Photo Fun

Today's assignment was a challenge but a fun one. Having explored Flickr, I think that this is one of those practical lessons that I will actually use. I set up the pictures that Chris T. took into both sets and into a collection. The feature that I especially liked was the map feature. I put the Main Street Displays set into (onto?) the map of Racine, WI so other people could see this set. Hopefully soon I am going to put my family pictures into sets. I am also going to try to connect one of the sets with my family blog... We'll see how that goes.
Please note that I resisted the opportunity to spell fun as PHUN.
Also, any of my fellow RPL bloggers that read my blog, please VOTE!

A Resting Week...

No new assignment this week but I did enjoy looking at some of the websites that we were invited to view. I also caught up on my Google Reader material as this has been a hectic week and am WAY behind in that.
For all you fellow RPL bloggers, a question: What has been your favorite assignment in this AIT adventure? Answer this by doing the survey in this blog.
Have a great week!

Wiki

Today I did the Wikipedia assignment at home since I had both time and access to a computer. I have used Wikipedia before for recipes but didn't really understand the concept of a wiki. I could see a wiki being used by people at the library to give stable (as opposed to changeable) information about our library or information about community services, ongoing community programs especially ones that the library is involved in (Summer Read for example), etc.
I did appreciate the comment that one of my fellow library bloggers made about getting information with accuracy issues.
Two questions: I thought I was on the correct week lesson but I see Week 8, am I behind and did I miss Week 7 someplace?

Doc-ing and Clock-ing

Today I learned how to use Google Docs. This seems to me to be a fairly efficient way to communicate between (particularly) co-workers. The same concept goes for the Calendar. I can especially see the usefulness of knowing immediately if your event will overlap another event and if that will be a problem. (Think color coordination.)
On a personal level, I'm not sure that it is as useful to me as I don't have steady, ready access to a computer (as opposed to my day planner). At the time, I have PowerPoint at home but I can see the advantage to using the Google slide show. It would have been especially helpful to my son, for instance, when he was supposed to collaborate with several people last semester for a project and it was VERY difficult to get them all together.
I did have a bit of difficulty getting back into my Google account to do anything beyond Google Reader. It kept asking me to make a new account. But then, I have a hard time remembering how to get into my library email account. MAJOR brain freeze on my part. After writing this, I am going to go try again.
Personally, learning to blog has been the most practical and fun lesson.

Some Possibilities...

Searching for various places to get web feeds from, looking at several library sites, and a comment from a coworker opened my mind to several ideas. Homeschooling is, of course, dear to my heart and I am thinking that part of what I will have my daughter do is make her own blog. She has been taking a computer course this semester but mostly focusing on MS Office applications and a couple of graphic programs. Doing this would broaden her just a bit more.
Also, I am wondering if we have or if there is a way to put together Unit Study Kits for Homeschoolers. I'm going to do some research on this and also think that I would need to be a bit more confident in using MS Access. We'll see...
Even if we do have something like this, I'm wondering how well known it is within the homeschool population. While there are quite a few homeschoolers that use the library regularily, I know that because of family size, time constraints, etc. and with the growing numbers of new homeschoolers not enough homeschool families make use of the extensive possibilities of the library.
I will continue to investigate.

A Bit More Challenge...

Week 4 is almost completed. It was not nearly as easy as Week 3 but with help, I finally got it. Part of the (low grade)frustration was mentioned in one of the blog sites I visited...getting overwhelmed with the "easy" stuff like remembering different email addresses and passwords. Part of my problem is that I don't use them often enough and so forget them. The good thing is that I am a list writer and take notes. So...the thing to do now...is remember to have my notes with me...or possibly use the "easy" stuff more often.
I am enjoying learning these new things if only that I am intellectually challenged each week. Connecting with some interesting people and websites are an added plus.
Before I finish for the week, I have to look at the challenge for this lesson and see if it is beyond me.
I also want to figure out how to put a hits counter on the blog. Perhaps with help...
On the other hand, I did make a personal blog which impressed my kids and a number of family and friends who live too far away to visit easily have gotten a chance to catch up on the family news.

One of the great things...

One of the great things about this library blogging is getting to read blogs by your fellow workers. It is amazing to see all the diverse blogs with unique creativity in colors, topics, etc. Reading other people's blogs has also given me interesting things to think about, contemplate things to incorporate into my blog, and just have a good laugh. To all of you at work who have shared your blog, thank you!!