Week 4 - Thing 9 - Useful Blogs

This is another hard part about RSS - finding blogs that are worthwhile to me. There are many many blogs out there, and while they all may be very wonderful, only a few of them are relevant to me. This part is definitely a trial and error process. If I stumble across a blog address while reading something library-related, I'll often go to it, browse the latest two or three postings, and then decide if it's something I could see myself reading often. I also check the frequency of posting and the date of the latest posting. If it hasn't been updated in a while, it's usally not worth it to me to bookmark.
Then, I'll check out the list of blogs that they follow. If a blog is interesting to me, odds are the blogs that person reads have a good chance of being interesting as well.

Blogs I like:

Naomi Bates's YA Books and More
School Library Media Activities Monthly
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman - nothing to do with libraries, but check out the Black Heels to Tractor Wheels story - it's SO addicting!
Tweendom

I've got a ways to go...

Week 4 - Thing 8 - RSS

I have a love/hate relationship with RSS. The love part is easy - it comes to you! Most websites now have an RSS features to them, and as Sandra pointed out, even EBSCO offers an RSS feature that can keep you up to date. They offer a journal alert, which will alert you anytime a new issue of the journal or magazine comes out and provide links to it, and a search alert, which will alert you as new information that fits your specific criteria of your search is available.
RSS can save time since you don't always have to go out and check sites for updates, they come to you in your RSS reader (as the Common Craft video points out).

HOWEVER - You still have to check the RSS reader (I use Bloglines, when I actually do use RSS). I have Bloglines set up as a widget in my igoogle homepage, but the problem is, I hardly ever check my igoogle homepage. So...I think I need a better system...

I do like my Bloglines though, because, even if it says I have a number of unread postings, I can just say "mark as read" if I don't have the time to read them! I'm working on keeping my listserv subscriptions under control at the moment, but I think after I've got a handle on that, I'll start working hard to keep up with one or two blogs via Bloglines.

Think Before You Post

Has anyone seen this video? Its kind of scary and has quite a sinister tone...



What do you think?

Week 3 - Thing 7 - Technology

I've been immersed in Camtasia for the past few weeks. I will be conducting a staff training session at Region 12 to help staff members learn to use this amazing program. I am completely in love with Camtasia! The possibilities are endless! Video tutorials that can be posted online for your customers to view on their own time...that's customer service. I'm in the middle of taking a course in online teaching, and making a video lesson with some kind of tablet software, or recording your voice along with a PowerPoint presentation, can really enhance the quality of an online course and appeal to the auditory learners. I can see many applications for libraries as well. Quick tutorials that demonstrate how to log on to the different databases, how to conduct effective Boolean searching techniques, how to use the advanced search feature of your library's catalog. You can even add in quizzes and surveys to measure your viewers comprehension or collect their opinions.

The software is so easy to use too! All you need is a microphone and a computer. You can buy the full version of Camtasia, or you can download a free 30-day trial from the TechSmith website. There is also a shareware version of this screen capture software called Jing that is worth checking out. It does the same stuff that Camtasia does, just not as much. Jing does have a feature that allows you to take custom screen shots (like the Tech Smith product - SnagIt, which I also am completely addicted to) to include in handouts and PowerPoint presentations.

Fun stuff!

Week 3 - Thing 6

I have a soft spot for fun gadgets, like these mashups and other online applications developed with inspiration from Flickr.

I made a trading card with FD Toy's application:nothing too thrilling, but fun, nonetheless.

I created a postcard with Delivr and sent it to my friend who is teaching in Korea this year. Saved tons on postage!

My favorite is probably the Rasomizr, though. I remember discovering this application during a reference class I took in library school. I was completely distracted for the whole class period. I love that it changes the pictures every time!


ransomizr

Week 3 - Thing 5

I love Flickr! There are so many talented people out there and I love looking at what they've shared with the world. I used to wonder why people would use Flickr. I had Facebook for sharing my photos with my friends and that worked just fine for me. Why would I need to put them on Flickr for my friends too? But as I explore the site more and more, I see that it's not just a place to upload pictures of your birthday party or picnic for your friends to see. It really is a creative outlet as well, and a clearinghouse for great images!
The Creative Commons search allows you to remain legal, and ever since I've found out about that, I'm addicted! I can't wait to try making a powerpoint like the example on Kim Cofino's blog.

