Columbus Neighborhoods

One of the most interesting presentations I attended this year at the Internet Librarian conference focused on the community web page project built for Columbus, Ohio called Columbus Neighborhoods.

This is an excellent example of a library involving its citizenry in participating to build an online archive of historical and cultural information representing all members. The library initially applied for an IMSL (Institute of Museum and Library Services) grant and did not receive it. Fortunately the library was able to partner with several regional businesses and organizations, including the public media network, WOSU to build the project.

The online web project was initially outsourced to Interactive Knowledge (the group that did the Ken Burns' product for television) for approximately $18,000. The project was accomplished in about three months. Then, once online, the site is maintained by the community with minimal library maintenance. The community monitors itself. Also, volunteers load content and moderate the website.

Content, which originally started as a postcard database, is accessible by location, neighborhood, photo or video galleries, date posted, and embedded code. After completing the initial phase, the project members stipulated goals for Phase II in 2011, as "Mobile Device Compatibility," mobile uploads, and GEO Tags. And Phase III is scheduled in 2012 for what they call "bridging between virtual and physical space" by promoting a "Traveling multi-touch display" that will rotate to various community locations within Columbus, such as the zoo and museums.

The library reference staff answers question from the community regarding the Columbus Neighborhoods project and the neighborhood regions. The reference librarians enjoy answering neighborhood-specific questions.

The project has proved to be very popular with the Columbus community. In regards to copyright matters, the "content contributor" determines the "owner." If complaints are registered as to content or provenance of content, these are reviewed by volunteers and removed from the public pages as needed. Even in such cases, the content originally uploaded is still viewable to the contributor, although blocked from the "public" view.

An interesting fact is that by design the website, hosted by the Columbus Metropolitan Library web servers, is only quietly promoted on their website (bottom of the library web page.) Furthermore, on the Columbus Neighborhoods website there is no link back to the library -- by choice. One of the goals of the project is to emphasize community ownership.

Visit Columbus Neighborhoods to appreciate the fine accomplishment of the Columbus Metropolitan Library staff working in partnership with local organizations and community members.♠

What is API? AMI? QR?

Every year when I return from the Internet Librarian conference in Monterey I make time to review the new acronyms and terms I've learned. Whether I personally use the new words and initialisms frequently is not as important as being cognizant of them -- because I do expect to run across them again in my work or hear them from patrons. It is always useful to review the new terms I've encountered before much time passes following the conference.

What is an API? This acronym is not new, but I feel a need to differentiate it from the AMI acronym below. I nearly always have to refresh my memory about APIs. An API is, as described by Wikipedia, an application programming interface used by a software program that "enables it to interact with other software. It may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes and protocols used to communicate between the consumer and the implementer of the API." Examples are Java, Carbon, Cocoa, and DirectX. They allow the combination of multiple services on a web page, often resulting in what is known as a "mash-up" or a blend of applications that allow a more interactive and participatory Web experience for users.

What is an AMI? AMI represents Ambient Intelligence. According to the Free Dictionary and Wikipedia, Ambient Intelligence refers to "electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people." Ambient Intelligence is customized, interactive, and possesses characteristics such as being
* embedded: many networked devices are integrated into the environment
* context aware: these devices can recognize you and your situational context
* personalized: they can be tailored to your needs
* adaptive: they can change in response to you
* anticipatory: they can anticipate your desires without conscious mediation.
Criticisms of AMI include concerns regarding loss of consumer privacy and loss of personal empowerment. "New thinking on Ambient Intelligence distances itself therefore from some of the original characteristics such as adaptive and anticipatory behaviour and emphasizes empowerment and participation to place control in the hands of people instead of organizations." [Free Dictionary]

What is QR? QR represents "Quick Response." And QR Codes are data-embedded blocks or matrices in black-and-white (sometimes color)that when photographed with a mobile phone take you to a web page, coupon, online video, or other content. They are also known as "Mobile Codes." As compared to the typical barcode with which we are familiar that are positioned in a horizontal space, QR Codes occupy both horizontal and vertical space. Three corners (small squares) of the QR image are embedded such that regardless of the position or angle of the camera the image is self-righting provided that most of the image is captured or grabbed in the shot.

It is claimed that QR Codes are capable of encoding the same amount of data in approximately one-tenth the space of a traditional barcode. These codes can be tracked and monitored, again raising questions of consumer privacy. To read the codes a person first downloads a QR code software reader. Some companies have proprietary codes and require that their software be used to read the codes. Most QR codes and QR code-generators and readers are generic. More can be learned about QR code software, readers and supported mobile phones at Mobile Barcodes.

