Should've been a librarian

Captain Kirk wishes he had decided to become a librarian in the TAS episode "Bem". Spock, as always, responds by speaking the truth.

The Final Frontier

Library 2.0

The final frontier

These are the voyages of the Salt Lake City Public Library

Its 5 month mission

To explore strange new worlds

To seek out new life and new civilizations

To boldly go where no man has gone before

The Web moves from simply being sites and search engines to a shared network space that drives work, research, education, entertainment and social activities—essentially everything people do. You and your mobile and nonmobile devices—PDA, MP3, laptop, cell phone, camera, PC, TV, etc.—are always online, connected to one another and to the Web.
http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/1.htm

This is so true. How did we ever survive without computers? (Sarcasm added) I have a friend who always wears his blue-tooth everywhere and all the time. Does he have a job that requires him to be on-call? No. Why does he constantly wear it? I don't know. Putting that aside, it's amazing seeing how we can all be connected to information - here and now.

As a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything – digital collections of journals, books, blogs, podcasts, etc. You think they can’t have everything? Think again. This may be our great opportunity.

This is a great opportunity - there is no excuse for anyone to not know what is going on! Ignorance is NOT bliss! We can access anything and everything. Right here. Right now.

Libraries are poorly equipped and insufficiently staffed for teaching.

I find this is a true statement - how often do I have to show patrons how to use a computer? I understand when they need help finding a book, but I don't have the time to show kids how to finds games on the Internet. I'm sorry!

There was a time, not very long ago, when libraries exercised something close to monopoly power in the information marketplace. During the print era, if you wanted access to pricey indexes or a collection of scholarly journals, you had no choice but to make a trip to the library. http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm

I have no comment - but Paul helped me found this swell picture!

The key principles of Library 2.0 are not just about access to books and information. It is about innovation, about people, and about community building, enabled through the participation that social computing brings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_2.0

Hear hear!

My Worlds

Visited States

create your own personalized map of the USA or check out our California travel guide

Visited Countries

create your own visited country map or check our Venice travel guide

This is an amusing site and it's fun reminiscing about where and when you visited these places! It makes me want to travel more!

Generating Something

Look what adventures I had on the The Generator Blog:

Take THE **ULTIMATE** HARRY POTTER NAME GENERATOR today!

My new Harry Potter name is Harry Potter!
(try this out, you always get the same name...)

Funny Face Generator
This site is way too entertaining!

And, the LetterJames site was diverting:


Also, FDToys was very interesting - I'll be sure to visit this one again!

Honestly, I don't see how this could benefit libraries. Maybe the YA department could have fun with these features - but I don't see it being of any use. Well, it's good to be aware of such features and fun things t0 refer to them to patrons? I have a friend who is a amateur photographer and he said for any picture to look good you have to do some tweaking with it. And needless to say, my mirror-image face never looked better! (hehe)

On the hunt for most excellent RSS feeds

Explore some of the search tools which can help you locate news feeds.

Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
While searching for library-related blogs - I found I preferred Google's Reader the best. I liked how it would give me recommended blogs - similar to what I already have and I could also do keyword searches for other blogs.

Which search tool was the most effective? Which was most confusing?
Like I already said, I thought Google Reader was the most helpful and user-friendly. The other sites(Topix and Technorati) were a bit busy - filled with adds and news breaking information. The Syndic8 was the most confusing - and I found most of the sites they listed were "Awaiting Repair". Not too helpful.

What kind of unuseful or unusual feeds did you find?
I found load of unuseful sites - but I did find some fun unusual sites. For example:
Passive Aggressive Notes
The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
CNN's ridiculous headlines

Which other tools or methods did you find to locate feeds?
Um, word of mouth or recommendations from other sites - that's about it

Google Reading

I've been playing with RSS feeds for a little time now. Mostly I would keep tabs on friend's blogs - and I loved using Google Reader because I don't waste time visiting blogs that aren't up to date. My new favorite blog to check is the Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century - they usually have a daily post that is very entertaining.

Anyway, I've sidetracked here. I really like how it gives your recommendations of other blogs on the same subject - that really helps broaden my circle! I think the RSS readers are a great way to keep informed - and it's quick and easy with all the requested information all in one place. I'm already a fan and a daily user!

I attempted to check out Bloglines - but couldn't view it without a login. It looks very similar to the Google Reader. Hmmm, I'll guess I'll stay with the Google Reader!

Also, I just figured out that I can have RSS feeds on my blog! How cool is that!