Daniel du Fond Leaves the Harbor

SCPL 23 Things - #23

2007-11-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

I have enjoyed working through the 23 Things and I confess I've also been exploring the 2.1 continuation as well. Some of the tools are just fun, some thoughtful, and some will be useful in a public library setting. I imagine many will evolve through many versions as 2.0 becomes 2.1 and 2.2. I've done most of my exploring at home on my own laptop. There really hasn't been much time to work on them during the normal workday.

But I do agree that my learning is more meaningful when I take responsibility for my own training and learning goals. In my own case, I've learned more this way than I ever would have learned in a traditional classroom setting. I know that many of our staff are frustrated because there isn't time to do everything during the workday and I worry that we have overloaded them.

Still, this is an exciting time to be in libraries and I also see many of our staff blossoming in creative ways. Change is messy and chaotic and we are very much in a time of change. We have to reexamine everything we have thought was true.

A preoccupation of mine has been the issue of privacy and freedom. Here is David Brin's 21st take on this issue:

Reciprocal Transparency: "In the information age to come, cameras and databases will sprout like poppies--or weeds---whether we like it or not. Over the long haul, we as a people must decide the following questions:

Can we stand living exposed to scrutiny, our secrets laid open, if in return we get flashlights of our own that we can shine on anyone who might do us harm---even the arrogant and strong?

Or is an illusion of privacy worth any price, even the cost of surrendering our own right to pierce the schemes of the powerful?"

Think about that.

SCPL 23 Things - #15

2007-11-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Herbert Simon, a Nobel Laureate Economist, wrote "A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." Dogbert told Dilbert "Information is gushing toward your brain like a firehose aimed at a teacup."

2.0 technology will allow us to increase the level of information services that we offer our community but we must be very mindful not paralyze library users by throwing information in their faces. We have to keep the doors open but we don't need to push information seekers through them. It will be a delicate balance...how many of us have said ourselves..."This is too much information."

I think about how many of us don't watch the news as much or at all. I think about the number of people who get most of their news from Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. I think about how uninformed our populace is. I think about how few of them vote.

As I write this tonight, I have counted ten passes so far of a plane spraying my house and my garden with pesticide. Those who have investigated this substance have learned that there has been no testing of the effects of the pesticide on the apple moth and there has been no testing of effects on others forms of life. There have been no environmental reports or investigations. We know that we don't have enough information to justify these flyovers tonight yet we haven't been able to stop them. Even in my house, I notice a very bad taste in my mouth---what is happening? What have they sprayed? A few years from now, will they say "whoops"...just like they did with MTB in gasoline?

We are up to 12 passes now and the bad taste in my mouth is stronger. How can we make information available in a useful way? How can we make it available so that people don't shut down? How can we be sure that we don't overwhelm our library users and leave bad tastes in their mouths?

SCPL - Net Library

2007-10-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

I created my Net Library account. I watched part of the demo video but I confess I got bored and stopped in the middle. I have iTunes and I didn't need a video to figure out how to use it. I did look for titles I want to download on my new MP3 player and found all the ones I searched for so that's good. I'm figuring using Net Library won't be too much more convoluted than iTunes. I can always watch the whole video later when I can't figure out how to use my new toy. I'll get a mocha first.

It will be good to be able to use this site so I can help our patrons use it.

SCPL - Podcasts

2007-10-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have an IPOD so am most familiar with iTunes. I looked at the sites listed on the wiki--they are visually cluttered but pretty much do the same thing as iTunes. I like to listen to NPR podcasts myself. I've had the opportunity to make a webcast for InfoPeople--pretty much like being in a television studio. It's just that the darn things never disappear!

Add to SCPL Wiki

2007-10-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

I added URLS to the lists for blogs, IM, photos.

My Library Thing

2007-10-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

SCPL 23 Things - Awards List

2007-10-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

I chose the second place winner for Social Tagging---StumbleUpon.com. This tool allows you to choose general topics of interest and then be presented with interesting related websites. You are able to narrow your topics as you are presented with new sites. It is entertaining and at the same time I found sites that I was really interested in and will return to. The great thing is that you mark the ones you like and can return to the list whenever you want because the list is saved in your account. I look for sites on Library 2.0, printmaking, public art, and street art.

SCPL 23 Things - Wildrumpus Wiki Experiment

2007-10-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

Youth Services (wildrumpus) has begun an experiment with a wiki. Victor is coordinating the effort. We are starting with using the wiki to build a systemwide YS supplies order. The idea is that people can see what each other is ordering in case they have extra supplies to share OR in case they realize that they have forgotten to order the item as well.

