Last LATI Post

The project showcase was yesterday. It was fun seeing all 28 of the participants. The projects were really interesting. We received our certificates and everyone was relieved to have finished. I don't know if I will be using this blog anymore or not. I am a little conflicted about it. I never kept a journal before, but it was interesting to read the earlier posts and remember the long journey to this point. You may see me back in the future.

LATI POST for Week of October 29

I was busy this week getting replacements for the days in December for the person that retired. On Monday we found out her permanent replacement will start in January. I was able to find someone for all but two days. We will work short handed on those two days and hope we are not really busy.
The Halloween program for Babies in Bloom went well; 43 babies and 41 adults at the first session and 54 babies and 52 adults for the second session.
I finished the cut outs for my felt boards. Now all I have left is the name tags for the stories with the book title and author. I am glad it is finished since next week will be too hectic to get anything done. I am hosting two major programs, meeting with a new information person to set up their on the job training at our branch, and attend training at another branch. Thursday with the showcase will be here before you know it. Bye for now.

LATI POST for Week of October 22

It was another busy week. I enjoyed meeting all the LATI members last week. We had really great training on book advisory for youth. It is not a genre I read but get alot of requests from parents. There was a list that both boys and girls would enjoy reading.
We had our Halloween program for the preschoolers. They looked so cute in their costumes. They all jumped about a foot off the floor when I said boo at the end of one of the stories. We had three sessions and each one had 25 or more kids attending the program.
Tomorrow is the general meeting outside the library. It will take the entire day. On Saturday I am going to another branch to see their Star Wars Program. I heard it is really great and they get a large turnout. I have contacted the group about coming to my branch next Spring.
So there is not time to work on the project tomorrow. One and a half weeks to go until the deadline. Looks like I will need to do some serious work on it on Sunday.
I got the second book of six finished for my project. I am about a third of the way finished on the third book.Maybe if I have some uninterupted time I can get done. See you next week.

LATI POST for week of October 15

This week is flying by so quickly. The three story times went really well. The theme was autumn. I attended two meetings on Tuesday so that took half the day. I was able to create the characters for another book just two pieces of scenery to create and one more book is complete. I hope to finish them today. I am looking forward to a full day meeting with other LATI participants tomorrow. It is always fun to see everyone. Meet you here next week.

LATI POST for Week of October 8, 2007

This week I was busy finding patterns for my felt boards. I finished the felt board for one of the books...only five more to go. I went shopping for the felt and the display board. The next three weeks I will be busy cutting out the characters and scenery from the pieces of felt. I had three story times this week, the theme was bugs, and the kids loved it. I was surprised that even the little girls had a favorite type of bug. I have six more story times this month plus a special program for adults.
One of my coworkers announced on Tuesday that next Thursday is her last day. One of my duties is to call part time staff and fill vacancies with them. I have been on the telephone for the last two days trying to fill her hours on the schedule for the next two months. I am keeping busy and hope everything will get done in time. See you here again next week.

LATI Post for Week of October 1, 2007

I submitted my brochure for LATI. I have my portfolio complete except for the copies of this blog. I will wait and add that the day before the showcase. It has been a busy two weeks, I took some much needed time off and visited family in New Hampshire. It is really pretty there and I enjoyed a break from the hot, humid weather. My desk is piled high with work. I went to two different committee meetings this past week. They both ended with more work for me. Luckily the one deadline is after the showcase so I plan on doing a little work on it each day and I should be able to meet that deadline. I am excited about the assignment which is to read books and submit suggestions to the local schools for their summer reading list next year. I am reading books every free minute. Well that's all I have for this week. Meet you here next week.

LATI Entry for Week of September 17

This week was very productive. On Wednesday I participated in a sprint with the LATI group. I concentrated on two items that need completed very soon. My project informaiton form is completed and emailed in. This has a due date of Septembe 26th.
I committed to paper my project brochure using the GROW-TH guidelines. This is due on October 31st. Today I typed this into a microsoft word document and it is ready to be sent.
My three story times went really well. My theme was hippos. The little boys really seemed to enjoy the stories. The little girls liked the story about Hilda Must Be Dancing. I highly recommend that book for a story time.
I am still working on my portfolio and hope to have it completed by the end of next week. That will leave me the remaining time to make my patterns and cut the felt pieces and bring the characters to life.

