Never Enough

Happy 90th Birthday!

2011-08-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today is OC Public Libraries' 90th birthday! Every branch did something to celebrate. We kept it low key as we have events Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Birthday cake and apple juice in the (unairconditioned) lobby. I brought in 3 cakes--standard birthday cake, followed by a cream cheese icing cake with raspberry filling, and then chocolate cheesecake. Less than 2 hours later, every piece was eaten! Two volunteers set up and two more stayed to serve cake and juice and clean up. Our teen volunteers are fabuloso! We even sang Happy Birthday and we are looking forward to our Centennial!

Tuskegee Airman at the Library

2010-03-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

Our library hosted our most successful adult program ever with the appearance of Mr. O. Oliver Goodall, a pilot in the WW II Tuskegee Air Force "experimental" program. Over 130 people came--the overflow listened outside the back meeting room door or from the hallway. An inspiring two hours with an outstandingly appreciative audience of all ages, including WW II veterans wearing their uniforms. While the local photographer from the O.C. Register created a photo spread that appeared in the next week's Star-Progress, mine is the only photo showing Mr. Goodall with a smile!

Picasa vs. Flickr

2009-10-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

I've tried them both, but much prefer Picasa. I can edit photos (great for eliminating red eye and for cropping). If I want to post to the Web, I can preserve SOME privacy by only sending the link to those people I want to allow access. Of course, nothing prevents people from passing the link on to others, but at least it's not wide open. Flickr, on the other hand, doesn't have the same level of privacy. Plus, I find that even after using labels, I can't access the photos I've uploaded. I may be doing something wrong. Or, it may be a glitch in the tagging.

technorati & Web 2.0 & Google docs

2008-04-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I can see that technorati is an interesting way to keep up-to-date in the latest blog entries without having to subscribe to a particular blog. Kind of like reading the headlines in a newspapter. And another way to promote one's blog in the uber space with a corresponding loss of privacy.

As to defining library 2.0 and web 2.0--the InfoPeople class summed it up pretty nicely. 2.0 fosters collaboration--it's not done something for us, it's something we do ourselves. And no, it doesn't mean the end of traditional library service, but allows us more choices and opportunities to provide and enhance that service and offer new services.

I like the idea of Google docs--I can work on files on any computer with Internet access while I'm at the Info. Desk and then copy them into my Word or Excel docs. on my computer. It's easier than using Word, because then I'd need to same to a flash drive and upload to my PC. This is much more portable!

Bronze award 2007-2

2008-01-31T13:05:00.001-08:00

Bronze award 2007-2
Originally uploaded by jillpatterson

And here's the second photo showing the balcony half-painted. Dad and Girl Scouts did a great job!

2008-01-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am very happy to report that a Junior Girl Scout troop from La Habra painted and replanted the balcony planter this past spring (April 2007). Not so happy to report that our balcony has termites! You can see the girls and one of the girls' fathers as they start the project.

This and another photo has been posted to Flickr.

Twitter is for the birds

2007-10-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

I could not bear to open a Twitter account. You have GOT to be kidding. Do I need to know who's overslept? Or about their cough? Or when they're going to bed? OK, someone's life must be pretty empty if that's all they have to say. The minute by minute minutiae of someone's daily life is not the stuff of great reading-- or even barely interesting reading.

And how could this be used in a library setting? Please, someone give me some ideas!

Other libraries are having fun with Web 2.0

2007-08-26T14:21:00.001-07:00

However, it is very evident how important it is to keep content up-to-date and to have many links so that a site is easily navigable. "Save the time of the reader" applies to a library's website. I'd sure like to add more photos to my library's website. And using the blog format means that I could have more control over my site rather than going through OCPL IT. However, it also adds more responsibility about keeping the site updated.

Is the tortoise any slower?

2007-08-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

So far, in the past THREE months, I've uploaded two photos to Flickr and looked at others. I've looked at the 10 favorite mashups, most of which are nothing more than a game and not all of which would work on my computer (like FlckrTag). I did enjoy Flickr Sudoko and admire the person who made the leap from numbers to images to create this game. Work related? Not really. We used the Captioner to create a flyer for one of our library displays, but the caption wouldn't print nor would we save it anywhere. So, back to using Publisher to do the same thing Captioner does.

