The End!

I have finished and have to say it has been worth the time and effort. I may not be able to explain all of the technology I have viewed, but at least I know what it is and a bit about how to use it.

I found working with Wikis most useful. I have begun to set up a Wiki for the system training that I do, and look forward to making it available and interactive for staff.

What surprised me the most was how much interested me....can't say I understand all of it, but see the usefulness of what I explored. It also made me think about where technology is going and how it may or may not impact the library. I would most definitely participate in another program like this.

I guess if I were to put this all in one sentence it would be that ..."There is more to internet technology that is useful to librarians than meets the eye." I would never have tried many things, things that I will/can use for my job, like Wiki. It is fun working with my Blog and have used it to pass along to friends and family events in my life.

Thanks for offering this...I would never have tried or looked at most of this had it not been for this program.

Week 9

Found this on u-tube...very funny!
Monty Python Camelot Lego Animation http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=99174057823861673
I could not embed it because the file was too big but give it a try it is worth the look.

I use downloads, rather than pod-casts, all the time. I find downloads better for me as I listen to them at my computer while doing other things. I alsol often listen through my computer speakers while doing things around the house. I could send them to my ipod but it is more cumbersome carrying the IPod and earphones around while working in my house, Here is an audio feed I listen to that is also available as an pod-cast. APM: Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett
Home > Search > APM: Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett. I also regularly listen to Steven Colbert Colbert Report Pod-cast Home > Search > Colbert Report Pod-cast. This comes on the same time as David Letterman which I tape. It is easier to listen to Colbert as a download because it is in short segments.

I love downloads for many reasons, but really like the radio downloads as I often can not listen to them when they are on and you can't tape them!

E-Books. I am not a big fan of E-Books. If you travel much I can see where this would be useful. Most of the time I listen to books or read the hard copy. My sister travels a lot and does download E-Books and finds them good for planes. I find the ipod screen too small for viewing. I also read recently that e-books are not doing as well as everyone thought they would....this does not surprise me as most people I know would rather hold a hard copy of a book in their lap than their laptop! If e-books were to provide books no longer available I think they would do better. I would download an e-book I could not buy or get at my local library. One note about World E-Book Fair, you have to join (and it appears) pay $8.95 a year. That isn't much and most would join if they wanted to use it, but I couldn't fine where you could try it without login and joining. (Full Text Search of 500,000+ PDF eBook Titles in 100+ Languages. • Membership Required for Access to eBooks. http://www.worldebookfair.com/Join.htm) I feel it is a bit deceptive to say World E-Book Fair is free when the only thing free is the access to to articles. I tried some of the other sites, but most require pay....which makes sense, but honestly if I am going to pay, I'll buy it or borrow it in hard copy,

Austen's 2nd birthday

My grandneice had her 2nd birthday party on Sat. The bouncy castle was a big hit and a dog, (her uncle) wandered by to say hello. It was a party fit for a princess.

Vacations

I went on two vacations this summer.
The first one was a mix of vacation and work.
The work part of my first vacation was the Children's Institute at Simmons College in Boston. The Institute was remarkable. The basis of all their summer insitiutes is to examine children's literature as literature. The theme this year was Food Glorious Food...the role of food in children's literature. Giving talks were the likes of David Macauley, Natale Babbitt, Polly Horvath, Robert Sabuto (one of those amazing paper engineers) and many more. The most scholarly talk was from Jack Gantos who compared Oliver, Chocolate War, and Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Marc Aronson was to speak but he was sick. He sent a rough draft of his talk which in rough draft form was betten than most finished products! I have a link to this talk if anyone would like to see it. He is one of the premier non-fiction writers. All in all it was one of the most satisfying programs I have attended.

The vacation part was great....but how could it not be with these cutes.





While there my nephew helped me buy a new IMAC.

Here my 4 yr. old niece is showing me how it works!



My other nephew and family live near Boston. His wife, Holly, and daughter Morgan drove me into Boston for the institute and then they all picked me up. For a thank-you I took them to tea at the Four Seasons. It was very nice. We then went to the "Make Way for Ducklings" pond which was coviently right across the street! And yes we saw lots and lots of ducks!

My sister Heather provided my before and after housing. The one of many things you experience while at my sisters is good food. We had it out in restaurants (went to Xaviors, run by one of the best chefs in the country...he beat Bobby Flay at Iron Chef!) and in at her house as she is an amazing cook...she actually likes cooking!

She and I then headed down to Cape May, NJ to join Susan Deeney, her daughter and friend and my nieces family. Later Heather's son, Zack, and his girlfriend and Heather's "friend" , Joe joined us. Besides the beach and shopping we ate at some mighty fine places. This is one of our favorites, The Black Duck.

Austen especially enjoyed the ocean...looking only! She would shout with glee when anyone said "Look Austen the ocean" but was not so enthusiastic about actually going in the ocean!

She did, however, love one of the shores great treats....ice cream!
So that was part I of my summer vacation

Part II came at the end of Aug. when I went on the MLA cruise to St. John and Halifax in Canada. Until the last day, long sad story, I had a great time. Phyllis G., Susan D. and Barbara H went as well. Both cities are unique and fascinating in their own way.

St. John is a working town filled with character and one of the wonders of the world....a reversing river. Here the St. John river empties into the Bay of Fundy. Due to the geology of the bay, when the river tries to go into the bay it is forced back by the bay, thus the reversing action. So instead of the river flowing into the bay, the bay pushes it back....the river never gets to empty into the bay. It is an amazing site!

Halifax is more sophisticated and Peggy's Cove is clearly one of the most beautiful places in the world! Margaret's Bay is just amazing. It doesn't take a photo genius to take great pictures here!


One of my favorite things about being near a port is seeing tug/work boats.

Of course the ports were great but there is so much more to a cruise than just the ports. The ship was very colorful

and relaxed and civilized
We had two days coming and going to explore and enjoy the ship and all it had to offer and we took advantage of it all!

Then after playing all day we were greeted with a bedtime friend

But in the end one must go home and home we had to go.......