Thing #30

Finally getting to do Thing#30--which only shows how busy November was. Well, actually started on it, but didn't get to do the blog thing until now. Excuses, excuses.



Here it is. I added Visual Bookshelf, and Living Social Book, which just seems to echo it. As usual, when I was asked what to add, my mind went blank. And then the old favorite popped up-C.J.Cherryh. So I started entering her books. And the software didn't keep up. I think I entered eight or nine titles, and nearly got thrown out my first exposure to Visual Bookshelf. Later I played with entering more titles, and even trying out the recommendation tab--and I did find a few titles I hadn't heard of , but looked interesting. But it does have a tendence to go after authors I have read--and that means I get to add to my "have read" section. But it also means that the recomends have a tendency toward those authors, too.



I'm very suprised at the reading list put up by the recommenders--in there with the "hot" books are classics like Tom Sawyer, and even Shakepearian plays! I'm not sure what to make of the last. Reading the play isn't as much fun as watching it, but I understand in the UK they do have a tendency to watch it with a copy of the play on their lap--at least at home. (I wouldn't lug my copy of the Bard's works to the theatre!)



It is interesting to find out what my friends are reading. Everyone has such different taste in literature.



I did find it more usable for the "layman" than worldcat, although worldcat was more robust for working with. Any time I entered information in Visual Bookshelf, I wondered what would show up next--and it wasn't always a return to the same screen. I did go into Living Social Book which at that moment at leasst, just seemed to be the same thing as Visual Bookshelf! All the way down to the lists! So confused. But I think it will be VB, in the end.



And now to go Christmass shopping

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Thing #28

I really like Google Reader, its easier to use than Bloglines, much easier to add new addresses to, and very intuitive. I really like intuitive, especially at the end of a day. Added the NE Learns 2.0 to my account, fellow learners, and several blogs from American Libraries (educational, of course...well, professional reading, like "Blue Skunk Blog", "Library Law Blog", and "EarlyWord: the Publisher/Librarian Connection"), and of course, I searched and found one for fun, on calligraphy. I'm trying to get an image to "share" but it's not happening. Guess I'd better read the instructions this time! I should have an image as soon as I have it figured out...maybe.
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Thing #27, part 2

Well I'm having fun and learning how to get around on Facebook. It's still a little frustrating from time to time, getting the hang of commenting on someone else's wall, getting used to the comments showing up under someone's original comment, and all. And I finally found the apps. All by myself! Took long enough! And I really need to do sometning about that darn picture, but do I find to upload pictures from home, when I'm there? HA! I finally got a batch printed. But guys, I've got a question. Why do you all take so many pictures of yourselves? Oh, drat, that's right, you're not all single, so those aren't just your own cameras. But, but...I don't take my own picture...(I've tried, they look weird.) I even got the Facebook app., er, whatever on my blog. I've even sighned up for a couple of groups not suggested by our fearless leader, and hope for help on one or two questions I have.

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Thing #27

Part 1.
Well. A bit hesitant about doing anything with Facebook, with all the press about it. People putting up too much information, or saying too much, being indiscreet, indiscreet photos, etc. But, well, it's a learning experience. And it certainly has been! Much harder than it looks. Blogging is easier! Butting new things on the blog is easier! I still can't find new apps!

But I have done some new stuff--there's a photo on my profile--still don't have one on my blog. And friends added. I've added a group from our list, and one I found myself (knitting). The parameter I used for choosing the group were--large group, since the smaller ones seemed likely to really be frends, and the other things that were going on at the large group--not just events, but blogs, a link to a new site I'd read about. Since I'm looking to this group for advice, I wanted a large one that might have an archive to search. I also have found that you can find a lot of things when you search through Facebook. Not to mention topics/information gets posted there. I ran accross this in my reading in my email:

Well, isn't that fuzzy. It's a snippet from Information Today [newslink@infotoday.com], an email information news link I get. I thought it was interesting tthat a Company that puts out the Consumer Confidence Index would use not only Twitter, but Facebook for business purposes. And getting the snippet there was an education in itself, too--it's a jpeg file, not a simple copy and paste operation, and it didn't take me forever to figure out! Ha!

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Thing #26

WorldCat.org. I wasn't initially excited. Searching for titles in WorldCat for ISBNs, for information, even to find titles on subjects, seems to have led to a "so what" attitude. Well, this is a whole new ballgame! I like the lists, and the sharing of lists. Definitely a tailor made social application for librarians, and people who think like librarian, or just like books.



