Risky Business

New OPAC- Very Nice!

2010-07-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

I've been playing with the new OPAC for the last couple of weeks now. I must say that I really like it. I think it's much more user-friendly than our current OPAC. The layout makes more sense, there's more information available to the patron, but nothing about it feels overwhelming. It reminds me of Google the way the home page is so clean and simple, but once you hit the search button a world of info is opened up to you.
I like the ease with which you can sort your search by book, audio, video, etc. The fact that it tells you in each record whether the book is in the library or can be requested is also helpful. I am also enjoying how interactive the new OPAC is. A patron can tag an item, write a review, read a description, and save it to their favorites.
I think all of the updates and new features will help patrons navigate their searches and also make newbies more inclined to use the OPAC. It's a much more approachable and relevant system.

Ahhhh, Brooksville

2010-07-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Not that any of you cosmopolitan people care, but I thought I'd post the front page of the newspaper from my home town. These are my very humble roots. Yeah, we're the kind of people that have nothing better do than make gourd art (and I mean that with the utmost respect.)

Newseum

2010-06-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

I find it very interesting to browse the front page of newspapers from different parts of the world. It gives a little look inside that country. What people find newsworthy does tell quite a bit about a culture. It's also fascinating to read a new perspective on the same stories being reported in the United States. I don't know that I have ever had a patron ask me a question that would have me lead them to a resource such as Newseum, however. More often than not, people who want to have a look at newspapers from other regions want the whole thing, or at least a story inside. For this, I usually direct them to the paper's website so they can browse the online version. Never the less, I would direct anyone to Newseum if I discovered, like my nerdy self, they have a habit of reading news stories from around the world (bbc.co.uk, anyone?)

May: Free E-books

2010-05-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

I was glad to explore these different e-book sites. I've been on Project Gutenberg's site before- I actually used it a few years back in my attempt to finish Pride and Prejudice. Unfortunately, reading books on the computer just doesn't do it for me, so I gave up and bought a 99 cent copy at a used book store. For those who have more patience for reading from a computer screen, I think sites like these are great tools. I would certainly recommend them to someone with a Kindle or Sony Reader. I just don't think it's for everyone. Most readers get some pleasure out of the feel of the book in their hands and the smell of the pages. It's a tactile thing, a sensory thing. I know for me, just the smell of old, dusty books brings back so many memories from different points in my life. Until the next generation comes of age, the generation with no emotional attachment to the physical part of a book, I don't know that e-books will take off. I do think that digital audio books will bare the brunt of the demand, though. More people already listen to or are familiar with books on cassette or c.d.

Optimus Prime

2010-04-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased that we have Optimal Resume as part of our database collection. It goes without saying that on a daily basis our library, as well as the branches, are inundated with job seekers. This database is the perfect fit for MCPLD. Upon trying it out myself, I found it very user friendly: the layout was clean and simple and the job tools were numerous. Also, the examples and options I think will build confidence in patrons rather than be a distraction or a point of confusion. This is something I see myself recommending to patrons on the daily.

I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that. (or Print Friendly)

2010-03-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

Before I get started, I would just like to point out that the voice narrating PrintFriendly.com's How-To video sounds like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey and that is creepy.
Anyway, besides the creep factor, I really liked this website. Printing from the interent can be a big hassle, especially when trying to explain it to patrons. In the past I would copy and paste info into a Word document and try to edit it that way, which took more time than is tolerable. I will be recommending printfriendly.com to patrons and using myself in the future.
This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

Learn-A-Test

2010-02-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

What a great resource we have at the library! Learn-A-Test was easy to use and had a plethora of information. I will be referring patrons to this service from now on. One complaint: I found that the downloading time on the tests is quite slow. Other than that, however, everything else was great.
As for my test, I decided to take the Citizenship Practice Course. I realize that I must have a steel trap of a memory for my American Government classes from high school. I am not involved enough in politics to have known the answers for very many of those questions, but I did pretty good. I cannot imagine, upon moving to this country, having to memorize all of the facts on that test. What a feat!

Sea Slugs

2010-02-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

I found this amazing piece of information out just the other day. Thought it was noteworthy. Prepared to be amazed now.

R.I.P. J.D. Salinger, You Old Curmudgeon, You

2010-01-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

I'm Good at E-books. I'm Good at E-books? I'm Good at E-books!

