A Fitting End!!

Ok - it's New Year's Eve - and the Library is closing early. It's five o'clock, the last two customers are checking out (of course they both have problems that prohibit using self-checkout!!), the man who left the empty LLBean backpack in the lab comes running back in at the last second to get it (YEA!) and I'm ready to lock the doors

WHEN

the security guard calls that there's ONE MORE IN THE BATHROOM!

I vaguely remember seeing a tall man (actual size and race, etc. undetermined) enter the men's room but I hadn't really been watching. Now I ask if he's still in there and if he knows we're closed. She said he's not responding to her calls, so she and I venture into the public men's room - an adventure devotely to be missed! - and I yell and she bangs on the locked stall door. No reaction at all - all I can see are feet!

Back out to the Help Desk where a cold wind is blowing - OH NO - the automatic door isn't automatically closing!! - and a call to 911. The dispatcher and I chuckle over the fact that there's a man locked in the men's room stall who won't respond to banging or yelling. At her request I have a male staff member check over the door to ensure the man is breathing - he comes back to say the man's passed out with his pants around this knees!

Minutes later the fire department and the police arrive - firemen with sledge hammers and various tools to break down the door. Luckily that's not necessary - the police are able (somehow) to rouse the man, get his pants up and out the non-working automatic door!

I turn off the automatic door, pull it closed, secure it with our high-tech bike chain and lock and we're FINALLY off for New Year's and 2008!

It had been such a quiet day! Goodbye 2007!! A fitting end!

Pa$$w0rd$

Have you realized just how many passwords we all have?? There are the ones for our personal email (or emails if you have more than one and who doesn't??!!), the passwords to log into the network (and maybe your home computer!). Passwords for blogs, wikis, webpages, banks, shopping, SO MANY PASSWORDS!

And the requirements for some of them - upper & lower case, numbers and letters and/or symbols - not to be repeated for at least 7 iterations. Is it any wonder that we get one or two and use them over and over and over again! All security type people, just cover your eyes and deal with it! The alternative is to write them all down (and then remember where you kept the list.)

This all came up because it was time for me to change my network password. The system kindly lets me know about 14 days in advance of the "oh no you can't use THAT anymore!" message and I've been thinking of what one to use. I know that I'll be typing the old one for several days so I wanted something that would fit all the requirements yet be easy for me to remember. I know it's supposed to be random and not easily guessed - well all I can say is that it can't be too random or I'll never remember it!

The network password has been changed - whew - and so has the password on my phone which goes and gets email from work (that reminder was MUCH more annoying than the one from the computer at work!) so all should be well for the next few months - until once again I have to come up with a memorable yet random and not easily guessed password of at least 8 characters!

The Kennedy Center performance of My Fair Lady was very good - the lead was Dana DeLisa - what a beautiful and powerful voice! Henry Higgins was good, but Tim Jerome as Alfred Doolittle stole the show! He was wonderfully funny and has a great voice!

Our seats were great - except for the woman in front of me who had to adjust everything all the time - hair, necklace, collar, jacket off, on, off again! Anyway there were a couple of times I couldn't see too well but for the most part everything was wonderful!

I'm really looking forward to the next production we're going to see - Lion King!!

Podcasts, Vodcasts and Libraries

I looked at various libraries and how they're using podcasts and vodcasts and was impressed with much of what's out there. I was most impressed with those libraries that formatted their pages in such a way that no additional software was needed. For example - clicking on a podcast of a book review at Denver Public Library opened Windows media player and began immediately - no need to go to iTunes or Juice or anywhere else!

I think it's important that we make any podcasts available as easily as possible and, to the best of our ability, not require any additional downloading.

I think that using this technology for book reviews - during Summer Reading Club especially - would be wonderful! Vodcasts could also be used to market various parts of the collection - maybe collages of travel pictures and books with reviews by people who've actually traveled there!

