report on our library interviews.  One of us was poorly treated by the librarian, and that reminds me that the most basic usability feature of a library is its staff's demeanor and attitude toward patrons!  You can have all the latest high tech equipment and software and best looking website in town, but if you have rude staff, you have failed to be a truly usable library!

Picasa Project - Activity 2 - Public Library (2nd Web 2.0 project part 2)

Ashley Tan Photos

Filename: isaac2006-12-13.jpg

This was the second part of the Picasa assignment, where I needed to find a picture on Picasa after using the search terms "Public Library."  I thought this picture was a perfect image of what I see as a public library.  I limited the choices to pictures with CC and found this one, of little Isaac.  I hope you enjoy it!

Picasa Project - Activity 1 - My Girls, Summer 2010 (2nd Web 2.0 project part 1)

A-Twitter over Twitter - "hoosiervess" (1st Web 2.0 project)

      The first thing I did before I set up a Twitter account was to look up the meaning of the word.   "Twitter" is defined by Merriam-Webster online dictionary as "to utter successive chirping noises" or "to talk in a chattering fashion." This definition seemed to be consistent with the use of the bird-like term "tweet" for each successive message.  With a limit of 140 characters for each message, one must be concise and to the point, or risk becoming prolific with your number of tweets.  I decided the name Twitter was an apt name for this rapid, quick and concise exchange of information.  So, why my play on words in the title?  Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines "a-twitter" as being nervously concerned.  That expressed perfectly my initial approach to Twitter.  Why in the world would anyone want to "tweet" information about themselves, and more importantly, why would anyone else want to read it!  Well, I quickly learned that Twitter is like any other social networking site - it has its share of narcissistic "tweeters" but there are also many more who are genuinely using it as a quick source of "spreading the news."  Here are some of the things I learned while I used Twitter:

•  Whereas I assumed Twitter was full of people sharing what they had for breakfast and where they were going, I quickly learned that if you don't want to read minutia, you can definitely be more selective in who you follow.  I tended to navigate towards like-minded organizations and groups - such as Focus on the Family, our local Tea Party, the Heritage Foundation, and of course Janet Evanovich. ;-)  I followed a lot of political and professional groups,  including the Librarian in Black (she was a riot) a library in Hinsdale, Illinois (where I have family) the Smithsonian and the ALA.  I really only followed 5 individuals, and never did I sense they were boring me to death with their tweets.  (or I would have "unfollowed" them.)
• I was fascinated with the way people were able to abbreviate their message into 140 characters or less and still make a point.  One person I followed was Michelle Malkin, an author and commentator on the news, and she gave a lot of tweets about her cousin who went missing.  It was days before I heard anything about it on the mainstream media, but I was following the progress, or lack of progress of the search by her tweets.  Unfortunately, her cousin is still missing.
• One thing that I noticed about monitoring Twitter sites is that the news is very quick.  I read somewhere that people were tweeting about the earthquake in Japan before it even made it on the news here, and I believe it.  For news and personal perspectives I think it is an invaluable tool.  I found I was more interested reading tweets than I was Facebook posts, because usually people were more selective with what they said when they had fewer characters to use.  
• The library sites I monitored impressed me because they used their tweets to introduce new employees to the public, and to advertise upcoming programs.  I was fascinated with a program the Hinsdale Library offered about learning what to do for your pet in an emergency. They called it "No Pet Left Behind."  Clever.   Their tweets "tweaked" my interest, and I thought they were effective.  The Librarian in Black allowed us to experience through her tweets a "Computers in Libraries" conference she went to in Washington D.C.  Truly, her tweets made me laugh outloud as she commented on everything from her pat-down at the airport, to the absence of the key-note speaker.  To get to the meat of that conference you need to check out her blogs - but her tweets enticed me to LOOK to her blog for more information.
• I was pretty amazed at the variety of people who were on Twitter.  My daughter casually mentioned a cookbook by "the Pioneer Woman" and I innocently looked her up on Twitter, and voila!  She tweets!  And she's pretty funny, too.  Sulu from Star Trek is amusingly sarcastic, although I don't follow him.  He just tends to show up whenever I do topic searches. 
• I was interested in the number of people who started to "follow" me on Twitter.  I didn't solicit anyone (ok, well, the two friends I sought out live in California, and she has a food blog I like, and he works for The Simpsons, so I got a kick out of his tweets to his Hollywood friends!) Anyway, local businesses in Kokomo became my followers, as did someone with "sexy" in their username.  I quickly blocked them from my account, but thought it was interesting that even on Twitter, you are a potential client, or, God forbid, partner.  You need to be careful who you open up to, even on Twitter!
• OK, so one of the things I expected to see on Twitter was a bunch of conservative or liberal thinkers flocking to like-minded people (I was right on that one!) as well as groupies who would hang on to every tweet from every celebrity, both present, past and has been. (not so right about that one!)  I suppose there was some of that, but I will confess to following my new TV obsession - Chuck.  What I found was pretty hilarious.  If you don't watch Chuck - he's a nerd who becomes a spy.  Anyway, with hesitation I became a "follower" of Zachary Levi, AKA Chuck, for the sole purpose of seeing what kind of groupies frequent a celebrity - and how a celebrity treats his groupies! I found him to be just as funny as his character on Chuck!  Apart from his tweet links to hilarious YouTube videos, he also encouraged support for Japan after the earthquake and generally seemed not at all what I expected of a celebrity who "uses Twitter."  Ok - so I confess, I became the groupie, and in this case, was pretty much pleased with the process.  I'm sure there are plenty of other not so normal celebrity exchanges.....just try doing a search for Charlie Sheen!  Ugh!!!!
• Speaking of funny tweets...if you are a Janet Evanovich fan, she tweets quotes from her books.  Really funny stuff!  
• By the way - Twitter can be a quick source of information!  I learned Butler lost on Twitter yesterday a few minutes after it happened!  
• Our library has a teen Twitter account, and I'm a bit discouraged that I was one of only 288 followers.  However, I must commend our teen librarian for the way she constantly gives updates and reviews of books on Twitter.  Eventually, I think it will pay off.