2010-01-29T13:17:00.000-08:00

Can you tell that I figured out how to download an e-book from overdrive? Well, I did. I surprised myself with how good I was, considering how much trouble I've had with audio-books. Adobe's Digital Editions download was very straightforward and the e-book I chose downloaded onto the program in about 10 seconds. The only (very small) complaint I have is that there weren't enough e-book titles from which to choose, but I'm sure that will be remedied over time. So, because I'm so awesome and in celebration of my slaying the overdrive dragon, I'm going to buy myself a Kindle...just kidding. I don't have that kind of money; I work at the library!

Curb Your Sanity

2010-01-20T10:33:00.000-08:00

There are still 10 more days until a full moon, and yet some of the strangest patron interactions of my library career have taken place in the last 24 hours.
For instance, were you aware that there is a super-computer in Belgium that tracts every human being on the face of the planet through driver's licenses, social security numbers and the like? Scary stuff. Luckily for us there are forces working to stop this computer. Brave souls who will conquer "the machine." If you wish to join them, all you must do is not have any type of identification on you...ever. Also, the mark of the beast is written into ISBN's so it's best to be cautious when checking out books at your local library. I've added a link here that will help you decipher if you too are playing into the hands of the system.
Seriously, I just wanted to get the day over with. I just wanted to go home. But, no! This (expletive deleted) had to come into the library right up to the terminal I was working at and insist on being crazy.
I could go on and on about this guy, about how long this interaction took place, about how Dave B. tried to rescue me only to be roped into the madness. But, I won't. Honestly, (and this is the weirdo in me coming out) this is one of reasons I love working at the library so much. I get to meet all kinds of people. I could write book. Frankly, I think there needs to be a library reality show. It could be a candid camera sort of thing where people get to see what our patrons are really like. We could call it....Curb Your Sanity.

Ode to Carol

2009-12-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Unlike some people (cough* Dave Borders!* cough), I didn't feel it necessary to blog passed the Webolution date/tasks, but today brought some news that changed all that. I'm sure you all know that the lovely Carol Eldridge has left us. December 1st was her last day. This news took most by surprise. I know I'm not the only one when I say "What a bummer." Carol is such a cool person and was a great staff member. I thought I'd post some YouTube videos of songs I either heard Carol singing around the library or ones that make me think of her. Arrivederci, Carol!

And now the end is here, And so I face the final curtain. Task 23

2009-11-19T08:05:00.000-08:00

So, this is the end of the road (and I can't let go...?) All these cheesy R'n'B songs and old standards having to do with parting ways keep popping into my head. I almost did post that Boyz to Men video up here, but I thought Frank was more deserving of the final spot on my last Webolution task. Nancy and Cari asked us for some highlights of this year's Webolution extravaganza. Here are mine, in no particular order:
I thought the task that introduced us to Creative Commons was a god-send. I have since used this not only at work but also in personal emails and projects. I'm so glad everyone at the library is now aware of the website. Free stuff that also let's people explore the creative process fits right into what we're trying to do here at the library. That being said, I was also quite excited about open source software and Open Office. I knew about Firefox, but wasn't really sure what open source meant. I'm glad I was filled in. TinyUrl and Zamar also proved to be very handy, especially here at work. And creating our own website and the Picnick and SoundSnap tasks were all really fun.
All in all, I had a lot of fun doing all 23 Webolution tasks, not to mention the fact that I learned about many new things and brushed up on some old tricks. Definitely successful. I also wanted to say how awesome I think Nancy and Cari are for making all of this run so smoothly. There was so much going on just a few short weeks ago, and I know that everyone was feeling some pressure to get everything from Webolution tasks to their evaluations done. Those two were smart enough to keep it interesting and educational (and to extend the deadline for us). So, thanks you guys. Job well done.
So, now that it's over and we have one less thing to complain about, I don't know what we're going to do with ourselves.