Podcasts of the monthly programming schedules at the library could allow customers (especially those with limited vision) to keep up with lectures, training, and special events in the library. Having this information pushed to customers automatically would increase the scope of our publicity and increase our program attendance.

It's a brand new world out there and, despite the fact that I don't listen to them, I can easily see the virtue of the Library using podcasts to reach out to customers.

Podcasts

I know they are out there - I've read the articles and looked for some podcasts - but, to be honest, I'm just not interested! I listened to podcasts from Meet the Press and I prefer the TV show! I don't listen to the radio, (unless I don't have an audio book!), I have an iPod and barely use it - although I do have some audio books on it!! (One of the NPR podcasts I did listen to was this one!)

(I don't want to have to download any client(s) or have another account anywhere - I mean really - Google, Yahoo, Meebo, PBWiki, Wikispaces - I'm having trouble keeping up with user IDs and passwords as it is!!)

I can see where having podcasts of lectures would be helpful for training purposes - for example, LCDT sessions that people couldn't attend might do well as podcasts or vodcasts. I think it would benefit us to video the main speakers at All Staff Day (with permission of course) and extract YouTube videos as well as podcasts and vodcasts.

Personally, I'll stick with reading webpages and watching TV!

(Example of what I was thinking: Conversations with Stephen Abram)

The Adventures of Super Librarian - YouTube

I chose this video because I saw it at the YouTubey awards at Computers in Libraries 2007! I think that YouTube would be a great place to advertise programs or even virtual tours of the libraries. It would also be a good place for some tutorials - perhaps on RFID tagging, self-checkout etc.

I subscribe to the Common Craft videos and have registered with the Royal Channel (love those Christmas broadcasts from the Queen!!).

As with other Web 2.0 sites, tagging is important and allows the user to find videos based on keywords or subjects. I've found LOTS using Library, Library 2.0, Web 2.0 etc. Not all are worth watching but there have been some gems!

I also like this one! It's a little long - but reminiscent for those of us over 50??!

One More Thing!!

I just had to play with this image generator before I left for DC - how fun!



If you click on the cover, you'll go to the site I used - choose the "Dummies book cover"!!

Year-End (almost)

The year is almost over – and, although it means another year older, I'm pretty happy that it's almost done! It's been a roller coaster year and, although it's ending on a upswing, there's always that fear/anticipation of the free fall at the top of the hill!

My mother's health is good – much improved over the middle of the year when she was in the hospital and the outlook was grim. She's home, mobile and doing well. We just have to appreciate every day that's left to us and cherish our time together.

My personal life is doing well too! We're getting things settled in at home and, so far, the commute hasn't been horrendous for Don! (And I'm enjoying the TRUCK!!). My children are well - happy and healthy - and I can't ask for more than that!

I am buying a new hot water heater for the townhouse (very unexpected) but hopefully that will cure some of the leaking problems Scott & Michelle have had to deal with over the year. (Of course we thought it was "cured" before! Darn QUEST piping!!)

I have plans for the house – pending budgets and time and all the planets lining up in the right order!! We'll see how much actually gets done at this time in 2008!!

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year and a prosperous 2008!

Now - I'm off to get my hair cut and go to the Kennedy Center to see My Fair Lady!

December 26 - continued

Ok - so now I'm at the drive-up window on a cold, windy, rainy night - and no one's driving up! So I'm playing with some of the Flickr programs that permit playing!



And having some fun!!

PS - I used the same program to add Karly's name to the Christmas Eve post about her!

December 26

It's the day after Christmas and I'm back at work! Battling wind, rain and post-holiday shoppers I made it on time!

Christmas was fun - good time with the kids (men) and good food and vegging most of the day - who knew that Survivorman would have a marathon!!

I got to see my favorite Christmas movie (see the picture) and have even seen where you can buy copies of the "leg lamp" - maybe next year!

A Christmas Eve Baby!

Karly arrived at 2 on Christmas Eve morning - 7 lb 4 oz - healthy and well!

What a wonderful gift!