Week 2 - Thing 4

Twitter isn't for everyone. I did find that I was MUCH more of a lurker rather than a poster. When I first started using Twitter, I got my account set up, and added the TwitterFox application in my Firefox browser window. I think might have been my downfall. Because I wanted to keep up with the tweets, I added it on my home computer as well, and that made things difficult. If it marks it read at home, it might not mark it read when you log on back at work.

It was also VERY distracting, I found. I would be working on something online, and then all of a sudden, a tweet would pop-up in the corner of my browser. Of course, I had to go click on it and see what it was, and then I'd find other tweets I hadn't seen and some of them would have links, so I'd click on those, and you can see what that can lead to...

The key to Twitter, in my opinion, is to find the right group of people to follow. It can be an extremely beneficial tool to get short pieces of information quickly. But if you haven't found the right community, you won't get information that you can use, and this application can simply become a distraction. Finding that community takes time, and time is something I don't have much of at the moment. I might explore this method of communication again later down the road. The other side of Twitter is contribution. I'm not much of a contributor, so it doesn't seem like it's a good tool for me to use. It was kind of fun to play with for a little while though!

Week 2 - Thing 3

I'm already a little behind! But I really had fun making my avatar. I got to combine two things I LOVE - penguins and books!

I'm enjoying getting to know y'all and see your creativity in your blog names and avatars. I'd encourage all of you to experiment with your blogs - with upload images, changing the theme, etc. Make it yours and adapt it into whatever you want it to be!

A little embarrassing to admit, but I had trouble with the directions for getting the avatar into a blog posting. Did anyone else using blogger have trouble? I finally had to save it as a jpg file and then just upload it the same way you would upload any image file.

2.0 at Region 12 - 23 Things

Today kicks off the Region 12 edition of the popular Web 2.0 online discovery course 23 Things - 2.0 at Region 12! I'm very excited about this course! There are all kinds of fun tools and toys to learn about! Web 2.0 is all about collaboration and I'm looking forward to learning from the other participants as we go along.
I'm a little bit worried about information overload - I'm very prone to trying to do too much and not succeeding at anything. My goal for this course is to figure out one or two things that work best for me that I can integrate into my professional life right away. I already use some of the things that will be covered, but I want to learn how to use them better and in more exciting ways!

I started this blog back when I began at the service center (January), and tried to establish Duck Tuesday for myself. However, life and work got in the way, and Duck Tuesday (and really all posting at all) took a two-month break. I'm excited be keeping up a blog again. I still like Duck Tuesday, and might have a few more duck books to share, but I want to branch out and share other books as I find them. I'll start next week with a few of my recent favorites, but it'll still be called Duck Tuesday!

Web 2.0 Playground

Don't Panic! It is still Duck Tuesday, but with a twist. Today I'm featuring:



Today's post comes from wet, humid, dreary Houston. BUT - here in the basement of the Houston Public Library, its all fun and games - education style! We're learning all about the cool Web 2.0 technologies available to the public for FREE and how to use them in an educational setting. So far, we've discussed wikis and blogs, and there are endless other cool tools. Here are a few of my favorites:

• imagechef.com - this image creator is copyright friendly and absolutely amazing! Upload your own photos, or use stock symbols and change colors, insert your own text, and generally manipulate to create the perfect image. For icons to banners (both displayed above), imagechef.com is your one-stop shop.
• wordle.net - I could play with this site for hours. Copy and paste chunks of text into the text box, and wordle will create a tag cloud for you based on frequency of word usage. Great tool for showing students how much they use the word "I" or passive "was" in a composition. Also great for analyzing speeches (presidential or otherwise). ALSO great for just playing around - you can manipulate wordle to create a customized tag cloud (see wordle advanced!)
• commoncraft.com - "In Plain English" explanations of various Web 2.0 technologies. Might be a good tool to explain things like "blogs" and "wikis" to skeptical administrators or teachers. Very amusing.
• ransomizer - Another visual toy that I am addicted to. Might not really have any practical use, but its SO much fun.
  
  According to the guy who created it, "Ransomizr grabs the last bunch of single-letter images from the One Letter Pool on Flickr, arranges them into an array, and waits for you to type something in the entry blank. The result looks just like an old-school ransom note, and may be copied and pasted from here into the page of your choice."
  