The 22nd Task

2009-11-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm not an avid blog reader. Even when I find a good one, I can't seem to make the commitment. However, there have been some blogs that have had some sort of impact on me, because I can remember their names and where to find them. The first one that comes to mind belongs to an up and coming author named Brad Listi that friended me on Myspace a few years back. When musicians, writers or other artists that I don't know send me a friend request I usually always check out there material and if I like it, I accept. I'm trying to make the starving artist scenario a myth. (The only exception to this rule is if somewhere in the initial interaction they say things like 'holla atcha boy', 'lemme hitchu up', 'ladies send some love' {all of which have definitely happened to me before}). So, anyway, this author sent me a friend request. I had never heard of the book he had published, Attention Deficit Disorder: a Novel. However, upon reading his blog, I was hooked. He has this very dry and very irreverent sense of humor, but it's the type of irreverence that isn't aware of itself, almost innocent and naive. I don't know better how to explain it, you'll just have to check him out. The book he wrote is also very funny. It's sort of a coming of age story about a twenty something who doesn't know what to do with his life. I haven't kept up with it recently, but when I do drop in I am always reminded of why I started reading it in the first place.
The other blog that I check up on from time to time is actually a video blog on YouTube. It's by a guy named Phillip DeFranco and it's aptly called the Phillip DeFranco show. My boyfriend actually found this guy while browsing YouTube one day and he's definitely hooked. PhillyD (as he sometimes called himself and which is supposecd to be ironic because he's very white and does not in fact rap) has an in your face sort of blog. His sense of humor is caustic and he edits his videos together to give it a fast-paced, choppy sort of feel. It's not always my cup of tea, but sometimes he can be very poignant. My boyfriend and I really like both The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, but he has much more admiration for Colbert and I've always been more of a Jon Stewart fan. That is probably the difference between the two aforementioned blogs. So, you can see why I'd like one better than the other. I appreciate subtlety and smooth delivery. Others may be more drawn to hosts/pundits/bloggers that crucify their subjects for the joke.
That being said, I really enjoyed Tastespotting. I too can't stand pictureless recipes. I t gives you more incentive to cook the dish if you get to see the final outcome beforehand. The other blog I thought was really great was Crooks and Liars. While, definitely one sided, I could appreciate many of the jabs they took at some talking-heads. And, finally I enjoyed Lifehacker. There was too much information to sort through at once, and I felt a little intimidated by its hipster, cyber-nerd vibe. All in all, though, there were some really rad posts. One in particular was about a guy who made a tree house type workspace. Way cool.
I'm kind of sad that we're now down to the nitty gritty; only one more entry left. I really liked blogging for Webolution- much more than I thought I would. My heart will go on.

Task 21, or My New Best Friend (Sorry Leela)

2009-11-14T14:33:00.000-08:00

(To get the full effect, you should really be singing my blog to the tune of Habanera from Carmen.) This is a pretty cool gadget. As an amateur photographer (*cough*cough* self hype) I find the editing process extremely bothersome. Most of my photos, unless I want to add an other worldly type of effect, don't need much editing. The editing software that comes with the camera is usually crappy at best, though. And unless I missed the memo about hell freezing over, I'm not going to shell out the few hundred dollars for Photoshop. I just don't think it's that cool of a program. Don't get me wrong, I used it all through high school and some in college, and it got the job done. But, my little Sony point and shoot has some of the same cutesy devices built into itself. There are also all kinds of cheap tricks (no pun intended) out there. Par example, if you go to Micheal's you can buy cellophane tinted sheets for like three bucks, tape it over the window and voila! awesome lighting effects. If you have a sophisticated enough camera, you can adjust the shutter speed or aperture and really change the image in your lens. I think things like Photoshop with all its intricate devices take away from the creative process. It doesn't allow you to be resourceful. On the other hand, if you're just looking to do some quick editing any picture software comes in handy. And, because its free, I think Picnik is the smarter way to go.
Anyway, thanks for reading my diatribe. The picture I edited is the one shown. I'm calling it Banana Apocalypse.

Down With The Street

2009-11-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

So, I got a 100%; feelin' pretty good about myself. The last time I took a quiz for Webolution, I thought I did really well and it turns out I'm not as cool as I think. Anyway, it's always nice to get a refresher on the wiki. There is so much information there. Also, did you know it's Sesame Street's 40th anniversary. I bet you did. We can't be friends if you're not down with the Street.

