the academie bestuur en recht ABRi

here are some pictures of the little reference library i have been working on for the last year. it doesn't look like much but a lot of time, work and money has gone into making it what it is. thanks bittersweet librarian for taking the shots with your super duper camera!

thanks aadl for this great trick! to make your own card catalog entry visit the ann arber public library online catalog: http://www.aadl.org/catalog

step #19~ can't live without my facebook!

okay so step #19 is all about discovering social networks and thinking about how you can use social networking in your library. i think the best way for me to discuss this issue it to tell about my personal use of facebook cause lets face it i can no longer live without facebook. not because i am some kind of addict who relies totally on it for all social contact but because it has become the primary way for my friends and family who live around the world to keep in touch. that is how i got on facebook to begin with...when i moved here it was a free way to stay connected with my friends and family in canada as well as norway, israel, the states, england, etc. and stay up-to-date about the day to day events in life. over the years i have found more friends and they have found me. we have reconnected, picked up where we left off and now keep in touch with what is all going on in our various parts of the world and lives. but i have also used my facebook account for the good of the library world. via fellow library school friends and professors as well as various library related groups i belong to, a sort of library support system has been created for me and the others involved. we share reference questions, help find new jobs(no i'm not looking but others were) and swap stories about how we can futher enhance the library universe. i have also answered reference type questions from my no-library friends but i don't think that is the place to be in order to draw people into the library. i just happened to be in the right place at the right time. via the groups offered and such it can be used to support for outside library users as well as librarians with like "friends of the library", "ala", book discussion groups, etc. it can shed light on library opportunities and good books to borrow and spark reading interest but i don't think we as librarians should get all hung up on that. i think that is just an extra...well with all this talk about facebook i wonder how people are doing. time to check up on some friends!

step #18~ stepping away from my paper version in favour of the web...do i wanna i make the jump?

1. Ga naar de Nederlanse versie van LibraryThing en maak een persoonlijke account aan
2. Voeg tenminste 10 boeken toe aan je bibliotheek
3. Schrijf een blogpost over je ervaringen, waarbij je ook een link legt naar jouw virtuele boekenkast. Hoe populair zijn jouw boeken? Werd er over gediscussieerd?

i thought that librarything would be my very favouritist part of this little 23 things event. what could be better than virtually organising your personal libary? and for the real world this has the potential to be a handy little web2.0 thing. you can record all the books in your library with the click of the mouse. but for actual cataloguing purposes i would have to say i prefer my paper version...yes i am one of those strange people who have taken the time to catalogue my own little library in a super handly little book that allows you to cross reference titles and authers and the likes. my collection is also organised by genre and alphabetical order according to auther. i am fully aware that i am a geek and i have made peace with this but i like the organisation. another geeky thing about me is i like to be accurate...in order to be accurate you need to know the isbn of your actual copy so you have to have the book in front of you. do you think the real world knows this? or are they just randomly selecting? but a distinct advantage to librarything regardless of personal idiosyncrasies is the social part of it. you can see who likes the same books as you, discuss your books with people and see what new books you could check out next. i entered mostly the popular books in my collection and they are pretty popular. there are discussion about them...nothing deep and insightful...but there isn't really anything deep or insightful about a maeve binchy or sue grafton book...but they are popular and are on various book challenges and the likes. and i got some nifty ideas about what to read next. i quite enjoy that part of it. maybe i'll continue in my geekworthy fashion and make a new list of book to read during my month off. but for the actual cataloguing i'm still sticking to my little orange book. sorry. i know it's not very forward thinking of me and it is totally not web2.0 of me but i can't let go of the control i have with the paper version.

step #17~ going on a bear hunt…well a web2.0 hunt really…but i’ll still catch a big one!