  As you can see, fun times in Houston despite the traffic and rain and general homesickness. More later!
  

Duck?

Yesterday, I spent blissful afternoon with an open purchase order at Barnes and Noble. At the ESC, we're hosting a session entitled "Great Literature Picks for All Ages" in which we, the education specialists, will a Cliff's Notes version of recent literature and make recommendations for how to use the books in schools. Though I am not a "specialist," the invitation to participate was extended to me due to my library connections. And I just couldn't resist the allure of an open purchase order to Barnes and Noble! I was able to get a few of the books that I've read recently and really enjoyed, a few that I've been wanting to read but just haven't been able to yet, and some completely new serendipitous finds that I'm super excited about! I couldn't help but think, this is exactly what we did in Library School...book talks! I'm so thrilled at this opportunity to do what I love most, talk about books :-)

Today's book was one of the serendipitous finds. It's called Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of Little Pea, Little Oink, and several other popular children's books. This book tackles optical illusions in a really fun, real-life, kind of way. It's a conversation between two people who disagree on the animal depicted in the picture. The picture is the same on every page, while the scenery around it changes while the two parties try to convince each other to see things their way. Not quite a profound work of literature, this is definitely a fun read that will teach kids to really think about what they see, and exercises their creative vision.

Sample pages:

The Duck of the Irish

In honor of the day devoted to green, leprechauns, shamrocks, and all things Irish, I decided it would be really fun if there was an Irish duck book. But I looked and looked, and could find NOTHING! If I were a children's book author, I definitely would have capitalized on this holiday a long time ago, because I just love green, and because there could be great potential for a duck/leprechaun friendship to steal the hearts of children everywhere!

But instead, I did find this:
And so, today is a tribute to one of my most favorite professors of children's literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), Elizabeth Bush. She kicks every class off with a Duck Question. This question usually has something to do with the subject of that day's class (non-fiction, award-winners, graphic novels, etc) and the answer to the question will help us be smart at librarian cocktail parties, she says. If you're late, you do not get to try and answer the Duck Question. You always want to be on time. Everyone writes their answer on a piece of paper and drops it into Betty's Christmas gift bag, and she draws until she gets a right answer. The owner of that right answer receives a duck! I am the proud owner of four ducks, three of which I earned for answering questions correctly, one of which sports a nifty cap and gown, and holds a diploma and was given to me upon my graduation from library school.
Betty is a phenomenal school librarian, an enthusiastic and energetic library school professor, and in her spare time, she writes for the Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books, which is housed in the basement of GSLIS. The Bulletin only reviews recommended works, so they are a great resource! She is a quirky, witty writer, and I always love the books she reviews.

So, here is today's Duck Tuesday book, reviewed by Betty for the Bulletin:


Whatever you do, don't you DARE tickle me here! and of course, tickling is the first thing on the reader's mind. With a patch of fur for a belly, how could they resist! Betty describes the book as "the tactile pleasures of Pat the Bunny meet the comedic style of Mo Willems' Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus." This snarky duck is hilarious! His protests against the tickling mirror that of many kiddos...they say "No!" and they squirm, but in the end, they might reconsider. The book itself is visually very appealing - "yellow floor and a steely blue background against which his milky white body, expressive yellow eyes, and bright orange bill and feet writhe in fits of contagious laughter (EB)" I remember this book being one of our regulars in the circulation flow at Urbana Free Library, and I'd stop to read it every time!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Duck! (seriously, look out!)

That's right! "Duck" and cover because this week's edition of Duck Tuesday features flying ducks! I stumbled across this delightful little guy on Amazon.com this week:
He flies AND quacks! What better way to illustrate a duck book than with visual aids and sound effects! And here's the perfect book to accompany such a fun toy:

Super Duck by Jez Alborough

Part of the Jez Alborough Duck series, this book features Goat, Sheep, and Frog (Duck's friends) and their quest to launch Goat's kite into the air. Duck shows up at the last minute, and of course, when Duck is around, things always go comically wrong! Can Super Duck save the day and his friend Frog??? Bright, colorful, action-packed illustrations command, making this story great for reading aloud, and the rhyming couplets are reminiscent of Dr. Seuss (and you know how I enjoy Dr. Seuss!). Such a fun book!