2009-10-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I really like tinyurl.com. This could be a quite useful tool. Giant url's are so...well, they're jerks; taking up so much space, being ridiculous, etc. So, I like this new toy. I also think Zamzar is pretty cool. This one I could see being more helpful to patrons. At least once a day while working the downstairs computer desk I have a patron who needs something converted and wants to download a new program onto the computer to do it. Unfortunately, I have to send most of them away because there's not much I can do for them, until now. The only thing about Zamzar is that it takes a little longer to complete, and having to go into your inbox to retrieve the file is kind of annoying. I could see patrons getting frustrated with that. And on a side note I personally had quite a bit of trouble with this tool. I converted a YouTube video into MP3 format and downloaded it onto a staff computer. Then I attempted to upload the video onto my blog. It took forever and it kept trying to send me to Blogger tech support because the video wasn't uploading properly. I found it all very frustrating, especially when I could have just embedded or copy and pasted the video from Youtube in the first place.

So here's my cool picture of the day:
http://tinyurl.com/astropicofday

Also, one of my favorite movies from the OPAC:
http://tinyurl.com/butimacheerleader

Also, please enjoy this multicultural, fuzzy, feel good video (The Zamzar converted video never did upload so I'm just linking this from YouTube. It is however on the downstairs info desk in the My Videos folder if you want to look at it.)

7-teen

2009-10-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Of the links I clicked on from MCPLD's Delicious site I enjoyed the ResourceShelf the most. There are some really great articles speaking to current library issues. One in particular talks about Jim Gray's The Fourth Paradigm- the idea that scientific experimentation will be fueled by our ability to collect and read massive amounts of data via the computer. I know I'm a nerd, but this is some fascinating stuff. Anyway, the other two sites I clicked on were Information Wants to Be Free and Library Job Postings on The Internet. The first one wasn't as grand as I expected, but it still offered some great information as well as entertaining, and smart blogs. The latter was such a great resource. I don't plan on getting a job somewhere else-don't worry. I do think its interesting to see what's going on in other libraries around the country. It's nice to see that many of them are doing quite well, hiring reference people, tech people, directors, etc. Also, in the future, you never know. If I find myself living in another city, I would certainly use this resource to get another great library job.

I <3 Open Office, or Task 16

2009-10-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

I've always preferred Firefox. I use it at work. I encourage patrons to use Firefox over Internet Explorer. I think it's a superior browser, and I like the idea that I'm supporting a company that let's you download their web browser for free. However, I have never heard of Open Office and didn't really know the definition of open source software until now. I'm pretty stoked about it. After having downloaded Open Office and played around on it a bit, I've decided that as soon as I get home I'm downloading onto my own home PC. I can not see how Microsoft is still in business with this kind of stuff lying around just waiting for someone to bring it home with them. Is Bill Gates freaking out...the answer is yes, or at least he should be. There's actually software that you can download for free (very quickly and painlessly, I might add) that does the exact same thing as the Microsoft programs- only better! Better still, Open Office and open source software totally adheres to the philosophy behind the library: free information for all. This is the reason I started working here. I will most certainly be recommending Open Office to all of our patrons down in the computer area, and to pretty much everyone I know.

#15 Clipmarks

2009-10-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Clipmarks, though in the way at times, is something I could see myself using. I often open a Word document a copy and paste pieces of information together (like recipes, directions, etc). This makes the job much more comprehensive. I do foresee however, especially for patrons newer to computer land, feeling bogged down by having to open mutliple windows at once to get the information they want. For a beginner, and I suppose in some instances, myself as well, it seems just as much work as just copying and pasting and saving it to your desktop, or some other folder. It's also one more username and password to remember. I've been told you should have more than one (username and p/w) if you are on several different sites. So I have a bank of about 4 that I rotate for all the sites I'm signed up with. It gets confusing trying to remember which ones I paired with which website. I, therefore, created a file on my home computer with that information stored. But, that's just one more window I have to open up when I'm logging in, trying to retrieve those cookie recipes I saved on Clipmarks. Other than this long winded complaint, though, I honestly think I will use Clipmarks in the future. I can see where a lot of patrons doing research would think this was a really good idea. It also has a social media aspect to it that seems appealing.