Any concerns I had about the appropriateness or inane content on Twitter was quickly dispelled as I became addicted to reading the updates of  all the people I followed.  They were short and to the point, and therefore easy to go through (I only followed 45 people...and only 12 followed me!)  I did find myself becoming disappointed when the same tweets showed up over and over...I mean, I'm sure that that sale at Victory Honda in Muncie is over by now!!!! ;-)  On the other hand, I did struggle with worthwhile tweets to contribute.  I only tweeted 9 times, and I stewed over what to say!  I find I am much more interested in reading tweets, than in writing them!  This assignment has changed my view of Twitter, and I am definitely going to keep up with it.  Check out my site and maybe I will follow you!    hoosiervess

Team Audrey-Joanna-Melanie

Well after much help from my fellow team-mates I was able to meet with them on Pronto this afternoon so that we could formulate our plan of attack on this technology review assignment.  I am blessed with such capable teammates, and so thankful that they know how to use Pronto, because it was a first for me!  We have identified our plan and prepared our questions, so I look forward to a field trip this week to our academic library choice.

I was very interested in the concept of universal design, and determined that my library is not nearly as up-to-date as I had thought we were.  The one thing I learned that I had not realized before was that disabilities come in much broader categories than just physical.  Mental, intellectual and verbal are all areas where people may be at a disadvantage, and it is important that libraries and areas of learning consider the needs of people who are lacking in these additional areas.  Perhaps if our public library was part of a more metropolitan city, we would have more assistive and adaptive technologies.  I am interested in learning what the larger libraries offer.  It would seem in a larger area you would have more patrons with needs.

My husband is in Sweden for the week on business, so I hope to be able to tackle my homework without distraction.  I just finished constructing a second beehive for my sweet hobbee.....I am looking forward to setting it up this weekend, and can't wait to get my next batch of bees!  I'm down to my last gallon of honey!

I wish you all a wonderful first week of April!

Creating Online Tutorials

Our wise teacher suggested I check out an online webinar on "Creating Online Tutorials" put on by Webjunction this week.  I was fortunate to have my boss allow me time off the Reference Desk so I could participate in the office.    Here are some of the main points I got out of the presentation (once again, "technical difficulties caused the audio to cut off every 7 minutes....):
1.  First look at other libraries that have done tutorials to learn from their successes and challenges.  They gave examples from Carmel-Clay in Indiana, San Francisco Public Library, William Paterson University and St Louis Community College.
2.  Practice making tutorials by "writing out a script" after you answer a question for the umpteenth time.  While it is fresh in your mind, write out the script and practice.
3.  The key is the script - should be no more than 3 minutes and should be entertaining.
4.  Tip sheets can be used as scripts for developing online tutorials.
5.  Do not discard anything!  Maintain an inventory of  of all "screen shots" taken -you never know when you can use it for a tutorial.
6,  The most likely people to use the tutorials are those who are comfortable using computers, so do not make the tutorial too elementary.
7.  Some of the suggestions for software starts at the beginning level of still screen captures - (nag-It, Word and Powerpoint) to the next level which is screencasting (Screenr & Jing) to screen recording (Camtasia) and finally the highest level of time and financial investment is e-learning (Captivate and Articulate are both software for this level)
8.  Make sure tutorials are promoted by the library - placement on the website is key, so that they are easy to find, in multiple places.  Have some sort of "branding" that makes the production easily recognizable and familiar (I thought of those YouTube "in plain english" with the hands and papercutouts as a good example)
9.  The audience for these tutorials can turn over quite a bit, so they do last a long time.  The key is, if after viewing the tutorial it raises more questions than answers, then that is the time to redo them.  (or if the interface or methods change.)

Part of the fun of these webinars is reading people's reactions to the material.  There is an ongoing instant messaging bar going on with technical problems (I was on that one for a while! ;-)) and then offering questions and solutions.  The main ingredient of the chat was the offering of other links to websites that have experience with producing online tutorials.  All in all, I think it was worth the hour I invested, and it may be something our library may do in the future.  Right now we do not have any of the software mentioned, and our webmaster told me she did not see a need for us to invest in it right now.