Thing #19: Other Social Outcast Networks

So I read just today that social networking may actually have a more positive effect than we could have even imagined. The AP reported that a young man in Fargo, N.D. used Facebook to create a page to recruit volunteers to help make sandbags near the rising waters on the banks of the Red river. When social networking is used for good, then you really have to applaud the technology.
Fargo uses social networks to fight floodwaters




However, there is such a thing as technology overload...

If Gather is the new MySpace for books, then it could already be "out of fashion." It seems like there's a new social networking space popping up every day. What's hot today, may not be hot tomorrow.





It's as much a personal choice as deciding what brand of laundry detergent to buy... assuming one even uses laundry detergent!!!


Ning has potential, but it's really not much different than the "groups" listing on Facebook.

I do like that I was able to search both without creating a new account. That makes them useful without the committment.

The WebJunction article Building a Social Networking Environment at the Library actually made a more convincing argument for the use of social networking in the library, then anything else I have seen thus far. Maybe it's because the language was actually easy-to-understand. No techno-jargon gobbledy-gook.


I have been a member and fan of Last.fm for a long time. I don't really use it for networking, but it's a great source of pleasure for me when I need to concentrate at work and tune out what's going on around the cubicles in the office, so I tune in here. No downloads required, no MP3 players necessary! Just pick some "cruicin'" music and I'm on my way...

Nibbledish (formerly OpenSource Food) appeals to me because I like to cook, and while it looks yummy, I don't know how it differs much from one of my all-time favorites All-Recipes.

It's obvious that there's a networking place for everyone these days, I'm just not convinced the library is the place to be facilitating that. Of course, I guess the awareness of these sites by staff, and being able to find more places for unusual information will be useful on that one day when that one patron comes looking for the Model Shipbuilders: The Shipmodeler's Online Community or any other unusual group I can't already find via another search method.

Shamelessly pilfered quote

Okay, so this is a REALLY LONG article called Ten Trends & Technologies for 2009 by Michael Stephens

but I couldn't let it pass without sharing this little nugget from that article...

"What does this mean for libraries?

It’s not the library blog or wiki, or Bookspace, or GoodReads, or Meebo embedded librarian on the results not found page, it’s people..and connections. I think that’s what “The Hyperlinked Library” has always been about. It’s about meeting people where they live and providing them with services they need or want. It’s about encouraging them."



'nuff said?!

Thing #18 – My Facebook is taking up MySpace

Lee LeFever at Common Craft makes EVERYTHING sound good! I've been trying to think outside the box with all of this technology, but with so much to choose from I feel more trapped inside than set free. There is just too much out there and it is coming at warp speed.


I previously had an account on MySpace just to see what all the hoopla was about after attending a library conference a few years back. Truth is, I had no other friends that were really participating at that time, so I sort of gave up on it, but it did allow for more creativity.

I know our library has a few different MySpace pages, including our own Adult Services Dept. The problem is many of our patrons use "UrbanChat" as a social networking site. Why don't we have a presence there too? If we are going to involve people through social networking sites, then we should be on ALL of them and somebody needs to commit to keeping them up-to-date.

During that time I also had a local(real live in-the-flesh friend) encouraging me to join Facebook instead, as early as two years ago, but I declined because at the time I just thought it was dumb to have to different "friend" sites, or even have them at all. Then I went to my 30th high school reunion this summer and found out so many of my classmates were "catching up" this way. I've had a Facebook account ever since and it's like a crazy addiction if you let it get that way.



I try not to, but when a classmate of mine nearly died in a fall and had brain surgery, they created a Facebook page to keep all of her friends updated on her medical progress. They are also using her "page" as part of her therapy, with well-wishes for recovery and the belief that it is helping her to regain some of her memory. Now THAT is a positive for social networking. Bringing people together who may not necessarily have the means to travel long distances to aid in the recovery of a friend!
Powerful stuff.

For library applications at this point it just seems a little silly to be "friends" with your patron, especially since so many other web applications are coming into existence that will promote and act as a network to the library.

This week for the assignment I did look at some of the "library" groups and I just had to add myself to Don't Mess With Me, I Worked in a Public Library.

For those that use Facebook, we can all agree that we are HERE! Some of us to find long lost friends, some to find long lost love, and others to totally toot their narcissistic horns! Six degrees of separation, indeed. This is legal voyeurism at its finest. Although, I must say it has been wonderful to catch up with some of my compadres, it has also been awkward in some cases. Who to "friend"? Who not to "friend"? And how bizarre it is when you make "friends" with your own cousins...

Then there are all the APPLICATIONS!!! OMG! Who has all this time, 1) to create them and 2) to constantly play with them and keep score? I don't and I don't even have kids. For a couple of months I even got in trouble with my cell phone. NEVER EVER type your cell phone number in anywhere. IT WILL COST YOU! (and I have since learned my lesson...)

