Ahoy all pirates!

A free game for ye!

Pirate Quests

I haven't had the pleasure of trying this out for meself, but intend to when I can.

Yar for today 9-27

Since the 23 things is over, I thought I might just devote this blog to the occasional promotion of anything piratical I find of intrest.

Like this item:
Dress Up Pirate

A cute pirate toy for the wee swabbies! Since I'm considering doing a pirate-themed mural in my soon-to-be 2nd child's room, I was thinking of kiddos and pirate things.

I figure pirates are fairly gender neutral, when ye come right down to it. While some of the more famous pirates have been male, there have been quite a few ladies out there a-livin' the pirate life..and not as a pirate's doxie either!

Anne Bonney, Mary Reed, and Ching Shih come to mind. I recommend intrested folks to look up them... the wikipedia article I read on Ching Shih was quite intresting in that she lived to die of old age. Now THAT'S a successful pirate queen!

If only I could make me computer walk the plank!

I have no problem with having to have a specific log in to do me work on the computer. Truly I don't.

We ("we" being yer ever lovin' friendly library staff)... have to use two printers in the course of our work.
1. a printer to print out word documents, etc.
2. a receipt printer to print out "guest" passes that allow those who have forgotten their library cards (or don't have one), etc to access the internet.

Back in the day, oh not so long ago, we turned on our (staff) computers and used 'em and both printers worked fine.

These days "we" must use unique log-ins to use aforementioned staff computers. Presumably this is to make our jobs easier.

and it might... if the $%^%^*&#^@#% computer didn't always default back to the receipt printer and try and print word documents on skinny receipt paper.

OR..when its not doing that, it prints to the correct printer, but chops off the document as if it WERE printing it to the skinny receipt paper.

"We" have asked the IT department about this issue. They've been by to 'fix' it. (And one has told the pirate-librarian it must be something she did, 'cause he'd already fixed this issue.)

to which I say....
As soon as I get home, I'm hittin the grog.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

This here librarian loves Talk Like a Pirate Day, a'course. But the storytime(s) I do are for the wee-little swabbies (babies and toddlers), and there aren't many pirate stories appropriate to that age....(sigh)....

So I consoled myself with a display of books for older deck-hands (age 5yrs and up.) -- the display sign said, "International Talk Like a Pirate Day September 19, 2007... enjoy some good pirate yaarrrnns!"

Dora's Pirate Adventure
How I became a Pirate
Pirates Don't Change Diapers
Treasure Island
The Wreckers
a DK book on Pirates
The Legend of Captain Crow's Teeth

There are many others out there, and I was happy to see a good many more that I would have displayed were already checked out. ;)

Wow, now I feel famous ;)

A colleague here at the library reminded me that tommorrow be International "Talk Like a Pirate Day". I feel deeply ashamed that I had forgotten, however momentarily... so I cruised on over to the official website Talk Like a Pirate. And on the

Talk like a Pirate 2007 page, was an invitation to let the Pirate gang know how we planned to celebrate. So I took the liberty of emailing the webwench and tell about my blog.... not really expecting anything other than "Hey, that's cool"...

and instead I got included in the "Blog like a Pirate" links. Now how cool is that?


Would doing a little jig be unprofessional? Maybe I'll save it for when I'm off the desk.

YAR

#23 Summarize your thoughts about this program and learn more about where to go from here

Wow! Congratulations!! You’ve reached the 23rd thing. Be sure to give yourself a pat on the back for completing the program.

For your last and final exercise for this program please reflect on your learning journey and post a few thoughts. Here are some questions to prompt you if you're drawing a blank ...

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?

I can't say this has affected my lifelong learning goals significantly. If there are opportunities to learn, I intend to take them, because when you stop learning, you start dying. I also don't know that there were paticular surprises, per se...but I did learn a few new things... I found RSS feeds to be especially useful and intend to use those both professionally as well as to follow personal intrests.

I know quite a few people signed up but never finished the 23 things... I think one suggestion I have for "improvement" would be to somehow offer some sort of mini reward for completing 25% of the things... more for 50%, etc. I don't know how practical it would be from an administrative standpoint, but its a thought. That way you would give credit for making the attempt, and greater rewards for finishing.

