Corn Cob on a Stick

Check out my new blog

2011-08-22T10:41:00.001-05:00

Check out my new blog about my newest position as Mayor of Olivia. You can find it at:

Sue Hilgert, Olivia Mayor

Ghostbusters in New York Public Library

2010-05-18T11:15:00.000-05:00

The video on the right is very cute and funny, but what really drew my interest was it was done by Matt Adams. There was a Matt Adams who graduated from BOLD back in 1990's with my son Jeff. Just wondering if this is him?

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T22:18:00.000-05:00

Great Easter Dinner at Jim and Jackie's. One of the highlights was Marc preparing the dessert, Banana Foster, flames and all. Check out my Flip Video of the preparation. Lots of fun using this device. Posted a copy to Facebook too. I may post to You Tube later.

Retirement

2010-03-02T09:44:00.000-06:00

I have recently retired (Jan 29, 2010). This blog will be expanding its focus from primarily a 23 things blog to my adventures in retirement. I'm not forgetting about the 23 things and More Things but since my involvement with the library world will be as a patron not a staff person, I'll be looking at technology in a different way. This is a exciting yet scaring time as I'm evolving my life from "workcentric" to "livingcentric". Stay tuned for the journey.

Don't Forget About Us | LISNews

2010-02-15T13:07:00.000-06:00

Don't Forget About Us | LISNews

The Role Of Libraries In A Networked World (2008)

2010-02-07T12:10:00.001-06:00

Excellent PP on technology.

The Role Of Libraries In A Networked World (2008)

View more presentations from Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

Free CD and DVD Burning (Writing) and Copying Software (thefreecountry.com)

2009-12-13T14:54:00.000-06:00

Free CD and DVD Burning (Writing) and Copying Software (thefreecountry.com)

theanalogdivide » Blog Archive » Twittering @ Your Library

2009-12-09T13:06:00.000-06:00

http://www.theanalogdivide.com/2009/12/twittering-your-library/

Off the Shelf, Onto the Laptop - Libraries Try Digital Books - NYTimes.com

2009-10-17T21:23:00.001-05:00

Off the Shelf, Onto the Laptop - Libraries Try Digital Books - NYTimes.com

Shared via AddThis

Experts Talk About Social Media Training

2009-10-12T11:12:00.001-05:00

Experts Talk About Social Media Training

Shared via AddThis

Everyone should have their own barcode!

2009-10-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

The Top Ten Things Library Administrators Should Know About Technology | TechEssence.info

2009-09-13T12:32:00.002-05:00

The Top Ten Things Library Administrators Should Know About Technology | TechEssence.info

Posted using ShareThis

This article helps explains why administrators should not be intimated by techology. The item I find particularly interesting in investigating in staff training because the important resource is your people not the technology. Technology is cheap compared to human resources. Very thought provoking! I wish I could send this to all administrators.

Female PI Solve the Case!

2009-09-05T21:46:00.002-05:00

Check out this blog (Flashlight Worthy) for listing of female PI. http://bit.ly/11dNjV

This Video Got Me Thinking!

2009-06-01T22:36:00.001-05:00

Fun Video

2009-05-25T15:01:00.001-05:00

Thing 47: Evaluation

2009-05-12T20:56:00.002-05:00

I truly enjoyed this program. I've learned so much and I love this technology. My frustration is the lack of support from the regional system. I realize not all embrace these "things", but I truly believe that public libraries need to use these technologies to reach our patrons. They are using all these "things" to communicate, share, work and meet friends and information. If we (librarians) don't at the very least know and understand about this, our patrons will seek answers somewhat else. Plus, this stuff is a lot of fun. Learning about it is a real kick!

Thing 46: Web Junction

2009-05-12T20:24:00.002-05:00

I've been a member of Web Junction since 2005. I was even a spotlight member in Jan 2009. I have taken a number of Webinars from Web Junction and have always found them helpful. I've joined the small and rural libraries group. This is an excellent forum for sharing and discussion I wish more librarians and regional systems used it. A couple of years ago I took a couple of classes on Web Junction, it was challenging, but I did learn about excel at home. I have not done as much with this site recently so I need to get back to it.

Thing 45: Cloud Computing

2009-05-12T19:40:00.002-05:00

I was using cloud computing before I knew what it was. I've used Google Docs, calendar, photos etc for a while now and love it!. The problem that brought this to me was I was on multiple computers, at home, at the library, my computer at work, circ computer and computers at Renville PL. I needed consistency for sharing documents. Also for scheduling workers I hated getting little postit notes with dates people wanted off or had other commitments. I have a staff work calendar on a Google calendar and if someone wants a day off or has an appointment it shows up there first. Everyone can access from any computer. I have multiple calendars for my schedule, work schedule, each staff has calendar, meeting room calendar. I can view all or one or two or how many I choose. It is terrific, it has increased time spent figuring out work schedules. Likewise with Google docs. I can collaborate with another worker on a report, updating, seeing older versions and I can get at it on any computer, slick! While at the Library Technology Conference at Macalester I learned that Macalester College uses Google mail, the educational end and it has worked well for them. Because of that partnership more students and faculity are using Google apps. It has been a success.
While at work or home I often IM with my workers at Olivia & Renville. They all have gmail accounts and iGoogle pages so we can share, communicate and keep in touch. It has increased everyone's productivity and it is fun to make technology work for us. It is empowering. I would not be able to manage multiple libraries successfully without using these technologies.

Building Together With Collaborative Web Technologies Revised

2009-05-12T19:37:00.001-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Building Together With Collaborative Web Technologies Revised

View more presentations from Mark-shane Scale.

Thing 44: The Economy

2009-05-11T20:23:00.002-05:00

This was an easy "thing" for me. My husband and I have been saving for all our of 40 years of marriage. We have used various tools for calculating investments. My brother was a vice president of Wells-Fargo before retiring so we have many discussions about finances, investments, global trends etc. I haven't done a lot with coupons, but will in the future. I used the myrateplan for a cell phone. We are at a disadvantage in the rural areas, not as many choices. Right now I have a trac phone which works fine for me, but I will use this website in the future. I've used the Minnesota Extension website for information on lots of odds and ends, like preserving food, canning and gardening. This is my favorite site on this "thing"

Thing 43: Online TV and Video

2009-05-11T19:43:00.002-05:00

I just online video on evening when I was watching Masterpiece Theater and the last 30 minutes the sound was jibberish. I was so frustrated, I wanted to know what happened. I found the website and discovered I could watch the episode the next day. So the following day I watched it over my computer and I enjoyed the freedom of determining my own viewing schedule. Through this thing I created a profile on Hulu (my 104 user name and password). I can see where this is very compelling. I created a queue and put in some missed episodes of my favorite shows, also the Colbert Report and Jon Stewart shows for comic relief. Now it will be interesting to see if I ever have the time to watch them. I noticed that PBS American Experience episodes take you the that website, on which you can watch them. I now am wondering if I need to continue with cable. I might be able to live without it, but I'm sure my husband would miss his sports. I tried to find some of my friends on Facebook that have an account with Hulu, but no one did. Same result with my email friends. I guess I'm ahead of the curve on this. Will this service revolutionize TV viewing. It certainly has the potential and I think I will use this programing.