Recently, I found a couple of articles and opinion letters in the local college paper that sort of struck me when I read them about FB.

Facebook frenzy: The new opiate of the collegiate masses

Fleeting Facebook fad nothing more than selfish endeavor

Columnist misses point of ‘25’ lists

Facebook listers not just time–wasters

I'm not saying I will never share 25 things about me, or more personal information about my life-- but the truth is if anyone really wanted to know that stuff about me I'd think they would already be responding to pics and events I've already placed online at FB or sending me a personal message directly. Some have through their comments. Some have not bothered to reply back to my messages or comments, even though they've made me a "friend."

My guess is most people are just curious to see what information they can see, and that's basically where it ends unless you want to continue a further relationship with someone. It's been wonderful to keep up with "news" from people, but where do you draw the line?

Perhaps someday I will consider it a "project" to scan old, historical photos but like most people, I have a real life, a real job, and with real faces. My e-mail address is posted on my FB account if anyone ever wants to just say hi or to seriously get to know ME, but I am trying to live in the present with hope for the future, and that means I need to spend more time away from the computer.

Do you hear me NEFLIN? It's ME, "cruicin"-- MORE time away from the computer! ;-)

Thing #17: Two Peas and Some Podcasts

How ironic that just last week I was invited to a training on podcasts through and open source tool called Audacity. Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. The trainer, Paul Alford from the Citrus County Library System, not only taught us about what podcasts were, but showed us how to make and edit our own. It was very exciting, though in my position unlikely that I'll be the one actually creating podcasts for our library. I thought it was a little strange that he was so versed in the product and yet his own library system was not creating any podcasts at this time-- just teaching classes to the public.


Oh, the Audacity...



I watched the “Podcasting in Plain English” from the Common Craft Show and still find their videos the easiest to understand on most topics. I realize now that they use Thing 16-- YouTube to post and "promote" their downloadable videos. Thank you Common Craft.

I went to Podcast Alley and searched under "cruise." The results listed... We Found: 89 Results for "cruise." I tried to listen to CDATA[Hot Cruise Travel Deals, but could not get it to play. It was also not very up-to-date. Then I just sort of browsed through the Travel podcast and found a great one called The Mail Buoy. Bringing you news, tips and specials from the cruise line industry. Visit us at www.mycruiseplanner.info I just wish it gave the length of each podcast, so I knew how long I would be listening. From there I browsed around the site and listened briefly to some Top 10 Podcasts, and to some of the 5 Featured Podcasts.

They had a really great definition of What is a Podcast?

At Podcast.com it was too much work to have to try and sift through things. Despite the fact that they offer both audio and video, I was not allowed to just listen w/o downloading first or joining. I have already joined too many new THINGS for this project. I am putting the kibosh on that. I think it would just be easier to go to websites that I like and see if they have podcasts.


Looked at Gcast and thought, if my grandma could do it THAT would be a trick!!! She's been dead for 30 years.

FREE? Really? Aren't they all... as long as you can stand a little advertising on the side or some spam in your inbox? It did however lead me to GarageBand which I thought was a very cool site for up and coming musicians.

Having done a Google search under "podcast" I discovered, plenty of other websites, offering the same such services. For me it's like YouTube, only for your ears.

PodcastBlaster
MyPodCast
Podcast Pickle
"It is better to travel well than to arrive."--Buddha

Thing #16: You Better, You Better, You Bet-- You Tube a.k.a. Did You Know 3.0?

What can I say but OMG! The world has become so small because of instant video and people have become infamous because of them...

The good, the bad, and the ugly-- the entertaining, the educational, the enlightening, and the inspirational. Who doesn't love to pass along a great YouTube video these days? I just read a news story about a kid in Florida who is helping his unemployed dad find a job via a video he posted on YouTube and the responses he's gotten were very positive.

The video is included on this link. How Do You Get A Job? Ask For One

YouTube seems to have become the catchphrase for video online just as Kleenex has become the household name for tissues, and Scotch has become the recognized name for adhesive tape.

YT definitely has a place in the library, from filming our own programs and announcements to be shared on our website, to passing along a good training video on workplace safety to a patron.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Prangstgrup!
Will have to check out more videos by them... but my favorite video these days is a mind-blowing testimony to the fact that no matter how many "THINGS" we try to learn about, technology is moving much faster than we can keep up with!!! I was so fascinated by this one (including the music) I just had to share it with my coworkers before we even started our 23 THINGS.

Did You Know 3.0

Thing #15: Rollyo: Roll, Roll, Roll your own...

Well this is a very different take on the whole "search engine" concept, and it helps to narrow down searches to specific websites and resources and make it more personal. I'll bite. Often it timed out, so that was a problem-- but when I was able to get on I went to Explore Searchrolls and it brought up some featured lists, i.e. Searchrolls of Note, Most Popular, Recently Added, and High Rollers.