We are hoping to try building book lists via the wiki as well as agendas for meetings.

Stay tuned.

SCPL 23 Things - Library Thing

2007-10-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm still not sure I'll keep this up but this is My Library Thing so far.

SCPL 23 Things - Technorati Ticker

2007-09-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

This widget keeps you updated on the top tags people are searching on technorati at a particular moment. This is what preoccupies us in 2007.

View technorati.com

SCPL 23 Things - Social Networking Sites

2007-09-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, my daughter left her MySpace page behind for the cleaner more direct pages of Facebook. After setting up her account, she happened upon my sister's Facebook page and made contact with her. Who knew? Naturally, she let me know so I made a Facebook page (I had successfully avoided the MySpace temptation) and now all three of us have another--I must admit easier--connection. I'm on the west coast, my daughter is in NYC, and my sister is in Florida. We've linked our Flickr accounts to our Facebook pages and are busy adding various applications. I opted for Calvin and Hobbes quotes while my daughter went for an application that lets her list the cities in the world she has visited.

Tonight I found the blog of a friend who is travelling in South East Asia for an extended period of time. I happily determined that he was not on the plane that recently crashed in Thailand. He's telling us astonishing things about himself as he sits in Thai wireless cafes---things I can't imagine him telling us if he were here in Santa Cruz.

My experience with social networking so far has been with people I already have a relationship with--friends and relatives--and I think our connections have broadened because of them. I don't have any solely internet friends but I'm tempted sometimes to connect with other printmakers out there---I haven't done it because I'm already overloaded with inspiration and feedback from printmakers I see once a week.

Here's an interesting article about social networking among people who only know each other online. Lots to think about.

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/17/rosen.htm

Tags, Search Engines, Rollyo, Visual Maps

2007-09-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

I've just discovered searchcrystal.com. This tool allows you to search several search engines at once, compare results, save results and email them if you wish. Results can be displayed in a visual map whether you search the web, tags, blogs or images. You can also get your results in a mashup.

I did a search on public art and it was perfect for what I wanted. I got documents, images, and blogs. I saved the search---"crystalized" it--and now I can explore the results whenever I have time.

I would be much more likely to use my tags to search with this tool than I would to spend time on Rollyo. I have a rollyo account but I'm not sure I would use it except for a very specific ongoing search topic because it takes a lot of time to do it right.

SCPL 23 Things - del.icio.us

2007-09-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have had a del.icio.us account for a few months. Today I explored printmaking topics and bookmarked several useful ones. Then I explored public art topics--this is a great interest of mine. I looked for subway art and found great examples like this one: Subway Life located at http://subway-life.com. I think a lot about cave paintings of prehistoric people and subway art---but that's another discussion. One of things I like about del.icio.us is that you can display your tags in a tag cloud--watching that cloud develop and change is as informative as the sites I visit.

SCPL 23 Things - RSS feeds

2007-09-22T22:14:00.001-07:00

One of the blogs I monitor is Steve Abram's Stephen's Lighthouse. He just recently listed a blog that I have added to my Bloglines account: Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day. This list was interesting to me because it seems to focus on tools rather than just toys--although they are fun, too. Among the tools I want to try is DeliGoo--it is supposed to be a way of creating your own search engine combining del.icio.us and google. I'm going to create a few more tags in del.icio.us and give it a try.

SCPL 23 Things - Flickr

2007-09-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

I have established a Flickr account for wildrumpus and have uploaded Festival of the Book and Family Place photos. Photos may be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/librarywildrumpus. It has been a very handy way to share photos quickly. Ann Young has been able to grab photos from this account for the website.

There are other applications that can use photos stored in Flickr. Today I made a 30 second video using animoto retrieving photos from the Flickr account. You can view the video below.

I have also used Flickr to create a librarian trading card--posted on the blog--it took longer to do than the video.

I think there will be many library uses but it is important to remember to get photo releases when taking photos of library events. This is something we automatically do now at Family Place and Read to Me events.

Family Place 2007

2007-09-16T10:41:00.001-07:00

Santa Cruz Public Libraries

Noah and His Inner Cat

2007-09-13T21:58:00.001-07:00

String Spin and Snowflakes

2007-09-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

This is absolutely useless and I absolutely love it.

http://www.zefrank.com/string_spinv2/menu.html

And the snowflakes....this is also fun

http://www.zefrank.com/snowflake/

Tools and Toys

2007-09-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

I started the California 23 Things after taking the InfoPeople eBranch class so I have continued the blog I started then. Since that time I have taken a 2.0 class in applications to children's services and have played my way through the list of 23 things.

