Webolution Fun

Task #10 - New Website

2011-12-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

The new website is clean, modern, easy to use, easy to navigate. It makes more of our services more visible. It allows patrons to contact and interact with us better. It's great that folks don't need to know which menu will take them to what they're looking for. It uses natural language people can relate to and understand. I might, a tiny bit, miss a webslide-esque feature that highlights the newest goings-on, but understand why they had to go. I like that all the blogs will feed into the same...I like that folks will be able to register for classes/events directly from the events calendar, evantually. I like a constant "You Are Here" guide across the top, and the consistent info/links on the right-side panel. It just looks like we're part of this century now...hurrah! This brings our website up-to-speed with our new catalog, and now they both seem modern and effecient, more what people expect. Job well done!

Task #9 Universal Class

2011-12-29T11:49:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy Universal Class and think it will be incredibly helfpul to a lot of our patrons, or groups in the community. It's easy to sign up and the class list is very extensive. I found applicable topics for mostly all my LibGuides - so things that we used to only have magazines, books, DVD's for - like cooking, nutrition, home repair - now we have really strong online resources for, also. Not only does this take us above and beyond all of our computer class offerings in a single bound, but there are a lot of people who might be intimidated by in-person instuction, but willing to participate in something like this. One day, I will sign on to take something personally fun...(baking pies?)...but for now I have signed up for Project Management. It is not as fun as baking pies...::sigh::. While the topic admittedly makes me sleepy, the format is intuitive. Read the lesson, write a little essay, take a quick quiz, take the next lesson. There's also options for those who want to be more involved - discussion boards, sending messages to other "students." This gives us a lot of great options.

Task #8 - Espanol

2011-11-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

I did pretty well on the quiz (an 8...because I can't count, I think.) This is really helpful - I find it pretty easy to follow, even in Spanish, most of the time...but Google translate is helpful, too. I do show this to Spanish-speaking patrons when I have a chance, and they're happy to see it - they often point out which page I should click on so they can review the information there. I also enjoy that Google translate is available on all our LibGuides to transform them into Spanish, meaning a lot of our resources and their availability can be found/understood, which is what we all want.

Task #7 - Cloud Computing

2011-11-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

Everything is "in the cloud" these days. It does indeed seem like the future, and of course, it's pretty handy, too. Dropbox seems very useful, though I am not a current user. I have used Google docs/spreadsheets for all types of things. It came most in handy in library school when collaborating with folks from across the nation on group projects. I'm not really a multiple-device-carrying kind of person, but if I WAS...I would probably make more use of this. I would suggest these to patrons, sure. It would be much easier for them to access their things on our computers and their home computers...they could work on a Google doc from either place and keep it saved in the same spot. I'm sure I use the cloud more often than I realize.

Task 6 - Helping Patrons

2011-08-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

I passed! Phew. This was a good task though, directly related to Shawna's training meant to remind us of just how much we have to offer. None of the answers "surprised me" per say. I'm glad I am not supposed to offer a patron my salad for lunch, because then I would be hungry.

A patron is dissappointed in our Spanish-learning materials available for checkout at the moment. We could:
a) put something else on hold through the catalog
b) explain Rosetta Stone is available at the library, and Mango Languages is available at home
c) show them that audio materials are available for download through Overdrive
d) all of the above

Google a Day

2011-08-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

I like Google a Day. It's fun! It's probably ultra nerdy to think it's fun, but I guess that's okay. I did the Google a Day on 8/3 - the question was about a self-sanitizing cooper and zinc alloy, and how long it takes to disinfect itself. So I found the alloy is brass, and that brass takes up to about 8 hours to self-sanitize. It wasn't a super tough challenge...I guess the kicker is that it requires two searches, one to determine what the alloy is and another to determine the length of time. I like that the purpose is to get you to think about your query, and how much you trust the results...because if you get the wrong answer to your first question, you will get the wrong answer to the second, etc. I'm still aiming for the gift certificate.

Task 5: Chilton Library

2011-07-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

I use Chilton's very frequently. Most of the guys looking through the print manuals seem skeptical when I first suggest it, but then they're into it. (I like saying "You know, we have these electronically, too, and sometimes it's just easier to find it there. Let's take a look." Then they're hooked.) Admittedly, I am car inept. So then I ask them to tell me the categories, etc., to navigate. I chuckle inside when they are explaining to me what is wrong and what they need because it's Greek to me. Handing them the mouse works - but in those cases, where their first immediate few guesses don't lead us to what they need - I only wish that the actual search function worked better. I hardly ever have luck with that. The results are messy. But using their "document tree" as suggested is wildly easy and intuitive. Overall, with 1 being not-at-all-helpful and 5 being its-a-lifesaver, I'd give this resource a 4.5.

Task #4: Consumer Reports and E-books

2011-06-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

The most recent CR article on E-book readers that I found was December 2010 - just in time for Christmas! - and "They've never been better or cheaper." They probably ARE cheaper now than they were in December, but I digress. Mark tried his darndest to sell us on the Sony's, and they're not even rated here...which is strange. What I've worked with the most and probably due solely to the familiarity like the most is the Barnes and Noble Nook. I like the color, I like the wi-fi - it's readable, I like the adjustable settings - I like that I don't need a stylus to interact with it and it's not loaded up with features I don't need/would never use. (I've never...ever...taken notes in a book...::shrugs::) The contender, not rated here, for me, would be an iPad, because it does all that and more. And the commercials are so dreamy. Does anyone have one? Meanwhile, I currently read ebooks on my phone and am perfectly content.

