jd's blog

a day in the life of a library...the actual day

2009-07-29T07:56:00.011-05:00

07/29/2009
Okay, so this is my account of a “day in the life of a library…” for yesterday, Tues, July 28th. My log is rather long & maybe includes too many mundane, boring things such as hrs prior to & after work … sorry so just skip over or skim. Overall my work day was a rather quiet one since it’s summer & with the economy, budgets etc we were pretty much at barebones basics for class offerings + utilizing online offerings so not the most foot traffic in the library either.

5:25 am
radio alarm breaks the silence; lay & listen for about 10 minutes to the crazy old DJ guys of which I am NOT in their demographic of 55-80 yr old males but my tastes in various things are all over the place so this fits; wish I was at the cabin instead but get up anyway

5:40 am
daily routine: shower & shampoo, TV news/weather, muffin, vitamins & juice, pack lunch, dry hair, do make-up, get dressed

6:30 am
out the door for ½ hr drive to work; continue Audio book CD “Sophie’s World”

7:00 am
arrive at work – park in different lot due to regular lot being reserved for an event; just have to remember this at the end of the day

7:05 am
look over newspapers for current events, news etc; check e-mail & phone msgs – for the library acct & my work acct & respond as needed

7:30 am
open library, turn on lights, check all things are in order for the day

7:40 am
review projects for student worker; review my schedule for the day/week – possible mtgs, commitments etc.

7:50 am
catch up on reading RSS feeds accumulated since I last worked on Fri; answer main switchboard call re: if we have a mtg in our library classroom today – nope; student worker arrives so briefly go over day’s plan; back to RSS feeds; pulled out into the library to assess lighting problems (burnt out bulbs, low/high wattage probs etc); finish RSS feeds until more come in

8:45 am
sit in on weekly general college Student Services’ mtg – mtg was cancelled so instead read some of the “day in a life” blogs; I especially enjoy the creativeness of the blog names

9:00 am
water cooler chat about the bears (see later in my day’s activities) with a co-worker who grew up in that area & went there before it was a sanctuary; shared my Monday’s “awaken to a bat in the cabin bedroom” story with student worker

9:20 am
picked up snail mail forthe library & me; sorted through for save/recycle/toss; give to student worker for processing; rec’d my CE credits & participation prize for “More Things on a Stick : A Library Learning 2.0 Program”

9:40 am
processed our renewal for the database “North American Indian Thought and Culture”

9:55 am
mid-morning snack of peanut butter on 1 slice of whole grain oat bread as fuel for entering some new items into our tech system

11:00 am
check e-mails, RSS feeds again. A favorite blog is WebWorkerDaily when their entries deal with new technology/apps/bells & whistles etc.

11:10 am
update my “day in the life” log for the morning's activities getting it ready for my blog

11:20 am
assist student in what should have been a quick internet search re: Minnesota Indian tribes but we encounter probs with research computers – while using Dogpile.com Internet Explorer goes into error msg mode. After trying 3 different machines I abandon them & go to the service desk computer and search with quick success. Then off to the IT Dept to get further assistance. Brad troubleshoots with me and still we run into probs so he determines it’s needed to update the patches. We use Deep Freeze on these machines so they might not have been updated recently and Deep Freeze not been reset.

12 noon
quickly fix a few label problems on some videos

12:15 pm
lunch w/gals from other areas/offices/depts as a way to connect & catch up on what’s happening in other areas

1:15 pm
check e-mails & respond; iron out details of an upcoming mtg (where, when, contact people etc); give directions to student worker for a sm project; ck on status of backordered DVD & status of 2 DVD replacements that were ordered

1:50 pm
inquired about install of security cameras in progress; checked w/contract workers working on finishing touches related to recent glass installation for noise reduction

2:05 pm
reviewed e-mails rec’d back in regards to some catalog record fixes that I had requested previously; cleaned up some other catalog records

2:20 pm
read some links from a fellow librarian with good info re: twitter uses/stats etc since I’m getting ready to start up a twitter acct for our library

2:40 pm
tried to handle an upset student at the circ desk who didn’t have a student ID card (she opted not to get one) & who wanted to check out several DVDs (our summer session ends tomorrow); our library barcodes are on the back of the ID cards and until a student/employee brings in the ID card the 1st time we don’t have the barcode entered or activated in our circ system (separate system from the student services system that creates the IDs); and now IDs won’t be issued again until the start of Fall semester. Hmmm…might have to come up with a better way to work-around for these ‘last minute’ students keeping in mind it would provide them better service even when they’ve ‘dropped the ball’ … but does this constitute ‘enabling’ them? Ok, I’m pretty sure that the point of this blog session wasn’t ethical situations in the library but it is food for thought.

3:00 pm
prep library for closing; makes rounds to ensure library patrons are heading out & don’t need last minute assistance – summer session hours are short and I am the only library staff person on duty save my student worker (when I have one); lock up about 10 minutes prior to the end of my day.

3:30 pm
leave work; ½ hr drive home; continue Audio book CD (darn thing is due today & I’m not going to finish! Is it a sin for a library worker to return an item late???)

4:00 pm
meet GZ at my house for 2 hr drive north to see the bears! Quick drive-thru food order at Virginia, MN & eat on the way

6:30 pm
arrive at The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary – this was WONDERFUL even though it started to rain right after we got there. It did clear up after about 45 minutes & we stayed until the end so back to the truck and on the road by 9 for a 2 hr drive back.

11 pm
home again; hurry up to hit the bed ‘cuz 5:25 am comes quickly and I do like more than 6 hrs of sleep – oh, well the evening was especially fun!

a day in the life of a library...

2009-07-24T13:56:00.006-05:00

07/24/2009
i'm going to participate in this little project ... by sharing the details of how i spend 1 workday. this is round 3 or the 2nd annual happening but my 1st time taking part. the date chosen is mon, 7/27 but I happen to have that day off so i'll plan to keep track of 7/28 instead ... tune in after that date for my recap. i'm sure that it will be filled with very exciting activities!

Thing 47 -- Evaluation

2009-05-11T10:28:00.005-05:00

05/11/2009
Well, the completetion of another Things learning program! Yeah! And as with the original 23 Things on a Stick, this round of More Things on a Stick was very good -- great to keep up with the ever-changing, fast-paced techno world. And a great way to connect these tools with library uses. A great big THANK YOU to our Minnesota Multitype Library Systems for putting this together for us!

