23Things Assignment #8

Okay, that's cool. I was very "moved", if you can believe it, by this video. At the end I was rather inspired and choked up...

Here's another couple:

It's kind of fun, really, and can be quite addictive. Everything under the sun can be found here. I've had some incredible laughs listening to this "fine" singer:

Anyway, I've not been a big Youtube viewer up to this point, but it really is a great tool for sharing, and a simply mind-boggling array of videos can be found - from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The down-side is that your videos can stop and start, depending on technical situations beyond my understanding, and it can be quite annoying. Also, I've heard library staff grumble about how the video streaming in the library is really slowing down the computers. There's no going back, though, and we'd better upgrade our systems to meet the demand.

As I found above, TPL has been using YouTube for a while now to promote its fundraising programs, and the first video above really is superior. The Ready for Reading videos are a bit more mudane, but then this goes to show some of the range of what can be found if you look. Anyone could use it - teen groups (YAGs) might find it a great project, and this would be an especially good way to connect with other teens. We could have a video on how the library works, as opposed to just explaining it on our website. It's always best to see it. The possiblities are virtually endless...

One more for the road. Yes, she, too, is for real...

Happy viewing and listening,

Dora

23Things Assignment #7

Well, I had some fun today looking for some interesting pocasts to which to subscribe, and did find these 3 in Podcast Alley:

The New Wine Consumer: Wine Brands:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/WineLoversPageShoe

SermonAudio.com:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/main.asp

TREKS in SCI-FI:

http://treksinscifi.com/podcast_notes/

I'm not that much of a talk-radio listener, so maybe won't keep up with these. I did find it less than obvious how to subscribe to certain podcasts, such as those available from the CBC radio website. It's certainly easy to figure out what to do with them when you've succeeded in subscribing to a proper feed in Bloglines, at least.

Dora

23Things Assignment #6

Sharing the creation of documents, how cool! It certainly does seem like an easy thing to do, and would be a great thing for something like writing up my adventures with fellow travellers. Perhaps we could create a slide show together! Of course, you have to trust your co-creators to respect what work you've done, and to acknowlege everybody. I think I might like to have a copy saved in another place, just in case, depending on how much it mattered to me.

I think that I might use this at some point in the future, if not immediately, and can see that it's a great tool for collaborative documents. We could always save the final version in another place once the document was complete, and everyone has had a chance to add their bit, or make any revisions. It might work for any documents that require our coworkers or supervisors to approve and edit.

I have experienced the problem of keeping track of version after version of documents, and not knowing if you actually were working on the latest. I also know someone who moved from branch to branch within the library system, but didn't have her own secure login. As opposed to carrying around a flashdrive, and saving files and transferring them to her new work location this way, she keeps her documents on Google Docs. She also needed to create a power point presentation (not something I've ever done) and give her presentation in another province! While she might have saved it on a flashdrive, as well, I wonder if she might not just have run it from Google Docs.

I uploaded a couple of my work documents easily and successfully, but got an error message when trying to upload a User Ed script and participants' package. I wonder if it might be that there were just too many images in each of these documents for it to handle.

23Things Assignment #5

I thought I'd try delicious, and bookmarked and tagged 3 websites that are of interest to me:

http://www.ago.net/

http://www.rom.on.ca/index.php

http://www.tafelmusik.org/


Since I used to be an arts selector for the Virtual Reference Library, I found that using this tool was very similar to "indexing" and annotating sites for it. It was kind of cool to see the "clouds" of word tags, and move through this way, as opposed to a typical subject directory. Of course, I was not surprised, though, when I clicked on one site and it was no longer there. It woud be more problematic to maintain a social networking site than something like a subject directory, which at least has a maintainance schedule (although it's only as good as the people assigned to maintain it.)

I was a bit disconcerted to find my username appear when I did a search on one of my tagged words. I hadn't known that it would show up, and would have chosen a username completely different from my own name, had I realized. Oh well! I will probably delete my account at some point in the near future, and remove all of my tags. While I can see that this might be quite a good way to find other popular sites on topics of interest, it is unlikely that I will keep up with it. Too much other "adventuring" to do.

Dora

23Things Assignment #4

I thought I'd have some fun fooling around with my image, just to make sure that I don't take myself too seriously:

After applying the Warholizer:














And the Motivator:












Some results from the Generator Blog:

1. Christmas Elf Name after entering my own (Dora Proudfoot):

Tinker Twinkle Toes

2. My Name in Cuneiform:














3. Dumbledore Generator:















4. Dungeon:

http://www.myth-weavers.com/generate_dungeon.php?do=dungeon&width=8&roomcnt=few&height=8&minroomw=2&maxroomw=5&sparse=very&minroomh=undefined&maxroomh=5&random=70&secret=15&deadends=60&concealed=10&level=5&resolution=15&seed=832428781

23 Things Assignment #3

I already tried out having a bloglines account a few years ago, and was keeping up with it for a while. I still have an active account (when I tested it today, it was still active), but just last week I asked them to "cancel" it (although I doubt that this is possible), as I think that I'll use Google Reader instead. I can easily access this from my blogger.com account. I've already set up to "follow" a few feeds there.

For the purposes this assignment, I've signed up for the Library Journal news and reviews, as well as the 3 feeds you see below once again, in bloglines:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/LibraryJournalNews

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/LibraryJournal-BookReviews

http://lii.org/

http://drupal02.nypl.org/blog

http://www.unshelved.com/

I was finding that while this was a great time saver, for sure, but I just did not have time in the branch. I'm not sure that I always will in Answerline, either, but will give it a go again. It certainly is more efficient than continually checking each site. I used to use it especially for finding out about new websites for my VRL selection when I was at TRL.

I also subscribed to several family blogs, but was finding it just a bit too much , as I didn't want to spend time at home or during my breaks trying to keep up with everyone's activities, or imaginary characters (cute though they were). I use the computer so much at work that I try not to do too much at home.

Dora

23 Things Assignment #2

Some photos of my hubby and house.

Dora