At wetpaint.com, I created a private wiki for my husband's professional organization. It was very easy to do. But I got to thinking that the group would be better served by a blog. I had an interesting conversation with a knowledgable staff member, who concurred. I'll delete the wiki after I show it off to my husband. Lots of fabulous cyber tools out there, but which to use for which purpose should be given serious consideration.
LOOG
Where to Next?
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thing # 12 Here's a link to my Rollyo...
Forgot to post a link to my Rollyo for Home Care & Decor.
http://www.rollyo.com/explore.html?rollterm=Home+care+%26+decor
LOOG
http://www.rollyo.com/explore.html?rollterm=Home+care+%26+decor
LOOG
Thing # 12 Thumbs up for Rollyo!
Now, this I like!
There are many sites I tend to search over and over for certain topics. I've created a Rollyo account that allows me to search within those sites, and not others.
My first Rollyo is Home Care & Decor. When I search for "decks", the search retuns hits from my favorite URLs I've listed for that topic. Sweet!
My second one is for mystery fiction. My personal learning plan is to expand my mystery reader's advisory skills. I've marked a few sites to help me with this.
Here's a link to my Rollyos:
http://www.rollyo.com/trattoir/
I think I'll set up Rollyos for travel & Italian cooking & wine.
LOOG
There are many sites I tend to search over and over for certain topics. I've created a Rollyo account that allows me to search within those sites, and not others.
My first Rollyo is Home Care & Decor. When I search for "decks", the search retuns hits from my favorite URLs I've listed for that topic. Sweet!
My second one is for mystery fiction. My personal learning plan is to expand my mystery reader's advisory skills. I've marked a few sites to help me with this.
Here's a link to my Rollyos:
http://www.rollyo.com/trattoir/
I think I'll set up Rollyos for travel & Italian cooking & wine.
LOOG
Friday, August 24, 2007
Thing # 9 The Blog Police are watching!
Found this doing thing #9 after registering for Merlin.
"12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know" can be viewed at www.avivadirectory.com/blogger-law. There are laws! Who knew?
LOOG
"12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know" can be viewed at www.avivadirectory.com/blogger-law. There are laws! Who knew?
LOOG
Thing #10 Gizmoz avatars-Your real face!
Anyone tried http://www.gizmoz.com/? I read about it in the July 2007 issue of School Library Journal. It allows you you download a real photo of your face and put it on an avatar that's 3-D and animated. Looks like fun. Think I'll give it a try.
Spent last evening watching "Visions of Italy-Sicily", a narrated, helicopter-eye view of Sicily. Fabulous! What a rich history, with input from Greeks, Normans, Africans. Perhaps we can combine a trip there with our Southern Italy trip.
Librarian on the Go
Spent last evening watching "Visions of Italy-Sicily", a narrated, helicopter-eye view of Sicily. Fabulous! What a rich history, with input from Greeks, Normans, Africans. Perhaps we can combine a trip there with our Southern Italy trip.
Librarian on the Go
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
week #10 Avatars
Thanks to Kate for suggesting Yahoo Avatars. It was pretty easy to use. What I want to know is-where are the realistic avatars? Where are the well-rounded middle-age women with thinning hair? There's probably some program out there that allows you to create just about any type of person you'd like. Is there a site called, "Avatars you can relate to"?
Librarian on the Go
Librarian on the Go
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Sick of creating accounts!
This creating new accounts to do all this learning is really wearing thin. I'm now tracking the log in names and passwords in my 23 things Tracking log and that helps. But man, this is getting annoying!
Sigh!
Sigh!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Thing #8 Does Self-Checkout Make Libraries Less Friendly?
I agree with this article! From the Seattlest website. What do you think?
Librarian on the Go
About Seattlest
Seattlest is a website about Seattle. More
July 30, 2007
Does Self-Checkout Make Libraries Less Friendly?
