Bunny attends a conference

I'm back at my alma mater, Macalester, to attend the Midwest Library Technology Conference 2008. The Web 2.0 session is focusing on several of the 23 things. Fortunately I am familiar with some of them. However, there is so much to learn. Oops, I'd better turn my attention back to the presenter.

Communication: Thing #7

Our library has been using e-mail quite intensely for over 10 years. We answer a lot of reference questions that way, help researchers use our website more effectively, and communicate with each other about news and ongoing issues. I get so many e-mails from colleagues, researchers, and external sources that managing e-mail and finding relevant communications is sometimes challenging.

I haven't done a lot of chat, instant messaging, or text messaging. I've done Google chat via my gmail account at my home. I have received a few text messages on my cell phone, some in error. Without frequently doing it I'm slow to comprehend the shorthand and to enter information. Much of what I do at work is often very involved. I certainly wouldn't want to have complicated interactions about copyright, permissions, or large manuscript collections via text or IM. We've had a few security issues where IM might have been a good way to alert other staff rather than pushing the panic button or making a call that the irate patron may overhear.

I've participated in several Minitex webinars, including the Library 2.0 one and the Best of Online Reference. I find them to be well done professionally, but they don't feel very interactive to me. I'm not one for saying much beyond my name in such a set-up. Web conferencing seems to have good potential for outreach with remote researchers who are unable to attend our classes in the library.

Image Generator: Thing #6

My husband is having a hard time seeing me have so much fun with flickr and the image generator activity and comprehending that this could actually be work-related. I really enjoyed doing the trading cards on Image Generator. One limitation for me is that I'm working on this at home and don't currently have a lot of photographs on my new home computer. I did save a historical photograph of a library to incorporate into a trading card. One of my interests is in historical photograph collections. I liked Image Chef and made a Minnesota license plate, but it's a bit wordy for the road. Bunny

Thing 5: More Fun with Flickr

I looked at two sites: Big Huge Labs and Spell with Flickr. At Big Huge Labs I made a puzzle from a photograph of our library I uploaded to Flickr last week. Spell with Flickr was very cool. I had no idea how easy it was. I especially liked the ability to click on each letter to get the look I wanted. What I had trouble with was taking my words spelled with Flickr and moving them to this blog. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts I've decided to move on for now. I do plan to come back to this feature, because I could see it being very useful in other projects.

Thing 4: Exploring Flickr

Photo: Saint Paul Public Library
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stpaulpubliclibrary/380985103/


I found many Minnesota library photographs on Flickr. I selected one of the Riverview Library in St. Paul , a beautiful classical Carnegie Library that retains its architectural integrity while also offering lots of modern conveniences. Every time I visit I find many people of varying ages from the neighborhood using the computers, reading newspapers, and browsing.

Thing 3: RSS

I have been using Bloglines for several months now to manage my blog viewing. I've found it to be a tremendous time saver, which is great when you're learning new things. I just added three new feeds, blogs my colleagues are creating for the 23 Things. Reading the blogs via Bloglines allows me to look at over 50 feeds through one log in. I only look at those feeds that are marked in bold, indicating new and unread postings.

Near the top of my list, both alphabetically and in terms of enjoyment, is the Annoyed Librarian. Her highly amusing and very articulate contrarian views keep me up on Library 2.0 (the Twopointopians) and keep a larger perspective.

Thoughts about Library 2.0

Stephen Abram is right that you can find time for what's important, but I have really struggled to find time at work. Finally, I just decided that I'd do some of my blogging at home. Time is increasingly an issue for me at work. Some of it is that I have taken on more tasks and responsiblities. The other thing is that somedays I feel so overwhelmed with all that there is to do that I don't know where to start. Clearly, some time management is in order. Part of the challenge for me is that many of the new responsiblities are challenging me in new ways. I'm learning new programs and doing more writing. I have to think more, which is good.

I'm participating because I think that 23 Things is a tremendous opportunity to learn new things. There's enough structure that I won't get lost and overwhelmed and enough choices and freedom that I don't feel too hemmed in. I came across Library 2.0 in 2006 while struggling for sources of information on how other libraries were addressing change. I immediately embraced many of the ideas and was stimulated and occasionally overwhelmed with all the possibilities. Many of my colleagues probably thought that I had jumped off the deep end. In the summer of 2006, with the help of some colleagues, I started an internal blog to communicate knowledge that was sitting in my head and that of other librarians, to share things we all discovered as we did in-depth research for patrons, to save ourselves time and increase our effectiveness. Several colleagues regularly add posts to the blog. I'm also the project leader on a wiki. One of my favorite L2 things is using an aggregator. I like tools that help me make more efficient use of my time and help me keep up to date with what others are saying and doing.

I'm looking forward to trying some of the 23 things that are totally new to me. I'm finding that this experiential learning is very valuable, and my 20-something kids think it makes me more cool, always a good thing.
Bunny