A New Baby

We just had word that there's going to be a new baby in the family very soon!

Mommy & Dad are on the way to the hospital and a little girl is on her way into the world!

Mom sounded well, happy and excited (Dad was driving!!)

Looking forward to the pictures for sure!

A Trip to the Vet

Today, Lady Cleo had to go to the vet for a regular checkup and a rabies shot.

She was extremely good - no hissing, spitting or growling! But the news wasn't all good! The madame weighed 17 lbs. 11 oz - up from 16 lbs at her last checkup a little over a year ago!

Soooo - the vet uttered those fateful words "she needs to be on a diet!!" She asked if we were "free feeding" her (answer: no) and if she had lots of treats (answer: no). So the next step was reducing the amount of canned food she gets from 1/2 of a small can twice a day to 1/4 of a small can twice a day - to be mixed with some drops to improve her coat! And her dry food will be measured (as it is now).

We're to weigh her every two weeks or so to see if we're on the right track - otherwise it may have to be prescription diet food instead of the Iams Weight Control!!

The good news is that she's been chasing Quincy around and, since they eat the same thing, Quincy's also going to be on a diet! (So he won't look like he swallowed a bowling ball!!) Hopefully the added exercise with help them both!!

Hmmmm ....

Someone - who shall remain nameless - thinks that my "little" Quincy is going to look like this before too long!

I THINK NOT!!

He has "filled out" some since coming inside from under the house - but he's not FAT!

Oceanfront Library

Oceanfront Library,
originally uploaded by VBDiane.

In my other post (with Quincy's picture) I totally forgot to include the picture that I tagged with VBPL_L2 - silly me!

I'm blaming it on the holidays - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Take_a_seat

I want these chairs!!

Extra Extra

I really enjoyed playing with the mashups and additional apps available for Flickr. I particularly enjoyed Delivr - it lets you create e-cards with your pictures by simply adding a line of HTML to the picture description. Then, if someone clicks on the picture there is an option to create a card!

Fun!! I added the link to the two pictures of the library - old and new! Try it out!

Tag You're It - Flickr!

Tagging allows people to organize their photos in a very personal way. The words used are important to the person using them - making it especially easy to find the material again in a sea of photos! The use of common words and phrases rather than a pre-determined list of words makes finding commonalities all that much easier.

Tags mean I can type in Oceanfront or Library or "Virginia Beach" or VBPL_L2 (or better yet all of them) and find a nice picture of Oceanfront Library on Flickr! Using the Library tag means I'll find that picture (eventually) as well as the rest of the self-described community of Library photos! I'll also find a pretty good picture of the old Oceanfront Library!!

Try it and see for yourself!

Quincy

Quincy,
originally uploaded by VBDiane.

This is a terrible picture of the Q Man but it was one that was on the flash drive I had at work!! So - while I was creating a Flickr account, and uploading pictures (for some reason the work computer would let me upload photos fine but not a separate icon for my account). It forced me to upload the photo and then move over to the icon - not impossible but more work!

I like Flickr - I like all the photos but I'm not a good picture taker (and I certainly don't want MY picture up there more than absolutely necessary) so I'm not sure how much I'll use it. I do have some pictures on my MySpace page too - so many pages so little time for upkeep!!

Tagging is critical and I love the fact that I'm not constricted by pre-determined tagging. I add lots of words in hopes I will be able to find what I'm looking for again! SIGH!

Less than a week until Christmas!

What a great picture!

I found it at anvilcloud.blogspot.com!


The black kitty looks a lot like Quincy (except Quincy would NEVER let me put a hat or collar on him!!) The second cat on the left looks a lot like Cleo but, again, hats and collars would get me bloody!!

Web 2.0 Award Winners

An interesting list - and I think the most interesting part was that I've actually already used or experimented with many of the tools listed!

