End of the road?

I went through the instructions for Overdrive, which the nice lady explains very calmly, but we'll see what happens when I actually attempt to download something to MY BRAND NEW MP3 PLAYER!!!!

And the one title I'm really looking for is not available yet.

LibriVox seems a very ambitious project. I'll try it out too, but I think I prefer the "professional readers"-- I find the narrator really affects my enjoyment of the story.

Final thoughts

Overall, this has been a good experience. I like the way it was laid out, so we could follow the agenda, instead of just being left to our own devices and stumbling onto things (notice that I'm still a linear thinker and started at 1, and continued in order to 23). The only limit as to how to use all these "Things" is your creativity, and of course there are a million more Things out there, popping up all the time-- we didn't even look at Twitter or Nextopia or...

There are a lot of ways libraries can use and adapt Library or Web 2.0 to enhance patrons' library experience, and new technologies are a great way for people to access certain kinds of information. But as I read in a (physical) newspaper article recently, when people are looking for narrative (which the majority of our patrons are), books are still the best format!

#22 Podcasts

At first I thought so I can listen to a radio program whenever I want, that's a nice convenience, but hardly innovative. But when you think about it, now pretty much anybody can create their own "radio station", about whatever they want, and they can have a global audience. That's pretty innovative!

Youtube, Metube, Wealltube!

Here's a video showing how to sign out books using a form of RFID. Wouldn't it be neat to do our own (and better!) version for our patrons? It could be on our website and right at the check out desk. Or we could have a behind the scenes look at the autosorter, or numerous other things.

Maybe next June I'll just do a youtube video with my Summer Reading Club spiel and set it for constant replay, turn the desk monitor around, and sit back & relax!

Random thoughts on Part 8

Email Best Practices: it's good to remember to always be careful when emailing, and that sarcasm doesn't necessarily translate in print!

Shared Calendars: I use shared calendars to book programs in the children's programming room. I've also booked meetings, which is kind of fun.

Office 2007: so far I'm finding it fairly easy to use. I like things that are fairly intuitive, as I don't like reading manuals. This is not always a good thing: I remember way back when, when Word Perfect first came out and we had just got a home computer. I tried to teach myself WP while typing an essay that was due tomorrow. It was a bit tense. Also, I've never figured out Excel because I don't have the patience for it. Something to work on!

Subscription Databases: Confession time-- I don't use these near as much as I probably should. I have taken webinars for QP Legaleze and other products, but I rarely use them. It's good to remember we have World Book in French.

Askaway: I have done the Askaway training, but have yet to do an actual session yet. I've tried Askaway as a patron, and it felt a bit weird waiting for replies and I felt vaguely rude when I signed off abruptly. But it's a good service for people who don't think to use the phone (!) or who don't have physical access to enhanced library services.

Library 2.0

First Impression of Library 2.0?
Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Library 2.0

The short essays in the discovery exercise seemed mostly focused on academic libraries, but there are plenty of applications for public libraries. I think one of the challenges is identifying which aspects of Library 2.0 fit with our strategic plan and then implementing them in a timely manner. I think there's a tendency to talk a lot about it, but not actually do anything!

I was at a party on the weekend and eavesdropped on a conversation where one person was explaining del.icio.us and tagging to another, and comparing it to library subject headings, and even used the term Web 2.0. Wow, I thought, civilians talking about social networking and all in Real Life. Later I was introduced to the speaker, and it turns out she's in SLAIS. Oh well.