NEFLIN Annual Meeting and Remembering

I have been absent for awhile due to health issues over the summer but I am back!! I attended the NEFLIN Annual Meeting yesterday. It was a great meeting with lots of good information concerning being an advocate for one's library; Web 2.0 social media and why it is so important for libraries to play a more active role; and learning about "What's cooking at NEFLIN." The keynote speaker, Andrew Huse, Special Collections Librarian, USF, was entertaining and informative as he spoke on the importance of documenting Florida's food and restaurant history. He has written a book on the history of the Columbia Restaurant coming out in October 2009. Congratulations to Brad, Patty, and Jeannie--You have taken your "muffin" budget for the coming year and made it into an "apple pie" full of course opportunities for the members in your district!!

Since it is 9/11 please note the link in rememberance to those who lost their lives that day. This video is at the Smithsonian and was made by a New Yorker who succumbed to lung damage sustained during the attack. It is long (15 minutes) but extremely powerful. You might want to copy and paste into your browser.

http://attacked911.tripod.com/

Florida Library Association Annual Conference

I attended the FLA Conference in Orlando last week. What did I learn? Among other things, Collaboration through my service at the Registration Desk on Wednesday morning. There were four to five people coordinating different facets of the check-in process that made the whole registration process more efficient. I attended a workshop on Strategic Planning which provided step-by-step instructions on how to conduct your own Strategic Planning Process. I re-connected with some friends and made new ones from the Sunshine Statewide Leadership Institute Workshop. I learned about the latest version of ALEPH v. 19 that will come online at the places I work at this summer. A great conference which inspired me to sign-up for membership as soon as I can this month.

Mindspotting!! A New Approach for Public Libraries

Just checking my blog links this week and ran across an intersting video on the LibraryBytes Blog. A public library in Denmark is using an innovative approach to attract the next generation to their library. It is called "Mindspotting" and is really interesting! Here is the link to their video if you care to see what they are doing: http://www.librarybytes.com/2009/05/mindspotting-in-aarhus.html

Thing 22. Staying Current.

Looking back at my first "Thing" it hits me how excited and enthused I was to have the opportunity to learn about 2.0 tools. I must say that excitment has been rewarded. It is hard to believe that I am nearing the end of this "class"! What a wonderful idea for NEFLIN to give to its members!! Of all the classes and things NEFLIN has offered; I have found this to be the most relevant and valuable for my day-to-day dealings with college students and library patrons.

What has NEFLIN's 23 Things done for me? Through this class I have been exposed to a variety of 2.0 web tools and introduced to an entirely new philosophy of interacting with library patrons and the world. It has taken me out of my "isolationist" librarian world and placed me right in the middle of some vibrant online communities. It has taught me that ways of interacting with people are changing due to the Web and we as librarians must change with it. My fear of new technology and experimenting with it has been greatly reduced or eliminated. This class has re-awakened my hunger to learn new concepts again. Staying current of the newest tools is an important part of our job because of the ways our patrons are communicating today. We must know how to reach them in order to help them.

I plan to maintain my blog to keep up with new tools. I want to learn to apply them, when possible, to my library. I have added 3 RSS feeds to my i-Google page: ALA Tech Source; LibraryBytes; and Web Apps on Go2Web 2.0. Even if it takes more than 15 minutes,I will definitely set aside time on Tuesdays to check these feeds, along with others, to post a weekly message on the latest 2.0 tools available, and to explain how they pertain to my work. I am also going to review each of NEFLIN's 23 Things to determine which items really work for me at my library and which ones I can utilize for personal use away from the job. I seem to learn something new everyday which is why I love being a librarian. I have really enjoyed this experience and hope that NEFLIN can offer it to others again.

Thing 21. Student Tools

You guys must have been reading my mind! I teach a course on college research and library resources as part of my job. We use Blackboard and hotlinked online readings and assignments for our class. However, trouble is on the horizon. All of our websites will be taken over by our IT Department soon which means if we need to make changes to these sites our Webmaster will have to submit the changes to IT and they may or may not be prompt in making the changes! So, I like these open source organizational tools for teaching. These tools are amazing and I would not have to wait for IT to correct or make updates for me on these tools! I had no idea something like this was available. To be able to organize a research project online throughout the semester to assist the students is great because, as we all know, sometimes students do not read their assigned readings!! These tools would really prompt them to learn by doing and working the plan. It really helps that there is a teacher's component to this so that not only are the students organized but the teachers are also.

