Podcast subscription

I decided to subscribe to the Authors On Tour - Live! podcast, and not just because it is pretty much the first thing you see when you go to Yahoo! podcasts. I clicked on the description icon and saw that one of the most recent episodes was Les Claypool reading from his debut novel, South of the Pump House. Les Claypool is one of the most amazing musicians of all time, and when I learned that he had written a book, I was ecstatic! Now I can listen to him read an exerpt from the book through this Podcast. Perhaps we could order the novel for the library, so I can read it?!

A Blog about A Blog About Libraries

The 2 posts we read for this week were spot on in a lot of ways. I agree with the view that librarians and other library staff should be able to offer support to users for any service the library has, and that has to include computing. I also agree that there need to be common sense boundaries to the support that we provide to patrons. This is true in all areas of library service, not just new technologies. Just the other day a patron came to the circ desk and asked me if she could leave a car key for someone to come and pick up later on in the day. I was not willing to provide that service, due to the myriad complications and liability issues I could forsee arising from that situation, so I said no. Same goes for computers. If someone asked me for help setting up a Yahoo! account or creating a table in a document, I could probably handle that, and I think that's within the scope of what I can be expected to do.

I like the parallel the author draws between libraries' active participation in literacy campaigns and the libraries' responsibility to offer support for computer technologies. Libraries have traditionally offered workshops, tutoring and support for their patrons, and that should continue. A big difference is that these new technologies are new for nearly everyone; librarians included. This means that library staff will need to make an effort to learn the new technologies, and pass that knowledge on to users.

RSS Adventures

This is my first experience with Google Reader, and I've got to tell you that I really like it! Beats the heck out of My Yahoo!, although I still use that for maps, directions, weather and sports scores. I subscribe to feeds on it, too, but now I might move those to Google. I've been getting feeds from the San Jose Merc, the Onion, Library Revolution, Surreal Coconut, and NPR for a while now.

In my Google Reader, I have added the feed for De Anza's 2.0 blog as well as Alex's, Irene's, and Carole's blogs. I also added feeds from that Book Review site for all new reviews, and for the horror genre. Good times!

Finishing up Week 2 (and a little extra credit)

Here's the rest of my week 2 commentary:

• I looked at the 43 Things site. So, people can go to this site and build their 0wn list of things they would like to accomplish, and tag their things. Users with similar goals can find and encourage each other, and become insanely jealous when their cyber-buddy beats them to the finish line (just kidding).
• Debbie Faires has a lot of interesting things to say about Web 2.0 in her webcast. The content actually reminded me quite a lot of Willie Pritchard's workshop. Wikis, virtual worlds, RSS, etc. are all covered. Her examples of libraries' implementations of some technologies help get the imagination going. Instant messaging with librarians? Sounds great! I remember using a similar kind of service for one of my classes, but the name escapes me now. I thought it was through the IPL, but I can't find it. People's Network, based in London, offers real-time question and answer sessions.
• For a little extra credit, I read Stephen Abram's "Earning the Right to Give Advice". I agree that many people poo-poo technological trends and advances without actually spending the time to learn what it's all about. I also agree that it is possible to adapt various technologies to suit the needs of libraries. I also think that a little skepticism (cynicism?) is healthy.
  

SJSU SLIS in Second Life: An Overview Video

Take a look at this video for a quick overview of the SJSU SLIS island in Second Life.

Just in case anyone is interested...

I just received this through the SJSU SLIS listserv. I thought I'd post it here in case anyone is interested in attending:

Date:  Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Time:  6 - 7:30 p.m.

Event:  Lecture/Discussion - "The Power of Web 2.0, Collective
Intelligence,
and Online Communities"

Description:  What is Web 2.0? What implications do innovative ideas
like
collective intelligence, crowdsourcing and online communities hold for
the
Internet and beyond? Professor David Silver from the Media Studies
Department at the University of San Francisco will explore this
pervasive
phenomenon that has flooded the virtual information landscape in recent
years through social networking resources such as Wikipedia, YouTube,
Facebook and Flickr.