There are many more "things" listed in library 2.1. Many of the things are toys and some could really be good library tools. It is essential that library staff grapple with the way information access, storage, and retrieval are changing because social networking underlies 2.0. All over the globe people want to participate in organizing the information that is important to them and they want to share their perspectives on that information. As libraries have provided books and meeting rooms and programs as forums for information sharing so now they offer eforums--blogs, wikis, deep links on websites--libraries are changing and they are remaining the same.

Teaching 2.0

2007-09-12T23:41:00.000-07:00

As with most things, it is easiest to teach someone one of the new 2.0 technologies when that person has immediate use for the tool. For that reason, showing people how to set up blogs or how to set up a flickr account have been the most frequent questions. There's just a couple of tricks for each of these---with blogs people have to remember what permissions they want to give their contributors, for instance--and with flickr it is important to think about tags--and people are off and running in minutes. Then you stand back and watch people make use of the tools in their own ways.

The darn thing about blogs is making time to check them for updates--you have find ways to put them on your radar screen whether it is an individual blog or checking your bloglines account.

Live Oak Branch Library

2007-09-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Podcasts

2007-09-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

What can youth services do with podcasts? Record storytimes, programs, how-to videos, or we could turn teens loose and give them a platform....will people watch and/or listen? I don't know. It seems as though a video or audio ought not to exceed five minutes and it should keep moving. Video production values need to consider the small size of the screen most people will be using. Will require staff time and production expertise for usable library podcasts but only needs to be a forum if the community is doing the podcasts and the library is "just" the host. I'm not completely convinced about this yet unless it gets easier and downloads don't take forever. As with many 2.0 innovations---more bandwidth needed.

YouTube

2007-09-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

This is still one of my favorite videos on YouTube.

Online Productivity

2007-09-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

At our libraries, in youth services, we direct library users to OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) which includes writer (word processing), calc (spreadsheet), impress (powerpoint), and Draw. Students have not had problems using these programs for homework assignments. There is a tutorial available.

For graphs, we recommend the National Center for Education Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov)Kids Zone site. When you get to the home page, click on Kids Zone on the top toolbar. When you get to the Kids Zone Page, click on the Graphs icon at the top of the page. Tutorial available.

Our related project is being sure that in our hardware upgrade, we have USB ports available for flash drives. Some workstations have ports available on the CPU and others have them available on the monitors.

Wikis

2007-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

You should direct people to pb wiki. I have a wiki there playing with vocabulary words. It is called In Other Words and is located at http://inotherwords.pbwiki.com. Lots of new features to explore. There is just not enough time!!!!!

Our library hopes to use wikis in our redesign for new book lists and reviews, discussions/tips/techniques for online gaming, input on local events.

I added an entry on the 23 things wiki about the "big picture"--it IS a bit like sitting in the front row of a tiny movie theatre.

Rollyo

2007-09-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

I found this site to be very useful. I am using rollyo to search printmaking sites that I like to check. I haven't finished constructing my first searchroll but I already love it. This tool could be very useful for our library web redesign--particularly for local topics and interests. Once again--you have to think about what you are doing--get those neurons firing!

Perpsectives on Web 2.0 and the Future of Libraries

2007-09-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

The two definitions of Web 2.0 that made the most sense to me are:

1. Web 2.0: "a social phenomenon embracing an approach to generating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use, and "the market as a conversation"

This is the point that Stephen Abram makes frequently, too: "Life is social, learning is social, community and neighborhoods are social, research is social, and libraries and schools have to be social, too."

I see this collaborative spirit everywhere--in family life, in spiritual life, in art. Even the global economy is bringing some of us kicking and screaming into this way living in the world. But I also agree with Walt Crawford when he says that Library 2.0 is evolutionary not revolutionary. I do not share Mr. Crawford's pessimism but he is right that 2.0 really means new tools to increase the ways we can share information.

