Thing #7

For me, Thing #7 will have to be....Book Trailers!
For this post, we are supposed to blog about something technology related that interests us.
I have become a huge fan of Book Trailers. For those of you that haven't had the pleasure, a Book Trailer is like a movie preview, but for books. It is tying technology into reading and hopefully trying to garner more interest in reading.
It is especially popular to create trailers for teen books, they are at an age where movies and movie stars are very popular. I recently went to a local high school to do booktalks with the high school librarian. We tried to be as funny and entertaining as possible but the teens positively perked up when we told they we were going to be showing book trailers!
You can check out the 2008 Teen Book Video Awards here. I also recommend Libba Bray's A Great a Terrible Beauty trailer, which was part of the 2006 Teen Book Video Awards. Find it here. A lot of tech savvy teens have been breaking out their video recorders and creating their own book trailers. Enjoy the show!

Thing #6

This lovely "Thing" was created by Spell with flickr. Which I learned about today while playing around with Flickr. Who knew that one could create so many interesting things with a bunch of photographs. For example, create your own trading card here and here you can integrate your photos into maps.

There is a lot of terminology to learn when one is trying to figure out 2.0 tools. Mashup, for instance. Who came up with that?

Anyway, "Spell with flickr" is a fun site where you enter a word you want "spelled" with Flickr. The creator decided to use Flickr's web developer's tools to create a code to take photos from a couple of groups to create this fancy lettering. He also provides the code for free on his site. Neat stuff!

An-In-Between-The-Numbers-Post

So a lot of people have been talking about the demise of libraries. Are libraries worth tax dollars, are libraries going to still exist in 15 years? (And if not, why am I going to library school...)
I dislike these questions. Its not that I don't think this is important for people to discuss, I just think it has been done to death. The end of libraries was predicted...when? Twenty years ago? How did that work out? E-books were supposed to be the next big thing, the Internet was going to take over the library (anyone read Feed by M.T. Anderson?)...
I feel that the more librarians dwell on this the more time we waste where we could be getting things done. If we start getting panicky over losing patrons and losing tax dollars, it will happen. Because we are NOT spending that time worrying about acquiring new patrons, planning new programs, creating incentives to get children, teens, and adults into the library. Librarians need to be proactive. Get your library a blog, figure out RSS feeds and "chat reference." Make yourself useful dammit.
Alright, I'm done ranting. Really, what I'm promoting is positive thinking and forward acting. Lets suck it up librarians and show Google what service is.

Thing # 5

oshkosh
Originally uploaded by 23 Things Account

I took this picture last holiday season, it is the front of the Oshkosh Public Library. The two lions, Sawyer and Harrison, are festive and make me happy.
Know what else makes me happy? Flickr.
I like the photo sharing site. I can see using it for programs at the library I work at. We are always running out of space on our camera and have to quick delete photos when we need to take more. Now that I know more about Flickr I'd be more than willing to start our library's account. I like that you can have some of your pictures remain hidden and others can be for public viewing. Now I know a little more about Flickr, just in case patrons have questions about it.

Things #3 and #4

Thing number 3: set up blog. Done.
Thing number 4: join the party.

So I resisted blogging for a while. When blogging shoved I shoved back. But I finally gave in. I started a blog a year or so ago to keep track of what books I was reading and to stay in contact with some friends from Illinois (who kept asking me: what are you reading?). So I killed two birds with one stone. Then lost interest. It was a lot of work and almost stopped completely. Then I looked at the number of people that had viewed my profile and was back hard at work. I now have started up blog number 2 and 3 (both for classes). I find that I like playing around with layouts and backgrounds. Now I am excited that during this class I will learn how to make my blogs even more interactive and fun. I'm ready!

Thing #2: Lifelong Learning and Learning 2.0

PLCMC created a nifty little tutorial that discusses the 7 & 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. The Habits are:

1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Accept responsibility for your own learning
3. View problems as challenges
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5. Create your own learning toolbox
6. Use technology to your advantage
7. Teach/mentor others
1/2. Play

For me, I think I have the easiest time with Habit #3. Problems arise during any learning experience and I think I handle them well. I have the most difficulty with Habit #4. I think I get down on myself and distrust my abilities often. I would also like to work more on Habit #6 and really take advantage of technology.

1st Thing First

Hello and Welcome! This is a blog to discuss and try out my Library 2.0 skills. The title comes from a project created by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) that was designed to help people discover new technologies and learn about Web 2.0.
PLCMC wanted their staff members to learn about new web devices and created this challenge to inspire learning. If you are interested in reading more, see the link in the side bar.