Thing 43: Music 2.0

2009-05-10T21:08:00.003-05:00

This was an interesting discovery for me because I'm been using Pandora for 9 months. I received an iTunes gift and wanted to listen to new artists and was unsure where to go, so I went to Pandora and created my own radio station with new artists. It was fun. I've downloaded Pandora to my iGoogle page and will continue to discover new music. This app has all ready changed the way I listen to music. As internet capability grows on smaller devices like notebooks and cell phones traditional radio will change also. Just as the internet has changed newspapers and magazines it will change radio also. Stay tuned to changes!
Check this out! http://gizmodo.com/5231112/best-video-ive-seen-today-will-make-you-smile

Thing 41: Mashup Your Life

2009-05-09T20:22:00.002-05:00

Will I use FriendFeed? I've downloaded it and put it on my iGoogle page. I will see if it will be an useful tool. Right now I have over 100 usernames and passwords. I'm thinking this is probably just about enough. I've found some interesting people on Twitter and will be following them on FriendFeed. I've also invited my staff, I'm thinking it might be good method for sharing articles, and websites. We'll see how this works.

Thing 40: Mashup the Web

2009-05-09T19:50:00.002-05:00

Thing 40: I was unsure about what a mashup was until I read the article and realized that I've been using them and was unaware of definition. I put a picture on the blog from Big Huge Labs which I discovered from the first 23 things. I've also used LibWorm, which I've put on my iGoogle page. I did a search of Minnesota authors and this will be useful for book selection. I've also used Ping.fm to help me keep track of my social networks. I've also used Walkable to fine my Walk Score, which is 68 which isn't too bad. My family in St. Paul have a lot lower score. It is fun to see difference address and what the scores are. Please try it!

Thing 39: Digital Storytelling

2009-05-08T14:26:00.002-05:00

I'm not a scrapbooker, but after reading about this "thing" I realized I've done alot of this digitally. I've created a digital scrapbook on the blog from Smilebox. I have done this before with family Christmas pictures. I created a digital scrapbook and sent it to all the family. I guess I am a digital scrapbooker and didn't even realize it. This is a terrific way to keep all the events at your library. I have done this with Picasa and shared with staff and Renville staff. I'm also teaching a digital camera night at library and I'll be sure to share with them how their pictures can be put into a digital scrapbook. Very fun!

Thing 38: Screencasting

2009-05-08T13:39:00.004-05:00

I did a screencasting video of the OPL website. Here is the link.

http://screencast.com/t/vj7DpH4Tj

I used Jing and it was easy. I then saved it on screencast.com.
I'm having a little trouble sizing it correctly and getting in onto the blog. I love this technology and can see lots of ways it can be used in the library. I was able to put screencast onto the bottom of this page. I was trying to put it into the sidebar and it just didn't fit correctly. Finally after reading some blog tips, I realized it had to go into the wider column. These screencasts are very easy and lots of fun. I've done them on my laptop. I like the fact that they are short, the shorter the better.

OPL Winter Library Displays

2009-05-07T21:30:00.001-05:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Thing 37: Photo Tales

2009-05-06T19:54:00.003-05:00

I've had a Flickr account. I primarily use Picasa though because my staff at Olivia and Renville both use iGoogle accounts and it is easier to share in Picasa. I've downloaded a slideshow of the Olivia Public Library displays. I've taken pictures of both libraries and the changes that have occured in them the last year. I did a couple of the apps, the caption bubble and image mosaic and these are fun applications. I know Flickr is a popular photo-sharing site, but it is linked to yahoo and I don't use yahoo as much as google. I will play with the comic image maker in the future. I've done a gadgets workshop with digital cameras and share photo-sharing sites. Usually each digital camera comes with its own software that allow the pictures to be improved. This is a very productive and fun use of the computer, internet and websites.

update on Thing 36

2009-05-06T15:19:00.003-05:00

Today, School Library Journal teen newsletter is article about comic and graphic novels now online. What a boom to those libraries with limited budgets. Even if a library has a very small teen/graphic novel collection letting teens know that these resources are available online for free is a great service. Article is at
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6655913.html?nid=4302&rid=977383090&source=link&

Thing 36: Comic Relief, Generate some fun

2009-05-06T07:58:00.003-05:00

This was a fun "Thing" with some practical generators too. The email icon generator was cute and I will put this on the Olivia website for contact info. Personally I could live without the avatar, but I could see where some would enjoy this. I did my Dewey Decimal name also. I've used Big Hug Labs since the first round of 23 things. The comic book generator is definitely going into my future bag. I love Wordle and tag cloud. I put it on a couple of my blogs and it gives a nice feel and look to where your tagging is going. I will definitely use these more. The application that I believe is the most important in this "thing" is the PDF formatting app. I've used Google docs which also has a PDF format, but this will be must easy for quickly sending message that all can use. My son has advocated for everything in PDF for easy retrieval. My son is at Cornell so I was delighted to see the Cornell note taking app, which I'm sure he has used and I will also. I will be revisiting this "thing" in the future.

Thing 35: Books 2.0

2009-05-04T15:44:00.005-05:00

I enjoyed the articles the most on this "thing". I've used Library Thing and Shelfari and GoodReads and am familiar with them. I have Shelfari on the Renville Library blog. (http://renvillelibrary.blogspot.com ). I checked out a number of other "things". I especially like Book Glutton which seems like it could be very fun. I also downloaded the Visual Bookshelf on my Facebook page. The book swap idea is fun and I do use the Country Inn and Suites bookshelf for emergency reading while traveling. I feel my leisure reading has taken a huge hit while doing the "things" and trying to bring these ideas to the library. Thus my frustration in trying to introduce library 2.0 to a system that seems resistant to embracing it. I know librarians are busy, but if we just continue to push paper and do everything that same way as 5 years ago, I fear our patrons and the public will no longer think of the libraries as relevant in their lives. Being familiar with new websites, ideas and ways of relating to each other is the "least" we learn and share with our customers. I'm now getting down off my soapbox. I do love World Cat. We use it a lot in the library. I have a World Cat gadget on my iGoogle page. With all the book and reading interest generated on the web, let's hope it translates into libraries.

Thing 34 Online Answer Site

2009-04-29T13:13:00.003-05:00

I am reading and completing this thing while at the Digital Reference Workshop in Redwood Falls Library. This is an interesting discussion and libraries need to step-up to the plate in this area. There are tons of answering sites and the library needs to be in the mix if we want to survive in the digital age. This workshop encourages libraries to do online chat and 24/7 reference. I know our system needs to do this, but it isn't going to work until we get a digital librarian. I have bookmarked many of these sites and read a few of the articles. I follow most of these librarians' blogs. Public librarians need to treat digital communication as important as face to face and phone. These maybe difficult for some. The library has always been "the" place to seek correct information and I fear we may lose that important unless we embrace these technology, learn it, understand it, and be the place the public knows it can go to for solid, timely, and correct information. I'll get off my soapbox, now. Thanks listening.