These new tools support our oldest core values. Michael C. Habib points out in his article, "On Democracy, Trust and Libraries" (2006) (http://mchabib.com)

"We always trusted that the majority of our writers strive to distinguish that which is good and true. Library 2.0 now requires us to maintain this trust in the majority. We must continue to trust that most readers are curious, intelligent and compassionate. The only difference is that the evidence of this will now be created and stored on our servers...In the meeting room or on our blogs, ...hate speech is in your face. However, I guarantee that if any such bigotry is posted to a political discussion hosted on our blogs, it will quickly be drowned out by the voices of more responsible patrons...This is what democracy is all about. This is what libraries have always been about. Web 2.o has just changed the dynamic of how intellectual inquiry and democracy operate. In this way Library 2.0 speaks to some of the best of traditional library values, and , in so doing, defends the library as a cornerstone of democracy in a networked world."

2. Web 2.0: "enhanced organization and categorization of content, emphasizing deep linking"
This, of course, is one of the most powerful new tools---and like it or not, it developed from the catalogers and classifiers of Library's ancient times. And I can't deny it---I find tag clouds fascinating and informative and the idea that access can be gained in countless different ways exactly right.

Technorati

2007-09-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Reading the overview of Technorati, I came across this description of dimensions of blogging in 2007:

"Blogs are powerful because they allow millions of people to easily publish and share their ideas, and millions more to read and respond. They engage the writer and reader in an open conversation, and are shifting the Internet paradigm as we know it.

On the World Live Web, bloggers frequently link to and comment on other blogs, creating the type of immediate connection one would have in a conversation. Technorati tracks these links, and thus the relative relevance of blogs, photos, videos etc. We rapidly index tens of thousands of updates every hour, and so we monitor these live communities and the conversations they foster.

The World Live Web is incredibly active, and according to Technorati data, there are over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second."

This alone emphasizes how important it is to tag content thoughtfully.

Del.icio.us

2007-09-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

I followed up my tagging investigations on my del.icio.us account by adding and tagging more bookmarks---some on art and printmaking and others on 2.0---particularly some articles by Michael Habib. I noted that del.icio.us will soon have a 2.0 version and become delicious.com. The preview is limited to a small group of people but the little I saw indicates that it will be more powerful tool. Once again---sharing one's own organizing protocol.

LibraryThing

2007-09-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

LibraryThing is something every librarian should look at and explore. Tags and tag clouds make sense to people---much more sense than Dewey or LC. The challenge of Web 2.0 is that people want to organize information in a way that makes sense to them--they do not look to a library to do it for them.

Tagging is an intellectual challenge--as anyone who has cataloged anything knows and tag clouds provide information and insight in a new and valuable way. This is a significant change that 2.0 makes possible and that libraries must incorporate in order to make sense to their communities. People want to create their own libraries and then share them with others.

While I don't feel an overriding need to catalog the books I read and enjoy, it is interesting to tag them and then look for patterns and ranges so I probably will keep my LibraryThing account for a while.

Image Generators

2007-09-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

I escaped with my life! You can wile away hours---maybe days---with image generators. I played with the m and m. I worked with my initials in the Visual Poetry Generator at www.imagechef.com/ic/poem and you see the results. I had already made a librarian trading card on the flickr site. I'm going to go back and look at the watermark generator on the Generator Blog to use when I post images of my prints.

I can see producing items for special events at the Library. It is fun to know about these possibilities---but you absolutely must put a time limit on yourself.

Twitter

2007-09-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Twitter seems appropriately named somehow. I can see using it as a way to have a meeting among people not in the same place. I can also see using it to update people about an event. For instance, they just knocked down the building next to ours. Everyone wanted to see the last wall fall. I could have twittered the progress to colleagues as it was happening.

At the moment, it seems most appropriate for group work but I'm not sure what other functions the library could use it for---but I"ll keep thinking. Twitter has a wiki. I can check that. Mostly people use it to assure themselves that they are not the only ones in the world---and that's a comforting feeling.

23 Things--Items 6, 7, 8

2007-07-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

We are sharing our Family Place photos on flickr. It is a great way of documenting our programs not just for library staff but for our funding source, too. Since we file our quarterly reports online, it is easy to include the URL and we can show many more photos that we would have in the "old hard-copy days."

I have had a bloglines account for a few months now. I've added 23 things to feeds like Beatrice, Days & Nights of the Lipstick Librarian, and NPR's Story Corps. As our library develops its website redesign, I'd like to see RSS feeds for our recently added materials and what I hope will be our targeted online newsletters----i.e. the latest on surfing, gardening, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, services to children, teens, and parents.

One thing I am noticing is that some Library 2.0 pages can get pretty dense and crowded--so much information that you don't know where to look. It is easy to get caught up in a particular kind of feature and stop thinking about integrating several formats in the way we deliver information.