In other news, I get to help with Weather With Rusty today and tomorrow! Spring Break is somewhat of a slower week around the service center since at least half of our schools are off, and its much easier to get discouraged when there aren't people to help and conference rooms to support. Roxanne once passed on a piece of advice that really rings true at the moment: if I get discouraged in my day-to-day routine at work, just do a videoconference, watch some kiddos learn with realizing that's what they're doing, and it'll remind me of the larger purpose behind what I do. It's definitely time to see kids again!

Not one of them is like another

Day Two of Seuss-A-Palooza!

I'm completely hooked! I LOVE playing with kids. I love that, even though we start with the same content slides of pictures from the book, every single session is different. I love knowing that the kids are having as much fun as I am, and seeing the smiles on their faces in response to something I've taught them or read to them. Okay, enough of being sentimental...

Today we did five sessions, back to back to back, from 8:30 to 11 for the kindergartners at Bethune Elementary in Temple. Roxanne did the first two sessions and we executed a seamless transition to me for the last three. I got to watch Roxanne in action for bit before it was time for me to take over, and I must admit, I'm a little jealous. I have a LONG way to go before I'm as good with those kids as she is, but I'm learning. It was so fun to watch her playing with those kids. And of course, I stole some of the things she had added to her session to put in mine!

Several of the classes today had made their own Dr. Seuss hats. It was exciting to see a sea of red and white stripes on the screen...I just couldn't help but smile!

Things I learned from today:

• Ask more questions. More interaction is better and the more questions you ask, the more you have to work with. AND its more fun when the kids are involved. Its hard to sit still for long periods of time (ex. anything more than 3 minutes) when you are 4 or 5 years old, and the least I can do is get them engaged so it doesn't seem like such a long 25 minutes.
• Be prepared for anything. Some groups of kids were really rowdy, and some were really quiet. Learning how to adapt to the nature of each group will be a valuable skill.
• We need more sessions to pick from! The last group of kids I had was an ESL class. They were GREAT with counting and numbers, but they were having trouble with the rhymes and with some of my interactive things, because of the language. Thankfully, the teachers in the room were great with translating, but it's time to brainstorm and come up with things we can do to cater to the Spanish-speaking population.

Now that the two-day kick-off is over, Seuss-A-Palooza! will become a regularly-scheduled program at Region 12! We'll be offering half-hour sessions beginning at 9:30 and running until 11:30. We're in the process of developing more sessions with different Seuss books. If you've got a great idea or suggestion, we'd love to hear it!

Oh, and you can follow Dr. Seuss on Twitter. How cool is that?!

So much to celebrate!

Today is the birthday of the one, the only...Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel. To properly celebrate this auspicious occasions, I enlisted the help of three groups of kiddos (K-1st from both Penelope ISD and Rice ISD) for Seuss-A-Palooza!
Seuss-A-Palooza was my first video-conference. I've been working with the fine folks back in the VC area for about a month and a half now. I've learned to operate the machinery - how to switch back and forth between a powerpoint and myself, and how to set presets. I was coached in developing content - how to create engaging slides and put the pictures on the screen so the kids can see them, and how to get the kids involved. And today, it all came together. With three back-t0-back sessions to operate on my own, was incredibly nervous, but then I remembered: I'm just reading to kids. The librarian in me took over at that point, and I donned my Seuss hat and gloves and sat down in the hot-seat to await my first group of kiddos.

The first session went fine, but for some reason my slides with the pictures didn't show up on the endpoint unit. So, while I thought they were seeing pictures and I was free to read, they were actually seeing me. I didn't find this out until the end where I had some activity slides and I was asking them if they could read the words on the screen for me. Turns out there were no words on their screen, and hadn't been for the whole 20 minutes beforehand. That's embarrassing...

We got the bugs worked out though, and I got ready for the second session. When they dialed in and came up on the screen, I was not prepared for what I saw...

There had been about 15, maybe 20 kids in the first session. I was shocked.

I regained my composure, however, and it was great! We had a blast, and with the help of the fantastic librarian/VC coordinator at Rice (Kristi Brawly), it went very smoothly. I was able to correct a few things from the first session that I didn't do so well, and I made sure to check that they could see my slides before I started. It was so much fun and I'm so addicted now!