step #17 is all about finding out about the wonderful world of web2.0 and all the crazy things you can do with the applications now available. i checked out lots of stuff from how to make postcards of your pets to getting money advice to storing backups of your files. but the thing that really caught my eye was biblio.com. found via the website for web2.0 awards. Biblio.com is a great place to look for secondhand and rare books with many different bookstores opening their treasure chests of available books for you to find all in one place! i’m totally in love with the miss zukas mysteries by jo derekse about a librarian who canoes, eats all her food separately not allowing a thing to touch, sucks the coating off m&m’s before actually eating them and does several other things and has several other similarities to my slightly nutty self. She also solves mysteries but that is not my forte. anyway, some super smart publisher (smell the sarcasm) decided to stop publishing the middle 4 books in the miss zukas series. this sad fact means that in order to finish the series i have to find used copies. no worries now! i hit up biblio.com and found them!!! now if that isn’t super duper fabulicious I just don’t know what is!!!! Schaap veronica and cybercybar I think we can attend to some unfinished business now…we just have to wait till jan. cause they’re being delivered to the parental units house. thank the good lord for web2.0 applications! now we can practice some good old-fashioned pre-web reading!

step #16~ the written stuff

Surf door YouTube, bekijk tags, rubrieken, de zoekmogelijkheden etc. en schrijf erover op je blog. Wat kan je bibliotheek ermee doen ter promotie van de diensten? Wellicht wil je een bibliotheekfilmpje in je blog plaatsen? Rechts van elke video vind je de zogenaamde “embed” code. Kopieer en plak deze in je blogpost. Let wel op dat je dan in de HTML weergave van het bericht werkt!

well step #16 is actually something i have never done before. i could never be bothered to search for other people’s videos on YouTube. sure i always found it funny when people sent me stuff they had found on the site but i could never get the umph to check it out myself. today i did and i found super fun stuff. i loved mr. bean and the library and grover’s library lecture and no cookies in the library with cookie monster and i am such a big fan of miss marpel that is was great to see the body in the library up there too…although i am sure that there have to be lots of copyright infringements going on. there were lots of clips from other movies and games that include library scenes and even a few super funny songs about the library. but with the super fun stuff i also found the super lame stuff!!!! seriously i will name no names but there were a lot of seriously boring library tours and stuff meant to entice the public into the library and explain how it all works that made me, a librarian, roll my eyes. how can you expect someone first to find your video and then to actually watch it when it is akin to watching paint dry…and i don’t mean the kind of paint were you can play “which drip falls the fastest”. that can actually be fun. YouTube has great outreach potential but then you gotta give the user some high quality competitive stuff that isn’t like…lets pick our youngest librarian on staff and have them take students through the information finding, book lending blah blah blah process…i mean i don’t care so why should students and users care? and then you gotta get some good pr so people can find what you have made. there is total potential with this free sharing multimedia program to be used as a teaching tool …teaching through fun what better way to learn without the pain of actually using the word “learn”…but we gotta make it worth the viewers while or we are just kidding ourselves wasting time and money on something that could be super duper fabulicious.

step #16~ a little peak at retro library programs

you can't tell me these aren't great!



grover's library lecture



no cookies in the library

the seseame street of our childhood!

step #15~ moving and grooving through 23 things...with my new podcast!

ah the podcast… the anywhere, anytime, self selected music or information program at your fingertips. quite an enjoyable little invention really. before step #15 i had several positive experiences with podcasts. i have a running podcast on my ipod for 5 km runs which is updated ever week. it has different music according to the tempo you should be running at and it tells you approximately how far you should be at which point in the music and tries to inspire you to push that little bit more. needless to say i have not been making use if this podcast lately as i am pretty much thankful i can still move my legs in a running like movement without collapsing let alone trying to keep up with a tempo…i wont be winning any races this year! but my pod experience is not limited to running. i also receive the podcast of the “obnoxious librarian” a very humorous satirical look at the library world(there is also a blog and a christmas book coming out! can’t wait!!!) and i access the biblio file by nigal beale, which has interviews with canadian and international authors and the likes. i think this sort of program has great potential in a public library setting. i mean on the surface it looks like it is just an informative discussion over award winning books but really it has the potential to draw people into the library to get the book to actually read it. i’m sure a variation could be adapted for students…that is perhaps more of a challenge but it has the potential…only you will require a great pr campaign to get the work out i think. something to think about… but now i am off to scour podplaza.nl for a new knitting or craft podcast…you never know what fun tips you might find…if you walk into the office and you hear something about a rib stitch I’m not slacking i’m working…on 23 things!

