Week 5 Things #10 and #11 March 13, 2008

This was by far the least comfortable of these exercises.  I think the idea of social networking is interesting.  It would be great to have a place to go to see all of the Vermont librarians and exchange ideas and tips, post pictures etc.  It would also be very helpful at school.  If our entire staff was part of a group, we could also exchange ideas, reminders etc.  more easily than e-mail. On the other hand, I was hesitant to be a part of the whole MySpace community (I actually couldn’t bring myself to post my own picture and put up a picture of my card catalog) (??).  I’m sure there’s years of therapy right there!  I also know how much time the students in my college classes spend on MySpace and Facebook, and I know how distracting it can be.  When I first started teaching college writing, computers were a miraculous timesaver.  Now I’m afraid it takes a lot of willpower to turn on a laptop and buckle down to writing an essay without checking e-mail, MySpace etc.  I’m sure as a student I would have had the same problem! I checked out the libraries that have MySpace and Facebook accounts.  It seems like an interesting way to keep in touch with teen patrons - as an elementary school librarian, I’m not sure there is a small child social network (aside from Club Penguin!) out there.  Again, it would be great to stay in touch with other librarians, but I would always have to balance the fun of networking with how much time it uses.  

Week 3-Thing#5 March 13, 2008

I forgot to blog about posting a picture to Flickr.  I have used Flickr to look at sewing and art projects, but I never had any interest in using it myself.  I’m still not sure how the library would use it, but as the yearbook advisor for our school, I am very excited about creating  a place where parents can upload photos of sporting events and other school happenings that we can draw from for the yearbook.  I would also love to get my family to use Flickr - we live far apart and tend to get out of touch with what our children are doing, how tall they are growing, how deep the snow is way up here in Vermont etc.  This would be an easy way to share our pictures.

Week 4 - Thing #8 March 13, 2008

I love RSS feeds!  I have been using Google Reader to keep track of some of  my favorite blogs.  It is so much easier to keep track of new things.  Because I have a Google e-mail account, I have started checking my blogs when I check my e-mail.  It really saves time.   I used to hesitate to bookmark blogs, knowing that I would probably not have time to keep up - now I know that I can easily check everyday.  I already have a new list of children’s lit and library blogs I plan to add to Google Reader. 

Week 3 - Thing#6 February 14, 2008

I loved the Color Pickr.  I always enjoy arranging things by color - kind of a dangerous hobby for a librarian!!  I have no idea what use I could find for it, but after this very gray and snowy day all that color was a treat.

Retrievr is also fun, but since it lets me find photos based on my sketching abilities, I don’t think I’ll be retrieving many photos!!  I drew what I thought was a pretty nice picture of poppies and got everything from people to umbrellas -everything that is except poppies!

Week Three - Thing #6 February 13, 2008

  It was difficult to know how to get this word from the Spell with Flickr website to my blog.  I ended up copying the code and pasting it right into my blog after I clicked the tab that said code.  I don’t know how this would work in other applications, but I’m glad I can actually see it here. 

Week Two Thing #3 - Set Up a Blog February 12, 2008

I never thought I would have my own blog.  I have enjoyed reading sewing and craft blogs for a long time, but the urge to write my own never hit me.  I could never figure out how the writers had time to sew all their own clothes, homeschool their children, grow their own vegetables etc. etc. and still had a few spare minutes to rhapsodize about the sunrise and take pictures of the sticky buns they baked for breakfast.

I don’t expect to take many pictures of my family’s breakfast, but it is fun to be on the writing side of the blog for a change.

Week 1 - Thing #2 February 11, 2008

I always find viewing problems as challenges a bit difficult.  It is easier in theory, I think, than in practice.I love setting up the “toolbox” necessary for a new project.  That may be my fatal flaw - I take so much time reading about a project and assembling the tools that I never actually get started!!

Week 1 - Thing #1 February 11, 2008

I am excited to be a part of this program.  I am somewhat familiar with many of the technologies we will be exploring, but I have never taken the time to really learn about them.  Maybe I will learn something my seventeen year old son doesn’t already know!!