PPLD Thing #13 - Check out MySpace or Facebook.

Exercise #1 - Visit MySpace and see if you can find the PPLD Teen Page and search for co-workers with a MySpace profile.

You can find this site at http://www.myspace.com/pikespeaklibraryteens.

Here are some co-worker sites I found:

 http://www.myspace.com/librarianextraordinaire

http://www.myspace.com/pretzel17

http://www.myspace.com/thecoloradocutie

http://www.myspace.com/vfranklyn

I didn't have much luck finding people who work in my department though....hmm...not sociable or technophobe?

Exercise #2 - Sign up for Facebook and add yourself to the Pikes Peak Library District Group.

Ok, I did that. I also found some hometown people and high school alumni out there as well. I plan on going back to Facebook in the near future and try to get in touch with some of them. At first glance this appears to be a "grown-up" version of MySpace. Time will tell.

PPLD Thing #12: Roll your own search engine

Great, another tool I'll probably never need or find a use for.

But wait... after looking at it maybe I can use it. Evelyn and I are always looking for a new recipe to try and we usually look on different web sites until we find one that sounds good. Why not have 1 search engine that can look on all those sites at the same time. So here is what I came up with:

Lots' a Recipes

Try it and let me know what you think.

PPLD Thing #11: A thing about LibraryThing

What is LibraryThing?

LibraryThing is an online service to help people catalog their books easily. You can access your catalog from anywhere—even on your mobile phone. Because everyone catalogs together, LibraryThing also connects people with the same books, comes up with suggestions for what to read next, and so forth.

That is the official description from the web site's FAQ.

I really don't see the need to catalogue all my books for everyone else to comment on, etc... Also I can get recommended reading list from any bookseller or library web site along with a description/synopsis. But with that said, I can see how this would be useful to some people and the group discussion at http://www.librarything.com/groups/librarianswholibrar is great. I especially enjoyed the posts about librarian stereotypes in movies such as "It's a Wonderful Life".

PPLD Thing #10: Find colleagues and classmates at LinkedIn.com

Interesting site. It seems to be geared more toward the professional than someone just looking to be social. I have only one problem though, nobody I know is out there. It appears that all my former classmate or colleagues have never heard of LinkedIn. I have searched old companies, old friends and old classmates. Nobody is there. I feel like I'm stuck in a Twilight Zone episode.

Hello.....hello.....is anybody out there?......

PPLD Thing #9 - Subscribe to a coworker's blog

This was really easy. I immediately thought of my former book club buddy and current colleague at PPLD, Jason Stewart. Jason also known as Grouchomonkey (I don't know why because I never asked) is the only person I know that has actually been published. So I went to his blog to subscribe and began reading.

Ok, I'm embarrassed and ashamed of my blog. My poor grammer and dull descriptions of things appears elementary compared to his eloquent and vibrate writings. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it even though most of the subject matter was the same as mine, PPLD's 23 Things project. I can only hope he pursues the writing or journalistic dreams he has spoken of in the past. check it out at http://grouchomonkey.wordpress.com/.

Another part of this exercise was to locate a few useful library related blogs so here they are:

The Library of Congress

The New York Public Library

The Shifted Librarian 

 

Enjoy!

PPLD Thing #8 - Learn about RSS feeds and set up your own Bloglines newsreader account.

Ok, I had heard of RSS but never really understood it. It is pretty useful if you are trying to track several web sites or blogs. Instead of going to several sites, you can log into your RSS feeder and see all the items that have been recently updated and choose which ones you want to view or read. This activity requested we set up an account on Bloglines and subscribe to The Blog@PPLD. It's a fairly easy process but I'm not sure I like the way Bloglines displays the RSS feeds although it is very easy to subscribe to a feed. A while back I downloaded a RSS aggregator called Doppler but never really used it. Upon closer review, I like the way Doppler displays the feeds a lot better. It is in a "headline" type of view. You can scroll down through the feed titles and click on the items that interest you if you would like to see the complete text. Doppler will also sync with Bloglines so if you have already set up an account with Bloglines you can pull those subscriptions into Doppler automatically.

PPLD Thing #7: Create a blog post about anything Flickr related that interests you this week.

As I stated earlier, this is a very interesting site. I'm not sure if I would ever use it to share photos or just keep my photos on my blog pages/web site. For those of you not able to access the PPLD intranet and see the links in this activity, I have listed most of them below. Check them out.

Flickr

PPLD's Flickr group

Mappr

Flickr Color Pickr

Montagr

FD Toys’ Trading Card Maker

And while we are on the subject of photos and mine compared to the one's on Flickr, I plan in the near future to post a photo album of some of mine. I'll let you know when that happens.

PPLD Thing #6: Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mash-ups and 3rd party sites.

There's a lot of neat programs out there. I was particularly enthralled with Montagr. To sit and watch it compile thousands of thumbnails to create a larger image was fascinating. I know, it doesn't take much to fascinate me (Ooooh, sparkly). This activity recommended we create a trading card. Instead I created a picture id. I know this sounds mundane but I had fun. Check it out below:

 

PPLD Thing #5 - Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.

I thought I was a fairly good photographer and took some pretty decent photos but after looking around on Flicker I realize I have been taking snap shots. There are some amazing photos out there and if you have the time you should browse around the website.

