My Space - Thing 16

I didn't want to open a My Space account, so I took the tour and did a little bit of browsing. I can understand why belonging to this group is so popular - once you start browsing it's difficult to stop looking at the different posts and videos. It's amazing what people want to post on their pages.

Does it look easy? It appears to be relatively straight-forward, although I didn't go through with the signing up process.

How do I feel about MySpace? I am fairly ambivalent about My Space, although I can see how it would be very popular with teens. It's a fun adventure, however, I get bored after a little while.

Did my opinion(s) about MySpace alter after your exploring of the discovery resources? Not really. I guess I had a fairly accurate idea of what it was all about before taking this lesson.

Social Networking - Thing 15

It is very important that libraries stay current with new technologies so having social networking applicatoins in the library, maintained by library personnel, is mandatory. Librarys exist to help people with their information needs, whether they be teens trying to navigate the new technologocial avenues or older people trying to understand how they are used. Library personnel need to understand and feel comfortable using and navigating these types of sites so that they can be of service to customers.

Readers' Advisory - Thing 14

This week I posted a review on a wiki of my most recent (finished) book, Not Flesh Nor Feathers, by Cherie Priest. The wiki was easy to use and it recognized MS Word features such as *bolding* and *italics* usage using the Control function. The only problem is is that it's very easy to mess up the site because it's open to everyone.

Wiki Libraries - Thing 13

From looking at some of the examples, the library wiki could grow into an important and widely used application. You could have a wiki on subject bibliographies and book reveiws; you could also use it to get input from patrons regarding subjects such as how they feel about certain library policies - what hours to stay open, what additional information the library could supply, etc. There could also be a wiki regarding events and what patrons thought of them. These comments and suggestions could be used in future event planning.

Tip of the Mind Numbing Iceburg - Thing 12

IM'ing is here, and apparently here to stay. It's great to get answers to questions at the press of a button. No more thinking through problems, no more wondering about possible answers, just press in a number and someone is there to answer your problem.

I can't help but think the IM factor is just one more brick in the ever-growing wall of the suppression of creativity and critical thinking. Thinking thoughts takes more than just remembering a phone number - the thought process is a learned navigational tool that helps humans understand new problems and develop possible answers because of previously learned information roads, detours, and road blocks. How is a person to learn thinking through probems and finding various solutions if finding the answer is as simple as calling someone?

I see this trend of needing instant gratification with my children when they do their homework. They aren't prepared to sit and work problems for an hour the way I used to when I was doing math homework. The problem was there until you either solved it or you consulted your friends or teacher the next school day. Now my children spend less than a minute on a question and if they don't know the answer immediately they want an answer from me - now.

I know from speaking with other parents that this is not an issue only at my house - it is an issue being dealt with on a generational level. I think the IM is a fun toy, but it is the current tip of the iceburg of "I want it now" attitude that is pervading our society. I can't help but see it as virtually "mind numbing."

IMing and Libraries - Thing 10

Why should libraries use IM? Libraries need to stay informed on what their users are doing and how they are communicating. As technology grows, it is imperative that library personnel stay informed and proficient in the uses of the new movements. Libraries need to develop as the community's "nucleus of knowledge." In the past the library was a receptacle of information on paper with people trained to show patrons how to access the information. Today it is no different except that the level of information retrieval services has expanded.


How is IM different that traditional communication channels? IM is different in that it operates in a real-time or close-to-real-time environment. People have an almost "on-site" communication capability, able to communicate as if talking in person. Other electronic formats such as email are slower and more "formal."

How many of the IM population are our customers and why should we care? Most of the users are younger, however, a the user population is growing. Librarians need to care about this because electronic communication is becoming more prevalent and will probably become the primary communications format in the future.

RSS - Thing 9

I used Bloglines and Google Reader and found Bloglines to be easier for me. The feeds in my account were easier to see and it gave me access to popular blogs. I thought Syndic8 was fairly unusable for me (being a novice blogger) because I had trouble navigating and finding sites.

7.5 Things...Thing 7

1. Easy stuff. The Goal. For me, the easiest of the 7.5 habits is having an end result, or goal, in mind. Because, well, that's just about how most things gets done, be it at work, at home, or whatever. When a person wants something, chances are that person will act accordingly to get that something, from working harder to get a promotion to taking classes to learn a skill. Having a goal in mind produces whatever actions may be necessary to achieve that goal. It's figuring out the how that's the hard part.

2. Hard stuff. The How. Figuring out what you need to do in order to achieve your goal is probably the hardest for me. Because there are so many resources available to people, it's sometimes hard or complicated to identify and prioritize the steps needed to accomplish the goal with the intended result in the required amount of time.