Class Reflection

What I learned in my Library Technology class will help me succeed in the future as a librarian.  I have used computers for several years but was self-taught in a lot of areas so to learn the actual names and functions of them is helpful to me.

I also learned how technology needs to be implemented into a library to stay relevant and be an asset to the community.  There are so many new technologies that can help people in their daily lives. There is a great disparity with people being able to access technology so a library should be able to help close the digital divide.  There are even technologies to help the disabled that can be provided by a library, such as screen magnification software or touchpads, so even something like that should not be a hindrance to people.  

As a librarian, I should be well versed in upcoming technology so I will know what is available, so I can implement a technology that would be useful to my community. Also a when I become a librarian it will be helpful to know how to use, and even troubleshoot the technology in my library. Because of this class I can assist users better with their needs as well.  I also understand the importance of using things such as social networking, in a library setting.  It can be helpful because so many people use social media now and its a way to increase your library’s presence in the technology age.

There was a lot of information in the class that will be useful to me because it will be something I will use much more in the future.

Search Skills Blog

The title of the article I found regarding filtering and libraries is called “The First Amendment’s Limitations on the Use of Internet Filtering in Public and School Libraries: What Content Can Librarians Exclude? .”   The author of the article I found was Mark S. Nadel . The date it was published was April 2000.  To find the article,  I searched EBSCO in the  Academic Search Premiere database.  I used the words computer filters and libraries to find what I was searching for.  The article says the American Library Association says that filtering software violates the First Amendment regarding free speech. The article discusses that libraries should be able to use filters as long as it does not favor one viewpoint over another. It also says that one could interpret the First Amendment as permitting librarians to choose so if their community desires it.  I know that my library does use filters because to receive their grant money, it is required to do so.  

 

Web 2.0 projects

I was not sure about using Twitter at first and I still am not sure if I will continue to use it. It is a little confusing to why it is so popular. I found people to follow pretty easily but there are not many of my friends on Twitter. I followed both my older children who have accounts, as well as some library organizations like the American Library Association. I also followed the Indianapolis Star and our local newspaper, which I like because I can keep up on the news as it is posted. There are also some missionaries, and Pastors that I followed as well to keep up with what they are doing. I did not realize that people really use Twitter for business, but many do. I already thought that it would be helpful for my library to use this tool to remind people of events that are happening, as well as reaching out to the younger generation who use Twitter every day.  To find me you should be able to find me @katrinallynn.

I chose Goodreads for my project. My account homepage is https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28854512-katrina-lynn. I like this site. I had ran across it before and used it this semester in a project where I had to “purchase” books for my library. I noticed it is very good to use for finding reviews of books.   I have found some to read because of this site. I even won a book from a publisher from a drawing on this site! To add books you can type in the search bar and it will find the book you are interested in. You can add books that you want to read, have read or are currently reading. There is also were you can write your own review, to do so click on my review and then type your review, it is very easy. There are also book discussion groups you can get involved in as well. This can useful to a library in that the library can look up reviews to find what is popular, so as to help with purchasing books. Also the library could have a book discussion group online or have a link on their website so people could find new books to read. I really liked this site and will continue to use it.

For my photosharing project I could not get Picasa to cooperate so I chose Photobucket instead. I also used Flickr as well. I uploaded pictures to both of them that I took at my local library in Ladoga Indiana.  I think a library could use a photosharing site to share pictures of some of the programs that they have going on.  I could also use these personally to share pictures with my friends and family.  If I or anyone else post pictures online, it would be the proper thing to do to get permission from the subject of what they were taken of or the photographer who took them.  I looked at other sites like Instagram and Picasa (just couldn’t get my pictures to upload to Picasa). 

I made a slideshow for photobucket, here is the link…http://s1282.photobucket.com/user/Katrina_Wagner_Lynn/slideshow/

Here is the one I made on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/katrinallynn/

The picture shown is shared with permission from Ladoga-Clark Township Public Library.

