Tracking nuclear materials; article on Wired's website.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
More from Flickr
I love the communal environment the web fosters! I rarely see Bizarro anymore, but keeping in touch via her blog made me see that I completely missed the chance to search Flickr for Simpsons images! Look what wonders I might have missed were it not for keeping up with her:
Street art:
Photo by Laughing Squid.
A couple of different people think of the show when they see puffy clouds. Here's one tagged "The Simpsons":
More by this photographer, here.
Simpsons bento box! D'oh.
By Feltcap.
The.barb got crafty:
Street art:
Photo by Laughing Squid.
A couple of different people think of the show when they see puffy clouds. Here's one tagged "The Simpsons":
More by this photographer, here.
Simpsons bento box! D'oh.
By Feltcap.
The.barb got crafty:
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Week 6: Photo Sharing
Just for fun, here's a slide show called "Signs at NP That Must Be Too Hard to See." If you'd like to leave a comment on a particular picture, go to Flickr and search for the tag "chplearning."
I use Flickr for work in a behind-the-scenes way, like when I share pictures from staff functions with coworkers. I also store images for future use on Flickr because unlike my z drive or desktop, Flickr is always there for me.
The slide show above demonstrates another use. Flickr allows any staff member to share images from last night's pizza and pages or game night or computer class, quickly and easily. Rappahannock Regional and Prince George's County use Flickr this way. Sharing pictures is part of the social networking experience that most young people enjoy: they like to see themseleves online. As you can see from the samples, there is no need to caption pictures with names.
I use Flickr for work in a behind-the-scenes way, like when I share pictures from staff functions with coworkers. I also store images for future use on Flickr because unlike my z drive or desktop, Flickr is always there for me.
The slide show above demonstrates another use. Flickr allows any staff member to share images from last night's pizza and pages or game night or computer class, quickly and easily. Rappahannock Regional and Prince George's County use Flickr this way. Sharing pictures is part of the social networking experience that most young people enjoy: they like to see themseleves online. As you can see from the samples, there is no need to caption pictures with names.
Podcast
Not many folks seem to have clicked over to my podcast page. I ran out of time trying to embed it last week, but it worked this time. Do give last week's a listen (below) or click here to hear about Eragon.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Week 5: Podcasting
Application
A fun way for teens to contribute to the library community is through sharing their opinions about what they read. For the video camera-shy, a podcast would be a cool way to participate.
Here's a sample podcast.
Podcasting as a project or program would draw young people because it's fun. We'd be providing them with a skill they could use later, and we'd be fostering creativity and the sense of self-worth kids get when adults show that they value a young person's opinion.
Backstory
It took me a while to get this to work. I need to work on my skills in the area of "read all the directions slowly and carefully." Which is ironic since that is the kind of thing I say weekly to patrons as I help them understand an online application or how to open an email accout.
Then, the staff PC in NP's lab didn't want to "see" one of the programs I needed to make all the technologies to talk to each other, so my dreams of using it as a peaceful recording studio on a Thursday morning were shattered.
I found these podcasting directions that the Web 2.o Committee suggested helpful.
The part about downlading Audacity and the LAME thing for making MP3s was the tricky part.
Many thanks to Deanna for talking me through this bit. Library Robot's blog entry on podcasting helped, too.
Now my desktop is littered with icons for programs, and I can barely remember which I used and which I didn't. . . . Which week do we study productivity??
A fun way for teens to contribute to the library community is through sharing their opinions about what they read. For the video camera-shy, a podcast would be a cool way to participate.
Here's a sample podcast.
Podcasting as a project or program would draw young people because it's fun. We'd be providing them with a skill they could use later, and we'd be fostering creativity and the sense of self-worth kids get when adults show that they value a young person's opinion.
Backstory
It took me a while to get this to work. I need to work on my skills in the area of "read all the directions slowly and carefully." Which is ironic since that is the kind of thing I say weekly to patrons as I help them understand an online application or how to open an email accout.
Then, the staff PC in NP's lab didn't want to "see" one of the programs I needed to make all the technologies to talk to each other, so my dreams of using it as a peaceful recording studio on a Thursday morning were shattered.
