finale

Well, I certainly discovered some new toys (L-O-V-E Pandora), and stretched my brain coming up with library connections and uses for them (I can see the Internet Archive being something I return to again and again). I liked keeping up with the Jones' in the 2.0 world, especially the teenaged Jones'. I don't know if I'll have any more luck continuing to use all these tools or blogging, but that's okay.
What I've gained from the process is understanding that the internet is a swiftly changing place, and knowing what's going on and what it looks like is good. However, it's okay if I'd rather spend my free time on other, more real world activities. Maybe the day will come when I'll be grateful for this specific training. I can foresee being asked for more information in audio and visual formats, for example. Maybe it will just have been an exercise in flexibility, which I can appreciate as well.
In terms of changes or unexpected outcomes, I'd like to see some of these tools crop up in innovative programs or patron services. I've outlined some ideas and I know other people have blogged about some of their own. I like learning for its own sake, but wouldn't it be cool to put all these ideas to use? Have a workshop or brainstorming session about using some of the ideas that are being tossed around? Just a thought...

Happy Hooker

I chose this video not only because it's got a cheeky title and is about a book, but because of the awesome knitters vs. crocheters fight at the beginning.
I got it from Revver. I liked the category breakdown, and the suggestions made once I'd selected a video to watch were relevant. I suppose YouTube has more cool features, but Revver looks cleaner. Plus I got a lot more inappropriate results in YouTube. Maybe because they have more content?

tumblr v twitter

Well, after reading some of the suggested articles I took a pass on twitter. Just another 2.0 tool that no one else I know uses, so why create yet another account? The few library uses I read about are only useful for fellow twitter account holders, and although it seems to be taking the tech world by storm, I don't get the impression there are a ton of twitter-ers in the 'Couve and surrounding areas. We could do just as well with more frequent emails (and MySpace bulletins) about events, new books, etc. Or even text message reminders and updates! Now there's something even my father uses.
I did sign up for a tumblr account and added a couple bits of non-sense. I can see keeping up with it as a more visual, entertaining del.icio.us. In terms of library uses I can envision several tumblr-style blogs available for patrons providing reliable links on varying topics, much as our website already does but in a cooler format, and updated more often. Maybe patrons interested in certain topics, like local business people, would even subscribe to the feed. Or is that too 'recreating the wheel'?

i m (not)

I've put off writing about instant messaging in hopes that I might have a meebo interaction beforehand, but the time I have to complete this program is dwindling and I've received no IMs. What can you do? It's a lonely internet existence...
In terms of library service, I'm interested in what might happen if we offered IM Reference in our district. Working in Telephone Information I'm a likely candidate to staff such a service, and if nothing else, I think it might be fun. I've had a fair number of email interactions where responses come very quickly, and many of our emails pertain to easy to answer circulation questions. Whether the questions coming in on an IM service would be in the same vain or not, I don't know. But we do provide service for a large area, so anything we can do to make ourselves available to patrons is a good thing.
The obvious problem would be staff time. Calling the library with questions is often pretty instant, and has been our priority (over answering emails). If we had to contend with incoming IMs, emails, and phone calls, I can see getting overwhelmed. Perhaps if we were available for IM a couple hours an afternoon, targeting a homework help audience. But then again, offering services via phone and email may be enough. It may be that an IM service would have been more cutting edge a few years ago. And what ever happened to staff IM'ing? Seriously, are we doing that anymore?

On second thought, maybe sound is not the future.

Playing around with podcasts has been hard to do without annoying my audio-sensitive co-workers, but I've managed. However, I find I have a larger obstacle. For the same reasons I can't listen to talk radio, podcasting doesn't suit me. I can't stay focused on what's being said but I can't focus on anything else, either. Arg!
To prove I tried I'll present some remarks. I found PodcastAlley the most user friendly, although I wish it offered a location search. I did make use of Podcast.net's location search and discovered that Vancouver produces a lot of religious podcasts. Hmm...
I also wish the search engines gave the option of sorting results by date (as in the most recently updated feed). It only seems worthwhile to subscribe to feeds that are alive and productive, but most of my search results were long dead ones.
In terms of library related podcasting, SirsiDynix had many interesting topics, but they tended to be lengthy. LibVibe presents weekly, concise, worldwide library news (they made the bloglines cut). Being in the know about worldwide library news makes me feel like I'm part of an elite community. Because really, who else cares?

Google Doc

[Most of these were taken from my bloglines clippings fold. How's that for 2.0?]

quotations i like

• Reality is all-encompassing: the absolute nature is one. Although we may feel separate from the original uncreated reality - whether we call it 'God,' 'peak experience,' or 'enlightened mind' - through awareness we can contact this essential part of ourselves. - Tarthang Tulku

• A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

• No matter what one does, whether one's deeds serve virtue or vice, nothing lacks importance. All actions bear a kind of fruit. - Buddha

• But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest. - Buddha

• A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. 'What are you?' I cried to them as they drifted by. 'I am a bubble, of course' nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed. But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, 'We are this stream', and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei

• You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. - Buddha

• Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away. -Aitken Roshi

• When asked the question, what is consciousness? we become conscious of consciousness. And most of us take this consciousness of consciousness to be what consciousness is. This is not true. - Julian Jaynes

• There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth -- not going all the way, and not starting. - Buddha

• Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride. - Sutta Nipata

• Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side. -The Talmud

• Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. -Peter Ustinov

• We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. -Joseph Campbell

• Your love is a strong force. It lightens that which presumes to weigh you down. -unknown
  

Sound is the Future

There were enough cool links in this assignment to keep me busy for hours. I'll just dive in! I like the control last.fm gives me to browse and discover new artists (like the long list of bands I have to check out courtesy of the Icelandic Music Scene group), but I enjoy the surprise of Pandora. I didn't get too far into imeem because it relies more heavily on user-loaded content than I'm interested in.
I don't know that I understand the informational or library-related implications of sites like these, sites that combine music and social networking. I get that familiarity with them is useful, that they're 2.0, and fun! But I don't know how they might be used in a library setting or if their access should be a priority. At least not without a good set of headphones. But maybe access to sites like these will make up for our lack of a music collection? "No, we don't have the latest Yanni, but you might be able to download it from last.fm, or Amazon for that matter." As an aside, I really hope the CD isn't dead because I am a respecter of cool packaging. The art, the band photo, the hidden content: it's all part of my image of the musician.
I can see how useful a site like the sound effects archive is, even in a library setting though. We do occasionally get asked if we carry CDs in this vein, and a website might appeal more to some than placing a hold on our meager offerings. The same goes for the Internet Archive's radio plays, poetry read by the poet, and Presidential speeches, just to name a few.
It seems like a no-brainer that libraries should have auditory offerings beyond books on tape, but traditionally libraries have been quiet places. Maybe that tradition has stymied growth in the area of aural information.