First three steps: have your card handy, download Adobe Digital Editions (acquire adobe user id), and browse OverDrive for a title you fancy.

Task #3 Master the File

2011-05-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

I enjoy and use both MasterFile and Consumer Reports frequently. I hope I'm not getting tricked up by over-analyzing.
'Best' was indicated in the task clue...the most recent I see with Best in the title is Best Phones & Plans, January 2011. But there are more recent reviews than that - "Hot new smart phones" was in the March 2011 issue.
As for the Rolling Stones extra credit answer: Izzy quits Guns n' Roses.
I'd like the gift card please and thank you.

Tasks 1 & 2 - Webolution Returns

2011-04-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Hurrah! Webolutionizing again. It feels good. I think the first task really - REALLY - is about whether or not you can remember your original blog username and password. We should get extra credit for that alone. Task 1: complete. Task 2: I received 90%! This is because I absent-mindedly left one of the questions blank. (I debated lying and saying I received 100%, because I DID know the answer and where to find it, but that felt wrong.) This is always a good task to include, because we have so much information on our website and we should more or less know it inside out, and the information is always changing. As for my wished-for prize - I am in the webolution race for for gift card. I am perfectly happy reading ebooks on my smartphone, no disrespect to Sony. Looking forward to Task #3!

Cloud Computing

2011-01-06T15:24:00.001-08:00

The video did help make sense of this. The only gist of it I had previously was that you could access "your stuff" from any computer any time...like Google docs, etc. The commercials ("to the cloud!") also kind of drove home the point that it makes your things uber-accessible. I think the only way I've used this before are the Google applications. Things in the video were questionable to me though, when it comes to using this alone for business purposes, etc. How much faith can you have in systems managed entirely elsewhere? It made it seem philosophical, and like a good philosophy, but what if your stuff is lost or damaged or errors occur? It seems like a hard sell to me to rely on the cloud and the cloud alone. Libraries are always on the cutting edge of technology when it comes to sharing information, and there may be library services we use now that are cloud-like and I don't even realize it. (Are there?) I'm sure this will be in our futures. We're all for accessibility. I just hope we don't go around saying "to the cloud!" all the time.

Election LibGuide

2010-10-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am not politically inclined, so I am forever in debt to my much more knowledgeable coworkers when it comes to the matter, and kudos to Linda (and other contributors), because this guide is outrageously helpful and comprehensive. It makes me at least 95% confident I can answer a question or find the right answer. (Without this guide that percentage is maybe around 20.) So that is a definite increase! I got 100 on the quiz. Wahoo! I hope others are loving this beneficial resource, too.

Critical Past

2010-10-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

This is pretty darn cool. When I first started browsing, using the timeline, I thought it was strange I couldn't search by keyword or topic, but of course you can, if you use the big brilliant search box. It's also really enjoyable that when you search something broad (WWI), it will break it down by decade/nationality/origin, etc. so you can make it pretty specific. Whats also enjoyable is that its all legitimate (it gives you an archives # and everything is well documented/sourced) so I'd feel better showing this to a school kid than, say, You Tube. Very glad to learn about this. I'm familiar with foodsafety - I had it posted on the Cooking and Nutrition LibGuide during the egg scare.

New OPAC

2010-10-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

Spiffy! I kind of dislike that the default is to search Marmot and not MCPLD. I think that has the strong potential to mislead patrons. But I do like that it's called Western Colorado catalog because that is about 1,000 times more intuitive. There's a lot more that I do like, too. I like how easy it is to separate formats - I like how sortable it is with the right sidebar. (Publication date ranges? Very cool.) . I love the suggestions. I like that reviews are on the screen. I was one who always, always went to "More About This Item" to read them, which opens another window, etc. and this is much easier. I don't like that it is more difficult (maybe to just me?) to see where the copies are alllll the way at the bottom of the screen. I like that once I request one item, I only have to enter my info once and it automatically logs me in and next time I just have to click on request and it knows. I also like you can select a collection--children's is separated. Overall I enjoy it a great deal!

Today's Front Pages!

2010-10-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

I started to realize Webolution was entirely getting away from me. Most of the time I looked at the tasks and even did them and just never got around to blogging about them and I don't know where the time has gone. So by now, I have to kind of re-look anyway, since I don't recall my original thoughts. But I suppose that is twice the learning. Today's Front Pages is a very cool tool. I like that it's international. I like the Map feature. I like that it links you directly to that paper's website. I can think of a few instances where this could have been helpful. (I had a patron looking for the French newspapers write up on a tennis match, and this would have made it less difficult than it was, which was more difficult than it should have been in the first place.) So it is helpful in that it can pinpoint a few big papers per region and link you to them. Do I see value in the "big picture" of viewing just the front page of all these papers? Eh. Not really. Sure, it's cool, but not super informative. I mean, the headlines in Maryland don't really interest me all that much. Overall, its a potentially helpful resource to keep in the helpful resource file in my head.

