tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26077415285624444102011-07-28T15:12:05.268-05:00The Strange World of the Public LibrarianJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.comBlogger261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-83762098344472625092010-05-27T16:56:00.003-05:002010-05-27T23:37:09.500-05:00

Well this is the end of my 23 Things Kansas journey.  I stumbled across the line, but at least I finished.  Over the last 16+ weeks I have Youtubed, wikied, screencast, LibraryThinged, IMed, cloud computed, tagged, blogged, microblogged, and 2.0ed my little heart out.  It may not have been interesting to read about, but it was interesting to do...which was the point of the program. The last

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-70292465466878361562010-05-26T16:34:00.000-05:002010-05-27T23:35:28.351-05:00

The focus for Week 12 of the 23 Things Kansas program is screencasting, a very effective teaching tool that is as easy to create as it is to create badly.  As with PowerPoint, screencasting is an extremely effective way to present information that is rife with the possibility of overuse, abuse, poor construction , and other foibles. Done correctly, screencasts can present library patrons with

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-35956025897418919012010-05-25T16:14:00.000-05:002010-05-27T23:23:03.647-05:00

I have to admit week 13 was my least favorite assignment for the 23 Things Kansas program.  If I want to share photographs, I use Flickr, Picasa,  or another photo sharing site. If I want to share a presentation, I'll send a PowerPoint presentation via email, or set up a webinar.  However, in the spirit of 23 Things, I explored Zoho Show, a online presentation tool. I decided to use an old

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-42054242705316567302010-05-24T14:50:00.000-05:002010-05-27T23:22:36.344-05:00

A wikity wikity wack! For week 15 of the 23 Things Kansas program, librarians across Kansas pondered the wiki, that curious mix of website and database. Being in reference for over 10 years, it is hard not to come across wikis, and despite the bad press they get in some library circles, the concept of a participatory online database is a great leap forward in information management and

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-68885756244531323582010-05-22T14:05:00.000-05:002010-05-27T16:20:00.624-05:00

Week 14 of 23 Things Kansas focuses on one of my favorite past-times, LibraryThing. I joined LibraryThing back on May 08, 2006, expecting to catalog a few books and then loose interest. Why would I want to work at a library for eight hours, then come home and catalog? Well, almost four years later I am still hooked on the site, and I see no reason to stop. LibraryThing (LT) has changed,

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-86339279387871896032010-04-16T11:33:00.000-05:002010-04-16T11:33:10.158-05:00

Well, it is currently week 14 of the 23 Things Kansas program, and as you can see from my posts, I am three assignments behind.  March and April have turned out to be extremely busy months! However, I am still committed to the program and currently working on the backlog.  In the next few days I will be posting on screencasting, slide sharing, and library catalog websites such as LibraryThing

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-57152313062452425692010-03-30T17:12:00.002-05:002010-03-30T17:14:18.005-05:00

This week the 23 Things Kansas program leaves its visual mark on the blogosphere. The goal for this week is to create a video about anything, edit the footage, and then post it online. Creating and posting were not an issue, but surprisingly, editing the footage was difficult. I used Windows Movie Maker, because I had heard good things about it.  However, after several frustrating attempts and

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-75533500601229202252010-03-16T13:46:00.001-05:002010-03-26T10:34:55.397-05:00

In my first Week Eight post, I discussed my plans to create a collaborative document using Google Docs for the 23 Things Kansas program that would allow my colleagues to add to a list of favorite, or infamous, reference questions received during their careers. As promised here is a link to the document. There are some whoppers listed! Anyway, the exercise was fun, but there were a few aspects

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-89342403076608151042010-03-12T10:40:00.001-06:002010-03-12T10:42:16.922-06:00

A colleague sent me the NPR article, No Ink, No Paper: What's The Value Of An E-Book?, on the impact that e-books are having on the publishing world. I found it quite interesting and think it brings up some interesting questions that will have a direct impact on libraries. The biggest question is simply, if publishers become more e-book friendly, i.e. publishing more e-books, how will the

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-27482511638689166712010-03-10T07:57:00.001-06:002010-03-10T07:58:58.584-06:00

For this week, 23 Things Kansas is focusing on instant messaging.  Instant messaging (IM) is now ubiquitous.  You can IM from most social networking websites, customer service pages for large companies often have an IM component, and IM is built into many email services. However, IM is still growing. Using SMS (Short Message Service) protocols, you can now send and receive text messages with many

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-36013055151820867832010-03-06T11:36:00.000-06:002010-03-06T11:36:09.913-06:00

We are well into the eighth week of the 23 Things Kansas program and have reach the topic of cloud computing. I understand the purpose of cloud computing--a centralized online place to store and share documents--but have yet to have a need for the service. At work my department shares a common drive on the Library's server, giving everyone access to the same documents, folders, etc.  This

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-72114370890749152972010-03-04T14:09:00.003-06:002010-03-04T14:15:36.010-06:00

A new study by the Pew Research Center announced this week shows that most Americans get their news via multiple platforms. This news is not surprising given that the media has been reporting on the decline of paper newspapers and magazines for some time.  However, there were a couple of items in the summary of the study that I found interesting in their implications for libraries. "The

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-80882554164157022082010-02-25T16:24:00.008-06:002010-02-25T16:32:18.985-06:00

Traditional reference is dead. Or dying. Or dormant. It depends on who you ask. It seems every other day I read something new about how "reference as we know it" is changing forever, or even more dramatically, already gone. In a recent staff meeting at my library we had a discussion about the future of reference, which began the hamster wheels in my head turning. Locally, traditional reference

