All Tuned Up!

I have now completed all the tech tune-up sessions and feel really proud of myself for doing so! Thanks to the committee for putting this all together and encouraging the entire staff to participate. It's been fun! :)

A Different Kind of Bookmark!

This session on social bookmarking really opened my eyes to all the people out there who are using tools such as Delicious to organize their technology experiences. I found the podcast on Delicious very helpful since I wasn't understanding the concept of social bookmarking to begin with (a visual for me always helps)! I can truly see how using Delicious would be beneficial in organizing research once you understand the idea of tagging (just like labeling a file is so important for finding that file later). When I was looking around in our account, I found it very interesting to see how people tagged the same article--some used only one tag and others had maybe ten for the same article. This alone would be helpful for research assistance. I did not set up a Delicious account simply because I don't think I would use it enough for the social aspect and it would be too much work for just the bookmarking! However, I am cetainly glad I know what it is and can now add it to my "something to think about" technology notes. I would hope that our students are learning about these technology tools to aid them in their research tasks. Can the public libraries do more in getting the word out? I think so!

To Tweet or Not To Tweet...

Probably not! I have to say it was quite interesting learning about Twitter and what is involved, but it is kind of overwhelming to me right now. I do like how short and sweet the messages are, but I just don't get it! I'm not sure I would use this at all, but I do see how it could be helpful in a business or profession. I first looked at some of the top tweeters and then searched for librarians. I tried narrowing it down to children's librarians but there were no matches. I did set up an account and went down the list of suggestions on the left to add some followers to my account. I selected Borders, PBS, People, Libraries, some entertainment stuff, and then discovered my son's twittering and followed him. He actually was pleasantly surprised and he is now following me. I didn't realize that I would get Twitter notifications through my email (I guess I left that checked when setting up the account) and got a tweet from Ellen DeGeneres which was kind of cool! I'll have to play around with it more and maybe it will grow on me!

Virtual Fun

This session was a fun one as well. Previously, I had spent some time looking at many of the databases since I filled out the ResearchPro survey just a couple weeks ago. I honestly didn't think there really was a restaurant called Juan More Taco, but I'll have to look up Fremont, CA and find out where it's at--my son just moved to CA and maybe we'll check it out! I was also familiar with the HeritageQuest resource because my husband has been doing some research and has used it quite extensively. This time I looked up my grandparents (I had to go into the 1920 census) and found them on the 56th Precinct listing. At the time, it showed my grandparents had eight children, and my mother was 7 years old (they eventually had 14 kids!). I knew my grandfather was from Italy, but he was listed as not being able to read or write. I will go back and look for my father's family and since he was adopted, it will be interesting to see what I can find out.

I really enjoyed digging deeper into our library resources and thanks for having us do just that! For example, I wasn't even aware of the newsletter email function for "good reads in your inbox" and am truly impressed by all our website has to offer. I especially liked the favorite author list and will be requesting books in this way. I know I will definitely be using our website more and it will also help with assisting patrons. I am almost embarrassed that I wasn't aware of some of these things! :( I will be definitely using our web site and resources more!

Downloading Audiobooks

Again, this was something new to me, even though I enjoy listening to audiobooks from the library. I have never downloaded one, so I was anxious to see how this works. I really liked exploring LibriVox and ended up listening to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I thought it would be fun to re-visit that classic since it was a favorite of mine way back when). As with any audiobook, the reader does make a difference and this one was excellent with a wonderful British accent. I did look at Audible and was impressed by the myriad of books that are downloadable. I am definitely going to try to download one to my computer first, then to my iPod (great suggestion for walking my new puppy)! I'm not sure how much downloadable audiobooks would be used at the library, but making it available for patrons at home (just like Tumblebooks, etc.) might be an option.

IMing...

I have been IMing for a few years now, ever since my daughter went to college. I guess you could say it was a necessity if I ever wanted to communicate with her! I have to say, I am glad I learned how to use it and feel I couldn't so without IMing at home! I use AIM, but am familiar with Meebo and Pidgin since we did use those here at the library. I like having an AIM account for the YS department and feel we should use it more between/within departments--we just haven't made it a regular practice as yet. I really have not used it with friends or other family members, so I did invite a few friends to chat with through my gmail account. Only one responded and we thought it might be a good way for us to "chat" with our little social group who we see every month. So we're going to try it out and see how it goes!

Pondering Podcasting

I have never used or explored podcasting so this was all new to me. It was interesting to see how the libraries have used podcasting for sharing of stories, etc., but I kind of like our Tumblebooks audiobooks because of the visiual aspect of "seeing" and "hearing" the story, especially for little ones. I thought that using the podcast method for giving a tour of the library might work and I'm sure there are many other ways that podcasts would benefit the library setting. It did surprise me to see a listing of the libraries using podcasts, such as Moraine Valley Community College, as I would have thought some other larger libraries would use them more. I did find the Podcasting Tools site very informational and from there I did check out some fitness, book, humor, and news-type podcasts that I might enjoy. I would definitely need to spend more time exploring these. Podcast Alley was a little confusing to me (maybe because there was so much there), but I'm glad to now know what podcasting is and can at least talk about it!

