Temporal Anomaly or Don't Fear the Future

2010-10-30T16:07:00.001-07:00

Information has become the ultimate commodity. We just have to make certain that our libraries continue to supply it in a way that competes with other mediums. We need to stay ahead of the information curve while trying to steer clear of temporary fads.

Libraries have been known for books and materials for years. We have a "brand". We just have to capitalize on that branding by constantly updating our materials while maintaining our place as a community gathering site.

The future is an exciting place. I look forward to seeing how libraries will embrace that change. I really believe "Library 2.0" is in its infancy. We have not even begun to see the versatility that future generations will take for granted. We need to all be futurists. I often think of ourselves as the ultimate search engine, but even that will go away as programing improves. Right now, Google is amazing, but something better always comes along.

We have value because we provide value. We provide materials that people want for no cost. We provide resources, activities, and opportunities in a very accessible way. If we could peek twenty years into the future, I'm not even sure we would recognize ourselves. I am, however, hopeful that we'll be proud of what we've become.

Bloglines

2010-09-27T15:58:00.001-07:00

I just discovered that Bloglines is shutting down as of 10/1/2010. I feel like this represents the transitory nature of the Internet, and it one of the pitfalls of relying on internet tools for archiving information.

Google Docs and Zoho Writer

2010-09-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

I've used Google Docs for a variety of applications, but I have never heard of Zoho Writer. I think I am going to explore Zoho Writer at a later time, because it looks like it might emulate Microsoft Word more than Google Docs.

Social Bookmarking

2010-09-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

I don't particularly care for the social bookmarking tools, but I can see that they might provide a useful way to organize a series of websites in a way that is unique.

SPLS 2.2 Learning

2010-09-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

I resurrected this blog in order to further my training. I have posted comments on sharepoint about many of the early learning tools, but I thought it would be a good idea to post to this site about some of my exploration of Internet 2.0 tools.
I found the information about podcasting very interesting. I find myself interested in listening to some podcasts on my mp3 player when I'm in my car instead of always finding new audio books. I might be able to learn a new subject if I follow a podcast by some of my favorite science subjects.

Learning 2.0 evaluation

2008-03-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have to say that before this I always thought that I was pretty technically savvy, and now I really know how much I don't really know. There is so much out there and I think I have taken a fairly good tour of the current realm of the social Internet, but I still have so much to do before I become really truly comfortable with it.

Some of the things here are fun, some are useful, and some I think will fall by the wayside as the years progress, but I think it's good to have a greater familiarity with it all. I think I won't really be sure what tools I'll use the most until some time passes, but I think I might really like Library thing, pod casts, and of course I love Overdrive. I can't wait until we have even more titles in that format.

It's been a great journey, but I can't help but feel that I've only just taken the very first step.

Parkour your way to the Library

2008-03-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Library 2.0

2008-03-18T15:13:00.001-07:00

I think it's really important for libraries to stay abreast of future trends. I think we should keep the content that people want regardless of format. We might need to start thinking about Blu Rays soon. Platform video games would be a nice addition to our collection as well. We would certainly get a lot of teens in here then!

Overdrive

2008-03-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

I love Overdrive! I just love being able to download audio books and listen to them in my car. They also make cleaning my house easier to bear. I think I'm one of the first users of this service. I always keep an Adobe book loaded on my pocket PC so that if I'm stuck waiting (for my car to be serviced or a doctor's apt.) I have a book at the ready. This was no chore at all!

NPR Podcast

2008-03-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

I decided to subscribe to the NPR podcast, since I figuered it would be good to keep abreast of all the upcoming books. There is a whole world of podcasts that I'm looking forward to exploring in the future.

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510209

Guess the Google

2008-03-12T15:26:00.001-07:00

I just tried out this learning game (I can call it that since I use Google to find images for people all of the time) and really liked this link.

grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google

It shows you a series of images that would show up on a typical image search and you have to guess the key word that would display those images. I think it really might help you to think in terms of the appropriate key words for searches.

Anyway, it's a lot of fun too.

Google Docs

2008-03-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

I just tried to use Google docs and I think I really like this. I was familar with this service, but I hadn't really thought of all the advantages before. I can take a document with me anywhere, without having to email it to myself as long as I have Internet access. It won't fit something of novel length, however.

SPLS Wiki

2008-02-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hey, we're an actual internet community now! See us here!

http://splslearning.pbwiki.com/

Wacky Wikis

2008-02-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

This could be a very useful tool for libraries that we might want to explore for our website subject guides as well as for novel suggestions.

http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page

Wiki to create print books

2008-02-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

I was exploring Technorati and discovered a blog that talked about Wikipedia creating print on demand services. This sounds particularly interesting for obscure travel destinations.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/19/wikitravel-to-publis.html

I'll be interested to see how this pans out and what it means for the future of libraries. I still think print on demand books are the wave of the future. (Aside from downloadable that is)

Bookmarking on the go

2008-02-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

I explored Del.icio.us. I found it interesting, but I don't think I'll be using this much.

Ripple effect

2008-02-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

I really liked a lot of these photo editing sites. I plan to have some fun with these in the future.

I particularly liked the ripple effect that can be achieved at the following web site:

http://www.fotline.ws/index.php

Face Book

2008-02-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

I created a very very basic Face book entry at the following website:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1135686918

I find this somewhat interesting, but don't think I'll use it much.

Library Thing

2008-02-06T15:21:00.000-08:00

I created an account on Library thing. What a great idea! I can't wait to have more time to really explore this site.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/skynetsingularity

RSS feed frenzy

2008-01-30T11:52:00.001-08:00

I created an account for my RSS feeds at the following address . . .

http://www.bloglines.com/public/skynetsingularity

I really had no experience doing something like this before. I might just upgrade my mind after all.

Will we use Computers or will computers use us?

2008-01-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

I keep thinking about how every decade computers grow exponentially in capacity and I know that some time in the near future the complexity of the computer will equal that of the human mind. If a computer can process information in the same manner as a human brain, will they eventually acquire human like thought processes? Will they surpass us? Or will we grow together becoming something neither human or computer but some melding of the two?

What if computers become more intelligent than humans? Will they continue to serve us? Or will they rewrite their own programming and become just as diverse as humanity- some hating us and some revering us.

Either way, I hope they remember us fondly.

Exploring Flickr

2008-01-28T09:35:00.002-08:00

I'm going to have to make a trading card for my son at the following link.

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php

He's going to love this!

SPLS- Outside Mustang

2008-01-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gem66/98267714/

Take a look at this beautiful picture outside of Mustang library.

I really like the play of light and shadow in this image.

My first post

2008-01-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

It's official. This is my first post to my first blog!

Wendy