La Quatorzieme Tache (imagine the accent marks)

2009-10-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

I hate to be a total bummer, but I have always had trouble with downloading audiobooks, including this time around. First of all, there seems to be a lot of information you have to know- too much in fact. I've downloaded countless things onto my computer at home and it's always been very user friendly. Maybe that's just my problem. I've been babied by websites that really want you to download their product. The buttons are all big and brightly colored, the important stuff is in bold and underlined. Anyway, as I said, this time around didn't seem to be much different. I think reading through the FAQ sections for both NetLibrary and Overdrive a couple of times made things much more clear. However, when it came down to the actual acquisition of said audiobook, it was a bust. First of all, it was such a big run around to find titles that I was looking for. Not only did many books not exist on there, but many of the ones that did were hard to locate. Then I finally figured out how to check one out, but wasn't able to look at the NetLibrary Media Center, even though I downloaded onto a staff computer. Every time I try to enter my password, it tells me it's wrong. Then when I retrieve my password it tells me it's the same one I've been entering and not getting anywhere with. I'm bummed about it. I've always considered myself fairly tech savvy, and I think that downloadable audiobooks sounds like such a great idea- cutting edge and all that. I'd really like to be more proficient in it so I can show patrons how cool MCPLD is (and use them myself).

I Just Thought We'd Look At Something Cool Together

2009-10-08T09:17:00.001-07:00

in an elevator

13 1/2 or How I Learned To Love Antelope Lasagna and Buddy Flicks...All In The Same Weekend

2009-10-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

This is off task. But, I'm an off tasker. And I probably will be forever. I just wanted to make everyone jealous of my rad weekend. I won't go into too many incriminating details (because some of you were there). However, I will tell you that my Friday night until Monday morning played out like one of those buddy flicks where they go to Las Vegas, have way too much fun and when they wake up the next morning they realize they've misplaced something vital like a car, an organ or a small child. Except nothing really terrible happened- I promise. There was karaoke, a limo ride, some delicious whiskey, antelope lasagna, a hot dog in front of the Q, strawberry cake, jam sessions, heart to hearts, margaritas... Jack Sparrow was there. What can I say? My life is cooler than yours. And to all of you that helped make my antelope lasagna eatin, Marvin Gaye singin, heart to heart havin weekend happen- I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Lucky 13

2009-10-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that soundsnap is the coolest toy I've come across since the Wii? I could listen to ambient, whale calls or metal crunching or trumpet loops for hours. Literally. (Why do you think my two hours downstairs today did not have me pulling my hair out? If you answered the soothing sounds of humpbacks you would be absolutely correct.) To Josh about deleting his soundsnap account I say pissshhhha! I want to start my morning with a cup of coffee, two silver dollar pancakes and soundsnaps latest and greatest. I'm so excited to have this device in my life. Okay, enough of me trying to make money by making my blog into an adspace. Onto Amie Street. I wanted to check out all of the different free/ semi-free music sites (and I probably will in the future) but Amie Street is the first one I clicked on, thus the one I will blog about. So, I really liked it. It didn't offer any unique service. Pandora and LastFM and the invention of burning CD's sort of has me spoiled. I'm used to being exposed to and instantly getting any new music I crave with little or no cost to me. However, I do like that there's yet another site out there exposing new artists (specifically Indie musicians, for which I have a soft spot in my heart) to new listeners. It's just another thing to make me even more music greedy. It will help me to add to my monsterous collection more obscure, hipster music with which I can impress my friends. So, thanks Amie Street.

12!12!12!12!12!

2009-10-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

I love NovelList Plus. It's so bitchin'! Am I allowed to say that on here? Well, I did, because it is in fact bitchin'. It's so liberating. Anywho, yeah. NovelList. What a great tool. I can see why patrons and staff alike use the heck out of this database. On the first task I checked on a series entitled His Dark Materials. The film The Golden Compass was based on the first book in this series. That piece of celluloid garbage was really disappointing, I know, I know. However, the book is fantastic- everything a fantasy, coming of age, rant against the church's hold over humanity book should be. Anyway, I like this feature of NovelList. The second task had me find author read-alikes. I think this one was a little pushy. What if I don't want to expand my horizons? But, I tried it out anyway. I checked out David Sedaris to find whom they could possibly compare him. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to know Mr. Sedaris is keeping company with Augusten Burroughs, who I adore, Chuck Klosterman, who is also very funny, and James Thurber, the likes of which I've never heard, but am pretty stoked to get to know. Finally I checked out recommended reads. There under travel writing I found a book entitled An Unexpected Light. A book which accounts a journalists travels through Afghanistan. The book was published in 2001, so I'm pretty intrigued with the idea of reading this one.
Consequently, I'm now a big fan of NovelList Plus.

