Welcome to Jaye's Blog!

In reviewing the 23 Things, it became clear to me that some additional support might be useful to those of you who sign up for the MP3 player... er, I mean the 23 Things program.

In this blog, I've attempted to provide you with some helpful information to assist you in your 23 Things journey. Your blog will look very different from mine, in that you'll have a post for just about every one of the "things" when all is said and done.

And be sure to check out the blogs of other HCL staff to see what they have to say about their 23 Things experience. Feel free to post comments; we all enjoy recognition from our peers and colleagues.

If you need additional help or information, feel free to contact me at x7718 or e-mail me if you have any questions about how the program is taking place at Howard County Library.

MP3 Details


Here's the MP3 Player that all 23 Things participants will receive once they've registered their blogs. Pretty cool, huh? If you'd like more details, click here. They come in a variety of colors and you'll have 3 to choose from: Black, Ebony or Onyx.

Just remember, this isn't a gift... you've pledged that you'll complete the program. As you download tunes and audiobooks onto your player, it should serve as a reminder of the commitment you've made. You're accountable and your experience from 23 Things will be reflected on your performance assessment.

Simplify!

Here's a tip for making 23 Things a bit easier to manage. Instead of trying to create a new user name and password for each exercise, create one that you can recycle. Some websites require that your user name must be at least 8 characters long and have a mix of capital letters, lower case letter and numbers. Set your user name as something like: SamsMom123 or Bookworm9876. Be sure to make it something 1. ) unique, and 2.) easy for your to remember. That way you can use it over and over for the Things. Use the same strategy for your passwords. That way, when you go back to use these tools after the program has concluded (and trust me, you will want to use some of them again) you won't frustrate yourself trying to remember what name you used to sign up.

Thing #2

Please use the Learning Agreement form found on the SI.

The Learning Contract that is embedded in the "7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners" is the one that was used by Charlotte-Mecklenberg. For our purposes here at HCL, the form has been streamlined to be more user friendly.

You'll need to have a conversation with your supervisor about the Learning Agreement. He or she is going to have to support you in this learning process. The agreement is a good chance to discuss what that support will look like - from taking an active role in helping you to identify other staff at HCL who have expertise that can assist you in overcoming hurdles, to a more passive role of simply allowing time away from regular duties so that you can focus on successfully completing the program.

If you decide to use the Charlotte Meckelnberg contract for your own records, you may find some difficulty formatting the pages because it's a write-protected document. To disable the protection so that you can change font size, delete empty lines, etc., just go to your menu bar. Click the Format menu, then Sections. In the dialog box, you'll see that there is a check in the Write Protection box. Uncheck it.
Now you should be able to manipulate the document.

Hope this helps!

Thing #5

One of the ways that Flickr is useful is in getting ideas for displays. When Kent and Shayna from EPFL presented the "Fun and Fabulous Displays" workshop for us here at HCL, they referenced Flickr.

Here's an example from Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln, NE.

There are thousands from which to choose so happy browsing!

In addition to Flickr, you should check out Gallery2, the open source web based photo organizer. It's the one that HCL staff use to store photos, rather than storing them on the S: Drive.

Thing #10





We're supposed to have fun, right?
So here's my "Meez" - at Sunday brunch after shopping, of course!










Just so you know, I had great difficulty getting my Meez to load on this blog page. I used the URL (instead of the IMG TAG or the LINK) to connect with the Meez website. Good luck with yours!

Thing #11

Library Thing may be a useful readers' advisory tool. It' s certainly fun to see who else is reading the books you enjoy and what else they're reading. (here's Jaye's catalog)
Don't forget that we also have access to Fiction Connection as an RA tool. It uses the Aquabrowser platform, so the format is familiar. Check it out and encourage customers to do the same.

Thing #15

In addition to the video "The Machine is Us/ing Us," there are several videos on You Tube that you may find of interest on this topic.

Check these out:
Web 2.0
This gives more information about the concept of web 2.0. It's less flashy than the "Machine" but gives a good, solid overview.

RE: Web 2.0... The Machine is Us/ing Us
This is a response to the "Machine" video. It makes the argument that there is truly nothing new under the sun, including web 2.0.

Social Networking
This one is also a response to the "Machine" video, but questions whether or not social networking is having a positive impact on society.

Library Without Books?
This is about a library - the Transformation Lab - in Denmark that has no books. Talk about taking technology to the cutting edge!

If you find others, please post them on your blogs to share.

And one more Thing...

You've completed the 23 Things. Ready for one more?
Check out this video, "Revolution OS" that gives the history of the open source software movement. FYI... The video, a documentary, is about an hour and a half long, so you probably won't be able to watch this during your work day.
If you watch this video and blog about it, you will receive an additional .15 CEUs.