IM trying this Meebo stuff...

Um...okay. Instant messaging. It does sound useful as a library reference tool, or as a way to communicate with several people at once.

I am going to attempt to get the widget thing in my sidebar. I am not too optimistic about this because the directions were not at all clear.

[Allow me now to spout off for a moment about technology that assumes that everyone knows how to use it before they get it. My mom's laptop comes to mind. Aaargh! Okay...I feel better now.]

I'll be back...

More RSSssszzzzz...

Okay, I think I've figured out how to edit the feeds so they display the whole entry. And I can see that you wouldn't necessarily want to do that for all of them (eg. news feeds where you only want to read headlines).

I find it easiest to locate feeds by going to my favorite sites. I tried Google Blogger Search and Technorati and they just seem to bring up a lot of stuff that's not what I'm looking for.

I'm really not sure how a library would use RSS. It seems like something that's useful to individuals. Let's see if I can find something about that.

Hmmm. I just Googled "RSS use in libraries" and found this PDF entitled Libraries and RSS. Apparently some libraries are using providing RSS feeds to alert patrons to new aquisitions, changes in hours, events, etc. Okay, that could be useful.

RSS huh?

I am a bit offput by the whole RSS thing, although perhaps that's just because it's all new to me. But...

1) Why not just use bookmarks?

2) I have just discovered that when I check a feed on Bloglines, it then disappears. If I want to look at it again, it isn't there. Does that mean that this whole RSS thing is really just for folks who want to check headlines? Who only want to read things once? What if I want to check on headlines, then go back and read more in depth later? Then I have to use my bookmark. Why not just use bookmarks?

3) Some of my feeds display photos and the whole posts. Some have only headlines and the first few lines. I like the first type (but see #2). The ones with just headlines and a few lines seem really useless. Am I doing something wrong or is it just the feeds? And why not just use bookmarks?

4) I find it amazing that some folks are checking 200 feeds a day. And I thought I had trouble managing time at the computer! But still...why not have 200 bookmarks, nicely organized?

I see that the next step in Discover 2.0 is also about RSS. Perhaps as I get more used to using it, it will seem more useful to me. Hah. Perhaps.

Mashups--not your usual potatoes

I used two mashups--Trading Card (see the nice kitty) and Flickr Sudoku. The trading cards were fun and simple to do. The sudoku was harder than normal sudoku, because I was looking at pictures of hamsters instead of numbers! Once my brain clicked onto hamsters, it went fine.

Manul photo by Edgar Thissen.

Princess Kaiulani statue, Waikiki

Princess Kaiulani IV
Originally uploaded by Parzival

This is a photo from Flickr.

My parents used to live a block away from this statue. I always used to love to visit them there, before my dad passed away and my mom moved to the mainland. This photo brings up warm recollections of sun, family, vacations, relaxation, and the lovely beach at Waikiki.

In which I create a blog and the quest begins with 7 1/2 habits

Wow. I just created a blog.

This was not my idea, but I like it. I'm learning about different internet tools and programs for my work, and creating this blog was one of the first tasks.

The next task is to write about the 7 1/2 lifelong learning habits--which habits are easiest and hardest for me and why.

Easiest for me is is habit #6, Use Technology to Your Advantage. There are a lot of things I don't know how to do, but those that I do know, I use. When my family at Christmastime was wondering what century it is now, since it isn't the Century of the Fruitbat anymore (go read Terry Pratchett), it was I who said "Let's Google it!" and within a minute had found the answer. It's now the Century of the Anchovy.

Hardest for me is probably habit #1, Begin with the End in Mind. I'm much more prone to go wherever my wandering research takes me--wow, this looks like an interesting book, or link, or whatever! I usually know that certain topics are appealing (cosmology, nutrition, Egyptian art) , but I don't have actual goals that drive my learning. But I can see that having goals makes it more likely that I could actually reach goals. Ha ha, what a thought!

Which makes it nice that this program lays out goals for me. And I fully expect to Have Fun (habit #7 1/2) with it all.