Thing 6: Fame and Fortune

Behold the highly collectible Librarian D.O.A Trading card. Onward! This could actually be used in alot of fun ways. I think I'll tuck something like this into Hot Reads For Cold Nights sign up packets next year.

Thing 5: Even More Flickr

The mashups and puzzlemakers were fun and ok, but I don't plan to use any of them myself, and can't see an application at the library where I'm helping somebody and I say....ooooohhhh did you know you can turn that picture of your nephew into a puzzle?

Thing 4: Flickr-ing Images

I signed up for a Flickr account, luckily my Yahoo login worked. That helps alot.
Uploading a photo was very simple. The simple photo editing tool could be fun and useful for photos that aren't too over or under lighted.

I can see these uses:

People who can't afford photo editing software who want to make small adjustments and corrections can use this.

This can be an alternative to email sharing of photos and the attendant problems that people have opening them on library PCs or their own PCs at home. They can have their friends create Flickr accounts and print them easily.

If you are sharing photos from a conference and you don't have email addresses or other contact information for everyone who might be interested, you can direct them to the Flickr photos.

Here's a stretch--you put great photos of yourself and your festive life out there, become wildly popular and famous, and the rest is covered by People Weekly.

Thing 3: RSS Feeds are sticky

I can see why RSS feeds are useful. You can get compilations of your favorite news and blog sites all in one tidy package. You can do the same by simply marking these in your browser Favorites, but the RSS feed lets you know if a site has updated information. It can be a timesaver if you have many favorites, but the favorites don't always update often. Sort of winnows out the less active from your tour du jour and gives you the good stuff.

I signed up for Bloglines first. I selected a few sites from their favorites list and then listed a few packages to see what would happen.
The site came back with an error message saying it couldn't process the request right now.

Off to Google Reader. I already had an account with them thanks to this blog. This seems a little more bare bones in that I did not see the sort of recommendations that Bloglines had. You're on your own finding sites to add as far as I can see. On the other hand, after a bit of searching, I found a few sites to add, and it is very easy to do.

I wish both sites had better RSS site recommendations or ways to search for them. Maybe its all right there and I just don't see it. Or these aggregate sites work on a simpler level that I thought they should.

Thing 2! Library 2.0: fact or fiction?

I like the basic idea behind Library 2.0, using web based technologies and tools to enhance and promote library services. Using any new tool is generally fun once you get the hang of it. I think it is just a matter of looking at the tool and saying how can we do everything we do well in a new way?

I'm seeing alot of jargon tossed around in the materials talking about Library 2.0. It has the effect that jargon often has--it makes the topic at hand seem scary at worst and semi-unintelligible at best. When you're trying to promote something like Library 2.0 that is all about new means of communication, try not to shut people out by talking down to them in jargon filled extravaganzas.

Onward.

23 Things: Thing 1

I've created this blog as Thing 1.

Now to add an 8x10 glossy for an avatar. Adding an avatar is still Thing 1 though it is a second thing to do. Who counted the things?