MES View

Podcasting

2008-10-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Heather for explaining what a podcast is; I have never subcribed to any, but I've already found some interesting possibilites. I can definitely think of some library uses for this type of communication, but # 21 calls...

EPLer

Web 2.0

2008-10-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

It would be fun spending more time with the Web 2.0 list, but that is not an option. I enjoyed looking more thoroughly at the Lulu site because my mother and I are editing stories that my grandmother had written about growing up in our small town with plans to publish them as a small book.

EPLer

GoogleDocs

2008-10-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

This seems pretty straightforward and for me would be most useful if I were composing documents which needed input from others or just needed to share a document. This does happen occasionally so I'll try keeping it in mind, although I would most likely have to prompt my committee members to create google accounts. It's helpful knowing these options are available; we used to recommend GOffice to patrons when we didn't have Word available on our Public Internet Stations. For many of them I think that this might still be a better option than Word.

EPLer

EPL Wiki

2008-10-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

It was fun adding a favorite shopping destination to our Wiki; it amazes me how easy to do this can be. That's one of the things that I have learned. What a great way to share information!

EPLer

Wikis

2008-10-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

I think that even though we are aware of Wikipedia's shortcomings, we know how useful it can be. I checked my husband's listing in Wikipedia and there was one statement of misinformation, but 99 percent was accurate; he doesn't know who submitted it.
I thought the wikis that we looked at in the exercise were an efficient way to link lots of information and that is what we need and patrons like. I think that the library should start one on Evanston history. There are people out there who know alot and could contribute. We could set up the links to library sources. Yes, there may be some inaccuracies, but its efficiency and ability to uncover sources/information and provide access in one location is very appealing. Librarians could provide oversight.

EPLer

Library 2.0

2008-10-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is very interesting; I really enjoy thinking about the future of libraries and imagining the possibilties of Library 2.0. I think that EPL should have a group who meet on a regular basis to explore the reality of Library 2.0. The future is here.

EPLer

Microblogging

2008-10-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

Is it just me? I just don't get Twitter. I can't think of anyone that I want to keep up with in this manner which leads me to believe it's more about snooping and meeting others online that you might never meet in person. I don't have that need or the time to spend trying to "find" others. So, for now I'll stay out of the Twitter. I understand the need for libraries to be accessible, but how would this be better than IM which we are now using?

EPLer

Delicious

2008-10-05T13:31:00.001-07:00

Although we've been using Delicious for quite some time, it's taken me awhile to warm up to it. Its organization requires familiarity, but I learned several things from this tutorial. It is very useful to call up these websites and I can see how the tags left by users would be handy in a search. Unfortunately, we are often trying to locate information quickly and this type of sprawling search takes time. Anyway, it would be interesting to know if our patrons are using Delicious (pardon my punctuation).

EPLer

LibraryThing

2008-09-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

OK, I thought the idea of Library Thing sounded interesting and worthwhile, but I was disappointed with the results. I didn't find it that useful as far as finding books and I'm not interested in reading hundreds of blurbs on one book. I would tend to use Amazon. However, it is nice to be able to assemble one's library as book covers or a list and share with friends/family who might be wondering what you are reading.

EPLer

Social Networking

2008-09-08T13:35:00.001-07:00

Social networking can be dangerous. I was able to find all of my sons' myspace sites and look at the pictures. I needed to login in to read the blogs. I wasn't as successful on Facebook. I can see where doing this could be a real time sink, looking up friends and making new ones. I'm not ready to take the plunge, but I certainly understand the allure. A friend of mine asked me to sign up for Facebook so that she could send pictures, but I realized that I really didn't want to see dozens of pictures. I guess that I'm one for boundaries at least so far. By the way, I didn't find out anything shocking about my sons who are all in their 20's and I guess that's a good thing. Parents don't need to know everything, especially at this point in all of our lives.

EPLer

YouTube

2008-09-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

I wasn't that impressed with anything I saw on YouTube from my son's band. But I guess that is my problem. I'll go with a video from my home town of Sackets Harbor, New York. It's not that great either, but has some photos of the main street, some restaurants and one of the marinas (without the boats). Despite the bad name that Sarah Palin is giving small towns, there are actually some great things about growing up in one.

EPLer

Lifelong Learning

2008-08-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

As a librarian for 36 years (yikes!), one of the things I've heard said over and over "I haven't been to the library in years; everything has changed." I realized that while Fitness, meaning physical fitness, For Life had become a popular slogan, library fitness for life should be an important goal, too. Library fitness could be considered a piece of Lifelong Learning.
If I must answer the question about which of the 7.5 Habits may be the most difficult, I'm going to choose "Assembling the Toolbox" while the easier Habit might be Setting a Goal.

EPLer

Things

2008-08-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've just read Heather's reminder that we must write something about each THING to be entered to win a prize and since I've almost never won anything, I'm very eager to give this a go. I hope that the Better late than never rule applies to this. I had not written anything about THING #1 which is the welcome aboard. It's good to see that Mary is online as well and very supportive of this program. I think that makes alot of differrence in how THINGS go.
I'm off. Thanks, Heather.

EPLer

RSS or Bust

2008-08-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Ok; I've found a couple of RSS' that I will enjoy receiving and selected to subscribe to them. I'm looking forward to seeing how this will work on my blog. Blogging is fun and useful. I'm working on convincing my husband that this would be a great tool for the journal he runs. He's the editor-in-chief and has a staff of about 6 people, but it sounds like they may not always be on the same page. The blog as we've found at EPL is an effective tool for communication and easy to use, too.

EPLer

Onward

2008-08-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

I should be working on the RSS feeds, but that seems more like work than writing a short hello. I'm happy to know more about those little icons and how useful they are. I'm sure that I will discover some interesting sources of information, so off to it.

EPLer

Here I am

2008-08-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Here I am blogging with you all; how fun to be out here in wwwland on this lovely summer day. Do you feel as I do? Just a keyboard away from letting you all know what I may be thinking or perhaps what I have have heard is in the minds of others. Did you think that I might share something personal, wicked, unknown? I think that I am not that daring, but feel stronger with each stroke of the key. Yes, I feel the power.

EPLer