And if another, similar program was offered? Sure I'd sign up for it! Why not?

To end with... don't let the ninjas get you down!

Pirate Vs Ninja, originally uploaded by Use Bombs.

(For those who need clarification, see Pirates vs Ninjas.

#22 Learn About Audiobooks

Discovery Exercise:

1. Establish an Overdrive or NetLibrary account and explore the titles. If you don't have access to these, see what you can find in Project Gutenberg.

I had established an overdrive account when our library system first got it. I had never really used it though, having found many things I wanted to check out in our physical collection. Techie or not, I saw no need to download things I was able to check out physically. That, and I'm admittedly a little odd in that I normally don't listen to books I haven't already read before. I like having read them "knowing" what's going to happen...but then there is a new thrill in hearing a narrator and experiencing the book in a slightly different way.

There was only one time (so far) I listened to a book I had not yet physically held in my hand and read. I listened to "Redwall" by Brian Jacques as I commuted to and from work. Well, my commute is normally fairly short, so there was one point where I had to park the car and stop the CD...and it was in a suspenseful part. So I grabbed the book off the shelf during my dinner hour and found where I had left off in the audiobook and read ahead. I still listened to the book....but I HAD to know what was going to happen. (I guess this pirate be an impatient scallywag!)

2. Create a blog post about your findings. Did you locate a title that you might want to try out and download?

I found at least two titles I think I want to download and try. The first...if you've been reading this blog, its predictable enough... is .... (wait for it)......
.........................
.........................................
................................................ "Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates"

Surprised? I knew you would be!

The second is "The Adventures of Robin Hood" by Benedict Flynn.

Robin Hood may not be a pirate (no one is perfect)...but he's a swashbuckling hero for sure! YAR!

OPTIONAL: Try downloading a title from one of these. You don’t have to have a portable player to listen to audiobooks, you can also listen to it from a computer.

I think I will try and download one or both of these titles. Like many Americans today, I find myself carrying a bit more ballast in the midships than I care to. (ie, I'm overweight!)....and perhaps I could listen to an audiobook as I walk or ride my exercise bike. Its nice to know there are a few titles out there an adventure loving swabby like me could enjoy! YAR!


**** edited to add *** in addition to Project Guttenburg, a friend directed me to another resource those doing the 23 things might be interested in.....
WOWIO. They have a large library as well, hundreds of titles in all genres, most of them current titles. This is a corporate sponsored website that allows you to download up to five FREE ebooks every day.
That's pretty cool, aye?

#21 Discover some useful tools for locating podcasts

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting library related podcasts here like book review podcasts or library news.
Library news podcasts seemed very area specific. Book reviews, though sounded more my speed. Nancy Perl has a book review podcast I thought I might subscribe to, and there was another one devoted to children's books called "book voyages" that seemed intriguing.

2. Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your Bloglines account.
Done

3. Create a blog post about your discovery process. What did you find that was most useful here?

I think the most useful thing was simply to know there were resources available to search for podcasts. I have several personal intrests -- such as quilting...and was surprised to find podcasts on this topic! There are even podcasts to help someone learn another language - like itallian, or mandarin chinese! Isn't that too cool? On a customer service note, that might be something to suggest to a customer for more practice -- although the library has an excellent resource in Rosetta Stone.


The optional item was to create a podcast yourself, but i'm not quite sure I'm ready for that. I have the capability for doing it at home, but also I don't know that many others outside of those that work in my branch (and a few good friends) know who the "pirate-librarian" is. :)

#20 Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow you to upload video

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore YouTube & find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.
Easily enough done. I'm very familiar with YouTube - given my husband has an account and uploads videos.

2. Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or componets of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?
I didn't really see anything I disliked about the site. Sure, there are videos that weren't to my personal taste, but as long as it wasn't anything illegal (which I'm sure is not allowed!), who am I to judge? The wonderful thing about people is that we are all so unique and what one person likes another may heartily dislike.
I can see videos being a useful part of library websites. We could have video tutorials for how to use databases, or look up one's library record in the catalog... or things of that nature. For staff, I could even see videos of training presentations. That way perhaps trainings could be done when even only a few people want to take the class or something... (This last, obviously, would be more for the staff webpage than the public page, but still...)

OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and paste code for the for "Embeddable Player.” Note: you'll need to use Blogger's Edit HTML tab when pasting this code.

Here's my optional video: Pyrates Royale "Shanghai Brown"




As to why I chose this particular video -- do you really need to ask? It's PIRATES a'course! YAR!

The Pyrates Royal are a local group, and I first enjoyed their music at the Maryland Rennaissance Festival. This particular video was the clearest in terms of video and sound quality. They are awesome performers and really funny folks.

Test post from Zoho

Years ago, I met one of my dearest friends online.  We met through the "Prodigy" service...specifically through a common intrest in gaming.  And by that I mean role-playing games, specifically Dungeons and Dragons.

 

(Come on now, with my intrest in pirates, and the way I like to slip into "pirate voice" -- tell me my intrest in role-playing games didn't come as a surprise!)   LOL

 

Actually, I know role-playing games have been an important part of my life on several levels.... personally -- several dear college friends, in addition to the one I mentioned earlier....and I met the man I married through our college's Dungeon's and Dragons roleplaying club.  

 

I would also like to think roleplaying has helped me professionally.   Sometimes its completely necessary to 'roleplay' the cool-headed, consumate professional when faced with an irate customer.  And, as a children's librarian, I think roleplaying brings an added level to "performance" during storytimes.   I enjoy doing voices and sometimes adding sound effects to books I'm reading -- it makes it more fun for me, personally...and I believe that when I'm having fun that love and pleasure will transer itself to the children.  Granted, you don't have to be a role-player to do a good storytime...but it can't hurt, either!

 

 

The following document was created in zoho writer.   I'm going to attempt to post this to my blog. 

 

And, too, if the public feature works as I feel it does, I might suggest it to my friend that he either revive our old online game, or... as a friendship gone bad (not me, thankfully!) has soured him on that campaign world... maybe he'd start another one.  He is a creative writer and I missed the roleplaying game.

**it did post fine, although the title originally came up as "untitled" -- I'd have to play about with the features to learn how to put the title into a zoho document.
I'd say this is an intriguing application.

#18 Take a look at some online productivity tools

Discovery Exercise:

1. Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer or Google Docs (which just won top ratings in the Web 2.0 Awards).
Done! I am, of course, piratelibrarian. Arrrrr

2. Explore either site and create a test document or two.
For someone who often talks a lot... probably too much.... I encountered writer's block when looking at that blinking cursor. So I didn't really create a test document. I did look to see where all the usual suspects were that I look for in a document...and zoho seems very straightforward and easy to use. I know of colleagues who work on committees and have to share minutes or other items...and there used to be a problem with those who use microsoft word vs wordperfect, etc. This sort of thing -- shared documents, might be a way around that difficulty (although I'm not so sure it is a difficulty any more.) at any rate, it would make collaboration between long distance committee members much easier!

3. Try out some features and create a blog post about your discoveries.
Optional: If you're up for the challenge, try using Zoho’s "publish" options to post to your blog.

I'm going to try and write a further post... an #18b if you like, as I don't know if I can publish from there into an already existing post. Better to play it safe and make a new post.

#19 Discover any site from the Web 2.0 awards list

Discovery Exercise:

1. Select any site/tool from the list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees. (If you prefer to select from just the winners, here’s a link to the short list.)

2. Explore the site you selected.

3. Create a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?

I'll be perfectly honest and admit I explored a few "fun" sites first. All work and no play at all makes "Johnny" a dull pirate. But then I looked at some of the categories to see what might be applicable for use in a library setting. The one I decided to explore a bit further was in the Content Aggregation and Management category...
Wufoo.com

This application allows you to design your own forms and surveys.... I think this would be good in terms of customer service, getting customer input, etc.

One of the example forms they gave was in terms of "Bug Tracker" -- which might be useful to our IT department.

#17 Add an entry into the Sandbox Wiki created with PB Wiki

Discovery Exercise:
1. Access the Maryland Libraries Sandbox and create a login account for yourself.
Done! I had to get a new email address to further protect me secret identity, but for those that care, that's piratelibrarian13@gmail.com YARRR!

