I'm Back

Here'a follow-up to the virtual library entry. I am still unable to bring up census records for my grandfather who I know for a fact was alive because my dad was born in the 20's. I'll have to ask mom if he spelled his name differently. But anyway I entered an aunt's name and I believe her family records appeared. It's kind of neat to see that record from so long ago.

#12 Twitter I Think

OK maybe I'm missing something but I'm not impressed. Maybe this is something that takes time to do or to understand. Never was able to find other library staff. Tried under Books and only got or mostly got Publishers. I didn't find the following very interesting. Then I tried typing in librarians-got nothing, tried libraries and you can imagine the number that came up. Then I thought how about children's librarians and there was truly nothing that came up. I finally tried entering another phrase (I don't even remember what I typed) but got a children's library shelf something or other only it was another publisher I think, that was tweeting about her trips to Italy, etc which made me think -- I know I'm someone from the last century -- but I don't find this interesting enough to waste my time!

Oh well, I must confess I'm a closet All My Children fan even though I don't watch it very much at all anymore. I don't even record it because the back log of watching episodes was just too great. Anyway I did find an Allmychildren tweet thing that I could follow. I'll give it a try.

I think, mostly, I just feel guilty. I realize this is an "assignment" but I feel guilty "just looking around" at twitter, facebook, pandora, etc. I ask myself-am I wasting time? have I looked long enough or looked too long? I am clearly someone who needs lots of practice so if I'm going to help patrons, I better look around some more!

This may be my final post to this blog, not sure if I will attempt the extra credit. So for all you legions of followers (hahahahaha) farewell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#11 Virtual Libraries

I wasn't too surprised with the amount of information that is available in the virtual library. Juan Moore Tacos can be found in Fremont, CA. Maybe it wasn't working properly but I was unable to retrieve information about my grandfather in HeritageQuest. I did it a few times. Tried using my dad's name and my uncle's name, all 3 were alive for the 1930 census but I got no results. I will try to ask adult services for help since I would have found that info interesting. I didn't want to write down just anybody I didn't know so that part of this report will come later. Bad me but I didn't realize we had that Books Coming out soon. I did request a book from an author I like to read that is coming out in April so yea. Can't wait to share that with my mom, I'll be requesting all sorts of books for her. A couple of months back I found and signed up to receive an enewsletter for children's picture books that we had listed under the Books and DVD drop down menu. My thinking was that I should be aware of it and try to make sure that if we are letting patrons know through the newsletter that these are books to read, we should try to be sure to have the books for them to check out. So far it has been working well.

#10 Downloadable Audio

OK advantages/disadvantages Disadvantage is that the books are very old which could also be an advantage if you want to read books that are old and maybe no longer in print or are hard to find. Disadvantage is that it looks like you'll have to pay to listen to newer releases which may be an advantage and job security if you are a publisher or work in a library. And a big advantage is that it opens up a whole new world for those who may have difficulty getting to libraries or book stores. How great is this during snow storms and blizzards?

#9 Instant Messaging

This I was actually familiar with because we use instant messaging in our department. In the beginning we had a pidgen account and shared monitoring duties with adult services. Now we've grown and we use our own. It comes in handy when trying to privately communicate with each other, no fear of being overheard. I think that has its advantages. Maybe unfortunately for me, but I just don't see myself using this for personal communication. I probably should though because I don't always like answering the phone (and yes I still do have a landline). So if I used instant messaging, I could see what someone wanted to tell me but I wouldn't have to answer immediately if I didn't want to.

#8 Podcasts

OK onward and upward. Just took a listen to podcasts. So that's what it's all about. I listened to the Denver one. It was really nice for little ones but noticed most of the books were from 2006 and none were newer then 2009. Perhaps the individual that handled this for them left but I would think if you take the time to do something like this and with all the technology, you need or maybe should keep this as current as you can. Are there copyright issues with recordings like this? Anyway I appreciated learning about this and if I ever get an ipod or mp3 player, I will be right there listening.

#7 Google Docs

I actually completed this tune up last week but could never find the time to post to the blog so here goes, let's just hope I remember what I learned. I thought the idea of google doc was an interesting one. I could see applications for its use here at the library, no more working on the q drive, saving to q drive then saving to p drive then trying to remember what drive was this thing on.May be helpful for interdepartmental documents-like when we are working on committees. I created a calendar on google docs. Seemed fairly easy. I'll have to use it on a more regular basis to see how it compares to 30 boxes and outlook.