Holidays

The holiday season is now upon us. The West Ashley Branch put up our tree and the after school children decorated it yesterday. They make a long green and red paper chain to go on the tree. They had a blast and the tree looks good. It has lights, but we don't have an outlet any where near the tree. Finding a space took some doing! We have rearranged some of the dvd stands since last year and the tree is too wide for where it use to go. We still have decorations for Hanukkah and Kawanza to be put up. It is fun making the library look festive.
Bye for now.
Beth

Tech Trek 2.0

I have completed all of the Quests. It has been interesting, eye opening, and confusing at different times. I believe that exposure to these different technologies was beneficial, even if I never use some of them again. I will understand when they are being discussed. Some of the technology was already part of my life style, even though I didn't always know that I was using it! It was a great experience.

Quest 12 - Podcasts

I listened to a Click- a- Story from Thomas Ford Memorial Library. It was The shoemaker and the elves. I thought that this was a very cool concept, what a great way to put a story on the web. The story could be added to blogs or websites. I also listened to a Teen review of Inkheart from the same library. Once again this grabbed me as being a fantastic tool for libraries to add to blogs, websites, Myspace, etc. What a great way to get young adults involved with a library.
While I was exploring the sites, I realized that I had been listening to a type of podcast for years - South Carolina Stingray Hockey away games on the Internet!
Quest 12 was a fun exploration and I saw possible uses for our Library System in both YouTube and podcasts. This is a great way to connect with young adults and tweens.

Quest 12 - YouTube

I had fun watching the Librarian videos at YouTube. I posted 2 videos on this blog. I see this as a way to do presentations on what we do to community groups, patrons, and especially today's youth. The short videos may be used with a Library Myspace or Facebook Page. We could have a YouTube contest with teens making short videos about their favorite branch. I believe this could be a useful tool for libraries.

YouTube - Party Girl Library

Always Liked this part!

Quest 12 - YouTube

The Betty Glover Library Workout Tape - 1987! What a hoot!

Quest 11- Online Apps

I opened an account with both Zoho and Google Docs. I thought Google was easier to use than Zoho until I wanted to post to this blog. I could not figure out how to post from Google. Zoho has a nice little tab to click and help post to a blog. See my Zoho post below. This was a fun Quest!

Quest 11

I posted this from my Zoho account.
Planning a trip using the Internet

The Internet may make your planning a lot easier. The web now has many travel sites. The following are a few sites I used when planning my trip to Ireland.

• Trip Advisor - www.tripadvisor
• Search by location
• Read reviews
• Ask a question on a forum
• Gather great tips
• Compare prices
• View photos
• Frommer's Forum
• www.frommers.com
• Ask questions
• Get great advice
• Links to travel tips
• Other sites included:
• www.seatguru.com - compare airline seats
• www.fodors.com
• www.lonelyplanet.com
• VirtualTourist.com
• Tourist Information sites for the location
• Web sites for attractions in the area
• Search for reviews of hotels/ bed & breakfasts/ guesthouses you are thinking about booking

I found the forums at Trip Advisor and Frommers to be very helpful.

Have a great trip!

Quest 9 - Wiki

I found this to be a very interesting quest. I looked at the 2007 SCLA Annual Conference Wiki and found a list of statewide library blogs. The West Ashley Branch Blog was not listed, so I edited and added our blog! The wiki information was easy to navigate.
I also found the SJCPL Subject Quides wiki interesting. I searched under photography and found books - call numbers and keywords; magazines, local exhibitions; local courses; and links to blogs.
Library Success: a best practices wiki was explored next. I discovered programs for adults. A few ideas were shared such as a cookie swap at the begginning of December. I found the 40 minutes of lecture more than I had in mind! They did have a sharing of cookies and a gift for the baker of the cookie voted the best.
I enjoyed my explorations and will continue to explore wikis - who knows I may even start my own!