LATI Entry for week of September 10th

I am happy to report my program on caring for you pet hosted by the SPCA went really well. Each child got to pet the animals which took a little bit of time, but the children were really patient waiting in line for their turn.
I need to prepare three story times for next week. I am happy to report I have chosen the books and made one felt board. I am not including this felt board in my showcase project.
I have started cutting out one of the six felt boards for my showcase project.
I also continued to assemble my portfolio. Just three sections left and that will be completed. Where does the time go? November 8 will be here before long and there is still so much to be done. I need to concentrate next week on completing the portfolio. I am leaving the felt boards for last since bringing the story characters to life is something I enjoy. The felt boards won't feel like work.

LATI PORTFOLIO

I am back after a very hectic holiday weekend. Today is continuing the trend with the day just flying by. I had the Firefighters at the branch for a program for preschoolers. It went really well. I was hoping for at least 30 kids to show up and we ended up with 106 kids and 65 adults. This evening I have a school visitation for parent's night. This will be the first one I have attended so it should prove interesting. All the supplies I need came in yesterday so that is a relief.
Besides these two events today, I took time out to write in my blog. I have started to assemble my portfolio. I mistakenly thought it would only take a few hours. It is more involved than I realized. I decided to write an introduction sheet for each of the chapters. This way anyone reading it will be aware of the subject. Looking forward to seeing the final product.

LATI POSTS

I am happy to say that I found an author that has the same character experiencing the different seasons of the year for the first time. I decided to use those stories for my project. We have the same children attend storytime until they start school. I think they will enjoy hearing about the same character during the different programs throughout the year. After all, J.K. Rowlings had millions of readers lining up at midnight to read the latest about Harry Potter.
The two folktales for the elementary school is not going as quickly. I have been reading them from just about every culture and I have to say they all seem very dark. There must be two stories where death is not involved. I keep reading hoping to find them. Time is running out so I hope to find them soon.
Yesterday, I had one of my programs at the branch. It went extremely well. Everyone had a great time. I also got my last craft ready for the three storytimes that are in September. So far I am managing to jungle all the different balls and not drop any of them.

LATI Assignments

Hi, I am back. Since I completed my 23things I thought that would be the end of my entries to my blog. LATI wants us to post our progress on our project and homework assignments. My project is still in the beginning stages. I have decided to do a feltboard for each of the four seasons of the year and two folktales. The four seasons will be aimed to 3-4 year olds that attend storytime. The two folktales will be aimed for elementary school to use when we have our school visits. I think using folktales from two different cultures would be more interesting than two stories from the same culture.
On the homework assignment I can say I am making progress. I have been researching my 35 reference sources and feel confident that I will have them all completed by the due date of October 3rd. I finished my Google/Medline Plus Challenge and posted my finding to the General Discussion Board.
Looking at the assignment list besides my 35 reference sources I have to complete and email my project information form by Sept 26, the reader's advisory resurces/books which I have read just have not completed the module which is due Oct 18th. Project GROW-TH Brochure is due Oct 31 and I haven't read what that is about yet. The project showcase is Nov 8th so I guess I have to get started pretty soon on that if I want to be done on time. Luckily my work to get my four programs and three storytimes ready for my library branch is almost done. Once they are complete I can really concentrate on my project for LATI.

Week 9, Thing 23: Summarize Your Thoughts About This Program

I have to say it was enjoyable for the most part. Some areas were very frustrating. The time it took to complete each weeks exercise was longer than I thought they would be. I did learn alot on new things and am happy I was a part of the program. If they offer another program I would be very interested in it.
Describing my learning experience in a few words very trying but very interesting.