Thing 46 -- WebJunction Minnesota

2009-05-11T09:50:00.004-05:00

05/11/2009
I've been a member since July, 2004 -- although not a very active member. When I think about it I scan the site etc but it's just another one of those things to remember to do. I did sign up for a class once ... then got too busy (think that's when the 1st round of Things on a Stick started) and I never went back to it.

I found Linda & Jen and sent "friend" requests ... hmmm, this is too much friending ... sorry, gals, love ya both!

One thing I noticed & don't like -- I'll be ck'ing out a "MN" WJ item and when done I'll hit the "home" button thinking it will send me back to the MNWJ home but it doesn't -- it sends me to the main WJ.

Overall, just another site to remember ... feeling there's an overload of sites to remember ... and I've not really found anything earthshaking that calls me to go back ... but will keep my "membership" as I've done for 5 yrs and keep ck'n in once in awhile.

Thing 45 -- Cloud Computing

2009-05-11T09:43:00.005-05:00

05/11/2009
in the cloud ... yup, been there for awhile .... hotmail.com (although I do save to my desktop in an e-mail software package important e-mails I don't want to disappear), flickr ... hmmm, dead brain right now so can't think of others ... other than this obvious one: this blog!

I've not jumped on board with using the doc type clouds -- but think it would be great if I needed to present or had to use multiple computers such as in teaching in different classrooms.

I'm guessing that there will be more and more cloud apps in the future ... some that will stay and some that will be short-lived ... guess this can be said for regular apps too. Okay, so I'm not a great fortune teller!

Thing 44 -- The Economy

2009-05-08T10:34:00.006-05:00

05/08/2009
Yes our economy sucks right now ... hopefully it will get better! I've lost quite a bit in the stock market -- both in my 401k (luckily I still have a traditional retirement plan also) and in my personal stocks. I'm just lucky (I think??) that I have about 10-12 years left before I plan to fully retire so HOPEFULLY the market will recover during this time period and I'll be at least back to what I was at about 18 months ago -- better would even be, well, better!

The resources listed in this Thing are very interesting -- a little bit of everything for everybody. I'm not a big garage-saler but it might be fun to scope out the sales using the mapping apps. And I thoroughly enjoyed the video on "explaining the 2008 financial crisis" -- I posted that on my FB acct.

Right now I'm probably going to help my daughter sell her poor old car for parts on CraigsList -- the engine "went" -- which is too bad for several reasons: one, that she just fixed a few things a few months back, and two, that the overall car body & interior are in very good shape. But engine replacement is costly and you're only gambling with another engine with mileage on it. So we're going to try to part it out or sell as a part's car.

Thing 43 -- Online TV and Video

2009-05-08T10:08:00.006-05:00

05/08/2009
Yes, to having another source for "tv" watching!?!? I DO admit I have my few shows that I MUST see! Like Desperate Housewives (my honey got me hooked on this one!), Lost (yes, most of the time I'm lost), and Ghost Whisperer (although I don't like the whole Jim/Sam storyline added this year). And since I went to digital TV before the 1st deadline I can't record my shows with my current equipment. So if I do miss a show I usually go directly to the TV station webpage and view it from there -- with the exception of GW which they don't provide (bummer!).

Hulu -- Ya gotta love their ads!!! I checked them out previously -- based on seeing their TV ad even thought I don't usually watch TV ads -- I added to my del.icio.us acct, and will keep it in mind should I feel the need for more things to watch. I did check and GW is not on Hulu either -- no surprise since most of Hulu just points you to the TV station.

My next big thing is to connect my HDTV to my DSL and get a TiVo so that I can take advantage of on-demand Netflix videos. I'd also then be able to again record my fav shows. But this is a time & money investment which grad school has put on the sidelines!

Thing 42 -- Music 2.0

2009-05-08T08:36:00.007-05:00

05/08/2009
the music of our lives.......
I've used iTunes for about 8 years -- I have very poor radio reception at work so at first I listened to their online stations but at the time the signals were always the best so the stations would cut out. So then I took my favorite CDs (that I wasn't listening to at home) and loaded those onto iTunes and this is how I've listened to music ever since. I also buy many songs via iTunes. And I have a playlist with all of my favorite Christmas tunes that I switch to nears the holidays. I've really liked and used this both at work and at home and I sync my iPod.

Pandora -- I signed up and made a quick little radio station. This was very easy and I think a great way to have access to lots of music. I'll probably continue using what I have but I'll keep this in mind as a possibility to connect via my cell phone.

Last.fm -- this looks like another good option to keep in mind. I might think about changing to one of these or at least switching it up a bit if I get tired of hearing my same old songs over & over again.

Radio-Locator & Live365 -- I ck'd these out but couldn't locate my favorite "car radio" station even though I know they are streaming online. I do like that Live365 has some downloadable widgets -- I signed up and made a quick widget selecting some stations that play soundtracks. Checkout my widget on the side and see what you think!

Thing 41 -- Mashup your life

2009-05-01T11:32:00.007-05:00

05/01/2009
okay, so another thing that I'm probably not buying into -- at least not right now. I did logon to Friend Feed -- I can be found at www.friendfeed.com/dianerauschenfels if you're so inclined to look for me. :0) I looked around a little bit trying to find a things group but I wasn't successful -- I only found Linda Wadman. ;)

I might consider trying HelloTxt as a way to update my status on facebook and twitter. Okay, so I took the time right now & signed up ... I got my twitter status to update but my facebook status didn't work ... hmmm, need more detective work but later ... it's lunchtime!!!

Thing 40 -- Mashup the web

2009-05-01T10:44:00.009-05:00

05/01/2009
hmmm, wheel of lunch?? A good idea considering we're usually trying to figure out where to go for dinner every Friday night! And even though we have numerous places available we always tend to get stuck in a rut and can't think of anywhere so end up at one of our several "usuals". As for lunch, the selection is very limited in this small town I work in -- I drive 20 miles from home to work.

Visual headlines -- this is very cool! A very interesting way to look at the headlines of the day. I clicked on some of the pics and saw many from flickr ... I liked this one titled "tiny teeth".

TimeTube -- another cool mashup tool. I like rocks so I entered "rock" as a keyword. It was interesting to see the results such as: friends rock, rock & roll, rock bottom, kid rock etc.