Quest 8 - Social Networks

I had heard about Facebook and Myspace before this Quest, but not the others. I searched for the Kings of Leon under music or did a general search on each site.
Bebo - Kings of Leon have a blog. I searched for and found Ireland. People from all over the world blogging about Ireland - or supposedly.
Friendster - Found a Kings of Leon page with fans. I was unable to search for an Ireland.
Linkedin - You have to join to really search this site. It is for finding jobs, advice, classmates, and colleagues.
Facebook - My daughter Alexis has an account. Facebook was originally for people with a school email. I read about students not being accepted in colleges because professors would look them up on Facebook and find out all about things better left hidden.
Myspace - I have an account, but never use it. My daughter Shannon and some of her friends blog on it all the time to keep in touch. I followed some of the links for her friends.
I also found the Kings of Leons. They have songs, pictures, and tour information.
I think social networking is a way of keeping young adults informed about library programs.

Quest 7 - Flickr

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Originally uploaded by westashleybranchlibrary

A picture from the Edible Wizards Hat program.

This picture and the one below were posted using Flickr.

Harry Potter Edible Wands

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Originally uploaded by westashleybranchlibrary

This is one of the pictures taken at our programs the week of October 8 - 12, 2007 to celebrate Banned Books Week. We celebrated The Harry Potter Series with activities each day. I hvae uploaded this picture to the West Ashley Branch Library Flickr acount.

Quest 6 Tag, Your It Part 2: Technorati

Technorati
I did an advance search for Library 2.o under keyword and recieved 31,495 hits. Under tag I recieved 420 hits, which was the same for a Blog Directory search. So tag and Blog Directory are useful to narrow a search. Under Popular I looked at Boing Boing which has 24,729 authority and 2752 member favorites and is the top favorite blog. It has popular strange cultural reports and videos. One was about a house being left on the Hollywood freeway in California. Engadget has 31,926 Authority and 1,662 favorite and is the top popular blog. It concerns technology.
I am not sure about tagging. I have tagged some of the post to the West Ashley Branch Blog. It is one of those things I am not in the habit of doing and only do if I happen to remember.

Quest 6 - Tag, Your It! - Part 1: Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us
I looked at the PLCMC account as instructed, but the information was from October 2006 on the Shifted Librarian. The comments were also from 2006. It was discussing RSS feeds. I then did a search for Librarians and found Walking Paper had been saved by 98 people. I found an interseting article from this month on Global Public Library Uasage. The highest usage is in the Russian Federation. The next highest were Western Europe, Japan, and Eastern Europe. The UNESCO research showed that North America borrowed 0.694 books per person. The World average was 1.16. The Public Libraries in the US study for 2004 found 7.1 items per person were borrowed. I think the difference is in comparing books and items. We circulate movies, magazines, art, and music as well as books. The tags for this site included library blog blogs technology librarians ...
I opened a Del.icio.us account and saved TechTrek2.0, West Ashley Library Blog, My Blog, Trip Advisor, SC STingrays, and South Carolina LA.

Back From Ireland

We had a great trip. I was ready to stay, but as my husband put it - "with what?" I couldn't argue with him. I am slowly posting my pictures to picasa. I took thousands of pictures! Some of which are not good, but a lot turned out well. I plan to return to Ireland, maybe in 2011.
I used Trip Advisor.com and Formmer's message board to help plan my trip. I have not posted any reviews as of yet, but I am planning on doing so. In Rush we stayed at Sandy Hills B&B - wonderful place and very friendly owner, Mary Buckley. Rush worked out as a good location from which to visit Newgrange and Dublin. In Ennis we stayed at Carbery B&B it was a nice place, but is only open at limited times. We booked this place at the Ennis Tourist Information Office, as suggested by Mary Buckley. Ennis felt like home. In Dingle we stayed at Coastline Guesthouse and enjoyed our stay. It is located on the harbour and a short walk from the center of town. Our last night was at the Bunratty Lodge. It was a huge room with a queen, double, and single size beds and 2 bathrooms! Close to Bunratty Castle and the Shannon airport. We got lost often, but it was part of the experience! The people were friendly, it didn't rain on us, the food was good, we heard good music, and enjoyed the places we visited! Ireland was a wonderful vacation spot.