Cleo Glenn Lewis 1909-2008

OKLAHOMA CITY — Cleo Glenn “Bill” Lewis, 98, of Oklahoma City, passed away Tuesday, March 11, 2008, in Durant. Funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Comanche (Okla.) Funeral Home Chapel with Dale Lewis officiating. Burial will be in Duncan Cemetery. Visitation will be until 8 p.m. today, with the family receiving guests from 6 to 7 p.m.; and from 9 a.m. to service time on Friday. Cleo was born May 9, 1909, in Flat, Coryll County, Texas, to Thomas and Carrie Maddox Lewis. He moved to Stephens County with his dad in 1921. He married Opal Sloan on Sept. 4, 1928, in Duncan. In 1943, they moved to Oklahoma City. Cleo worked at Tinker Air Force Base for 29 years, retiring in 1972. He was a member of Capitol Hill Christian Church. Survivors include a son, Travis Eugene Lewis and his wife, Emma Jane, of Blanchard; a daughter, Patsy Ann Saunders and her husband, Jim, of Durant; four brothers: Joe Lewis and his wife, Libby, of Lovington, N.M., Lester Lewis and his wife, Estelene, of Duncan, Dale Lewis and his wife, Helen, of Breckenridge, Texas, and Ernest Lewis and his wife, Susan, of Dardanelle, Ark.; a sister, Leatrice Cash and her husband, Loyd, and a brother-in-law, Shelby Myers, all of Oklahoma City; five grandsons and three granddaughters; 11 great-grandchildren; 19 great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death in 2005 by his loving wife of 76 years, Opal Estelle Lewis; a daughter, Glenna, and son-in-law, Bud Ford; his parents, Carrie Maddox and Thomas Lewis; his stepmother, Lillian Lasater; and two special sisters, Nelda Myers and Virginia Juanita Maxey.

See more photos of Cleo's life at http://www.mem.com/Story.aspx?ID=2339436

PPLD Thing #4 - Register you blog on the PPLD Intranet Wiki

Done that already.

PPLD Thing #3 - Wikis

So wiki is Hawaiian for quick. I can see that since a wiki appears to be one big text document with hyper-links. It is pretty cool to see such a community effort in publishing, editing and policing a web site. Another plus is that you don't need to have the latest technology and the fastest broadband to load and edit a page. I can understand the cons such as vandalism, etc...but unfortunately that part of an open and free environment. I guess the virtual world parallels the real world in that aspect.

The PPLD has quite an extensive wiki on their intranet site. It has info on everything from employee/benefit policies to committee meeting minutes. It even has a staff bulletin board for the posting of items for sell, etc... If you need to know anything about what is going on in our district this is the place to go.

I am still not used to it though and forget to go look for answers to my questions. My entire working life I have been sent memos, e-mails or told new info in person so having to go look for myself is quite the new experience but I am getting used to it.

Part of this project was to look at how other wikis are setup and used.

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki (http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page) appears to be a very informative place for librarians throughout the world to collaborate and exchange ideas.

SJCPL Subject Guides (http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page) appears to be nothing more than a card catalogue. It is very restrictive and can be edited only by the librarians at the St. Joseph County Public Library. This seems contrary to the idea of openness that is part of the wiki ideal.

I also looked at Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). Now this the ultimate in open community effort. To read an extensive history of Colorado Springs, CO go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Springs.

Overall, I think wikis are quite useful for the spreading of information and ideas. I might have to set one up someday to play around with and learn more. Any ideas for the subject matter?

Altered Space: 21st Century Installation Art

If you get a chance, I highly recommend seeing this exhibit at the FAC Modern located in the Plaza of the Rockies in downtown Colorado Springs. It’s a small exhibit of just 3 installations but each one has its own dedicated room. All 3 artists are from this region.

Christina Marsh – Colorado College

For a room with nothing more than a photo album lying on a chair, stacks of clothes in one corner, a pile of luggage in the center of the room, an antique side table with a silver tea set and a wall full of various empty white picture frames, this was quite a moving experience. It’s all about transition and moving on with your life while staying anchored to your roots. This hit home with me since my family is in the Texas/Oklahoma area and Evelyn’s is in New Jersey.

The wall of picture frames stuck with me the most. I instantly imagined them filled with pictures of family and friends. But when you go, look closer at the frames. They just aren’t any old frames. Stand directly in front of them and take a deep breath. Think about it and you’ll recognize the scent. They are all made from white chocolate.

During the day, the frames are heated by the lights shining on them. At night, they cool off. The results are that they are constantly changing. They sag and change shapes a little more each day. This just drove home the fact that our lives are forever in transition and changing due to external factors we might not even notice or that we take for granted.

Matt Barton – UCCS

This was quite interesting as well. This is the artist conception of a post-apocalyptic world. Instead of the Hollywood idea of utter chaos and destruction, this installation projects a sense of calm, peace and rebirth. You can actually walk into and around this exhibit. Take a walk over to the makeshift shelter and look inside. Now, turn around and you find yourself immersed in the exhibit as if you were really out in the wild trying to start over again. It was really a strange sensation.

Gwen Laine – Denver’s Carson Gallery

Although a great installation, I have to admit that that I understood this one the least. Like the other installations, this was also about change. It is a room full of transparent prints of hands suspended from helium filled Mylar balloons. The slightest breeze will make the prints spin and move. Also as time goes on the balloons will begin to lose their buoyancy and sink. This will cause the prints to stack on top of each other creating a multi-layered picture of hands.

Overall, this was an excellent exhibit and I would recommend it to anyone. The experience of being able to walk around the rooms and be totally submersed in the installation is incredible. The exhibit runs through April 26, 2008.

For more details, go to http://www.csfineartscenter.org/Altered.asp