Thing 33: Travel 2.0

2009-04-28T22:10:00.004-05:00

At last a "Thing" I know something about. I am an avid traveler and use the traditional Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz sites regularly. I've used TripAdvisor or a number of years and have contributored to this site. There were a number of new sites that I definitely will add to my travel bookmarks. I would like to recommend a terrific travel site is you are someone who loves to cruise, which I am. It is Cruise Critic located at www.cruisecritic.com . I will also list this in my used websites column. Cruise Critic is part travel site, part social network for cruisers. It gives expert cruise reviews, plus reviews from individuals. I've done reviews myself. It also has boards where you can check your ship and date of departures and find others that will be on the cruise. On one cruise the group did some searching and found recommended tours and contact the group to get enough people to form their own personal tour. The site lists ports and comments from cruisers only (no tour people or travel agents) so there are reviews about different tours. The cruise line host Cruise Critic get togethers onboard so you can meet the people you have been chatting with online. The first cruise I used this site was very successfully, my husband and I met interesting people and enjoyed their company very much. The 2nd time we used it, we booked our cruise somewhat last minute so I wasn't able to spend too much time establishing relationships online. If anyone is going on a cruise I would recommend checking this site out for all the information available, even if you don't do the social networking part of it.

Thing 32 Google Maps and Mashups

2009-04-21T20:48:00.002-05:00

I worked on this "thing" for a while before I actually got the hang of it. I've put a map of my walking route in Olivia. Now that the weather is better I'll be doing more of this. I can see where Google Maps is great for vacation or visiting other places. There is another variation of the this map and mashups on DK Travel site (http://travelDK.com) which allows user to actually create their own travel guides. There are also individual travel guides from seasoned travelers which is very fun to read. Occasionally DK allows free downloads. Back to Google Maps, which I've only scratched the surface of using. It also appears there are lots of gadgets for maps which I'm sure Google will be expanding. My son just announced he and his family will be living in Montreal, Canada for the 2009-2010 school year as he continues to work on his doctoral these. I'm sure we will be using Google maps to explore Montreal. Does this application have any use in the library? I could see having fun with kids during book talks and having the kids find the place. I'm sure I'll have other ideas. Please share.

Thing 31 More Twitter

2009-04-07T21:47:00.002-05:00

I believe I'm am officially twittered out. I've been looking at so many parts of twittering that I'm twitterlost. That being said, I do enjoy Twitter. I've been following a number of interesting people, but I'm also I enjoy following Minnesota news and political tweets. I did join the Directory and am still trying to figure where they got that picture of me. Haven't been able to do anything about it yet. I found some library people on the directory and added them to my people I'm following. I also met a couple of other people doing the 23 more things from around the state and added them and also added their blogs to my blog following list. I am somewhat timid about doing many tweets myself. I've added the the beTwitter gadget to my iGoogle page and perhaps I'll use it more in that manner. I really enjoy Twitter, but I'm ready to move onto another "Thing".

Thing 30

2009-04-02T19:54:00.002-05:00

This was a challenging "thing" for me. I have Google Reader for my RSS feeds and it works great. I tried sorting or rinsing my feeds, but I found it not very useful. I just try to keep my feeds under control and I do check them regularly. I loved the info about Delicious. I know I'm not using it to its full potential and there seem to be lots of hints about searching and tagging. I've explored seeing other popular tags. I'll be checking other people's Delicious tags as they move through the "things". I've spent a lot of time on this site and I need to move on. This will be one of the "things" I'll revisit as need arises.

Thing 29

2009-03-08T20:27:00.003-05:00

Some of the google tools I've been using for a while. We use Google Calendar as our staff calendar, I have a separate one for myself. I also have a Google Family Calendar with all important dates. At the library we have started a Google Calendar for the meeting room also. This has worked out well, especially if I have a question about about a meeting room date and I'm not at the library. I also used the Google Alerts about some of our most popular authors, we'll have to wait and see how it works out. I use the alert feature on ELM and like it quite so I'm thinking it is probably somewhat similar but results will be in Google which maybe very broad. I'll have to see how it develops. Gmail: I've used gmail ever since our home switch to cable internet. The setup guy recommended us (it was still in beta testing and users had to be invited by a current user). He told us that now no matter who provided our internet service, we could keep this email. We had all ready gone through 2 different providers and all the notification etc was a headache. Now I have multiple gmail accounts and think it is great. The only problem I have is at the library we do not have the most current browser so some of the new features aren't available on that computer. Google has new apps and tools they are continually testing it is fun to see what's new.

Thing 28

2009-03-01T19:46:00.003-06:00

I've had a iGoogle page for quite a while. In fact I developed one for the front circulation desk and then each staff member member developed their own iGoogle page. I use mine as my homepage because I'm travel between 2 libraries and with all my stuff on it I can function on any computer. I especially like the Google bookmarks which allow to put on my bookmarks on my iGoogle page instead of on a computer. This works well when using multiple computers. I did develop a Netvibes page and then I downloaded all my RSS feeds. It loaded each folder from the Google reader to a different tab. I like it very much. iGoogle doesn't use tabs anymore and I miss them. Instead their is just a listing on the left side. Anyway on the Netvibes I have all my RSS feeds which I think I'll be able to scan more quickly than using the Google Reader which I really didn't care for. I also like the public page availability on NetVibes. I may find this useful for sharing with staff and interested others. One thing I like about iGoogle is the ability to change heading screens. I have multiple pages and each one has a different picture screen which fulfills by creative side. NetVibes uses the same screen on each tab. However, Netvibes does have more flexibility with columns which I like. On my iGoogle page, I have many pages, they include a personal growth page, 23 things page which I use to follow my other 23 thingers, a news page, a library journal page, a library page, and a reader's advisory page. I put a lot of work into iGoogle so I think I'll probably stay with it. I also decided to develop a Pageflakes page to see if there is much difference. It was more limiting in screens etc, but it did allow multi columns. I couldn't find a place to add my own gadget or url feed. I may develop a Library Pageflakes page. It could be used to help staff with reader's advisory and all show them some of newer library technology out there. I could use this for staff continuing education. I'll have to think on this and see what I have time for. I love personal webpages and the ability to tailor them to your own interests and the fun of changing them around.

Thing 27 Twitter

2009-02-26T22:22:00.002-06:00

I've spent 3 hours on Twitter. I've also added the pictures from our cruise because there is 6" of new snow outside. I thought tonight would be a good night, because everyone is probably home and I could Twitter with someone, but it was not to be. I signed up to follow some Twitterers and I sent some Twits to people and read most of the blogs suggested. I downloaded my Twitter feeds to this blog. I also invited a bunch of people to Twitter so we'll see where that goes. I like Twitter, but I could see where having a cell phone with lots gadgets would make it more fun. I'm am interested in understanding how this technology could be used for conferencing. Maybe some of us PLS librarians will work on this. My challenge is trying to say anything in less than 140 characters. My kids would say it is impossible. I enjoyed playing around with screens. There is lot that could be done with Twitter, it will be interesting to see how libraries use it. I'm sure I will be revisiting this information and I will try to keep up with my Twitter page.