What is BitNami?

BitNami is, according to its website description, a collection of free, open source web applications "such as wikis or blogs, in order to make them more accessible."

"Regardless of whether you choose a Native Installer, Virtual Machine Image or Cloud Image, you will be able to have your BitNami-packaged application of choice up and running in just minutes, with no manual configuration required." [BitNami.org]

BitNami also offers cloud-hosting and studio packages for fee.

These types of packages along with virtual platforms and cloud computing resources are the new method of information systems management, lessening the amount or intensity of on-site technological supervision and maintenance required by an organization. Because of this it is of interest to librarians in search of economical and efficient ways to build and manage appealing online web services. BitNami is a website I discovered when reviewing Mary Ellen Bates' Internet Librarian 2010 "Super Searcher Tips Spectacular" presentation.

Internet Librarian October 2010

I was able to attend two days of the Internet Librarian Conference, held again in Monterey this year. As usual I found that there were more sessions I wanted to attend than my schedule would permit. Many topics were presented in the same time slot and I had to make difficult choices.

Fortunately, one can visit Information Today's website (for a limited time) and review the presentations that have been generously uploaded by conference speakers.

The common terms bandied about this year included "RenGen" (Renaissance Generation), "QR Codes" (quick response codes) and "QR Code Generators," "cloud computing", "brand name building for libraries", "designing a mobile experience, "free stuff for broke libraries," "Vodcasts and Podcasts,", and "iTunes as a Library Platform." There were exhortations that to remain relevant as a profession librarians must focus on user experience rather than content delivery. In addition to the phrases above, the customer or patron-perspective and customer-interaction themes ran strong throughout this year's focus.

Reviewing some of the presentations I was unable to attend but located on the conference web page, I found Kimberly Silk and Jeffrey Veffer promoting "Design Thinking for Innovation." They ask "What problems can you identify that are preventing you from providing a great user experience?" They emphasize that one should resist the urge to rush toward solutions, and rather thoroughly get to know and understand problems; then solutions will reveal themselves. They focus on "Design Thinking," or "thinking like a designer" to provide a valuable and unforgettable user experience. That means putting oneself in the shoes of the user. Traits of design thinkers are: empathy, integrative thinking, optimism, experimentalism, and collaboration. These qualities are elaborated as follows:

Empathy – we have for those who need us

Integrative thinking – new ways to solve problems

Optimism – our desire for the collective “good”

Experimentalism – we learn by trial and error

Collaboration – we rarely work alone


The conference was alive and percolating with new ideas, techniques, and skills to improve information-gathering and service to patrons. It was a pleasure to attend and to hear professionals share experiences within their libraries and communities. It is always a joy to expand my view of the roles librarians fulfill in public, academic, and private institutions, and find the similarities in purpose and fulfillment in library careers. I am grateful that the library administration provided my conference registration this year. I attend every year that I am able, whether the registration is covered, or at my own expense. And it is worth it. I highly recommend that librarians take advantage of the tremendous benefits of attending Internet Librarian Conferences. And for those unable to attend, it is worthwhile to make time to view the temporary online postings of Speaker Presentation materials at Information Today Internet Librarian 2010.

Polaris Library Systems

Our library circulation and online catalog have been converted to Polaris Library Systems for about two years. We have found it user-friendly. It also provides a range of icons to quickly identify books, DVDs, audiobooks, compact discs, and large print. The annotations and reviews attached to each record help patrons who want to know a little more about the items; and bibliographic records are also viewable from the online catalog module. Search limits for item type, location, and collection are also easy to use. Holds are easy to place. This system has been about the seventh or eighth automation system I have experienced in my library career; and I find it works well.

Several of our branches have converted to self-check; this one service improvement has brought a tremendous benefit to both the public and the staff who are freer to assist patrons with specific personal needs, and less burdened with long lines and mixing tasks such as new card registrations, fee collections, check-outs, and holds at one station. Patrons who want to check out their items and get on their way are very happy not to wait in long lines while those other tasks are provided. Self-check makes for smooth traffic flow!

Blog Housekeeping

I have re-read these posts removing staff names, as our larger consortium blogging guidelines has recommended not to use individual names unless specific permission has been granted. I have however retained professional librarian names where associated with their online activities.