Walk Score -- I tried my area and only ranked a 5 out of 100 and "must drive" but then I live in a suburban area -- actually my house is built on an old dairy farm field! I also tried the Duluth downtown area and that rated much higher with a 89 out of 100 and "very walkable". I think this would be a useful tool for travel because of the helpful links on the side pointing to such things as libraries, shopping, dining etc.

Thing 39 -- Digital Storytelling

2009-05-01T10:29:00.005-05:00

05/01/2009
Okay, so I like taking photos and I've tried the whole scrapbooking thing but I'm not that into it -- just to putzy or something for me. I have a creative side but I think I'm too much of a perfectionist and get hung up on how it looks.
Anyway, I've made a very simple, quick little scrapblog scrapbook with some pics I've taken of our library in the past -- prior to our addition & remodel. I'll not be a blue ribbon winner in any scrapbooking contest but I hope you can at least enjoy the pics!

http://www.scrapblog.com/viewer/viewer.aspx?sbid=1764359

Thing 38 -- Screencasting

2009-04-03T08:39:00.012-05:00

05/01/2009
Okay, so I never moved on to the next thing and I'm just now getting back to this thing. We've been swamped at work with students and preparations for the accreditation team visit.

We recently had our overall college website overhauled by an outside vendor. And in doing so I no longer have control over the design and can no longer immediately update information as I need/want. I understand the overall need to have the college website be uniform in design but for our library web pages we now have multiple layers of pages to get to our info & links that we and our students use every day. Our students aren't happy with the design and are having trouble getting used to finding the info (catalog, databases etc) in the new format. So my screencast is a simple show of where to find us and all of our old links in new places. If I were going to use this in real life I would like it to also have audio but my computer does not have that capability. So, here's a small, quick screencast that I did using Jing.

.......hmmm, I can't seem to upload my screencast ... I keep getting an error msg. ... I'll try again later ... or?? suggestions??

Jing -- other than my little upload problem, I found this to be a very easy to use tool and I hope to find actual uses for it in the future!

04/03/2009
hmmm, screencasting ... I've been stuck for about a week or so trying to decide what I should attempt to screencast ... no great lightening bolts of ideas have come to me ... so for now, being that I like "order" I'm going to just post this "place holder" blog entry and move on.

Back to Thing 31 -- More Twitter

2009-03-30T10:48:00.003-05:00

03/30/2009
so I ran across this YouTube video and I LOVE it!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2HAroA12w

Thing 37 -- Photo Tales

2009-03-18T14:04:00.012-05:00

03/18/2009

TiltShift -- another toy to play with ... I took a pic that is a group of old calendar pics and the result is rather interesting ...

Okay, so then I took a few pics that I had taken in a brief view of our campus and I used animoto to create a little animated slide show ... you should be able to view this directly below this blog posting. I like the overall presentation but I didn't really like any of the music that they had available but I wasn't interested in uploading any of my own music. If I was really going to do something like this for our library web page I'd probably look into uploading some drum or native flute music or such.

I also used Sideoo to create a horizontal slide show -- which you should be able to view at the bottom of my blog page. This was very easy & quick. I do wish that there was a little bit more of a "border" or something (just slightly) between the pics -- just to distinguish them somewhat.

Overall, what can I say?? Lots of fun and ideas for all of those pics we have hiding in files on computers that have never been printed or pics that are still stuck in our digital cameras!!

FDLTCC campus short

2009-03-18T14:03:00.001-05:00

Thing 36 -- Comic Relief-Generate Some Fun

2009-03-16T10:06:00.010-05:00

03/16/2009
hmmm, a little tee-hee or ha-ha or in this day and age a lol or gol!!

I like the wordle created word cloud for "more things" so I've shrunk it's size and added it to my page.

I also looked at ToonDoo and found this library cartoon that I liked and think it's very fitting!

by mariamaria Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

I've seen other sites like the one to convert your name to Dewey -- mine was rather long but I thought interesting because it put me in the area of "technology" -- which I think is fitting.

I thought the Vinyl Record Creator was cool & I plan to make a record for a friend who was in a band and loves to sing karoke. :0))

The Acme Label Maker was another interesting app and looking around on this same site I found the Acme License Maker. I created a MN license plate for 1952 for my sister -- it's her bday in June and she was born in MN in 1952!

Now how could you possibly list lolcats generator as a "very silly generator"??? What's not to love about "I can has cheezburger"???? Kitties can bring so much love and laughter into our lives ... may my precious Emma rest in peace ... May 1996 to March 2009.

As for the Excuse-O-Mat ... well, who couldn't use a good excuse once in awhile?? Here's mine for not looking at ALL of the links on this thing assignment:
...I got so absorbed in this loser who USED to be my romantic interest that I could hardly work, much less concentrate on trivialities-- and then my bank statement got screwed up. I am so much of a space cadet sometimes! Anyway, I hope my karma doesn't bottom out this week.

Thing 35 -- Books 2.0

2009-03-13T09:53:00.012-05:00

03/13/2009
I started with LibraryThing during the 1st round of things. I like it and I have tried to keep it updated and when I could I've tried to add older book reads in -- those that I happen to remember & were from the time prior to my MS Excel list of reads. I've added reviews to the recent books I've read and I've searched other member's pages with similar reading interests to see what they've been reading. But lately I've not been as active in pleasure reading -- too much reading for classes -- so I've not been updating or using my LibraryThing acct.

I looked at BookMooch and PaperBack Swap -- both are interesting ideas and a great way to share with others PLUS recycle/reuse/reduce. I'm passing these 2 links on to my sister and niece -- both of whom are avid readers and heavy book buyers.

BookCrossing -- I simply LOVE this idea!! What an adventurous idea (much better than following a dollar bill!). I'm going to have to find a great little book to send on a journey!

Facebook book apps -- I'm on facebook and I've used the weRead app (used to be iRead) but I haven't been as good about keeping it updated -- I truly wish that LibraryThing would interact or become a facebook app & save me the double-entry. I see Shelfari in there but I didn't like them as well.

One thing that I think that the services above do is they show that people are reading! A very good thing in the day and age when people are saying that reading has gone by the wayside. So if a little books 2.0 app gets people to share then great!

