Tapas Reflections

The biggest surprise for me was that, although I love technology, I'm not wild about all of it. I liked trying the podcasts, but the variation in quality (content & delivery) was a turn-off for me. I wanted help learning Spanish and I realized I'd prefer to check out some "Living Language Spanish" CD's and know what I'm getting rather than spend time wading through some of the really lousy podcasts that are out there. It's like looking something up on the Web versus using a reference book. Sometimes you do get what you pay for...

I loved experimenting with adding photos and videos to my blog - always a challenge to select the right image.

I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. The best part, for me, was not the technology itself, but the way the technology allowed me to see a different side of my co-workers. I loved reading everyone's blogs and learning things about people I see on a regular basis, but don't know very well.

I can't wait for the challenge to experiment with 13 new things. Bring it on!

Podcasting - A Whole New World. I Might Visit but I Don't Want to Live There.

I found a couple of podcasts that I listened to, a few about horseback riding and some that were language related. The one that shows the most promise for a library setting is called "ESL Helpdesk," where people who are learning English have access to individual tutorials on many aspects of language learning.

The negative aspect of podcasts is the great variation in quality - both of content and also audio quality. I am trying to learn Spanish and so I listened to a few "Spanish Survival" podcasts; some were excellent and others just plain abysmal.

I did subscribe to the "Libworm: Librarianship" podcasts in my primary Bloglines account.

Doggy Dancing

This is my all-time favorite video. I have spent many, many hours at obedience training classes with my dogs, and they are pretty well-behaved, but I can't imagine how many hours it took to train this Golden Retriever to dance!

I would love to see libraries posting videos from NJSL's "Tell Us Your Story" campaign. I want to hear real customers talk about how their library has transformed their lives.

This is a picture I took when I was at Yellowstone National Park. This bison crossed directly in front of my car. It can be found on my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30146540@N02/2825108026/sizes/l/in/pool-840154@N20/

I loved using flickr for Snapshot Day. Libraries posted 1,200 photos taken on just one day, February 19, 2009, showing all the activities taking place in New Jersey's libraries. Take a minute to look at some of those photos - they are inspiring! Just click here.

Wacky Wikis

I usually find wikis confusing - like the image above.


I'm interested in learning more about wikis. I use them for some of the statewide committees in which I participate, but I still feel more comfortable with e-mail. I think the very nature of wikis makes me a little suspicious about them - as a librarian, I do like some control. This exercise was good for me - I did enjoy perusing the "Library Success" wiki.

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs

This was a fun experiment. I wrote this in GoogleDocs and posted it right to my blog. Very cool!


I'm going to see how easy it is to insert photos into my document. This will give me an opportunity to brag about my dogs!

That was easy. Here is my puppy, Bogan, sitting on my nephew's lap. Bogan is an Irish Wolfhound.





Here's a photo from the web of how Irish Wolfhounds look when they're standing up:

Addendum: Zoho Writer...(Two Thumbs Down)

This is an experiemnt. Is Zoho as easy to use as Google Docs? I think Google is more intuitive and has a cleaner layout. One of the things I liked best about Google Docs was how easy it was to post directly to my blog.
I am going to insert a photo to see if that's easy...

Not that easy. The photo was way too big and I didn't have an option to resize it.

OK, my vote goes to Google Docs. Now I'm going to try & send this to my blog.

Didn't work easily.

I'm going to just copy this entry and add it to my blog. Boo for Zoho Writer. Yeah for Google Docs.

A Delicious Experience

Wow, glad I read about how to "Survive the Impending Zombie Apocalypse." Never know when that will come in handy.
Actually, I liked seeing the comments and found some great sites. Thanks for sharing. I also like being able to access my bookmarks no matter where I am.

Bloglines

Just created a second Bloglines account. My other account has 115 feeds and is getting really difficult to keep up with, so I just created a new one with a few feeds. Let's see how I do keeping up with this one. I think that's the most difficult thing about Bloglines - it's very easy to subscribe to RSS feeds, so it tends to keep growing and growing! I love posting photos and this one of the car being overtaken by kudzu vine represents the way my Bloglines account seems to grow by itself.

The address for my Blogroll is: http://www.bloglines.com/public/jerseyshorelibrarian

Habits to Lose & Habits to Keep

Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind - that's the hardest habit for me to learn and follow. Once I have an idea, I want to run with it and see where it takes me. I think that's half the fun.

Habit 3: View problems as challenges - that's the easiest habit for me to follow. I love to find creative solutions to things others see as obstacles.