Another fun image

This poem is from a facebook image maker. I can see where there could be many fun applications for these tools, including for making flyers and signs, which I seem to do a lot of lately--for summer reading, storytime, book discussion, author visits and Friends of the Library meetings. I also do a newsletter, so I could publish pictures on that also.

Flickr Fun

This is a picture of the back room of Mille Lacs Lake Community Library and our favorite patron, Mr. Bernard Hanson. He drives up in his white cadillac and shuffles into the library everyday to read the Star Tribune.

Flickr is a fun site. I made a photo of myself on the cover of Library Journal. That was too vain, so I did a puzzle of another picture to put up on my blog.

Picture

Here is a picture that Barbara Misselt, Director of East Central Regional Library took of me 11/2007. I was going to add a picture of the library from the outside, but I'll try that next time. I have tried to use a digital camera myself (today), but couldn't figure out how to move the images from the camera to the computer. At my home computer, we have "iphoto" but I don't think there is a photo program on this computer. Maybe I don't need one with Flickr. Anyway if this photo comes out, I'll feel like I'm doing a hard math problem and I got the correct answer but I don't know how. If it doesn't that's fine too.

RSS

I'm having a little trouble figuring out this RSS stuff. I couldn't figure out where I would be getting this subscribed information, but it is through another website, called bloglines, according to Luke, our tech support person.

It seems like it would be a handy way to get lots of information about the topics that you're used to. I still haven't figured out how to add items to my blogline, but I'm sure that I will soon.

I think librarians could use the RSS's to keep up on what books are popular.

I have just been using the bloglines suggested by "bloglines" so far, but I could see going to a site I like, like the Star Tribune, and seeing the RSS icon and then adding that to my feedlines.

These terms are all new to me, but maybe as I use them, they'll start to make more sense.

Library 2.0

Library 2.0 is the idea that libraries in the future are going to interact more with people. One example is through being a link on a Facebook page. Another might be doing interactive reference. It could also be posting more pictures and making the library webpage more interactive, like with a blog.

Some people see this as a time issue. Certainly larger libraries have people that they can pay to manage an interactive site, but most small libraries have staff that are working hard just to keep up with the current demands of their patrons without adding new interactive ones. Being from an extremely small library, I do not have the volume of patrons, so I have found time to participate in 23 things.

So far I have enjoyed setting up a blog and was surprised at how easy it was to do that. I have pretty good Internet skills, having an e-mail account at both home and work. I have learned some of these skills from my daughter. She had a blog when she stayed in Scotland for a semester. It was nice to be able to see pictures of her and read about her travels.

I watched a video of Steve Abrahams of SirsiDynix. He was asked about what his favorite new technology was. He said "IM" because he can keep up with his children. It took me a few minutes to figure out that this was "instant messaging" or text messaging. Although this might be a great tool for keeping in touch with kids, I'm not sure it relates much to libraries. I think many of these interactive tools will be used by individuals, but system wide, I'm not sure it's going to happen.

Rick Anderson had an interesting point about how "collections" are becoming obsolete. That is one thing I see more of in the future--people browsing for a book on-line and then picking it up at the library. Even my senior citizens want me to order books for them.

Although I look forward to learning more about 2.0 technologies for personal use, I'm not sure how much I'll use these skills at the library.

Cool Traveling Librarian

Begin 23 Things on a Stick

Well, here is my first blog. I'm hoping to learn some new high tech things to try out so I can see if they would work at my library. I do not own a digital camera, but three members of my family do, so maybe they will help me to up load a picture or two. Hey wait a minute, I'm the one who bought each of those people a digital camera. I sense something deeply flawed in my personality.

Anyway, I am the Branch Librarian at Mille Lacs Lake Community Library in Isle, Minnesota. The population of the town is 770 and it is located on the southeast corner of Mille Lacs Lake. It is partly a tourist town, but there is a small amount of industry here also.

Setting up a blog is fairly easy. It is a cross between an e-mail address and a publication document. Anyway here is my blog. I don't know if I will have time to do all 23 of these things on a stick, but I have an hour until it gets busy around here (school is out then).