2. Add your blog to the Favorite Blogs page. That's how we'll know that you've been there. It’s easy to do using their new "point and click" interface. Example: Type in your Blog Name, click on the little world/chain link icon and then paste (or type) in your URL. Done and done. Me URL's there.

3. OPTIONAL: Add a favorite or two to a few other pages (Favorite books, favorite wikis, etc). And, if you feel up to the challenge, you might even want to create a separate page for a book review or a short travel essay and link up to that.
I began a page called "Rousing Good Pirate Yarrrrns" with a few of me favorite titles that I've personally read...but it started to get busy so I figured I or others could add to it later. I can't possibly be the only pirate buff out there. :)

4. Create a post in your blog about the experience.
I enjoyed the experience of playing about with a wikki...and I enjoy using them as a jumping off point when I'm learning about a new topic... and many times there IS good information out there. But I also prefer to follow up and check with the information I learn in print sources, or webpages that have a discernable author (ex a .edu site, or named medical site, etc.) My concern as a professional is that not everyone is as info-savvy or bothers to think of the authorship of a particular document.

#16 Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them

Discovery Exercise:
1. For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some library wikis and then blog about your findings. Here’s a few examples to get you started:
SJCPL Subject Guides
Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day
Book Lovers Wiki
Library Success
ALA 2006 New Orleans wiki
The Bull Run Library wiki
Other Academic Library Wiki Examples
MERLIN Wiki Learning link

2. Think about answering these questions as you post to your blog about your findings: What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki? So what's in a wiki? Find out by doing some exploring on your own.

I find the idea of wikkis themselves very interesting. It's also interesting to see how the profession is using them... for specific uses like ALA2006, etc. I also can see them being useful for workteams where the members are from various locales... like Baltimore County's "Best Books" committee. Even here in our own system they could potentially be used for various committees like Notable Books -- to open them up to more staff members to be able to nominate and comment on books... There could still be that opportunity for the "select few" to present titles.

Another potential use I could think of for wikis was booklists for children. Topics like humor, "scary books", etc.... it would be great to have the customers that use these titles recommending them to both us (librarians) and each other (other kids).
The kids would benefit because they could get recommendations from other kids, and also potentially be more interested in those books/reading because they themselves are taking ownership of the information. And we as librarians could benefit because we could see what the kids themeselves are interested in and are currently reading... especially useful if the topic isn't one we ourselves are interested in. (For example, I have a colleague who does not enjoy fantasy.)

#15 Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 & the future of libraries

Discovery Exercise:

1.Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list above.
2.Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these.


One of the chief faults of the pirate-librarian is that I have this ability to see things from multiple perspectives... so in some regards, I can see where the library 2.0 proponents are coming from...and I can see where the people who say that components of "library 2.0" have always been with the profession.

But in particular, I think I'd like to comment on
"Away from the Iceburgs".

The way I was reading it, the author says that the library notion of a "just in case" collection is a detriment, or at the very least a hinderance to the "progress" of the profession. There is a part of me that can see his point, but at the same time I find the view a bit disturbing. So all that is new is progress and the only thing to be desired?? To me that's a dangerous notion. Yes, progress should be embraced, but what about those who can't or won't use these new technologies to acess information?

I'm thinking in terms of those who perhaps can't afford internet access --- and yes, I realize that many of these folks at least have the opportunity for online access here at the library. But at the same time, some of these technologies take time to learn... in an effort to make acess available to greater numbers of people, libraries often have to (as a matter of course) limit how long a particular customer can be on a particular machine. Which of course means that those who have unlimited time (a computer with internet acess at home) are the ones who will benefit most from a 2.0 persepective with libraries linking databases, etc online.

Then, too, there are people who are not comfortable with these 'new' technologies. These are not the people who are going to demand that all of our content be online.

And the notion of user education: "Libraries are poorly equipped and insufficiently staffed for teaching. Ask yourself what your patron-to-librarian ratio is (at the University of Nevada it’s about 680 to 1) and then ask yourself how you’re going to train all those patrons.".

