Overlook2's Blog

overlook2 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:47:45 +0000

Advertising is taking over the New York Times RSS feed that I get through my Bloglines account. It’s extremely annoying to be confronted with ads for Airline tickets, travel, etc while trying to read the latest news.

Thing#24

overlook2 — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:44:00 +0000

I charged my battery yesterday and transferred Part 1 of the audiobook this morning. Silly me–I tried to follow the DIRECTIONS that came with the player instead of just jumping in and transferring the file.
The player came complete with a coupon from Circuit City (in bankruptcy) which expired 2/28/08.
I am listening to Predictably Irrational while writing this post.

No way to bookmark.
Caution to wash hands after using the cord due to Lead.;

Thing #23

overlook2 — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:10:38 +0000

The positives: I learned about some sites I had never heard of and had useful tutorials for many of them available to me.

The ones I will continue to use and will tell appropriate patrons about are Library Thing and RSS feeds. I will be updating my Bloglines account to be more useful to me than the sites “required” by the Thing.

Things I learned: Many of these sites give no internal directions. There’s just an assumption that you know what you are doing. I mentioned this several times within the blog.

It’s easy to “cheat” with blogs. I can edit a post and there is no indication of the date of the edit on the posted blog. So I could go back to an October post and predict the results of the November election. Makes it even more imperative to Not believe anythihng on a Blog. That makes using Technorati even more suspect.

Libraries are using some of these Things, but not keeping them up to date. Again, this was mentioned in many of my posts.

The negatives:
1. Since no one at CCLS at worked through these things, there was no clear indication of exactly how long things should take. This made it difficult to know how much time was reasonable to give to a part time staff member to do these.

2. Again, since no one had worked through these things, there were incomplete sentences and other errors. Yes, they were corrected when pointed out. The fact that the Learning Center files for Thing 2 didn’t open from the viewer should have been noted before the staff tried it. Yes, these may seem picky, but they impact the ambience of the project.

3. The Things assumed a level of comfort with Windows, Word, and other computer functions that not all staff members have. (The instructions about Permalinks assume you already know about cut and paste, for example.) The emphasis was on staff who already work with technology and patrons. I’d think a smaller project would be helpful–Things would include using the Y drive, replying to an email that went to a group but that you want to reply only to the sender, using webcc (for Chester County and Hankin staff) etc.

Thing #22

overlook2 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:48:36 +0000

This SHOULD have been one of the easier things, since I have already downloaded audiobooks from both our previous supplier {NetLibrary} and Overdrive. Alas, I have a new PC since those downloads.
I followed all the directions, but still got an Error Message “A problem has occurred in retrieving the Digital rights Management machine identification.” This was the same error a patron was asking me about on Saturday. I had emailed to overdrivesupport@ccls.org on Saturday. Learned on Tuesday that John Hughes was on vacation, and apparently no one was monitoring the overdrive support email. Sent another email to overdrive support on Tuesday. Sent a Helpstar on Wednesday. John has indicated that it’s not an Overdrive problem, but that he will email directions. So I’m stuck until then……

It’s now Friday and I’m no closer to being able to complete this than I was on Wednesday. John emailed me directions. BUT the directions don’t work since I have no DRM folder. Who’s fault is that? Linda is having the same problem. How many other computers in the building are in the same limbo?

Sunday–I’m claiming this as a done Thing since I have explored the site. That apparently is the new standard for determining if a thing has been done.
Wednesday the 14th — Jenna fixed the problem yesterday.

23 Things Random Thoughts

overlook2 — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:26:06 +0000

I know that the Thing #23 is to write about the total 23 Things experience.
I have some time today–so I’ll start and then decide whether to paste this into Thing #23 or just start over.
Many of the sites give very little information about how to use the application. This has been indicated in many of my Posts.
How useful are these sites to me? The only one I think I will use on a regular basis is the Bloglines account, although I will modify it to fit things I’m really interested in looking at regularly. This would also be a useful application to tell patrons about.
I will probably be able to finish the 23 Things in time to get the prize. It was frustating that there wasn’t anyone who had already done the program to give us some idea of how much time the process should take. I supervise 4 librarians who wanted to do the program, but I had no idea how much off-desk time to give them. (I had to take most of their desk hours so they could work on 23 Things.)
Personally, I thought the anonymity of the 23 Things email was unnecessary. I did get answers to the questions I asked, but why couldn’t I just ask someone when I saw them. (Yes, I understand that we were to get help from each other, but it’s contrary to the library environment to get information from an unknown source.) There were probably reasons that we aren’t being told about…
There were errors in the text. Again, these were changed when I asked about them. But a trial of the site by a few staff BEFORE it was put out for all would have eliminated these.

Thing #21 Podcasts

overlook2 — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:56:31 +0000

I found a Podcast of interest. To listen to it I was directed to download a Podcast Aggregator.. This took me to a very complicated screen, then on to another complicated screen. the first one I chose to download went a little while and then gave message that the publisher was unknown, did I want to continue?
Later–found another Podcast –Diva Knitting Project and was able to listen to an episode and go through the steps to add it to my Blogline. then got message “There is a problem with the database. Try again later.
Frustrating to say the least.
When I returned from lunch, I discovered that the feed was really there. Listening to one of the episodes even as I write, although it wasn’t at all clear how to do that, and now I have a Podpress Popup Player open with the helpful indication about: blank.
Podcasts could be useful for libraries for giving information about how to use resources, especially databases. All that would be needed is someone with a pleasant voice–do you think we could get Carl Castle?
The Podcast is still playing–I ‘m not sure I care to here about the podcaster’s huirt finger.

Thing #20

overlook2 — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:41:40 +0000

U Tube has some interesting features and it’s name recognition grows day by day.
Again, the problem is keeping things up-to-date. The 2 videos Coatesville Library has on the site have caused at least one patron to think that what is said about Coatesville is true of the system.
Here’s a great Library-related video No Cookies in the Library–a Sesame Street Classic.

Thing #19

overlook2 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:43:06 +0000

The problem with having a Facebook or other account for a Library is that it needs to be kept up to date to be the least bit effective. When WC Teen Page lists Movie Night This Friday and the night WAS in October, I’m not very interested.
IF there is someone to keep things changing and innovative, then I would say, yes, let’s go there.
Kansas City Public Library’s Twitter page (a microblogging choice) has up-to-date posts. But why does this need to be separate from their Webpage? There are links from their webpage to Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr accounts. Facebook isn’t up-to-date. I can see why–who needs 3 sites to keep up-to-date. There were probably three staff members or volunteers each doing their own thing. What’s a patron to do–look at all 3?

Ho-Ho-Ho
Merry Christmas

Thing#18

overlook2 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:11:14 +0000

I tried Kayak, a travel site that a friend had mentioned on a recent trip. I was able to compare prices offered through Priceline, Travelocity, and Kayak. The screens were a little dautning–you really can’t look at three screens at once. Having 1/3 of a web page with lots of bright colors is quite confusing. I learned I got a good deal through Orbitz–which interestingly isn’t one of the ones that Kayak lets you compare.
Priceline.com had a popup–Inside Track Watch this route. Be the first to know when prices drop for this route.
Orbitz is supposed to be sending me a refund since some one booked the same route for a lower price. We shall see.
Other travelers have indicated they get better service by booking directly with the airline, but Kayak might be useful to find out which airline to contact.

Thing #17

overlook2 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:52:20 +0000

I used Zoho Editor, created a word document which I easily added to my blog. Even tags were available.
I also used Zoho Planner to enter some of my Christmas to-dos and a dentist appointment.
I doubt that I will use Zoho much, although the background colors give lots of options.