Flickr (or why I can't remember how to spell things without the right number of vowels- see del.ici.ous etc.)

I think there are many upsides to Flickr. First, its free- at least the basic account. Another plus is the fact that you can set some pictures to private while others are shared publicly. This especially would be a consideration for the library if we decided to post program pictures because some things we may not be able to share publicly if they are tagged with names or other identifying information. That being said, I do think there are other uses besides posting program pictures. Recently, our branch has formed a marketing team to look at branch displays and arrangement of materials to increase circulation and attractiveness. I have done a couple of searches on Flickr using keywords like library displays and marketing and other words I've found in people's tags of pictures. There are a lot of great examples of library displays and signage- even some from Howard County and Pratt. I think we could also potentially search for things like "Summer Reading Club" and get ideas about what other libraries are doing.
I like Flickr and can envision us putting it into better use at the library. I hope we will.

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back...

Well hello there! I was just sitting here at my desk, wondering what was going to get me through this New Year's Eve workday and that's when I remembered Web 2.0! The slow winterness of the recent days begs for something that builds some sort of momentum and this assignment has the potential to provide that. A step-by-step process to attain the goal? Check. Other people consistently (perhaps) checking my progress? Check. A procrastination tool for all the other things begging for my attention? Check. Guess I better figure out where I am in the activities....

I'll be back soon, promise!

Frederick Co PL computers seized by FBI

Interesting story from pretty close to home:

MD PL Director Accedes to FBI Computer Seizure; Possible Anthrax Link

What would we do if this happened at one of our branches? Makes you really think about the Freedom of Information stuff and everything. Oh our world...

Bird sounds... or something. Need to read the about section of twitter to figure out where the name came from...

I added Twitter to my blog here a little earlier than it calls for in the prescribed 2.0 timeline, but here it is. We'll see how often I actually get around to updating. It seems that since I added it on Friday afternoon, there have been numerous blog posts around the library world about twittering and here's one from School Library Journal, complete with Twitter tips for those of us not yet versed in the ways of the twit.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6573999.html

So much for being back soon...

It seems as soon as my last post was published, the branch was swept up in the maelstrom of summer reading club and now here we are almost on the other side. SRC is the most intense weeks of the library life- very exciting, but a time during which we all question our sanity and sometimes our devotion to this profession. What is the point of summer reading club we sit around asking ourselves as we shake our heads over the fact that children need such motivation to delve into a book for fun (because as librarians how can we imagine that every child doesn't innately just NEED to read...). We've had great turnouts this year, registration numbers are up, more patrons are using the library. Guess I'll still have to give SRC a big thumbs up when it comes right down to it...

Anyway, this post is to say that I'm jump starting my library car back on the road to 2.0.
I promise this time I'll see you in just a few days!!
Maybe.

Beginning of the journey...

Here I am at the beginning of the web 2.0 journey, although I've made a few day trips before into this world. I'm very excited that everyone at the library will be getting the chance to experiment with new technologies so that hopefully we can put them to good use in the near future. There is such a huge explosion recently of relevant technology that we could work with to better communicate with our patrons- I can't see how we could put this off for much longer. Not to mention the fact that everyday we see people in the branches working with things like Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, blogs etc., that its so important that we at least basically understand how to work the things! I know that embracing these technologies can be hard for some people because they seem frustrating or like they're written in a different language, but I hope that everyone keeps an open mind and lets web 2.0 take them in many interesting directions!

I look forward to learning all that is ahead of us and for once, I'm happy not to be programming!

Coming soon... my favorite library blogs!