I've got a stack of new books that are processed and ready to be checked out! I've got them downstairs behind the counter, so if you want one or two or three, let me know and I will put your name on them! First come, first served! California Dreaming -- the latest in the A-List Novel series The Arrival -- A fascinating graphic novel (but not manga!). Gorgeous artwork! The New Policeman -- There's a place where time stands still, and J.J. realizes he's the only person who can journey there, but to do so he'll have to vanish from his own life. Red Glass -- When a tragic accident forces Sophie to take a dangerous journey, she recognizes that life is beautiful even in the face of death. The Off Season -- This is the sequel to Dairy Queen, a book I love! So you can't have this one until I'm done with it!! Freak Show -- If you've ever been the underdog, one of the downtrodden, you'll see a bit of yourself in Billy. Revolution is Not a Dinner Party -- A powerful story of a girl who comes of age and fights to survive during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Keeping Corner -- Based on a true story, this is a heartfelt and evocative portrait of a child-widow in Gandhi-era India

More New Books!

I've got a stack of new books that are processed and ready to be checked out! I've got them downstairs behind the counter, so if you want one or two or three, let me know and I will put your name on them! First come, first served!

California Dreaming -- the latest in the A-List Novel series

The Arrival -- A fascinating graphic novel (but not manga!). Gorgeous artwork!

The New Policeman -- There's a place where time stands still, and J.J. realizes he's the only person who can journey there, but to do so he'll have to vanish from his own life.

Red Glass -- When a tragic accident forces Sophie to take a dangerous journey, she recognizes that life is beautiful even in the face of death.

The Off Season -- This is the sequel to Dairy Queen, a book I love! So you can't have this one until I'm done with it!!

Freak Show -- If you've ever been the underdog, one of the downtrodden, you'll see a bit of yourself in Billy.

Revolution is Not a Dinner Party -- A powerful story of a girl who comes of age and fights to survive during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Keeping Corner -- Based on a true story, this is a heartfelt and evocative portrait of a child-widow in Gandhi-era India

Wow, what a great experience!

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who developed this course. I have had so much fun. My family is so impressed with my new skills. I hope you will keep the website up so I can refer back to it. There is a lot more I would like to explore.

Now, about curiosity. Yes, I think I am a curious person. I have a long list of places I would like to go, books I would like to read, classes I would like to take. I am so glad for technology that allows me to discover so much, that allows me to take classes of all kinds, that allows me to meet and converse with people from all over the world. I grew up in an urban area. When we moved here to the rural Midwest 25 years ago, I was worried about being isolated. Luckily we connected to the Internet early on (one of the first households in Baraboo to connect!) The world is at my fingertips.

My parents demonstrated the importance of lifelong learning. I guess that means curiosity! I love to learn new things. I love to explore. I have been encouraged to seek out new things since I was a child. I hope I never lose that desire. (My 90-year-old grandmother hasn't. Maybe I'm okay!) I look at each new life experience as a new adventure, good or bad.

I hope there is a third and fourth semester for Project Play. There is still so much to learn. The suggested website Go2Web20 is awesome! So much more to explore..... WooHoo!

Mashup Musings

Okay, I'll admit it. I am not impressed with mashups. I guess I haven't seen any real applications that excite me....although I do wish SCLS would participate in LibraryThing!

I think I will try to explore some more. Maybe I will see the light regarding mashups!!

Some thoughts unrelated to ProjectPlay

I was fiddling with my iPod and had an interesting thought. This is totally unrelated to this week's ProjectPlay assignment, but since the thought was prompted by these many months of exploring Web 2.0, I decided to add it to this blog!!

So, I grew up in the 60's. My generation was all about "doing your own thing." We claimed to be fighting against the system. "We're the young generation and we've got something to say" the Monkees used to sing. But, we were still

We listened to the music the radio station owners chose to send through the airwaves. When I listened to a Beatles album, I always listened to the same songs in the same order every time. To see a favorite movie, I had to hope a local movie theater would show it, or perhaps one of the three TV networks would show it -- with commercial interruption of course. Heck, we were even tethered to a wall whenever we wanted to talk on the phone to someone!! My parents could only do their banking certain hours of the day. If I wanted information, I had to work around the library schedule, or my parents had to purchase an encyclopedia set.

But NOW! Now we really can do our own thing!! I choose the music I listen to. I choose where I talk on a phone. I choose when and where I watch a movie or TV show. I can get information, do my banking, go shopping, request a library book whenever I want!! And now with the tools I've explored these past months in ProjectPlay, I can customize my Internet experiences as well!!

It took another generation to accomplish it, but we're free from the establishment at last!

Groovy, man!!

Now let's talk about libraries....

Just this morning at a staff meeting we were talking about videotaping some storytimes to help with publicity. I don't know why I didn't think of YouTube for these. I love YouTube! My daughter introduced me to this site early on with one of her favorite presentations. (It's called "The Worst Job in the World". Go find it! I won't post it here because there's a major swearing part....)

I really like the suggestion to use YouTube for reference questions. Watching once again the moon landing and Martin Luther King were powerful experiences for me. Books are important, of course, but the information that can be gained from watching just a few short minutes of a video is immense. I'm going to make sure YouTube is bookmarked on my computer at the library.

I'm going to explore getting a video camera for the library. I think the teens would love to make some presentations this summer. As always, I'm brimming with ideas on how to implement the skills I've gained in my Project Play lesson. Now to find the time.....

A YouTube presentation totally unrelated to libraries...but related to me!

