Thing 10

What did you find interesting about the wiki concept?
I like the idea of a wiki and an editable website, per say- you don't use it as a document, like Google Docs, use it to manage information, links, etc... or that is how I have used it so far.

What types of applications within libraries and schools might work well with a wiki?
At MINITEX we use it to list our vacation days, upcoming training date, etc.... use it to manage information more easily within a department.

Many teachers/faculty "ban" Wikipedia as a source for student research. What do you think of the practice of limiting information by format?
Honestly, we know the kids are using it- I think is it wrong to ban wikipedia- I use it for heaven's sake when I know little on a topic! I will look there to get an idea and then consult a mroe authortitative site. Wikipedia is a great site to teach accuracy of inforamtion in the web 2.0 world.... we should be using it as a teaching tool, not banning it.

Which wiki did you edit?
I added to the Wiki Sandbox- didn't want to mess up what looks like working documents in the other. I am at the beginning of wiki learning- at work I often get confused with adding a page and assigning it to the right department, etc. A ltitle to get used to but great power to share and edit things together.

Thing 9

I love Google Docs. I worked on an article for publication, and rather than having 9 copies of a document floating out there and none of us knowing which was the most recent we used Google Docs. We could edit and save changes, and revert to older editions if we wanted to change back to something. very slick. We did run into a few problems with two people editing at the same time- the curser jumped around a bit, and one time changes weren't saved. I think it is a fabulous tool.

Thing 8

Ohhh I have never heard of eFolio Minnesota before! I love the concept. I was thinking about creating a similar website on my own, but if they have the templates, etc. already done- why recreate the wheel! I am going to investigate this further when I have a bit more time. Similar to LinkedIn- it is a way for professionals to add more contacts, job hunt, etc. My huband used Linked in to maintain and grow contacts in the business world, and loves it!

Thing 8

1. Dragon, 2. Basic Reference Skills Participants 2, 3. MEMObooth, 4. DeLaSalle courtyard, 5. Cool Tools @ Your Library booth at the State Fair, 6. MORE at Grand Forks AFB, 7. MINITEX Reference Services Staff, 8. FAIR School 1, 9. Chaska High School


Visual information catches the eye and adds life to our stories. I think adding graphics to documents, webpage, etc. is a necessity these days when we are trying to tell our libary's story to our Boards, patrons and fellow staff.

Thing 6

I have always wanted to get SMILES4U as a vanity plate. My brother has MNNyce. Well, not willign to make the commitment money wise, so until then I will enjoy it virtually, thanks to Image Chef- very cool!

Thing 6

I never collected trading cards, but I love the idea of trading cards in place of business cards- so much more representative of our unique personalities!

Thing 5

Very cool- this would be a fun thing to use to create informal badges for small conferences, etc.

Thing 5

I have never really explored photo editing software, etc. WOW, Big Huge Labs is fabulous. My in-laws have this handpainted puzzle of Arizona at their house.. they are a puzzle family. What a great present it would be to take some of their AZ family pictures and make puzzles of them! Great idea, and so easy! It took me less than 30 seconds!

Thing 5

Oh how cool- I have never seen this name thing. reminds me when I was younger and we would clip out magazine alphabet letters to compose a message, our name, etc.

Thing 7

Describe how your library uses email. Has it improved productivity?

If you subscribe to any MINITEX listservs you probably know my name in your sleep ;) since the majority of our information is pushed out through e-mail. I think for our users this is the best method at the moment. Not everyone subscribes to RSS, so blogs we use as a method of communication of important inforamtion (e-mail first, then blogs) but our blogs are especially rich in supplemental information, which I think is a good fit.

I use e-mail personally with my friends- I am in that age group that grew up using e-mail so that is what we currently use. My younger brother, on the other hand, the only way to communicate with him is to text him on his cell. He rarely checks his voicemail and e-mail he checks once every 6 months and never responds.

Thing 4

We have been using Flickr for MINITEX Reference Services for a while now. Check out our page at: MINITEX Reference Servics on Flickr. I love it for our use of posting pictures from training sessions, conferences and site visits. It allows the MINITEX region to see what we are up to, and since we have allowed use through a Cretive Commons license, if a library sees an image they like, they can use it in their own publications, etc.

I am on the St. Paul- Nagasaki Sister City Committee. I am trying to convience the Board to let me create a Flickr accoutn and have everyone upload their pictures there, and I would work on scanning the older ones. I have made our Flickr site private, do to some copyright images, and because some of the members are not comfortable yet with the idea of making it viewable to the whole world, but they are warming up to the idea of how nice it is that everyone in the SPNSCC can view and use the images. The reason I started this project is one of our members passed away and we went looking through our arcives and it was realized that a former member borrowed three photo abulms and never returned them- the photos are lost forever. Though there is no guarantee Flickr will be around forever, but for now it is a great fit for our needs. I am struggling on trying to come up with "subject headings" for all the members to use when tagging their items, so we have some consistancy. We will see how ti goes.. the adventure continuous.

Thing 3

I have been using Bloglines for abotu a year or so now. I love it- so easy to access no matter where I am. However, since i subscribe to so many it is a daunting task to look at the number of 1,000+ posts a week if I don't check it regularily. I think I am going to use this time to pair down my subscriptions to a core and actually organize my folders better.

If you want to see the blogs I subscribe to click here.

The Machine is Using Us

This is one of my favorite videos regardng the change of information over time and the ways in with we are able to obtain information, edit, etc.

Thing 2

I just read Rick Anderson's "Away from the 'icebergs'" article, and I whole hartedly disagree with this approach in terms of my specialization. His suggestions that we should look "skeptically at the very idea of a library “collection” I think is unreasonable for my niche, the art community. Art hsitorians are one of the last to migrate from print; major works are still published onyl in print, and art historical texts soon go out of print and often are available in low numbers to start with, making out-of-print items ridiculously expensive if you missed the train to buy them the first go around.

I love the thought on library staff focusing on teaching; connecting patrons with information. I think we all would agree this is a daily mantra. However, he suggests thatour services need to change from lousy search interfaces, which I agree. However, one person cannot change the way giants run their databases, and it isn't like we can all refuse to sign our contract agreement for next year, or can we? Unfortuantely, I think the database vendors will only listen with the power of numbers, but i am not sure if we are willing to do that as a community. There is low rumblings in the distance of change, but I fear unless it happens sooner the library may loose it's "place" within some of the community.

Thing 1

This is my first personal blog. I have blogged for work and professional institutions, but never for myself, other than one sentence updates on my Facebook page. I am excited to learn some new "things" I haven't had time to try, and to learn some advanced features of other's I use.