It just goes on and on and on!

I am absolutely amazed...if I haven't said it before.  I really can't get my head around the amount of varying material available for people to access and work with.  I just don't know how people have the time.  I found a number of the Winners really intriguing and interesting...particularly Picnik (although I couldn't get it to work properly in the short time I allowed myself); Care2, Healia, Upcoming and Lulu.  The one I easily explored and enjoyed (as per my previous post) was  43 Things.  Writing lists are a part of my life and I value the support that writing and getting through my lists give me!  Even though 43 Things is not quite like my own lists, I have written and used goal writing as a way of moving forward in my life, both professionally and personally. Not really sure how I could see 43 Things used in the Library setting, but maybe it could be a fun way of introducing people to the idea of online communities and incorporating Web 2.0 tools into the Libraries of the future.  Maybe our Library's Website could incorporate a 43 Things style tool on the front page which encourages patrons or those browsing to check out what others have on their list!  Just a quick thought.....I might edit this later if I think of anything more inspiring.

Torias List

Things that need to be done!!

Finish Learning 2.0 !
and.....
vacuum the bedrooms
clean the windows
organise my pantry
mulch the garden
think about Christmas
sort out and clean the shed
organise to install a tank for drinking water and grey water system
and........

Zoho, ho, ho, ho....

I was thinking that Web-based apps seemed  a really great idea; the idea that I could be using Zoho writer at home to work on something and then just pick it up again at work and be able to print or email it to whom ever I like without going through the hassles I do now because I have a Mac at home and most computers I email to and print  from are PC......anyway, that was until I went to publish my small word processing document to my blog.....I found that Zoho Writer doesn't support Safari.  Wasn't too big a bother as I also have Firefox installed and hopefully it's worked with that!! As always with this burgeoning technology, it will have positive applications in lots of places and circumstances, but not all!........Have just realised when checking to see if my doc. was on my blog that the actual doc. page would be viewed and not a just a link.....I wonder if it could jsut be viewed as a link? More to discover!!

PBWiki...as easy as....

Was is it really that easy.......I had fear and trepidation racing through my veins when I saw all that syntax...I watch Ant deal with this all the time and was extremely nervous.....mainly because I find it hard to remember all the little bits and pieces and have to keep going back to the how to page...! I entered my favourite TV shows... and also placed my link on the Favourite Blogs page....hope it all worked!

Here come the Wiki's.

Wiki's look fantastic to me.  I can see them being a wonderful interactive tool for Libraries....especially when as a part-time library staff I am constantly asked for my opinion or recommendation for one or other authors or books etc....which I invariably am not familiar with or haven't had the chance to read...I particularly enjoyed browsing the BookLoversWiki of Princeton Public Library. I could see this having enormous value and interest to both patron and staff.  I was fascinated by the Library Success Best Practice Wiki and interested in it's now registered entry due to 'vandalism'....guess there are some draw backs as Library Success points out in its 'pros' and 'cons' page, but the fact that Wiki's can be used by a wider audience, meaning without  computer programming skills and could therefore encourage our library to reach out to it's community or even create a community seems a valuable way of embracing the new style of Library that we will need to embrace. I would love to see a Book Lovers Wiki or a Subject Guides Wiki developed for our Goldfields Library....and could even see it relevant in the YA , JF  and Picture book areas.....mmmmm....must talk to the boss!

The future is beckoning.

For many it's the here and now, and I guess that's why Libraries will need to keep pace with technologies as they are offered.  I love books though and can't imagine a library without them. I can see that there will be lots of demand at some point in the future for connections to bibliographic stores in other libraries to be available and obtainable by patrons from their currant library catalogue.  I am one who believes that libraries need to reflect their communities and the patrons who support the library service.  I believe that embracing Library 2 will need consideration and collaboration with amongst library's and librarians in general; because just as there is a lot that is wonderful for reaching out and discovering the outer parts of our world, there is also a lot that will be mindless, time wasting, un-neccesary and that is likely to distract rather than enhance the Library environment. 

Technorati Torment..........

Claiming my blog just seems too exposing for me.  I'm just not sure that I really want to be a part of the millions of blogs out there.  Am I being too serious here?  I guess there's a part of me that wonders who really needs to know what's going on in my mind except those who I choose to have connections or relationships with.  The whole blogosphere world is a bit of a confusion as to the attraction of blogging and source of concern for me as I try to prepare my children for having connections and forming relationships within their world.  I'm choosing not to claim my blog as yet until I play a little more and feel I know what my blogging purpose is!! 

Simply Scrum.p.tious

I have a fairly usable number of bookmarks at home and because I only work part-time and am mostly using other peoples computers at the Library, my use of bookmarks in the work situation is quite limited....however I can see the potential of  this tool for organising and assisting you when you need to come up with an answer to a question that is important to the patron on the other side of the desk! I can see that tagging enables similar sites to be bookmarked so that they're all there when you need them.  I guess I will need to explore a little further when time, energy and enthusiasm permits but here goes with the first taste test!!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling......

A great idea to keep your own collection of useful sites together!  I still feel very clumsy when doing all the technical stuff though. I feel like I'm just following instructions and don't really understand what I'm actually doing. I understand the basic value and potential for those who use the internet as a basis for research, and hopefully I will be able to use it to assist someone in the Library one day, but I guess personal use is limited to the degree that I am yet to have the time....and alot of time can be (dare I say ....) wasted.

A sorted life.....thing.

Now this I can see has potential in my life......for the woman who needs one more thing to add to the list of things I will do when I have time!  But seriously....actually I was being serious, I would love to have all our books listed together in a cataloguing system like this.  Ant's not convinced of its true value, but I would be a happy girl if I knew exactly what books I had......then all I need is something to help me keep them in some sort of order and get the children to put them back on the shelf where they got them from!!

Generators upon generators...

Image Reflection Generator

Do we really need all these?  I'm wondering what all these generators are really costing us!  I know we're trying to have a bit of fun here but I'm finding the 876 generators on the Generator Blog a little overwhelming.  However, I have trawled my way through a number of them and have at least found the IMAGE REFLECTION,  TEXT COLLAGE  and RIBBON generators interesting and now I'm trying to work out how to attach one of them as an image and link to my blog. The image reflection was easy to attach to my blog; the text collage is far too complicated for my liking and the ribbon didn't have the effect I wanted when it finally appeared on the blog page.  I like these generators because I like photos and words and the inspiration they can provide,......also a number of the BigHugeLab generators  related to photographic manipulation could be extremely effective ....PHOTO WALL, BEAD ART AND MOSAIC MAKER, to mention a few.  

I know it takes all sorts and maybe I'm just getting too old but I'd rather be outside in the bush near our house with the kids,  pulling weeds in the garden,  chasing the chooks out of the garden or doing something with my hands than my mind being swallowed up by the pull of these generators ('cause that's how it feels to me)...I can see the uses but worry so much about where it's taking those who depend on the speed and instantaneous 'fix' of this technology.

RSS - What a test!

By George I think I've done it!! And I even think I can see the value in Subscribing to RSS ......although as a novice I'm not sure I'm convinced it's 'really simple'.....yet. Having been ably supported and encouraged by my Lib. manager while relieving at KFL, I was finally able to link it all with my Blog. Finding the little icons or the somewhat elusive RSS feeds link took some getting use to but there was a simmering excitement as I began to think of all the subjects of interest or the sites that I frequently visit and connect them to my blog, ready for instant use.