It did not explain what High Rollers were but by looking at the list, it appeared to be either by some "named" expert in the field, or some recent celebrity-type. Either way, I'm not sure I would trust it that much. C'mon... Online Shopping By: Debra Messing??? Okay, okay I FINALLY found the dictionary-definition some pages deep "top bloggers have all rolled custom search engines. You can be a High Roller too if your searchroll becomes popular with the Rollyo community. Think of it as our version of Star Search." EGAD!!!



No one knows what's become of Sam Harris either?? Find THAT on Rollyo!!!
Just to be sure and try it the way it was meant to be used, I looked under the Gluten-Free Search searchroll and did a search under the term recipes and though they did limit to VERY reputable sites, it came back with a search error. Sorry, we encountered a temporary error
processing your search. Please try your search again, and if you continue to experience difficulties, please let us know. I'll have to try again, but I'm already discouraged.* Why on earth would I waste the time to roll my own, when most of the time I just need to find what I need and move on? *(when I came back a second time to search, it did let me in but the searches were no more relevant that using Google or Yahoo even when I changed the search terms to "gluten-free recipes" within the Gluten-Free Searchroll!)

This might be more effective for an organization or group that needs to have their own ready-reference sites available for searching, or for larger libraries that break down their departments by subject but I don't see this as very useful for my needs. Maybe I'll revisit it for "collection development" later on, and grab an eggroll to snack on while I'm thinking about it. Now there's a "roll" I can get excited about... (no double entendres, no puns intended!) OMG! Even found 'em Gluten-Free, but on Flickr!?

Gluten Free Homemade Egg Rolls

Thing 14: Online (This is) Productivity? Tools

Really?? Improving my productivity? Is this a joke?

I am learning TONS here on the 23 THINGS site, but it's done


for my productivity!

As far as having a customized home—or “start” page— I chose My Yahoo! because I have already been a Yahoo user for many years. It only seemed natural to organize something that would actually be useful for me.



MySpace Countdowns

I couldn't get the recommended countdown clock to work, though I tried several times to cut and paste the html code, so I found my one and customized it from a MySpace code and I like it much better.

The Google calendar looked pretty easy to use, and even though it is newer and has drag-and-drop editing, I don't go into Gmail often enough to warrant the usage. I guess Google is sticking their collective software wherever they can these days, and I'm not sure if the absolute diversification is working for them? The older version YAHOO calendar looks more like the email that I currently use, and since I already use that, it makes more sense to go to the "familiar." According to the article, YAHOO has an update already in the works.

I started to watch the Scrybe video and I felt like I was on the phone with one of the tech guys from Norton/Symantec. I had to go to YouTube to see a larger version of the actual video overview just to understand what was being said and discovered the video was created over two years ago in Oct. 2006. It all looks very slick and if it works, then the potential is phenomenal-- however even on their own website it says "Scrybe is temporarily not accepting more direct beta invitation requests" which tells me that it's not really up and running at this point! All the endorsements seem to be for the hope that it will do all the wonderful things it promises. (Kind of like our politicians!) Now here it is March 2009 and is Scrybe actually functional?

I'm not much of a list maker, so those tools hold no interest for me-- but I did look at the article on productivity tools and discovered that I had already used Google Docs and Spreadsheets in a sharing capacity with a statewide committee I am on. We were able to edit the same document even though we all live in different parts of the state. Now THAT was productive! As for the other apps and resources, some were overlaps of things we've already seen, and some are SO new and foreign, that I'll only have time to explore them when I'm retired. By then, I'm sure something else will have come along.


CutePDF
PDFConverter
Zamzar

all have some potential for use in my personal life and in my work life, now that I know about them. I can't wait to show this to my husband, who refuses to buy the Microsoft Office Suite of products for his home computer. When he sends me a $%&*#@#@!~^%#@#!MSWorks doc, NOW I can convert it to Word.

Zamzar may be good for patrons too, who often bring in their own flyers or homework they started on another computer somewhere else and with a different app, but need to finish up on the library's computers. I'm not crazy about the commercial pop-up ads, but if it could cut down on the disappointed looks, the "what am I going to do's?" as well as the "oh-no's!" then it's definitely worth a try...

Thing #13: My Library Thing-a-Ling

Oh my thing a ling, my thing a ling
I wanna play with my Library thing a ling a ling

Well I signed up for an account here, but again this is another technology that I will have to take time to sit at the computer for and input my information. It seems like with all the time I'm spending with the technology, I will never see the light of day or a cruise ship! ARGGGHHHH... I can tell you I am not one of those who embraces technology when I am on the high seas. I leave it at home. One book I chose was fairly popular! http://www.librarything.com/work/book/42539963

I can however see the potential for creating booklists and groupings of books to be shared for particular tastes or recommendations. There are many times I am looking for the ultimate in "urban" fiction, and now I can just check here! I searched using the Tag info: urban fiction and found a nice beginning list.