Thing 34 -- Is This Our Competition--Online Answer Sites

2009-03-11T14:42:00.003-05:00

03/11/2009
I looked at a few of the suggested sites -- I liked Cha Cha & might try to remember it for mobile use. I think it's a cool resource for the quick question/answer -- like when do the MN Wild play? etc.

I quickly looked at (really only the homepage of) AllExperts -- they might have been around since 1998 but I didn't like the looks of their site. To me it was like the "bad" webpages you sometimes get when you've entered a web address incorrectly. So I didn't look any further -- "all experts" or not it's time for them to get an extreme webpage makeover!

I also looked at Snappy Fingers and for the fun of it I asked, "how do I change a lightbulb?" I rec'd 4 matches -- the 1st listed gave actual directions, the 2nd listed was a joke about how many feminists it takes to do so, the 3rd match had nothing at all to do with the question, and the 4th match was info from a blacksmith's page.

So, overall do I think these sites are our competition? No way. I just think that they are alternative ways to go about getting answers but as with the internet/www in general it's "user beware" ...

Thing 33 -- Travel 2.0

2009-03-10T14:34:00.003-05:00

03/10/2009
This was a quick "thing" but very enjoyable ... hmmm, travel sweet travel!!

I ck'd out "the lost girls" travel blog -- yes, I'm jealous!! I think I'll probably try to keep up with these gals via RSS -- unless it gets to be too much reading (which I have enough of these days with grad school!).

I also (quickly) looked at the "my life of travel" and think this would be a great resource for checking out if you're thinking of traveling vs. only the 'travel books' views. I tagged this in my del.icio.us account.

I also looked at mapness (also tagged in del.icio.us) and think I might use this in the future.

I am hoping (oh so very much!) that the timing will work out so that I can take a3 week J-term to New Zealand either next year or the following year. So maybe these Travel 2.0 things will come in handy then!!

Thing 32 -- Google Maps

2009-03-10T14:16:00.004-05:00

03/10/2009
This was interesting ... I've looked at google maps before but I hadn't created a map. I found the location of our college and created a push-point on a satellite map to locate our library on the campus building. Click FDLTCC Library and this should bring you to my map!

Thing 31 -- More Twitter

2009-03-10T13:20:00.003-05:00

03/10/2009
Okay, so I've said I'm just not that into Twitter ... but I looked at a few of the suggested links.
- I quickly checked out Spy -- and spied on some recent facebook updates ... interesting I guess? I think my time is better spent on other things.

- I tried out Twitter Grader is see how I rank -- not so great (although not surprising since I've only posted twice1) -- I'm 1,424,024 out of 1,558,762 with a grade 6 out of 10 (how?).

I was surprised/interested to find that since my 2nd & 3rd tweets I've had 3 request to follow me -- a person I don't know, an organization I'm following, and my nephew!

I think, for at least now, I'm not convinved that I should be tweeting........

Thing 30 -- More Ways to Use RSS and Delicious

2009-03-06T09:14:00.004-06:00

03/06/2009
RSS -- I have several things setup on RSS: local newspaper, a favorite political cartoonist (Walt Handelsman), and LibraryLanding to name a few. I have them setup to come into my e-mail account and I'm notified (just like my e-mails) when a new posting as occurred. Each has it's own "folder" so they are separated. All of this lets me look when I have time. I've considered adding other RSS feeds but I also don't want to get overloaded with reading -- I have enough of that right now in grad school since it's all online. This round I've added a RSS "subscribe to" link on my blog.

del.icio.us -- I started an account prior to the 1st round of things but I didn't fully start using until the 1st round. At that time I imported about 90% of my computer favorites from my computers. I continually use del.icio.us -- probably tagging something at least once a day. I still think that I like favorites best but del.icio.us makes it so handy to be able to access from any computer. One downfall is that I really would like to find the time to go into my account and create some better "folders" or other subdivisions. In this round I've added mn23 and kayakingqueen to my network -- although I'm not yet sure how/why I'll use these networks. Something for more discovery at a later date. I'm drausche on del.icio.us and to date I have 991 tags.

Thing 29 -- Google Tools

2009-03-03T14:11:00.008-06:00

03/03/2009
hmmm, I've never been a big fan of google (I've always liked & used dogpile.com) but it seems that google keeps coming up with little tidbits of uses so that I've eventually ended up using them -- such as this blog and gmail (used with this blog but not otherwise).

In the 1st round of things I used the alerts to watch a few fellow thingster's blogs. This was a great way to know when people updated without my having to check daily -- a kind of rss.

Today I looked over the book search and entered Waasa Inaabidaa (We look in all directions) -- a local title. It was interesting to see the info displayed including the map shown of places listed in the book.

I also recently became aware of goog411 and think it maybe helpful plus a great cost savings (my cell provider charges $1.79 per 411 call).

Thing 28 -- Customized Home Pages

2009-03-03T13:46:00.002-06:00

03/03/2009
I've looked at several of these previously -- pageflakes and igoogle at the time I thought were okay but never used them. I setup a netvibes page and I think I'm going to like this. It took a little time to get it how I think will be the most useful + I ran into some little quirks that tossed me around but I'm not sure those were the page or my system acting up.

I customed my page with my e-mail, added facebook (although not sure I'll have it automatically sign in since that gives netvibes access to all my facebook things + those of my friends), I added my logon screen for grad school (on there daily!), and changed the news feeds to my likes.

I did create a blidget on widgetbox just to try it -- I used my own blog page just as a test. And if I can find the time I think I'm going to try the show yourself widget just for the fun of it!

Thing 27 -- Twitter

2009-03-02T15:16:00.002-06:00

03/02/2009
hmmm, not sure that I would find Twitter as something that I personally would use. I already use Facebook status updates for letting my group know what I'm doing. So I'll have to check into this a little more and think about it.

I will share an interesting use of Twitter that was in the Duluth News Tribune yesterday (Sunday, March 1, 2009) "Twitter's new twist: UMD journalists track use of handicap parking spots" ... here's a link to the article:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/113658/

Thing 26 -- Ning (again)

2009-02-27T15:00:00.003-06:00

02/27/2009
I join the 23 things ning back in round one. I had been one of the people to suggest/wish that the ning had been presented earlier in the 23 things format. This would have given us thingsters a better way to connect while going through the learning process. Now I'm only hoping that I'll have enough time to get through the more things let alone if I'll have time to pop into ning!

