Bibliothecaire

The 20th Thing

2008-07-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed learning "things" that I had little incentive to familiarize myself with. I really enjoyed Pandora.

What I've learned is that this is very fluid and that web 3.0 is making what we learned almost passe'. I don't listen to Pandora or Youtube on my computer. Instead, I do all that on my Iphone.

The 20 things certainly make reference a little easier. Frankly, I think I had a good grasp on them but it's fun doing it on worktime.

My takeaway is how powerful Google is from what I saw with Pandora. I think what has happened to the music industry with "free downloads" is essentially what Google could do to databases.

Google is so rich and have a very powerful business model with advertising that they could buy all the databases like Ebsco, Gale and essentially provide that for free.

I would participate in the future because there is so much change happening. We need to stay relevant. This is part of staying relevant.

Games

2008-07-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

Not exactly what the web does best but some great games for the kids and if you have time to kill.

Avatars

2008-07-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

I really don't see the point. It kind of feels like acting or not being yourself which is the point.

If it was eventually so realistic like the Matrix, that would be cool.

2008-07-25T15:27:00.001-07:00

Google Earth is tres cool.

Google Docs V Zoho

2008-06-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

I've been using Google docs for a couple years so I'm use to it. I did like the wiki feature on Zoho but other than that, functionality, familiarity and the number of documents created in Gdocs, make almost anything else a non-starter.

Good on Zoho, Sun and others for creating cool products though to keep Gdocs honest.

Customized Sign Generator

2008-06-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

Neat concept. I may use it on occasion.

There are some cool tools that will be helpful for reference questions.

Search Engines

2008-06-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

I used Dogpile till Google became the defacto SE. I realized how much of waste of time it was sifting through the other SEs. So why not directly go to Google and save some time?

I did try SE called Looksmart that attempted to categorize terms but it eventually went the way of altavista and excite.

Overdrive

2008-06-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

I have used Overdrive for a couple of years now. Its breadth of collection has slowly but surely grew to a point where it is one stop shopping for downloaders. I love the Naxos label's selections.

In general, I notice customers frustrated by the whole registration model in libraries where you put a long number with some passcode that may or may not work.

Moreover, the content is hit and miss but since it is "free", customers accept the limitations.

If you want a model to emulate, for better or for worse, it would be Itunes or Amazon's Unbox where there are more popular titles with limited registration hassles ie. 1 time registration and then id verification via IP address or cookies.

For the library world, Overdrive is fine. BUT, the library world is a pretty small fish in an ever increasing ocean.

Delicious is Yummy

2008-06-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

It sounds like a cliche already but there is something fundamentally democratic about delicious. It uses the aggregate brain power of like-minded people to essentially find your topics of interests for you.

I like the idea that it helps screen out the noise and pushes the information to you. Good stuff!

Wiki Rolodex

2008-06-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

I just finished creating a Wiki. My purpose was to essentially replace the reference rolodex and put it onto a wiki. It makes sense: 1. information quickly available via search engine or hierarchy based; 2. easy to change/update 3. information not necessarily available to the public.

Well, I found online software called Neticipia which is free, easy to use and fits all the criteria mentioned above.

Now, all i have to do is upload and update the information on the old rolodex.

Podcasting

2008-06-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

I've been podcasting for years now. It was a simple way to keep up with all things Canadian ie. CBC. I really enjoyed all my old shows that I couldn't get down in the U.S. Word of the Week and Ideas were my top downloads.

Anyway, I've tried some different sites like Nova=MC2 on PBS which is a great layman's science podcast.

I tried a library site per training instructions but just couldn't get into BEA or author talks.

Although it isn't a library site, I highly recommend Search Engine which is on CBC radio. It sounds techie but actually deals with the socio-economic aspects of technology in our lives. Its very apropos to librarianship.

Youtube

2008-04-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Youtube coincided with my daughter's birth so it has been awesome to share her videos with the far distant grandparents. I guess in 10 or 20 year, this stuff will be like the 8mm or S8. Imagine what the killer app will be...yikes!

Youtube is at a different level (web 3.0 anyone) when it became a widget on Iphone. Anytime I think of a song or ditte I want to teach my daughter, I simply punch in the song or artist and we sing the song almost instanteously from thinking of the song to actually singing it. I wanted the lyrics and music to "Baby Beluga" by Raffi while I was on I-5 with Ella.

As far as library stuff goes, Calgary Public Library did some neat advertising to show relevancy earlier this decade which was "Youtub-ized". Check this out.

Social Networking/EONS

2008-04-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

I already use Facebook so I decided to try out Eons. Since I'm the Senior Contact for the library, I thought it would be good to see what this website has to offer for over 50s crowd.

I think for web savvy boomers, this site would be a natural transition. It would be nice to see a more user friendly and less busy interface. Also some tools or "common craft" type of hand-holding for neophytes would be good for a demographic group that may be a little uncomfortable with the technology at the outset.

I liked the longevity calculator myself. It looks like I'll be centenarian! Wohoo!

Short of it: good idea but not intuitive enough or enough hand-holding tools to make it a killer app.

Waveland After

2008-04-23T16:42:00.001-07:00

Waveland After
Originally uploaded by richard.suico

Flickr

2008-04-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

I finally had a chance to try Flickr. I liked the ease of uploading photos and the concept of groups. I've used photoworks over the past 5 years for keeping family and friends up-to-date so it would be difficult to change over now.

I watched a documentary on the post Hurricane Katrina recovery (or lack thereof) over the weekend. In 2006, the City of Edmonds sent staff and financial assistance to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in the recovery effort. We helped the Waveland branch of the Hanncock County System who sent us pix.

The lack of progress in the recovery effort is baffling and sad. Waveland is still in a trailer.....

Pandora

2008-04-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

I really like Pandora. It's a good alternative to Itunes especially if you like a certain genre of music and want to learn other artists in that genre. I tried Dido and got a lot of different artist whom I knew and some I didn't know.

I use an Iphone which only syncs with Itunes. Itunes has a streaming radio feature much like Pandora so the law of least effort kicks in right about now.

I was impressed for all of 2 minutes that Pandora could stream over Ma Bell's network to which Iphone belongs. Itunes can't do that over a cell phone. Imagine: actual online radio without downloading and taking precious memory.

Alas, I was disappointed to realize that only certain phones on the ATT network could use Pandora and the Iphone wasn't one of them. Shuckers....

I'll keep looking for that kitchen sink.

Assignments 3 and beyond

2008-04-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

I prefer using Google's Reader for RSS feeds. As all things Google, it is intuitive or, at least, seems to be in sync with my line of thinking. I love getting my fix on the Flames, keep up-to-date on library-related information as well as what's going on in the world.

I've tried other feeders and Bloglines for this assignment. IMO, there are too many programs to keep track of.

Having said that, I do like meebo and its ability to use one interface for multiple IM programs if I ever was so inclined....

2008-03-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

Well this is a good learning experience. I hope to learn some tips and tricks in the SIL blogosphere...