Wiki World and Google Mania

This session was probably one of my favorites! Exporing the wiki world opened my eyes to what is all out there and how anyone (even me) can contribute and share information. I had no idea what wikis were, except for my limited use with our staff wiki. I immediately checked out some health wikis (since I find myself reading more and more about those topics as I gracefully age). There were a couple that I found rather interesting and probably will use: Wikia Lifestyle and Mamaherb. I did notice that Wikia has an entire index of wikis on a myriad of subjects (and that is actually how I found the two I mentioned). I also took a look at pet wikis and really liked The Pet Wiki. I actually added that one to my blog. All in all, this gave me a better understanding of just how many people share information. Also, now I know how the dreaded Wikipedia really works--and am amazed how all that information gets on there!

Finding out about Google will change my tech world for sure! I honesty had no idea that Google offered soooooo much. Because of the tech tune up, I actually changed my personal emal account to Gmail. Going through all the Google applications was quite exciting, and I really liked the calendar function better than others I have seen and will definitely use it. I also was pleasantly surprised by Google Docs! Having only used Microsoft Office, I'm excited to know there is a FREE option out there. I did try creating a document and found it very user friendly. I even discovered that the form option will let us create a survey-type of document that we may be able to use in the YS department (we are now using Survey Monkey to create some of our forms and it is difficult to analyze responses). I created a Book Box Request Form and after sharing the info with others in YS, we're actully going to check it out! All in all, it was a great learning session!

Socializing...

This session was probably the easiest one for me so far. I joined Facebook about a year ago (due to the urging of my college daughter who insisted it would help us keep in touch). I have to admit it's kept me in contact with people from the past, cousins who I no longer see, etc., and it's been somewhat "fun." It truly amazes me to see so many people on Facebook! I did take a look at some of our neighboring library pages and, in comparison, we are doing a terrific job with our posts! Nice job to those posting to our TPPL FB! The last posting from the Palos Heights Public Library was in August! I like that we are placing photos of programs/events as it spices up the look of the Facebook page (Orland Public has daily posts, but the page itself looks boring). I'm happy to see we have 92 fans at this moment--and I am one of them. I was also familiar with MySpace, having had both my daughter and son with accounts (I myself don't feel a need for one). I was not surprised to read that Facebook has overpowered MySpace since neither my son nor daughter regularly use MySpace anymore. The LinkedIn network appears interesting and I'm wondering how useful it would be for our library "business." Does anyone here subscribe to it? Overall, I enjoyed learning a little more about social networking.

Flying Shih Tzu in Flickr!

flyingshihtzu
Originally uploaded by TP Tuneup

This looks like my little puppy Lucy who flies throught he air! I was able to upload this cute little picture and learned a lot about Flickr in the process. I only know about Flickr because my son has an account for his band. I found this session a little tricky, but I eventuallly figured it out. This certainly can be useful for sharing personal photos and/or videos. I can also see it being useful for the library maybe with programming promotion or posting of program photos. I enjoyed the experience and hope to go back to Flickr to explore some more!

YouTube, MeTube??

Probably like most of us, I was familiar with YouTube since so many go around the email circuit. However, it was interesting to get into it and see how it actully works. I did create an account because I was curious what could be done with it, but I'm not sure that I would use it. It certainly was fun looking at some of the "old time" commercials--my favorite is the Good and Plenty one. For some reason I had that stuck in my head as a little girl! I didn't think about using it for a "how to" video, so I may use that feature in the future. I was surprised to see so many videos out there on "how to tie a bow!" I'm not sure how we could use this at the library, but I guess it is a huge hit in the tech world and fun for entertaining those who have the time to be entertained!

Playing in Pandora

Wow, that was fun! I really liked the idea of selecting my own radio "station" and then giving the ol' thumbs up/down. Since my son has his own band, I decided to check if his albums were listed, and they were, so I was able to create a station for his music (he'll be impressed when I tell him that!). I always just played my iPod (which I'm still learning to use) when I'm on my home computer, so this will give me another option for my listening pleasure. I like the quick mix option, too, which is the shuffle option on the iPod. The only problem I had with the program was that it froze up a couple of times and I had to log off and log back in. I shared the info with my husband and I think both of us will be using this feature at home. Thanks Tune-Up Committee!

Fun Feeds!

The RSS feed session was lots of fun! I really liked looking at how other libraries use feeds and blogs to reach patrons. The LaGrange Park Public Library's site was interesting (and I even liked their YS page as I got a little distracted while I was there). Anyway, I'm going to try to add more subscriptions to my Google Reader. I did click on add staff picks and got a whole bunch of stuff I didn't want. I then had to figure out how to unsubscribe. I'm getting into this now--thanks to the tune-up committee for getting us going! I even changed my blog page template! :)

The Blogger

Setting up my personal blog page was surprisingly pretty easy! Having used the various blog pages at TPPL did help, however. It was interesting viewing some of the sample blogs and all the "extra" features that were utilized. I would like to explore the many possibilities for blogging and I'm hoping these sessions will allow me to do just that. I'm ready to move on with my next tune up!