I like to play solitaire online as a way of zoning out. Some of these Flickr games will do the same thing.

InfoPeople's 23 things to learn

2007-05-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so I've signed up to learn 23 new things. AND, I want my staff to learn these as well. CLA will be hosting a program on the Charlotte Mecklenberg program at the annual conference, but now we don't have to wait to get started. Yay!

Week 3

2007-05-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted. Work! Girl Scouts! January starts slow and builds up speed as fast as a NASCAR racer. Add to that being short staffed, preparing for a major event (Literary Orange--a success!!), and all the other end of year projects and activities.

On to week 3.

What do I think of the Flickr sites:

Kansas—like that the photos are numbered and you can control when the images change and which one to view. Also, more info available when you click on the photo. Good way to advertise events. Looks very professional on the website.

Colorado—The gallery is OK. How would someone find it? Is there a link from their own website? Looks like it’s just used for “warm & fuzzy” things.

Hennepin—Same as Colorado. PR for people to show they read? Useful or just warm & fuzzy stuff?

Westmont—This seems a bit more professional, at least the photo is of some content (new books).

PodCasts and VideoCasts

I wasn't able to view all the videos but did listen to the Podcasts. In some cases, I think the libraries are doing it just to show they can and that they are "with it". The audio on the Sunnyvale site was not as clear as on others. I enjoyed the first few minutes of the video on how to remodel a basement--I could see that being very useful and an alternative to buying or checking out a video. I liked the YA book reviews and interviews used at one library. Fun for teens!

How would I use this at our library? One idea came to mind. The children's librarians are thinking of creating a video/DVD on how to read to your child as part of a "take home story time" kit. I could see offering it online.

I recently received an ad for a new evideo service. The company advertises downloadable video/DVDs for libraries to offer to patrons to check out. We already offer downloadable eaudiobooks and that has become very popular. One aspect I don't like with these services is that we can only lease an item and we have to pay up every year.

IM on Google

2007-04-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

I already have Yahoo and AIM IM, so I'm trying Google Talk. My username is:

jillkpatterson

However, I couldn't get it to work when I tried it--it kept giving me an error message. Probably because I continually have issues with my home computer which we haven't been able to figure out.

My Own Wiki

2007-04-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

My Wiki is pretty empty, but I've started it and just have to think of a way to use it. It's:
http://libraryjill.pbwiki.com

Actually, I think I'll see if my Girl Scout troop will use it to help create our camping list!

Library Wikis

2007-04-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

Wikis: Our library system has started its own wiki about our event: Literary Orange. Most of the library wikis on this list only allow staff input. Ours will allow outside input (Google "Literary Orange" and there's an icon for the wiki somewhere on the site). Actually, I may be wrong...I've been able to post a comment, but I haven't figured out how to change information already there.

I understand that the wiki is a collaborative effort, but it's interesting that one can limit the participation. Sounds like a way to get around having to ask the IT department any time you need to update or change an online page.

Library Blogs

2007-04-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

I'm not a blog reader, so this is new to me. I liked the content of the Lansing Teen blog (http://lansinglibraryteen.blogspot.com/), but I thought the links to the library main page was not prominent. There's an RSS feed AND when I was on, the "I'm online send me a message" icon was up. Cool! Too bad my computer wouldn't let me do so.

Couldn't get into libraryforlife with the given link--had to go into libraryforlife.org and then click on the game blog. Well! They're serious about their gaming! Once you're in though, how do you get out to go back to the library page? Back arrow, back arrow, back arrow.

I like the aadl blog (http://www.aadl.org/catalog/books) because I discovered a new author and that he (before he died!) was married to KK Beck--who I don't think has written anything for the past several years. However, the navigation isn't that great--once you leave the book blog (say, to find out which library this is), there was no link to go back other than the back arrow.

Now, the Waterboro blog (www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm) is nice in that it has the info to get into the NY Times and Chicago Tribune without having to register yourself. It has a nice navigation bar along the side, but I like Ann Arundel's top navigation bar as being more visible.

The Western Springs (http://www.westernspringshistory.org/street/grand/) site is cool--we're trying to create an online photo-history file for Orange County that will allow the same type of interactivety.