#23 - Summing Up

The biggest benefits of L&P to me were the program's support for taking time to learn about Web 2.0 tools and the structure it gave us to follow. I often hear about new tools and try them out, only to not get back to them and incorporate them into my routine, simply because it just seems easier to do it the way I've always done it. Taking more time with the tools, has helped me to learn more about which ones fit my needs and has allowed me to actually incorporate them into my daily work and life. Although I was familiar with most of the tools, the biggest surprise to me was the value of Twitter in making connections. In fact, I've also just joined a Yammer account for CML, which is more work-focused.

There are many things that I will do differently as a result of L&P, not only professionally with sites such as Delicious or Twitter or Yammer, but personally as well. Through this program, I've learned about a genealogy site called My Heritage where I've begun to store my family research. I've already found others who use the site with entries that match my family tree! This was definitely a valuable exercise for CML. It seems to me that staff learned not only about the tools, but also about each other. All in all, this was a successful program that I hope we repeat in the future!

#22 - MOLDI

I am not a huge audio-book fan. Just can't seem to focus my attention without the visual stimulus. But, I've always been intrigued by e-books. It would be great to carry around multiple books on a trip or to the doctor's office in one device. The ability to search the text of a work or adjust the display for optimal viewing are other attractive features to me, at least in theory. I'm not sure how these work in practice yet. I've read that the technology is not quite there yet, despite the apparent appeal of the Kindle.

Even if the device works well enough, you have to find something to read on it. MOLDI's collection continues to remain pretty limited for my taste. I looked for two popular books I've been wanting to read and neither were a part of their audio- or ebook collections. That's the main problem for me with such free services. If you're looking for something specific, you'll probably have to look elsewhere... and pay for it. For those looking for something more general, it's a nice service.

#21 - Podcasts

The feed directories from Podfeed.net and Google's Podcast Directory were not very helpful. Searches in Podfeed brought back results that weren't from familiar sources and there were too many hits to wade through to find one. Google was good for finding other podcast directories but, surprisingly, the navigation was pretty antiquated. Then I tried Podcast Alley. I loved this directory! It was easy to use and keyword searches were always on target. I easily found public library podcasts for news, author and book chats, and children's stories. Lots of ideas for us! Podcast Alley also listed several reputable news podcasts from CNN, NPR, and the New York Times. I added the CNN headline news podcast to my Bloglines account.

#20 - YouTube

Browsing YouTube is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but I managed to stumble across an interesting video from GOODMagazine, which led to more interesting videos. In fact, they have a series of videos, produced with help from 247 Townhall and Rock the Vote, called "If I Were President". The videos feature a variety of famous and not-so-famous yet accomplished individuals. I chose to embed Van Jones. He's the founder and president of Green For All, a national advocacy organization committed to building an inclusive, green economy. Seeing these videos made me wonder, "Is this how we'll pick our presidents someday?" Definitely would be a way to broaden the playing field. Hope you enjoy!

#19 - CML Power Tools

This one is the easiest for me since I was manager of Virtual Branch back when the idea for the Power Tools page was developed and the initial content created. It's a page near and dear to my heart, since it was our first real attempt to push new technologies forward fast, as well as provide opportunities for people to try them out in beta. There isn't anything currently available on the page that I haven't already tried or downloaded. I'll just use this post to plug the great work Joy Marlow, Maggie Baxter, Sam Davis and Tonya Taylor did on the Power Tools page!

#18 - Web 2.0 Award-Winners

Scrolling through the short list of winners, my interest was engaged by the genealogy site, My Heritage. I've done quite a bit of research into one branch of my family tree, but never translated my hard copy data into an online resource. I did purchase a genealogy software package, but never used it. This web tool, imo, is so much better. My family can view the tree and even help me fill it in. Best of all, if another member enters family information that matches my family, I'll get an alert. Pretty cool!

#17 - Google Docs

I have a gmail account but have never used Google Docs. I could have used it to collaborate on a PowerPoint presentation Jennifer Hrusch and I just did for Management Team. Instead of using CML's V Drive, we could use Google Docs, which we can get to anywhere and there's no need to remember a long path name. Thanks L&P for introducing me to a helpful tool I'd never used before. I know I'll find many uses for it in the future.

#16 - L&P Wiki

Catching up! I added my blog to the L&P@CML wiki and even added a few of my faves. Enjoyed reading others' faves, too, and, in some cases, trying to figure out who posted what fave. Todd Cameron, are you the one who listed koalas and weener dogs as your favorite animals?

