Twittering Along- Task # 9

At first glance and thought, I thought this site was a dumb waste of time and couldn't think of any use a library might have for it. I gave it some thought and changed my mind. I don't think it's as cool as some of the other "things" but I can think of some uses for Twitter.

The first thing that came to my mind was to use it as a career guide. If for example, someone wanted to become a librarian, they probably know in general what that person does. Twitter would allow them to truly know what a librarian does in an hour by hour (or any increment of time), truer way.

Most of the libraries in San Diego County have tons of programs.
Twitter would be an easy way for the public to see what's happening at their library every day or even every hour!

Exercise 7 and 8 RSS Feeds

I had already created a Bloglines account in my Web 2.0 class, but couldn't remember how to get a list of possible popular subscriptions. I emailed others at San Diego County Library who are participating in this program, but I'm assuming they are so busy completing their 23 things that no one had time to respond. That is just as well since it forced me to play around and find the answer. The answer I was looking for is as follows:

1. Click on Add on the top left part of the screen.


2. Click on "Quick Pick Subscriptions" on the top right part of the screen.


3. You get to choose from "Bloglines Quick Picks" and "Today's Most Popular Subscriptions".


4. I then chose tons of interesting possiblities including LII New This Week, The Shifted Librarian and Libworm: Fiction.

The real trick will be to find the time to read any of this great stuff.

The Possibilities Are Endless-Task #6

Using a wiki for our reference desk schedule might be preferable to what we're doing right now, which is sending around a paper schedule. Not being that comfortable with wikis at this point in time, we are experimenting with Google spreadsheets, which allows collaboration and might work.

There is a big poster of me in our library for a Jane Austen exibit I'm doing. It's in a really prominent place and only 4 people have commented on it in the last week, however, everyone is totally absorbed in whatever they are doing on our computers. So, since they don't seem to read signs in the library, we could blog them with library events and "what's new".

I just walked around the library asking customers which magazines they'd like us to order for next year. Using blogs or wikis would enable many more customers to give their input on these kind of things.

Quest Number 5

First of all, I didn't even know what mashups were and had to look it up.
I found a really cool mashup. It's called "Spell With Flickr". This mashup spells out a message you enter by drawing it with photographs of letters and numbers hosted by Flickr. You can even change the letters you don't like, by clicking on them.

Task #4

I signed up for Flickr and was absolutely amazed at some of the photos I found.
I joined one group which posts pictures of a dance camp I've always wanted to attend.
At least I now get a vicarious thrill. Hope more people post pictures. There are not a lot of them at this time.

Jumping into My 23 Things-Items 1-3

I've accepted the challenge and I'm on my Web 2.0 journey. Took the
Web 2.0: A Hands-On Introduction for Library Staff class yesterday and was a bit overwhelmed. I know from teaching computer classes for the public, how important practice is and decided to practice what I preach (couldn't have done that if I tried).
So, I'm on my way. Wish me luck.