Flickr MashUps

2007-06-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

I explored the 10 recommended mashups. Colrpickr is fun.
http://krazydad.com/colrpickr/

but I love Tagnautica
http://www.quasimodo.com/tagnautica.php

I can get happily lost in that world at the drop of a word.

Flickr and the Library

2007-06-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've set up a Flickr account for youth services at the Santa Cruz Public Libraries. Right now, we're keeping Family Place photos and Festival of the Book photos there. It is a great way of sharing the photos and posting new ones quickly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarywildrumpus/

InfoPeople: Our 23 Things Challenge

2007-05-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

I've decided to continue the blog I set up while I was taking the "managing an eBranch" class to take on the InfoPeople 23 Things Challenge. I've done some of the activities listed on the California challenge but I want to exploreand play some more. When I've played with some things--like Flickr and wikis--I set up personal accounts. This time I'd like to explore the technology more from a public library perspective.

I've already got a Bloglines account so I've added the CA 23 Things feed to my account along with some other library feeds I like to keep current on.

I've kept the assignments from the eBranch class on the blog.

I look forward to learning and sharing during these next few months.

Week 3: Exercise #1

2007-04-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

It was interesting and frustrating to examine the multimedia content.

It was interesting to think about the ways I could encourage the use of Flickr in our youth services work in Santa Cruz. I liked Hennepin County's use of an image set for their recent art contest--we have similar events here and this would be a perfect way to provide access. We also have an annual Festival of the Book and this would make another interesting set of images. I also thought Hennepin was on to something with the Teen Online Trading Cards if they had called more attention to them.

I had fun with the Librarian Trading Card program---as you can see on this blog.

The challenge with using Flickr is uploading interesting images. Many of the images may document the event but might not be eye-catching to anyone who doesn't know the people in the photos or is not familiar with the library or the area. And--less is definitely more.

Santa Cruz Youth Services has a program called We Have Stories to Tell in which children, parents, and seniors make their own books. We found a free software program to display 5 books at a time--they can actually be read online. To see it in action go to our website: http://www.santacruzpl.org/ and scroll down to Young People's Services. Click on We Have Stories to Tell.
(try not to mind our clunky website--we are in the middle of a complete redesign)

I really like the idea of using audio and podcasting--a natural for youth services. It would work best downloaded to an IPOD or an MP3 because staring at a blank screen is boring. I liked Sunnyvale's podcast page the best---clean and easy to use.

It was frustrating to look at the websites with video because I was never able to see any of them--regardless of the site. I liked Orange County's presentation the best because it was easy to understand and provided lots of help. The content choices on all the suggested pages looked sensible and appropriate but I never got to see them. I wonder if it isn't easier just to load them onto YouTube.

That's all for now. I'm going to play with my new Flickr account.

Week 2, Exercise #2

2007-04-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

IM Service. I chose AIM so I would not have to download software. My screen name is tusker46.

Week 1, Bonus Exercise

2007-04-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

I now have a wiki. It is called Inotherwords and its URL is http://inotherwords.pbwiki.com. My daughter is learning GRE vocabulary words and she sends me a new list periodically. She and I and some of her friends try making sentences from them. I thought it would be fun to experiment with using a wiki to do this.

Setting up the wiki seemed pretty straightforward. I see that you get just enough options for free to have some fun but to get really creative---you gotta pay money!

Week, Exercise #3

2007-04-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that my eyes glaze over when it comes to wikis. I feel like a squirrel sitting on a log in the middle of a gigantic logjam in a very narrow river.

I see wikis as very valuable for a group of people who are creating a document or a process or a project together.

With larger wikis open to the world at large, anyone can say and write anything---how do we know we've got accurate reliable information?

Week 1, Exercise #1

2007-04-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

Each of these blogs was very different. I found I don't like a lot of white space but the space in the Lansing Library Teen News Blog was broken up well. The elements were easy to find--the library url was there at the top but you had to look for it. It is small.

The Game Blog seemed like an "insider blog"--it isn't inviting to outsiders. The available space doesn't seem used to best advantage and there isn't a link to the main page of the library.

I like how very current the Ann Arbor site is and the links that are right there for you. I like their use of white and dark space also.

My favorite part of the Waterboro site is the Sources and Resources.

I like the maps of the history blog and the way they worked. I like that people can comment on the houses. It is a plain-looking site but that may not be so bad. I really like the "Ask the Library a Question" and the page you are linked to.