Free Ebooks

2010-05-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks for compiling such an easy to remember, easy to use list of these resources! I had *heard* and *read* about these sites, but never visited/practiced with them. So I'm glad for the chance. I visited Project Gutenberg first and successfully downloaded A Tale of Two Cities. I then went to Many Books, and I concur, this was my favorite. The layout was great, browsing or searching was easy. I went to subjects and found cookery. Funnily enough, I hadn't really ever thought before about cookbooks as ebooks. But what a fantastic idea. So I downloaded The Allison Vegetarian Cookbook, published in 1915. (I didn't know there WERE vegetarians in 1915.) I was very highly amused. The first introduction paragraph:

"This book is written with the object of laying before the public a cookery book which will be useful not only to vegetarians, but also to flesh eaters, who are often at a loss for recipes for non-flesh dishes. Nowadays, most people admit that "too much meat is eaten"; but when the housewife tries to put before her family or friends a meal in which meat is to be conspicuous by its absence, she is often at a loss how to set about it."

"Non-flesh dishes" I also like the insinuation that only "housewives" cook. I dig it. Maybe I will make some of his non-flesh suggestions. I was going to mock some of the recipe titles here, but they actually look really good!

Anyway. I knew Google Books had the ones you could read directly in your browser, but I hadn't ever downloaded them as epub, and it was good to know about that as a possibility. I successfully downloaded The Secret Garden.

A great task! Now if only I can successfully make a cheese souffle...

Optimal Resume

2010-05-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

I was able to watch the demonstration of Optimal Resume from their rep with Nancy T and immediatley thought it would be a crazy beneficial tool for our patrons. It does an incredible assortment of tasks, seems pretty intuitive, and keeps things well organized. I'm demonstrating Optimal Resume for our Job Series classes currently. So far the reaction (the class of 4) has been mixed. The more comfortable folks are with basic computer skills, the more comfortable they'll be with this, but I suppose that goes for any computer application. At any rate, I had to get very cozy with Optimal Resume, and there's so much to explore. I like that help, examples, samples and tips are always very readily available, but you're also easily able to create everything yourself. It gives you any amount of guidance that you need. And once you use one function, all the rest are very similarly organized, so it makes it easy to learn. Hopefully people will get comfortable with this great tool!

Print Friendly

2010-04-22T15:13:00.001-07:00

Being friends with printers is good. Not friendly printers are a big, darn hair-pulling hassle. We teach folks all about print preview here in our computer classes, so I felt pretty familiar and comfortable with that, but its pretty amazing how long something so seemingly short can actually be. Its a pretty "green" habit as far as the colors of habits go. Printer-friendly, I hadn't used before though. I thought it was easy, efficient, and...well...friendly. I liked you can just check "remove pictures" and just click on whatever you wanted removed and wa-laa. Being able to download it as PDF or email are also nice options. I'll be sure to keep this in mind!

Learn-a-Test

2010-02-26T13:01:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, it's the last work day in February. Best complete February's Webolution task, lest I feel like an out-of-whack slacker. I love Learn A Test. Honestly. I turn to it a lot a lot a lot. I have learned that I would, in my current state and without any further study, probably completely fail the US Citizenship test. That depresses me. It makes me feel like I am not smarter than a 5th grader. I point people to this whenever they ask about GED materials, because typically the most recent guides are checked out. But some other fun instances in which I didn't think Learn-A-Test would apply but it DID are: the truck driver's test--CDL. It's in there! Also, there was a woman in just the other day who was looking for books on the cosmetician/beautician exam. A) I did not know there was such a thing. B) We did not have a book, but another Marmot library did. C) Just for fun I was like "Let's try Learn-A-Test!", and ta-da. Beautician exam in there. She was VERY happy. Its a powerful thing. I guess my ode to Learn-a-Test is over now. It never ceases to amaze me.

Welcome Back Webolution

2010-02-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yay for the return of Webolution. For once, I am ahead of the Webolution game. I took it upon myself to complete this task independently about a week and a half ago. Because we all know how fun it is to have great products that we feel like a total idiot describing. I read through the FAQ's, which were pretty easy to follow, and I downloaded the Digital Editions. Downloading a book was REMARKABLY easy. And fast. And, as pro-print and anti-electronic-books as I've been forever--I imagined it to be cold and weird and unfamiliar and pretty unpleasant--I was happily surprised. It was so easy to use and read! I thought everything about it was pretty darn intuitive. I like how organized and simple the Digital Editions is, I liked how easy it was to move around in the book and how customizable you could make your viewing. I could see how this is actually super beneficial technology for super on-the-go people. (I still don't think I'd want to be reading my future kids their future bedtime stories off a screen though. Also, I don't think I am an "on-the-go" person.) I digress. This is all great. And I don't feel like an idiot describing it to people. I was impressed with how current a lot of the titles are, although not so impressed with overall number, but still. It's very cool. I do not own and have not tried/witnessed actual downloading of the book onto a device, but. I imagine it goes seamlessly. Does anyone have an e-reader?

Task 23--Survey--CHECK!