I found these podcasting directions that the Web 2.o Committee suggested helpful.
The part about downlading Audacity and the LAME thing for making MP3s was the tricky part.
Many thanks to Deanna for talking me through this bit. Library Robot's blog entry on podcasting helped, too.
Now my desktop is littered with icons for programs, and I can barely remember which I used and which I didn't. . . . Which week do we study productivity??
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Literacy
Yet another "read more carefully later" item on literacy from Ypulse. The line that caught my eye?
Digital media can (should?) "move learning from being 'book-centered' to being 'experience-centered,' while improving reading skills"
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Speaking of Podcasts
My library school friend C interned with the librarians at NPR. I was so jealous. Turns out, she mostly did tedious work in support of the NPR audio library. (I know you're surprised: an intern doing tedious work!)
Well, C's so-so internship doesn't override my notion that NPR's librarians are probably some of the coolest in the profession. I just learned that the NPR librarians have their own blog -- and it includes podcasts from their audio archive!
Well, C's so-so internship doesn't override my notion that NPR's librarians are probably some of the coolest in the profession. I just learned that the NPR librarians have their own blog -- and it includes podcasts from their audio archive!
Results In!
Poll Daddy has a nice feature for showing poll results to me when I am logged in, but there's no mechanism to share the chart. I had to export to Excel, make a chart, and save it as an image.
Anyway. The question was "Which patron tale of woe is hardest to smile politely through?" and those are the results.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Media Scanning
Booksfree: in the Netflix model, pay a monthly fee and have books shipped to your door. On the one hand, public libraries are free; on the other hand, Americans do hate to leave the house for services.
Barcode FAIL, via Library Stuff.
Literary gag on webcomic xkcd (a comic that I would say is often R rated+, so browse comics more knowing this).
Barcode FAIL, via Library Stuff.
Literary gag on webcomic xkcd (a comic that I would say is often R rated+, so browse comics more knowing this).
Friday, March 13, 2009
Cool Stuff from Library Journal
LJ initiated a new rating system for public libraries, based on statistics reported to state library agencies. Learn about it, here.
You know you love "fair use" - that murky copyright law statement that says you can photocopy a couple of pages if your intentions are good. Here's an online tool to help you check your intentions.
You know you love "fair use" - that murky copyright law statement that says you can photocopy a couple of pages if your intentions are good. Here's an online tool to help you check your intentions.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
RFID
Often, techy blogs are not big on RFID technology -- mostly for privacy reasons. Here, though, WIRED offers 10 cool uses of RFID, like making sure surgical sponges aren't left inside a patient. Sure, surgeons get to use the wands for their RFID systems, but not us. :-(
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Week 4: Choice / Twitter ... and Digital Literacy
Matt recently shared an article on managing multiple social networks. Author Ben Parr asserts, "People may disagree with me, but I believe you should sign up for the most popular social networks regardless of whether you are going to use them all. This prevents someone else being mistaken for you and protects an account that you may want to use later." (Parr's article on mashable.com) This comment, and indeed most of the article, assumes that your online presence and professional presence are intertwined -- if not one and the same.
I think that when (if) I get the chance to do web2.0 on behalf of HCPL, I'd create yet another user name. After all, I followed Parr's advice and went to Check User Names -- there's a lisalib on myspace, and that's not me. I might not want to be confused with her, certainly not for work. It would make sense to make a generic username tied to the position, not me: NPYA, or something.
I am intrigued by a final tip from Parr: atomkeep, which promises to allow me to update many social sites at once. This way, the twitter site I created could live on for those who would rather follow me that way.
Whenever I hear about a cool resource, or find one on my own, I want to share it. To the extent that teaching digital literacy and online safety is something public librarians should do, I'd love to be able to share Parr's article with patrons. The people who ask ref desk staff for "help with the computer" don't know how to sign up for an e-mail account and attach their resume. The patrons who can do that -- and more -- seldom ask our help. Wouldn't it be great if we could reach the tech-savvy with something like HCPL's Tech Tip of the Week? It could be a blog, with RSS -- and we could write an abstract version that would go out via Twitter? I don't tweet, so that's harder to picture.