Trip to Ireland

I am off this afternoon to Ireland! My husband and I are taking one of our daughters, Alexis, to Ireland. She graduated in May from USC Law School. We are flying Delta to Atlanta and then to Dublin. We will arrive around 9:20 am, which is about 4:20 EST!
The first three nights we will be staying in Rush, County Dublin at the Sandy Hills B & B. We plan on visiting Newgrange and Dublin from Rush. Links are http://www.sandyhills.ie and http://knowth.com/
Monday morning we will drive towards Dingle and stop someplace along the way. Tuesday through Thursday night we will be in Dingle at the Coastline Guesthouse. http://www.coastlinedingle.com
Friday night we will be at the Bunratty Lodge - http://www.bunrattylodge.com/ We are going to a Traditional Irish Night at Bunratty Castle that night. Link: http://www.shannonheritage.com/Entertainment/BunrattyCastleBanquet/
We leave Shannon for Atlanta Saturday and then to Charleston.
I am hoping to be able to upload some photos while in Ireland. If not I will when I return.

RSS and Newsreaders

The 4th quest was a very challenging, but I managed to open a Blogline account and add feeds.
I have added the following feeds to my bloglines:
12 feeds
A Foodie in the Lowcountry
TripAdvisor Forums - Ireland Feed
Digital Camera Websites: Digital Photography News - The Latest
East3rd Blog: Photography
jens tech trek
Librarians' Internet Index: New This Week
LibraryTrax
National Hurricane Center (Atlantic)
Patrick L Archibald
PC Magazine: New Product Reviews
Photographica: All Stories
Tech Trek 2.0

This was more complicated than I thought it should be to get the final results. I am not sure that it does excatly what I was expecting at the start of this quest, but at this point I am not sure what that was! I believe that Bloglines will continue to evolve and this form will become obsolete, just like ftp news files.

My Blogline is located at:
http://www.bloglines.com/public/BuffyLibrarian
I was happy that I was able to add this link!
I am glad to say that I am ready for Quest 5.

Instant Messaging

I have used different types of instant messaging briefly. I currently use my personal gmail account to IM family. I IM'd my daughter for this exercise. We discussed the items that she had left last weekend when she was visiting! I find it easier to email or talk on the phone. My mind works faster than my fingers!!LOL :)
Use the Meebo connection to IM me.

Use Meebo to Instant Message.

Quest 1 - Lifetime Learning

Lifetime learning includes 7 steps. They are:
1. Make it a habit
I attempt to do this.
2. Accept responsiblity for your learning
I do, that is why I returned to college and became a Librarian in my 40s.
3. View problems as challenges
I have the most difficulty with this. I do eventually come to see them as challenges, but I need ro work on my first response!
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
I do.
5. Create your own learning toolbox
I believe this includes keeping wonder and curiosity alive in your life. Keep that mind open and don't be afraid of new ideas.
6. Use technology to your advantage
I mostly do this, but technology is not always easy to get to at work.
7. Teach / Mentor others
I use # 7 in my daily work - every time I help a patron or staff member with a problem on the computer! Also at home with my husband!
7 1/2. Play
I really like this step! It goes along with step 5. I believe we all need play of some type. My family has always had family game time and we continue to play card games and board games as adults. I believe that play can be active, such as playing softball, or passive, such as sitting and talking about Harry Potter.

Tech Trek 2.0

I am taking part in Tech Trek 2.0 with the Charleston County Public Library System, which was a result of our Staff Day Training held in April. I am excited about the changes Technology is bringing to Libraries and ready to learn more about them!