Time to be wrapping it up for the "Thing on a Stick" part of Chilly, and moving into a proper blog, full of info about what's on my mind, what's going on with the family, what's happening with the world, or just the library world or...oh, hell. I don't know. Apparently 1 out of 7 internet users are blogging now, and if I'm going to be one of the better of the horde, I'd best come up with a subject. Write about what you know was the mantra of my creative writing program, and it's a good and proper one, but I'll have to do some thinking on that before coming back to Chilly.
How to keep up with 2.0?--that is the question. And it's a toughie. Because there's so much out there now. The more you seek, the more you find and then more and more and more. Like right now I've got 55 feeds in my Bloglines account (about 45 of 'em usually active), more than 300 links to my Del.icio.us page, about 20 items sitting in Google Docs, tons of connections via LinkedIn, yada yada. So the trick is to winnow out the chaff. It's rather like having a pile of library books on the bedside table, all good and all due on the same date. A pleasurable cause for stress, but Argh!
But one shouldn't stress from pleasure and usefulness, and that's what 2.0 is for me. So some tactics are needed: It's probably a good idea to go through and weed items once in a while, whether they be feeds, or Del.icio.us links or MySpace friends (now that sounds nasty). And to consider carefully what I add, no matter what the application. And finally, if I start stressing from essentially having too much info, I just have to remember--I'm in control, not the information. Nothing bad will happen if I don't read my Bloglines feeds for the day. Or a week. Or even a month. Life goes on. And so do I.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Thing 21. Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks
I really like Ning and kind of enjoy Web Junction. The former is great, I've found, for discovering folks with similar interests. Like I'm really into guitar playing and blues music, and guess what: there's lots of groups in Ning that reflect those interests. Within these groups there's forums on all kinds of related topics, sound files, videos (including lessons)--pretty cool. And particularly so is the Ning page for old-fart rockers like me: Loud Old Guys--check it out!
Web Junction is different, but cool on its own. Not so much fun, but educational in a career-enhancing way. You can learn new stuff or brush up on skills in all kinds of areas. From my standpoint, what's especially useful are the resources on patron services and technology, with the classes either on vid. or self-paced. A few of 'em are free, but a lot are pretty inexpensive and would seem to be a great way to start learning about Cold Fusion or Dreamweaver or to hone one's business skills. On the other hand, though, there are a few that cost TOO MUCH: it seems wrong to charge 150 smackeroos to learn how to use Google a little better at the ref. desk, for instance. If I want to learn that any better, I can find it on the internet. By Googling.
Web Junction is different, but cool on its own. Not so much fun, but educational in a career-enhancing way. You can learn new stuff or brush up on skills in all kinds of areas. From my standpoint, what's especially useful are the resources on patron services and technology, with the classes either on vid. or self-paced. A few of 'em are free, but a lot are pretty inexpensive and would seem to be a great way to start learning about Cold Fusion or Dreamweaver or to hone one's business skills. On the other hand, though, there are a few that cost TOO MUCH: it seems wrong to charge 150 smackeroos to learn how to use Google a little better at the ref. desk, for instance. If I want to learn that any better, I can find it on the internet. By Googling.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Thing 20. Social Networking.
I have accounts for MySpace and Facebook. I got 'em both so I could see how each works and compare. Now, I admit I don't do a lot with either. I've set up minimal profiles but haven't created cool pages or anything. Heck, I don't even have any sound files to automatically deafen you when opening my MySpace page. I guess this is 'cause I'm of the age group that's reticent about letting the whole wide world know too much about me. Unlike modern kids who seem to revel in the thought. Also, I know few folks to network with (how sad, but we're all the same age kinda), don't have the urge to share stuff like songs with anybody and find trad. email perfectly fine for electronic communication. There--spoken like a truly old fart.
But it's a good thing libraries have established a presence in Facebook and MySpace. Every kid on the planet has an account in one, the other or both. (A speaker at a conference I attended said he asked the students in the classes he taught how many had pages and EVERYONE of 500 did.) And if this many kids are using an app., it's important that libraries be there. I've seen a lot of what many institutions are offering: communication options, catalog search boxes, links to groups, book talks, yadda, yadda. And it's great--the more kids see this stuff and use it, the better for libraries.
But it's a good thing libraries have established a presence in Facebook and MySpace. Every kid on the planet has an account in one, the other or both. (A speaker at a conference I attended said he asked the students in the classes he taught how many had pages and EVERYONE of 500 did.) And if this many kids are using an app., it's important that libraries be there. I've seen a lot of what many institutions are offering: communication options, catalog search boxes, links to groups, book talks, yadda, yadda. And it's great--the more kids see this stuff and use it, the better for libraries.
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