2009-11-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

Wahoooooo! Webolution achievement glory. I really enjoyed Webolution. I was racing to finish before CAL and made it. Yipppeeee. So. Webolution in retrospect. I liked learning about many things. I think digital audiobook downloads, file conversions, and open office are the most "potentially helpful to patrons" things to learn that I've gotten out of this. I also liked a lot of the Reader's Advisory stuff which brought up some sites I hadn't looked at before. The reminders of our resources were good, too. I wasn't a big fan of the weird, non-famous, "indie" - aka we'll charge you once we're "somebody" - music tasks, but then again, I'm not musically inclined, and they're still good to know about. I feel like I learned more than I had known before about Open Source, and Copyright...which are increasingly important. My personal favorite just to play with was Picnik. Some were silly in that I can't think of a single actually useful purpose for, like Sound Snap, but they were still fun to experiment with. I think most importantly, Webolution exposes us to tools and sites and concepts we wouldn't cross paths with ordinairily, and thats all that matters. I'm considering my tech savviness horizons broadened. I support any attempts at occasional, ongoing webolution!

Task 22--Sites We Like--CHECK!

2009-11-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

This one totally confuses me. It should be easy-peesy, yes, but. For the billionth time, I'm sure, I don't have the Internet at home, and even when I did, I was never a big surfer. So that leaves breaks here at work to do any of that type of thing, and it never really occurs to me. I do pretty much only practical, personally beneficial tasks online I guess. I don't personally follow any especially entertaining blogs or sites. So I have very little...or I guess nothing...to share. Which is sad. I do visit the occasional cake, baking, or general cooking websites...I like All Recipes a bunch. Seasonally speaking, I think Elf Yourself is the best thing ever created. See it in action, featuring yours truly Reference staff, here. I'll warn that you may fall over laughing. And then you will have to fill out an injury report, so be careful. Anyway. I did like Nancy's tastespotting, although that linked me from blog to blog to blog, and I can see how this type of thing is totally addicting, because all of a sudden, I find myself reading about this LA librarian who is also tackling baking and this month is making one bundt cake a day for thirty days. I hope she has a lot of hungry friends. Enjoyable, though. It should be fun to see what everyone else follows. Sorry I'm boring!

Task 21--Picnik--CHECK!

2009-11-12T13:36:00.001-08:00

Okay. Best. Webolution. Task. Ever. Picnik really is a picnic. Things I love: A) it's free, B) no registration, C) super crazy easy to use, and D is for delightful. Yes, Photoshop is blow-your-mind extensive and the master of manipulating any image in any way imaginable, but the price makes it totally out of reach for most, and there's a lot of trickery to learn. (I took a class once, for fun, and it was awesome, but I could never buy it, so probably have lost everything. ::shrugs::) Picnik is super enjoyable and perfect for everyday, ordinary touchups and other edits or fun additions. I enjoyed it a lot. If I had the Internet at home, and if I had a lot of digital photos, I would seriously consider storing/sharing/editing through this site. Picassa is cool, too. This was a fun task to play with. And now. A Picniked photo of my cat, Oliver.

Task 20--Local and Other Gov't--CHECK!

2009-11-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

This task is a good reminder of how helpful these sites can be, and yes, I forget about the Community Directory page periodically--I tend to just type in the addresses, but this is faster and more convenient. So cool things I discovered while exploring. I went to the Mesa County site, and out of curiosity, clicked on "Community Involvement" which led to "Volunteer Opportunities", which is exciting, and Animal Services needs some people for some pretty awesome things, one of which is being a foster parent to baby animals until they're old enough to be adoptable. That sounds like a WHOLE lot of fun (who doesn't like baby animals?), but I would probably want to keep them all and not give them up again. ::sigh:: But there were other options there as well. Next, I found all the Death/Birth record stuff through the Health Department, which is good to know. I found the Assessor page, which looks easy to use, but I don't own property, boo, so couldn't assess it. I then moved on to the State of Colorado site. I use this a lot to help patrons. Obviously taxes are a big one--Residents--Taxes. Easy enough. Another one I find myself using really frequently is Employment--Licenses. It gives a list of which professions require licenses, how to obtain them, how to apply for them or renew them, so. This is really helpful. Then I went back to the Community Directory to poke around some more. I went to the Chamber's site. And I found coupons! I love a bargain and I certainly love a coupon. Under Business Services, it has postings of them--like for Dos Hombres, Partyland, a Gourmet Cheesecake place. Fun! They also have a good local business directory. So Task 20 accomplished.

Task 18--Wiki--CHECK!

2009-10-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

I'm a fan of the wiki...so back off wiki haters. I think its wildly convenient and helfpful. Sometimes frustrating and difficult to navigate? Okay, occasionally, but I think that's usually the exception and not the rule. I'll admit I did need the hints sometimes. (I have never, ever, been asked about library plant life. ::Shrugs:: Ever.) At any rate, I got a 100. There is much, much, much more there than I have ever really had the occasion to look at, so this is a good reminder of the wealth of its content, and maybe I'll have to "page watch" some things so I stay as in the loop as possible. But yes, a helpful task over all.

Task 18--Tiny URL/Zamar--CHECK!

2009-10-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of Tiny URL. In a lot of my virtual reference work for school, etc., we were trained/instructed to use Tiny URL in all email correspondences, since longer links would break in the messages. At any rate. So I did a Google search for banana coconut cupcakes...why not?The original URL for my selected result: http://www.nibbledish.com/people/Chengaleng/recipes/banana-coconut-cupcakes

The Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/ylfxm8y

It is really helpful for a variety of reasons, but if using, you should just be careful to explain you have shortened the link for their convenience. Even in our comp classes here, we teach people what they can glean from a URL address, and folks should understand that the REAL URL will appear in their address bar after they open it. Meanwhile I've never used the above recipe and can't verify its deliciousness.