• Del.icio.us
• Facebook
• iGoogle
• Technorati (as mentioned before - not comprehensive!)
• Bloglines
• Library Thing
• Google Docs
• Meebo
• Feedburner
• PBWiki
• Flickr
• Rollyo
• YouTube
• Netvibes

I particularly like iGoogle - it keeps important things all together - on my home page is my Google Reader, the weather, and special gadgets for important dates - birthdays etc. iGoogle also has tabs (always good!) and I have a tab for news, fun things (I'll admit to People Headlines), and one for mail where even at work I can see the preview of my GMail. It's also my home page at home and, since it's web-based, what I add at home shows up at work!

There are tons of things to add - but I think I have enough!!

Technorati

As I said, I've not spent a lot of time "playing" with Technorati - I do have an account, I have claimed my blog and I actually have a watchlist - although I must be honest and admit I don't "watch" it very much!

This post is to try the tagging as was suggested in Thing 18 of the 30 Things! We'll see how it works and if it's something that I want to do in the future!

Technorati tag: VBPLL2

Tagging

I've been using delicious for a few weeks now and have to admit that it's so much easier to have my bookmarks online and available at whatever computer I happen to be using. I also enjoy looking at bookmarks others have collected - although I haven't actually bookmarked anything for anyone else nor have I had someone bookmark something for me! (I have high hopes though!)

I particularly like the fact that I don't have to worry about organizing the bookmarks as I'm adding them - the tags take care of all that! I don't have to worry about alphabetizing or making sure that the bookmark is in the right folder (as I do on the browser - unless I want a huge list to go through!). The ability to have multiple tags (descriptors) for each site also helps to ensure that I actually can find a site again!

I'm very pleased that the delicious buttons installed easily at work (as a toolbar that can be turned off and on) - it makes adding things possible and keeps me from forgetting where things are! I have been known to email myself URLs so I don't lose them!!

(I've also been able to save the Google Reader "subscribe" button in the favorites "links" but that's another story!)

As you can see in the sidebar, I've added my badge from delicious - feel free to look at my bookmarks and, if you want, please add me to your network! From the sidebar, you'll also see that I have a Technorati account too - but I must admit I've been lax in exploring all aspects of that site. Soon I hope!

Shopping - UGH

Today was the first time I've been to a mall (actually walking around and shopping) for over two years - and I remember why!

Too many people, too frantic, too much noise (screaming children, yelling children, discordant music - some Christmas, some rock).

I did some shopping online before going to the mall - MUCH nicer way to shop! Oh well, I have more trips to make!

Happy Holidays!

Shopping in 1999

Too funny!

Friendship

I had a terrific evening with some special friends - a great time talking, complaining, explaining and commiserating! All the things that friends are for!

My wish for everyone this holiday season is for you to have good friends like mine - celebrate them!

Animated Quincy

He's gone - but not forgotten! It was fun and I enjoyed having him but the beauty of blogs or MySpace pages or webpages in general is that change is inevitable! There were other things I've seen that I thought might be interesting or fun to have on this page, but there's a limit before things look a bit crowded!

I still have the site on delicious and can reinstate him at a later date if I choose!

I'll just have to bore and (possibly) annoy you with something else for a while!

Technology - AARRGGGG!

I love technology and I HATE technology!! Whew I feel better now!

After a busy day of Service Awards - congrats to that team! - I came home to find that my laptop was connecting to the router but no futher - bummer! Restarting the laptop didn't help - double bummer! Resetting the wireless router - still nothing - now I'm getting "upset"! Checking the dsl modem - all green, but there's a switch up there too - hummm that looks suspicious - so reset all of those - switches, routers, modems - EVERYTHING. Still nothing!

Let me see - most of my neighbors have secured networks - but I do know the password to one - let me try that - NO GO!! Trying to connect but not! Wait - there's an unsecured network - let's try that - NO - starting to want to slam the computer!!

Finally looking to see what networks are available - and mine (really strong signal!) flashes: acquiring IP address, connected with limited access, connected!

YEA!! Happy Days!!

Question - what happened?? Answer - who knows?? But for now computers are connected! Yippee!!