Thing 26

2009-02-08T18:36:00.002-06:00

I've been on the 23 things Ning since last round. I even started the Pioneerland Library 23 thing group. It is fun to see who is doing this from our system. I've also put out an invitation to all the members to send me their website so I can put them on my 23 things iGoogle page. This allows me to see when they are working on a new thing. I met a librarians from around the state. I will try and make more comments of other blogs, I think it kinda neat to get a comment from someone. I downloaded the Ning badge but it downloaded on a post and I wanted it to be a gadget. I tried a couple of times, but no luck. If someone has solution, please let me know. I think this Ning is excellent for sharing ideas and communicating. I also think we could use the google groups more. I was the one that found the spam on there. Our system should look at using Ning to establish a communication tool. Are there other systems that do this?

23 things Ning

2009-02-08T18:33:00.001-06:00

23 things Ning

2009-02-08T18:27:00.001-06:00

I'm on here!

Thing 25 Toolbox

2009-02-02T21:36:00.002-06:00

This thing has tons of stuff. I have my own iGoogle page so I'm familiar with gadgets and they are fun. I put the Bitty Browser on my iGoogle page and find that particularly helpful at work since our computers do not have the most recent browser I hesitate to open all those windows, I can search on the bitty browser. I've used site meter before, I maintain a number of blogs and it helps to know their activity. The Click Comments is fun, we see how much activity it will promote. I also did the polls which I think could develop into a useful tool. I was unsuccessful with Tag Clouds, it is too complicated for me. I don't understand code and the idea of changing code is a little too intimidating for me. On my other blog, Suzanne Island I'll be listing the websites I am using. I will further investigate Friend Feed, but I'm not sure I can maintain another social networking tool. My Facebook page is starting to grow and I'm having a time keeping up, though it is fun to reconnect with kids I knew in Youth Group many years ago. Lots to learn here.

Thing 25

2009-01-29T22:25:00.001-06:00

This posting is being done via email. Even though I've have numerous blogs, I've never done this before. It would be a huge convenience is I could get in the habit of posting in this manner.

Thing 25

2009-01-25T17:39:00.003-06:00

This thing will require more than one posting. I've added widget and gadgets and now I've add a blidget which is adding a blog. You can see my posting on my other blog to the right. It only shows the posting, none of the other fun stuff I've added. You'll have to visit the blog itself to see that. I'm added a widget to this posting which should made reading posting more fun.

Latest Front Pages from around the WorldWidgetbox

Thing 24 updated

2009-01-25T16:36:00.002-06:00

I attempted again to change this template, but I lost all the widgets and didn't want to go to all the work of saving and redoing them all, so I added a picture and changed colors and fonts and now I'm pleased with this. I could spend a lot of time on this "thing" but thing 25 is calling me so I'm moving on.

Thing 24

2009-01-23T22:35:00.002-06:00

Here we go again, and I'm exciting about exploring new ideas on the web. Of course you win some and loose some. I was unsuccessful in trying to download a new template for my blog. I satisfied myself by adding new colors and fonts to an Blogger template. Not as jazzy as I would like, but I keep trying new templates, but not with this blog, it is too precious to risk losing. Perhaps I'll start an experimental blog with some of these new "things". I'll post this new blog if is worthy. I've started blogs but the presentation on the 25 different types of blogs was helpful to me because it I believe you must have a central message or motivation to have a successful blog. Actually a couple of my family members have blogs and I enjoy reading and commenting on them. I created a Teen reading blog last summer with limited success, but it was a start and I made contact with just a couple of teens through it. The Olivia & Renville library staff have a blog that we share. It is a closed blog. Staff was reluctant to blog, but knowing only we would read it took away it "scariness".
I am pleased we are using a wiki this round. I started one for our library last year and we continue to struggle with it and I'm thinking of tossing the whole thing and starting over. I went to the wiki presentation at MLA and that material is still on my desk to be worked on. I know there is a lot that could be done, but I'm hesitate to jump in because of the previous experience.
I also did a new avatar, but quite honestly think it is somewhat silly. I know I finally took my old one off my blog last year because I don't think it added much.
Success! I've just created a new blog http://suzanneisland.blogspot.com/, which I took a template from one of the suggested sites and downloaded to Blogger. You can quess that it is very cold, windy and below zero wind chill tonight so I can post to my new blog as if I'm on the island.

July update

2008-07-14T09:05:00.002-05:00

I'm updating this blog because I'm mentoring a number of 2nd round people and I want to make this blog relevant. Also my comment about "selling Minnesota" in the Star Tribune was in the paper on 7-12-08. So I'm enclosing a link to share. I also want to encourage all those people working on 23 things to keep plugging away. A few of the items I learned have become extremely valuable and I use them weekly. I will also confess that there are parts of the 23 things that I've not used since exploring them. The most important element of the 23 things is it has given me the curiosity and courage to just investigate and try new software on the web. It is amazing the scope of what is possible and what is being done. Now I can read and keep up with new technologies and mostly I understand what is being discussed. Quite an achievement.

Thoughts on the future

2008-04-19T11:13:00.003-05:00

I've been working on getting more employees and fellow workers involved in the 23 Things. I need to take some time to review them again and explore the 'things' that interested me. My disappointment comes with the attitude that doesn't include change and growth. Do I really have time for that attitude? I feel like I shouldn't have to explain the importance of using a computer or the importance of librarians knowing what library 2.0 is all about. I grow disillusioned with "work as usual" and little or no understanding of the capacity of the web. In our library I know there are people who will never touch a computer, but mostly they are the older folks who ask the staff for everything. How are we appealing to the other customers who want, need or are just interested in new technology? How are we preparing our library for the future and the future need of our public? In our rural areas I realize that in some ways we are behind the times, the fashion and the current. But our size should be our strongest element, because the community movers can be reached quickly, change can happen fairly quickly (not in our library system, however), small is more mobile and should meet the new needs in a more timely fashion. Our weakness can also be our strength. Let us not fear the future change but embrace it and make it work for our needs.

PLA

2008-04-05T15:43:00.002-05:00

I'm keeping up this blog for a while until it morphs into something else. I attended PLA in Minneapolis March 26-29, 2008 and it was a great experience. I learned a great deal and in keeping with "new technology", it was a 'green' conference. Which means all the handouts were on-line before the conference began. Well, most of them. This gave me an unique opportunity to check out the sessions before I attended them. It was helpful to me because a couple of them were not what I wanted so I skipped them and attended others. Also I didn't take as many notes on what was presented as I did on my reaction to it and its practical application in my libraries.
Blended learning was an excellent sessions and I learned that other states are doing education different and in some cases better because of the state's effort to provide it and also the continuity of state library leadership. This is an issue much bigger than me and in Minnesota's defense we are larger and have a much greater diversity in population than some of the other states. And especially since comletely the 23 Things which was a state-wide educational program, I'm hoping Minnesota is on the right track.
The keynote speaker: John Wood was terrific and very inspiring in his leadership of "Room to Read". I enjoyed listening to Nancy Pearl, though I wish she would have said more at the publishers session. That sessions was good, but the publishers who had handouts didn't have enough for the whole room so we sat without. Hopefully they are on-line now, but I haven't had time to check.
Coming back to work after 3 days off is always a challenge and with stacks of stuff to do, I haven't had time to process the info yet, maybe this week or next. Lots to do this time of year.