Our library system has lost a few staff members to attrition as budget cuts have required; but overall we have maintained services at all our branches. Our system has had a strong volunteer network since I've begun working for our library system over 11 years ago. Recruitment of volunteers has continued to keep our community involvement high. We are fortunate to have a number of retired professional librarians among our volunteers.

e-books Come to Our Library

We now have downloadable e-books (digital text books) as well as audiobooks for our patrons! In light of my struggle loading the software on my Mac and iPhone this morning (left incomplete as it was time to open to the public) it is clear I must master the process before I can efficiently help our patrons.

As libraries continue to surf the changing wave of change, these articles from the Library Journal Book Summit Preview (August 16, 2010 can provide some insight into our future:

Libraries, Ebooks, and Competition, by Eric Hellman
Ebooks and the Retailization of Research, by Barbara Fister
Ebook Sanity, by Jason Griffey
E-Texts for All (Even Lucy), by Char Booth

Library Blogs

Today I re-visited my post of July 12, 2005 to edit the library blog list I posted; I indicated those that have become defunct or list a new address. Since those early days of the birth of the web log or blog, these have become some of the more popular ones in the library profession:

Library Stuff by Steven M. Cohen, a New York Librarian with lots of good research & customer service tips, and a great conference presenter. Catch him if you can.

Tame the Web by Michael Stephens, another popular conference presenter.

Librarian in Black by Sarah Houghton is fun and informative.

Librarian Net by Jessamyn West.

Go to Unshelved for comic relief.

Tech Soup offers news, updates on tecnology, learning, and resources for libraries.

Blog Junction's claim to fame is " an online community where library staff meet to share ideas, solve problems, take online courses - and have fun. Register now (it's free) and join us." This is directly from their "ABOUT" statement on the web page.

Servant Leadership

Recently I came across a terrific book on CD about leadership entitled The Servant Leadership Training Course, by James C. Hunter. I was so impressed with the information I did an Internet search for "servant leadership in libraries" and found this article about it. The author was writing specifically for law librarians; however the servant-leadership model, in my view, works for everyone in leadership positions, from companies, to schools, libraries, and other organizations; it provides a model of leadership for individuals committed to community work, and for family members. In my opinion, this management model would make a good addition to professional librarian curriculum.

Twitter is A.O.K.

It was back in August of 2007 that I explored Twitter and was a bit puzzled about its use. Since then I have had many opportunities to turn to Twitter for news flashes on current events; and I now admit that Twitter really does serve a purpose. For example, last year I followed the protests in Iran via Twitter, and found links to related videos.

Companies make Twitter announcements. Libraries post upcoming programs and library events on Twitter. Politicians Twitter. A lot of people love to Tweet ("a post or status update on Twitter" according to About.Com in WebTrends.) Some say that they don't Tweet as much as they once did; but it is worth remembering that it is an effective social media tool to make public announcements. If you are looking for an easy avenue to promote your business, event, or cause consider using Twitter as PR tool. It serves as an instant "For Public Release" announcement.

Gale's "Power Search" and WebFeat

Once again, I am posting here a follow-up on integrated federated searching, as posted on our Black Gold Blog.

I wrote in early July about the federated search service, WebFeat. I'd like to mention Gale's search options as well. Gale has a free widget that can be added to a website to search all the Gale Databases to which a library subscribes. For an additional fee Gale will include the library's catalog and other subscription databases. I spoke with a representative from Gale/Cengage Learning this week and was referred to several websites to view the search function in place. For example, one can visit Redwood City Public Library and look at the lower left for the "PowerSearch" box. Another is San Leandro Public Library where "PowerSearch" is placed on the right side of the page.

I wanted to learn more about the differences between WebFeat and Gale's "PowerSearch," in particular, pricing and features. I wrote to the Gale representative who supplied me with the following summary:

The price is not based on the number of branches a library has but the population served and the number of non-Gale electronic resources you choose to include. It is slightly higher than the $1,200 I estimated as I had forgotten that your population served is over 200,000.
So, for San Luis Obispo City County Library, the cost would be:
$2,995 per year to include 1 -10 resources, including your catalog
$5,995 per year to include 11-25 resources, including your catalog
By resources, I mean individual sources. For instance, each of the newspapers you get from NewsBank is considered one resource. So the number of resources is not at the vendor level (ie. NewsBank) but at the individual source level that you choose to include (ie. Ventura County Star, San Luis Obispo Tribune, etc).