Week 9, Thing 22: Downloadable Audiobooks

I checked an audiobook out of NetLibrary for this exercise. Unfortunately, I am not able to download it to my computer at work. That is okay since I don't enjoy books on cd or tape. I enjoy holding a paper book and reading the words to myself. Can see where this would be good for people with long commutes that don't have time to get to the library and check out a book on cd.

Week 9, Thing 21: Useful search tools for locationg podcasts

I did not enjoy the podcasts at all. I signed up for one to bloglines but I don't ever see me listening to it.

Week 9, Thing 20: Discover YouTube

I enjoyed the videos about the library and cockateils. Many of the videos played for longer than I wanted on my blog. Since my blog is named for my pets, I decided to add the video Kiwi Lordess of the Rings.

WEEK 8, THING 19: EXPLORE SITE FROM WEB 2.0 AWARDS LIST

I took a look at a couple of the sites from WEB 2.0 AWARDS LIST. The one I really found interesting was PEERtrainer.I am one of those people that was skinny and could eat anything they wanted until they hit their forties. Now it is a constant battle with weight gain and I can see where a website like PEERtrainer could help. I think I will give it a try.
What really astounded me was all the different sites that are out there. How does one know where to find them?

WEEK 8, THING 18: ONLINE PORDUCTIVITY TOOLS

I signed up for an account on Google Docs. I really liked the calendar. I can see me using it instead of Outlook. Too many times I have had to wait until I got to work to check out my work calendar so I didn't plan a vacation during the wrong time. By having access to it on the internet I could check it anywhere. I also liked the excel spread sheets. I have been wanting to set up a spreadsheet for sometime on scheduling of part time people but hadn't got around to it. Now it is done.

WEEK 7, THING 17: LEARNING 2.0 SANDBOX WIKI

I am happy to announce I was able to add my blog to the favorite blogs. Now on to posting my comments on the LCN. See you there.

WEEK 7, THING 16: LEARN ABOUT WIKIS

The whole concept of wikis seemed very strange to me until I read the material about them. I have to say I have a new outlook about them. I like the idea of using the wikis for use by committees. It would be faster than the email system way of communicating. I really enjoyed The Bull Run Library Wiki and will add it to my del.icio.us file. The wiki had information and links to areas that I found interesting. The only troublng idea with the public wikis is that everyone can edit the information. It makes me very cautious about believing anything on the wiki. For this reason I have not used Wikipedia. Now for a personal note, I love the idea of a wiki for planning my parents anniversary parties and Christmas list for gifts to the nieces and nephews so they don't end up with duplicate gifts.

WEEK 6, THING 15; WEB 2.0, LIBRARY 2.0

I read all the articles listed since I am still slightly confused on what constitutes web 2.0 and library 2.0 .The Article Away from the icebergs was easy to understand and made me look at the library in a new way. I don't believe that in the future a library will only be found online. Too many people visit the library inorder to interact with neighbors and feel like a part of a community. But for the growing population that are unable visit a library building due to distance or time restraints the computer is a great alternative. I agree that we need to eliminate the barriers between patrons and interfaces so the patron can enjoy reading. Too many patrons ask how to download an ebook or use Rosetta Stone. The programers that set up the interface may feel it is simple to use but for someone not computer savy it is not the case. Listening to our patrons and meeting them in cyberspace is not the wave of the future but a reality of the present. The one fact I understood clearly from reading the articles is the computer is here to stay, and everyone working in the library needs to be up to date on the latest evolutions of it.

WEEK 6, THING 14: TECHNORATI

I did not claim my blog on Technorati since I don't see any need to keep the blog once the 23 things is over. If I were someone that spent time on the computer for recreation I can see where tags would be a big help.I am going to tell a friend about the site since they like to keep up with anything their teenage son is involved in. We were supposed to take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for "Learning 2.0" in blog posts in tags and in the Blog Directory. The results were different. Keyword I found 25064, directory 482 and tag 25419. Explore top favorited blog, top searches and top blogs It asked if I found anything interesting or surprising. Well, I can't say anything was surprising since I had no preconceived idea of what would be listed. Interesting was one LIfehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done.