Place: San Francisco Public Library
           100 Larkin Street
          Main Branch, Latino/Hispanic Community Room
           San Francisco, CA 94102

Events Phone Number:  (415) 557-4277

Contact:  Jerry Dear - jdear@sfpl.org, 415-437-4844

Our contest is cooler than your contest

I took a look at Garfield and King County Libraries' web 2.0 "contests" (I'm not sure why Garfield County decided to call it that). One thing about the King County blog I thought was useful was the quick link to a "convenient list of the 27 things". Could we have an overview list on the De Anza 2.0 blog, too? It would be neat to see what we'll be doing in upcoming weeks and would clearly show the progression of the "contest".

Are there any other academic libraries that are trying this kind of training for their staff? I only seem to hear of public libraries doing this. Kind of goes back to Alex's "Bastard Child of Satan" post: Are these technologies really the best thing for the academic library, or will they detract from our ultimate goal of providing students with resources to enrich their learning experience?

Life, the Universe, and Everything (2.0)

The Wikipedia article on Web 2.0 is a pretty thorough one, I think. What I take from all of the discussions and definitions of this kind of new era of the internet is that the focus is really shifting away from users passively seeking content to users actively creating content that is meaningful to them. Library 2.0 has the same basic theme; I loved the short and sweet definition given on the Librarian in Black blog. It will serve us well to remember that, behind all of the seemingly complicated and unknowable technological hubbub, lies the goal of simply involving our users in the types of services we provide at the level of their everyday lives.

OOPS! Okay, I fixed it

I don't know what happened with the link to the Library Revolution blog...but I fixed it now, and it seems to work. Take a look at it if you have a chance; it really is insightful!

A very cool librarian's blog

I thought some of you might be interested in the Library Revolution blog. It's maintained by Emily Clasper, a librarian and systems administrator in New York. One of her favorite subjects is Library and Web 2.0. Her posts of late have been especially relevant to what we are currently learning about! I subscribe to her RSS feed on My Yahoo! page.

Template issues

I'm having an issue with the title part of the template I'm using. I ended up editing the HTML and adding a header so I could get "Pen and Ink" to appear on the top of the page. When I look at the example template, it looks like the title field is supposed to appear on the left, above the "about me" and archive sections. Does anyone know why this might be?

My SecondLife experiences so far

So, as you guys already know, I'm going through the Library Science program as SJSU right now. SJSU SLIS just recently purchased an island in SecondLife, and the instructors are now being urged to deliver their courses, or some aspects of their courses, in this environment. Since this seems to be the way the program is going, I've created an account and an avatar and gone to the island to have a look around. Learning to get around, fly, look at stuff, etc. wasn't too difficult, but it is definitely different and takes some getting used to.

I've been out to the island a couple of times. No one else seems to be around when I'm there; it's a virtual ghost town. There is a student union-type area with lounge chairs and a pool table; a "community sandbox", which I think is an area for building objects; and different areas with SecondLife tutorials and such.

There are a couple of concerns that I have about potentially attending lectures for my classes in SecondLife: First of all, I'm in the market for a new laptop. If I want to get a PC (which I do), it will come with Windows Vista as the operating system...which isn't supported by SecondLife, so I wouldn't be able to attend my lectures using my new computer (or I'd have to get a computer with Vistas Pro, then buy a copy of XP and downgrade. What a lot of time and money I shouldn't have to spend!). Also, I guess I'm just not comfortable with the format yet. Would I have to read the lecture as the instructor types to the class, or will there be streaming audio? How will questions be handled?

I'm excited about new technologies and new ways to implement them, but in some cases I really like traditional methods better. Hardly any of the classes in my program have regular class meetings any more, and I think that's a shame. Maybe I just feel I learn more when I'm actually immersed in a learning environment, rather than sitting on my sofa or at my desk pretending to be.

Teen Second Life

I watched the presentation about library services for teens in Teen Second Life (TSL) and the Eye4You Alliance project undertaken by Kelly Czarnecki from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. I have such mixed feelings about 3D environments like Second Life and their place in library services and education. On the one hand I understand that these technologies are becoming wildly popular among teens and young adults, and that they allow for collaboration and cooperation among groups who otherwise would not interact with each other. On the other hand, I really hope that we are not forsaking the local for the global.

One of the slides in the presentation was a screen shot of a parody web page called Get A First Life. It's pretty hilarious, and it makes a good point!

Can we get a ninja for our library, too?

It could solve our cell phone problems once and for all!

First. Post. Ever.

Hey there, everyone (this is my rendition of "Hello World"). So here's my first attempt at blogging, and to my dismay I cannot think of anything profound to write. I'll be back to post a video later.