I called the sales director at WebFeat and inquired about their product and was quoted the following pricing: $7,950 annually per library system (jurisdiction) for up to 50 resources. The SMART Usage Tracker for reports of key metrics is an additional $2,000.
The WebFeat "about us" web page states the following:

In February 2008, WebFeat was acquired by ProQuest. As a result of this strategic alignment, the strengths of WebFeat’s and Serials Solutions’ federated search platforms will be combined to create a single, market-leading solution. The new platform will debut in early 2009, providing libraries with more power and efficiency in accessing their data pools.

Whether Black Gold stays with our current automated system or chooses another, a federated search might be something to consider to increase popularity of our catalog and databases, and factor into the cost of automation. I am posting this for general information purposes to support those exploring various options for our consortium.

WebFeat, an Integrated Federated Search for Library Websites

I posted most of the following on our Black Gold Blog in early July, and decided to post it here as well:

The point of this message is to inquire about an integrated, federated search that I have been hearing about on Calix, -- WebFeat. Apparently this search system provides integrated results across OPACs and databases with "one-stop, remote patron authentication." The company also provides a product called Smart Usage Tracker, a slick statistical measurement program that does the following:

SMART logs and reports key metrics, including
* Number of search requests by database
* Number of full record/full text requests by database; and
number of next set requests by database
* In-house verses remote usage; tracked by IP address or library/client type
* Search terms
* Date/time stamp
* Native search response time
* Number of database "turnaways" (users denied access due to native database concurrent user limits
* Key fields from citations selected by users: ISSN, title, author, and database

-----
One librarian, of Contra Costa County Library reported in his June 6, 2008 Calix message that after implementing WebFeat Express and the WebFeat add-on in AquaBroswer some of the library databases zoomed from an average of 5,000 uses per month to over 200,000 per month. (Contra Costa County Library System serves a population of over 1 million, and includes 20 branches.) This increased figure of usage (40 percent) reveals the impact of a federated search across the database offerings rather than increased patron usasge per se. However, the more comprehensive results may garner more patron interest and confidence. And because usage stats are much higher as a whole, the Smart Usage Tracker becomes an important tool to narrow down the details of use per database. This is my conclusion anyway; and I would be interested in learning what federated searching products Black Gold ATS has already explored and what value such a system and tracking module may have for Black Gold.

Wikis, Pooled Knowledge, and Collaborative Projects

People are joining together to build a new, comprehensive, general knowledge wiki encyclopedia. Most everyone is familiar with Wikipedia. Now there is Citizendium, where the aim is to build a better encyclopedia. For starters, real names are required to join and create Citizendium articles. The agreements and guidelines assure greater accuracy and authority. The community wishes to promote a "gold standard of sensible governance systems," including expert editors who review articles, as well as constables who monitor behavior but who have limited authority. Confidence in the database is further enhanced by "signed articles" from experts and academics, and the inclusion of supplementary reference materials. Spend some time reading their introductory pages and see why librarians might be happier with Citizendium than Wikipedia.

Wikis are popular for another reason -- information is organized by topic rather than date. Blogs resemble an online diary,a stream of thoughts and ideas posted in reverse chronological order. True, blogs can be keyword searched if well tagged . Wikis have an additional collaborative advantage; the body of knowledge can be easily expanded, edited and revised. A nice summary of both advantages and disadvantages of wikis is covered by PLCMC Core Competencies, a public library blog that refers the reader to a wiki defining the "core competencies" training offered by their library. Their core competencies are unique to their library staff goals. Another library organization may choose other core competency requirements and build a similar document in a collaborative effort. Building the wiki together enhances a team approach to the purposes of the project.

I hope to cover more on the topic of wikis in the near future.

Continuing with iGoogle

Instead of manipulating Google Calendar to load our department calendar, I added an image widget and linked it to the url of the calendar, and named it "Ref Staff Calendar ." The image is a reduced photo of the SLO Library I took about a year ago previously posted in entry dated October 14, 2007.

As I continue with my iGoogle experiment I will see if I truly find myself more organized from the time I arrive at work, to tracking the calendar and to-do lists, and accomplishing more.

I will let you know!

Getting Organized with Google; an Experiment

Google wants to be the center of your day, work or play. It wants to organize your life! Google first intrigued me because it is fun to use a search engine with whimsical, colorful website artistry. Then I began to notice that I could move some of my daily work (at least my self-organization) online. Will Google become indispensable? I'm certain that is the company's goal!