#15 - Wikis

This is one Learn & Play tool that I am super familiar with. I first used a wiki to organize my notes from the 2006 Internet Librarian conference. I'm familiar with libraries using them as subject guides and I love the Library Success wiki. Currently, the IM implementation team (T.P. 3.4.4) is using a wiki to house information about our project. I also used the Library Success wiki to find lots of useful information about libraries using IM. Wikis are great organizational tools with the added bonus of letting multiple people contribute. Plus, let's face it, "wiki" is just fun to say! :-)

#14 - Web 2.0

I actually had read most of the Web 2.0 articles we were supposed to read for this assignment awhile ago, so I looked at something new: David Armano's post, Humanity is the new Technology, which I found via Michael Stephen's Tame the Web. The premise is that, although technology can be a choice for eliminating human connection from our lives (think self check or ATM), it is evolving into a human-to-human model (think Web 2.0 tools: webchat with webcam, blogging, tweeting, etc.). Technology doesn't have to mean the human connection is gone. In fact, it is just the opposite where Web 2.0 is concerned. A heartening idea, in my opinion and one that ties nicely into Wendy Schultz's article about libraries being "conversations", "everywhere, barrier-free and participatory." What do you think?

#13 - Tagging

I am familiar with tagging and have a delicious account, although I don't use it as much as I should. I tend to just bookmark a site in my browser, which is fine until the list becomes so large it's unmanageable. That's where tagging comes in handy. If I have bookmarked lots of sites on a particular topic in delicious, I can find them easily from the tag I gave them. To anyone who has struggled to remember Library of Congress catalog headings, tagging is extra special, since it is something you create that means something to you. You can use a popular tag that others have used or pick something unique that only you or a select group know. I also like that I can use delicious to find other important sites on a topic by following its tag.

#12 - Tweets are a Treat!

Well, so much for my attempt to catch up. I'm more behind then ever, but I'm thoroughly enjoying my first real try at Twitter. You'll find me under macatak. First, Twitter automatically added all my gtalk contacts, so I immediately have people to follow. Second, I feel more connected--personally and professionally--after only a few minutes. I learned that InfoLine had someone ask about the Learn & Play URL. (The impact of this program is really branching out!) I also learned that a colleague's sick cat is now okay. It's such an easy way to stay in the loop on things without investing a ton of time. Now, I just need a phone and a liberal texting plan!

#11 - Library Thing, Good - Memory, Bad

I signed up for a LibraryThing account earlier this year, but because I go through long phases when I don't do a lot of pleasure reading (bad, librarian, very bad), the account sat there unused except for one or two lonely selections. L&P has encouraged me to get back to it. Plus, I actually read a new book during the recent power outage! So, I added it -- The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln -- to my LibraryThing library, along with some of my favorite books from the past.

Confession: I have a very hard time remembering titles and authors, and I think this type of tool will be of great help when I struggle for the name of that author whose book I liked so much. Before I add too much though, I'd like to check out goodreads too and see which one I prefer. I do like goodread's bookshelf concept, where I can have shelves for books read, currently reading, and plan to read. Anybody out there who uses one of these book tracking tools, I'd love to hear about the one you use and why you like it before I make the switch.

#10 - Image Generators

Decided to use my three favorite subjects -- my nephews -- for the image generator assignment. Going clock-wise, meet Kyle, Landon (the little guy) and Jarrod. I've been wanting to create a Read poster for awhile now. It was SO easy to do. I also can see me using the Letter James site where I could turn my photos into a calendar or put them in a photo album. And, I could really waste time playing with the various tools shared on the Generator Blog. A recent post made me aware of a cool site called Photo Notes that turns an ordinary photo into what looks like a Polaroid pic, and lets you add captions and speech bubbles. Pretty neat!

#9 - Fave Blogs

I'm wa-a-a-y behind in L&P and have vowed to catch up this week. So, look for lots of short posts, which is really what I like to read in others' blogs, anyway. Maybe I've learned something here, ya' think? My most fave library blogs right now are LibraryBytes, librarianinblack, wakeupmaggie and Gerald2.0. Thank you, thank you for your excellent blogpersonship!

#8 - Can Bloglines "Talk" to Blogger?

I've had a Bloglines account for a couple of years now, but I have to confess, I've not been too disciplined about logging in and viewing my feeds. Now that I have my own blog and most of my feeds are from blogs, I've begun my own blogroll. View it to the right. You'll find my favorite library blogs there, including a few from my CML colleagues. Or, visit My Feeds at Bloglines.

Although I like having the blogs and feeds I follow right on my blog, it still seems easier to add feeds using Bloglines. To add to my blog, I have to first find the correct feed url -- and that has not been as easy as it sounds -- then sign in and add it to my blog. This is compared to just two clicks when adding to my Bloglines account -- "subscribe" and "Bloglines" and your done! It looks like I can share feeds from Google Reader via my Blogger blog. But, is there a way to share my Blogline feeds via Blogger?