And just as requested in the homework, I created a profile, edited, favorited 2 libraries, made 2 lists, and am "watching" two lists. I didn't review anything, or tag anything, but may sometime. I did email one of my lists to my hotmail account--there seems to be more than one way to do it. I tried to do it the hard way, first, of course, so now I have a Gmail account.



I wonder if school and public libraries in the same towns could use this so share Summer Reading lists (from school), and Summer Reading Program lists?



And think of all the teaching & library students who could create all sorts of helpful subject lists, by grade level, subject, etc., for classes?

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Thing 25, #2&3

Weeeellll. Slid into the assignment #2 a different way, of course. It all started out decently enough, but I looked up the Library Commission, and, lo and behold, there was an obvious mistake I'd been told about by one of the vendors. So I thought I'd fix it. Plus one of the four pointers were pointing to the middle of the intersection of 12th and N. We aren't there. And we aren't in Texas. So I merrily proceed to the next step, never wondering who is supposed to really do this. Fortunately, the person heading the assignments is the one in charge of these corrections, and has been trying to get the Commission out of Texas for a while. Now she's trying to get us out of the intersection, too. Lesson learned--read the next paragraph before trying out the fun stuff!



I did work with the "getting directions" especially since I keep "losing" the South Walmart. I keep forgetting the east/west street it's on, and how far out it is. It's a little disconcerting on the satelite view, since it hasn't been built yet--and it's all built up now! A mini mall, separate food places-fast & slow, etc., and businesses across the highway, too. So that's what I did for my map--laugh if you want, but when I was buying cat food on Old Cheney, I managed to get to and from Walmart without calling the Mounties. Which would have been embarrassing this far from the Canadian border.



I think Google Maps are really impressive additions to social networking for Libraries--show how to get to your library, what it looks like, what you have inside, provide coupons for first timers, first time card holders, coupons for fine forgiveness for certain days--whatever your imagination comes up with! Bookmobile routes, I think someone mentioned, I thought was a really cool thing to show on a Google Map. Maybe coordinate with the local bookstores, too, and other important points of interest. (Like the libraries and bookstores in neighboring towns?) Hmm. http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5853448300527813539&postID=8342580170875171819

Thing 25, assignment 1. Google Maps

All right, the address we're sent to is the capitol building of NE--you can tell that from the satellite view, and that's were you can see the color of the cars around the capitol. Actually, it's come up at a great time, since there was an article in the paper about those circles in the courtyards--originally there were to be fountains in them. But the state ran out of money, since they built the new state capitol during the Great Depression. So, a state legislator decided it would be a great 4th grader project to raise the money for the fountains?! Of course, his idea was that we were in a recession, there was a nice parallel to it. I have to admit though, the green circles do bother me on a design level.

I love the street level shots in some cities, but in Norfolk, NE, it just made me disoriented. It was great to cruise Tokyo, and Edinburgh that way, but Norfolk never looked right. Wisnser, NE, on the other hand, looked fine. I do like the satellite views, and they do help me find things. I was trying to use the directions to find a tea shop here in town, that I thought would be easy to find--and was glad I looked on the satellite views first! For the store I chose, there were four possible locations--but one of the satellite views ended in a residential crossroad, another, out in the country, and the third was in the north! I still have to cruise to the locations of the two stores and check out what I saw on the map.

I really liked playing virtual tourist with the Eiffel Tower, although again, street view just didn't engage me. I really liked the street views of Tokyo, better photography? It seemed like you could really zoom in on things, that you weren't able to in street view in the smaller towns. And, of course, the kangaroos were fuzzy--both types of fuzzy. The photos are what I enjoyed most--when you put them in context of the maps, they're really more meaningful than, say, in an album.

And, it's really great that it allows for correcting, and suggestions about questionable content--you never know what a camera could pick up just going driving down a street.

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Thing 24

Well, I did want to try out Twitter, and Google Apps. The Twitter entries for the area I'm from were different than I'd thought they'd be. The bulk of twitters on the first pages of any town I searched was for help wanteds, and they weren't all for fast food places, either!

I was disappointed in the lack of twitters about the library, even here in Lincoln. Of course, I just realized, I could have tried Love Library, but no one was twittering about Lincoln Libraries or any of the branches. Still, an interesting exercise, and a valuable tool.

Someone at work remarked that it was the 20-30 year olds that were Twittering, and that is a group you'd want to market to.

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New Things...

New Things! And a whole month to learn them in! Maybe I'll even have the nerve to blog about something other than assignments.