Doodle so far...

As of this point, 13 people have responded to the Doodle survey about the materials they use at the library. The greatest use has been in the DVD/video area. I was also surprised how many people read the newspapers. I am enjoying being able to see what people I know (people from my address book) used at the library. Non-fiction and general fiction came up as the next most used. This has been a fun part of Adventures in Technology.

Catching up...

This past weekend I did the last 2 weeks of lessons. As you can see, I added a print version of a podcast onto my blog and 2 podcasts to my Google Reader. At first look, I liked the cleaner look of Podscope but I found that Podcast Alley has a much better search engine...at least for the words I put in. I was pleasantly surprised to find a podcast by one of my favorite curriculum authors. In terms I can see a number of library uses for podcasting: either open/live or post podcasts of various speakers or events that we do, a book talk or book review would be nice, or perhaps doing some classes like our AIT classes.
I am curious if there is a way to link a regular podcast to my blog rather than linking a written form of the podcast.
Jumping back to the previous lesson...
After I wrote on this blog, I went back into the Nashville Library site and did their survey. It seems that they are grappling with some of the same issues in terms of money , time, personnel, etc. that we are. If anyone is interested, please check out their survey. The survey was very simple but I do admit that there were questions that I wanted the "best of both worlds" rather picking an either/or answer. I am hoping that they publish the results of this survey in the coming month or so.

By invitation only?

Getting people to be involved in something that interests you is the main topic for today. I made a survey (http://www.doodle.ch/et5zbebf7mwmmhih) which of course anyone who reads this blog is invited to be a participant. It is the first survey I have ever tried to do online and after seeing how it actually comes out in the formatting, I think I would do it slightly differently next time. On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing who actually participates (I specifically invited family and friends) and what the results will be.
I found David Lee King's blog interesting as too often library homepages only give information but do not invite participation. Of the libraries that do invite participation, the Nashville Public Library homepage does a nice job. Information is given, interaction is invited, but the page is not cluttered and especially, not wordy. Instead, pictures and buttons invite the patron to follow down his or her paths of interest. The major problem I saw with David Lee King's blog comments was the casualness of "just add ___ to your blog". The assumption is that one knows HOW to add these things. Not my forte but this class is at least broadening my knowledge and giving me possibilities.
What are people most interested in at the library? RPL has been running quite a number of articles in the newspapers these days. Perhaps (to get a broader base) we can ask people to log on to the library web site and find out what collection, activity, etc. is of most interest to people. If people don't use the library, why not? Is it location, time, nothing there of interest?
All in all, I found the topic of this week's lesson informative and useful both personally and professionally.

Remember the Milk and Jott

I am a list maker by nature because I KNOW that if something isn't written down, I WILL forget so these programs were of some interest to me. However, after trying them out I think they will be of little use mostly because you need to be a person who uses computer, ipod, web-phone, etc. technology on a REGULAR basis. Which I don't!!!
Initially, when reading the description in AIT, I thought that Remember the Milk would be more my style but I am having a dickens of a time just trying to get the email assignment accomplished. This is a bit discouraging as I don't even seem to be able to do this "simple" task. While waiting, I decided to try the Jott which did work as it should. Easier to do...just call it in...but again, I am visual and would need to be online (or print out) the list regularly.
Bottom line is that although both of these are good ideas for people with regular, daily online time, for me they are of little use. I must say however, that what people think of to do technologically is pretty amazing.

Delicious Bookmarks

OK...so the truth is that I am simultaneously intrigued, overwhelmed, and at the edge of frustrated. I absolutely love tag clouds and that whole concept. I like bookmarks as I have a forgetful mind. However, as I set up an account with Delicious and added former bookmarks, which in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have. I got a bit frustrated trying to "organize" them (in a more outline fashion) to fit what I thought I saw in one of the examples. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to do that or if I was supposed to have all my bookmarks listed on my toolbar. Just need more time for this one I think. In reality, I'm not sure if it is that I am much less familiar with the topics this semester or just have had less time but I am finding this semester more difficult, although still interesting.
As for practicality, I liked the Nashville Library use of a cloud tag for the teen section (and no I'm not biased just because Kam is down there and I have a library card from there.) I think that using cloud tags are great for visually oriented people as they give numerous bits of info in just a glance. I think that this kind of thing would also be good on a "seniors" library web page with topics/books of interest specifically for seniors. Perhaps a homeschool page as well...
I personally don't find the tags and uncontrolled vocabulary at all unsettling but rather it tends to spark new thoughts, concepts, and directions for me.
So, I will continue to persevere and see where in the library universe I will land.