Thing 23 - Evaluation

2008-03-21T21:15:00.003-05:00

I finished the "things" but I really I've only just begun. I've learned a tremendous amount and will continue to explore all of this. I know this will be open until the end of 2008, but I want to put on the "things" on a wiki so I can continue to learn. At this time some of the sites seems less relevant, but I know in the future I may use them. There were definitely parts of this exercise that were challenging, but challenging myself to understand it was a feeling of great accomplishment. I surprised myself at how I was able to adapt some of the technologies to my libraries. I love learning like this, at my own time and my own pace. I would love to see the 23 things stay alive, perhaps monthly updates on new stuff or updates by participants. I would love to see the del.icio.us Minn 23 stay current and the Ning page is great for connections around the state. I think there was confusion about the Ning page, some participants felt it was where the action was and didn't realize they had to create their own blog. I think I signed up with the Ning before I made by blogspot blog. Since there is a blog on Ning it was somewhat confusing. I had signed up on Ning last fall (it has a library 2.0 group) and there were complications with these 2 groups. I finally opted out of the library 2.0 group to concentrate of the 23 things. While I am very grateful for the multi types leadership in this learning, I'm disappointed that our regional system was not more supportive. All in all I loved this and would eagerly embrace this learning and future growth in state-wide educational pursuits. Watch for my future posts because I do not want this growth to end.

Thing 22 - Keeping it up

2008-03-20T19:54:00.003-05:00

I've thought a lot about this "thing". I created lots of cyberspace activity doing the things and really enjoyed it. Now what will I really use and how will I maintain this level of activity. I will keep my blog up, I've enjoyed it but I'm also maintaining numerous other blogs too. I created a website blog for Renville (http://renvillelibrary.blogspot.com) which I summarize the weekly column and use a number of gadgets we've discovered in this class. Last fall I started a staff only blog for Olivia & Renville workers and that has been a success. Because not everyone works together it is a good way of exchanging information and the fact that it is private saves the world from seeing. I created a blog for my cruise which I've had not had time to update but will now. I've also created an Olivia Library blog which is in hiatus because the Olivia Library has a website that I maintain so our on-line life is pretty good. I think this blog will be mine, where I can share my own discoveries and thoughts.
I loved webinars and Web Junction and Minnitex on-line learning and have for a long time. I take something probably every month to 6 weeks. I can't understand why others are not as excited about these learning tools. I would love to create an on-learning environment for my staff and have encouraged them to explore iGoogle, Pageflakes, Netvibes but only marginal successful. I think it is a little overwhelming. I probably need to go a little more slowly with staff and work more creatively with their iGoogle page.
I have created my own iGoogle page and it have a lot of what I need to maintain my library 2.0 learning. I have different tabs for a variety of different topics. An example is I have a 23 things tab and I can keep track of how others are proceeding. I offer to help those people I know are working on it. I have a news tab, and a library tab and interesting stuff tab for fun. I also keep my RSS feeds on the Google Reader. This is accessible from my iGoogle. Right now I have 87 subscriptions and I have them tagged for easy viewing. I used to receive a lot of updates via email, but I moving most of these to RSS feeds and this will accomodate my time more effectively. This most important element of library 2.0 is to use your time and energy wisely, sort material in a manner that makes this work for you. This is the challenge of beginning. I also have used and will continue to use del.icio.us which I find very fun & educational.
It will be fun to rediscover elements of this program in the future to see how they will change and how my need to use them will change. For example, I'm trying to use a wiki and it seems like a lot more effort than it is worth. Part of this is that right now I'm the only one working on these things so as a collaborative tool more input is needed. As staff pick up on this it will be more successful. As Google documents are, once there was a need for this type of collaboration these tools will enter into the solution. We are now sharing numerous documents via Google documents and even doing IMing between libraries as a very fast and convenient method of communication.
Part of my frustration is that I am picking up on many of these tools quickly and would like to see them used in our system, but I feel like I'm alone in my enthusiam and no one else is interested in embracing these tools to enable us to work more effectively.

Thing 21 - Other social networks

2008-03-18T20:42:00.002-05:00

Gather: I signed up with this website and signed onto a couple of groups. It will be interesting to see what the discussion are and if I feel motivated to enter in. Right now I feel a little on social network 'overload' but will manage the ones that intrigue me.
Web Junction: I've been on Web Junction since it started. I've taken classes, webinars, posted to the blog and generally check in here for library info. I love this scope of this site and the wide range. The Rural and Small Library Association has partnered with Web Junction which will be a boom for both. This can be a huge connection for rural and small libraries to help dissipate their isolation. The last webinar I took in January had over 200 participants, which limited conversations but shows the growth and excitement over this technology. All the webinars are archived so I've been able to revisit and refresh items that I wasn't able to fully grasp the the first time.
Ning: I actually discovered Ning last fall and signed onto the 2.0 library. I read alot and posted very little since I felt I was such a novice at 2.0. If I picked up something I tried to work it out myself, some sucess, some not. I started the 23 things by joining Ning and it has been fun to see other from around the state that are working on 23 things. I've tried to visit others blogs, but this doesn't appear to be much of a priority. I've connected with others that I've met at other conventions and meetings. I greated a Pioneerland Library System group but so far I'm the only one on it, so I guess not too many PLS people have discovered the Ning. I posted pictures, put a badge on my blog and enjoyed poking around this site. There is alot on Ning and I will continue to explore it.

Thing 20 - Facebook and MySpace

2008-03-15T20:21:00.003-05:00

I started an account on Facebook last fall after attending ASRL in Ohio. I had no network so it wasn't much of a social network. At family Thanksgiving we had a discussion about blogs, RSS feeds and social networking site. When I mentioned I was on Facebook but had no network my 2 18-year-old twin nephews and 25 year-old niece offered to be part of my network. So I then had a network of 4. I learned alot about their friends and their activities at college in Mankato. It was sweet of them to include me, but I felt somewhat awkward. My niece lives in Michigan so it was a good way to keep in touch with her. I let Facebook contact slip after the holidays until this exercise in which I reconnected with them and also my other niece, who is teaching in Hungary who is also in my network along with a both nieces boyfriends. Last fall I joined 4 Facebook groups: Hennepin County Library, Library 2.0 Interest Group, Support Public Libraries, and Librarians and Facebook. It was interesting to check out the activity on these sites, recommendation for events, articles etc and what's been happening. Some sites see very little activity, others more, but I definitely like Facebook and will check in more often.
I also did a MySpace page but was less impressed as it does really seem more for the social end of contact. I'm not really looking for friends. I was more interested in the inner workings, how its laid out etc. I approached it more as an observer than participant. I believe as a tool, librarians need to know and understand these social networking tools so we can assist the public, primarily parents, in understanding what it is and how our young people are using it.
I read Meredith's article about social networking and even though it is a 2006 article it makes many good points. For libraries to create a presence on either of these sites without a clear definition and goal is wasted time and resources. The approach of meeting kids were there are is important, but in a small town, kids know where the library is. I think our limited resources would be better spent creating a space in the library for teens and young adults. I believe a better service for the library is educating parents and teens about the most positive way to use these social networking sites for their own enjoyment and enrichment but in a save manner. In order to do this we must educate ourselves first.

