p.s. - Revolution OS

Richard Stallman
Originally uploaded by surfstyle

Very entertaining, this video is about the history and philosophy of the Open Software movement and the development of Linux, told largely in the words of the actual innovators, developers, and entrepreneurs themselves. It was interesting to learn about the eccentric characters involved, the passions stirred up and conflicts yet unresolved.

This is an old photo of a youthful Richard Stallman, the man who began the free software movement with his GNU Project and is still fighting the good fight.

Thing #23: Saying Goodbye

Waving Goodbye
Originally uploaded by lat454205 / Lisa

I begin this final posting with a response to the "last but not least" in the list. My answer is a most definite "Yes!" - I would like another discovery program to be offered in the future. This independent-learning online tutorial format worked for me. It seems ideal to help us keep up with new technology. Professional gain in tech learning aside, I found it valuable (and fun!) personally to learn about Flickr, Zoho, podcasts, electronic books and the rest. The program had enough built-in guidance to let me accomplish most of the exercises on my own, and my grand colleagues/mentors helped me out with the rest. The only drawback - I wonder if others were like me who had to do some of this on my own time. We part-timers just don't have enough hours off the desk and even when we're off the desk, we have other responsibilities. Also, I'm pretty sure that, tech-challenged as I am, I had to spent much more time on the whole than was figured when assigning the CEU's. In a very positive final note and in response to another point in the list, a valuable outcome for me was rediscovering that with support, time and perseverance, new learning can happen and pay off handsomely in unexpected ways.

Thing #22: Electronic Books

Electronic Books are becoming more popular at the Library despite being downloadable only to an MP3 player and not to the ubiquitous iPod. Haven't used my player yet buy it's the ideal motivator to learn more about the Library's electronic book offerings. I especially enjoyed reading about Project Gutenburg. It's powered by volunteers and has over 20,000 titles of the most eclectic offerings. I managed to establish an account in Overdrive and downloaded the software. I found a few titles of interest to me in electronic format in our catalog, and figured out how to put them into a Bookbag for downloading. I haven't downloaded anything yet, but will soon.

Thing #21: Podcasts

I would frequently hear the term but never knew for certain what a "podcast" was. Now, after seeing what all the fuss is about, the idea of choosing favorite podcasts to listen to while I'm on the Internet at home is very appealing. I loaded some business podcasts for my husband and added the RSS feed of the podcast of a humorous NPR program, "Wait Wait..Don't Tell Me!" for me. I imagine that having my own list of podcast feeds will be like having my own private radio station - just my programs, all the time.
Looked into some of the podcast directories (Yahoo's closing theirs down soon) and then at some of the libraries now using podcasts for storytimes and booktalks. Great avenue for libraries to reach the public.

Thing #20 Sharing Videos

Here is a clip of that wonderful and strange actor, Christopher Walken, showing his roots as a dancer. I originally saw it on the blog of a Frederick County librarian.
After looking around at YouTube, I better understand its appeal and why it seems that every teenager in the Library has his eyes glued to it. It is vast in variety of subjects and easy to access.

Thing #19: The Web 2.0 Awards

Quite a list, and I saw several sites I'll check out later. For this exercise, I decided to look at DonorsChoose.Org. It was recently highlighted on an evening news program I'd watched. This philanthropy site, http://donorschoose.org/, allows you to fund online a public school project anywhere in the country for the purpose of providing students with a resource their schools lack. A teacher writes an essay describing what is needed and why. After the project (books, field trip funding, musical instruments, etc.) is fulfilled, a photo and thank you are sent to the donor. You can see how this would be very attractive to potential donors: a very personal, selective way to contribute their hard-earned money, and with direct feedback that applauds them and strokes their charitable egos. The site is user friendly and lets you to search for a project by state, keyword and cost.

Thing #18: Online Productivity Tools

I set up a Zoho account and used Zoho to create this document and post it to my blog. I like the idea of being able to save a document in Zoho either at work or at home on line and work on it anywhere. I can see how Microsoft might be worried that most people have no need to buy its apps if these functions are now available for free on-line. With Zoho, you've got useful templates, spreadsheets, the ability to revert to any version of a document, e-mailing and posting your document online, and even open editing and collaboration if desired. I also checked out "30 Boxes" and some of the other listed online tools.

The Library Sandbox

I tried to register my blog on the Maryland Wiki Sandbox to no avail. Later, happy that Jaya and Beth T. gave us our own sandbox.

Thing #16: Wiki, Wiki, Wiki

Judging from these postings, wikis are a popular tool being considered by libraries. However, it would seem that in their purest form, with open editing and unfettered contribution, wikis would be very problematic in a library setting. Mischief, both silly and serious, and inaccuracies are hardly unknown to that mother of all wikis, Wikipedia. Some examples are posted at http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/vandals.html. Most users already know, or ought to be told, that while wikipedia is a valuable resource, it is unreliable and typically unacceptable in schools and colleges as a legitimate reference. In light of similar possible problems, any wiki that a public library sets up or sponsors would need close oversight. And while a link from the library's home page to a community wiki could be useful, as could wiki subject guides, library wikis might work best for internal collaborative staff efforts like projects and program development. There, the wiki format would be a great advance over current practices.

