Zamar

I have been doing some of the Library 2.1 things from home, but I haven't kept up with my blogging. Zamar is neat--I will be able to use it when I post the summer reading guidelines to the staff server. It's easier than password protecting the file and accomplishes the same thing. I haven't been brave enough to download from a media format yet, but I am going to try.

Beyond...

Just wanted you to know I did subscribe to Learning 2.1. I plan to keep learning about this at home. Thanks again.

My Thoughts

Well, I've commented on this exercise as I was working on the tasks. I'm the poster child for why this was needed. I had no idea about 90% of what was covered here. This forced me to look into things that are part of our culture today, and more important, it gave me insight into how kids are learning and processing information. And, it was really fun, too! The exercises were well thought out and the directions were clear. Any difficulty I had stemmed from my complete ignorance. I've been going back and learning more about each of the exercises, too. This weekend, I really made points with a friend's grandson when I showed him YouTube. Finally, I'm cool to a 10-year-old.

Thanks for making this possible.

Thing 22

I created an account with Net Library and looked through the titles. It's a really good collection of reference and trade titles and I can see myself looking to those titles when I'm home and need some quick information. I don't think I'd want to read an entire e-book. It's just me--I get distracted more easily on a computer than I do when I'm reading an actual book. I also went to our digital books page on our website. I was more familiar with this site (we need new children's titles!). I will download some of these titles in the future. Now I usually listen to BCDs, especially when I'm in the car or working at home, but this will give me even more options.

Thank-You, Debby

The things I learn from Debby McCullough! She showed me how to post an image that glitters. (We're both big bling fans.) I think Karen Basista tried to explain this to me, but with her being in Springfield it didn't work. Thank goodness Debby is down the hall!

Things 21and 22

I'm embarrassed to say that I had no idea about YouTube or any of the other sites that let you view and upload videos. How neat! I did post one video on my blog, but I couldn't post others. I got the message that the video would appear on my blog soon, but that never happened. I'm thinking that the amount of graphic space used might have something to do with it.

One thing that struck me as I was looking through these sites is how trained we are as librarians to be specific. I found the general categories that are listed to be of very little help, but when I entered search terms I found lots of things I enjoyed and found useful. This brought back some of the discussion we had when we were talking about AquaBrowser and how people who aren't trained librarians might approach information. I can see that without understanding how people are finding what they consider "information" we might not be giving the best options to our patrons. I'm also reading a book on how the "graphic" and "digital" age have impacted how kids process information and I can see that this is all part of it. Very eye opening for me.

Another thing that struck me was the talent some people have. There are travel videos, set to music, that just take your breath away. My mom has always wanted to go to the Holy Land--this weekend I showed her several of the videos on YouTube. She was amazed.

I also checked out the sites on Podcasts and found one called "Secrets of Harry Potter." Dr. Giles Baker talks about the books, and talks about the symbolism in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He ties the allusions to literature from around the world, from the Canterbury Tales to the Bible. The quality of the literary analysis for so recent a book is amazing--I'm going to have to subscribe to this one. When I first started looking at these sites, I didn't think I would enjoy Podcasts. I was wrong, again.

Florence

I'd love go back here.