Me, Myself and I

Web 2.0 awards

2009-01-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

I admit it, I spent WAY too long playing on Hairmixer. This site came in 2nd place in the Web 2.0 Awards for the category "fun stuff." This site allows you to upload a picture of yourself and see what you would look like with various celebrity hairstyles. You can also see how celebrities would look if they had your hair and body. All in all, this site was totally fun. Seeing Owen Wilson's face on my body kind of weirded me out, though.

Wikis

2009-01-01T13:15:00.001-08:00

I like the idea of public libraries using using wikis to present info. With the popularity of Wikipedia, I can imagine that a lot of customers would find this format easy to use and understand.

Here are some thoughts on various library wikis:

SJCPL's pathfinder wiki seems very comprehensive, but it might be just a little too jam-packed with info. I can imagine that it could be pretty overwhelming and confusing for first time users.

Princeton Public Library's "BookLoversWiki" is pretty cool because it encourages customers to get excited about reading and to share their thoughts with other book lovers.
Also, I like how there's a link to the catalog (SJCPL's pathfinder wiki doesn't provide this).

The "Best Practices Wiki" is great because it's well organized and not overwhelming. Bull Run Library's wiki, on the other hand, does not seem organized in the least. The different bits of info on this wiki seem to be arbitrarily listed.

Google Docs

2009-01-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

After exploring Google Docs I have to say that I think that it's easier to use than Microsoft Word. I'm surprised that this is so, considering that I, like everyone else my age, have been using Microsoft Word since grade school and am, obviously, quite used to it.

I wish that this tool had been around when I was in college. It would have made group papers/projects so much easier. I will definitely use this Google Docs at work from now on. A colleague who works at another library branch and I will soon be working on a presentation that we are giving in the spring. Using Google Docs will allow us to work on the same document without having to e-mail each other drafts.

Also, from now on I will suggest to customers at the library that they use Google Docs instead of Word. This could prevent problems with customers creating documents in one program and not being able to open it on library computers because we don't have the program on which it was originally created.

Delicious

2008-11-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

is awesome because: all of the web sites I use daily are now neatly organized in one place! I no longer have to clutter up the "favorites" folder on staff pcs. AND, I can access my bookmarks anywhere, and I don't have to individually bookmark sites on every computer I use.

I love making my life easier. But, I don't really care to see what other people bookmark.

Twitter

2008-11-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

Microblogging is fun, but I would only do it with close friends. Isn't it kind of dangerous to let strangers know what you're doing every second of the day?

When I explored the site, I searched for names of popular hangouts in Columbus. It was neat to see how some people use Twitter to send the word out to their friends that they're going to a bar that night.

I also did a search for conversations about an obscure 80s made for TV movie (The Worst Witch). I couldn't believe that so many people knew about it!

It was also cool to see that some public libraries use Twitter to update patrons on what's going on in the library. I can think of a large library system in Columbus, OH who should maybe consider doing the same thing.

My twitter username: Magbar

LibraryThing

2008-11-26T14:23:00.001-08:00

I love LibaryThing, but I feel that it would take a lot of commitment to use it reguarly. I'm not sure I trust myself to log in and add a title every time I finish a book. I currently use a notebook to record the titles that I read, so I'll have to transfer the titles into LibraryThing...

Also, what I really like about LibraryThing is that tagging makes catagorizing titles easy. I also really like being able to see the cover art.

http://www.librarything.com/home/mbarbour

Image generators - FD Toys

2008-11-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

Is awesome! With Warholizer I made this creation of Pretty Boy (my cat).
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/warholizer.php

I really wanted to make a Read mini poster with the ALA Mini Read Poster Generator, but the photo that you upload has to be just the right size (the cropping option doesn't quite cut it).

Exploring Newsfeeds Search Tools

2008-11-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

Topix.net: I didn't really like using this tool. Yeah, it's helpful in finding blog posts/news stories, but they seem to be taken from random sources (i.e. small news sources) to which I wouldn't normally go to find info. I don't really want to subscribe to any news sources.

Syndic8.com: I like this one much better than Topix.net. I found a great new source for anime news (Anime News Network). The sources I found here seem to be much more comprehensive.

Technorati: I pretty much feel the same way about this tool as I do about Topic.net. The sources aren't comprehensive enough for me. But I did find out that MTV has film blog. I'm not a huge fan of MTV, but hey, it's what the kids are watching, right?

RSS feeds/Bloglines

2008-11-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

I've never been a big user of RSS feeds until now. The only RSS feed that I previously subscribed to was the "New Teen Fiction" feed available through CML's Web site. Now I will save a lot of time that I would have wasted on going to each individual Web site/blog searching for new posts.

This isn't me

2008-11-16T13:33:00.001-08:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by barbour.maggie

Flickr's Badge Maker is so much fun! I want to make a whole bunch for my friends and then print and lamenate them for their wallets.

Yay reading!

2008-11-16T13:02:00.001-08:00

J'aime les chat tuxedos

2008-11-16T12:48:00.001-08:00

tuxedo cat
Originally uploaded by anglekitty

Please forgive the horrible French, but I love tuxedo cats. I have one named Pretty Boy because he is a very pretty cat, and I'm pretty sure he's well aware of this fact. The cat in this picture isn't Pretty Boy, but he looks a lot like a cat I had when I was in high school. He was a Maine Coon breed (like the cat in the picture), and also a tuxedo cat.

Remember AOL instant messenger?

2008-11-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

AOL instant messenger was huge when I was in middle and high school. Where has it gone? Not that I would use it anymore. I wonder if some day when teenagers today are grown up they'll say, "whatever happened to Facebook?"

Read any good new teen lit?

2008-11-03T12:06:00.001-08:00

I just read Luxe by Anna Godbersen and LOVED IT! I can't wait to start the next book in the series, Rumors. Anyone else read anything good lately?

Lifelong Learning

2008-11-03T11:58:00.000-08:00

Out of the 7 1/2 lifelong learning habits, #7: Teach/Mentor Others because I do this every day in Northside Branch's Homework Help Center. I learn something new every day.

The most difficult for me is probably #7 1/2: Play. It is easy to get caught up in learning helpful subjects and aquiring new skills and completely forget that learning should be fun!