Tasks 21 & 22

Ok, I have attempted to download the videos on my computer and the computers at work and neither of them will let it happen. I did read the stuff I could and read about Li2.0. I am somewhere between Jack and Catherine. I know how Catherine feels about drowning and dying of boredom but I also am encouraged by Jack's enthusiasm. I think we need to think about just what it is we want the library to be. Maybe we will have to revise the definition of "library" Emily and I have had some of this conversation. I like game night, don't get me wrong, but I still feel like that should be the function of a "recreation department" I know that we have recreational books and that books are traditional media for libraries. Now we have electronic media and video games are electronic recreational media. Have patience with the elderly, Emily, it may take us a little longer to get our feeble old minds wrapped around these new functions of the library. And just saying that makes me think that this is going to be a process. We won't do this overnight and our patrons won't expect or even know how to use this overnight. I think it is important to keep an open mind and to keep learning and evolving. Thanks for getting us jump started, Emily. It has been a lot of fun.

Library Databases

OK. Explored the databases and I am impressed. I had always been impressed with Ebsco host. If any one remembers those reader's advisory things we had in high school...those tiny print, coded little paperbacks with magazine articles listed. First of all you had to find the subject you wanted and what magazine it was in and then hope that the library actually had the magazine, the issue and that the page hadn't been torn out. Just imagine all that work! I have always loved being able to tell people about Ebsco when they were looking for non-book and non-internet sources for their papers!
I got on the Heritage thing from home and at first thought it was full of it because I put in one of my ancestors in the census search and they didn't show up and I knew they were here during because they are in the census books they have here. But despite that I did find out that some of my family from the 1700's were Polks ala Polks Station here in Nelson Co. and that one of the women was captured by Indians and had a child born in Detroit while a captive.
I got on the Auto Repair thingie and saw that I really should have looked up the VW beetle for recalls and service bulletins before I bought the damn thing.
I explored Novelist and was really impressed. Who needs books when there is so much to read about books! And authors! I thought Ludlum and LeCarre would be read-alikes. Boy was I wrong. The YA book award lists are extensive too so if you are looking for a good YA book, try those lists too.
Thanks for making us do this Emily! It was an eye-opener!

Downloadable books

I explored the sites about downloadable books and I have the same feeling about them as Eileen. I get too bored just listening...I have to get up and start doing something else. The thing is that everything else is too noisy so I can't hear the reader when I do that. I think I would like them in the car but I would have to be alone...some folks have to talk you know. And I don't go anywhere by myself that I would have a chance to listen to a whole book. I'm thinking this earphone thing on the mp3 might solve those barriers though. There is no excuse for boredom. Ever.

Tech Blog for #18

This blog is for the assignment #18 where we blog about technology. Having already read Jack’s post, I’m going to start out by commenting on what he started and let it develop from there. I too used to take photos on a SLR with zoom lens and wait for the photos to be developed and then put them in albums, shoe boxes and plastic storage boxes and have to search through all those photos to find the one I was looking for. Now I have CDs with photos on them that I can’t find. But posting these things to flickr seems to be a good way to have the photos ready to be viewed with little or no storage space required. I would not trust the baby pictures to flickr alone though. I recently started trying to organize the storage room and came across yet another storage box of photos from 25 years ago. I also have a box of vhs-c tapes of Katy’s babyhood that I want to get transcribed onto DVD. Which brings me to the frustrating side of technology. I have gone from 45 rpm and LP vinyl disks, to 8 track (very briefly) to cassette tapes and then CDs. Now CDs are out and our music is going to come from a little bitty thing with earplugs. I won’t miss the clutter but just looking around at the rows of CDs on the shelves near me and then thinking back on all the money I have spent on all the different formats just keeping my music in the latest fashion. You young people will accuse me of whining but wait 20 years and you will be doing it too but I’m guessing with a lot less clutter since it all seems to be digital anyway. I can see it now, all the music, stories, photos, videos, everything on one little chip. They will probably implant it in your finger so all you have to do to review any of it is to poke your finger up....nah, that’s going in the wrong direction. Anyway, you get the idea. Add your id, your debt card, a gps and one of those those RFID chips and you won’t need to carry a purse anymore... Except for lipstick and a comb. No way those are going high tech.

Anyway, the thing that I’m really looking forward to is the MP3 player. Last summer Ron and I started making a list of our top 100 songs of all time. We had a hard time limiting the list to 100. We were thinking at the time of how neat it would be to have one of those old fashioned juke boxes like the ones that sat on restaurant tables with the little pages that turn, the chrome trim and the push buttons. The old Stephen Foster Hotel Coffee Shop had them if anybody remembers that. I know the MP3 is a far cry from that but the idea is that we can have our list of 100 songs (only now it doesn’t have to be limited to 100) and have it at the dinner table or in the car or where ever. I was telling him yesterday that one of the things I wanted to get started doing is going through my CDs with a pad of sticky notes and writing down which of the tracks I want to pull off to put on the MP3 player. He started talking about some of his favorites...Broadway Showtunes...and I think he may have to get his own.