His point is valid that libraries are largely poorly equipped and inefficiently staffed for teaching. But my own comment is that while there are some people who want to be taught how to find information themselves, there is an even greater number who have no intrest in learning how... Call me cynical, but I personally call it the "McLibrary" syndrome. These are the folks that for whatever reason (lack of time, intrest, etc) do not want to know HOW to find the information, they want the librarian to find it for them.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this to be honest... its interesting to think about!

#9 Explore MERLIN and then locate a few other useful library-related blogs and/or news feeds

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds.

2. Find the feed for our MERLIN site and subscribe so that you get the latest news. (Hint: It is located on the Home page) Done on 8/23.... easy enough to do! :)

3. Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to think about ...Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Which was more confusing? What kind of unuseful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find? What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

I thought a lot of these were a bit confusing... in terms of use. I really didn't find any library related blogs or feeds that I felt like subscribing to (other than the ones I had mentioned in the previous post)....

Thing#8: Make Life Really Simple with RSS and a News Reader

Still playing catchup. I don't know if I'll finish on time to earn CEU's or any "prizes"....but that's really not why I'm doing this. I'm doing it because I am interested in technology and want to know about the latest gizmos, even if I don't find them personally useful. It is useful to know what customers are talking about... or maybe even that resource X could be useful to them.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and newsreaders.
a. RSS in plain english (online video)
Comments: I liked the guy's voice in the video...easy to understand what he was saying..and I didn't feel like he spoke to slowly or too quickly. Plus I thought it was hysterical when he did the thumbs down and said "booo" to the old way of reading the web, and "yeaah!" for the 'new' way. Who said informative items had to be boring? ;)

b.
CNET Video: RSS – Feel the Need for Feeds
Comments: Clear video. Good explanation.

c. Feed Me: A gentle introduction to Internet feeds
Comments: No sound (which after the two videos and the podcast, I was almost expecting.) But that was nice. I also liked being able to 'pace' it to my own speed by clicking on "next" when I was ready.

d. Using Bloglines Tutorial (how to keep up with dozens of blogs everyday)
****

2. Create a free online Bloglines account for yourself and subscribe to at least 10 newsfeeds to your reader. See Using Bloglines Tutorial steps 1-3 for instructions.
Done and done! As there are a few fun things I like to check -- online comics like "Unshelved" and "Kevin and Kell" it will be nice to have them in one place along side of my professional reading. A little laughter and levity when something stressful happens can mean the world when one works with the public. After all, I might be a pirate librarian...but I think my supervisor and branch manager might frown on me ordering a customer to "walk the plank".

3. Create a post in your blog about this exercise. Optional: If you're up to the challenge, you can provide the URL address to your public bloglines account (find where to find this below)

I have to say, I found this to be REALLY useful...both professionally and personally. I don't quite feel daring enough to post my public bloglines account simply because I do have things from "both sides" of my life... and I will not leave myself open to being accused of looking at personal stuff while online at work. Unless, of course, I am on 'my own time' (breaks and meal times).

#14 Discover Technorati and learn how tags work with blogs

Technorati Profile


Discovery Exercise:
1. 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. Are the results different? yes, they were. Keyword in blog posts returned anything with "learning" or "2.0" in the posts... Blog directory seemed a bit more specific, and searching tags the most specific/accurate results.

2. Explore top favorited blog, top searches and top blogs. Is anything interesting or surprising?

One of the top favorited blogs that intrigued me was "Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done." I just looked at a few posts, like on the shelf life of common food items...and decluttering - which is something I struggle with in my own home. I can see why it has been favorited by quite a few people. Top searches just seemed to be common keyword searches...nothing too interesting or surprising to me. WTF is one category you can click on..and to be honest I thought it stood for something much naughtier than it did... (heheh.. okay, so maybe the pirate librarian's mind was down in the bilgewater).. it stands for Where's the fire, btw (by the way). Seems a hot topic these days is "I saw your nanny" blog...and I can see why it might be a hot topic given our children are our most important resource...and if I had a nanny, I'd want to know if he or she was slacking off on the job much less doing something inappropriate!