So Zamar. Its cool. I like that there's no registering at all and that certainly saves a step. I think it would be very helpful in the PC area. Only setback I see is that mine took maybe ten minutes? to send to my email, so. Then there's the "I need my time back" whine. But still really useful. I was hoping it would take a PDF or image or something and convert it to a web address, but I couldn't figure that out. I've used Tripod for such things successfully in the past. At any rate. You can now enjoy a seasonal photo of my friend's adorable about 10 month old baby. Zamar successfully converted it from bmp and jpg and tiff and pdf and all those fun things. Again, only setback was it took a while. But he's adorable in all formats and certainly worth the time.

Task 17--Library Sites/Blogs--CHECK!

2009-10-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently, my last post was October 13th. Geesh. Glad to be back on the Webolution tour. I enjoy this task--I'm glad all the helpful/interesting sources have been rounded up and put in one convenient spot for us to view at our leisure. Especially after library school, I knew it was important to stay aware of trends, etc., and plus, just seeing what other libraries are doing is cool and thought provoking. I already have WebJunction and Library Success on my favorites. I can only usually get to poking around them every few weeks, but they're still worth it. I liked viewing other library's blogs, other library's readers advisory stuff, and in WebJunction, I have their "IT cookbook" bookmarked too--which isn't unlike Webolution-esque stuff. One of my favorites though, just for new-sy type items is LIS news, which I didn't see on delicious. (http://www.lisnews.org/). Of course, if I hadn't webolutionized since October 13th, I don't know when the last time I had time to look through it was, but this task is a good reminder to do so!

Task 16--Open Source--CHECK!

2009-10-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

One word to describe Open Office? Awesome. (If I did this combined webolutionizing correctly, you should be able to hear Awesome when you click on Awesome due to SoundSnap. Yay new learned technology. If I did it incorrectly, you'll probably just get weird pop up boxes. ::shrugs:: Works on my computer!) Anyway. Open Source. The definitions were helpful because my understanding was incredibly vague. I understood it meant free, and my general assumption about free stuff (i.e. creative commons and weird non-famous free music and other such tasks), is super low quality or just weird and not at all time worthy. But I didn't know all the business about the code, etc., or that Mozilla was an example...and so I'm probably behind the open source times a little. At any rate, it was great to learn and know. I downloaded Open Office and was pretty darn astounded. I think I am an open source convert. It was extremely comparable to the Microsoft products, it was crazy. Why oh why oh why would anyone ever pay the bazillion dollars Microsoft charges now? I figured it would do the basics without any bells and whistles. I expected there to be limited fonts, etc., but for the most part, it was just as darn capable and easy and professional looking. What a fantastic thing to know about. It has a lot to do with libraries...what are we about if not free and sharing? This is free and sharing. And unlike all those other free tasks I wasn't a big fan of earlier, THIS is useful and meaningful and helpful and full bodied and could really help someone out. I'm thinking of college students who can't afford Microsoft but need to do reports, or any of our patrons with the same limitations/needs. Very cool. Big fan. Thumbs up. Thanks for the photo, Creative Commons. Can I win most tasks combined into one post??

Task 15--Clipmarks--CHECK!

2009-10-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

I thought I was going to be in love with this program/application/diddy when I read the task. I liked everything it seemed like it would do for me. And I went to the video and watched and thought it was magical and I was all impressed. Look at how easy and applicable and wowwww-e. So video, great...signing up...painless...Install...ouch. Not painless. Very difficult and weird. Restarting the computer. Going through Install Wizards. Not being able to find it. The gadget not actually on my browser. Doing it again assuming I did something wrong. Took a long time. Not intuitive. Clipping. Well. It looked all magical and easy to select exactly what you want on the video, but it wasn't really. And you can only clip like 1000 characters, which apparently isn't much of anything. So I finally "clipped" what I wanted. Hurrah. And then I tried to send it to my blog. Which...look around...clearly did not work even a little bit. (It was the first "chocolate cake" recipe result from Google, which is Hershey's.) So. Then I tried to email it to myself. Which worked, but this was the subject line: Delivery Status Notification (Failure.) I don't know why this site is calling me a failure. That's offensive. Um. The only other options are print and save. I have to say that I feel like pretty much every other alternative available is easier and more friendly than this. I would rather bookmark, copy and paste, or highlight and print a selection. And again, I don't feel the need to "share" any of it...and if I did I could delicious it or email the link or what have you to those individuals who would find it interesting. I'm not self important enough to think everyone cares about what I'm reading online. So I had high hopes. And it fell flat. Sorry Task 15.

Task 14--Downloadables--CHECK!

2009-10-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

I'm glad this was one of our tasks, because no matter how many times we train or practice or try to become familiar with it, some patron inevitably comes up with a seemingly really simple question or issue and I can't figure it out and I feel like I look like an idiot. I usually blame the computer. But it doesn't always make me feel better. Anyway. So I hadn't really had the opportunity to play with the Media Center, so that was my goal. It happened to be loaded on the staff computer I was using, so all I had to do was create my account. Easy-fo-sheesy. Then I logged into the Media Center. One word--usable. It was intuitive, friendly, easy, even fun. It was clean and logical. The searching and browsing was really nice, you could sort by practically anything once you had a results list. I found it pretty darn delightful. I think it's very convenient that once they have that on their computer, they don't need library card numbers or to go through our site--it saves steps. I liked how visual it was, too. Finding the format you needed was easy, and so was figuring out the length, etc. If I was a bigger fan of this format, big enough to own an MP3 player, I would be in love with this. Its nice to have an account too, because now just instead of describing how functional and easy it is to patrons, I can log onto it at the info desk and show them. Think I'll win some people over that way.