For some time I have had an e-mail account with Google. And I began to look at other free conveniences to help me organize my work. First, I set up an iGoogle account and selected some add-ons such as "Google Notebook" and "Google Docs." I am also testing two list widgets (things-to- do lists): "To Do" and "Listy." I also have added "Sticky Notes," "Google Calendar" and "Date and Time" to my page. In addition to pages of add-ons from which to choose, there are a number of themes you can select and change as often as you wish to suit the look and layout you prefer.

How can Google help me get organized? I can open the page when I arrive at work in the morning and look at my to-do lists. I can keep notes in my Google Notebook, and working documents in "Google Docs." Let's say that I think of something when at home that I do not want to forget to add to my work the next day. Rather than write a note to take to work, as in the past, I can log on to iGoogle at home and make comments in the notebook or docs section, or add a line to my to-do list. Currently I restrict my Google accounts to tools that help me with organizing my work and my professional growth. In other words I do not place in-house documents in my Google page. When I attend a conference I can take notes in docs. Likewise, while surfing, I can post notes about useful websites in notebook.

I have not yet added events to Google Calendar. I had already created a reference staff calendar for our department through the service at Calendars.net, and upgraded it last year to CalendarsPlus. Therefore I will either attempt to link the this calendar to iGoogle or use my Google Calendar for a simple date and day reference. [Note: Since moving job locations, this calendar has not been maintained by me.]

Connectedy is Back, But No Easy Back-up Option?

While Connectedy -- our shared bookmarking service -- was gone I began moving things to Netvouz. Netvouz's arrangement of links is less librarian-friendly in my opinion. Connectedy came back online about a 6 weeks ago and we began updating links. However, making a back-up is somewhat of a problem because I have not been able to find an export feature in Connectedy. Importing (uploading) bookmarks is an option, but not exporting. Let's hope we do not lose Connectedy again. The only back-up I can currently think of is to open each category and print every link and keep a paper copy and build again somewhere else, like Netvouz! I will appreciate any ideas others may have about solving this problem. One other problem this service is that the once "public-view" or "shared-view" has disappeared and it requires a login and password for viewing. I have been scouring the site to find how to correct this problem but as yet have not been successful. For the time being, Connectedy is our best option, but I will continue to check other social bookmarking services for something that works better for us.

Losing Our Social Bookmark Service, Connectedy

What a shame to discover the bookmarking service we had organized has apparently been abandoned. The service was called Connectedy and had the advantages of a simple list of links that could be categorized and searched by keyword. While we often find what we need on the Internet through our quick searches, I always felt an additional sense of security with our Connectedy account, knowing that I could locate again a useful online resource I had found before. There were many times that I knew I had come across a great site that held the answer to a patron's question, but I could not remember the name of the site. Checking our links, I could recognize the one I needed and save time retrieving the information.

Now that Connectedy is gone, and it appears to be permanently gone, I have begun to rebuild the links at Nevouz. I am also rebuilding our bookmarks on one of the reference desk computers as a backup that can be re-loaded into Netvouz or another social bookmarking service if necessary.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. And it is already 5 days old? .. :-) .. Well, I am still sending you best wishes for a great 2008... A leap year... An election year.

I try to set a certain amount of time every week as a learning hour, or a learning session. Today I found something interesting in the October 2007 Library Journal.

In an article about open source "metasearch" Roy Tennant describes the cross-database searching (federated searching) software used at Oregon State University. It gives me an idea of what the future may hold someday for all libraries.

LibraryFind® is software developed by the Oregon State University Libraries, funded in part by a grant from the State Library.

After looking at their own description of what it does, you can even try out their system. It's cool.
I've added the links to our Connectedy list too ... under the category "Library Blogs, Library Literature & What's New."

Here are some comments about LibraryFind, by Roy Tennant:
One of the most significant things you get with LibraryFind is the code itself--because it's open source, you're free to add to it, change it, or simply examine how it works....
Along with the LibraryFind software, you get some preconfigured resource connections to access about 50 specific databases (though there are many others).
... For now, LibraryFind likely will be most easily implemented by small to medium-sized libraries that have the technical expertise to configure and install it as well as create missing resource connections. Over time, if development continues, and the community of adopters grows, LibraryFind could become an excellent choice for many libraries.