Thing 19 - Podcasts

2008-03-14T21:27:00.002-05:00

I've been listening to podcasts from iTunes for a few months now so I was interested in viewing these other directories. I did not want to download alot of new software so I went back to iTunes and perused the podcast directory and found lots to download. I also downloaded some podcasts to my iPod to listen to when walking or exercising. I would also like to do a podcast but feel I need more direction than was given in any of these directories. I did visit Audicity.com which one 23 thing person said he used in his school, but it seemed a little overwhelming. I will personal instruction to use podcasting and may in the future. I've seen some libraries that do book reviews and book talks in podcasting and it looks fun and interesting for me to do in the future.

Thing 18 - On-line video

2008-03-13T21:09:00.002-05:00

A person could spend a lot of time here. On-line video is very entertaining and I enjoyed looking at the videos, but it felt somewhat like a time waster. You have to go through a lot of stuff to find anything that is really good. I liked this video about "loving your library". I like the short snappy pieces. I'm not personally into video so this doesn't have a lot of appeal, but I could see some promotion for the library is there is a driving force that knows something about putting a short, but quality video together.

Thing 18 - You Tube

2008-03-13T09:05:00.002-05:00

I've just started this 'Thing" but I did spot MaryAnn Van Cura in the Grand March of the Librarians and I wanted to blog about it.

Thing 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

2008-03-13T08:50:00.003-05:00

I've used ELM for a long time. I love the folder feature in ESBCO and have shared this with students and they are thrilled. I used folders for a while. We also use it at the circulation desk for sharing. I could not get the RSS feed to work, so will continue to look for a solution to that. I would love the RSS feed to my Google Reader. I've used Journal Alerts and enjoy that feature. Page Composer was new to me (which only illustrated that updating yourself on these technologies is necessary, probably yearly). I messed with it, but will pursue this in more in depth. ProQuest: I've used the newspapers database after taking a Webinar on its scope and have set up Journal alert is this database also. I love it and really is it very easy to use.
NetLibrary: I'm a huge fan of net library and have used it for years. I like the shorter loan period. If an item is not available for checkout I've had email notification of when it is available sent to me, I love that feature. The collaborative element of net library is very cool and I could see it being used in numerous ways. This is just another new feature that I need to update myself on. Yearly webinars on ELM databases should be part of our continuing education plan.

Thing 16 - Student 2.0 tools

2008-03-11T21:11:00.002-05:00

Boy, I wish I had this stuff when I was in high school and college. It would have really kept me on tract and emails to boot! I have looked at both of these websites and feel confident about sharing them with students. I think the non-traditional students we have in the library would love the University Assignment Calculator. More than just calculating a timetable I think it would assist students in staying on track. I remember that was one of my problems, I was easily distracted and found myself getting lost on another tangent and wasting a lot of time. I have these tools on the library website, but I think we shoud make good old fashioned bookmarks with these tools and hand them to students as they ask for reference assistance. These bookmarks could be done on a google document and shared with the local school media people. Local library information could also be on the bookmark.

Thing 15 - Gaming - Ahoy, matey!

2008-03-09T21:43:00.004-05:00

I tried this game twice. I was mildy impressed, I thought the directions were not very clear and while I attempted to interact with fellow pirates, to play cards either I wasn't doing something correct or my fellow pirates were just not responding to me. I did manage to become adequate at the 3 games, bilging, carpentry and sailing (I enjoyed the games). I'm not into group games on the internet though I could see where some would enjoy it. This game does have lots possibilities but not so much for me. The public library application of games will have to be something to think about for me. At this time it seems like somewhat of a time waster.
I watched a couple of videos about Second Life. First of all I think it would be a huge investment of time for me if I decided to venture in. I'm sure other folks might pick it up more quickly, but I'm pretty sure it was take me a long time to become fluent at it. It is not an environment I'm particularly interested in, on the other hand I can see the appeal of it. Virtual Reality is a powerful force especially among the generation that is younger than me. This exposure to it has been good for me, but rural library applications of it will definitely be more in the future and from a younger generation. It would be interesting to see how many senior citizens are in Second Life.

Thing 14 - Library Thing

2008-03-09T14:35:00.003-05:00

I had discovered Library Thing after it was mentioned in a MLA conference session. I had signed up for previews which I currently do with HarperCollins. You have to check back with LT at a certain time to put your name in for review and with HC an email reminds you, so it is alot easier. I will put a LT widget on our library webpage and I will also put on the books I highlight in the Library News column of local newspaper, and then link them to LT. This should introduce readers of the website to LT. I will continue to use LT and I'm sure more uses will come into play.

Thing 13 - Another Resource

2008-03-07T15:45:00.002-06:00

If you like my puppy, he from protopage which is another customizable page like iGoogle and Pageflakes. It has a more interesting background, but I haven't ventured there yet. How many pages can a person really have! I do like the puppy though.

Thing 13 - Resources

2008-03-07T13:21:00.002-06:00

For the first time, I actually understand the majority of the information presented in the resources. I put Lifehacker on my iGoogle page and will attempt to keep up on items. The list presented are excellent. I am getting to a point of understanding the tools I use and increasisng productivity with those tools instead of looking for new apps to discover. My sense is I'm approaching "overload" and need to appreciate and enjoy those tools I find most appealing. I do have to say though that I am thoroughly enjoying the 23 Things. I love this kind of journey through technology, because I never considered myself a geek, but maybe I've been a "closet geek" and I'm free to let mine true self out. Enough from me, onto the next Thing.

Thing 13 - add ons

2008-03-06T23:20:00.003-06:00

I looked at the Tada and Remember the Milk and both looked interesting, but there is a 'To Do" list on iGoogle which would be much more convenient to use. I've also looked at "Backpack" but as I was using it, it kept saying I didn't have enough space left and I needed to upgrade (cost) so I don't thing it would work for me. I think there are other document sharing pages that are better, ie Zoho and Google documents. I will check out Zamar and could see the use of file conversations. It is one of those things I will need to check out when the need demands. I want to run through the resources for this thing before I move on so there will be one more post on Thing 13.

Thing 13 - Calendars

2008-03-06T22:52:00.002-06:00

I used to manually do a monthly work calendar for staff and in order to save some time I decided to do it on Google calendar and share it with staff. Setup was not difficult, but just a little time consuming getting everyone hours right etc. It was great after that because events can repeat in whatever sequence you desire. I have my calendar, a staff calendar, a personal calendar, a holiday calendar and I even downloaded the MLA calendar. I can mesh all these calendars together or just look at the one I want. I was happy to see that the Google calendar was the most highly recommended calendar. I did go to 30 boxes and that is a clean, clear and would be easy to use. I also signed up for Scrybe calendar when it completes its beta testing. I don't know if I'll switch, but it is fun to check these calendars out and see what they have to offer.