Help! Anyone?

#6 - Fun Flickr Tools

Kyle, Mac & J-rod, originally uploaded by macrina.gilliam.

I finally completed Thing #6 - Flicker mashups/3rd party tools. There were so many cool tools to play with, it was easy to get side-tracked. I made a slide-show, a badge, then finally decided to blog about the trading card I made using fd's Flickr Toys. The app was so easy to use. I also liked that you could see the results and go back and change your choices as many times as you wanted. I tried out all the templates! To complete the card, I looked for some quotations about learning and found this wonderful Will Rogers' quote. Isn't it great? I also found the following:

Learning is the highest from of play.
-David Meier

What a perfect quote for this project!

P.S. Anyone know who David Meier is?

P.P.S. The good-looking gentlemen in the photo are my oldest nephews, Kyle (11) and Jarrod (13).

#7 - Testing... 1, 2, 3

For Thing #7 - blog about anything related to technology - I've decided to talk a bit more about instant messaging. I'm project manager for the tactic to implement IM as a new way for customers to contact us. For the past couple of weeks, I've been learning a lot about the different tools out there. In addition to the better-known Meebo, I've recently learned about a new IM tool called LibraryH3lp. With the expert assistance of Todd Cameron from Hilliard Branch, I've added two LibraryH3lp widgets to my blog. So, now I have one Meebo widget and two from LibraryH3lp! It's not that I'm that chatty, I've added all of these to test them out.

If you're interested in more information about LibraryH3lp, this blog post from a University of Alabama reference librarian has a nice description with related links or you can visit the LibraryH3lp blog. One of the neat things about this new tool is it was designed by librarians just for libraries. Check it out and let me know what you think!

#5 - Pink and Picture Perfect

Pink,
originally uploaded by 囧-WQ-囧.

I'm already a member of Flickr, but I haven't really explored all it has to offer. I was recently surprised to see that you can search by camera type to find photos taken by a particular model. Select any search option and the camera search will appear by the search box. I'm in the market for a new camera, so maybe that's why the feature jumped out at me this time. The beautiful photo attached to this post, entitled "Pink", was taken with a Canon point-and-shoot, rated highly by Consumer Reports. Pretty cool, huh? I wonder what other interesting features staff are discovering???

IM-mediacy Rocks!

As does the new Blogger enhancement, Google Gadgets. Blogger has integrated iGoogle Gadgets into all of their layouts to make it easy to add cool features that fit perfectly into your blog. Gadgets include everything from the standard image or photo to polls, slideshows, and even YouTube videos. I created an IM widget using the IM aggregator, Meebo, and used the new gadgets feature in Blogger to add it to this blog. (You may need to scroll a bit to see it.) The steps are simple: set up a Meebo account, click on the Meebo me widgets link, name your widget, and copy and paste the resulting code into your blog layout.

It really is that simple. Now, the question is, which gadget will you choose to trick out your blog? Let me know, as a comment for all to see, or IM me and we'll chat about it!

#3 - 7 1/2 Habits

I mentioned in my last post the easiest habit for me: #3 - View problems as challenges. It's that ol' positive attitude thing, which I'm pretty good at most of the time. Now, it's on to the hard stuff: #1 - Begin with the end in mind. I have a habit of diving into the process without thinking of what I ultimately want to accomplish. When I do that, I find it's easy to get derailed, sometimes to the point where I don't accomplish my goal. That's exactly what happened with me and blogging the first time I tried it. Having a goal from the outset is definitely key for me.

The Power of Second Chances

The last couple of days, as Learn & Play has kicked off, I’ve been hearing over and over that it’s “never too late" to be a lifelong learner. The interesting thing is that I decided on that name for my blog last week! Because of the tie-in, I just had to pick “viewing problems as challenges” as my easiest lifelong learning habit. It’s easy to find an excuse not to learn a new skill, but when we embrace “it’s never too late” or “it’s okay not to be perfect” or whatever, it’s just as easy to defuse the excuse.

I started to blog nearly a year ago, but just didn’t stick with it. Learn & Play is like a second chance for me to try again. If it’s not too late for me, it’s not too late or too [fill in the blank here] for you too.

So, I’m challenging all my manager colleagues and others who may feel like they just don’t have time to be curious… to explore… yes, I’ll say it, to play… to make that time. For the librarians among you, tap into your innate curiosity and discover what these new tools are all about. We’ll learn… and play… together. I’d love to hear about your experiences here, and I know I’ll need your help as well.

Check back often to find a tip, ask a question or answer one. Let’s get the discussion started!