I am also working on another course in conjunction with a professor here on campus for the Summer of 2010. If all goes as planned and the course is approved, I am going to suggest the use of these tools for our class!! Thank you for introducing these tools!

Thing 20. Books

In my library, print items are on the decrease, mainly due to our budget or lack of one. I think this trend will continue for the forseeable future. I have noticed the use by students of the Kindle. When one can download a bestseller or textbook for a fraction of the cost of a printed item, the Kindle will be the hotseller of the future! I have tried one myself and really liked it. There was honestly so much listed on this particular Thing that I had trouble choosing what to look at. I found the discussion on the lending of Kendles in the library interesting and something that my library, UNF, may look at soon. It is interesting that one of the uses for this was inter-library loan materials. I also visited the "DailyLit" site for books. This site makes it easy to download books on one's computer. I would not like to read books on my cellphone!! For someone recovering from eye surgery it would be like visiting a bad nightmare!! However, for someone young, with excellent eyesight who is able to afford a cellphone but not a Kindle, they might find this "BooksinmyPhone" 2.0 tool fits their lifestyle and wallet. There is a repository in Florida call "The Orange Grove" that may just change the future of education here. Take a look: http://www.theorangegrove.org/ It is a gathering ov best practices, resources, research, and lessons, and textbooks, for teachers to use and students to learn from. It is being created even as you read this. Will print die? Probably not, it will go the way of the radio after TV came of age. For those of us who love to sit and read an actual book we may very well see the return of small local print book shops and the death (dare I say it??!!) of the big bookstores like Barnes and Noble. You will just have to get your coffee somewhere else!

Thing 19. Other Social Networks

An inspection of Web Junction, Ning, and Gather, leads me to believe that these Social Networks offer the same things that MySpace and Facebook offer, only these three networks tend to be a little more focused primarily on professional work-related issues and less on socializing in their outlooks. The information presented in each of the three, Web Junction, Ning, and Gather, would take me at least a month each to inspect thoroughly--the information in Web Junction is library oriented but almost overwheleming in scope! Ning was the least attractive of the three. I was not impressed with their group organization. I did sign onto Gather and inspected it more thoroughly than Ning. The news and publishing aspect of Gather is definitely appealing to me and something that I might use in the future, both as a librarian and as a writer. They all offer the same things: an ability to interact with others, to post pictures, videos, and podcasts. Social networking is turning into a big business!!

Thing 18. Facebook and My Space

I love Facebook when I can actually get to it. Had a bit of a password problem this week which has finally been resolved. If you look for Cynthia Jordan in Facebook you should find me!! As you can see, I have a variety of (at least 3) friends!! I have joined the "Librarians and Facebook" Group and I have posted my first message on their wall!

The ease and flexibility of Facebook is what I like. One can post pictures, videos, and messages that can be seen by a variety of folks. Facebook may be the fastest growing social network because it attracts the younger generation--in my opinion it is much less conservative looking than MySpace.

MySpace is also nice because I like music and My Space seems to attract alot of musicians. Librarians can use this to talk with their patrons and students! The librarians are already using MySpace to link to their library catalogs through Google. So students can find the library books they are looking for without having to leave MySpace. I may create a "space" there eventually.

For now, I am content with Facebook. I hope you enjoy my site and please be my friend there!!

Thing 17. Podcasting

Of all the "things" podcasting has proved to be the most challenging. GCast looked easy enough but I couldn't get my links from other podcasting directories to work.

