Thing 5 - More fun (?) with flickr

I really do not understand the point of all of these mash-ups, besides as a way to waste time. I mean, I guess it's interesting that you can do these things on the web, but really, I don't see how they would benefit libraries all that much. If, for example, you used Spell with Flickr to create posters for events, the posters would look more like ransom notes than anything else. And if that's the look you're going for, then great, but if not, then it seems like a bit of a waste. And I feel like I did waste a lot of time on this Thing. Sure, Retrievr is fun (drawing on the computer and seeing the images that "match" what you drew), but as for the practical value of it, I guess I'm just not seeing it. And, contrary to what the 23 Things instructions said, there were NOT easy-to-follow instructions on how to upload any of these creations to my blog, which just added another level of frustration to this Thing. I see the benefit of Flickr itself and how that could be useful in a library setting, but as for all the mash-ups? Seems like a waste of time.

Thing 4 - exploring Flickr, part 2

Yay! The Blog This! feature on Flickr is awesome. I've never known how to upload photos into a blog, and this is SO easy. It includes the attribution and a link to the original page the photo was from for you, so you don't have to worry about any of that. It was so much easier than trying to manually upload it, and I have to say I'm glad that I linked these two tools. I can really see myself utilizing both of them personally, but I can also see how it would work great for libraries. The staff here have talked about starting a blog (and I know there is a blog policy in the works), and I know that for events we do take a lot of pictures, so knowing that this option is available, and that both can be incorporated together, really opens up a lot of options. One thing we always talk about is how to get teens in to the library, or more involved in the library, and this seems like it could be a great way to do that. It was fun to play around with, after the initial frustration, and now it seems like it would be so easy.

Thing 4 - exploring Flickr, part 1

Night London Panorama with Full Moon,
originally uploaded by Dimitry B.

So I finally was able (I think) to figure out a way to upload this photo from Flickr to my blog. I originally tried to do it through the URL address, and when I did that nothing showed up except a date on my blog (like I should have something there, but I don't). I was confused about how to add attribution to a photo taken by somebody else, so I guess I'll see if this works. What I ended up doing was selecting the Creative Commons link on Flickr and choosing a photo from there to upload. I then chose to Blog This! and ended up linking Flickr and my blogger account. So now, I'm doing the experiment to see if it actually works, and was asked to post something to see if it all flows together nicely. So, here goes...

Thing 3 - RSS

I had set up a Bloglines account last year as a graduate teaching assistant, because I had my students set up their own blogs, and it was a great way to keep track of their postings. But even though I had set it up before, I really didn't know exactly what it even meant. I didn't know what the RSS link I saw on web sites did, or that it meant Really Simple Syndication. I was still able to use Bloglines, but knowing more of the background on it really does give me a better understanding of what it is I'm doing, which is always helpful.
The problem with Bloglines is that it is addictive. I chose some general areas of interest and before I knew it I had 30-some feeds - which I think is way too many. I don't have time to look through each one when new things are posted, and so I managed to get it down to about 16, with the understanding that as my colleagues add their blogs, they will be added to my account. It's hard to pick and choose, because I always feel like I want to have an abundance of information at my fingertips, which is what Bloglines provides, yet I never have time to go through all of that information. My fear is that it could end up being more of a time-waster than a time-saver. But I guess I'll see how it all plays out. I think it's also difficult to pick and choose what is going to be quality - there are so many library/librarian blogs, that I don't know which ones would really work for me? I do have The Shifted Librarian, About Contemporary Literature, Unshelved (that comic is sweet) and of course Stephen King as feeds for me. I also included news feeds (in-forum and CNN), and have a feeling I will continue to add as interesting sites and blogs come up.
While I still am not convinced I have a complete understanding of RSS and how it all works, it is exciting to once again have all of my interests "aggregated" in one spot for me to enjoy. This is another "thing" I hope to continue after I finish my 23 things.

Thing 2 - now that's a lot of information

I just completed Thing 2, which was basically reading about Library 2.0. I'm really glad I did that, because to be honest, I wasn't sure exactly what it was about. But all of the difference perspectives on it helped me to find my own, at least a little bit.
It seems to me that it's going to be imperative to incorporate these online social communities somehow into the library. There's been talk here about setting up a My Space page, or something along those lines, to get the younger demographic more involved. Here's the problem, though:
All of our public computers are filtered, and no one under 17 can have access to the filtered material. That material includes MySpace. How does one go about getting around that? I would be curious to know what other libraries that have MySpace pages have done. My understanding is that filtering is a federal requirement, so how does one get around that catch-22? It's one of things that really got me thinking as I read about all of the 2.0 tools.
I'm very excited to continue on with the Things - some of them I'm somewhat familiar with, and some I've barely even heard of. As far as time to get them done, I agree with Steven Abram, who says that 15 minutes here and there should be utilized for 23 Things. It's great to explore, and it's fun to be able to play and learn about things that could end up being utilized in some form in the library, and make things more user-friendly for the patrons! As long as we don't forget about people who do not embrace technology, and do not accept change, because there are people like that who come to the library, and we can't force them to embrace technology. I see it everyday. We have a self-checkout system that is not quite a year old, and there are still patrons who refuse to try it, simply because they don't want things to change. And we respect and accommodate that, and I think that's important as well.
All for now, on to Thing 3!

Thing 1 - continued

So I guess last time I didn't quite finish with Thing 1; I wasn't able to upload my avatar onto my blog. I have since taken care of that problem and I'm actually pretty surprised how easy it was. I had an avatar for my Yahoo! email account, but I had no idea you could actually use that same avatar on other types of accounts, such as blogs. It's pretty cool how so many of these online tools interconnect and interact, and I never realized it before. And, you don't even have to understand the HTML code - you just need to copy and paste! (Which is great news for me).
More to follow after Thing 2.