foursquare

As a new smartphone owner, I am having fun playing with all the new apps and such on the phone. So this month, I am exploring foursquare. It is hard to do in the small town I live in since very few locations are in the system. However, as I travel to larger locations, I can find more places that are in the system.

I can see how some people would not be comfortable putting this kind of information out, but since none of my friends are using foursquare, it's not that big of deal right now. If you don't want to check in to a place, you don't have to or it doesn't have to be published.

My library was not in the system, so I added it. As of yet, I am the only person who has checked it at the library.

Google Maps

I played with Google maps for several days over the past weeks. I tried to move the marker for the library last week, but apparently I did something wrong as it was still not right today when I rechecked. Hopefully it was changed right this time.

Part 1 of the assignment - 1445 K St is the State Capital. I could see the cars along the street, but the only colors to see for sure were red, the others are light or dark. Hard to distinguish colors from a satelite. I like the street view better as it is easier for me to see where I am going.

Part 2 - Scribner Public Library worked and the marker was two blocks north of the actual library location. Most of the information was correct for the library. The director recently retired, so I added my name as director. I claimed the library and added hours and a description. We don 't have a website, but if we get one, I will make sure to add it to the business profile. I want to add a photo, but those are on a different computer, so I will leave that for a different day.

Part 3 - I use google maps when I travel around the state. I did not know all the features available. My son likes to play with the satelite feature and find Grandpa Cooper's farm in western Nebraska. I did not embed or create a map, don't know if that is something I will try later. It would be fun to use google maps during the summer reading program. May have to try that next year.

It was fun learning all the different features available with Google maps.

Thing 24

Back to doing library Things. I spent a lot of time searching on Twitter for Scribner, Snyder and any combination of the two along with some of the businesses in town and I could not come up with anythng. If I use Fremont or Norfolk Nebraska, I get a few things, but most of the information is at least a day old. Most people around here do their status updates on Facebook, so I spend more time with Facebook then Twitter. I will keep trying to find Scribner or something on Twitter, but not holding out much hope.

I signed up for some Google alerts and I have been getting those daily. I will have to change them some, as a lot of it is the same information I get in Google reader. I also post family pictures on flickr. I had signed up for flickr activity earlier. I have had a few comments on my photos, usually someone wants the picture posted in a group.

Since I am done with all 23 things for the Nebraska Learns 2.0 class, I will try to blog occasionally. I tried to go to work Monday, but the blowing snow prevented it. I have 4 miles on an east-west highway that is notorious for being terrible when it snows. I got about one mile out of town and went back home. Not worth the risk.

Tuesday the teens came into the library after school to help put the books on the new shelves in the the teen area. They got most of the books on the shelves, but some rearranging will have to be done as we have more books than shelf space.

The end or a new beginning

I enjoyed learning all the different 23 things. Some I will use everyday (like Google reader and delicious), some will be used on a frequent basis (like flickr and slideshare) and some will probably not be used very often (twitter). But all were very interesting and glad I got exposed to them. It is nice to be able to keep up with all the changing technology.

RSS feeds were a surprise to me. I did not think they would be useful. But Google reader is usually the first thing I check out when I get on the computer. I was also surprised by web apps and wikis. Both will come in handy.

I also enjoyed the blogging. The further we got into the 23 things, the easier it got to add things and make the blog more exciting. Hopefully it will be something I can keep up, probably not on an everyday basis, but at least weekly.

I liked the fact these things were offered online and I did not have to travel. It was also nice to be able to work at my own pace. Since I am usually the only one in the library, it was hard to work on them at the library. I worked on them in the evening after the kids were in bed (when it was quiet). Some weeks I could get several things done, and other weeks not a lot was accomplished.

I would gladly take more activities (or whatever you want to call them) if they were offered by the commission. The ability to work from my easy chair, learn different things and earn CE credits all at the same time is great use of technology. Thanks to everyone at Nebraska Library Commission who made these things possible.

Podcasts

I explored several of the different podcast directories. The one podcast I did like was from the Denver Public Library. I listened to "Only joking laughed the Lobster." These are like the old cassette tape and book kits I listened to as a little kid.

I found some other podcast dealing with the Chicago Cubs. These may be good to listen to during the baseball season. But a lot of them were 30 minutes or longer. I guess I don't want to sit and listen to something for that long. I would have to download them to my mp3 player so I can listen while I walk in the mornings.

I also like to listen to Todd n Tyler in the mornings. On the days I miss the show, I listen to the podcast. (Our library cleaning lady listens to them while she cleans).

I am glad to learn more about podcasts, but I do not think I will be spending a lot of time with most of the ones I explored.

YouTube

This is my video. (I even got it embedded on the first try. I am learning so much with these things.) I think it is so neat what some people can do with etch-a-sketch. Wish I could create something along these lines. Right, thats about all I can create is lines. This video just makes me ready for the baseball/softball season to start.

YouTube is so popular with the teens. It's scary to see what some people are willing to post about themselves. If (or when) we every get a web site, I would like the teens to be able to post library related videos to the site. Hopefully the videos would show the fun aspects of the library to encourage other teens to visit the library.

I could see promoting the summer reading program using YouTube. Or using YouTube to show different activities happening at the library.

Web 2.0

I explored Web 2.0 awards. I liked last fm. You can browse different types of music from a single song from a favorite artist or listen to an online station. As you use the service, it figures out your likes and suggests different artists. I had fun listening to different artist and adding things to my library. I will have to spend more time with this as you can connect a mp3 player or Ipod to this site. Now I have some new music to listen to when I use the computer. I cannot see where this has much use in the library, but it is still a good site.

I had heard about craiglist, but had never visited the site. I explored the site and found someone in town has a pool table for sale. If only I needed a pool table.

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.