step #12...#13...okay and # 14 too...

step #12 was to add an entry to the 23 things blog. it had to be something that was your favourite. i added a few of my favourite movies like run lola run, amelie, charlies angles, everafter, etc. i probably should have added some of the classics like the princess bride or holiday inn. That was a pretty easy one…once i got logged in.

step #13 was making use of free online office software like google docs. for some reason i was a little hesitant about being able to retrieve and share documents with the program. there was really totally no justification for my hesitation and in the end it worked totally like a charm(thanks bittersweet librarian). this concept has the potential to create quite an easy way for interactive paper writing and collaborative works. I kind of like…i have no idea when i will personally have the need to use it but i can see it being very useful for students…perhaps easier then the currently used and sworn at quickplace?

step #14 was really nothing new for me. I read the background lit. provided but chatting is something i use every sunday with friends and family. it is the bane of my husband’s computer existence because every time he logs in on our computer someone wants to chat with me not him. It is a fabulous way to keep in touch. when i was a student and when i worked for a university with chat reference it was also a very handy function. as a student you can be helped while you’re at home working on your assignment and as a librarian you can us the chat function to really hone in on what the question is rather then just having to relay on a sort of one dimensional email where you have the potential to give the right answer to the wrong question because the question is so vaguely formed. i’m not sure it is something that can be implemented at the library where i work now…perhaps the info. email address could make use of it but the standard reference I don’t know simply because the questions we get are more concerned with the copiers and the catalogue then actual reference questions but it could be a chicken egg questions…if you build it they will come concept…if we make use of iming in our library we will get real reference questions…i don’t know…there are too many variables at this point and i am no expert. but in my private life iming is a must…right amanda!

okay…onward and upward to step #15...how many do i have left now? 9 things, 4 weeks...should work don't you think?

step #11~what the wiki...

1. in deze oefening ga je enkele bibliotheekwiki’s bekijken.

2. Schrijf een blogpost over je bevindingen. Wat vond je interessant? Welke toepassingen zouden goed zijn om in een wiki te doen en welke niet?

okay so as it asks in step #11 i checked out a few of the library wiki’s. wiki’s are in and of themselves a cool concept…being able to easily and quickly share knowledge over a particular subject in an open and collective environment… they are great for sharing info. in a work setting or using as a forum for faq. i mean really the list is endless. in work situations where the wiki is used as a sort of forum or opinion outlet or faq is the issue of content control no problem. it is your opinion or your experience that is important. but when the wiki is used to share more information than that which is first hand i think you have to be careful. for example wikipedia is a great idea for sharing information with each other but I don’t think it can be considered “research appropriate” material . just like in tagging, the issue of control remains and is actually a bigger issue here since you need to be sure that the information provided is accurate. i think you can use the likes of wikipedia as a spring board so you have a very basic understanding of the topic before you dive into further deeper “real” research but because of the essence of the wiki, the open sharing, it is not a source in and of itself. it is just not trustworthy enough for me. you can use the references provided(if they are even provided) for further research but not the wiki entry itself…that is like 3rd hand information…my brothers, roommates, goldfishes, next-door neighbours, long lost cousin said… and it just doesn’t cut it for me in the research world whether we are talking academic or elementary school level…does that make sense? so my conclusion for step #11 is lets use it in and out of library world to share info. but lets keep it out of the research world…i can get enough 3rd hand info. from my 92 year old neighbour!

step #10~my new job found via delicious!

the ring, originally uploaded by mmasquerade.