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-2666680799053428282010-02-24T17:04:00.002-06:002010-03-10T16:21:02.354-06:00

In the comments section of a recent Annoyed Librarian post on library professionalism, a commenter, "Gruel" wrote: "I keep wondering what it is you self-identified librarian "clerks" do all day, if you keep wondering what it is to be professional. The reason why doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc..., are seen as professional is because they aren't insecure about themselves. They don't question

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-72350000237286185012010-02-23T15:09:00.011-06:002010-02-23T18:18:56.342-06:00

And so it has come to this: the dreaded Twitter. It seems that all negative or semi-negative blog posts on Twitter need an "anti-Luddite" statement, so here is mine. I am pretty tech savvy and I fall somewhere between the categories of  "Connector" and "Productivity Enhancers" on the Pew's typology. I use technology (1.0 and 2.0) every day at work and home and I am always eager to learn about

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-8185513845043190542010-02-18T08:54:00.001-06:002010-02-18T08:55:38.491-06:00

As you can tell from this week's title, 23 Things Kansas is tackling the issue of social bookmarking, particularly Delicious.  Ah Delicious, my old friend, we have come full circle.  After years of being separated, fate has brought us together.  Have you changed? Will I try you, only to abandon you again? Did you miss me? Oh cruel fate, why do we do this to each other? I tried Delicious when it

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-9226772964522675452010-02-16T15:38:00.004-06:002010-02-16T15:45:00.137-06:00

Every President's Day, my Library closes to the public and holds a Staff Development Day (SDD)--a time for an all-staff continuing education event, with various activities and staff camaraderie.  During this year's SDD I attended a session on Picasa, Google's free photograph editing software. The plan is for the Library to install Picasa on all public computers to give patrons the ability to

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-2910461259344930642010-02-10T14:19:00.003-06:002010-02-16T15:42:56.628-06:00

This week's 23 Things Kansas lesson focuses on the numerous ways to recieve, read, and deliver RSS feeds (if you don't know about RSS feeds, here is a nice little article with all the basics.)  As a former Blogliner, and current Google Reader, I am familiar with RSS feeds and various readers.  Today I examined Feed My Inbox (FMI), a service that allows you to send website RSS feeds to your

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-6806758125516091212010-02-06T17:50:00.001-06:002010-02-06T17:51:58.170-06:00

Anyone who has done complex research knows that keeping track of your sources is a necessary, and time consuming, process.  Zotero, a relatively new Firefox add-on, could revolutionize the way students, scholars, and other professionals keep track of their online references. Zotero's mission, as stated on it's website, is to: "help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources".  A couple

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-36854690974215172242010-02-02T13:42:00.000-06:002010-02-02T14:00:22.146-06:00

Four weeks into the 23 Things Kansas program and I am still going strong...whoops, just jinxed myself. I better run around the Library backwards while singing "Sanitarium" by Metallica.  Then a quick nap, and the jinx is gone. This week, as the post aptly states, is online photograph sharing.  I have been using Flickr for online photograph sharing for years, so this week's challenge is rather

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-9718777012705800352010-01-29T14:27:00.000-06:002010-01-29T14:27:00.714-06:00

Tax season at the public library is an ordeal, as any public librarian can attest.  To make matters more challenging, the State of Kansas is not printing tax forms this year for budgetary reasons, and are pushing residents to file online.  Therefore my choice of online meetings to attend was painfully easy to choose. I had missed the Kansas Tax webinar--I was probably napping--and decided to

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-26464742602649570242010-01-28T10:11:00.000-06:002010-01-28T10:11:38.825-06:00

I was recently reminded of this great sketch by Monty Python's Flying Circus. Enjoy!

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-5693721738775796042010-01-26T18:26:00.000-06:002010-01-26T18:27:37.159-06:00

Often times a sequel will be better than the original, see Wraith of Khan, Empire Strikes Back, Godfather Part II, but I can not say that about this post.  I was definitely more impressed with Ning than I was with Linkedin. It just seems like a glorified telephone directory. Of course I have only had my account for a week, so my impressions are not fully formed. However, I did notice while

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-86056182091391102332010-01-23T11:38:00.000-06:002010-01-23T12:07:42.354-06:00

A slow Saturday at work, led to the creation of my first ning, thus completing week two's assignment for 23 Things Kansas. My initial impression:WOW! Why are we not using this at our library? It was quick, easy, and surprising versatile. I was able to create lenore.ning, an Edgar Allan Poe ning, in around 15 minutes, with a full host of features that would easily migrate into a workable

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-83236123509795039742010-01-21T11:14:00.000-06:002010-01-21T11:34:01.928-06:00

The dreaded cold has thwarted my blogging efforts since last week--you are gone one or two days and suddenly you find out how busy you really are at work! Therefore, I am behind in my 23 Things adventure. This week the Kansas librarian community is tackling online communities. I have joined my fair share of online communities over the years, but there are a couple I have been wanting to

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607741528562444410.post-52148604947005755842010-01-11T15:24:00.000-06:002010-01-11T16:17:42.488-06:00

Today is the kick-off of 23 Things Kansas, a roughly four month journey into the heart of today’s newest and best 2.0 tools. As a participant I will be contributing, as strange and disconcerting as they may be, my thoughts on the process and anything else that comes to mind during this time. As I start the program, I am curious, pragmatic—as always, and waiting to be surprised. I also wonder:

Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07828977513150657439noreply@blogger.com2