Week Nine : Thing 23

whew...I am so glad that this is over. But it really isn't is it? Starting the whole process proved to be very difficult for me. In fact, I was blocked and finally had to admit that I needed something or someone to kickstart me into getting going. Luckily Annette Gaskins graciously offered to help and then showed immense patience with my frustration until Lo! the scales fell from my eyes and I could finally feel that, yes, I could do this. It wasn't easy and it DID take a LOT of TIME! But, now I consider it an investment in my future as a librarian. The experience gave me a frame of reference, new tools, some ideas, and terminology that will enhance my ability to understand and help the people who ask for my help. . . library patrons....and ain't that what it's all about anyway?
Adieu,
InfoSherpa

Week Nine : Thing 22

Traveling long distances everyday to get to work and back home, I devour (if ears can devour) audiobooks. I would go absolutely crazy without them and in fact go into some type of withdrawal if a book ends while I'm driving and I don't immediately have a replacement. A serious "jones" that now even listening to NPR can quench. So, yes audiobooks are high on my list. As rapid as my interest (they are exclusively my highest check-out item) I have never taken to downloading audiobooks. At first I thought great but they are such a hassle and I have such weird tastes in books that I could rarely find anything that I wanted to read. I guess I am one of those rare individuals that don't read Steel, Grisham, Clark, Sparks or Patterson. I also don't own a MP3 player and didn't see the point of downloading them to CDs so that I can then play them in my car and then have absolutely no use for them again. Until it's easier with more choices I don't think that downloadables will last much longer. But, Project Gutenberg is a different story. I have long been a fan and it's been the rescuer of many a patron request that needed a copy of a classic and needed it now because their whole class was reading it and our last copy had just been checked out. For me, Project Gutenberg exemplifies the great joy of the Internet for me personally as a librarian.

Week Nine : Thing 21

Podcasts. Checked out podcast. net and checked out various podcasts on different subjects included libraries and librarians. Signed up for Libworm which pulls up various podcasts on whatever subjects you are interested in, kinda like the old Dogpile search engine. I can see how it can be used for teaching, sharing brief tidbits of information, perhaps even teaching patrons at the library how to use the computer.

Week Nine : Thing 20

YouTube. Well...prior to working on these 23 things I had only seen YouTube used in the library to show embarrassing, irreverent or downright obscene images. I equated it with America's Most Embarrassing etc. and the ilk. There's been lots of talk about how it can be used in libraries etc. and I can definitely see the potential and I enjoyed searching and finding video clips on mandalas BUT for myself, unless I had an express need to find a video clip I do not see myself searching on a daily basis for weird, cute or funny cat videos!

Mandalas: Spirit In Art

Week 9 : Thing 20
Mandalas fascinate me. I feel that they are not only a device for meditation but can provide a snapshot of our own unconscious state.

Week Eight : Thing 19

I looked at the list of award winners and had a hard time finding anything that interested me until I came across Lulu.com. A very "long tail" idea for self-publishing. The idea of self- publishing interests me very much. It looks to be a quick and easy process (haven't tried it yet so I can't say for sure). Having gone through the long process of getting my father's-in-law's writing self-published (it's been 3 years and still not in print) and my husband longing to publish his writings Lulu just might be the way to go. Plan to investigate the cost and maybe a Christmas gift is in the offing!

Week Eight : Thing 18

Since I already had a Google account and since it recently won an award, thought I'd go ahead and use Google Docs. What I like about this technology is that it opens up the strangle hold that Microsoft has on the market and offers products to people that can't afford or do not need the big software packages. They are bare bones users, like my mother and many of my patrons (I still have a hard time calling them customers ;-), who don't need all the bells and whistles. Spell check versions for different langauges and even for different version of English, American or UK, cool. Note : added the google doc version to my blog relatively easily.