i think i have discovered my new calling in life! i think i am going to quite my day job and dedicate my life to urban knitting!!! yes you have read that correctly. i am going to devote my life to the beautifying of the world by creating knitted graffiti! i mean what could be more fun??? and now all 3 of you are wondering how i came up with such an inspirational vocation...delicious is the answer. someone else on the 23 things delicious account tagged a website over urban knitting and via the tag “breien”(knitting) i found the site and now my prayers are answered and i have found THE job for me. super fun! for private use is tagging via delicious a fun way to discover new sites, keep track of your new found favourite sites and so on and so forth. the free thought everyday language used to tag creates open access and opportunity for the everyday homosapien to explore a whole new world and keep track of it using the words that make sense them. i don't believe it can be used to replace the controlled vocabulary of a cataloguer in the library world. we still need a structured thesaurus to find both physical and virtual information in both the physical and virtual world of the library. but it can enhance our use of the virtual world experience and perhaps library world experience we a whole as well. there are issues of inconsistency, overlap and user generated flaws, which are just some of the reasons why the controlled vocabulary is still required. but tagging can provide alternative perhaps more user-friendly ways for users to access information in our logical but not always user-friendly system. we shall see what the future holds. regardless my natural inclination is to create my own thesaurus for delicious use that i can create my own logical and purposeful schema for finding and keeping track of my websites. however the reality of the situation is that as fun as it is delicious isn’t something i really see myself making full use of at the moment. It was useful for a second though…watch out world here come my knitting needles!

ps. this photo was found on flickr and was uploaded by mmasquerade the 20th of may 2007. for more information about urban knitting check out:

http://deputy-dog.com/2008/11/urban-knitting-worlds-most-inoffensive.html

happy looking and reading!

step #9~and now it's time for "deep thought" with little miss librarian.

okay so step #9 is all about telling you...my oh so faithful readers(all 3 of you:)...how i feel about web 2.0. i think i have pretty much shared my thoughts over the last 9 steps but whatever...maybe i have something new to say...maybe not...i think it is safe to say that the basics of web 2.0 is sharing. wikipedia, blogs, flickr, facebook..you name it, it is all based on the principle of sharing. i think web 2.0 is a fun and super fabulicious way of sharing with your friends and family. i like that i can write one story on my blog, post a picture one time on flickr, update my status once on facebook and they can all check it out when they want to. i'm not doing 3 zillion different things 3 zillion different times for 3 zillion diferent people(3 zillion being a very accuret number. i am totally not exagerating) it gives you the opportunity to express yourself and be creative in a place where your peers can see it all together. on a bigger level, outside of my little friendship group, web 2.0 also give us as a society the opportunity to make a fuller use of the experties of other people to better educate ourselves and really exploit our intellectual and creative resources. wiki's, mashup, folksonomies and the like give us the chance to tap into resources(aka smart people) who would otherwise be left behind for whatever reason. it makes the information world a more level playing field...as long as there is some dude smart enough to create the softwear or whatever required we can all tag along and use it to share whatever we are smart at. but it does mean you are sharing things in a very public way. some sceptics really focus on this and sure sharing naturally leads to privacy issues and sure it has the potential to be "dangerous" but so do credit cards. just like we keep our wallet close to us and don't share our pin pass number with our neighbour we need to make sure the information we share in a public forum...be it a blog, wiki, social community, flickr, whatever...isn't more revealing then we are willing to be and isn't an unnecissary risk. and yes there is the issue of people thinking they are smarter then they actually are and sharing things that are better left in the dark. what can you do about that? about the same thing we can do about the daily news we read in the newspaper or see on the tv...you get the good with the bad and thus we need to be critical about what we read, see, experience through web 2.0 just the way we are critical about what we accept as actual news...like the sun verses the globe and mail and even then you have to read the globe with a critical eye. i'm sure i have missed things. i'm sure i have said things that are inflammatory or that i have contradicted myself in some way. i'm sure my ideas will change at some point and i have just shared some not so smart ideas with the public world...read it with a critical eye and consider the source...little miss librarian is no web 2.0 expert she is really just a sheep attempting to stay with the flock.

who is the big dark shape?

if you look really close you can make the shape out...look really close!

hit over the head with a camera...gee my face really looks like my mom here!

this is the "i'm totally stund, i took a shower, took a nap, and just woke up" look. very becoming but maybe gives you an idea.