The 11th Task

2009-10-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

My favorite site, by far was Graphic Novel Reporter. The other sites' content and visuals were flat and really didn't point me in any new or interesting directions. Graphic Novel Reporter, however had a lot too offer on the homepage, yet did not feel cluttered. I found out that one of my favorite books, Battle Royale was turned into a Graphic Novel. I also read reviews on at least three graphic novels that I hadn't heard of, that I am now excited to put on hold for myself. Last but not least, there were several articles about the graphic novel industry and how the genre is perceived within and outside of "nerdland." One article in particular recounted a website contributor's foray into locating the graphic novel section of her local Borders bookstore. The article reminded me of the many conversations I've had within Public Service and with Youth Services staff here at our library about where to shelve, or more pessimistically, what to do with graphic novels. They're a bit of an enigma for some people. Most tend to think of them as long comic books-things suitable only for teenagers and/or children. That is so far from the truth. There are many really intriguing, visually beautiful and beautifully written graphic novels out there, many of which I'm sad to report we do not carry. And you can't get them through Marmot either.
On another more cheerful note I looked up one of my favorite authors Flannery O'Connor in the Biography Resource Center. Although I did not find any new, interesting facts about her life or career, I did revisit some old, interesting facts about her life, and am now inspired to reread The Violent Bear it Away, which in my opinion is like the greatest novel of the 20th century (but I'm prone to exaggeration.)

Wanna buy five copies for my mother, or Task Zehn

2009-09-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

Because we have such an awesome reference department that puts on great staff trainings, I was already familiar with how to use MasterFile Premier for looking up articles on Consumer Reports. I've used it countless times to compare different tents, sleeping bags, cameras, vehicles, etc. I've also had the pleasure of helping patrons use the database to locate articles on items they are thinking of purchasing. It has boundless uses.
The Biography Resource Center is a database I was less familiar with, but am now really glad we have. I found a biography on Patrick Swayze (whom I cried, and cried over recently, by the way). Turns out he and I share the same birthday and were born in the same state. Way cool! I also looked up Shel Silverstein, one of my very favorite authors. I know quite a bit about him actually, I just wanted to see how many biographies he has on the database and what kind of information they cover about his life. Most people are aware of Silverstein's children's poetry and short stories, few, however, know about his childrens style, but very adult picture books and poems. He also wrote plays, and songs. Did you guys know that he penned Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" or pretty much every song for Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show? Well, now you know. Silverstein, in my opinion, was an artistic genius. He was all about the zany, the weird, the heartfelt, the sad, the happy, the hygienic, and of course the gardens full of noses.
What a great resource we have in the Bio database. I can see how this would help patrons, especially students doing book reports, or projects.

Neun(th) Task

2009-09-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

Enjoy, principesse!

Task Acht

2009-09-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

I'm really happy that we get to blog about Creative Commons- it's something I've been educated on in the last 6 months or so and I'm glad it's being brought up. I have a musician friend who takes every opportunity possible to educate my boyfriend (also a musician) and I on the joys and woes of the creative process. While his band has their own material, they often cover songs that are the public domain. They've even copyrighted their own arrangements of songs that otherwise they couldn't claim as their own. I've found out much about copyright laws, through another means, and have also found them to be draconian. But, what's more disturbing to me is that there are artists out there (cough*Metallica*cough) who are so infuriated that their fans like their music so much that they gobble it up every chance they get, inlcuding using free music download sights, that they sue said site and shut the whole thing down. Bloody hell!
This brings me to the chief topic of discussion among my musician crew. Who owns art? The artist who creates it, the company who pays for it or the patrons who enjoy it? We usually come to the conclusion that everyone and, yet, no one really owns it; not the 'it' we're talking about, in the grand, philisophical sense. At the end of the day, however, artists are still just working men and women, trying to make a living and all. So are the people who fund artistic projects; the suits. Everyone's just trying to pay the bills. And, how can you blame them? In these discusions, as you may have guessed, we never truly get our questions answered. We sort of just pose them to the universe, hoping beyond hope that they'll be answered. At the end of the night after many beers and arguments, we realize that our foray was and is just an exploration, not really a quest with a final destination.
So, anyway, how does this apply to patrons here at the library? I suppose that the first group I can think of are artists and people starting or expanding on their small business venture. Marketing is probably the biggest task of entrepeneuers when they are getting started. They already know their talent and/or craft is great, so, now, how do they convince others this is so? They need images, catchy jingles, and the like to sell their potential customers their idea. Using material on Creative Commons would cut cost and also give the benefit of knowing they helped another rising, creative genious in their attempt at fame/fortune/making their mortgage/etc. So, I'm all for it.

