Thing #34-Is this our Competition-Online Answer Sites

As I read the assignment from Nebraska Learns 2.0 and began exploring the wide variety of online answer sites, I began to ponder...Do people ask questions on these sites to find out the answers or do they ask the questions simply for the interaction with other computer users?    Are people spending so much time online that they search for yet another thing to do to fill their time?  Do they rely on the answers given and accept them as fact?  Do they really want an answer or just an opinion?  My mind came up with more questions than answers.  I answered a question about when zip codes were first used and one about  the number of representatives Montana had in the House.  I didn't register on the site initially and went back to try and find my answer, by now not remembering for sure which site I had looked at.  As I explored zip code questions, I found a similar question with an answer that would have taken pages to print.  That brought up another question-do people want short concise answers or long extended answers?  I personally don't feel any motivation to answer questions and "earn points" for my answers. 

Many of the questions asked could easily be answered with a quick call to the library because as librarians, if we do an Internet search to answer the question, we know sites that we can trust for correct answers.  Would I want to answer a question about appropriate gifts for a mother-in-law?  No.  I generally won't give opinions, which is what is being solicited in this case. 

I can see why people might use the online answer sites.  Questions can be asked at any time of the day and you can check back for an answer at your leisure if you don't need the answer immediately.  I'm sure some people don't think of libraries as answer places although we do get  an interesting array of questions come our way in-between simple queries for phone numbers and addresses.  I'm glad to see librarians "invading" the sites and submitting answers although I didn't participate in the Slam the Boards.  Librarians do have their own answer sites.  While researching a patron question regarding California law, I found www.AskNow.org which allows you to ask a question of a librarian, if you live in California.  I found a few sites specifically for asking law librarians. 

This was an interesting exercise.  I was truly amazed at all of the sites available and the variety of questions asked.

Too busy to write!

Where has the time gone? It seems like I'm running from place to place and not much time to truly call my own. When I'm home and I choose to goof off a little, I see the clutter around me and end up feeling pretty guilty. At work, our computer center has been busier with people applying for job, government aid, etc. etc. I regularly check all of my e-mails and Facebook, but generally, I'm not as inclined to post much myself. Even the digital camera has gone unused since Christmas.

Of course, I am "in charge" of a meeting at church on March 13th that has required lots of planning and some creativity. Tim has taken a town job and we are trying to carpool which gets me in town an hour earlier and I stay later to accommodate his longer hours. We thought he found the ideal job opportunity-staff accountant, working in an accounting firm. The major focus right now is income tax filing so he is doing close to 60 hour weeks. Farm chores including milking the two cows fall on both sides of his work day. I'm milking cows at night on days I have off and I even learned to use the skid loader to clean several inches of snow from our drives. The first time was definitely an experience! Other organization responsibilities are intermixed with everything else as well as time spent with and for family members.

Do I want to scream " stop the merry-go-round and let me off"? Not really, life is interesting and not boring and in a few months life might slow down again. In all of this, I've met interesting people and definitely had some new experiences. Tax time will end and Tim will only work part-time in the summer; by next year, we will have less farm animals and be better prepared for the longer hours.

And now, since I really am too busy to write but wanted to add some meandering thoughts, I must end.

Thing #31: An attitude adjustment!

It's quiet in the library this morning as I write this blog unlike when I watched the video by David Lankes on this month's lesson.

My desk at the library is essentially a public service desk where I continue to master multi-tasking as I work on projects as well as assist public computer users, answer the telephone, take money for prints, all surrounded by the hubbub of people moving in and out of the tech center. It took me around 3 hours and two sittings to watch the 53 minute video but it was well worth it. This was one of those attitude-adjustment moments or "AHA!" times. Those of us at libraries are not just here to point out where you find requested information but to also lead others or sometimes follow others into new knowledge. I really the presentation's thought that "Knowledge is not a thing-it is dynamic!" Not an exact thought-I grabbed at short tidbits as I took notes. I will watch this again but I guarantee it isn't going to happen before the end of this busy month. My mind is currently on the weather and what it will be like when I drive home.

Back to "attitude adjustment." In a birthday card note, a friend shared the fact that she hates her job so only enjoys 2 days every week and not always that because she has to clean the house on her days off. I hope I never reach that point-I like my library job because each day is different. I get incredible satisfaction from helping someone find the info they need or helping them learn a new computer skill, or just finding an author they might enjoy. It is definitely a two-way street. I have patrons share web sites,"how-to-do" stuff, and authors with me too. They might take the knowledge I shared and expand on it further and then share back with me. I've told several people about Skype after I was introduced to it and found it an awesome tool for international communication. One friend was heading to South Africa on a safari and needed to check up on things at home while she was gone. She took her laptop with Skype installed and with Skype minutes she could easily contact to family on their home telephones and computer very cheaply. She in turn helped others on the trip do the same. Another friend was paying for an international calling plan. I told her about Skype and then she told me that she had figured out how to share her computer screen via Skype and was sharing pictures in her folders with her sister while on Skype-something I hadn't done yet.

It may seem like I've veered off topic but to me it all relates to keeping the innovation mind set that the presenter talked about. I liked the fact that we aren't stuck to heading for a "predicted future" but instead we need to focus on an "ideal future" and how we can get there. I liked the focus on the future of librarians not libraries-we are a people driven institution. Yes, we have people that want it to be the same as it always has been, but we don't have to follow along like sheep. We can be the shepherds leading the flock. (Yes, Christmas images are in my head..)

I really enjoyed this lesson. "Now is a good day to be a librarian!"

Thing #30 and the webby goes to..