For this time around on ning I have:
~ joined a group -- "MLIS students"
~ left a comment in the above group
~ left a comment on Tami J's ning page re: her very cute profile pic!
~ updated some of my profile info
~ friended Linda Wadman (request pending!) who's also a facebook friend :0))

As for possible uses -- I've considered starting a Ning for my high school classmates as a way to connect/re-connect ... but I've not yet jumped into this yet. Facebook is our other option in the running.

Thing 25 -- blogger's toolkit

2009-02-27T14:32:00.003-06:00

02/27/2009
Well, I had some fun with this "thing" ... I added a ClockLink clock for "a little slice of time" :0)) and I used feevy to include post updates from the Library Landing blog.

I also tried some of the visitor counters and a map but I didn't like the way they looked on my blog. Same goes for a photo of the day and endangered creature of the day -- in both cases either the pic/display were either too large for my sidebar or too odd shaped for the basebar.

And in all honesty I skimmed over many of the items either due to not being of interest or that I've tried some of them previously along the way.

Thing 24 -- Refresh Your Blog

2009-01-23T14:58:00.005-06:00

01/23/2009
I'mmmmmmmm back! So here are the things I did for this thing:

I changed my blog template, slightly!
I removed some items & moved some others around my blog layout.
I changed my profile photo & added a little more info "all about me"!
I ditched my old avatar (which I never really liked!) and created a new "horoscope" avatar.
And, prior to starting this Thing, I registered with the MORE Things program!

So, I think that's about it for now.......oh, have to answer these questions:

Blog Prompts

How much have you blogged since you finished the 23 Things On a Stick? NOT MUCH!
What do you like about blogging? FUN TO TYPE AWAY JUST NOT SURE ANYBODY CARES WHAT I SAY!
Have you found other blogs to read? SOME BUT NOT MANY ... TIME CONSUMING.
Do you comment on others' blogs? I DID WHEN WE WERE DOING THE 23 THINGS & PROBABLY WILL AGAIN THIS TIME AROUND.

Dr. Susan Love launches the Army of Women

2008-10-03T08:30:00.005-05:00

10/03/2008
Please consider joining if you are able to....thank you.

I just joined the Love/Avon Army of Women .....
The Love/Avon Army of Women offers women the opportunity to partner with the scientists who are conducting research that will end this disease--once and for all. Breast cancer has been around for decades, but it does not have to be our future. We can be the generation that stops breast cancer once and for all by figuring out what causes this disease and how to prevent it! Sign up for your sister, mother, daughter, granddaughter, best friend, and the woman you met last week. This is YOUR chance to be part of the research that will end breast cancer. It takes a just a minute to join. But the impact we will have will last a lifetime. Please Join Me in Being One in a Million!

http://www.armyofwomen.org/

weather wonders....

2008-08-29T13:10:00.004-05:00

08/29/2008

a pic I took this a.m. on the way to work ... ground (or river?) fog........

BeFunky Cartoonizer Tool

2008-07-18T12:51:00.010-05:00

07/18/2008

Okay, so I've not been actively blogging since I finished 23Things ... well it's not that I couldn't have been blogging ... I just haven't. But today I came across this fun tool so I thought I'd share ... just in case anybody out there is watching me. It's a "heard it through the grapevine" story ... from a Tribal College Librarian's listserv (thx, alvin!) that I'm on we were sent this iLibrarian link for 17+ Fun things to do with your online photos. I only took the time to look at the BeFunky Cartoonizer ... and look what I made........

Thing 23 -- The Grand Finale!

2008-04-04T15:30:00.006-05:00

04/04/2008

Whew! I'm done! So here are my final "things" ramblings in reponse to the asked questions:

- Go back to your thoughts/ideas about Library 2.0. Has anything changed as a result of this experience? -- hmmm, I try to keep up with technology but I guess not as well as I thought! Making the resolution (hopefully better than a New Year's resolution!) in Thing 22 should help with that?? I can only try!

- What were your favorite Things and discoveries? -- getting into LibraryThing; playing more with Facebook; graphic tools; reading other thingster's blogs about how they viewed the tasks; and starting/maintaining a blog!

- How did you connect with others doing the 23 Things On a Stick? -- I tried to comment on other people's blogs in areas of interest to me. I guess I succeeded in helping a fellow thingster (Darin) ... and that was rewarding!!

- Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? -- I really like the ning ... would like to see that continue as a way to connect with other thingsters.

- What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or content? -- come up with a better way for the thingsters to communicate ... as I suggested in my survey & in my Thing 21.

- If we offered a 23 More Things On a Stick program like this in the future would you participate? -- YES, definitely I'd participate!!

- How would you describe your learning experience in one word or in one sentence, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things On a Stick learning activities to others? -- Great learning tool!!!

Thing 22 -- What Did I Learn Today?

2008-04-04T14:29:00.002-05:00

04/04/2008
So what did I learn? always take time to "STOP for Web 2.0" ... I've always tried to keep up on technology in general ... it's been my life ... but sometimes other things get in the way ... like finding time. And then it's how to keep up? So many new things are popping up every day ... so my "resolution" is to keep carving out a little time each Friday (slower day at work) to keep up with Web 2.0 and Library 2.0.

Thing 21 -- Ning & Other Social Networks

2008-03-28T14:48:00.009-05:00

03/28/2008
Ning -- Ok so I joined 23 Things On A Stick Ning. I posted a comment (liked the Dewy pic) on Cheryl's Ning. I changed my settings on my Ning. I've added a Ning badge to the right. And I uploaded some pics ... see widget below:

[will have to come back to this ... can't get it to work right now ... bummer!]

I think it would have been a good thing to have had us all join the 23 Things On A Stick Ning near the beginning of the Learning Program. I think it would have provided us a better way to interact with each other. At times I felt like Darin -- am I the only one out there? do they know I'm here? Especially since we were supposed to be commenting on other participants' blogs. Oh, well .... Ning was/is fun from what I've seen in this little glimpse.

WebJunction -- I've glanced at this site a few times but I usually forget about it until I get an e-mail that mentions it or something on the site. I did sign up for a freebie self-paced class but I put that on hold until I finish with the 23 Things.

gather -- I snooped around the site but that's about it ... maybe I'll come back to it another time.