Task Pitong

2009-08-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

After looking at all these sites as long as I could, I decided to join Shelfari. Honestly, I picked it over the others because the graphics were better; I really liked the idea of a shelf with your favorite books on it, plus the name was cool. It makes me want to don my khaki bermudas and big, wicker hat and go elephant searching. Any excuse to dress up, really. Anyway, once I signed up for the account and started exploring the site, I could see how the social media linked with the anal retentive need to categorize and rate, heart and star everything you read (much like everything you listen to with Pandora or LastFM) would have great appeal with those inclined to do such things, myself included. It got me thinking what the draw to behave in such a manner online is all about. There's an incessant pull to make some grand outline of the the media you consume everyday.; to organize by genre, to rate it above or below some other movie or song or poem you've encountered. I don't have the answer to this question. My participation in this digital organization experience renders me sort of useless in coming up with any reason why this is so attractive. So, just a little tangent for you....anyway, the long and short of it is, I really liked Shelfari. I don't know if I will use it everyday or forget about it as soon as Webolution is over, but I do see how it could become very addictive, very quickly.
And, as to the second task: I think Goodreads is a great site. I like the graphics, once again, which I'm coming to realize is really important to me. I don't think it would be a good idea to have both a Mesa County blog and a Mesa County Bookreads. I think most people would become inundated with all the info we would be throwing at them. Not having explored our blog, and definitely not Good reads thoroughly enough, I couldn't tell you which one would be the better site to use.
So, I liked exploring these sites, although I myself am starting to feel a little bogged down by the intense involvement of these latest tasks. There's so much information to sort through. I think task eight is going be the redeeming quality in all this, though. I'm looking forward to task eight.

Ciao Cocodrilo.

The Sis Task

2009-08-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

This one was super sized with information. I'm still sorting through it all. I am enjoying myself, however. I did not think I would with this task, to be frank. 8/20 More to come.

Anyway I'm back. I don't feel like I'll ever truly complete this task. There are too many things to do on each tutorial, plus links on the side to click. Info overload to say the least. Like I said before, however, I thought I'd really hate doing these tutorials. I've worked in customer service since I was 15 and boy howdy, have I seen my fair share of orientation videos with cheesy actors in bad khakis telling us newbies how to plaster on cheap, fake smiles to sell useless crap from column A, B and C to the huddled masses yearning to be free. But I digress.....can you tell I have a little resentment goin' on here? Is it that obvious? Probably. Anyway, I promise, even with all my whining about my past experiences with customer service I actually enjoyed looking through these tutorials. For one, I'm no longer selling useless crap to people who can't afford it. I really believe in the mission not only of our library, but the principles behind libraries in general: freedom of information, freedom to obtain resources, an open public space, etc, etc. This makes it much easier to want to do a really good job in keeping our patrons happy, so I did find all the information really useful. It was in stark contrast to the memory of watching those training videos at 17 with drool hanging out of my mouth, barely able to stay awake. So, way to go for liking your job!

The Funf Task

2009-08-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should put that monkey picture back up here, because man do I feel dumb/frustrated/angry at the OPAC. I tried like heck to use the two ways of adding multiple holds and I must say, I had quite a rough time with both of them. I tried both of them first on my own, thinking I had a handle on the situation, then realized I'd better read the instructions carefully. For the first method I signed into my library account and requested Twilight the movie (I know, I know, shoot me). I was sorta under the impression that I didn't have to refill out my info (lib. card # and name) because I was already signed in, but it asked me each time, and some of the time it would say that I was already signed in. Then I decided to start over so I logged out of my account completely and just requested a book. Of course, it said I was already logged in. Frustrated, I decided that maybe adding items to a book bag would be easier. It looked that way when I started, but when I finally viewed my book bag, wanting to check out, I found the whole process to be not at all intuitive. There was no "submit" button. When I hit 'request all' the screen blinked quickly but no confirmation message appeared. I'm afraid I did something wrong with both of these (read: shouldn't have went to the Rockslide last night) and I think I'm gonna try it again later today. I'll let you know how it goes.