Thing 13 on-line productivity tools

2008-03-06T22:26:00.003-06:00

I have had an iGoogle page for a while now and love it. I add pages as necessary, move around items, access my gmail account, have my calendar there etc. I have found it great to use, I have it as my homepage at the library. I have all my bookmarks on it so no matter which library I am at I can have my own homepage with all my necessary information. I use another tab for my RSS feeds. I also have a 23 things tab which I can follow others blogs. Google is adding new gadgets to their iGoogle pages so it is fun to change around stuff. I have the weather at all the locations where my family is at and when someone is travelling I usually put that weather also. I also have a My Yahoo page, but do not use that email as much so I only visit it occasionally. I wasn't able to get the countdown clock working on my blog so I searched in the internet for another and found http://www.happycountdown.com/ . I've put it on my blog.
In December I took a Webinar on Personal Learning Experience from Web Junction. This class was taught by Marianne Lenox. I will create a link on my blog. This was my first introduction to Pageflakes and I was intrigued, but didn't do anything about it. For the 23 Things I created a Pageflakes page and found it was a little challenging. I was thinking of a staff sharing page where everyone could put items of interest, but think perhaps a blog would work better. I'll have to give this some thought. I think the shared Google Reader page would also work for this. I did put Minnesota Public Radio on my Pageflakes and after a couple of misses I was able to work it correctly. Right now the iGoogle seems much easier, but I've been using it longer. I'll continue to mess around with Pageflakes and see if it will meet my needs in the long term.

Thing 12 - social media sites

2008-03-03T21:54:00.004-06:00

I knew this would be the most challenging "thing" for me because I had not really heard of any of these sites before. I knew I wouldn't sign in for all of these sites so my first step was to research each one and see which one would work the best for me. I did a variety of searches on each one and I found some problems with them all. Obviously the most popular information is not what I am into. I decided to go with Digg because it is the biggest and also it had information I was actually interested in. I set up an account and submitted a story about Hugo Chavez. I found the world news pages to be interesting and it will be fun to "track" my submitted story.
How would this translate into library usefulness. My first reaction is that using this technology keeps you informed on what is happening somewhat "under the radar" which is a good thing. I will have to use this feature to see how it plays out, but I believe it is encouraging to know that discussion and conversation is happening. The library community has to be aware and engaged in this conversation so we are going to be left "out in the cold". A more interesting question might be to the multitude of users of these pages is how is the library viewed by them.

Thing 11 - Del.icio.us

2008-02-29T22:46:00.003-06:00

I was confused by this concept. I had created a del.icio.us account a number of months ago and wondered how it was different from Google Reader. Also our computers at work do not allow us to download to our toolbar. But I put del.icio.us on my iGoogle bookmark which allows me to get at it from any computer. I've been working in del.icio.us tagging and see what websites other similar taggers go to and I am on the Minn23 network which brings lots of websites on my del.icio.us page. I've also discovered that on Google Reader you can do a shared page with websites. I've created this page for other I know are doing 23 things and want to see websites I've saved. I also posted some of these share websites on my blog with a link to my Google Reader shared page. I think this will be a good way to communicate with others doing the 23 things.
I must also recommend the del.icio.us archived webinar on Minnitex http://www.minitex.umn.edu/events/training/webinars.asp This a short very concise introduction to del.icio.us, scroll down until you find it. I understand del.icio.us much better now and will be using it more regularly.

Thing 11 - Tagging

2008-02-27T19:28:00.002-06:00

I've gone through all my posts on this blog and tagged them. Tagging is not totally new to me I've done tagging on my Google Reader for a while. Our staff blog is not tagged and we should do it (or I should) in the future. I understand the concept of tagging and I like it very much because there can be multiple tags. For example, I've tagged Web Junction on my Google Reader as library, Minnesota, classes, library 2.0 and blog. I will not have a problem finding something with this kind of help.

Thing 10: Wiki, part 2

2008-02-24T09:45:00.004-06:00

I have created a Wiki at http://oliviarenvillelibraries.pbwiki.com/ . At first I wasn't sure in what direction we should go in the wiki collaboration effort. But I have discovered a couple efforts which I will pursue. I created a page on the wiki which will list popular fiction authors' series. These are not complete on our card catalog (I don't know why). Our library has paper copies of series that are popular with our customers. We can then collaborate with Kris at Renville and create a working document that can be updated and maintained.
A second effort I would like to pursue is the World Author list that is used by the high schoolers at the BOLD school. The school has a list and we could add to it and put in on the wiki on its own page. This collaborative effort could be used by the school media personnel, public library personnel and also students who discover authors they enjoy. I will collaborate with Marie (BOLD school media librarian) to begin this page. Through these efforts I am understanding the breathe and depth of wikis and I am sure that understanding will grow as I work with this technology.

Thing 10 - Wikis (part 1)

2008-02-18T15:43:00.004-06:00

I attended the presentation by Joyce Yukawa, MLIS Program, College of St. Catherine at Minnesota Library Association and checked out all the sites recommended in this blog and I am somewhat overwhelmed by the scope of wikis. The capacity seems endless. Of course I use difference wiki primarily as a spectator, no real editing yet. For this Thing I will create a staff wiki probably for the summer reading program since that is what we are working on at this time and will post it to this site. I could see this application in a large library system but login and revisions would have to be acknowlegded. I will try a wiki and see how it works. Though I may do the Zoho wiki since I started an account there.

Thing 9 - collaboration

2008-02-18T15:10:00.003-06:00

I have used Google Documents. We used it in the library when doing Internet & Computer classes and the 2 teachers and myself collaborated on what items we wanted to cover in class and also collaborated on the evaluation form. I use Google documents because I can access them at home and at work or whatever computer I'm working at. I've also used the spreadsheet to update the library board members and their contact information.
I tried Zoho and liked that application very much. I did a couple of documents for the summer reading program and will be sharing them with the staffs at the libraries that are working together. All that being said, I did not get the editing of Thomas Jefferson's work. I'm not sure what I was doing incorrectly, but since I familiar with the document sharing idea of this Thing, I didn't want to struggle with it too much. There is too much to learn to get too bent-out-of-shape on one exercise.

Octopus, Bonaire 2006

2008-02-17T20:32:00.003-06:00

While snorkling our group saw an octopus like this, unfortunately no one had an underwater camera, so I'm substituting this one.
Octopus, Bonaire 2006,
originally uploaded by Alida's Photos.

courtesy of Alida's Photo (flickr)

Thing 8 - Sharing Creation

2008-02-16T15:24:00.003-06:00

I've looked at the recommended tools in this unit and had lots of fun downloading Slideshow and Picture Trail. Definitely fun for a blog or website and will use them in the library blogs I've created. I also like Huge Big Lab and could see applications of that for library programs and events. The database Lazybase has some interesting features, but it seems alot like Google Documents which I all ready use. I could see the application with book clubs. I will play around with this and I'm sure new ideas will pop up. I glanced quickly at the eFolio which I personally have no need for, but I could see it for the many individuals who do their resumes at the library. It should probably be made into a library bookmark to facilitate its use for patrons.

Thing 7 - Web Conference

2008-02-14T21:32:00.003-06:00

I've taken Webinars from Web Junction and also from Minitex and I've been a strong advocate of this technology for years. Those of use who live in Greater Minnesota need to keep up-to-date but have huge geographic contraints. Take tonight for example. It is very cold, I passed up an excellent concert because I didn't want to travel in -25 wind chill and I'm at home learning about new technologies. The last webinar I took from Web Junction was titled "10 ways to make your library great in 2008" by Edmund A. Rossum III. He is a national speaker and there were over 200 people in this webinar. His slide presentation was excellent and it is archived so I can visit it to refresh a certain point. Because of the audience, questions were limited but it was well worth my hour. I've also attended a webinar about using the Civics and Citizenship Toolkit all the libraries received from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service which gave me enough information to write an article for our local newspapers. This is excellent use of my time in promotion of the services of our library.