So, I listened to Podcasting in Plain English. I looked at three Podcasting Directories: Podcast.com; Yahoo Podcasts; and Educational Podcast Directory. I set up an account in Podcast.com after finding a podcast there that I liked. I conducted a search in Podcast.com under "Florida Library" and found a podcast under Florida Stories Podcasts--local stories of interest around Florida published through WFSU. The podcast was titled "Tipper the Reading Dog", producer Larry Ellison, published 3/6/2009. This is a cute story about a certified therapy dog, Tipper, belonging to third grade teacher Cindy Goldsworthy, that motivates children to read at a school in Land 'O Lakes. Informative and innovative teaching strategy! I placed the link to this podcast on my iGoogle page as well as an rss feed to my reader. Here is the link to the podcast.
http://podcast.com/episode/35751041/7270/?cp=1125

Not only was this an interesting podcast but I learned how to find the link to the individual podcast by clicking on the "share" button and clicking on "email." One can also forward a link to their facebook, myspace, diggit, or delicious sites.

I will work on my podcasting skills when I have more time. At least I feel more comfortable with the basics of podcasting. I will be spending more time listening to podcasts in the future. I have actually completed a podcast on one of the lessons in our Library LIS 1001 course. However, that particular course material has been updated so I will have to edit the podcast. I can see a definite role for podcasting through library instruction. I hope to incorporate an introduction course to podcasting within our library instruction course in the future!

Thing 16. You Tube

You Tube can be used for a variety of videos or streaming media. It is great for classroom use because You-Tube can be viewed on portable devices. This is one of my favorite clips and it is about--Librarians of course! It is called "The Librarian Song." The song from the Joe Uveges-When Freedom Calls concert on November 2, 2007 in Colorado Springs.

Thing 15. Rollyo

Rollyo, as I understand it is a personal search engine one creates to provide relevant results from a selected list of reliable sites. I signed up for an account and looked at some of the sites using the search term "history." I looked at three personal sites: advertising history rolled by imareader; apollo space history rolled by lyndonsharp; and civil war history rolled by Cara Orban. They were all interesting but I was confused at times as to whether I was looking at advertising on the site or a link to a "reliable" site.

While the concept is interesting, we have access to so many search engines such as Yahoo, and Google that this is just one more to add to the list. These sites might or might not be relevant for in-depth research. I would compare a Rollyo to a subject guide that a librarian would create. This might be a useful tool to replace subject guides. It would be lot easier to edit than an HTML created guide.

Thing 14. Online Productivity Tools

I actually had an "iGoogle" account partically set-up so I just completed the process today. I added the Calendar Widget and a widget for "quote of the day" for humorous quotes and the "video of the day" function. I also have links to all my favorite pages and google reader. This reminds me of Delicious. They are both excellent organizational tools to help make a librarian's job of viewing a variety of projects easier. I can definitely see the value of having everything on one page. I am working on synching the Google calendar with possibly my microsoft outlook calendar. If anyone has any suggestions of how to do this please let me know!! I have enjoyed developing my iGoogle page!

Opps! In investigating Google Calendar further and going through the tutorial I discovered how to integrate it with my Microsoft Calendar. I haven't done that yet--not sure I want to world to see everything listed on my work calendar, but at least I do know how to do this now!! Online calendars can help remind you of upcoming appointments and meetings; you can share your calendar with others as well as look at theirs; you can create multiple calendars for other areas of your life; one can customize so that their calendar is accessible from their mobile phone; as well as utilizing the color coding features to highlight different events!

Ta Da was the "to-do" list that I signed-up for. I look at this as just another tool to assist a librarian throughout a busy day. However I utilize my online calendars for most important events so "Ta-Da" is not a necessary tool for me, just creates more work.

Backpack is good for keeping a group calendar and project on-time and under budget. Small libraries with limited resources should find this tool useful.

I investigated the "Top 25 Web 2.0 Apps. to Improve a Student's or Professor's Productivity." I noted with interest that alot of the tools on this list we already use at UNF such as Google Calendar, and Meebo.

Thing 13. Library Thing

What a remarkable tool! So easy to use. I can place all my favorite books in my personal library and look at my collection at the touch of a button!! I can also look at what others are posting. I took at look at the "local library" for Jacksonville related events. Nothing showing right now. I am trying to link my page on Library Thing to my blog. I must be doing something wrong because it doesn't appear to be working. However. Here is the URL if you would like to look at my personal library collection: http://www.librarything.com/home/Cnth.jrdn
On to the next thing. . .