Seuss-A-Palooza! will now happen weekly. Since this was my first video-conference, we only scheduled two sessions. About 50 people tried to register for those two sessions! I was overwhelmed by the response! But now, I can't wait to work on developing some different sessions (the "I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!" version is coming soon!), and honing my skills as a video-conference presenter. It makes my heart glad to see kids having fun with reading, and I'm so glad I can use my love of books and library science background to produce something so unique.

Today is also:
Texas Independence Day
Bon Jovi's birthday
my fiance's birthday

So much to celebrate!

Quack

It’s Tuesday again! Since I am currently working on a Dr. Seuss video conference project (Seuss-a-Palooza!), I’ve been in a whimsical mood, and so, the duck book today is…

I Wish that I Had Duck Feet! by the genius Dr. Seuss

This book is amazingly fantastical. I really think this book captures what it’s like to be a kid with an insatiable imagination. What kid hasn’t secretly dreamt of having duck feet just so she could stomp in puddles and not have to wear shoes? Or having a long stripey tiger tail? Or an elephant trunk? I just love the journey that this little boy takes through his imagination. The bright, colorful drawings let the reader travel along as he imagines all the cool things he’ll do when he gets certain animal characteristics and all the ways he will be able to beat Big Bill Brown. But then, he realizes how these cool characteristics might not be quite so cool. And what would happen when he has ALL the things he wishes he had?? What will he decide to be in the end??

This would be a great read-aloud, and then it would be really fun to ask the kids what THEY wish they had. They could draw pictures of themselves with their new characteristic, and then make a list of the pros and cons of having such a characteristic.

For anything and everything Seuss-related, take a moment to visit Suessville! Here in this delightful land of Seuss, you can find games, quotes, a biography of Dr. Seuss, a list of his works, and a whimsical world of fun.

It's Duck Tuesday!

During my time at the circulation desk at the Urbana Free Library (quite possibly the best public library in the world!), I was privileged to come across a plethora of “duck” books. I’m not obsessed with ducks, I leave that to my friend Julie, but for some reason I am drawn to books with the word “duck” in the title.

SO - I have decided to start Duck Tuesday in honor of the Urbana Free Library and my friends Julie and Rachel. On Duck Tuesday, I will highlight one of the magnificent titles that includes the word “duck” or share some other exciting thing about ducks with you.

To kick it off, I have a splendid selection:

Twenty-Odd Ducks by Lynne Truss, illustrated by Bonnie Timmons. Truss is the best-selling author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, and has a fantastic series for children as well (Eats, Shoots & Leaves and The Girl’s Like Spaghetti). This non-fiction book takes a humorous approach to punctuation (always a plus in my opinion!) and looks at what can go wrong when hyphens, parentheses, quotation marks, periods and other punctuation marks appear in the wrong place. The book is witty and fun, and the illustrations are delightful. It would certainly make grammar a little more enjoyable. It is recommended for ages 4-8, but I tend to think of age recommendations for childrens books more as guidelines. ALL ages can benefit from a fun approach to grammar! (Yes, my collection of childrens literature makes up a majority of my personal library.)

Have a great Tuesday!

The Quest for Identity. Online Identity, that is...

When I started as a “Technical and Library Services” technician, I had NO idea that I would soon be striking out onto the vastness that is the Internet. I had no idea it was even important. I definitely had no idea how to do it.

Up until now, my experience with “online identity” has come from Facebook and brief stint with MySpace. Facebook is great for finding people you haven’t seen in a while, talking to casual acquaintances, and keeping in touch with people without much effort. However, as I transition to the world of professionals and begin networking, I realize that I need to find myself again. And then let everyone else know who I find via the web.

Blog. Twitter. Skype. All things I’ve heard about, but am now learning to make my own. Thanks to Roxanne’s enthusiastic encouragement, I have begun the quest. I shall endeavor to make a record of that quest, so when I get a little further down the road, and I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything, I can look back and see where I began.

It’s certainly exciting, though rather intimidating. I’m still in the lurking and learning stages, so don’t expect prolific profundity anytime soon. As my professional career in library services develop, so (hopefully) will the significance of the LibraryElf.

Look me up on Twitter!