This YouTube presentation shows my cousins, my uncles, my brothers-in-law, and my son being goofy (pun intended) on a Disney cruise last fall. I love the ability we now have to share these kind of happy memories with each other!!

Screencasting -- Wow, do I have some ideas!

I had never heard of screencasting before this lesson, but, WOW! Do I have some ideas on how to use it!

My father-in-law has a tough time with computer skills. He is often calling us asking how to perform various routines on his computer. I'm going to show my husband how to create screencasts for his father to watch! (It is indeed a lot easier than trying to describe something over the phone.)

I think NoveList is underused by our library patrons. I'm going to ask permission to create a screencast on how to use NoveList and post it on our library website.

I would also like to create a screencast featuring LibraryThing, since I am trying to use my LibraryThing account as a reader's advisory tool with my teens.

As I think about this, more ideas are flowing! I should have some of my teens create screencasts for senior citizens who are struggling to figure out how to do their online work, such as filing taxes and dealing with Social Security and Medicare.

Every week during Project Play I discover a wonderful new tool. To quote my granddaughter "Isn't this just really great!!"

Oh, and I posted an article on WikiHow!! Look for it: "How to de-clutter your garage" I wrote several short articles on getting organized while I was "in the business." I think I will post them on WikiHow so the information isn't just languishing on my hard drive!!

Pondering Podcasts

My son-in-law introduced me to podcasts last spring. I have a few favorites that I subscribe to: NPR Driveway Moments; NPR Wait Wait don't tell me; YALSA podcasts; and A Way with Words. My husband also subscribes to CarTalk and This American Life from NPR, and the Kim Komando Show.

Last summer we started to create a podcast as a teen activity, but we never finished it. We recorded an old-fashioned mystery radio theater production. I purchased a microphone for my iPod. We created separate tracks for the dialog, the sound effects, and the music. I downloaded Audacity to mix the tracks together. And that's as far as I have gotten......

Last week a young man came in and asked me if I had ever finished the podcast. So maybe I should do that. We will post the production on our website when it is done.

So many fun things to listen to in this world!!

Facebook and Bebo -- going to the kids!

I created a Facebook account a few months ago after I found out my library teens don't like email. They all communicate on Facebook, at least the high school kids do. The middle school students in my community tend to congregate on Bebo.

Like so many of these wonderful Web 2.0 tools I've been learning about, I'm having a hard time using them on a regular basis -- it takes time!! But I really hope to spend more time on Facebook and Bebo. Here are some reasons why:

1. Like I said, teens don't check their email: they are too busy with IM and their social networking sites! So I am communicating with teens in other ways! I am going to them on Facebook and Bebo!

2. 3 out of my 4 children have Facebook accounts. Shhh! Don't tell them I check out their sites often just to find out what is happening in their lives!!

3. I have found that teens will confide in me much more easily online than in person. I've had a couple of real heart-to-heart talks with some of the teens in my TAB group about problems in their lives. I know they would never speak to me that frankly in person.

Tonight I placed both my Facebook and my Bebo sites on my bookmark toolbar, so hopefully I will remember to log in more often!!

Who wants to be my friend?

Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1112220220

Bebo: www.bebo.com/PennyJ41

I'm in love!!

I am a list-maker. OMIGOSH! I am in LOVE with Remember the Milk and Jott!! I can't believe there are tools available that are this sophisticated and, and, and..... NIFTY!

I am definitely going to introduce this to the library staff. We have been trying to use a wiki as a simple to-do list, but Remember the Milk is much more appropriate for our needs, especially for those who are technology-hesitant.

And, yes, I have created my own Remember the Milk and Jott accounts. What a great way to keep my to-do list current, no matter where I am!!

Beware! Excit is addicting!

Okay, can I just say Excit is really addicting! My husband and I have had a blast!

Docking at Google Docs!

For several months now a gentleman I work with at church has been trying to get me to use Google Docs for church-related business. I have resisted. BUT NOW I GET IT!!

No longer do I need to carry my flash drive back and forth between the library and home. No longer do I need to save my WordPerfect documents in rtf form so the library computer can read them!!

I think I'm going to try using Google Docs for the majority of my library projects. But, does it support MSPublisher? I am addicted to Publisher....

Hurray! Project Play has begun again!

Hello, fellow Project Players! I am so happy to be back exploring Web 2.0! :-) Since the end of first semester I have created a family website with a "Thanks for the Memories" wiki. We are having so much fun as a family! Everyone is adding their favorite family memories. The interaction has been wonderful and often hilarious. My four children are scattered across the nation, so this has been especially nice. It's fascinating to see what they remember about past holidays, vacations, pets, etc. So, even if I don't learn another thing from Project Play, I will be a happy woman because of my introduction to wikis!!

But the great thing is: I am learning more things! I have tried IM in the past, but I am now researching the Meebo thing. I am the teen specialist here, and I have found that email is "so 2006"! Teens want more instant communication, so I want to set up a Meebo widget on the library website. I will work on that later this week.

(And I LOVED being able to communicate with my son through IM while he was in Japan for two months. I am old enough to still be in awe of modern communication tools! My baby sister was born in 1965. My dad needed to contact my grandparents who were living in Australia. I remember him placing a call with an international phone operator. About 15 minutes later, the operator called back to tell my dad she had made the connection to Australia. I quietly listened on the extension phone as my dad carried on a very scratchy phone conversation with my grandmother. I wonder how much that phone bill was!! )