Thing 12 Wikis

The Wiki concept is good for "public" collaboration issues and subject guides. I can see limited uses for instructional material. The weakness of the wiki is in the editorial control and the fact that I may not want the entire web world to view every word or dicussion I have with someone else. I enjoyed browsing through some entries on the LIS Wiki--especially the "Annoyed Librarian" Blog. I am considering developing a new Wiki for Librarians titled "Between a Rock and a Hard Place--Survival of Librarians During a National Economic Downturn."

Wikipedia, by its very nature of being a publically edited entity limits its credibility for scholarly research. It falls under the old saying, "Don't believe everything you read!" There are times when you want to limit information by format so that the credibility is intact.

I edited the NEFLIN 23 Things Wiki. You can find my post under my blog name: FYI 23Things!

Thing 11. Social Media

This is the first time I have used a social media tool to recommend an article to others. I am a news addict so I signed-up for Newsvine. I found an article from the NY Times titled,"$25 Billion to Promote Electric Cars Is Untouched." I read it, "voted" in an attempt to place it higher on the reading list. Someone else had already "seeded" or recommended it to others on Newsvine. So, I added my comments to his already established trail of comments. Navigating through this site was fairly easy if one takes the time to go through the "Welcome" tour.

I view this particular tool as more of an "at home" tool rather than a work tool. I would like to view this during my spare time instead of at work. I think the tool can possibly be a productivity detractor at work, simply because it takes time to view this information and comment intelligently on the news. I do not have the time at work to utilize this tool effectively. However, when/if I retire it will be a great way to stay in contact with the outside world and write the world's next big blockbuster novel that will appear only online (of course)!

Thing 10 Tagging Delicious

Delicious is an amazing organizational tool. I can place everything I need on one site--except for my really private information. I know I can arrange certain sites so they are locked from public view, but, what good is a public site if one fills it up with private, non-viewable stuff?! It is great for storage of research also! Tagging and Delicious comes at a good time! I was going to so many 2.0 sites that I was beginning to wonder how I would keep up with it all. Creating a Delicious site makes it sooo much easier.

The potential of this tool in libraries and for librarians is simple: It keeps us organized! We handle so many jobs: research, digitizing, technology, website creation and maintenance, cataloging, circulation. It would help our patrons and the public at large to have a UNF library site on Delicious with tags for major departments and answers to questions. It is very easy to create and maintain and it can be accessed from anywhere. Here is the link to my delicious site: http://www.delicious.com/Lassie71

Thing 9. Slideshow Picture Trail

Hopefully this will work better than Flickr Badge. I have used Picture Trail to create a montage of different photos from the Bahamas and San Francisco that I have saved for awhile. I can definitely see a use for this tool in my library!! Presentations using Picture Trail can make a boring presentation visually interesting.

Thing 9. Slideshow Trying to Transport Image Onto Blog

As you can see here, my flash badge did not want to go through onto my blog so I finally settled for an html version of my photos. :( Very disappointed that the flash montage would not go through. Will speak to my technical advisor tomorrow. Would I recommend these sharing tools for photos or other creations? Not until I use them more and understand how to properly connect the code to my blog. Flickrbadge is fairly easy to navigate and understand but obviously I am missing something when the code I try to transport fails every time.

www.flickr.com cjjordan2001's San Francisco Day 1 photoset

Thing 9. Slideshow

I have been attempting to use flickrbadge to create a slideshow of my landscape photos of the San Francisco area. Unfortunately, the code does not seem to transfer to my blog. I will keep trying before I contact technical help tomorrow. I can see a definite use for this tool since I serve on a Library Committee that plans events on a monthly basis. All I have to do is figure out how to download the photos of these events into my flickr account to create the montage.

Thing 8. Communication

SSomething I have had some experience with--at last! Although we use Meebo IM/Chat at the UNF Library to communicate with students I have not seen IM used a great deal between co-workers. I can see positive aspects to using IM for quick conversations and answers to questions between co-workers. Meebo has already become very popular with our students. It is used more than our library email now (I know because I have to keep statistics on usage every month). Students like the quick response time. We only offer Meebo from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday and the response has been great. The drawback to any IM service is that someone has to monitor it. Be sure to include back-up personnel on your shifts to cover if someone is out. With email we had a 24 hour window for response. Has IM or email improved productivity? We are still analyzing that at UNF. I know the students like it and anything that helps them with their research needs, email or IM, I think is good. I like monitoring Meebo at UNF. I can help students from my office desk!