Exploring the Webby awards was fun. I remember a few sites that I used in the past would send e-mails encouraging me to vote for them in the Webby awards but I never went much further than that. Browsing the webby awards, not knowing what category I wanted to explore, I reached Services and Applications and found http://www.blurb.com as one of the nominees in this category. My niece used this application to create a very high quality book of their son's first year of life in photos, complete with colored dust cover. I was impressed with the book and saw possibilities right away. They created about an 80 page book which they could purchase for about $37 ($25 for softcover) and others can purchase it from the website as well. I told my son about it as a possibility for wedding photos since they have the rights to the digital images. I'm thinking this would be a great way to display my travel photos instead of scrapbooking or traditional photo albums.

The software is free to download and the site has several tutorials to get you started. I watched most of the introductory video. You can use pictures from your computer files, from Flickr and Picasa web albums or a few other sites. If you don't want to use their software, you can use your own software and upload a PDF for printing. Authors can opt to keep their book private or for sale, preview or no preview.

This is something that I will want to explore further by downloading the software at home and playing with it. The software promises to be very flexible as far as making changes in format along the way. The only thing you can't change after you start is the size and shape of the book so the tutorial recommends that you play with a few pictures first to decide if you like the landscape or portrait shape or the 7-inch square book or coffee table-sized book. You can also publish a book with only b/w text for as low as $5. They do offer a flat rate shipping rate of $6.99 for 1-5 books.

Time will tell whether I actually get this done. I have been very guilty of letting lots of pictures sit on my computer where I enjoy them randomly appearing as my screen saver instead of printing very many of them.

For libraries, I could see this as a way to get historic images out for the public or publish a small book about the history of the library.

Thing #28 Google Reader

With this being my second round of exploring Google Reader, I spent part of this month really making an effort to check it frequently and read the RSS feeds that I had subscribed to earlier. I then found I needed to make my list more manageable and ended up deleting several feeds that didn't really catch my interest. At the same time, I really enjoyed several of the feeds and ending up sharing them in Google Reader and e-mailing two to a friend who teaches elementary ages. Sharing and sending were my two new skills learned. I sent one feed to my blog (previous post) and a link to another to my Facebook account.

Google Reader is a great way to have my RSS feeds together but I still like to use the RSS feed ability of Microsoft Outlook. I can log into my e-mail and easily scan the subjects of the feeds after I read my e-mail. Google Reader has the advantage of letting me move between the different feeds very easily by using the left side-bar list and going up and down in the window of the feed I am currently looking at.

Now I just have to find more time to read feeds and stay more current on things happening in the world in general. Thanks Allana for your shared items on Nebraska libraries.

eMints: eThemes

I've been using Google Reader as a way to get several RSS feeds in one place for easy browsing. I found this on the Librarian's Internet Index. I shared it with a friend via e-mail but decided it was worth sending to my blog too. It has links to a vast amount of information. When exploring Africa, I was impressed that suggestions also let you know if the linked site also contained advertisements.

eMints: eThemes: "'eThemes is an extensive database of content-rich, age-appropriate resources organized around specific themes. These resources are created for educators to use in their classrooms.' Search or browse 'more than 1,000 eThemes ... on topics ranging from Africa to Yellowstone National Park.' A service of the eMints National Center and maintained by University of Missouri-Columbia College of Education staff and graduate students from the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies."

Learning more about Facebook-Thing #27

I've been using Facebook for awhile, mostly by the "learn by doing" method. When I first signed up I searched for friends using my high school graduation information that I had filled out on my profile. Almost immediately I connected with a classmate. She used both Facebook and MySpace and encouraged me to sign up for MySpace to see photos she had posted. I felt more uncomfortable than at home in MySpace so I haven't done anything else with that account. Signing up for my account however, did provide me with some troubleshooting info for asisting a patron with problems using MySpace so I didn't feel I wasted my time.

I now have lots of family "Facebook friends" spanning 3 generations and feel like it has brought distant family closer. I especially like the ability to share photos and tag people in photos. I also enjoy reading posts from my library friends and other high school friends.

I thought the tutorial suggested on the Nebraska Learns 2.0 post was very valuable and I'm also including the link for other friends that read my blog.
Facebook for Grownups

Initially, I left applications alone until prompted to use "We're Related". That application became extremely annoying as it started sending me frequent e-mails to add more relatives. Changing settings did help with that problem. My niece introducted me to Hippopost, a postcard applcation that will send "snail mail" postcards to USA and Canadian addresses. You can upload jpg images and write a message. You have to choose an ad from one of several sponsors but there is no cost involved. It takes 2 weeks or more but it is a fun way to send a picture postcard. My niece uploaded pictures from her computer in Germany and sent postcards to her grandparents in Nebraska. I like FREE! As part of this month's exploration into Facebook, I decided to add the Visual Bookshelf application. I had blogged seeing this application when I was exploring LibraryThing during the first "23 things" and one of the application's creators commented on my blog. I like the layout of this application and easily wrote a review of a book and published it to Facebook. I think some of our Facebook using patrons would enjoy that application. And for fun at home, I decided to play with the Farm Town game application since I had seen several of my friends play that. I wouldn't say I am completely hooked on that and will probably never have a virtual farm as spectacular as some I've seen. I'm too busy trying to keep our real farm looking nice. I am currently growing sunflowers on both farms!

Our library doesn't plan to have a Facebook page anytime soon, however I really see the value of a page such as the Perkin's Library at Hastings College. Since Facebook originally was limited to users with .edu addresses, a large number of students could be reached through event invitations. Susan Franklin has almost made me want to jump in the car and drive the distance to her library. Our small rural church has a Facebook group and I used the event invitation option to remind people in the group of a potluck dinner. It generated lots of responses even on short notice.

In summary, Facebook is a great thing for reconnecting and staying networked to friends across the country, learn more about people I know through work and to spread the word about events at work and in my personal life.