Attack of the Pod(cast) People!

It's really fortunate that we're getting to the end of 23 Things, 'cause I'm clearly running out of ideas for entry titles.

Ah, podcasts. I have long resisted podcasts, much longer than I have most other things on the Innernets, probably because I'm not really an auditory learner--it's hard on me to just hear, as opposed to having something to watch while I listen. Yes, I also mildly dislike talking on the phone. Yes, I know there are "video podcasts" or whatever.

ANYWAY. I did find some useful things! I listened to the Mugglecast (the podcast associated with the Harry Potter juggernaut fan site MuggleNet), and I also added Nancy Pearl's book review podcast to my Google Reader (and listened to her review of The Graveyard Book). I really think that listening to her reviews is going to be fun, and despite the fact that I couldn't manage to download a single episode of the podcast, it worked like a charm as soon as I added the RSS feed to my Reader. Woot.

YouTube! Broadcast...You Know...Everything

In the same way that GoodReads allows me to share a connection with my librarian friend on the far off East coast, YouTube provides a connection with a former film student friend on the West coast. Thanks to YouTube, a dear chum I don't see nearly enough of can periodically IM me links to videos for my amusement. If that's not the highest calling YouTube can claim, I surely don't know what is.

I believe I have mentioned before that I have seen people tag their own stuff with many completely irrelevant tags just to get more views--and I have seen this on YouTube. That is the worst, most annoying thing. Keywords that have nothing to do with the information object are in many ways the antithesis of what we do at libraries, obscuring information and making it inaccessible. HATE THAT.

There are some ways to incorporate YouTube into library Web sites; informational videos, building tours, the occasional advertisement about existence and services:



The usual.

And, I'm going to link here to a short video done by the film group of friend I mentioned above. I'm not going to try to describe it, but let's just say it reflects an, uh, interesting sense of humor, so, you know, be prepared.

2.0 Toolbox: Shoo-bee-doo-bee-doo-tweet-tweet!

TWITTER! I CHOOSE YOU!

I would, at this point, put in a graphic of the Twitter logo popping out of a pokeball, but frankly I just don't have that kind of time today.

Despite having read some questionable things recently about Twitter's commitment to user care, I am still excited to try it (although what I read was vastly disappointing--I hope that it results in enough introspection for Twitter to change its approach). I have liked the idea of tweeting for awhile now, after a brief period of warming up, but I believe what really put me over on Twitter was Neil Gaiman's incredible, heart-felt Tweet post-Newbery win. Go look it up. Seriously, it's just awesome.

I really like that you can text in your Tweet. Even though I haven't really gotten into it very far yet, Twitter looks sort of like a persistent texting hub. I am really looking forward to seeing how all this is managed.

As far as library applications...I'm not sure. Maybe it's possible to Tweet in reference questions? I'm completely unsure about that at this point, since I just barely got started. But we could absolutely Tweet out library news and services updates. It could be used to make the library seem much more like a living, active entity--which, of course, we are.

Newbery News

Ya know, I didn't mention anything about this on Monday, and I should have, because I was so excited when The Graveyard Book won the Newbery. Seriously, I was excited like I know Neil Gaiman personally and was going to call him later in the morning or something. Which of course I don't and of course I didn't. So I didn't have anything to do with that grand level of joy (except subject my coworkers to it). I do, though, adore that book intensely. It took me two days to read it. And now this wonderful book's won the Newbery, and I'm just so proud.

Neil Gaiman's been one of my favorite children's authors for a long time now (in the sense that I am just smitten with his children's/young adult/"all ages" books). I love his picture books, and Coraline is one of my all time favorites ever.

So, congratulations to Neil Gaiman. This librarian is mighty pleased with your Newbery win and the incredible story you told.

PS--I'd just like to indulge my smugness and point out that I put The Graveyard Book on the children's librarians' recommended reading spreadsheet after I finished it, so in a way I TOTALLY CALLED IT. GO ME.

Test Doc

THIS

 

IS

 

A

 

NEAT

 

THING

Google Docs: Not the New Option From Your HMO

Pretty neat, though. I wish the presentation option had a bit more of the PPT bells and whistles, but I was able to upload PPT slides into it (it mostly worked). And being able to store docs remotely like this, well, yeehaw, I say. I'm always worried about what's going to happen if my flashdrive meets with an unfortunate fate.

This is something that would be pretty dang helpful for anything one would like to squirrel away. I can think of all kinds of scenarios: travelling, simply not having your own computer, moving between locations frequently (which kind of sounds just like the first two)...

It kept telling me that it couldn't authenticate the username when I tried to Publish a test doc, but now it appears that IT WORKED. Awesome.


Hey, Didi or Assorted-Other-23-Things-Person: may I have a lesson check, please? Thanks!

The Sandbox...hey, I got wiki in my shoes

Well, obiviously if we used a wiki to keep track of requests for the Special Assignment Librarians, back when I was one, I have hands on experience tinkering with a wiki (it was even a pbwiki). So I didn't have any trouble going in there and adding the blog on the list with the WYSIWYG editor. You know what I like best about a WYSIWYG? Saying it. WYSIWYG!!

Anyway, it did look neat, like a mulitlayer message board with one whole page for "I WUZ HERE" graffiti. Pretty cool.