Thing 8 Share Your Slides, Photos, or Presentation Slides

Another challenge here! Since I have few photos, I created an album of pictures from the library's Summer Reading Program Kick-off, held on the library's lovely lawn and featuring Bill the Juggler, a favorite performer who has been entertaining and engaging kids for years. If only the quality of the photo album matched the quality of the performer! I had several frustrations with this project. One, I could not find cropping tools on PictureTrail. Two, adding captions to the photos resulted in a gray band across the bottom of each photo, and I could not figure out how to fix that. Third, my blog layout did not accommodate the photo album as a sidebar (insufficient space for display). And, finally, fourth, posting the album within a blog post caused everything to freeze. This happened late on a Friday afternoon. I logged out, grateful to have a weekend free of blogging. Today I will try to overcome these frustrations by experimenting with other layouts.

Thing 7 Web 2.0 Communication Tools

My history with e-mail started years ago when my supervisor at the Department of Corrections insisted that the staff use e-mail every day. He made sure we did, too, by sending a message early in the morning and watching for a reply. If he didn't get a response within an hour or so, he'd follow up with a personal visit. "Haven't you checked your e-mail yet?' That was annoying at the time, but effective. What seemed like an interruption in the work day then has become an essential tool although overhwhelming at times. It was worth reading the tips for managing e-mail as a good reminder of how to make a familiar tool work for you.

I don't use IM personally, but I've had a little experience with IM reference. Its popularity, ease of access, and speed make it an appealing tool for the delivery of reference services. From the staff side, it seems far easier than the 'Cadillac' web chat software from vendors like Tutor.com. That software, while robust and full-featured, requires staff to learn extensive protocols for communication, file-sharing, and pushing web pages to customers' desktops. It's a fairly steep learning curve. IM seems easier.

Thing 6 Online Image Generator

Although I have nothing to show for my explorations, I had fun with this one, making a series of librarian trading cards, customizing license plate designs with library lingo, and creating buttons. In fact I was having so much fun that I kept moving from one project to another without posting any of them to my blog. This Thing has generated some conversations here about ways to use these tools at the library. Making trading cards for readers' advisory (with a series for a variety of fiction genres or graphic novels) is an idea worth exploring.

Thing 5 More Fun with Flickr

El Dia Puzzle, originally uploaded by gildedgiraffe.

More fun with Flickr? Well...here we have (and in more ways than one)....a puzzle! It serves as an example of a mashup, and I will take it after several frustrating expereinces in trying to create something--anything--from the list of possible mashups on the 23 Things site. The puzzle won the day because the instructions were easy to find, clearly written, and easy to follow.

Thing 4 Flickr

Wentworth 1 008, originally uploaded by gildedgiraffe.

Exploring Flickr was the easy and fun part of Thing 4. Moving this photo from the Dakota County Library website to my blog was frustrating. I read directions, both those posted on the 23 Things page and some provided by a colleague. While the directions seemed clear, I was not successful until another colleague stepped my through the process. Once again, I'm reminded of how important it is to have knowledgable colleagues who are willing to help.

A note about the photo itself.. This was the scene at the Wentworth Library on Friday, October 12, 2007, at 5 p.m. After weeks of preparation to move to a temporary location while the library was remodeled, the information desk was cleared and ready for demolition. Only when the desk was empty did we notice how shabby the desk looked after 15 years of use. The library closed 30 mintues later. When we returned three months later, a new and much more elegant desk was in place.

Thing 3 RSS Feeds

Alhough RSS feeds are not entirely new to me, using Google Reader to select and organize feeds from news and library sites seemed exceptionally easy to do. In a burst of enthusiasm, I selected more feeds than I'll be able to read or even scan quickly in a day. My plan is to work with the current selections for a week or so, then revise the list based on that experience. Having now completed the first three of the 23 Things, I have finished 13% of the program. Onward!

Thing 2 What is Web 2.0?

Having a colleague who is forging ahead with her 23 Things (already on Thing 4!) serves as a useful prod to my own exploration. Library 2.0 is the topic for today. I've heard Stephen Abram speak before about Library 2.0. His enthusiasm for the various technologies remains strong, but I was struck today by his comments on the importance of experiential learning and on time for reflection. This is an important point. Carving out time to work at the computer on each Thing is the easy part. It's a good way to build technical skills. However, applying those skills in a way that benefits library customers cannot be done as a solo enterprise. Time to reflect think and explore ideas with colleagues is essential, and that kind of time is tough to find.

Thing 1 Set Up Blog

After a couple false starts, I've created a first blog, Thing 1 of the 23 Things on a Stick. Working on this in my office where interruptions are few worked much better than my initial attempt to set up the blog at the desk. Two colleagues are just starting 23 Things on a Stick, too; we'll be the summer cohort at the library. Two other colleagues completed the progam during the first round and have offered to help those of us who are just beginning. It feels as if we are establishing a vital learning community here.