I personally do not use SMS but the Library webmaster recently added a "txt"cell phone icon on our library catalog. When one clicks on the icon it allows a person to automatically load a record onto their cell phone as a text message by typing in their phone number and clicking on their provider. I find that function really neat! I plan to "text" messages on my next cell phone if it comes with a keyboard. I find texting from a phone keypad ridiculously slow and cumbersome. If I receive a text message on my phone I will generally call that person back instead of texting. SMS is great for reference librarians. It would free them from the reference desk to walk around to the students and research reference questions instead of the students coming to the Reference Desk. Alot of libraries have started this already.



I have attended various webinars using Elluminate. This is the synchronous classroom tool UNF is looking at for using around campus and for distance learning. I have also looked at Horizon Wimba and Adobe Acrobat Connect products, and today, OPAL. Web conferencing tools all have the same general features: Screens and whiteboards, two-way communication both written and verbal and emoticons, the capacity for sharing a session or meeting, over distance, between more than two people, and a recording or podcasting feature for archiving and presentation at a later time. With some of these systems, one has to be more technical to handle the system, than with others. I found OPAL pretty easy to use. I listened to "A Conversation With Gary W. Moore, author of the book "Playing With the Enemy," conducted on January 30, 2009. Although the moderator's or facilitator's voice was clear there seemed to be some interference in Mr. Moore's response to the questions. His voice sounded soft and fuzzy. But, it was an interesting interview dealing with the book he wrote about his father. Four things about web-conferencing: 1) Beware of the expense of web conferencing technology--the money you save in travel may be spent in the technology so you end-up with no cost savings; 2) Have technical expertise on hand to fix things before or as they go wrong; 3) Make the webinar interesting--your audience may become distracted and you may never know it. Keep the presentation to no more than one hour; and 4) Practice before going live with a webinar!

Thing 7. Online Image Generators--tinytags picture

tinytags picture
Originally uploaded by cjjordan2001

This is my creation from the Generator blog site. I am not sure I
entirely understand this concept. Some images I tried to download
appeared to want your business before they would transfer the
image. As with everything else on the Internet, one must be
careful what one downloads. I have also created some beautiful calendar pages for my own use using my San Francisco pictures. These are stored on my computer desktop. The image you see
to the right, is also posted on my Flickr site for public viewing under the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12818712@N06/?saved=1

Thing 6. Mashups

Several librarians make signs for the library. I can see Mashups utilized for colorful signs in our library. I am careful about the photos I post online. I usually only post landscape photos or clipart. I think young people have learned just how harmful posting online the wrong "party" photos can be to their future. However, I do have a UNF webpage with a recent photo online as well as a photo on my Facebook page. Like anything you post on the Internet, one must be careful to post appropriate information online and that includes photos.

Thing 5. Flickr--Some Thoughts

I could use Flickr in our library as an alternate sight for posting library event photos. We now store events photos on a separate drive that only our library has access to. With Flickr we could advertise and promote events far beyond our library's borders. It could be a cheaper alternative to taking up space on a computer drive. I could arrange the privacy settings accordingly so that certain photos could be shown to certain people or the public at large. It would be another promotional/PR tool for the UNF Library.

In conclusion, Flickr is an amazing photo tool. Editing is way easier than trying to edit something in Photo Shop. However, one has to be careful about public posting of photos, especially when other people are in the photo. Always ask permission before posting photos of others on Flickr. Always ask permission and give credit to photos taken by others before posting on your Flickr site.