Speaking of which...I've done childcare, and it is not an easy job...even when children are "developmentally typical" much less special needs... so if you have a good daycare, or a good nanny -- please be sure to tell them how very much you appreciate them. Or even better, write a letter that will go in their permanent file... and/or give them a gift they can really use... I like to give my son's teachers gift certificates to a local teacher supply store...so many teachers buy things for their classrooms with their own money...why not help them out?


3. Create a blog post about your discoveries on this site. *doing now*

OPTIONAL: If you're up for a challenge, learn how to tag your posts by with Technorati tags so they can join tag searches. Create a post about something. It can be anything you want and add the HTML code to the bottom to tag it as “mdlearn2.” You may also want to consider claiming your blog and creating a watchlist.

*** I claimed my blog..and perhaps once this training exercise is over, I'll link my other blogs to technorati as well. I have a blog I keep for my "Sims2" family as well as another personal blog.

Thing #13 Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us

Discovery Exercise:

1. View the 12 minute Del.icio.us tutorial to get a good overview of its features.

The video was disabled, so I viewed the alternative article at http://tinyurl.com/ynszc8.

2. Take a look around Del.icio.us using the PLCMCL2 account that was created for the original program exercise at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. Note: In this account you will find lots of resources that have been highlighted or used throughout the course of the Learning 2.0 program.

3. Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize this reference?

Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

I'm not so sure I see the potential in this for research assistance.... but definitely see the value in it as for the social aspects and as a way to acess one's bookmarks from anywhere.

I'm interested in quilting so I checked out some sites that others had bookmarked... I may have to go back and mark a few of those sites for myself.
And, of course, I looked to see if anything had been marked under "Pirates".... arr!! (heh heh heh)

I think the value in marking what others have found is that you don't have to "reinvent the wheel". On the other hand looking at what everyone else has looked at can be a negative if you are trying to "think outside the box"....

Jumping back to week 1: thing 2

Thing #2: Lifelong learning

1. Make sure you have headphones or speakers attached to your computer.
2. Open up the 7 & 1/2 Habits online tutorial and view the online tutorial. The tutorial was developed by the training specialists at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
3. As you watch and listen, write down which habit among the 7 & 1/2 that is easiest for you and which is hardest. You will use your personal blog (which you will set up next) to post your thoughts about lifelong learning.


The easiest habit for me is having confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner. While I might act silly at times, I know I'm highly intelligent. A person doesn't graduate cumme laude or make it into Phi Betta Kappa by being an idiot! But I will add that I believe my confidence is in my ability to learn things .... when it comes to people I'm not always adept at reading them. I like to say I'm book smart, not necessarily people smart.

The habit I have the most difficulty with is the one where you view problems as challenges. Problems make me wish I really was a pirate and could whip out me scimitar and hack the offending obstacle to bits! Barnacles to problems! (lol)

I also have to say, I can be a bit impatient.... the tutorial was interesting, but I can read text a lot faster than the narrator could speak. I found myself scrolling through the tutorial because the narrator was reading slowly and with little inflection. I found it a bit annoying, to be dead honest.

Week 5: Thing #12

Still playing catch-up. Not sure if I'll finish or not. Usually I'm a finish what I start kind of pirate, but sometimes real life gets in the way. Or my own personal laziness...whichever. ;)

Thing#12:
Discovery Exercise:
1. Explore Rollyo and create an account for yourself.
2. Create a search roll for any subject you like.
3. Create a post in your blog about your experience and link to your search roll. Can you see a potential use for tools like this?

To be brutally honest (and my colleagues will tell you I'm usually that - sometimes to my own detriment) --- I found this exercise completely inane. There was nothing I really felt like creating a search roll for. While I hate to be stereotypical, I find that Google typically does return results that are useful to me. That's why its so popular people -- cause it WORKS.

The only use I could see in this is that it might help narrow results down if a google search returned way, way too many hits.

Maybe.

Week 5: Thing #11: Library Thing

Ahoy!

Well, I've fallen a bit behind in my progression of the 23 things. Its not a problem since this whole program is self-directed, and I've never had a problem with playing with technology.