There is another good article in the same journal about improving the transparency of library management, "The Open Door Director" by Michael Casey and Michael Stephens who write a regular column called "The Transparent Library."

Lastly, you might enjoy taking a look at 30 predictions regarding libraries in 2008, by SirsiDynix's VP of Innovation, Stephen Abram.

Continuing Education

Since completing the 23 Things, learning about Web 2.0, I have scheduled myself for additional self-training activities. One website to keep me moving in this direction is Learning 2.1 that has been created "to support on-going discovery and learning of web 2.0 technologies." Another good website to test what's happening with new web tools is the Web 2.0 Directory.

This year I attended two days at the Internet Librarian Conference in Monterey. On Sunday, October 28th, I joined a morning session entitled "Wikis: Basics, Tools & Strategies." I came away feeling inspired and wanting to set up a trial wiki. I have yet to decide it's purpose. But when I do get focused, I'll report my experience.

That afternoon I sat in on "Tips for Effective Technology Change Agents." It did not take me too long to realize that my goal (to keep myself moving forward) was not really the focus of this session. The people were primarily seeking ways to bring change to their organization, and this was often viewed as fighting the inertia of organizations and resistance in people. However, the presenter (Roy Tennant) did have some tips that I can use in my own growth: 1) remember to visit Steven Bell's Keeping Up page* ; 2) read as often as possible in blogs, magazines and journals, and explore new websites; 3) take courses online or on site; 4) sign up for RSS updates and mailing lists. Mr. Tennant also believes in surfing in a rapid browsing mode. He used an acronym for it: SIFT. Scan (surf and skim), Investigate, Filter, Target. He also has a philosophy that it is better to learn "just in time" rather than "just in case" since things change so rapidly. In other words, it is better to wait until you need some feature or product, and then search for it and learn as you use it for what you need at that time. Learning a lot of online things "just in case" you might need them may be in vain. So, I ask myself, what about all this exploring I have planned for myself? It seems I must find a compromise -- because I do want to discover what's out there, "in case" I might find something useful to make my everyday work more efficient!

Mr. Tennant also suggested Tech Soup as a bargain resource non profit organizations. Visit the site and read: TechSoup Stock connects nonprofits and public libraries with donated and discounted technology products. Choose from over 240 products from companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Symantec. He also recommended using free and open source tools and applications whenever possible to make one's budget stretch. He added the following suggestions for creating agile organizations:
1) Use standing committees for communication.
2) Create task forces to accomplish work.
3) Use the best people for the job.
4) Reward innovation.
5) Punish loitering. (?) (I prefer re-tasking rather than punishing.)
6) Take risks.
7) Invest in infrastructure.
8) Invest in your staff. (This is what I mean by re-tasking or re-matching assignments to talents.)

An interesting approach to implementing change is to first find common purpose and goals between the public services department and the technical services unit, and then when they are in tandem, approach administration.

On Monday, October 29th, I attended a number of 45 minute sessions. My favorite, as is usual each year, was "A Super Searcher Shares 30 Search Tips." Some of the rest of the sessions have melded into a blur, but I did take notes on my laptop. (There are increasing numbers of attendees bringing laptops to sessions every year.) So, when I review those I will add to my Internet Librarian commentary in another blog entry.

*NOTE: Stephen Bell has discontinued regular postings to his "keeping up" website; however, you may follow him on Twitter for his occasional updates on new resources at http://www.twitter.com/blendedlib [17SEPT2010]

At Last the Finish Line

Finally I have completed my 23 Things! It has been a great journey and I am grateful the challenge kept me in the mix, even though there were times I felt time-constricted. Self-discipline is always the "rub" where my lifelong education is concerned. I will never be on the cutting edge of new technology nor a master of it, but a steady exposure each week to even one new skill is a good idea if I don't want to "rust" even in the midst of active reference desk duty! In other words, keeping up sometimes feels like falling behind less than yesterday. Below I describe my last tasks in this particular learning cycle.

Number 18. Online Productivity Tools
For some time I have been interested in finding a way to make daily work more organized via my computer. I had been considering my Google page as a potential work central station! and added a calendar, notebook, sticky-notes, and and a to-do list on that page, along with weather info and some other useful gadgets. In my toolbars I have oft-used tools at hand. When I learned that Google was promoting an online word processing application I was intrigued. I have created a test document in GoogleDocs and I selected the "publish" option so others can view it, which is done by making the link available as I have done here. There are other options: one is to allow others not only to view but to collaborate and actively edit the document; and there is the choice to keep it private by using neither the "share" nor the "publish" options.