I think it's fantastic to give to patrons who absolutely need a list of books they HAVE read, or want TO read, HOWEVER, and the BIG BUT here is that this is limited unless you purchase Library Thing's membership. A free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account allows you to catalog any number of books. Paid personal accounts cost $10 for a year or $25 for a lifetime. It's reasonable, but I don't like limitations. This is why I stopped using Flickr. Our library will soon allow patrons to create their own profile from a "My Discoveries" module in our AquaBrowser catalog.

I may be able to use this to organize a collection of books I am responsible for purchasing at our library. It may be helpful to get feedback from others that don't work with me and get a different global perspective.

On a personal level I won't be taking the time to catalog my own collection of books at home.

Found the LibraryThing Local.

I did also create an account on Shelfari because I wanted to see if there were any major differences. Shelfari allows you to import your lists from other places listed like Amazon, Delicious Library or Goodreads and even Library Thing. I even added an actual bookshelf widget. How cool is that?

P.S. I just got through reading runnergirl's blog at 23 Beach Lane and I felt compelled to comment on her(?) Thing 13. This is a direct quote from her and I couldn't agree more.

"You know what it is -- I'm feeling overwhelmed by all that is available via the internet. So much of it seems like just one more thing to do, to know, to use instead of something else. What I have to remember is that by participating in 23Things, we are all being inundated with technology week after week for learning purposes only. It doesn't mean I personally have to use all this stuff; I just need to get acquainted with what's out there."

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

I just HAD to take a small break and read some other bloggers Neflin blogs! They are wonderful, entertaining, and informational.

I had been feeling a little overwhelmed with all this, only because it's getting to be MUCH MORE than the original 23 THINGS I thought I signed up for... be that as it may, I am blogging along and don't feel quite as frustrated as I did in the beginning. I consider this my half-way point and feel justified in blogging, just to blog.

NO THINGS ALLOWED!


However, I must quote bostwickblogger who may have had some trouble making it out of the starting gate. "Wow! It only took me two hours to register for this blog. What fun!!!"

(Two hours? Do I know that feeling!)

Thing #12: 'O wai kou inoa? Wiki, What is your name?

"the content of a wiki depends on the knowledge and commitment of participants."

While in theory a Wiki has a lot of potential, and even I admittedly have used the biggest Wiki, Wikipedia for quick and dirty information when I'm totally clueless, the truth of the matter is that there is no real authority to back up the content accuracy. I suppose that's the problem with most of the information found on the internet these days. Again, my grain of salt theory.

This article from the BBC News
Editorial row engulfs Wikipedia
pretty much sums up the basic issues.

1. I watched the Common Craft video on Wikis and now I am not as much in love as I was before! They do make things easy to understand, but this was a little bit oversimplified. Maybe because I already had some familiarity with wikis, PBwiki, Wetpaint, etc. I had previously attended a Neflin workshop on the Bells and Whistles of Blogs and Wikis and discovered there, that out in the WWW there was a plethora of applications to choose from and found them to be not as easy as all that.

2. I actually liked the St. Joseph County Public Library's Subject Guides. They appeared to use it much like a community Rolodex. I've been wanting to have something like that at our library for MANY years. My guess is that only staff have access to updating it. The Book Lovers Wiki, developed by the Princeton Public Library has some great things too, but our library already has some serious review info on our website like Bookletters and its BookPage reviews and interviews. I think the Book Lovers Wiki would be more apropos for a smaller library setting.

A library staff wiki has great potential for updating information in a timely manner. We tried using one already in our department for ready reference responses to email, and in theory it's great-- that is 1) if you can get it set up working the way you want it to in the first place, and 2) if you have people dedicated to maintaining its accuracy and timeliness. I would really like to see this one brought back to life.

We already have an "intranet" but it is not as user-friendly. We also have some "shared" folders on our server, but the documents take up a lot of space there. I think a wiki would allow more people accessibility and it would save space and time when it came to document sharing.

3. Added my two cents worth on the Neflin wiki... I really did!

Having done that I then went to the Core Competency blog of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, Wiki, Wiki, Wiki! and was fascinated to find out the word "Wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki", which is commonly used to indicate something fast. Are we SURE this is 23 THINGS?!! By the time I'm done, I'm sure it will be more like 67...


I have been to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County library in NC. They always seem to be a step ahead of everyone so it's no surprise that the 23 Things project originlly came from them, even though it's loosely based on Stephen Abram's "43 Things I might want to do this year." I agree with one of the comments posted there...

Vinnie Boombots said… "A wiki can never be an authoritive source, but there's no harm in using them as a starting point. If you find something that answers your question, you can verify that elsewhere, having something to go on."

Well put Vinnie!!!