Well, not counting when our library's IT department came and "fixed" the computers -- configured them so we have to use unique log-ins to do our work -- and they haven't worked the same since.... I just love trying to print a document I'm working on and having it print to a reciept printer...loads of fun, that. (NOT)

But enought of that lilly-livered, land-lubber griping. On to thing 11 -- Library thing. When I first saw this, I didn't think it would be all that useful...an online catalog of the books I own and/or have read? But the power in it comes from the linking and social aspect of it all. I can find others that read or own books that I put in my Library thing..and find things they're reading, read reviews, etc. This is a neat tool for true book junkies!

The exercise for this particular thing included the following:

Discovery Exercise:
1. Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
2. Add a least 5 books to your library.
3. Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog.

Thar She Blows!

I figure once I add more than 5 books to me thing, it will be a bit less of a giveaway of my "secret identity"....har har har YAR!

YARR - this be a public service announcement

Yep, I be a service-oriented pirate... lol

A few days ago, my library system's management update talked about an upcoming county sponsored blood drive.

It reminded me that it had been some time before I'd given blood. I've done whole blood donations lots of times, and apheresis (platelet) donation quite a few times. Platelet donations take a bit longer, but of course are quite valuable to cancer and leukemia patients, as well as hemophiliacs. My own dear father was a cancer survivor....so donating is just one way I choose to honor him.

Since I couldn't make the county blood drive, I decide to see when centers nearest me were open... it was high time I went back to donating.

My Red Cross

and you can search for centers near you. I also found out that there was a third type of donation I'd never heard of..... double red blood cell donation. It's similar to platelet donation in that they take blood and remove the component they're wanting -- be it platlet or red blood cell...and return the rest, plus some saline fluid back to the donor. They call it "Double reds", 'cause the donor donates 2 units of red blood cells in one donation. And those with types O+, O-, A-, and B- are needed for this special donation process.

The pirate librarian be type O+, so I felt a special obligation to inquire about it. When I called the red cross' 1-800#, I asked them -- which do ye need more -- double reds or apheresis? They said double reds...so I did it on my day off. The only "problem" is I can't donate for 112 days. Ah well...


Anyway, if ye be healthy enough... be one of the few and proud that gives the gift of life and donates blood! Ye never know when you, or someone you love, may need it.

YAR!

Skipping ahead a bit to Week 5, thing #10

Thing#10: Play around with an online image generator

And I can say, I had way, way too much fun with this one: Meez

For this thing, we were supposed to play with one of the generators: Meez, yahoo avatars, speech agents... and post our results.

Here's mine:




Ahhhhh..... Ahoy there Captain Jack! Hey, Sim-me, take it easy on the Captain! ;)
I just wish real-life me looked as good as sim-me.

Week 3, thing #6: Flickr mash-ups and third-party sites

Ahoy! I really enjoyed exploring all of the mashups available through Flickr. There were so many fun ones to play with.

The one I wanted to write a post about was the Lolcatgenerator. LOL is netspeak for "laughing out loud", and I've personally visited some sites that use cute pictures of cats (or other animals) with funny captions -- usually misspelled as if the animal had written the caption.
One very funny LOLcat site is:
I Can Has a Cheezburger

Another one is meme cats, but that one has... er.... ruder captions on occasion so I'll not be posting the link here. But if ye be reading this, yer net saavy enough to seek it if ye wish.

And...using LOLcat generator, I decided to make the image you see above. Now isn't that the cutest little swabbie ye ever did see? YAR!

I was also quite intrigued by the trading card mashup application, but want to play around with it some more...

Week 3, thing 7

To do a post about anything technology related.

Well, the pirate-librarian loves technology. Even if I don't always understand it right away, I enjoy playing around with it. Of course, the best way to start off learning anything new is to RFM as techie friends of mine say. That's read the frelling manual...

what??!

Did ye think I'd be stupid enough to use a naughty word on something I know library administrators could read? Not to mention me own dear forever-young muther would read? (hi mom!) ;)

Anyways, on to my technology related post... the pirate-librarian enjoys many things: ICQ for online chats with one of me best friends. (Cheaper than having to count minutes of cell phone time or worry about a long distance telephone bill!)