My MySpace - My Facebook

I have both a Facebook and a MySpace account. (unfortunately I can't give a link to the Facebook account, you have to be registered to see it!) I had the MySpace first and, maybe because it was originially used mostly by younger people, I find it easier and more fun to use. My profile on MySpace is much more "evolved" and complicated although I've joined some library-related groups on Facebook. There are tons of layouts available for MySpace and add-on apps for both.

I don't play games (either on social network sites or otherwise) and I'm not big on a lot of those kind of additional apps, but I like being able to post videos that I like and have music that I like.

I use MySpace to keep in touch with friends and family, although I'm just as likely to send email! For kids, I can see this as a progression from the telephone. When I was a teen (yes, we did have telephones then, and they weren't all black! but they did have rotary dials) talking to your friends on the phone was what we did - now the kids can text, IM or comment online. Since MySpace has IM, email and blogging - everything is in one place - they can use that easily (and they don't have to be at home!).

MySpace - YourSpace

The question for "Thing 15" is "Should VBPL have a MySpace account?"

A better question to ask first is - "What do we want from our MySpace/Facebook account (since we really might as well have both!)?" Until we answer why we want a MySpace account and what we want to do with it, having one becomes just another case of "we have to have it because it exists" and that's just not a good enough reason!

If we want to go where our teens/tweens and adults are - then a MySpace/Facebook (don't forget Ning and all the others!) may be viable - but that begs the question (again) - what do we want to do with it(them)? (And, coincidentally, who's going to do all the maintaining!)

Simply being there. without constant monitoring and updating, is a waste of the time it took to create the page and would only serve to make VBPL look dorky in the eyes of the very people we want to attract!

So - should VBPL have social networking accounts? Yes but ONLY after the questions have been answered.

(PS if you click on the picture of my MySpace account above, you'll go directly to my MySpace page! Enjoy - be aware that music does auto-start!)

To Everyone!

More Free Graphics at pYzam.com

Book A Month Challenge

You learn such interesting things reading RSS feeds in your reader! I found a link to a link to a new blog and a new idea! Book a Month Challenge.

"Welcome to the Book A Month (BAM) Challenge. Right around the first of the month, every month, we’ll be posting a theme. All you have to do is read a book that corresponds to that theme and post a review, either on your own website/blog and comment with a link to it or in the comments for the post itself. Pretty simple, right? This is perfect for those looking to fulfill their New Year’s Resolution of “read more books”. See you around January 1st!"

This sounds like such fun - and a good incentive to read new things and keep on blogging!

Human Filtering

In this case, the library won!

Director's Station & JAVA

Whew - three hours of an on-line training and an 80+ page manual! But what a fascinating program! It's going to be interesting to get in and play with it and see exactly what kind of information is living in our ILS database! That's Director's Station!!


The Java Client is up and running and doing well - there are some glitches - but they're small ones and relatively easy to work around. The display is wonderful and so much better than the old C Client! And scrolling!! We now have REAL scrolling!!

Lots of training and changes this week! (I just need to remember to configure the printers at each computer I log into!!)

Open Lab Day @ Oceanfront

Today is one of our Open Lab days - we have a lab - we're going to use it! It's great to see 6 staff members (friends) busily working on their Library 2.0 Things!

We'll have more in the future! Check our wiki for the days & times!

Links & Tool Bars

My browser's bars are getting crowded! I use IE7 most of the time at home (mostly because it plays nicely with the City's web Outlook!) and I've been adding favorites to my links bar to make them easier to find (it's faster than favorites) and, while I like the tabs, I find too many of them are just annoying!

In addition to my favorite blogs & wikis (the one's I contribute to mostly!) I've added the Google Reader "subscribe" button (heaven help I would have to find an icon or copy a URL!!) and, of course, the delicious buttons - I do love having my faves all online and available wherever I go!