Search Skills

The title of the article that I found was called Library Website Design and Database Access.  This article was written by Barbara T. Mates. It was published in May/June 2004 in the journal called Library Technical Reports.  I searched for this article through EBSCOhost and then through the Academic Search Premiere database, to search for the articles I typed in Library website design.  The article was very good, it stated that a library website should be both accessible and usable, it should never be a barrier to the information. It then gives ways to make sure that happens.  I do not have any experience with designing websites.  I think it would be important for me to at least know how to evaluate if a library’s website is easy to use and is accessible for everyone.

 

 

Tech Tools

Was this your first experience with live webcasting software?  This was not my first time using the Blackboard Collaborate, I had a group presentation for an English class last semester.  However I wish I had saw this presentation explaining everything before, because I did not know how everything worked and it was difficult to use.

Have any of your other instructors used live webcasting? The only one that has used it was the English Professor I mentioned and it was used for a group project and I hated the project because no one in my group had ever used it and it was difficult for us to navigate.

What did you like about Blackboard Collaborate Classroom? I think once everything was explained it would be good to use when working with someone on a project or use as a webcast.  I liked the timer so you knew how long you had spoken, I think that would be helpful.  I liked that you could type in websites and show the people in the room. There were very many different tools I did not know about.

What did you dislike about Blackboard Collaborate Classroom?  When I used it before I did not like using it for a presentation but I think that is because no one explained how it worked.  It really is a neat tool that can be utilized.

How can you use live webcasting software in a library?   It would be good for a library to use if they wanted to teach people how to use online tools such as how to use their online catalog or even have meetings with their employees to teach them something online. 

Virtual Reference Service

My local library does use a bit of virtual reference services to reach their patrons. They have an email account and also a Facebook page, however it does not seem that the Facebook page is utilized at all. The librarian has admitted to me that she is not very tech savvy so that is probably the reason. I think it would be an effective use of time and staff because most of the younger generation use these things and it will continue to grow in usage. I liked using Skype for this assignment but I do not have much experience with it so it took me awhile to figure it all out. Meghan Hopper was my partner and she was very easy to work with, so it was less intimidating than I thought it would be. I am not sure I would like to use it in a library setting because I would rather do it face to face instead of a video chat. I do not know another piece of software that would be the same as using Skype for this assignment other than IM but I do not think that is really the same since I do not think it has video capabilities.

Twitter

I am now on Twitter!  My Twitter name is katrinallynn.

My social bookmarking project

  I liked using Pinterest more than I thought I would.  I found that it is very helpful keeping things organized that I have found online instead of sticking it in my favorites and never finding it again.  The thing I dislike is that it can take up a lot of time because it can be very distracting looking at all the things that people have pinned.  I think I could use this in the library, when I work in one, to pin author’s webpages or  book reviews.  I did not find library websites on Pinterest but I did find some very cool pictures of library’s designs such as the Kansas City Public Library. I will probably continue to use this site because I have found several recipes this way and several organizing ideas.

Aurora Borealis and Grand Piano Music

I found this picture on Flickr, it is taken by Beverly & Pack.  I chose it because I have always wanted to see the northern lights. The picture is located at http://www.flickr.com/photos/10101046@N06/3389058334/in/photolist-6atNYf-9e8ApG.  It has an attribution license, which is found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en. 

I found this audio file at ccmixter.org, this song is called Dolphins Galaxia -Grand Piano Sample. It was written by Ivan Chew. It also has an attribution license. Here is a link with the license and music information by Mr. Chew, which I think is very talented. http://ccmixter.org/files/ramblinglibrarian/37350

 

This was a very hard assignment.  I thought at first it would be fairly easy but I could not figure out how to get either the picture or the music to upload into the post correctly. It was definitely harder than it sounds, but to finally get it to work was very rewarding. 

RSS Feeds

I subscribed to Meghan Hopper’s and Kim Warrick Stories’ blogs.  I also subscribed to Fox News,  CNN and Yahoo News.  I picked the Bloglines feed reader, I have never used one before now but I think I may like it.  This feed reader had options to add Facebook, my email, Twitter and of course what I wanted to customize myself.  I think it is neat that I can see all the updates as soon as they come up all on one page.