WEEK 6, THING 13: TAGGING AND DEL.ICIO.US

I was unable to see the 12 minute tutorial on Delicio.us, the link was down. I did get to read the Us.ef.ul article and that helped alot. I can see where Delicio.us could come in handy. Someone that has trouble remembering all their favorite url this would take care of it. I can even see me using it. I know that will come as a hugh shock to people that know me.

WEEk 5, THING 12: ROLL YOUR OWN SEARCH TOOL WITH ROLLYO

I don't think I have any need Rollyo at this time. I set up an account with Rollyo but when I went to look at it, I was unable to find it or link it to this blog. I felt like I had wasted my time. If someone like Deborah Messing shops alot online or has a health concern and looks at multiple sites then Rollyo would help.

WEEK 5, THING 11: LIBRARYTHING

I can see where Library Thing could help get me organized. I don't keep a list of books that I have read because I am not organized enough to know where to keep such a list. I like the idea of having the book cover on the page. It adds some color and I will be more apt to use the site since it won't be just a list of titles. I like the idea of adding my review so down the road when I forget what the book was about the review will remind me. I haven't been able to add the list of books to my blog. Hopefully, before the 23 Things is over I will master it.

WEEK 5, THING 10: PLAY AROUND WITH AN ONLINE IMAGE GENERATOR

I liked the name in lights generator. I could not get the airplane one to work. It would have been nice to imagine owning my own airlines. There was the link to FDToys
so I made a movie poster. Just could not get it to copy to my blog. I printed out a copy and have it hanging near my desk. I like the idea that everyone can manipulate photos and you don't have to pay an expert to design the finished product for you.

I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk

WEEK 4 THING 9: EXPLORE MERLIN AND NEWS FEEDS

Merlin has a section on learning links that was helpful. I looked through the one on computers.
As far as news feeds, I was unable to hook up with Library Journal News and Reader's Club Rss Feeds. The others on the list went okay.

I enjoyed making the avatrar

WEEK 4, THING 8: LEARN ABOUT RSS AND SETUP BLOGLINES NEWSREADER ACCOUNT

What I like about RSS newsreader is the time savings. I can just go to one place and read the top stories. I also added some of the other 23 things blogs to see how other blogs look. Now the one thing I have not read is if the stories on the blogline will disappear by themselves after a time or if I have to do something to delete them like in email. Hopefully, I will find out before the site gets too full and crashes. My blogline newsreader account is http://www.bloglines.com/public/username

WEEK 3, THING 7: BLOG POST ABOUT ANYTHING TECHNOLOGY RELATED

I have to admit that I use the Internet everyday. Our library computer system does not allow for misspelled words or incorrect titles. I wish it were more like google where it asks if you mean _
The Google site is used too many times in a day to count. I use it for spelling or looking up an author's webpage to see a list of their published books. I use Amazon to check the exact title of the book a patron requested when they are not sure of it. Since moving to a new city I am always using Mapquest inorder to find my way around the area. The Internet Movie Database comes in handy when someone needs to know the name of an actor in a specific movie. I know I survived 50 years without a computer but I will admit it has made my life easier.

WEEK 3, THING 6: FLICKR MASHUPS & 3RD PARTY SITES

The mashups and 3rd party sites looked interesting. I did not join any of the groups. I really enjoyed the Flickr toys. I made a magazine cover with a picture of my library on the front cover. Other options for having fun with your photos seemed worth trying.

WEEK 3, THING 5: EXPLORE FLICKR

I enjoyed Flickr. It is fantastic for sharing photos with friends and family that live across the country. No more waiting for reunions to share photos. I liked the feature where the photos can be private or public.

2007_0620Image0003

2007_0620Image0003,
originally uploaded by annlibraryassociate.

This is my home away from home

Mono Lake Winter Kayaking1

Mono Lake Winter Kayaking1,
originally uploaded by Buck Forester.

