Wow! It's Amazing!

I just used Trading Card Maker and Flickr to create a tribute to my little cat, Lily. The two sites were easy to move between, and making changes to background colors, icons, and text were easy.

There's probably some way to remove that demonic green glow from her eyes ( !! ) but I'm not sure how to do it.

Imposing Order onto Chaos

It's all about the organization--tags help make order out of chaos on Flickr.

With multiple tags on each picture, the photos on Flickr are accessible by the content of the photograph, the person who took it, the place depicted, the event occurring, and numerous other details that result in an individual picture standing out from the masses of others.

Without this kind of organization and access, Flickr would just be a hosting site for individuals-- and not a photographic library for the world.

The Beautiful Rijks.

I visited this wonderful place in 2004. It's the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is more than just a liberal city that has "decriminalized" marijuana...some of the most wonderful museums, concert halls, and historical venues are located there. And the locals are the friendliest I've ever encountered in Europe.

The tulips in the springtime are to die for...

I found this photo on Flickr when I searched the tag "Amsterdam." This was from the collection labeled "Amsterdam (Mokum)."

Exactly how to you give proper credit for public photos from Flickr? Is stating the contributor's name enough?

It's obvious how libraries can make great use of Flickr groups and tags. Back in the day the VBPL had library-related photographs saved in a folder on our W Drive. The subject matter included storytimes, SRP activities, computer lab classes, etc. Now we could use Flickr to host the photos we all need access when we're creating brochures, posters, and other marketing items.

A Mental Vacation

I was trolling around the Web 2.0 Awards links for travel websites, mainly because I'd love to get the heck outta Dodge for a while. Alas, that won't be happening anytime soon!

Farecast.com looked very helpful if you know where you want to go and need comparison information on the costs of flights. Realtravel.com seemed geared toward the traveler/vacationer who hasn't chosen their destination yet. If you're looking for suggestions from travelers who have visited certain places, realtravel.com would be a good spot.

The Need is Obvious

Geez. With 70 million blogs out there, I certainly see the need for Technorati.

That's a lot of stuff to sort through. I, myself, would only be interested in what 69.999999 million of you might have to say: The rest of you, not so much. Technorati looks like a good way to find the specific topics and people I'd like to keep in touch with and filter out the rest.

Not that all 70 million of you aren't perfectly wonderful people...

Simple is Best

I got lost sorting through the options to learn about social bookmarking and Del.icio.us--too much information! I learned that I need to look for the briefest explanations, preferably webcasts of 5 minutes or under--to get the point without being overwhelmed.

'Social Bookmarking in Plain English' by CommonCraft did the trick. It was a very useful and informative 3 minutes and 25 seconds. The example of math teachers bookmarking and organizing useful sites made perfect sense to me.

MySpacial Relationships

I've created a page on MySpace, but not without some frustrations. Answering the profile questions was kinda fun--it seemed almost like a dating service questionnaire. I couldn't get my photo to upload, though, which was disappointing. The Internet access I have is filtered, and I couldn't make the upload happen.



Rats. That's the main annoyance in learning new technologies, capacities, etc. When there's some unanticipated road block that halts the process, suddenly it's no fun anymore.

There's Something Happenin' Here...

...what it is ain't exactly clear.

Don't you just love it when a song from 40 years ago captures 2007 reality? Many thanks to the Buffalo Springfield.

Back when the original counterculture was making itself known, those with "moral panic" disorder would have been labeled "The MAN." "Don't let old fogey adults tell you what you can and cannot do" is not a new concept.

I just hope some of the communication on MySpace and other social networking sites involves a discussion of the current state of the world and what we need to do to fix it--or at least make the future better for us all. I sound like some leftist hippie librarian, don't I?...Geez, maybe I am, minus the hippie part.

Peace, Sisters and Brothers.

RA Hurray!

Wow. The Library's Readers Advisory wiki is REALLY easy to use! I've gotten hung up a few times working through the Library 2.0 things, but adding a title to the 'Staff Recommends' list was a breeze. Plus I got some great ideas for books to read in the bargain.

Woo hoo! Maybe I'll make my way through this Brave New World unscathed after all...

Wiki Wacky

It was fun reviewing other libraries' wikis. I really like the customer reviews and feedback on books. It reminds me of the review section of amazon a bit.

Especially I like it that the reviewers are library customers. That means they truly are book people who see the big picture and value all that a library can offer them.

IM what IM

I IM-ed a reference question to the VBPL staff manning the instant messaging service. I think I asked something that was too time consuming--I'd heard about a magazine article by a certain writer on a particular subject from a few years ago, and I was trying to get the citation or a copy of it.

They were really nice and said they could get back to me, but right at that moment they were helping another IM reference customer and wouldn't be able to check it immediately. THAT could be a real problem with IM reference service if it's a really busy shift and only one or two staff members juggling a bunch of customers and questions at once...very stressful for the staff!

I'm going to seek out an IM information provider and ask how they handle it when they have two or three (or more!) people all at once.

Topix.net is easy on the eyes

After a false start attempting to post on November 21 ( !! ), I'll try again.

I looked into some of the newsfeeds, and I admit the look of Topix.net is a lot more inviting to a newcomer to RSS feeds. The site looks a lot like the CNN website, and the Virginia Beach topic list is sort of cool.

Confusion reigns...

I just set up my Google Reader account (I think). I can't tell what I've done, quite frankly. I find this all very confusing and time-consuming, but that's probably just me. If you know what you're doing I guess it goes pretty quickly.

Very Old Dog...Extremely New Tricks

THAT said, I fully admit that this will be a huge challenge for me.

The best way to characterize the anxiety I've felt working in the Library 2.0 realm is Habit #3 of the '7 1/2 Habits'--viewing problems as challenges. It took me an hour to set my blog up, and I bet it was supposed to take 10 minutes, max!

Oh well...hopefully proficiency will come with time.

The Future is Now...

Library 2.0 is here... Actually, it's been here a while, but I'm just now catching up with the times!

What an opportunity this is for everyone--information staff and customers, too.

Library 2.0 is a natural progression of seeking and using information. It builds on all Library 1.0 was, but expands this beyond “read only” sites to interaction between users. And there’s no segregation of information providers and users: we’re all information contributors and have unique perspectives and knowledge to offer. The old “caste system” of there being owners and creators of content who are in some way “qualified” to contribute is long gone.

Library 2.0 is a mindset change and advance as well as a technological advance. To get the most out of it for ourselves and our customers, we have to go with the ever-changing flow of how people live their lives and the information they use to make their lives enriching and fulfilling.