Thing #15: The Future

I enjoyed the articles so much. The authors' enthusiasm about the future of libraries was contagious, and I caught the bug. We all know that the coming of the internet has had an enormous impact on libraries in the last decade, and that we should prepare ourselves for a professional life of continual changes. It's the only way our profession and libraries have a future. Or we might as well put out the "Closed" sign right now and look into another line of work. But since we do think this is a valuable profession, and we certainly do want young people to consider it for their life's work, let's think positively. Let's anticipate that the powers-that-be will keep their eyes on the goal: those core values which a library stands for in the community and that make libraries essential in a democratic society. Changing technology can serve those ends, as the articles describe.
In particular, I got a kick out of Wendy Schultz' sweeping vision of the library of the future. She doesn't stop at Library 2.0. No, that isn't enough for this futurist. Ms. Schultz gives us a glimpse into the world of a 3D Library 3.0 and on to Library 4.0. The future may be books with avatars, favorite famous librarian avatars guiding us through virtual collections. In the 4.0 version, physical libraries will be knowledge "spas" with stimulating salon-like conversation and atmosphere, art and music, real and virtual book collections, leather chairs, coffee and single malt, along with all that technology has to offer. Great fun and hope I'm around to join her for a glass of wine (not the single malt type, me) at the library/knowledge spa. And I'm not taking anything away from her vision in saying that we already enjoy a few aspects of it already, even if it's not in 3D! In our library system, we are lucky to already have wonderful readers' advisors, an intellectual setting, stimulating atmosphere and real (ok, sometimes real bad) coffee. We even have our own almost-famous librarian (retired) avatar . Just check out Roberta Rood's Books To The Ceiling Blog ! http://www.robertarood.wordpress.com/ She offers insightful recommendations and her passion for literature is compelling.

Things #13 and #14: Tagging, Del.icio.us and Technorati

So much valuable info is out there in those tens of millions of blogs if only you can find it. One thing I learned from these assignments was that Technorati, the chief blog search engine, lets me narrow down my search for what is going to be entertaining or helpful to me by the use of tags, or keywords without a control list. And I can tag my own entries for sharing and retrieving. As for Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking tool, the podcast from the Otter Group was the perfect introduction to it, showing how you don't have to be a researcher or academic to make it work for you. One thing on Del.icio.us can lead you to another and another and another, and back to you. I can definitely see having an account with Del.icio.us.

Thing #12: Search Rolls/Rollyo

I registered with Rollyo and made my own search roll, "NewsJunkieNancy". The thousands, or tens of thousands, of individual website lists might sometimes help in Ref. work to track down obscure or ephemeral information but only if precise keywords are used. In the main, tho, there is bound to be enormous,time-consuming useless duplication as far as searching goes.

Thing #11: Library Thing

Thanks to Library Thing, I now have a new way I can keep track of the books I've read.

Thing #10: Avatars

It was fun picking from the avatar options on several of the image generators. What choices! I finally settled on one from Meez.

Thing #9: MERLIN and News Feeds

I looked at MERLIN and our own HCL contribution, and will check it periodically. Also feel more sure about how to use news feeds.

Thing #8: RSS Feeds

The on-line videos were helpful, and made Really Simple Syndication do-able for even a non-techie like me. I picked out a few feeds I thought would be interesting, especially news sources, and loaded them into my Bloglines Account.

Thing #7: Technology

2007 is the first year we've had a digital camera. For so many reasons, I wish we'd bought one years ago. The photos seems sharper and can be edited in a variety of ways. They can be printed almost instantly at a drug store. Most impressive to me is how easy it is to upload pictures onto the computer for editing and sharing on the internet.

Librarian Trading Cards

My trading card, originally uploaded by joycevalenza.

The graphic art image of Ms. Valenza caught my attention.

Thing #6: Mashups

You can do so much with these apps, and I'll definitely use them if I continue with blogging. The librarian trading cards are a hoot.

Thing #5: Flickr

Flickr is a wonderful site for finding photos. After setting up the Flickr account , I gave Google the release to let me move photos from Flickr to my blog and everything went smoothly. But I still want to find out how to configure the photo for another placement.

Old Quebec City

In August, we visited Quebec and it was wonderful. Tres French with abundant old world charm. An unhurried pace, and wonderful French Canadian food and hospitality. Did you notice the old-world gentleman sitting in the window above what looks like a bookstore? Trompe l'oeil murals that highlight the city's history are everywhere. Now check out that bookstore.

Thing #2: Play vs Problems

Of the 7 1/2 habits of successful lifelong learners, the one that is probably easiest for me is "Play". I'm usually glad to learn a new skill that fairly quickly rewards me with pleasure. "Play" is why I've enjoyed taking yoga and knitting classes, and it's why I enjoy reading.
Probably the hardest habit for me to develop would be viewing problems as challenges. Frustration is my common first reaction to a problem, followed by disappointment in myself that I can't quickly find a solution.. Getting past those emotional road blocks takes a special effort, as does finding the extra energy to look at the problem as a challenge.

Thing 3: Blog "Est. 2007"

Three cheers! Ok, just one whispered cheer; this is a library blog after all. Here's the proof I finally figured Thing 3 out. Not that the effort was what I'd call fun. No... I wouldn't have this headache if I'd been having fun. But now I have a sense of accomplishment, and am definitely more "techno".