Task 13 - Sound Effects/Free Stuff - CHECK!

2009-10-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

Back to webolutionizing, yeehaw! Sound snap was a pretty good time. I thought it was rather addicting, because one sound makes you think of another, or the descriptions do, and you just keep searching and giggling, because most are comical in some way. Maybe it's just because its like 10 seconds of totally out of context noise, or maybe it's just me. I searched for "train", "cat", "screech", "laugh", "eating", "applause", and "jingle". Jingle took me to Christmas which took me to Thugs Christmas--which, don't you see what I mean?--is just funny. Also, the descriptions for most are chuckle worthy--for example, one for eating was described as "subtle wet chewing and gulping." Ew. I did not listen to that one. I've been trying to think of how this could be applicable to the library webpage...and can't come up with any stellar applications. Curious to see what other people think. The rest of the task isn't really meant for me. For the Pandora task, I discussed how I'm kind of indifferent to music, as in it doesn't particularly interest me and 9 times out of ten, I'd prefer silence. So looking for free music isn't really very exciting. I don't think I'll be "digging new artists" anytime soon. I do appreciate free things, but like all free things, I kind of assume it's free for a reason, as in the quality suffers. I have checked out Jamendo, which is...well...okay, I guess. I didn't "discover" anything magical. I can understand why a lot of our patrons could be excited about using this stuff, though.

Task 12 - NoveList - CHECK!

2009-09-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'm so happy I made an easy $25! I'm easy to motivate. So NoveList. I used the Series search for "Shadow Children", the first of which I read as the Science Fiction selection for a YA class. It was pretty good, actually. But they were all listed there in order as the second result, so it worked as predicted. Always good. For the Read-a-Like, I searched for Joyce Carol Oates. If you haven't read her, you should. The categories were "Literary Fiction" and "Psychological Suspense." If We Were the Mulvaneys doesn't do anything for you, you may not have a soul. ::Shrugs:: The suggested authors were Margaret Atwood, Don DeLillo, Ruth Rendell, Barbara Vine, Chris Bohjalian, and Doris Lessing. Of them, I've read Margaret Atwood--I get the comparison but wasn't a fan, and Chris Bohjalian, who I tremendously enjoy and eagerly recommend, but don't entirely see the comparison. He's not nearly as dark. I use the Recommended Books all the time! Example--a patron came in who had just been diagnosed with something serious and was otherwise struggling with the illness and requested just funny books. To help her get through the rough patch. NoveList to the rescue. I printed out some from the "Humor" category, which was non-fiction, and then the "Fiction A-Z" had a "Just For Laughs" category. She said it was exactly what she needed. Laughter is the best medicine. Extremely helpful in that scenario. I personally use the "Award Winners" the most for my own reading purposes, mostly "Literary" or "Notable Books." Very handy. I check out their Reading Guides for Kiva. Overall, I like the product--I think it's easy to browse but clunky to search. I agree that patron's reactions are usually positive, and once you get them started browsing, it's intuitive and easy for them to use. Their book display ideas are helpful and cool. Mostly for series info I avoid this because I'm not a fan of their search, and I think a lot of the free websites we link to on our For Readers page are much easier to navigate, but thats just a personal preference.

::Day dreaming about what to buy from Best Buy::

Task 11 -- Book Reporter -- CHECK!

2009-09-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

For a moment there, I had fallen off the Webolution bandwagon--I'm back on it now though. Wahoo. Okay, so Book Reporter. These were what I put in my notes--yes, I take notes for these webolution tasks. I wrote "Cluttered/messy/disorganized/unhelpful/commercial." I believe that sums it up mostly for me. Reading Group Guides I was familiar with and find them phenomenally helpful. I access them frequently and they help with Kiva and I like them. Those portions of their efforts I appreciate. Everything else could never have hit the world wide web and I would be the happier for it. Authors on the web was for authors, not about them, and it was confusing in it's service/purpose. Then I went to the "Author Yellowpages" and looked for Richard Russo--it very unimpressively linked to the Publisher which unimpressively linked to "Page not found." Why do I have the feeling Google would suffice better in each of these instances. Book reporter I found messy and awful, and also provided no information on Richard Russo. The Biographical Resource Center was much better. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to be a very quirky guy, so no really fun inside info...but he has a Ph. D., which I didn't know, and lives in Maine. His novels are really cool small town life stuggle scences, but comic and captivating and insightful. Empire Falls won a Pulitzer, and was made a movie? or HBO series or both. Anyway. Check him out if you haven't already, definitely worth it. Book Reporter though, definitely NOT worth anything. Yuck. I suppose the creators of the task had better luck and thus sent us on this venture.

Task #10--Research Tools--CHECK!