Number 19. My Maps on Google Maps
I have used various online mapping for a long time. I like both MapQuest and MapBlast. They were my first experiences and I have a natural level of comfort with them. The "get directions" feature is helpful when planning trips, and for determining the mileage and travel time between locales.

Using Google Maps/My Maps I created a map for the San Luis Obispo City-County Library with a description and a photo which I took with my digital camera.

I struggled quite some time getting things correct in my Google map. What started out seemingly easy became difficult as I had problems moving with ease between maps and photos. Either my laptop is suffering from low processing capacity or I encountered sluggish Internet access -- or just a quirky Google application. Most of Google's applications are user-friendly, but I think Google Maps needs some additional work. I eventually got the photo loaded and displayed on the street map. But I would like to have shared the map in this post with the photo embedded. But when I attempted to use Google Map's embedding feature, a message popped up saying that it was not available for the map I had built.

Number 20. YouTube
Originally I considered YouTube an amateur talent showcase or a posting site for home video users, with a "MySpace" flavor. But during the last couple of months I've discovered that YouTube is a marvelous reservoir of information and instructional resources. I have used it to research candidates running for office and catch speeches and interviews I missed. Some of the instructional videos I've enjoyed include Chinese Ink Painting and an introduction to French.

Number 21. Podcasts
Locating podcasts is easy using directories such as Podcast Net and Podcast Directory that provide category collections, and Podcast Alley that features the most popular podcasts voted on by viewers. Apple, Yahoo, NPR, CNN and other media networks provide podcasts.
Podcasts are a growing technology used by most sites that want to dispense music and information, "including software, updates, pictures and videos," according to David Berlind of CDNetNews.

Information on creating podcasts is easily found too. PodCast411 includes tutorials and software information and a podcast search feature that provides a drop-down menu for category search. In addition it includes a forum.

Number 22. Sharing My Web 2.0 Learning
I showed one of my colleagues several of the 23 Things tasks. We looked at Rollyo and several online image generators and LibraryThing. Our experience with Rollyo was similar to my first experiences -- it was balky and slow and the results did not seem any more useful than if we had performed a Google search. Exploring image generators is always like stumbling into a playground. I gave my colleague a copy of my 23 Things list and she started exploring some of the tasks independently.

Number 23: Summary of my experience.
It has been a worthwhile journey to take the 23 Things challenge, and it definitely has been challenging in both skill and time. I often relied upon weekends and evenings since they were free of work demands and interruptions. But if I am going to keep current I'll need to find a way to explore new tools daily while on the job.

The things I found especially useful and fun include Del.icio.us, GoogleDocs, image generators, LibraryThing, and YouTube and blogging, although both of the latter were a part of my life prior to this project. On the other hand I had explored Del.icio.us before but never quite got the hang of it until taking an InfoPeople Web 2.0 class. Spending an afternoon away from work and focusing only on a few Web 2.0 tools gave me the opportunity to appreciate Del.icio.us. Now, Technorati? I need to re-visit Technorati to recall how it is used. I have yet to unravel the specific uses of the numerous tagging and tracking tools available and comparing their uses. And I still am puzzling over how I would want to use Twitter or bother recording my daily tasks their for others to see, versus keeping a daily notebook for example.

Browsing for some insight into the wisdom of others using online tools, I came across an article by Lorelle VanFossen that describes the judicious use of tagging, and the focus of the different tools. She writes: Digg specializes only in articles dealing with technological issues and products like hi-tech, blogging, Internet, web, computers, space, music, video, and cell. Technorati and Del.icio.us cover a wide spectrum, as does Spurl, Furl, Bloglines, and others, though the most popular topics tend to cover technology, current events, and politics. Slashdot has several categories of subjects, but they also tend to cover technology for the most part.

Another of the social bookmarks that has not gained as much popularity as some mentioned here is Connectedy. Some time back I selected it for building and sharing our central library's reference bookmarks with our other 15 branches. It has been useful, however one of the other tools may be better; and this is one of the challenges of Web 2.0 -- finding the most applicable tool.

I have noticed that many of the librarians who participated in the 23 Things have gone on to other challenges already... I'm not as speedy, but I'm on my way! I want to thank InfoPeople for offering Web 2.0 introductory classes, as well as incentives to keep me motivated and challenged.