When the world is too hectic, imagine yourself here

WEEK 2, THING 4: REGISTER YOUR BLOG AND TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

Registering my blog was simple. No problems here. I am confused on tracking my progress. I am not sure if I should print out the form and enter the information or if I just enter the information into the computer. I will need to get clearification on that issue.

WEEK 2, THING 3: SET UP YOUR OWN BLOG & ADD YOUR FIRST POST

I found the directions to setting up a blog easy to follow. The hardest part was deciding on the template. I had to make a correction to one of my posts, which wasn't too difficult. Naming the blog was easy for me. I named it after my two pets. I thought the chance of someone else using the same name was extremely slim.

WEEK 1, THING 2: POINTERS FROM LIFELONG LEARNERS

This topic is covered in my second post. Great feeling that I am actually on schedule so far.

WEEK 1, THING 1: ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

The program has started. It will run for 9 weeks until August 31, 2007. The program 23 things is to encourage me to experiment and learn new technologies that are reshaping the context of information on the Internet. This sounds all well and fine but I have some reservations.
The scariest part of this whole program is that it is self taught. I am not a person that can learn well from written instructions, on the other hand show me once and I will remember it.
The next 9 weeks should prove interesting to say the least.

LIFELONG LEARNING

The "23 Things" program talked about 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits used by effective life long learners. They are:

1- Begin with the end in mind
2-Accept responsibility for your own learning
3-View problems as challenges
4-Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5-Create your own learning toolbox
6-Use technology to your advantage
7-Teach/Mentor others
1/2-Play

I just watched the pod cast on 7 & ½ Habits. I enjoyed the tutorial. It was presented in an easy to understand format, not progressing too quickly or too slowly. The pictures were also enjoyable.

Easiest habits of the 7 & ½ Habits for me is Teach/mentor others. I enjoy teaching my Sunday school 1st graders. One of my favorite’s aspects of my job at the library is teaching patrons how to use the our on line card catalog.

The next easiest habit is view problems as challenges. My philosophy about life is every obstacle placed in front of me is an opportunity to learn and grow. Life would be very boring if you already knew everything and had no interesting little bumps along the way. After all life is the journey not the destination.

Accept responsibility for your own learning. I always hated the kids in school who understood math problems right away. I would have to work on them for hours before the light bulb above my head would light up. I understood at an early age that some things are understood quickly while others take longer.

Begin with the end in mind. I am pretty good about this habit. When I start a project I have the end envisioned. The problem is a lot of time once into the process, my goal changes. I took a course at my community college in home electrical, the end in mind to be able to know when I was being charged for unnecessary things. I thought it would be a course that explained electrical terms. The course did that and so much more, I am now able to wire a house or fix small electrical lamps or extension cords.

Hardest habits for me are
Confidence in myself as a competent effective learner. I am not a confident person. My whole world changed drastically two years ago and my confidence seems to have disappeared. Many times I hear myself saying out loud YOU CAN DO THIS. I have to admit I am usually amazed when I do accomplish the task. An example would be I did not know anything about PC’s. I have a friend that helped talk me through tearing a computer apart to see the mother board and explain everything to me so when someone talked about a part of the computer I would understand. The friend talked me through putting the computer back together and downloading the different programs. Yes the computer does work. My fear of breaking a computer disappeared.

Play. I don’t seem to have enough hours in a day to play. I schedule one afternoon a month to go out with friends for lunch and a movie. The time it takes for that causes enough of a backload that it takes a week to catch up

FIRST POST

Hello! I am new to blogging. I work in a Maryland Public Library in Anne Arundel County. The libraries in the state are participating in a project called "23 Things", the program will help increase my knowledge of the internet. Right now about the only part of the internet I use is email and mapquest. In the coming weeks, I will be posting my thoughts about information resources on the internet. The blog is my first introduction to these new resources. It seems very strange to me, almost like publishing a personal journal. Why would anyone else want to read my journal?
It isn't like I am a journalist, author or celebrity.