BTW - we discovered that the delicious buttons can be added to the browsers at work - we've been madly adding them to the "manned" computers at the help desk and the drive up window for those times we find just the right site! (I haven't tried adding the Google Reader subscribe button but I will!!) I like the fact you can share bookmarks (favorites) and see what others are saving! (I think we get to social bookmarking later in our Library 2.0 training - but I really like it and just couldn't help talking about it now!!)

AH TECHNOLOGY! Geeks are me!!

UPDATE: I was able to add the "subscribe" button from Google Reader - I'm a happy (lazy) camper now!!

Settling In – Settling Down

We're getting there, slowly but surely!

Don's stuff is here (we cleaned the garage in anticipation of the move – I enjoyed seeing the floor for that brief time!!) and today is the first day of his "commuter life". He's on the road to Richmond and work. Yesterday he worked from home while I worked from - WORK! The cats were happy because they didn't have to wait until 9:30 to eat – down to just one night a week for that now! He'll be back Thursday (if no crisis occurs that requires him to remain in Richmond) and work from home again on Friday (and Saturday and Sunday if necessary!!).

Helping clean the apartment and pack has been an inspiration – we got home and I cleaned out a cabinet in the kitchen and Don cleaned the pantry – three bags of garbage later … ! Honestly, it's amazing how much "stuff" accumulates when you aren't looking! The cabinet wasn't one that I really "use" all that much but still was full of what I must have thought was vitally important stuff at one time! But I'm definitely in a "clean and clear" frame of mind – "when in doubt throw it out" has become my motto! Especially if I haven't used (or even seen) the thing in months or, more likely, years!

If I truly need that item in the future (whenever that might be) I'll just have to go get another one! (BTW – that's probably why I have more than one anyway – I couldn't find the one I already had, so I went out and bought another one and somehow they "found" each other in the cabinet!) It's a conspiracy – it must be – it certainly isn't MY fault!

Reader's Advisory Wiki

This was interesting as I've not used Wikispaces before and I was interested in the differences (which were actually few). I found the layout easy to navigate and editing straightforward. I like the tabbed display.

I don't like ads (sorry) and I appreciate that Pbwiki allows the creation of "educational" wikis without ads. I didn't research Wikispaces to find out if they have a similar option.

I'll be going back to see what others contribute as staff picks - I'm always looking for new books/authors!

Wiki Wiki Who's Got the Wiki

This week we're learning about wikis and how they're used in various settings. Two teams that I'm on have had wikis for approximately 8 months and I've found them very useful.

• Available from any "connected" computer
• No additional software needed
• Easily edited
• Great place to keep a variety of information together - forms, minutes, ideas, etc.

I've been using a wiki during this Learning 2.0 at the Beach program to gather all the readings, links and videos in one place! Blogs are chronological and posts will "fall off" the page (into archives to be sure, but not "seen"!) while a wiki can organize the materials into logical pages. Our wiki is a fast way for anyone to go back to find readings, videos and other resources without having to search archives or remember dates. Our wiki is open to everyone but it does require a password to edit. Our password is: Library. Feel free to edit away!

I can see wikis becoming more and more important to teams in the library - as collaborative tools that could take the place of some face-to-face meetings, especially when planning events or programs. Having a "holding place" for all the ideas and suggestions that occur during brainstorming is wonderful - without the need for flipcharts or smelly markers! The ability to add information, edit and re-arrange material without having to leave your building will become more and more important as staffing becomes tighter and tighter! (NOTE: Wireless will become more and more important as we start to use this technology. It may be that a couple team members can meet in person while other members are remote - wireless would allow the meeting to occur where people were most comfortable and not crammed around an already crowded desk! - my editorial comment is now over! )

In addition to internal use, wikis could be a wonderful tool for our "external" customers too. As other libraries have done, having a wiki that allows customers to add content (Best Books, etc.) would be wonderful. It would allow the library to truly connect with our customers and could help in developing our collections to provide the materials our customers want! I would like to explore how other libraries are using wikis in combination with their ILS and online catalogs! Something to think about for the future.