Back when Seattlest lived in Wallingford, we went to the Fremont branch of the library once a week. We got to know the staff there very well -- hi, Carl! Hi, Joan! Hi, Betty! We served as one of two citizens on the committee that picked the architectural firm that handled the branch's remodel.
While Fremont was closed for construction, we switched our regular patronage to the University branch. It's bigger than Fremont, and worked fine, but we never really got to know the staff there.
Before the Fremont branch reopened, we moved to Wedgwood and started using the North East Branch as our regular library. North East, so we've heard, is the busiest branch in the system. And we liked it fine -- plenty of hubbub -- but again, we never got to know the staff. We recognized them, and when we spoke to them they were friendly, but none of them seemed to remember us.
And now we're at Rainier Beach, a branch that (small exceptions aside) feels warmer than any branch we've used since Fremont. But even here, we don't feel as connected to the staff. We come in, get our books, help Little Miss Seattlest explore the kids' section, and leave.
Perhaps this will change over time. Perhaps we have changed, and become less friendly. Perhaps Fremont was an exceptional branch.
But we have a theory: self-checkout has made the libraries less friendly.
Our evidence: right around the time we switched to the University branch, self-checkout appeared in the library. There were hitches -- we had a particularly memorable experience where it took us 10 minutes and the help of two staff members to check out seven pieces of library material. But self-checkout improved, and we no longer got to chat with librarians or staff members as they scanned our books.
Now, with self-checkout, we can frequently get through an entire library visit without interacting with any library staff member. Unless anti-theft bits don't turn off, or we're picking up a DVD, in which case we have to flag a staff member to resolve the issue for us.
Without that interactivity, we don't get to know the staff, and the staff doesn't get to know us. They're not themselves unfriendly, but they're by necessity less social, less conversational, more multitask-oriented.
Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone else find self-checkout a mixed blessing, at best?
(We don't mean to pick on the library. Really, we love the library, even when it shushes us. But it's the things we
Librarian on the Go
About Seattlest
Seattlest is a website about Seattle. More
July 30, 2007
Does Self-Checkout Make Libraries Less Friendly?
Back when Seattlest lived in Wallingford, we went to the Fremont branch of the library once a week. We got to know the staff there very well -- hi, Carl! Hi, Joan! Hi, Betty! We served as one of two citizens on the committee that picked the architectural firm that handled the branch's remodel.
While Fremont was closed for construction, we switched our regular patronage to the University branch. It's bigger than Fremont, and worked fine, but we never really got to know the staff there.
Before the Fremont branch reopened, we moved to Wedgwood and started using the North East Branch as our regular library. North East, so we've heard, is the busiest branch in the system. And we liked it fine -- plenty of hubbub -- but again, we never got to know the staff. We recognized them, and when we spoke to them they were friendly, but none of them seemed to remember us.
And now we're at Rainier Beach, a branch that (small exceptions aside) feels warmer than any branch we've used since Fremont. But even here, we don't feel as connected to the staff. We come in, get our books, help Little Miss Seattlest explore the kids' section, and leave.
Perhaps this will change over time. Perhaps we have changed, and become less friendly. Perhaps Fremont was an exceptional branch.
But we have a theory: self-checkout has made the libraries less friendly.
Our evidence: right around the time we switched to the University branch, self-checkout appeared in the library. There were hitches -- we had a particularly memorable experience where it took us 10 minutes and the help of two staff members to check out seven pieces of library material. But self-checkout improved, and we no longer got to chat with librarians or staff members as they scanned our books.
Now, with self-checkout, we can frequently get through an entire library visit without interacting with any library staff member. Unless anti-theft bits don't turn off, or we're picking up a DVD, in which case we have to flag a staff member to resolve the issue for us.
Without that interactivity, we don't get to know the staff, and the staff doesn't get to know us. They're not themselves unfriendly, but they're by necessity less social, less conversational, more multitask-oriented.
Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone else find self-checkout a mixed blessing, at best?
(We don't mean to pick on the library. Really, we love the library, even when it shushes us. But it's the things we
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