Just thinking out loud on this one.
I think that when (if) I get the chance to do web2.0 on behalf of HCPL, I'd create yet another user name. After all, I followed Parr's advice and went to Check User Names -- there's a lisalib on myspace, and that's not me. I might not want to be confused with her, certainly not for work. It would make sense to make a generic username tied to the position, not me: NPYA, or something.
I am intrigued by a final tip from Parr: atomkeep, which promises to allow me to update many social sites at once. This way, the twitter site I created could live on for those who would rather follow me that way.
Whenever I hear about a cool resource, or find one on my own, I want to share it. To the extent that teaching digital literacy and online safety is something public librarians should do, I'd love to be able to share Parr's article with patrons. The people who ask ref desk staff for "help with the computer" don't know how to sign up for an e-mail account and attach their resume. The patrons who can do that -- and more -- seldom ask our help. Wouldn't it be great if we could reach the tech-savvy with something like HCPL's Tech Tip of the Week? It could be a blog, with RSS -- and we could write an abstract version that would go out via Twitter? I don't tweet, so that's harder to picture.
Just thinking out loud on this one.
Monday, March 9, 2009
College Readers
The Sunday Washington Post ran a compelling opinion piece on reading and young adults – YA meaning college students, in this case. The author asserts that based on popular books selling at college bookstores, college students read “young” titles that are less political than those college students read in the mid 20th century. There is a useful quotation towards the end that says young “'people don't necessarily read their politics nowadays. They get it through YouTube and blogs and social networks.'”
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Web Does Promote Connectedness
An article on the PsychCentral website summaries a recent study on teens and the internet. While 1990s internet use was characterized by interactions with strangers in chat rooms, 21st century teens "nurture their existing relationships" online.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Research on Teens
The Girl Scout Research Institute conducts regular studies on the lives of young people in the U.S. As a part of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., the Institute focuses on girls, but often considers boys as points of comparison. For instance, "The New Normal: What Girls Say About Healthy Living" compares attitudes of boys and girls towards school, body image, and sports.
The Facts and Findings section pulls together information "on current trends and statistics for girls and youth emanating from various sources such as the Girl Scout Research Institute, Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Education Statistics, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Monitoring the Future, and other public agencies, Web sites, and publications."
Given this week's topic, I note there's no RSS, but I did sign up for an email newsletter. This resource is one worth knowing when you are looking for quality information on children and teens in the U.S. to use in your own professional development, or for a student in high school or above doing research.
The Facts and Findings section pulls together information "on current trends and statistics for girls and youth emanating from various sources such as the Girl Scout Research Institute, Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Education Statistics, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Monitoring the Future, and other public agencies, Web sites, and publications."
Given this week's topic, I note there's no RSS, but I did sign up for an email newsletter. This resource is one worth knowing when you are looking for quality information on children and teens in the U.S. to use in your own professional development, or for a student in high school or above doing research.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Week 3: RSS Feeds
It took me a while to believe in RSS. I really didn't think it was so very difficult to click over to my favorite blogs to see if there was a new post. Library school friends swore by theirs for news, but I am not much of a newshound. It may have been peer pressure from my best friend to add a feed to my personal blog (she would not read it if she had to remember to look for it!) that finally got me on board.
Now I check my Bloglines feed daily to keep up on:
- books, via Guys Lit Wire and the Hip Librarians Book Blog.
- technology trends with Wired.
- library trends with Library Stuff.
I also get a feed from the Census Bureau and another from the Librarians' Internet Index that give me ideas for displays and (for the latter only) make me aware of cool new online sources.
CHPL could really benefit from push technologies like feeds or social networks. I learn about cultural events around town that way, and I am certain many of our patrons do, too. Imagine a tech-savvy mom checking her feeds in the morning and noting, "Oh good, the storytime break is over, let's go, kids!" If our high school-aged kids could access social networks in the library as well as at home, the events feature of Facebook and MySpace would put our name and our activities in front of their faces. And I am sure readers of all ages would enjoy a feed telling them about newly arrived books in their areas of interest.
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