Thing 20 -- Facebook and MySpace

2008-03-28T11:29:00.003-05:00

03/28/2008
Facebook:
I've had a Facebook acct for a little while ... I set it up originally with the intent to see if it would be a good way to connect with students at our college. We have enrollment of about 1100 but our Facebook network only has about 70 members (including alums) so for the time involved I decided not to pursue it ... but I will keep it in mind for the future.

As for personal use, I keep in touch w/a friend but we were doing that anyway via e-mail. I "friended" Lydia from our 23 things learners after I read her plea that she was feeling pitiful without friends. From the assignment instructions I wrote on several walls, and I joined a few more groups (ALA, Library 2.0, AILA, Librarians and Facebook) -- I had done both these things previously but what the heck. I looked around for additional friends to add, but I wasn't too successful in finding people I knew in my age group (yes, over 20 or so!) I did find lots of my daughter's and son's friends (okay that gives you a clue as to my age ... but it's only chronological not in mind & actions!!). I sent a msg to one of my daughter's best friends who has always called me "mom" ... I didn't want to invade her life by asking to be "friended" ... I just wanted to say "hi". Well she "friended" me! Something I'm sure none of my kids would do!! Even so, this is my pledge that I will NOT be a noisy snooper in Laura's Facebook so her friends can rest easy.

MySpace:
I've been out on MySpace before but I've never setup an account & I probably won't do so for personal use. And even though libraries are out there on MySpace I don't think at this point in time that I'd take the time & effort to create a site for our library.

I've thought of MySpace as "wilder" than Facebook but after reading in HS Media Musings that he found (accidently) a Facebook group for having sex in the library I'm not too sure about that statement anymore! I view MySpace as more of a private (that does get public) way for people to express themselves and interact with friends. And I'd take bets that my kids and their friends would not add me as a friend and that's okay. I should add that my "kids" are adults (20 somthings) not teens.

Thing 19 -- Podcasts

2008-03-21T12:00:00.018-05:00

03/21/2008

The 1st podcast I picked I found in podcast.com. I used their "rooty/our featured pocasts" menu and then clicked on Science. Kidcast.tv : Science@Home jumped out to me. My 3 "kids" (human not 4 legged!) watched Bill Nye the Science Guy as they were growing up plus I've always been interested in science. The episode I viewed was Science@Home: Minute 7. These podcasts are only quick, simple shows that answer science questions submitted by kids but DEFINITELY more useful than commerical advertisements! I did notice that the podcast was listed under "lastest episodes" but the link info said it had been posted 41 weeks ago -- hmmm, not too recent. So I found their direct website and found out quickly that they have had to abandon their shows etc. -- their news blog indicated a "cease and desist notice" ... so much for that!

Okay so on to some more podcasts I tried. The Education Podcast Network (EPN) seems like it would have some interesting & academic titles (I work in an academic library). I started to listen to Math Mutation #60 "Drop that number or we'll shoot" but it was only audio ... and surprise, surprise ... boring!! Just thought I'd give it a shot (yes, pun intended!). So while still on EPN I checked out a podcast under the topic "Healthful Living", The EnvironMinute -- "Easter Eggs" but again, just audio. So I'm really a visual person while on the computer :))) and if I wanted to listen to audio only then I'd turn on a radio ... and if I wanted boring radio then I turn on talk-radio.

Podcastalley.com didn't appeal to me; reminded me more of a news source. Podcast.net wouldn't load for me so I went back to Podcast.com and checked out the Education rooty and selected The Princeton Review Vocab Minute "Party". This is supposed to teach a vocab word in 60 seconds via song. Well, for higher education it's an interesting concept ... and I guess could be used to bridge a link between K-3 and ESL ... but mainly I think it's a college group having fun and touting this as educational. I was expecting something more a long the lines of Schoolhouse Rock teaching but this is more like Raffi enjoyment. ... I should note this was only audio but I did like it!

Would I ever podcast? As in create one myself? I really don't think so ... or at least I don't have any inspiration for a podcast of my own creation. As for subscribing to a podcast I think I'd have to do a little more researching but I don't think that I would subscribe. But I reserve the right to say "never say never" ...

Thing 5 Revisited -- More Flickr Fun

2008-03-18T11:14:00.006-05:00

03/18/2008

I was so inspired by Linda's "Missy Kitty/Warholized" that I had to try it myself! So here's me (at about age 15) "Warholized" using BigHugeLabs Warholizer. I think Missy Kitty still rules but I had fun trying!

Thing 18 -- YouTube

2008-03-17T15:11:00.010-05:00

03/17/2008
I so wanted to upload Gary Allan's video "Tough Little Boys" but the embedding has been disabled by request (I assume by the artist etc.) I think is this a wonderfully done music video. I remember having listened to the song many times before actually seeing the video. I had enjoyed the song and always wondered what the video was like but I had NO idea that it was portrayed as service men with their little girls. Wow!

Okay, so here's the video I picked: Cats talking, Translation.

Yes, cats rule!

YouTube Uses -- What can I say? Yes, numerous uses. I especially like the Winona State Univ Library video -- great way to advertise a library!

Thing 17 -- ELM Tools

2008-03-17T11:16:00.007-05:00

03/17/2008
Well I have to admit I have a link for ELM on our library website but I don't use the ELM resources very often nor do I suggest them to library patrons. I do have separate links for EBSCO (using "MegaFile") and ProQuest but the remaining ELM links have not promoted as heavily.

Gale -- I, like others it seems, was not able to get the RSS feed working. The feed symbol showed up but I rec'd an error msg when pasting the URL. IF it worked I think this would be useful when researching for a project or paper.

EBSCO -- Page Composer was "ok" but I think there are much better options out there for creating webpages ... but maybe I'm tainted by having 13 years experience in webpage design.

ProQuest -- I did like this feature of creating a "web page" (actually just a way to send your research results via e-mail) ... being able to add notes or comments is a great advantage and just that little extra reminder about why you liked or kept a certain webpage.

NetLibrary -- Yet another offering of ways to save, share, and comment on research items. I wasn't able to fully explore this since my NetLibrary logon & password weren't working for me ... this has happened for me more than once in the past with NetLibrary. I sent a logon/password help request but still have not yet had a response ... all this discourages me from using their product.

How can these tools benefit us? Since we are an academic library and the majority of our patrons are our students these are good ways to help them keep track of their research resources.

