New GPS

I have a new (actually refurbished) Magellan GPS. It's a 4.3 inch one with Bluetooth, and I've connected my cell phone to it already. I've ordered the new 08-09 maps and they've been shipped, I think, so it's just a matter of time and I'll be connected in the car. David has a newer smaller Magellan in the truck, so we're really ready for travel adventures.

New "toys" in technology are really fun. I think I want a WII for Christmas, too. Then I can get the "fit" game and pad and workout here at home in the winter. I'll have to ask David for it, I guess. Too expensive for the kids, but maybe he can get the Wii and they can give me accessories for it. I don't need anything, so this might be a good idea.

New Computer

I have a new Toshiba Satellite laptop computer. It's wonderful. The sad thing is that my old Dell crashed to make me buy this one. My old harddrive is being checked for data retrieval, so keep your fingers crossed for me. 5 years of my personal information and documents all gone, if not. I'm worried, needless to say.

I've used Library Thing a lot lately, along with Ravelry.com. I hope to continue to post on this blog about my online Web usage.

I've downloaded Google Pack to this computer. Hopefully I won't need to purchase MS Office. We'll see.

I have Vista operating system on this and I'm questioning how good it is. I'll keep you posted.

Technology Rocks!!!

In spite of what this graphic appears to mean, Pamunkey 20 things has been an adventure of Snake Oil proportions. It appears to have oiled the palms of many of our staff, who have contributed to the entire 20 things with gusto. I was absent from work for 6 weeks and even managed to get caught back up when I returned, much to my amazement. I had experienced most of the 20 things before we started this venture, so a lot of this was review for me. I did, however, manage to encourage many of the staff participating in this and was able to express my very positive opinions of many of these technologies.

I truly believe this has been eye-opening for many of the staff and will benefit the library with the staff being aware of what is "out there." If a patron proposes something about their mp3 player, for example, our staff might not look strangely at them now, but might instead ask what that is and how it is used before they discount it. When I learn a new game or program, I love to play with it for a while to become familiar and easily use it. I think this program has done some of that for many of our non-techie staff.

I am an obvious life-long learner, having gone back to graduate school in my 50's. This exercise for 20 weeks and almost 20 things was an added bonus for me. I truly hope those who have participated are feeling much the same way now. Some people naturally don't like to learn new things, which is unfortunate for them, but this program was a well planned opportunity for many of us to continue to learn and grow, no matter what our age or stage in life.

My only question now is: Where are the prizes???????

#19 Podcasts

The directory of podcasts seemed a bit restrictive to me, but that's because my favorite podcasts are about knitting and how to accomplish a particular stitch or the like.

I read many knitting blogs and many of them post their own podcasts. I've learned, through podcasts and videocasts many new and interesting techniques that I might not otherwise have learned, because I'm working full-time and simply don't have the time to find a class to learn these techniques.

Podcasts have so many wonderful applications! I'm looking forward to many, many more!

Maybe we can do some in Pamunkey??

#18 Web 2.0 Awards Nominees

The number 1 Real Estate blog is Zillow and I've used it extensively. I've looked up a home we once owned and seen it now has a swimming pool in the backyard. Gee, can we move back there and buy it back?? I love to swim!!

In Retail the #2 listed is ETSY. I have an account with them, but have never sold anything. ETSY is similar to Ebay, but it is for crafters to sell and buy their wares. I really use it to purchase yarns, mostly.

One of the top awards in Social Tagging was for Del.icio.us which we've seen in our 2.0 learning and I've used for several years. I really like being able to find my bookmarks from home while at work and vice versa.

I did enjoy searching the awards and nominees and found this site full of different searches. As for applications in libraries, it is never ending in its usefulness.

#17 Online productivity tools

Google Docs is wonderful! I really can't elaborate any more than everyone else has. I think it is a growing field and could be used by all of us, particularly in the library, to help create our wiki's and all the other wonderful things we are doing together. With others being able to share and comment, the advantages are never ending!

#16 Wiki, Wiki, Wiki World

Wiki's in libraries appear to be becoming more and more well used. I looked at those in Bull Run Library and the Pathfinders wiki from SJCPL. Both of these look extremely useful and helpful for their staff as well as their patrons. In PRL we could possibly use wikis to help make our home page "smaller" by having links to the different wiki pages.

I particularly like the idea of pathfinders for our staff and patrons. We often get repeat projects from the different schools in the area, year after year. If we could upload pathfinders to help each time and keep them current, it would be a big help for all of us.

I admit willingly that I love Wikipedia. When working the Reference Desk I often am asked about something with which I have very little knowledge. If I cannot Google it properly, then I'll go to Wikipedia to search for it and either of these searches can often get me started. Google is a little bit more helpful, often, because it will offer corrected spelling, if I've plugged in something not quite spelled correctly. Anyway, don't be afraid to use Wikipedia as a starting point to get you to the reputable source of information. At least in my opinion!!!

#15 Second Life (as if I need one!)

In thinking about this one I actually grimmaced at first. I have one of those inactive accounts in Second Life and do not care to actually try to remember my login and password. I heard about this a couple of years ago and tried it for a couple of months. What I accomplished was to not enjoy myself and to be hit upon by perfect strangers, much to my chagrin.

I do, however, now think there might be some good practical application for Second Life. I know at least one library has set themselves up in it and it has in return helped libraries collect fines, etc. I've recently heard about colleges and universities considering opening on Second Life for distance education and continuing education courses. This would be a great benefit for students world-wide. There are obviously many more applications to this world that may be very beneficial.

#14 Library 2.0 (just what we're doing, huh?)

What does it mean to me?

Well...........it's all what I'm about as a Reference Librarian and a professional Librarian. The article by Dr Wendy Schultz says most of what I feel. "The dream economy's library : a Wifree space, a retreat from technohustle, with comfortable chairs, quiet, good light, coffee and single malt. You know, the library. " She and I will meet you there.

My thought on this is that her library sounds like my den at home! So............I won't have to go very far, will I?

#13--More ways to search blogs(as if we really need more!)

Technorati is a great search engine for blogs, but I don't really find it necessary since I have a Bloglines account. Their searchability really works well for my needs and I can aggregate all of the blogs I want to view in one place, adding and deleting and moving them into folders at will.

In Technorati I did a search for Learning 2.0 in the video column and the most popular results were loads of libraries pictured with their staff learning about 2.0. Obviously we're not the only library learning new and interesting things about technology and libraries.

Popular searches appear to reflect current events. I've been away from work for quite a few weeks and when I took a look tonight the lunar eclipse from last night was near the top of the list. McCain (candidate for president) was also near the top.