Ciao Cocodrilo

Task Nelja

2009-08-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

Since I already have a Myspace and Facebook account, and have for years, I decided to take a look at some of the links to the accounts suggested in this task description. I was surprised with what I found. The first one I looked at was Barack Obama's Facebook page. His was actually not that interesting. It was set up like a regular website. Whoever runs it didn't translate, if you will, website formatting to social network formatting. There was nothing offered to encourage people to get involved or discuss issues. Anyway, moving right along. The next site I visited was the CAL, or Colorado Library Association Facebook page. This one blew me away. To be frank I was expecting this one to be the most dull, but in the end it turned out to be the most interactive and fun FB page to visit. There were links to all kinds of interesting articles (like an NPR one talking about how Twitter is changing literature as we know it) and websites (including runpee.com which tells you the exact points in movies in theaters that you can run to the bathrom for a pee break.) How stinkin cool is that? I should've known librarians pretty much have a monopoly on cool :) The other FB page I visited that I thought was oh so neat was the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery page. They had portraits of Marcel Duchamp, Barack Obama, Katherine Hepburn and so many more interesting people. I love looking at pictures of and reading about people who I think have led interesting lives (like celebrities, politicians and artists). So, this particular one struck a chord with me. I never would've thought of using Facebook or Myspace in this manner. Thus far I've been using it to stay connected with old friends and my family. I'm glad I got to look at it in a whole new light.

Ciao Cocodrilo!

Task San (kudos to those who guess which language each of these are in)

2009-08-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm a little bummed. I was bound and determined to get 100% on that dang library wesite quiz. I thought I knew my stuff. Alas, 86.7776767676..or whatever the exact figure was. One question I missed because I was in a hurry when looking for the answer...and the other I missed, actually I can't remember right now what it was. I do remember, however, that I missed it for some equally silly reason. Oh well. I'll keep this one short since my excursion into library website land was kind of a bummer (only because of the quiz.) The website itself I think is set up very nicely. It's very user friendly and Dave, Nancy, etc. do a great job of keeping everything current.

Task Deux

2009-08-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

So, right now I'm definitely jamming out to some Icelandic post-rock courtesy of Sigur Ros courtesy of lastfm.com. I was already pretty hip to Pandora (I think most people who've ever worked check-in are) so I thought I'd revisit lastfm. I actually used to have an account on this website, but stopped using it when I traded in my computer (no particular reason for doing that. I was actually a really satisfied cutomer...just one of those thangs.) Anyway, I'm glad I came back. I forgot how cool this website is. Anyone who is anal-retentive and/or a musomaniac (I am both) would really be able to get down with lastfm's (and Pandora's, for that matter) obsession with categorizing everything. So, once again, I'm a satisfied customer. I totally dig using music in many different ways: as background noise, as a mood setter, some thing to shake your booty to, and everything in between. I just think it enhances every situation. One day they'll create a gadget that hovers over you playing your mood music or theme song as you enter a room...you could control it with your brain. Come to think of it, this scenario is getting kinda Brave New World(mmmmmwahahahaha), so this is where I'll end.
I still need a dang sign off statement. I'm gonna try out a few....like, you know, "Good night and Good luck," or "That's the way it is".......

Task Numero Uno

2009-08-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

I'm relatively new to blogging, although fairly familiar with how it's done. We'll see how it goes.....(I'm pretty excited). Are you guys totally digging my pic?------> I thought it summed up my feelings about blogging pretty well. No, not that I'm a smelly ape (although, that's true sometimes), just that I'm curious and a beginner and that I have a very cute face. Anyway, introduction.....well, as you can tell I love ellipses and parenthethical statements. I also like words like cactus and octopus because of how you have to pluralize them. For instance, cacti, octopi...what fantastic words!
Anywho, I guess that's me in a nutshell. I need a sign off statement....any suggestions?