Thing 7 - text messaging

2008-02-14T21:14:00.003-06:00

I have text messaged to family and computers and tonight I attempted to text message from my computer to a phone. We see how this goes. I can see the possibilities of this in the library setting.

Thing 7 - IM

2008-02-14T20:30:00.003-06:00

I have an interesting story about IM. One Saturday I decided I wanted to find out about this technology. Since it takes 2 to IM I needed to find someone. I emailed a number of my brothers and family and friends to see if anyone else was interested. Something I discovered is that there are compatibility issues. I use gmail so my IM partner should be on gmail also. Well none of my family or friends uses this and there was no response from them when I suggested they start. How can I have so many family and friends with no one on the same email. My brother emails me back "How is this different from email" I email mail him that we can text on-line at the same time. He emails me, "If I wanted to talk to you, I'd just call on the phone". You can see the difficulty here! So my Saturday afternoon venture into IM was less than successful. Not to be deter, shortly afterward I was visiting my sister-in-law. She was the only one who knew what blogging was when I asked the question at Thanksgiving dinner. She is my technology-sister in a family of technology-challenged relatives. So I asked her about IM. She took her laptop in the living room and I was on her computer in the kitchen, we eached logged onto our gmail accounts and we started to IM each other as we shouted room-to-room how cool this technology is! From that day on we try to connect, but it appears our computer time is not compatible. She seeks me during the morning hours and I seek her at night and so far our paths have not crossed. So technically I have IMed, but it remains to be seen if this is a success story. I will try with some of my 23 things friends. To-be-continued...

Thing 7 - email

2008-02-11T21:04:00.001-06:00

We all use email and because we have taught email classes at the library I have numerous email in addition to my library email. I have 2 gmail accounts, one for work, one for personal. I have 3 yahoo emails, one for personal, one for family information, and I recently created a 3rd for my Flickr account. My husband and I also have a gmail account together. Today I created an email account for the libraries (Olivia & Renville) on yahoo to enable a joint Flickr account. I find it is easier to have multiple email, to separate work from personal endeavors and I like to have an account separate from my husband so he doesn't have to go through all my recipes and decorating tips. He also have his personal account so I don't have to go through all his jokes shared with my brothers (I guess its a guy thing). Our library staff also has a Google groups which was started when we started our library staff blog (its closed so only we can see it). I guess I pretty familiar with email and actually could not live without it.

Thing 6: Trading Card

2008-02-10T19:53:00.002-06:00

Trading Card,
originally uploaded by Sue Hilgert.

This is my trading card for "Thing 6". I've also added the Generator Blog to my Google Reader, in which I've created a 23 Things folder.

Thing 5: Flickr-more

2008-02-10T19:25:00.001-06:00

This was a bit confusing but I was finally able to figure how to download a slideshow from Flickr onto this webpage. I used the photos from the Caribbean cruise because I only have one photo of the library on Flickr. I am purchasing a digital camera for this library soon and this will enable me to have more photos of the library. I have library photos at work, but they are not on a Flickr account which I will do when I working on 23 Things at work. So far I'm mostly posting at home. Onward!

Flickr

2008-02-10T19:09:00.002-06:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Thing 4 - Flickr

2008-02-10T18:14:00.001-06:00

Discovering Flickr: I done some beginning stuff with Flickr but today I downloading all 85 pictures from our recent Caribbean cruise. I gave them titles and descriptions and tags and it was fun especially since it was way below zero here and the wind was howling outside. I could temporarily enjoy myself as I downloaded beaches and sunshine and remembered how I was able to read my late afternoon aways while someone else prepared dinner.

Thing 3 - RSS

2008-02-09T16:14:00.001-06:00

I've been playing around with RSS feeds since April 07 when I took a class from Barbara Misselt and she introduced us to Bloglines. This was an excellent class sponsored by SAMMIE and starting me off on web and library 2.0. I've also been using Google Reader for a few months and I tried to find out what the difference between these 2 sites, so the video I watched in essence tells me there is no difference. I established my own Google email a number of months ago and I make this distinction because our family mail is Google gmail also. I'm just learning the capacity of the Google Reader and it is a lot of fun. It is also helpful to make folders with different tags to organize your sources.

Thing 2

2008-02-06T19:45:00.000-06:00

I attended the Small & Rural Library conference in Ohio in Sept 2007 and Stephen Abram spoke at this conference. This was the first I had heard of 23 or 43 or whatever many "Things" one studies and Library 2.0. I was captivated and proceeded to learn as much as I could about all this. I started with my ELM databases and set up an alert. Then onto the web with all its information. Soon I was on information overload and as interesting as all this was, where was the library applications? How could all this information be transformed into something useful for somebody (staff, patrons, associates, who?). Okay, baby steps are in order. Start a blog as a method of communication that had not been done before. Very scarry so we made it closed so the whole blog world wouldn't know about it. This was good. Our spread out staff could communicate even though didn't see everyone (except for me). Okay, this blogging was good and soon it expanded to other blogs, reading and writing. Library 2.0 to me means an additional method of communicating that increases connection. A level of sharing and a capacity for sharing that has not been done. As librarians we are the conduits of communication and library 2.0 should enhance that capacity. We owe it to ourselves to promote that growth.

Blogging

2008-02-03T22:11:00.000-06:00

This is not my first blog. In fact this is my fifth blog. My first blog was created for communication for the library staff. This was created and currently is a closed blog. Only the library staff at Olivia and Renville can see it. We use it to share information and update each other on what is happening in the libraries. Staff doesn't see each other weekly so this was the purpose for creating this blog. My second and third blogs were created as library websites. You can reach them at http://oliviapubliclibrary.blogspot.com and http://renvillelibrary.blogspot.com. Renville library does not have their own website so we use the blog as a webpage. My fourth blog was created for my cruise vacation. I wanted to create a site my children to go to see where we were crusing and something about the islands we were stopping at. I wanted to do research and save some information. We are not back from our cruise and I'll probably post about our trip and some information about tours etc. Finally this blog is my fifth. I've been interested in this topic for a while now and will share in this space how my learning is proceeding.
It seems to me that in our rural areas technology is a little slower coming. Though I have to say, when I visit with my family in the Twin Cities, only my sister-in-law and myself really do much blog. She blogs everyday, but she is a professional writer so she seems to be better at the discipline. I also have a niece and her boyfriend who are teaching in Hungary for a year and they are blogging their experiences and it is a fun way to share.

Creating a avatar

2008-02-03T22:06:00.000-06:00

My exercise for tonight was to create a avatar. Since I've just returned from a cruise I thought I would go with the beach scene. This has been a fun thing to create. Onto the next project.

23 things on a Stick

2008-01-24T21:01:00.000-06:00

This is my venture into the new technology of library 2.0. The first element of 23 Things is to create a blog and this is my. I've chosen this title because Olivia is the Corn Capital of Minnesota and we are proud of this as you can see from the corn cob.