Thing 5. Flickr--Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach
Originally uploaded by cjjordan2001

I took this picture on vacation in August 2007. I traveled for the first time to San Francisco, CA to visit a friend! Not only does she and her husband own a Victorian House (built in 1896 and renovated recently) but I got to see famed Pebble Beach and Carmel as well as ride a Cable Car and eat in Chinatown! This picture was taken at Pebble Beach looking out over the Pacific Ocean. I thought the picture came out very well considering I used a disposable camera! This is part of my San Francisco photo collection on Flickr. The link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/12818712@N06/2258385633/

Thing 4. RSS--Library Blogs

I went on "Worldwide" and found a library blog I was interested in. It is called LISNews--Library and Information Science News. I added it to my Google Reader page. Looks like I will now be able to stay on top of the latest library-world developments. NOW onto Flickr. . .

Thing 4. RSS

It is great to be able to view what I am interested in all on one site. Also to keep up with certain other blogs. However, I am still learning the finer points of RSS. Not sure I really understand how this all works. I set up an aggregator account and added two blogs and CNN to my Google Reader site. I need to work with it more to fully understand its capacity. Now it is on to Flickr!!

Thing 3. Blog Search Tools

After reviewing the features of two blog search engines: Technorati and Google Blog Search, I have come to the conclusion that there are advantages to Technorati over Google. I conducted a search of "Green Buildings" in both blog search engines. In Technorati I was able to narrow the search pretty quickly from 38,811 to 63 results utilizing the following limiting features: 1) Narrowing the search from all/any language to "English" only. 2) Limiting the authority from any authority to "some authority." 3) Limiting the search from "any Post" to "Blogs." However, in the Google Blog Search Engine, on the same search, it was more difficult to narrow the number of results. My first search result, in advanced mode, with the date limited from 2000 to 2009 resulted in 47,760 results. I limited the next search by narrowing the dates to a two-year period which resulted in 31,402 results. My third attempt further narrowed the search to "English" only blogs which resulted in 30,479. My fourth and fifth attempts narrowed the search results by date--past 6 months--result 15,429 and past month to 3,160. It seems to take more time in Google Blog to weed one's results down to a managable result. I can now understand why Technorati is the first choice among bloggers!

Thing 3. Blog Search Tools

A little confusing--all these blog search engines. I must take more time to explore this further. My search on Google Blog Search resulted in over 2 million hits on "Al Gore" but some of those results were much more up-to-date than the 2,791,410 hits I received on Technorati. I will continue this analysis over the weekend. Too many engines and too many tools!! Not sure I can master all this. . .

Thing 2. What is Web 2.0

Okay, I get it. Obviously the web has become more sophisticated. Users are using it like previous generations used the phone, radio, and television for business and communications. We need to go out and seek our users and communicate with them through these tools--blogs, wikis, chat, virtual sites. However, I do have a problem with sites such as Second Life. Although one can sign-up for a free "basic" SL account. SL now charges for "real estate" to establish your building or site on their site. What happens when they start to charge users for basic sign-ups? I predict this will come with time. I feel if we are to be effective in reaching out to people (via these new tools) then we should be able to choose the free ways to communicate. Not everyone can afford to purchase a site on SL. Also, some people would rather deal with the "real" world rather than a "virtual" world when they do communicate. I think, as librarians, we should give serious thought and focus on what type of tools we use to reach out to patrons. I agree with the free chat, wikis, and blogs, and whatever else technology comes up with in the future--as long as it is free and open to everyone. If the "virtual world" decides to market itself with "land" and "buildings" free of charge then we should put time and effort into this. We need to be able to communicate with our patrons and they communicate with us without us having to purchase yet another site in another place. We have a variety of tools that are free of charge. Let us use them until better and freer "virtual sites" come along.

Thing 2. What is Web 2.0--Stephen Abram's Video

This was a good selection to begin the 23 Things process. Stephen points out ways to work in the "23 Things" assignments on a daily basis. I am looking forward to the "unintended consequences" positive, of course, that will occur through my involvement in "23 Things!"

Thing 1. First Time!

OMG!! I am in and I am blogging! This is my first attempt at blogging. I am so excited to be a part of NEFLIN's 23 Things! My blog URL is http://fyi23things.blogspot.com/

I look forward to learning all the new tools and to talking to everyone. Monday's are quite busy for me since I teach a semester class on Library Resources. So I will go for now. Talk to you later!!