Thing 16 -- Student 2.0 Tools

2008-03-14T14:53:00.006-05:00

03/14/2008
Assignment Calculators -- a GREAT idea! I've previously looked at the UofM's Assignment Calculator and I had already downloaded the OS code in order to customize it for our library ... just another of those "time" things! I think that this could be a very useful tool for our students ... especially considering so many students come to our college with little or no concept of how to do research or write a paper ... the timelines and helpful hints could be lifesavers for them.

Thing 15 -- Online Games

2008-03-14T14:30:00.010-05:00

03/14/2008
So this thing is "games" ... I tried out the Puzzle Pirates and now be known as "Bloodkin" ... I thot I be aptly named as a descendant of the real Captain Blood! But kin or not I had to start out by pumping bilge ... agghh 'tis noth'n like hard labor on a priate ship in the www (wet web world)! Okay, I plead writer's license.....

Second Life -- I've signed up for an account but now just waiting for my confirmation e-mail so I can jump into the world & try it out .... my 2nd life name is georgie Aaron .... more later!
03/21/2008 UPDATE -- I still have not rec'd my confirmation e-mail so I have not been able to try out Second Life -- bummer! I'll see if I can connect w/them via "help".

Thing 14 -- LibraryThing

2008-03-12T11:52:00.009-05:00

03/12/2008

LibraryThing -- okay, I'm hooked! I had looked at this before and wondered hmmm, would I use it? So now with the assignment to add a few books I did so ... then I added a few more ... now I'm trying to remember all the books I've read over the years .... agghhh!!! :))) Okay back to Earth ... I'll just try to keep up with what I'm reading now and add as I go ... and IF I happen to remember a title from back when then I'll add that too.

So off to the right you should be able to view "Book Titles in My LibraryThing" ... a few random covers should appear. And there should be a link to my catalog otherwise just click here on my catalog.

Here's an example of LibraryThing in use that came across a listserv e-mail this morning from the U of MN libraries. One thing I wish it could do is link directly to their catalog as an option vs. only to Amazon.com.

Thing 13 -- Online Productivity Tools

2008-03-12T11:03:00.006-05:00

03/12/2008
Customized homepages -- I hate to sound like a broken record (okay I'm old enough to know this cliche!) but this is another thing on my to-do list ... hmm, maybe I should try one of those online to-do list tools! Anyway, I've looked at both iGoogle and PageFlakes prior and had not yet implimented one into use. I have also looked at and considered Netvibes. After looking at each I'm still unsure as to which I think I'd really like since a lot of the customization tools are similar. An option for me is to try one out for a week or two, then switch to another and then switch to the last. Then decide which I overall find more pleasing and useful.

Calendars -- Good idea but I think I'll stick with coordinating my schedule at work & home via my e-mail system. Maybe this would be more useful for groups of people?

Lists -- I'm not sure I'd use this type of feature. So far my brain is an information soak for my to-dos and I still love real paper sticky notes. Maybe the day will come that my brain won't have the remembering capacity but then I might not remember to add something to the online list or I might not remember that I added it to the list or I might not remember that I have an online list .... hmmm, I'll wait and see.

Backpack -- Again I'm not sure this would be useful to me ... at least not at this point in time. But it does look like a very useful tool especially for people who travel for work and give presentations. Maybe it will be come useful to me once I'm in grad school (if accepted!).

Thing 12 -- Digg, Mixx, Newsvine, Reddit

2008-02-29T10:35:00.033-06:00

02/29/2008
Okay so more ways to read articles online ... do I have the time? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes just glancing at the good old newspaper(s) seems to work. I think it's one of those things where you catch an article title online, click on it, read it, and then somehow you're off onto another topic and time has flown by.

I read this article "I'm the Idiot Who Bought an HD-DVD Player" that was linked on pg 2 of Digg this morning. The topic caught my eye because I had very recently been asked if my DVD player was HD or Blu-ray. I bought a new DVD player about a yr ago -- shortly after I purchased a HD TV. After reading this article I think that I'm luckier (for now that is) than the author, Josh Levin, because I have the plain old regular DVD player/recorder which I bought to transfer my videos ("home movies") to DVD.

I looked at the other sites -- Mixx, Newsvine, and Reddit. I didn't like the "look" of Reddit and would not consider this a choice. Mixx I think is on par to Digg. Newsvine looked more like what I consider the "traditional" online news sites such as the New York Times and ABCnews.com.

Share tools -- I read this article on the New York Times online "A Lifetime of Pain, and She Still Will Not Complain" by Paula Kamen. The article was of interest to me because my daughter has suffered from migraines for years. I used the "share" tool on the NYT site and posted this article directly to my facebook acct. This was very easy & seamless to do and offered an area to comment before the actual post went to my facebook site.

Thing 11 -- Del.icio.us Tagging

2008-02-22T14:48:00.005-06:00

02/22/2008
Tagging! Yes! This is one of those things that's been on my list of to-dos for maybe a year or so. I have so many web bookmarks on my office computer & then my co-worker has numerous web bookmarks on her office computer as well as 2 other computers. Years back I kept a webpage of all of our links for sites we visited often in assisting patrons (students usually) with research. That webpage finally became so cumbersome that I took down the link several years ago. I always hoped to find some other way to quickly be able to use & share these valuable links. I happened upon Del.icio.us and thought, yes, this might work. I shared this with my co-worker, who said she'd look it over, but then that's about as far as it got. So now maybe is the time?

Furl -- I looked over their website and one thing that popped up as a good benefit was the option of achiving cashed websites which allows for you to always have access to the website as you viewed it even if the website is taken down.

Thing 10 -- Wikis

2008-02-22T13:18:00.004-06:00

02/22/2008
The wiki concept of collaborative authoring is interesting because of the ability of multiple people to add to, edit, update the topic content. The falldown is "who" is allowed to doing the adding, editing, updating to be able to ensure correct information is given.

I liked the BookLoversWiki and see this as a good use of a wiki. Although I found more books to add to my "need to read" list!

On the 23 Things on a Stick wiki I centered "Welcome to the", I italized "23 Things on a Stick", and I added the link "23 Things on a Stick BLOG page" -- (jd was here!) is me!