Another best friend of mine and I play a muliplayer online game, and a dead-on useful program for that is TeamSpeak . (similar programs include Ventrilo , Mumble , and Roger Wilco ) Basically its a program that allows voice chats over the internet (using a headset and microphone) -- and leaving the players hands free to manuver our characters, etc. I know I was hesitant to get setup with this program -- but it definitely beats trying to type what you're telling your teammates AND trying to fight the bad guys! YAR!

Also for thing #7, we're supposed to leave a comment on someone else's blog because "That's what online communities are all about - connecting and communication." (from http://marylandlibrarieslearningacts.blogspot.com/2007/01/7-create-blog-post-about-anything.html ) I will do that - leave a comment, but am I the only one that thinks it seems a bit artificial to require folks to 'connect'. Its not real connection if you feel compelled to leave a comment...... ;) No disrespect meant, mates!

Progress so far....

This copied and pasted from "23 Things" post.... http://
Me own commentary/additions in [brackets]


Week 1: Introduction ( official start of week June 4th) [week of 6/4-6/8]
[thing] 1. Read this blog & find out about the program. [Done and done: 6-14-07]

[thing] 2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process. [Not done this one yet... can't do it while on the desk because of lack of headphones, and off the desk only a few machines are set up with sound. Aye, I can do it at home, but finding the time when I have to tend to me home crew be quite difficult!]

Week 2: Blogging [week of 6/11-6/15]
[Thing] 3. Set up your own blog & add your first post. [Okay, is it just me or is this a bit like putting the cart 'afore the horse? I would think this would have been good to do as thing two since many of the other "things" have participants writing about items they've explored or read. Obviously its been done or ye wouldn't have a blog to read, mate!]

[thing] 4. Register your blog and Track your progress to journey into Learning 2.0 together. [done.. again, if it hadn't been, its doubtful someone would have found this on their own... I can't imagine a search engine has 'caught' me yet... lol!]

Week 3: Photos & Images [week of 6/18-6/22]
[thing] 5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site. [see previous post... done 5a on 6-19... and would like to do 5b at some point, even tho it might be "outing" myself as to who I really am... but since my coworkers in the branch know or probably have guessed... hehehehe]

[thing] 6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites. [not done yet]
[thing] 7. Create a blog post about anything technology related that interests you this week. [Hmmmmm..... maybe done soon? ;) )


*Note - from my early days, I've enjoyed roleplaying (Marvel super heroes, Dungeons and Dragons, etc..... so I will slip in and out of pirate voice as it suits me mood and whimsy level. I'm doing it for CEU's (even if I don't really need them at this point), but no one said I couldn't have fun at the same time!

Jolly Roger

Jolly Roger, originally uploaded by The Department.

Week 3: Photos and images.

Ahoy there!

This week, we scurvy-dogs who are participating in the "23 things" are supposed to explore Flickr (an image hosting site).

Another item on this week's list is to explore Flickr mashups and third party sites... as I haven't done this yet, I've no clue what that means...but I'll be learning!

Discovery exercise #5a: gave me the option to use Flickr's blogging tool and add an image to my post. #5b would have me create a free account (done), and use a digital camera to take some picture(s) of things in my branch.

So far, I've done 5a...... Now really, did ye expect anything other than the jolly roger to appear on a pirate's blog?

Arrrr! Forget the 7 Seas!

Instead, it's the "23 things"....

This here be me blog for recording my progress through the "Maryland Libraries 2.0 - 23 Things program". The "23 things" be short, self-directed activities, designed to help folks learn more about various technologies out there and get more comfortable exploring and using them.

*Breaking pirate voice for a moment* In all seriousness, its been my own observation that to the general public, not only are all staff who work in libraries "librarians", but we know everything about everything. Which is a nice compliment of a sorts, but no one can truly know everything.... thus I decided to set sail on this voyage of learning and discovery.

About the name: I've always enjoyed pirates...at least the cinematical and fictional representations of them. I'm well aware that the reality was a lot messier, smellier...not to mention illegal. And in this day of "PC" language and lawsuits, I suppose I ought to add the disclaimer that the name in no way implies that I condone real-life piracy in any way, shape or form.