Google Docs/Zoho

I can see where Google Docs and Zoho writer would come in handy. Since I have Word 2003 on both my computers, it is hard to open documents if people use a different program (open office or Word 2007). These apps would make it handy if more people would use them. It would not involve an extra step of having to convert them to a different format.

PBwiki

I enjoyed adding my favorites to the Nebraska Learns 2.0 wiki. It was not hard to add the favorite blog site. After reading the instructions, I wasn't sure, but added two blogs with no problems.

Wikis are interest and the posibilities seem endless. We could use them to plan teen activities or they would be great to plan the next extended family vacation. May have to do some more exploring with wikis.

Wikis

Seemed like a normal day at our house. The kids played the new video games Santa brought and I did laundry. We will have Christmas on Sunday. Should be fun. My brother and family are in Nebraska from Florida. My niece and sister-in-law do not understand the snowy/windy/cold Nebraska winter. The last time they were here for Christmas the weather was nice with very little snow.

I had some fun playing with wikis tonight. The video explaining wikis was very informative. I have already figured out several uses for a wiki at the library. They will come in handy next year when we start planning our next fund raiser. They are more reliable than email. Hopefully I can get everybody on board.

I think it would be interesting to do a book review wiki. We tried to do that for the paper once a month or so, but it did not last very long. I find it hard to explain a book in a couple of paragraphs without giving away the end of the book. This would be a way for multiple people to write about the books they are reading. We may have to explore this further.

Web 2.0

Change is good. However not everyone likes change. We have a core group of older people who have never heard or even care about web/library 2.0. Everything is geared towards the "Google Generation". But we in the library world have to take care of the loyal patrons who still like to read a good book. I like technology (as long as it works) as much as the next person, but I still want to hold a book while I read it. I don't want to read or listen to my books on the computer.
Libraries need to find a middle ground for the older patrons who just want to visit and pick out a good book and the "google generation" who want to do everything on the internet. If someone finds that happy medium let me know.

Happy Holidays.

SlideShare

I had fun explore slideshare on a cold, icy, snowy night with visions of no school (or work) dancing in everyone's head. I marked a couple of favorites, added nebraskaccess as a contact and even made a powerpoint presentation and uploaded it.

You can view my slideshare account at http://www.slideshare.net/dmcooper. I used pictures from our recent fundraiser at the library. They are pictures of some Christmas trees from the Tannenbaum Festival. I did not reduce the size of the pictures, therefore you cannot see the whole tree, but I thought it turned out pretty good for my first try.

I am just like the teens with all the mutli-tasking happening on my laptop tonight; writing in my blog, watching the Colts-Jaguars live look ins on nfl.com (no nfl network) with my son (big Colts fan), and watching the NU women's volleyball on ESPN2.

Hope we don't get too much snow tonight. It would be nice to have a day at home, but snowed in with the whole family right before Christmas break, may be a little too much family time. Oh well, we will find some good movies to watch and I made sure to have a couple of books before coming home from the library.

Delicious

I have been using Delicious for a year. I really like it. All my bookmarks on the same page (which is saying something since I have never used bookmarks). I like looking at the recent and popular posts as I usually find something funny (how to tell if your cat is trying to kill you) or something informational (easy programming tips).

Twitter

I left my family in western Nebraska, Friday morning (they will come home Sunday), so am home along tonight. Good time to explore twitter. Not sure if it is something I will keep up with, but at least I know more about it and how it actually works. I will give it time next week, when more people are back to work.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and did not eat too much.

LibraryThing

I am behind on my learning. The library had their bi-annual fundraiser last week, so I was a tad busy. But the turn out was great, so I am happy with the results.

I had a LibraryThing account set up, but I deletedthose books and add some of my daughter's books. I am trying to get the teen group to look at/use LibraryThing so I tailored by list to the teens. My list can be seen at the following link. http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cubfan2008

Technology

I will agree with everyone else. Technology is great when it works. My day has been very frustrating because of technology. One of my other part time jobs is at a mini mart. The first couple of credit cards today would not swipe without going through a lot of extra steps (calling in to get an authorization number).
When I got to the library to work on items for our Tannenbaum Festival, I had to use four different computers before I got one to print. We replaced our server and are still finding things that did not move to the new one. Frustrating.
I know technology makes our days easier; I can do banking and shopping from my laptop while watching TV and texting my daughter. My children grew up with all this technology. They could not imagine living any other way.
I am dependent on technology as the next person. I don't like visiting my father-in-law in western Nebraska as there is no internet and crappy cell phone reception. At least Grandpa has cable now since he moved into town, which makes the kids happy. I have a motel along the interstate that I usually stop and check the email and such before we head to the boonies.
I am glad the Library Commission is offering these "things " so I can keep up with all the changing technology. At least I can keep updated on some of the new technology before they change again.

Yoda cake

Taylor cake,
originally uploaded by cubfan2008.

This is the cake my daughter had last year. You can see the mailing label and stamps. This is the way I receive them. They ride in the front seat with the driver.

Colts birthday cake

Colts birthday cake,
originally uploaded by cubfan2008.

My sister-in-law makes birthday cakes for my children every year. She lives 300 miles away in western Nebraska. Usually the cakes come thru the mail. Yes, I go to the post office and pick up birthday cakes. Never have they been destroyed. My son is a big Indianapolis Colts fan.
This puzzle feature is kind of cool. I will have to do some more playing.

Spell with Flickr

I like the spell with Flickr feature. I could not figure out how to upload my image into my blog however. Guess I am tired and should get off the computer.

Most of the applications I don't think they have a lot of practical applications in the small library, but I have learned a lot of new things about flickr.

Slyvester the Cat

Slyvester the Cat,
originally uploaded by cubfan2008.

I am playing with the blog this on the flickr page. I had a Halloween storytime at the library today. I took some pictures of the kids in their costumes and of my slippers. I am Slyvester the Cat, minus the head. I showed my head to the kids when they came in, but it is too hot to wear all day. I am dressed in black and white, with my Slyvester slippers.

Flickr

I have had a fickr account for several years. I also have a flickr account for the library, where I post pictures of different activities. It is a good way to let the community know what is going on at the library.

I found this picture of stormtroopers marching on Flickr. It is interesting to me since my children (especially my daughter) are into Star Wars legos. I am back to Ebay bidding on Legos for Christmas. Wish me luck.

RSS Feeds

I added some feeds to my Google Reader account. I am still not sure if it will save me any time, but I will give it a chance. Things 6 & 7 done.

RSS

I have been playing with Bloglines and Google Reader. I like Google reader better. It seems to be easier to add feeds, especially if people have a Blogger or Flickr account. I do not know how much I will actually use them. I will see in the next couple of weeks if they actually save me any time.

IM with Susan

I talked to Susan this morning. We had a short chat about all the different things to learn. Thanks for chatting Susan.

I need to find some other people who IM so I can chat with them.

IM

This is the first time in many years I have used IM. I chatted with my sister-in-law in Florida. Since I do not see them very often, it was a good way to catch up.

In our small library, I cannot think of many uses. However in a bigger library, it would come in handy to communicate with someone on a different floor or different branch of the library.

It would be nice to have an IM feature on the library web page for an ask the librarian a question. (But first we need to get a web page.) I can see this working in a bigger library. There are still a lot of people in our town who have to come into the library to use the internet. Someone would have to be at the computer to make this work.

After we use IM more, we will have to see how the best way to use it in our library.

Thanks for chatting with my Allana. Hopefully I can chat with someone else this week.

Learns 2.0

This is a new experience for me. Blogging is a new skill, hopefully, it will be something I will continue to us.