Thing 9 -- Online Collaboration Tools

2008-02-22T11:59:00.004-06:00

02/26/2008 UPDATE
Well it took a little longer than I expected to get my "invite" ... that's 'cuz the e-mail invite was filtered into my junk e-mail. Luckily I ck'd my junk folder today and as I was going to empty it I saw the invite. So I went online & edited (actually used the "comments" feature) on the doc provided. This tool seems to be a great way to edit/comment a doc by multiple users. One downfall is that if a doc such as this was going to be worked on by multiple users it would be good to define how to do that first -- such as only using the comment feature & one person being responsible for the final edit or something such. I say this because you could see that different people worked with the document in different ways -- some just edited (that doesn't offer the tag of who did it) while others used the comment feature (which indicates who made the comment).

02/22/2008
hmmm ... just waiting for "invites" to be able to edit ....
In the mean time I think the idea & ability to edit this way could be a great tool.

Thing 8 -- Share Your Creations

2008-02-20T11:01:00.002-06:00

Here are some pics of our Library Addition/Remodel as viewed from my office window. I used Picturetrail. I think that I will consider using this product to showcase our construction pics vs. what I used for our current slide show -- which was just the Adobe Photoshop Web Photo Gallery. Picture Tail did take me a little while to figure out but then there is always a learning curve with a new product.

Thing 7 -- Web 2.0 Communication Tools

2008-02-20T09:30:00.001-06:00

02/20/2008
E-mail -- I have had e-mail for about 15 yrs. & I currently maintain 3 personal accts (1 for family/friends, 1 for personal business & 1 for "junk"), 1 work acct, and our 1 library acct. Our library acct doesn't get too much use but I still think it is a very important tool. I mainly use it for sending overdue notices, ILL notices, and communicating with distance students. On our library website we have it listed as as way to submit reference questions although responses are only generated during work hours.

IM -- We don't use this tool in our library but I have used it personally over the years. Back a few yrs ago while I was working on a degree it was VERY helpful while working on a group project. As each of us worked on a portion of a computer programming project we could easily keep in touch by sharing new ideas, asking questions, updating each other on our progress all while working in different geographic areas.

Text Messaging -- Again, we do not use this tool in our library but I use it multiple times on a daily basis and LOVE it! A while back my brother-in-law (older than me) asked me "why"?? He didn't see the advantages of it. My sister-in-law shared with me that my 13 yr old nephew used it to get himself out of a situation where he was visiting a friend and the friend's older brother was doing some questionable things with his friends. My nephew sent a text to his Mom to come get him vs. having to "call" and sound like a cry-baby.

Web Conferencing -- Whenever possible I use this tool and think that it is great for saving time & money on traveling to & from meetings and training. There are the downfalls when the technology isn't working at it's best. But I think the overall benefit outweighs the bad.

Thing 6 -- Image Generator

2008-02-19T14:46:00.001-06:00

02/19/2008
Once again from BigHugeLabs ... this time I tried the "Captioner" ... and here are my results.

This is another fun tool that could be utilized in many ways ... just a little imagination and time is all that's needed!!

Think 5 -- More Flickr

2008-02-19T14:10:00.004-06:00

Diane & Greg Are Puzzled
Originally uploaded by drausche

02/19/2008
Puzzled?? I tried the jigsaw puzzle from BigHugeLabs ... and here we are!

Here's the web address if you'd like to try it:
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/jigsaw.php

I also tried "Spell" so here's some "attitude" for you ...

Jigsaws & "Spell" could both be fun options in a variety of ways ... I think especially for attracting kids.

Thing 4 -- Flickr

2008-02-19T11:28:00.001-06:00

02/19/2008
I had already explored Flickr but only a little bit so this was a fun experience! I have a Yahoo account (my "junk" e-mail acct!) so it was easy to create a Flickr account & upload some pics. I tried out the Flickr blogging tool and found it very easy to use; I also went directly from blogspot and edited my posts that I had made from the Flickr blogging tool. All went smoothly.

As for uses I think that I might find Flickr a fun tool for at home use to share pics etc ... but I don't think that I would have the time to use this tool at work.

A vew from my office window

2008-02-19T11:25:00.002-06:00

A vew from my office window
Originally uploaded by drausche

Construction in progress as our Library Addition/Remodel began last summer ... this is the view from my 2nd floor office window.

Library Interior during Addition/Remodel

2008-02-19T11:21:00.003-06:00

Library Interior
Originally uploaded by drausche

This pic shows posters that I added as aesthetics to somewhat cover up the temporary sheetrock that divides the current part of the library from the new addition. Our former view was a wall of windows to the outside ... we miss the natural light but the walls are only temporary.

Thing 3 -- RSS Feeds

2008-02-15T14:37:00.001-06:00

02/15/2008
As with other technology, I've looked into RSS Feeds but had yet to really "use" one. I think I need to decide what "information" I think I need to know "right now" as it updates ... so a little contemplation time. For now I've added a local news feed and a local weather feed. I'd like to add a friend's "23 things" blog but I'm waiting for Jen to give me her blog address ... I tried searching for it but couldn't find it.

Thing 2 -- Library 2.0

2008-02-15T11:32:00.001-06:00

02/15/2008
Even though I try to keep up on technology -- I like (love?) computers, e-mail (I have 4 accts!), IM, cell phones, computer menus etc. -- I think that sometimes technology moves faster than we can at times comprehend. So we tend to either pick & choose what we think we need to keep up with at the time or wait until, if ever, we are pushed into needing a technology.

With Library 2.0 -- I admit I had heard the term but I hadn't really dug into it's meaning until probably 6 months ago -- I like that it can emcompass multiple, ever new and expanding, ways of bringing information to people. And in our struggle to get students to "use the library" our adding a variety of technology seems to be a good way to connect with them. But then I try to balance how I can make these new ways work for us when we have a very small staff -- just 2 of us total. So I end up doing what I said happens -- waiting until we are pushed to do it.

Thing 1 (and 1/2)

2008-02-15T09:11:00.001-06:00

02/15/2008
My "greetings" post on 02/12/2008 was my "Thing 1" ... for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm participating in an online Library Learning project entitled "23 Things on a Stick" ... a pun on our wonderful Minnesota State Fair where EVERYTHING is available on a stick! And it is true ... Greg & I had hotdish on a stick this past September!

So onward now to more "things"........

Greetings!

2008-02-12T14:17:00.002-06:00

02/12/2008
This is my very first post to my newly created blog -- woo hoo!!