September Musings

Well, I just noticed it was July since my last post--it seems I've been busy. Getting ready for the fall semester is the busiest time of the year for college librarians. Finally, yesterday I got my desk cleaned off and today got my email cleaned up. Now, if I could just get my allergies cleaned up, all would be right in the world. I just went through allergy testing and discovered some new things I have to avoid. Now I need to avoid my cat (so sad), wheat, corn, chicken & egg, and milk. I never knew I had a corn problem, so had depended on it since I knew I had a wheat problem. I'm rotating all of my other foods for a month, which means strange eating and lots of cooking from scratch. Avoiding corn is a full-time occupation.

Today is my baby boy's 26th birthday--can't believe it's been that long. I still remember his beautiful smiling face picking him up from elementary school and now he has 2 master's degrees and is an electrical engineer, making more money than I do. I'm very proud!

Thing 6 Blog Readers

Wonder of wonders--I had already started my Google blog reader and had forgotten about it. This will really make it easier for me to keep up with the blogs I'm following when I remember to check them. Actually, since Google does Blogger, my personal email, sorts my blogs, and has YouTube, what more could one ask for?

More Images Thing 5

I'm working tonight and it is VERY slow, so I'm playing with more images in Thing 5.
Here's a link for all to enjoy.

Thing 5 Image Generators

here's my billboard on Flickr Toys--still having trouble getting photos of good quality. I hope someone can help me!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10247986@N03/3695513563/

Cool Name spelling

Thing 4: Flickr mashups

OK--so I've been busy and am WAY behind with the 23 things! I've been trying to find one of my photos that was not too pixilated to play with. This took a long time, so I probably need some more instruction on how to play with photos. I finally have a magazine cover of my grandkitten, Nibbler. I hope you can all see it. I'm attemping to put it here.

Yippee, I did it--enjoy!

Flickr Thing 3

I've just been exploring Flickr, which I hadn't visited for over a year. The hardest thing about using Flickr is trying to remember how to spell it. ;-) I did a little searching for knitting librarians and found quite a few that I'd like to meet. I also learned recently about alpaca yarn because I have a little sensitivity to sheep wool. I found some great links on Flickr to shops that market alpaca yarn and clothing items. I also found some local Texas alpaca farms. If I ever get to retire I'd like to think about raising alpacas and knitting with yarn made from their wool. Dreams are cheap, right? I also uploaded photos from our recent guest bathroom redo. Take a look.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10247986@N03/sets/72157618454328631/

Library 2.0 Thing 2

After watching the Shifted Librarian video about the changing impact of new ways of viewing and manipulating text, the "machine in us", I started thinking about content. It's all about content, isn't it? We library people need to keep the content quality so good that no matter what the technology is that pushes the content, the libraries will be the place where the good stuff is kept. I see libraries as the protectors of the content and the guides for showing the seekers how to get to the treasures. One of the hardest obstacles for the community college library world is getting the faculty to come along with us. One of the problems is the amount of time needed to learn new technologies--I have trouble myself with having enough time to do all the new stuff. It's something we have to do to protect the library for the future. After all, the library is one of the best "third places" and it's up to us to remind everyone. Here's a great video I found on the "Shifted Librarian" site about a public library in Denmark (one of my favorite places, since my son studied there for 18 months). http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2009/04/30/the-library-as-universe.html
On to Thing 3!

Beth Buzzes about blogging

Today I am thinking about blogging. I have just created my second blog. I can't remember where my first blog is. ;-) This may tell you that I find other things in my life take more priority than blogging. But, I am trying to enter the 21st century in the library world and it seems I need to get more enthusiastic about new trends. I'm on Facebook--how else can you keep up with your kids? I can't imagine life without the Internet or the library databases, so I think this is a good start for blogging. I am also reminded of a guest on David Letterman a week or two ago. Michael Keaton was talking about trying to keep up with technology and Twitter, and said the thing he wouldn't do is blog because he didn't like the sound of the word!