2009-09-09T15:09:00.001-07:00

Cruising right along to Task 10. This is one of the tasks that came most naturally to me, so thats the good news. Me and Ebsco are pals. I really like what they've dones with their search interface recently--it is more intuitive, user friendly, and easy to use. Of all of them, I probably use Master File the most, to search most of all for...drum roll...Consumer Reports, so. Its a handy thing to know--people are always looking for those things. Most recent search request was for mattresses, I believe. It's very handy, because Consumer Reports does have a site, but it's subscription only, so letting people know they don't have to pay is fun. Biography Resource Center is pretty darn magical. I used it to look up Wassily Kansinsky, the artist, who pretty much blew color and abstract art out of the water. He was pretty fundamental in multiple movements, all described well in the articles. There were 4 "biographies"--more in depth than I expected--2 "brief biographies" and 11 "magazine and news articles." The database is clean and super simple to use. I thought it was interesting that he had an entry in Contemporary Authors, because I don't think of him as an author, although of course he was. A delightful work of his art...that I doubt is in CC, but don't sue me. I am giving him full credit. The following is a work by WASSILY KANDINSKY.

Task 9--Web Design--CHECK!

2009-09-04T14:18:00.001-07:00

Wow! Funnest task yet! (Yes--funnest.) I have poked around these before, and used Google sites for some class assignments, which was a pretty good experience. I hadn't ever previously been subjected to the caveman painful coding web design, so I'm thankful to have escaped that. So I started originally on Google sites but I wasn't in love at all. With all my web savviness, I couldn't magically intuitively grasp how to accomplish some pretty simple tasks--like making a new page--so I moved on to Weebly. Which I liked much, much better. There was more variety to choose from as far as templates, layout options, and the drag and drop elements were much more user friendly. Formatting was sometimes kind of clunky--(I couldn't get two pictures right next to each other, which was 3 minutes of battiness before I gave up)--but for the most part, I think it was incredibly easy and actually very enjoyable. I took the Webolution opportunity to fashion a wesbite showing off my cake skills. Yay! I bet you money it'll make you at least a little bit hungry. Anyway, thanks to liberrycop for the great idea of using the experiment for something real. Adds to the fun. See it here: http://www.cakesbybetsey.weebly.com/.

Task #8 -- Creative Commons -- CHECK!

2009-09-03T12:58:00.001-07:00

Creative Commons is a very interesting concept. Yes, I see how it can be helpful or interesting to some people. "Creative" types, I suppose. But honestly, if the created item is or could be worth anything...or is truthfully widely respectable in any way...particularly with scholarly information...it would have to be covered by copyright and thus not be represented there. So. I'm not entirely sure who it helps. I watched some of the video clips that try to claim our access to the past is restricted and off limits due to copyright law and I'm just not sure what big parts of history "they" think we're missing out on. They seem to think too much of themselves or their "mission." I just think that there are plenty of ways to use, share, send, store information and respectfully credit the creators, originators etc. within copyright. I guess my skeptical viewpoint is due mostly to my few searches. All the stuff that turned up was kind of junky and meaningless and hardly even related to the keywords. (I used the keyword "dada" to search for images on flickr--it's an anti-art movement, mostly German--and the pictures were mostly a bunch of fools dressed up as the Joker and his crew.) I understand how if you are the creator, and you're trying to get your stuff viewed or noticed, this might be a good avenue. But if you are an artist or creator--why would you want other people to manipulate your stuff? This is about 12% cool/interesting about about 88% so-so/not worthy of much attention. In my opinion. And yes, if you use any portion of this post, you must contact me for approval and credit it accordingly! :-P (Yay emoticons!)

Task 7--Social Readers Advisory--CHECK!

2009-09-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

This was a great task! I had known about all of these sites and had previously done a project on Readers Advisory 2.0 sites for a class a while ago--and unloaded all I knew/learned on Nancy T to supplement our For Readers page of our website. Which is where you can find most (if not all?) of these. And while I do read like a crazy person, again...I don't feel the need to "social network" about what I read. I do like suggestions/recommendations though, so they're very interesting to browse. Boulder's Good Reads page seemed to me kind of bland and not very active, so I wasn't a big fan of that. Library Thing seemed clean, easy and appealing, if only a smidge "cataloging/tagging" heavy. Shelfari seemed equally simple with many of the same features. Good Reads maybe didn't seem as user friendly as the others, a smidge clunkier, but the discussions were interesting, and I like that you can explore most/all of the site before or without registering. I picked Shelfari, and it's fun to play with, but I think unless you have a pre-established group to hang out with on these sites, it gets boring fast. My favorite was LitLovers though. If I had seen it before, I forgot about it. I LOVED the quick recommendations with 3 different styles--that's really handy. Recipes and discussion Ice Breakers are very, very cool. The courses seem awesome. Thought provoking and easy, and gets you to read new things. For those of us that like free, literary challenges, I guess. I enjoyed this site the most. I don't know about an MCPLD Good Reads account. I'm a fan of our blog for that purpose for now. ::Shrugs::

Task #6 - Library Orientation/Customer Service Tutorials--CHECK!

2009-09-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

I have so much webolving to do. Got a little behind since I was on vacation for a week. Must catch up.

I thought that these sites were extremely well done and would be really helpful for any brand new library staff member. In the OLC website, I appreciated that it provided basic underlying principles and I thought that the quizzes following each section were great review. Some were a smidge shelving heavy. I thought some of the material also seemed a little online user or technology heavy, but for the most part, it explains things well. I liked the question that was "who would you see or talk to in your library if...there was a computer problem, etc." Often just figuring out who to direct someone to or who to ask is a big hurdle. I also flipped through the Ref overview, ORE, which was helpful in mostly the same way. It gave the trainee good understanding of what to ask, what to try, how to handle that transaction.

Since I'm so far behind! the Customer Service link had changed. It took me a little Googling to find it, but it still exists and has only been moved. Also very helpful! I think few people before they start in libraries probably imagine how public service heavy all of our positions are. And something I liked about both sites was how they emphasised that everyone's mission/goal is public service, no matter your department, etc. Generally I strongly dislike using the term "Customers". I think it's very ill fitting. But at any rate. Their sections on handling difficult situations or challenging people were good strong reminders on how to stay professional and level headed. I really think that we truly provide some of the most outstanding service imaginable--in some nasty conflicts I've had or witnessed, I honestly can't imagine any employee anywhere reacting better than we do. I think we've got that part right.

I think that suffices for task Number 6. Yippee!

Task 5 - Multiple Requests - CHECK!

2009-08-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

I'm a big, big fan/advocate of signing into the patron's/my account and doing all my requesting that way. It is a million times more convenient than typing in their/my info multiple times. I really like this feature. I dislike the Book Bag. To me, its always been flukey. Sometimes it works the way I want/expect it to, and other times it doesn't. (It loses items in the process, or doesn't request all of them, or asks you to pick locations of items, which you shouldn't have to, or lets people add non-requestable items which messes up the whole batch. More than one time I've loaded up a book bag just to have to go back, re-find items and request them individually. Not a fan.) These are great features to be aware of! Of course we all know sometimes Millennium is a better choice for volumes/parts/etc? Or sometimes it can be easier to search. A fun fact: if you're in the item's record in Millennium and you select "View" from the top menu and then "Public Display", it opens up a new window displaying that item's page in the catalog. It's handy dandy to go back and forth, confirm THATS what they want, etc.

Task 4 - Social Networking - CHECK!

2009-08-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

I've had a MySpace account forever, started when it was popular, that is now mostly idle and wildly ignored. (I think it still says I live in Massachusetts?) I've never wished to have a FaceBook. I don't have the Internet at home and shouldn't Facebook at work. And like the MySpace, I feel as if it would probably be fun for about...um...three weeks? and then I'd get bored. I think big fans/users probably devote a lot of time to keeping profiles fresh and interesting, but again I think that takes an attention span I just don't have. I've seen some folks comment already that they're not interested in mixing business and pleasure with using these sites among coworkers, etc., and I guess I kind of feel the same way. I think its so popular, even for non-profits/businesses/politicians, etc., because it gives them a quick, free-for-once, way to connect with users/fans, etc. People like having "celebrities" as "friends", that whole feel. And a lot of people do use them for creative expression, which is cool. I think it probably is a helpful/fun/convenient way to meet new people or network. I'm dreading the Twitter task. I can feel it coming.

Task 3 - Library Webpage Hunt - CHECK!

2009-08-13T15:39:00.001-07:00

I would like you all to know that I got a 100% on the Library Webpage Hunt. I can't prove it, because the link to my score only says that I can only take the quiz once. And isn't that a shame. First of all, kudos Nancy and Cari, because it was a tricky and helpful exercise. I couldn't quite figure out where our site explicitly says which branches do and don't have meeting rooms though--I just kind of knew that one. So I'll have to ask where it says it crystal clear for the world to know about. Also, its easy for me to forget about the Community Directory page, so thats a helpful reminder. I think thats all the webolutionizing I can take for one day? Thank goodness tomorrow's Friday too, right?

Task 2 - Pandora - CHECK!

2009-08-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

I'm familiar with Pandora due to back of circ experiences, but otherwise this service just isn't so much for me. I'm pretty much the opposite of a music buff. I don't hate it, I just wouldn't say I enjoy it. Usually if I had to pick between music or silence, I'd pick silence. I'll listen in the car, but have a very hard time imagining just sitting and listening while at home. And if I'm trying to do something, I find it distracting. Also, I don't have the internet at home. But anyway--yes, I see how this product is cool, interactive, and exciting for most people. I think the interface is incredibly easy to use. It's awesome that you never again have to be annoyed by songs you strongly dislike. And when I entered artists/songs, it did pick other items I knew and liked, which was fun. I can see how it would be addictive. If I liked music and had the internet, I'd love this.

Task 1: Set Up Blog - CHECK!

2009-08-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Setting up a blog was a success! I am not a stranger to blogs. At one point I was blog-phobic, but now I have blogaholic tendencies. Go figure. In library school, professors were big fans of assigning blogs, etc., which at first I dreaded--mostly because there wasn't much to think/write about on, say, the mathematical formulations behind Google's search results. Anyway. Then I got permissions to the library's blog and went a little post crazy. At any rate, we're supposed to be introducing ourselves? So my name is Betsey. If I'm not at the Info desk or the Reference desk I'm probably in the downstairs office. I finished my MLS a month ago and had no idea what free time was or what to do with it, so that took some getting used to. I'm a vegetarian and I like all activities that take place in the kitchen, except maybe cleaning. I'm a new mama to my 6 month old kitten Oliver. I'm an amateur cake decorater. I read like crazy. I've been left slightly paranoid after watching a special on mind control last night on the History channel. It's scary stuff. And that should probably officially suffice for Task One. I wonder if I'm beating Carol?